I’m walking. Guaranteed, I’m walking! Two weeks into walking and I feel super! Well, aside from some blisters and a skin irritation on my thighs, I’m good. It’s going so well that I look like this. Not really! Maybe within the next several months.

I can stay positive right? Absolutely! That’s my early birthday present for myself: 3lb dumbbells to help maximize my workouts and keep both upper and lower body in motion. So grab your comfy clothes, your running shoes, your earphones, and your activity tracker start walking this way.

Let’s “Walk this way”, “I will walk 500 miles”, “Take a walk on the wild side”, “These boots are made for walking” and so on. And do this!

I will not lie when I say that I’m not a fitness junkie or guru of any kind. Being in the gym everyday for a few hours lifting weights and working up a sweat seemed like too much work. Well, it depends on how you look at it. Lifting weights are hard. Especially if they’re 50lbs and up. I applaud the people who can bench press or lift more than their own weight. For me, I say: “Ouch!”

Walking is one of the easiest ways to lose weight. So easy. I don’t know why I didn’t start walking long walks like I used to. I guess I had too many excuses to not walk. But see what walking does for you.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

You will be amazed at the benefits of walking: helps your brain, strengthens your bones, sheds unwanted weight, and improves your heart health.

• Your brain will love you for walking. Not only will it help you live an extra two years as per to the article: but it reduces your risks for stroke, improves areas in your brain responsible for memory and planning. And lowers your depression and anxiety!! Yes, please!
• According to the article, just 4 hours of walking per week can reduce your chances of fractures such as your hip. Stay active and in motion.
• Heart health! Brisk walks for more than 40 minutes for at least two to three times a week can lower your risk for disease and lower your risk for obesity. Another yay!

For me, I’ve definitely noticed a significant change with my brain. My memory has always been pretty good. Long walks really let me clear my head and just focus on the open road. My depression and anxiety have been surprising low since I started walking. The only thing that I think of when I’m walking is not to fall on my butt nor get run over by a car. When I put my earphones in, I will be in the zone and just walk. Sometimes, I will forget that there’s a dip in the road. I have tripped a couple of times, but know that I now when I go down that stretch of road. I’ve suffered fractures a long time ago, I’m not really worried about my bones. I should be because I’m almost 35. My heart does thank me for getting off my butt and putting my body into motion.

Of course, like others, I had the exact same excuses like everyone else. “I don’t have time”, “That’s boring”, “Why?”, “I don’t want to.” Boy, I sounded like a child when I said those excuses over and over again. You can always create time. Set aside an hour out of your day and just do it. I had to force myself to go to sleep earlier and then get up an hour earlier and do it. I will set a timer for my walks and get going. Yes, I get bored walking everyday, but I change it up. Take different directions and routes everyday. Get out your bicycle and start pedaling. Don’t say “Why?” If you say that, how are you going to lose weight? Weight doesn’t just magically disappear like that. I wish. Saying that “I don’t want to” is another excuse to get up and out of the house and doing something. During lower points in my life, I would refuse to move. Refusing to move will get you nowhere. Start walking for a week and see what happens. I started slow and for 30 minutes and gradually upped the time and distance everyday.

In the article that I shared above in the slideshow, there are loads of useful information that really motivate me to keep going. One study said that women who exercised for three days (between faster and slower paced) walks lost approximately 20lb in 15 weeks. Wow! I can do that. Typically on my walks, I start out at an easy pace and then accelerate into fast walking. Then take a slower walk to catch my breath and just keep going. At work, I’m always in super fast power walking mode because a lot of customers need their java and I can’t be a slow server.

A smart investment is a smart watch or a simple activity tracker. A Fitbit watch or Garmin Vivosport. Whatever works for you. I bought a Garmin VivoSport. It syncs into your phone and your computer. You just put it on like a regular watch and let it do its thing.

Mine looks just like this. I have it set up to count my steps and also show the time as well. I did download the app first and then set it up. After one day in the books, I opened the app on my phone and found a lot of useful information.

So in two days I have done the following:

• Each day my step intake was 13,386 steps
• For the week my step intake was 25,501 steps
• My distance was 11.7 miles
• Daily average is 12,751 steps
• Heart rate and stress levels were all normal. A couple of times they were a little high. Working at Starbucks will do that to you!
• And my average calorie burn for the past two days has been 2425 calories
• I earned the following badges:
  • Intense 150 Badge (Every 150 intensity minutes in a day)
  • Beating my daily goal (I’ve surpassed my goals everyday so far)
  • High intensity (Achieved my weekly goal of intensity minutes)
  • Intense 100 Badge (Every 100 intensity minutes in a day)
  • Personal World Record (Apparently, I surpassed my goal from the start: to get my butt off the couch!)

Wow! Is all that I can say. Working out isn’t that hard. I thought that way for a long time until I tried it. My body and my mental health are thanking me everyday for this. I wake up and look forward to walking or bicycling everyday.