This week my daughter’s nursery decided to participate in Walk to School Week. They turned it into a great “Active Week”, where they learnt more about getting active and eating right. I love that the children are being taught the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle, so I thought I would do a post as a reminder to us grown ups.
We are all encouraged to do at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. Just the thought of that makes me want to grab a pillow & have a nap. If you are like me and the word “exercise” makes you choke on your chocolate milk, you may feel better knowing that it can be broken up into 3 x 10 minute chunks. Not only that, but you don’t even need to step in a gym – walking counts as exercise too. I have always maintained that running around after small children more than counts as enough exercise, but now I can include the school run, and really feel like I’m officially keeping fit.
In the interest of active week, I have made an effort to walk everywhere I can. I am pleased to report that over the last 5 days I’ve only driven the car twice, each time has been when we’ve needed to go about 8 miles away – I’m not walking that far with 3 kids in tow! We have been lucky to have really good weather this week, have really enjoyed the walks and had fun in the great outdoors. The main lesson I have learned is that I need to find my smart watch and figure out how it works! I would love to be reporting back right now the miles that I have walked, and all the good it’s done for my body & the environment. Maybe next time. 
If you feel you could do with an extra boost, I would love to encourage you to get out there & walk a bit more. Don’t be overwhelmed, or think of it as exercise. Find the excuse to do it, not the other way around.
- Need to nip to the shops? Take a walk.
- Need to burn off a bit of the kids energy? Take them for a walk. People here walk their dogs twice a day, I think I should start walking my kids 😉
- Do you drive to work? Try parking a little bit further away from the building. (Parking might be cheaper there too 😉 )
- If you use public transport, get off one stop sooner & walk the rest of the way.
- If you have kids you need to get to school, re-evaluate if you really need to drive. Of course there are many case where you will need to. The school may genuinely be too far to walk, or you need to head straight to work after the school run. But if it’s just out of habit, try to form a new one 😀
- Take the stairs instead of the lift.
- Make a date with that friend you’ve been trying to catch up with *forever*and go for a walk together.
I’m not suggesting you go all out doing all of these things at once, especially if you have been a bit sedentary over the winter months. Pick one thing that you think you could achieve, and go for it. Try make it happen once a week, and see how you feel. Walk to Work Wednesday anyone? Go from there, slowly making swaps until you are reaching for your comfy shoes more often than the car keys.
I’ll share a great swap I did this week. On Monday evenings my girls go dancing (a great activity that is fun, healthy & social!). For the last few terms, their classes have been one after the other. It’s been very hard to keep the non-dancing child and baby occupied in a small crowded reception area for 2 back to back 45 minute sessions. If you ever want your parenting skills & patience tested (in front of a judging panel), I can highly recommend it. Well, the week before a helpful dance Mum who I had not seen previously, kindly suggested I take them to the park. I had done this a few years ago when here was just one dancer & just one waiter, but surely I should not be expected to trek 10 minutes to the park, for only 20 minutes play, then trek 10 minutes back to the studio to exchange dancers, trek 10 minutes *back to the same park* for only 20 minutes play, then trek 10 minutes back again to collect my rising star? All this with a newly toddling toddler trying to wiggle out of the pushchair with every step to/from the studio? Well folks, I did it. And I did not die. And do you know what else? The kids *loved* it! They were so happy they got to go play, that they came the first time I said “time to go”. I don’t know about you but I never though that was a thing that actually happened… We also got to see the baby geese, the ducks, the squirrels….And I had a peaceful time letting my kids be free and not having to keep them still and quiet for an hour and a half. Worth the walk, I think.
If you need a little bit of motivation see if you can find any apps that reward you for “swapping”. My husband has just started trialling one over the last couple of days, and it’s fun seeing how the miles add up. Click here to try it yourself. It tracks the time taken, distance, calories used, and co2 comparison. (Walking to town earlier saved 432g compared to driving! That will add up over a year…)
Of course there is also a selection of oils to help you out, whether you need motivation, better sleep the night before, being more focused, dealing with aches & pains afterwards, there’s an oil for that! Get started at www.mydoterra.com/nicolastanton, or get in touch for a free consult.
And if you still need convincing, check out the walkit.com website. It has some great information on the health benefits of walking, the environmental impact of switching, and tips to help you achieve it. Kind of how I wanted this post to be, if I had done it properly 😉
Nicky Goes Natural 