Walking Outside is Great for Weight Loss Goals and Finding Peace!

The epitome of exercise for me is walking on a trail through the woods. Douglas and I have been walking on different segments of the Silver Comet Trail near our home. The trail listed in the photo above was an off-shoot that we decided to try, as we both love to explore paths that few people take.

I knew from the beginning of my goal to lose one-tenth of my body weight in 2020 (which I reached) that to be successful, I had to be able to walk outside in the beauty of nature. On the treadmill in the basement, I usually manage 100 minutes a time, but outside, I can walk for up to three hours. We average about 3 miles per hour on the first half of the course, but probably more like 4 miles an hour on the way back. By the time, I reach the car on the return trip, I am walking awkwardly, as I just try to put one foot in front of the other and get back to the car, but then I am not a young whippersnapper anymore!

We walked nearly six miles on the day we tried this path, adding the extra mileage to the three miles round trip by completing other parts of the original trail. There were on this walk some strange and wonderful lineaments, namely storm sewer accesses (we think) that had paintings of animals. I kept walking to see them all.

These are just a few of the about 20 or more examples, all were of animals. Another fun part of this trail was an advertisement for a Christmas hunt for children that we couldn’t resist, as we are still children at heart! It was a reindeer hunt! One of the listed ways was to blow bubbles and they had bottles of bubbles. We took one to see if we could scare up some reindeer!

The confidence needed to remain true to your goals depends on finding ways to enjoy exercising that don’t make it seem like a chore, but a time of enlightenment and peace and fun. For me, that means walking outside, preferably in the wooods, and listening to the birds’ songs, saying hello to my avian sisters and brothers, and just loving the beauty of the flowers and trees, especially the changing scenes of each season.

The need to be outside in this crisis is very real for me, because if I stayed inside all of the time, I would eat everything that don’t eat me! I know myself, and it’s important to know our weaknesses and strengths when trying to reach goals that seem unattainable. I know that I can be my worst enemy when it comes to emotional eating, so the peace of walking outside and the occasional whimsicals objects that we encounter, as well as the people we meet, make the journey to being fit worth it.

I am thankful for my husband who sets a pace that I can keep up with, as his legs are a lot longer than mine. But I also thank my late sister who made me as a child have to learn to walk faster to keep up with her or she would leave me as we walked. I would be crying and screaming for her to wait for me, and she would tell me to walk faster. Now, even my children won’t walk with me, saying that I walk too fast! How about that for age 69!

Fandango prompt is Epitome. Ragtag prompt is Lineament. Word of the Day Challenge is Awkward. Your Daily Prompt is Confidence. The Daily Spur prompt is Scene.