Get Walking!

The US surgeon general has issued a call to action! America, we need to get walking! We need our communities to be more "walkable". This means that we need to have better access to sidewalks, we need to have conveniences within walking distance.

We as a society have gotten so very sedentary. Our jobs are sedentary, our pass times are sedentary. I understand that we all work long, hard hours and we want to be able to relax when we're not working. However, all of this inactivity is literally killing us! It's leading to a whole list of health issues, both physical and mental!  

We're not asking you to go to the gym and become a gym rat, we're asking you to try and start walking when you can. 

I am lucky, I currently live a quarter of a mile from a gas station and half a mile from a Dunkin Donuts. When I want something that I don't have in the house, I walk to get it. If I lived closer to a grocery store, I would walk to the grocery store as well. 

We need to demand that our communities become more walkable. People, obviously, won't walk if it isn't safe. The number of housing developments I have seen that have been built, recently, without sidewalks astounds me! These developments are great places for walking! Most have closed loops that are easy to maneuver. This means that if there were sidewalks, people could walk safely and get more fitness in! 

Check out these great websites to help you get your communities walking: Every Body Walk! Collaborative, America Walk Collaboration, Stroller Strides, Walking School Bus, Walk at Home and Walk with a Doc . 

Simply walking has so many health benefits. It helps ease anxiety and depression, it has been shown to help those with neurological diseases such as dementia and Parkinson's. It also helps control both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, it is great for reducing your chance of heart attack, or stroke. 

Another reason walking is great is that it doesn't take much. Put on comfortable shoes and clothes that are appropriate for the current weather and head out the door. It is also something that you can do with friends, that is easy to enjoy. 

It is such a small thing. Walking. You don't need special equipment, it is relatively low impact.

Get out there, start walking. Talk to your community leaders. Stress the importance of walkability!