My walk is two miles. Same two miIes everyday. Walk it as fast as I can, and it takes thirty-five minutes. That’s about five thousand steps according to the iPhone. The goal is seven thousand or more for the day, so this walk is your foundation, not your finish line.
Do it before work, not after. That’s critical. Getting outside in morning daylight wakes you up, gets some sun in your face and tells your body the day has started. That sets the tone for everything that follows.
Phase one for the first couple weeks: Get up, take a leak, check your weight, Coffee, workout and go walk. Nothing else. You’ve got something on your schedule that makes this not work exactly? Adjust.
Phase two, week three: grab a litter picker and a bucket and pick up trash as you go. It gives the walk a purpose, takes your mind off the miles, and you’re doing something useful. The walk turns into a job. It sounds stupid, but it works.
This is also your time for a podcast or two. Pick something informative. Learn about something you don’t know, or go deeper on something you do. Skip the music. No politics. No news. Get something constructive out of the time.
Note: Pick one quiet day a week. Sunday, Monday, whatever. Pick it and stick to it. Listen to nothing but that voice in your head that’s drowned out by everything in the world. That guy is still in there … we just don’t hear him very much anymore. Thirty to forty minutes with no input at all will feel strange at first. It’s important.
Phase three,: week three or four: add weight. A backpack, a vest, whatever fits your life. I carry thirty pounds. I did sixty for a long time, but don’t recommend it. Thirty is heavy enough for my frame to matter and light enough that you’ll actually do it every day. Walk as fast as you can.
Weather doesn’t matter. Hot, cold, rain, snow – you go. The one exception is lightning. Don’t walk in a lightning storm, period, let alone with metal on your back. Did I have a close call with this? Yes. Lesson learned. If it’s lightening out do another workout.