Take a Walk

At the end of August, I decided that I was spending way too much money on fast food, frozen prepared food, and pop (or soda when I'm talking to the locals!).  I decided that one way to make it "fun" to cut back in this area was to make it all about health.  Saving money has never been my strong suit, but as a nutritionist, I can appreciate the value of eliminating empty calories and processed foods.  So, for the month of September, I decided that I would consume no pop, no fast food of any kind, or eat any food that I didn't have to prepare from scratch.

My plan worked well, and when October 1 came around, I decided that I should continue on my health kick and start another healthy habit.  I decided that since I talk to each and every one of my clients about taking a minimum of 30 minutes a day to do some kind of physical activity, I too should be following that advice.  Thus was born my grand and glorious plan to spend half an hour walking each day.  So far, I must say that it's going pretty well.  I've observed a lot of interesting things over these last eight days.  Tonight, I will share with you.

I hate walking with dogs.  Cooper's a pretty good dog, but during the first few walks we went on he wanted to stop and smell EVERYTHING, and being a male dog, he wanted to mark EVERYTHING.  So the first few walks were rough, but since then we've been able to work out a deal- he gets to stop two or three times to do his business and after that I get to do some "resistance" exercises as I drag him away from the tree, the bush, the random spot of grass around that one building, etc.

I've had to start actually waking up and being alert and active at 6 a.m.  Before, I'd wake up, maybe watch some Hulu, stare blankly off into space while reconsidering my decision to wake up so early, eat breakfast, watch the news, do anything but actually get ready for the day.  Now, I've found out that if I wait to walk Cooper after work, at 6:00 p.m. or so, I have to deal with an extraordinary amount of small children who want me to stop and let them pet the dog and combat my own laziness, as I'd rather come home, eat dinner, peruse Facebook and catch up some Colbert Report and Late Night with Jimmy Fallon than better my health.

I've noticed a lot of good things too.  For one, I've learned that I absorbed much more of my Anatomy and Physiology classes than I thought I did.  On the third day, I started noticing that certain muscle groups were doing a large amount of aching.  After that walk, I went online and confirmed that I was 100% correct in identifying the muscles that were making themselves known.  I also had spent much of that walk remembering a lecture in which my professor used a number of her students to demonstrate how muscles were built up with exercise.  Congratulations, Emily Rock, your teaching has stuck with me three and a half years after I took your class.

Some people say they think best in the shower.  I find that I think best while walking.  I get really bored while walking, and when I get bored I tend to let my mind wander to it's "happy place" and plot and plan anything and everything.  So far I've managed to find ways to stretch $100 for groceries out over four weeks instead of the usual two, made some headway in deciding what I want to buy people for Christmas, and come up with a recharged business plan for my freelance writing business.

I'm making money while I walk. To date, I've found $3.05 while out on my strolls.  Thank you, residents of Martin's Creek, for dropping dollar bills, quarters, and nickels.  Your generosity is helping my buy my plane ticket home for Christmas.

Lastly, I took some of my walk in downtown Summerville the other day while I was waiting to meet a friend for dinner.  I had forgotten how many cool little shops are in that area and discovered a few new restaurants and cafes I will soon be frequenting!

Now that I'm on a role with the whole walking thing, I'm already trying to decide what I want to do for November.  I'm thinking maybe I'll add some of the other components of physical activity to my routine, like flexibility and strength (Thank you for teaching me that, Lonnie Lowery.  Now I feel really good about myself, I remembered TWO things I learned in school!)

It's now time to say "Goodnight, everyone."  I hope you're evening is as lovely as mine has been.  It's about 68 degrees, a slight breeze, the moon is filtering through some hazy clouds, and the bugs are performing quite a symphony tonight.  I forgot how much I love fall in the Lowcountry.