WALKING FIT - Weight Loss Part 8

Paris, June 2016

Last summer (June 2016) I went on holiday. A trip I’d been planning for months travelling to Copenhagen, Berlin and Paris. I travelled by train, and with only a few days in each city, with not much of a budget, I arranged to go on various walking tours. It was a fantastic holiday and the walking tours were a great way to get to know and understand each city. The downside was the aches and pains. 

I was on Ibuprofen and paracetamol every day for my back and knees, and I suffered greatly from swollen feet. 

June was very hot, a contributing factor to my swollen feet, which were like balloons and very sore every morning. I’d never experienced anything like this before, so had no idea how to deal with it, and was probably doing all the wrong things. My weight, however, was most definitely a contributing factor, just as it was to my back and knee pain.

My dirty swollen feet after a day walking round Berlin, June 2016

I bought a pedometer when I got back from holiday and by the end of the summer I had decided I needed to make a conscious effort to walk more on a daily basis. Especially as I was planning on going back to Berlin in October to visit friends. In my experience, when you live in a rural area and have a desk job, you don’t do much walking. So, I needed to find a way of increasing my walking whilst at work. I did this by walking up to lunch every day, unless of course the weather made it impossible. This has been highly successful and continues to this day.

When I went to Berlin in October (2016) I walked between 14,000 and 18,000 steps each day and my accommodation was up three flights of stairs, so I got plenty of exercise. Again, although the holiday was fantastic, it was at times very difficult. I was hoping not to rely on pain killers as much, but it was impossible, I was still in a lot of pain daily. This upset me greatly, but also motivated me to make even more of an effort when I got home. At the time, however, I wasn’t sure how to increase my walking and I didn’t do much more about it.

The time came for new year’s resolutions. I don't normally make them as they are never particularly realistic and I never stick to them. This year, however, I decided to give myself a more realistic goal to simply walk more. When I started thinking about how I could achieve this, I came across the walk 1,000 miles in a year challenge I’ve previously mentioned. This gave me a daily target of 2.8 miles, a little under 6,000 steps a day. I thought this to be reasonably realistic and started going for an evening walk around my village every evening to help me reach that target.

So, there I was, around 8pm every night, heading out in January all wrapped up with a head torch in my pocket.

My circuit was around 1.2 miles, and at first took me around 40 minutes. Nine months on it now takes me 25 minutes! By the end of January, I decided I should attempt to walk over the Skye bridge. A bit of a challenge for someone as unfit as I was. But I did! I was extremely out of breath though and had to stop a couple of times on the way up. But I felt like I’d really achieved something and it spurred me on to do more. Since then I’ve gone on bigger, more challenging walks. I’m yet to climb what I would call a proper hill though.

Tarskavaig road where I take my lunchtime walks

I’ve also upped my lunchtime walking by cutting my lunch break short and going for a walk along a single-track road near my work. As I’ve got fitter my lunchtime walk has gotten a little brisker. Of course, there are days when you’re just talking too much and realise brisk has not exactly happened. But at the same time, I am still walking and rather warm by the time I get back to my desk, so the exercise is still having a positive effect.

I have also walked over the bridge many times since January, and I can now walk over without stopping and without getting out of breath. I have in fact taken this a step further a few times and walked all the way to Kyle and back. My most recent achievement, however, was to climb the very steep hill where I lived about seven years ago. When I lived there I almost died every time I had to walk up it, but this time, not only was I not out of breath, but I was able to hold a conversation as I walked!

Walking is an excellent way to get fit, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone looking to improve their fitness. Especially if you are as unfit as I was nine months ago, or at least believe yourself to be that unfit. It's not as difficult or as scary as going to the gym, and is easier to fit around your life. Just a 10 or 15 minute brisk walk most days will make a difference. Fast enough for you to warm up and get a little out of breath.

When, where or how you choose to walk doesn't matter. The most important thing is that you are!

Not found your walking willpower yet? You might find this blog, "These 7 healthy things will happen with you from walking 30 minutes a day", motivational.

*DISCLAIMER: Just a wee reminder that this is what has worked for me. There's no guarantee that it will work for everyone as we are all different. I’m not a professional!