Can Walking Really Keep You Fit?

If anyone says that you can stay fit and healthy without even moving a muscle, be assured that he is not a fitness expert. This is really basic common sense: if you don’t move your body, your body won’t burn the extra calories it received from foods. According to the law of thermodynamics, energy can either be created or stored but NOT destroyed. In this case, since your body cannot use the calories to produce energy, it would store them as fat, and you would become fat. Pretty simple explanation, isn’t it? You see, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the relation between exercise and fitness.

Oh okay, I know that you panic on hearing the very name of ‘exercise’. But don’t worry, I would not ask you to go to an expensive gym and waste your money and energy there, nor I would ask you to jog or run for hours. All I ask you is to WALK. Yes, as simple as it is, waking is indeed the key to staying fit and healthy without much hassle.

You see, unless you are absolutely lame or too old to stand erect, walking shouldn’t be a big deal for you. From my experience, this is one exercise which anyone can do, whether he is an 8-year old child or an 80-year old veteran.

There are many ways in which walking helps you. Firstly, it moves your muscles, and when muscles and bones move, they stay fit and healthy. Secondly, it takes you away from the dark room you are cooped up in to the fresh air and sunlight outside; once again, these are good for your health.

Thirdly, it rids you of stress and depression; you would notice that when you start walking, you would forget your worries and just enjoy the walk. Fourthly, it is cheap – heck, it is totally free, since you don’t need to buy any special exercise equipment or gadget to walk. All you need is a pair of comfortable, athletic shoes and you are ready to put your first step forward.

It walking is not a perfect workout for you, I don’t know what is.

Now, if you have never walked in life, you would be facing one major difficulty at the outset (in fact, it is faced by almost everyone who are in your shoes) – that of motivating yourself to walk daily. Let’s say that on one occasion, you notice that either it is too hot or raining outside. Under such circumstances, it is too easy to stay in the comfort zone of your room and too hard to take out those walking shoes and go for an outdoor trip. But as you continue walking day after day, it would soon become a habit. Studies point out that it takes a human at least 21 days to form a new habit; however, once a habit is formed, it becomes difficult to drop it.

The same applies to walking as well. Once walking becomes a habit for you, you would feel uneasy on any day you don’t venture out to walk. You would feel a weird disturbance going on inside your body that would be solved only when you take your regular walk.

Yep, that is exactly how a habit motivates you to keep on doing what you have been doing. So, while the first 21 days might be tough for you, you would find that from the 22nd day onwards, walking has become a part of your nature.

Now, if you currently visit a gym or exercise with a home-exercise equipment, that is fine. But please don’t forsake your daily walking routine for them. You see, walking helps you burn calories for sure; but more importantly, it keeps you in touch with the fresh air and sunlight of nature, which is a crucial part of maintaining a healthy body and mind.

Now here is one bitter truth I need to tell you: no matter how much you walk, until and unless you change your unhealthy food habits, you won’t see much difference in your body . If regular walking is important, equally important is getting rid of junk foods and gorging on natural fruits and vegetables instead. Junk foods not only ruin your digestive system but also your overall health. When you eat junk and rubbish stuff, your body’s hormonal equilibrium is lost, and you start gaining .

So, regardless of whether you have a breakfast, lunch, dinner, or just want to snack, always and always eat only natural and organic foods. Also make sure that the foods you eat are fresh, as stale foods would do more harm than good to your body.

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