Are morning walks REALLY worth the bother? YES!!!

Do you consider yourself a morning person? I do, but there’s a caveat. I enjoy getting up early, but I do not enjoy having to get up and going quickly in the morning. I’m usually awake and willingly out of bed by 6 or at least 6:30—especially since reading and implementing the transformative book The Miracle Morning. However, I don’t like to have appointments/plans before 10. 

I love beyond words my “me” time in the morning—time when I can pray, visualize, meditate, read, write, etc. all by myself without any distractions or interruptions. In fact, Josh and I laugh when we remember that, about five years into our marriage, I kindly (hopefully) suggested to him that he should sleep in a little more when he started testing out getting up and to work “early”, and therefore began cutting into my quiet time. 😂 

Josh is a TOTAL night owl, and he’s been blessed with jobs that have been fine with him not starting till 9-10, so I never thought I’d have to encourage him to sleep in. I was wrong. 🤣 Our contrasting sleep patterns have been something we’ve always had to navigate. 

ANYWAY, I love my mornings. There’s one part of many people’s morning routines that I’ve never been able to stick with, though: exercise. Oh, yes. I’m going there. The physical fitness talk. If you’re anything like me, you have a long history of thinking/knowing you *should* exercise more, but you have little to no desire to actually do it. (*I’ll have to do another blog post about this dreadfully loaded word sometime.*) Sure, you dream about the positive results of exercising, but actually wanting to do the work…? Not so much.

As I’ve stated before, though, my life has a different trajectory this year. One of the main goals I’ve been working with my life coach on is losing weight. Back at the beginning of March, I set the goal that I wanted to be 40 pounds lighter in a year. I’ve lost 17 pounds so far! The incredible thing is that I’ve lost it all with hardly any exercise! I’ve changed my eating habits, and, perhaps more importantly, my mindset around food. Emotional weight is a real thing, folks.

Alas, though, all good things must come to an end, I’m afraid. I’ve been at a weight loss plateau for quite some time, and I’ve been thinking more and more that it’d probably help if I started actually exercising. Y’all—I’ve never enjoyed exercising. The sweat, the difficulty breathing, the feeling like I’m being watched and judged because I’m doing it “wrong”, the WORK… Ugh. I’ve paid for far too many gym memberships far longer than I actually went than I’d like to admit. 

Like I said, though, I want to turn over a new leaf! I know that, for me, I need to start with something simple that I enjoy. As far as exercise goes, I enjoy walking. I figure it’s something I can’t mess up too much. 😂

So I’d been toying with the idea of making going on walks a more regular part of my weekly routine for awhile. Thinking about it, then making excuses… It’s too hot most of the day; I’d have to start way early or go way late if I want to go alone; if I go in the morning, I’ll have to shower right after, and I don’t know if I’ll have enough time—you get the picture. 😉🤦 (PLEASE tell me I’m not the only one who runs these circles in her head instead of pounding them out on the pavement! 😂)

Then last Wednesday, I woke up earlier than usual, and I couldn’t get back to sleep. Instead of tossing and turning, hoping I’d fall back asleep but knowing I wouldn’t, I decided to try the whole morning walk thing.

You guys! It. Was. AMAZING! Yes, I had to actually change out of my PJs, put on socks and shoes, and leave my house before 6 AM. The payoff was so worth it, though! It was quiet. It was a nice temperature. The sunrise was beautiful. I got to listen to a podcast I’ve been enjoying. PLUS the feeling of checking something off my to-do list (especially something like exercise that rarely gets checked off) first thing in the morning was phenomenal. It turns out that all of the experts are right! Walking (or exercise in general) has so many benefits.

I’ve enjoyed my morning walks so much this week. It’s something I actually look forward to! This was unexpected, but I’m so glad I finally acted on my walking idea. My goal is to go on at least four walks every week. I know I could make a more ambitious goal. I am more than aware that doing other exercises could increase my weight loss. However, I’m trying hard to focus on and act on this Winston Churchill quote:

“It is better to do something than to do nothing while waiting to do everything.”

It’s a great quote for a recovering perfectionist/procrastinator/overthinker.

Who wants to join me on my walking goal? Who has some awesome tips for how to consistently get out of the house even when you REALLY don’t feel like it? I’ve read most of the go-to books on habits and am trying to set up my systems for success. Anyone want to be my accountability buddy? Let me know if you’d like me to set up a Facebook group or something. Follow up with me to see how my walking goal is going!