Is Walking an expensive hobby?

It can be. However it doesn't have to cost you a penny, if you have a decent pair of walking shoes and comfortable clothes to wear.  After all, all you are doing is walking around your neighbourhood/trails/parks, which costs nothing.

As with everything in this day and age, even walking is getting technical and you can buy things to make your daily walking trips even better and more state of the art.

I have "sort of" fallen into that trap with my new Fitbit.  The last one I had was perfectly fine, but I wanted one with more bells and whistles.  So that cost me $226.00.  Money well spent as far as I am concerned, but pricey all the same.

I then spent $110 on a pair of decent walking shoes.  I could have put up with my other walking shoes, but as I need my feet to be in tip top condition while walking, it was money well spent.

Clothes to walk in.  I will say I have not fallen into that trap of buying fancy lycra leggings and tops to strut around in.  One, because I have perfectly good clothes to walk in and two, me and lycra are not the best friends.  You should be pretty thin to wear lycra.  When you have extra rolls of body fat you don't need to squeeze it into lycra so you look like a stuffed sausage!

I will say though I may invest in some fluorescent clothing soon, as the amount of times people have nearly ran me over.  I would love to say I am so skinny so they can't see me, but that is not the case, and as the mornings and nights are drawing in, it may be a wise investment.  Wal-Mart has a $6 yellow fluorescent man's t-shirt that I can pop over my current clothing!!  And yes I walk towards to traffic, so no excuse of me not seeing them either.

A popular item around here are Nordic Urban Poles

If you click on the link above it tells you more about them. It does say this in the information:

"These premium-quality Urban Poles are built for fitness and engineered for performance, safety and comfort. Burn up to 46% more calories than walking without poles, and easily strengthen your core with the help of our unique strapless ergonomic handle that engages your core muscles as you walk."

I haven't got them but will say they do look a handy thing to have when the weather gets icy and I know I have a weak posture.

A lot of people walk around with ear buds in listening to one thing or another to pass the time.  I have an ipod nano mini, that I have had for years, that I use occasionally:

Can you even get them now?  Mine is a red one.  I do like to let my mind wander when walking, so don't need music to keep me entertained.

Do you have things you need to have when walking?  Or things that are on your wish list?

Walking stats for Wednesday:

Miles Walked: 5.64

Steps Walked: 13,300

Minutes exercised: 86

Floors climbed: 22

How I have benefited from walking.

Yesterday I seemed to focus on the negative aspects of walking, today I will focus on the positive things that have happened since I have taken up walking.

1. My overall health has improved.
2. I have lost weight.
3. I am sleeping better.
4. I am meeting people; generally the same ones every day.  We always say a quick hello or a few words as we pass one another.
5. I am seeing more wildlife which is always a plus.  We have so many rabbits around here.
6. My leg muscles seem so much stronger with walking up and down the hills.
7. Although I still puff and pant I don't feel as though I am going to die after doing a three mile walk😎
8. With losing the weight and walking I have stopped taking one of my prescription pill's.  I am hoping to cut another one out in the next few months.

However with saying all that on Tuesday morning, my legs felt like a hundred pounds each.  I was having an off day, but did still manage to walk.  

My stats for Tuesday:

• Steps walked: 10,800
• Floors climbed: 19
• Minutes exercised: 57
• Miles walked: 4.58

We are half way through the month of August and I am "hoping" to lose another 6 lbs before the end of the month.  I seem to have reached a "plateau" at the moment and can't move over a certain weight; so I need every bit of encouragement I can get.

Is Walking Good For You?

In my humble opinion it is, but it's not without it's pitfalls.  My feet and legs took a beating when I first started walking.  

My first "injury" was a nasty blister on the bottom of my small toe on my left foot.  A couple of days after that popped up I had a medical pedicure and the lady decided to pop the blister and pour acid (it felt like acid 😬) antiseptic fluid on it to keep it clean and I about jumped out of the chair.

My second "injury" was the arch on my right foot.  Thought I was starting with plantar fasciitis, but it seems to have calmed down.

After that I have had various muscle strains in my legs, which come and go.

My biggest downfall is thinking I can walk more than I can, when in fact all I end up doing is hurting myself.  I also did not use the correct walking shoes to start with.  I ended up buying a pair of these walking shoes:

They are fine but I am still wearing them in, so not 100% perfect at the moment.  

Then due to the weather I have got sun burnt.  I have also had more mosquito bites this year than in past years, as my main walk is first thing in the morning to try and beat the heat and if it's damp out that's when all the biting insects are around.

I go for one long walk in the morning just after 6am of around 3 miles which takes around an hour.  Then I do one or two shorter walks during the day depending on how much time I have and also what the weather is like.  My "goal" is to have logged between 4 - 5 miles on my FitBit every day.  Some days I do a lot less other days I do more.  I vary my walks every day, so I don't get bored.

This is one of the hills I walk up most days:

As per my FitBit it's equivalent to climbing 6 floors in a building?

Yesterday was a good walking day as I had three good walks and logged the following:

• Miles walked: 7.53
• Steps: 17,770
• Minutes exercised: 131
• Floors climbed: 34

Today, I may not do any, who knows!!  I do what I feel like doing.

Here is a link to an interesting article that asks, Walking For Exercise: Is it enough by itself?

Tomorrow I'll tell you what benefits I have noticed due to my walking.

(I am struggling with the editing on this post, tomorrow's should be back to normal, I hope!)