Walking 10,000 Steps a Day -- When Can You Find Time?

You probably have to be creative to find time to walk 10K steps/day. There ARE ways to walk before or after work, although these periods may at first seem tight. There ARE ways to integrate walking into your work day, although many of us lead sedentary work lives. And, there ARE ways to make sure that you walk 10K steps/day on weekends, although things can "get crazy" on weekends. If you work an eight-hour day and you sleep eight hours nightly, commute two hours daily to and from work, spend an hour daily preparing for work, and so on, then you might believe that you have no time to walk before or after work. But you could be among the fortunate among us who can walk to and from work. Or you may realize that you CAN find at least some time to walk before work. And, if you are like many of us, walking after work is possible -- right before or after dinner, or later in the evening. If your work day is so full that you sometimes work through lunch, then it can seem that there is no time during your work day to walk. But there are many opportunities. Whenever you can break away for lunch, you can walk to lunch and walk back to work -- probably at least ten minutes in each direction. Restroom breaks represent another opportunity to walk for a few minutes at a time, especially if you head for the farther restroom. If you meet with others in person, you may be able to convince some to have walking meetings. If you meet with others by telephone, a good cordless headset may let you walk while you talk. And a treadmill desk could be the ultimate way for you to find time to walk during your work day. No matter whether you have a traditional Saturday/Sunday weekend or have other days off each week, your weekend can quickly get filled with lots of non-walking activities -- everything from attending a house of worship to driving kids or grandkids to sports practice to sitting in a cinema, enjoying a movie. But there are many ways to integrate walking 10K steps/day into your weekend. You can go to a shopping mall. So many of them are so huge today that walking just one mall could easily let you reach several thousand steps. In contrast to "hiking" a shopping mall, you can go for an outdoor hike. And you can go dancing, engage in low-key sporting activities such as bowling, or gear up for 5K or 10K race. The "trick" with walking 10K steps/day is realizing that you should NOT expect to take all 10,000 steps at one time! There are plenty of walking opportunities throughout the day, be it a work day or a non-work day. The better that you become at recognizing slices of time for small chunks of walking, the more easily you will reach 10K steps/day.