Merry Christmas to All!
I haven't posted in just over a year and it feels a bit awkward posting today. Although I have been AOL in the blogging department I have been doing my best to keep up with my Walk30 habit. Walking everyday is my mainstay and a lifeline. It is not an easy thing to establish a life long habit ... fitness, in general, has required my having to create some sort of obligation to others and I have almost always built in an aspect of commitment.
In 1987, when we moved from Thunder Bay to southern Ontario with our young family, we had to reestablish some kind of fitness routine in our new community. I decided to take the fitness instructors course at the local YMCA and that turned out to be the best health decision that I would ever make. I had no intention of teaching fitness but at the end of the course and after the mandatory hours of practise teaching someone suggested that I take on a class or two as a volunteer instructor. I agreed and the rest is history. I taught at the Y for over 25 years and that obligation kept me fit teaching almost every type of class that was offered. I left the YMCA to teach Dance and Power Walking and just recently I went to an ashram in Quebec to acquire my Yoga teaching certificate. My husband and I also established a walking group that meets a few times a week ... that group has been meeting up and walking for over 12 years.
Without the push and pull of teaching classes, getting up to meet with other walkers, creating goals through walking events and helping others with their path toward better health we would not have gained the health benefits that have blessed our lives.
I highly recommend establishing an obligation to yourself and others to help you create that fitness habit. Maybe it's a race event ... I am heading to Ottawa in May for a Half Marathon with some friends and our goal is to have fun and finish! We will be walking all winter to get ready. Creating an obligation toward a healthier life could simply begin by asking a friend to walk with you on a certain day each week. You could even commit to WALK30 ... that's walking 30 minutes a day for 30 days in a row ... and then commit again ... and again:)
Have a very Merry Christmas and walk into the New Year with a renewed commitment to yourself and drag a friend along with you.
Walk On Strong,
Sue
