Happy Labor Day! In honor of this great relaxing day off, I’m going to talk about one of my favorite things: walking. This weekend I got to walk a lot with Coco (and Star, her hubby). There are 2 reasons I walk (in addition to the fact that I just like it)…
Walking As Exercise
When I’m walking as exercise, I like to do a few different things:
- Listen to music or podcasts
- Read a book
- Walk with my husband, or a good friend
- Chat on the phone with my parents
And sometimes I just walk in silence. Walking in silence is sometimes just as good as (or even better than) yoga for clearing the mind. Walking is almost like meditation.
I use an iPod Nano for my podcasts. I am actually looking for new podcast recommendations so please let me know if you have any in the comments below! I like nutrition, yoga, linguistics, languages, and psychology, but I’m always open to other topics as well.

As for books, I tend to read books that don’t take too much concentration when I’m walking as exercise. I have tried to read more advanced books while I’m walking, but it’s too easy to lose focus because I do have to look up every so often so I don’t run into things/people/cabs. The Emily Giffin books were perfect for long walks.

I read that book 2 years ago – I searched my blog for her name and found this old post. Cool for me to see how I (and my blog) have evolved over the years.
Walking For Health
Okay, so walking as exercise is great, but walking is good for overall health as well. I have read so many articles lately about how being happy and leading a stress free life are actually more important than the foods you eat. That sounds a little bit crazy and unconventional, but I’m temped to believe it.
For one thing, walking is great for weight loss/maintenance. I don’t really do much other than walk these days, and I’m maintaining my weight easily. This weekend I did walk a lot (5-6 miles each day) but normally I only walk 2-4 miles a day. Walking for health = easy to stick to. I don’t really have any trouble fitting in my miles each day and I don’t dread them (unlike some other workouts).
Walking is also a way to take a break from whatever happened to you during the day/week. I like to walk home from work (it’s about 1.5 miles) when it’s not too hot and not too cold. Sometimes I window shop, sometimes I really shop (I got Bobby the jacket below the other day), and I always make sure that I stop thinking about anything stressful – humans need a way to get rid of stress. Stress is horrible for us – worse than cheeseburgers and fast food, for sure.

I think I am getting off topic! Back to walking for health 😉 Walking = relaxing stress-reliever. Walking = good cardio. Walking = kind to your joints. Walking = low-impact. Walking = doesn’t feel like exercise. Walking = awesome.
So instead of sitting here posting, I am going to go out for a walk with my hubby because we haven’t left the house yet today. We had delicious steel cut oats for breakfast/brunch (mine with butter and a touch of honey; his with a bit more honey and 2 pieces of fake bacon; this picture is not from today – it’s from another delicious blogger meetup day almost a year ago in San Francisco).

Why do you walk? Or do you like other forms of exercise better?
P.S. Got a bunch of good questions yesterday! Will answer them tomorrow I think. If not tomorrow, Thursday.