If you are looking for easy and cheap ways to improve your health, drinking enough water and taking daily walks are two things that are completely free and have excellent health benefits. We know that exercise is essential, but for some of us, intense exercise is too intimidating, or maybe we feel limited by our strength or stamina. Walking is a fantastic low-intensity exercise that you can do daily to offer you many physical and mental benefits. You don’t even need a gym or any equipment to do it.
Walking improves your cardiovascular health and significantly reduces the risk of common chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart disease. Studies have shown that walking daily stabilizes insulin levels and lowers blood pressure. It also improves digestion and gut health. Walking can also improve your mental health and overall mood.
If you’re ever feeling sluggish, tired, unmotivated, or even frustrated and upset, a walk (especially outdoors) will help tremendously — it can clear your head and get those endorphins flowing. If you have trouble falling asleep, walking will significantly improve your quality of sleep. Exercise stimulates the production of melatonin, the hormone that helps you fall asleep. So take note of your quality of sleep throughout the month and see if it naturally improves with your daily walks.
Walking has benefits for your entire body, and your joints are no exception. Often in older age, people are scared to exercise because it puts too much pressure on the joints. However, doing no exercise significantly worsens joint pain.
Try to set realistic goals for your daily walks so that you don’t feel intimidated or unmotivated. Start with 10-15 minutes a day until you start to build the habit, then increase your distance or time.
As a Nationally Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach my job is to work with my clients to identify their motivation for positive behavior change and help them develop strategies so they are able to confidently achieve long term success with their health and wellness goals.
Whether they want to lose weight, learn to eat healthier foods or feel more energized I collaborate with my clients to identify their personal strengths and develop skills which will empower them to set realistic and achievable goals which will enhance their wellbeing and self-confidence.