One Thing I Do Daily: Walking

Terrible photo quality, but a no-makeup, comfy clothes snap on one of our evening walks! 

Do you all remember the post I did last month about my 'morning me time'? Today's post is going to be something similar. Once I turned 30, I started to really take not only my physical health but my mental health seriously. I definitely spend more time making sure that I am healthy and happy than I did in my 20s. Like most, my goal is to live a long and healthy life! 

Overall, I don't love the summer season. I don't like hot weather.... like at all. I'd much prefer 35 degrees to 95. I also find dressing for fall/winter more fun. Gosh, I just love sweaters. Anyway, because of this, I was trying to think about all of the things that I do love about summer. There are delicious fresh fruits and vegetables, vacations, sunnier days, you can swim/the pool is open, outdoor dining, and so much more. 

But you know what else is so amazing about summertime?! Walking! I honestly was never a huge walker before 2020. 

When I got Henry back in late 2017, I loved that it always forced me to get outside and walk. Then, moving into the suburban neighborhood that I live in now was a game changer as we have plenty of space to walk! Once the pandemic hit in 2020, I had so much more time on my hands that I started to walk a lot more than usual and that's kind of where I discovered my love for it. 

This post is not rocket science- everyone knows about walking. But until I started doing it religiously, I never really understood how life-changing it could be. For one, it's exercise but I think being outside is another huge reason it has been so positive for me. Soaking up the vitamin D from the sun, seeing neighbors and greeting them, making sure Henry gets the exercise he needs, taking time to get off of my phone- all of this adds up to something so positive both mentally and physically for me. 

But I think what I love about the summer months the most is that it is obviously warm and it stays light out for much longer so I will typically go on a morning walk and then my husband and I will go on an evening walk after dinner together. So summertime is my 2-walks-a-day season. I love when we walk together because it gives us uninterrupted time to chat and catch up. It's become my favorite part of an average day. We typically don't do this in the winter months because it's not only cold but it gets dark at like 5pm and I notice how much I miss it during the colder months! Sometimes on the weekends, if we don't have any evening plans, we will go on a 'wine walk', which likely defeats the health purpose, but it's still so fun!

I still walk in the winter/cold, just usually once per day! I used to never walk in the winter but then I saw a quote one day that changed my mindset entirely 'there is no such thing as bad weather, only the wrong clothes and now I walk almost every day in the winter, too. 

And this is not just me imaging things- walking is scientifically proven to be very good for you in so many ways. Check out this Harvard Health article- it's crazy all of the benefits. If that doesn't make you want to walk right out of your door, I don't know what will!