Beauty Bites - Healthy Recipes & Fitness

Learn to walk before you can run.

And then keep walking, because it’s better for your health and belly fat percentage.

This is something I came to realize only last year.

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It was a time when I spent basically my LIFE at my desk, chasing dreams and butterflies. All that after I did an energizing and super fulfilling workout in the morning.

I gained some weight and a LOT of belly fat, even though I was also eating healthy(-ish).

After a few mild breakdowns I finally realized that to be healthy and stay in shape, I can’t just take shortcuts and compensate for doing something unhealthy (sitting for 9-10 hours) by working out daily.

I needed to invest some time and actually start enjoying being active throughout the day.

So I started walking and it worked.

Benefits of a daily walk

Whenever I remind myself I can take a walk today (and then actually do it), I am less stressed, happier, get more things done, I’m more creative and can actually eat pizza without it sticking to my belly.

Here are some of the most famous benefits of walking daily.

Walking is not just for “beginners”

Whoever you are, walking can help you too. Whether you’re

a beginner and just starting a health or weight loss journey
someone who works out & eats healthy(-ish), but can’t seem to lose weight
or someone who doesn’t want to lose weight, but is just going crazy and can’t seem to finish anything at their computer.

Even if you’re super fit and live in the gym, walking can make a HUGE difference for you.

Whether you want to lose weight by only walking or to supplement your workout routine by going on daily walks, as a “passionate” walker, here are my best tips on how to make walking more fun, so you can go further every time, burn fat and make it a habit you enjoy.

Walking To Lose Weight: Tips To Help You Make Walking a Habit

You can take your walks in the morning, during your lunch break or after work – what time doesn’t really matter.

Here’s how to reduce insulin resistance (and burn belly fat):

Remember: You don’t need to do all your walking at once (in fact I highly suggest you don’t do that).

Take one medium walk (for example 30 min) during the day to relieve stress and then try to stay active as much as you can throughout the day.

You can walk 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there, even 5 minutes will work, as long as you stay active at least for 5 min every hour. If you’re awake for 16h and walk 5min every hour you’ll walk 80 minutes daily – not bad at all. Small things do add up.

Okay, now let’s go.

1. Let’s Talk Shoes.

You won’t go very far if your shoes aren’t comfortable. Make sure to have shoes that aren’t too hard and aren’t too tight or too loose. I never really cared about shoes and am not super pain sensitive, so I can walk with shoes even if they make blisters on my feet (which I obviously don’t encourage).

However getting these shoes from Skechers just made walking, running, any type of being on my feet about 100 times more enjoyable. Even if I don’t feel like it, these shoes make me move. Choose the right shoe for you, make sure they’re comfortable.

2. Set the right goal.

Now, if you’re walking just to get in shape, burn fat or to get creative and reduce stress, then you need to change the way you think.

All these things, the benefits (like losing weight and feeling less stressed) are side effects of enjoying a DAILY walk. They are not the goal.

When walking, it’s really important to focus on something that you want to accomplish NOW, today. Not something that can happen in a few weeks (like losing weight).

Maybe it’s working on your to do list (like getting groceries, paying bills, meeting with a friend) or going somewhere you love or somewhere you’ve always been curious about.

For example when I was little we moved into a building where I would always look out and see a beautiful lake in the far distance. I’d always imagine that it’s a magical place where something amazing happens. But I never went there for 10 years because I’m a procrastinator and a sloth in one. And also, I’ve always been scared of everything.

Then, one day after I was 18, me and my friend decided to just go. It wasn’t a beautiful walk (lots of buildings and cars), but knowing where I’m going and having this goal in mind I was able to get to my destination.

And, I found out it only took me 20 minutes to get there. 20 minutes to get to a place I’ve always been wondering about. Now. Was this lake a magical place? Well, it was a great lake, but nothing really magical was happening there. Except that I found there was a gas station near. But here I was – mystery solved and I walked 40 minutes without even noticing.

And now you’re like:

via giphy

Bottom line: set the right goal (or many goals) and walk.

3. Record your steps and time

Progress is not the only thing that should motivate you in life, but until you make something a habit and do it automatically – progress can pull you toward your goals. So TRACK.

Track how much time you walk or how many steps you make each day. You can use fitbit or any other fitness tracker to count how many steps you make.

Under 5.000 steps is considered sedentary and 10.000 steps is what most experts recommend.

I personally do not count steps, I do it intuitively and I sometimes track time and roughly the distance I walked.

4. Listen to an audiobook

Go, explore and take a moment to breathe.

Yeah, that’s cute, but who’s got time for a boring walk in the park watching squirrels and ducks chase each other?

I’ve got work to do.

I’ve got bills to pay.

But mostly I’ve got social media and youtube to catch on.

Well, to stop making time an excuse for sitting 9 hours until my butt feels DEAD, I like to listen to an audiobook while I walk. I feel like I’m doing something good for my mind, I’m learning new stuff & I’m doing something great for my health.

The best place to find audiobooks is Audible, and lucky for all of us, they have a free 30-day trial. You get a free audiobook that you can keep after the free trial is over.

* Get your free 30-Day Audible Trial and a free audiobook. If you’re in the UK, sign up here to get your free Audible trial and audiobook.

5. Record your thoughts

Think of all the times, you sit at your computer and can’t come up with a good idea. Just can’t figure it out. Then you go get a coffee, make a sandwich or take a shower (well obviously that’s perfect when you’re at the office) and your head is BOMBARDED with GREAT ideas.

This happens to me probably every day. And it happens mostly when I go out for a walk. Now, because my mind is RACING when I’m on my walk, and I know I’m not going to remember any of my awesome ideas once I get back to my desk, I go ahead and record them.

I use Evernote on my phone for this and I just pretend I’m talking to someone on the phone while I’m dictating as if I’m a school teacher. Yes, I’m a little fox. Believe it or not, this actually makes me remember all of my ideas, even if I never listen to the recordings (which happens often). But the fact that I do have them, just makes me feel better.

Well, these were my tips to help you walk a little further every time, so you actually enjoy your walk and not just think “Are we done yet?”. It’s important to remember to not think of walking as something you MUST do to lose fat (this will happen any way), take it as an opportunity to experience something new and exciting each time. You never know what happens when you spend some time outside. Definitely more memorable and exciting things than sitting at your phone or computer at home (or at the office).

If you enjoyed this post, make sure to share it with a friend who might enjoy it as well and subscribe below for more updates from me. Now do the happy walk.