Taking the First Step

So I, um, applied to college. And I got in. It was all sort of random and last minute; as is everything I ever do. I have been thinking about college for a long time, but it was not something I had taken any concrete steps towards. We lacked money, time and for five years we lived too far from any accredited 4 year universities. So for a long while college was just an idea and then it seemed like this week it suddenly became a reality. I spent the last five days attending orientations, meeting advisers, finding buildings, parking garages, the Student ID center, the Student Union and finally a temporary ice skating rink where my children and husband were waiting for me. Today I had to hit 3 book stores to find all of my books and supplies for school, so a lot more walking there. Judging by my handy-dandy college map I actually walked several miles this week. I also got in a pretty nice walk while my daughter was at math tutoring.

Needless to say the cool but comfortable weather made all of that pretty lovely exercise, actually.

If you are in a climate where the weather is not conducive to being outside, how can you get in your daily walk? There are some neat alternatives! Of course if you have a treadmill, you are set already, just jump on and go. Do you have a stair case in your home? Great! You get to walk and climb, increasing your aerobic fitness at the same time. No stairs? How about a single step, perhaps leading to a porch or garage? Then you have a place to do some step aerobics to any fabulous songs on your iPod. No steps at all? How about setting a timer and simply walking around your living room for 15 minutes several times a day? If you work at home simply set a reminder alert to take a walk around the house. Return phone calls while you pace in the kitchen. Wear a pedometer and you will AMAZE yourself with the number of steps you are able to take in a day. There are even some free pedometer apps you can use on your smartphone! Park a little further back in the parking lot, go up and down every aisle of the grocery store, take the stairs instead of the elevator at the office, set aside 15 minutes of every lunch break to walk the hallways, you can get a surprising amount of movement in each day.