Walking: It's Not Pointless

You may not think that just walking is very effective, but let me just say that over the course of this past weekend, I lost over 3 pounds because of it. When I go spend time with the boy, we walk almost everywhere. This is because parking in these cities is always a nightmare and everything really is within walking distance if you have the time. AmIright? Yes. We walk to go out to eat, to the train station to get to other cities, walk around San Francisco, just everywhere basically. You may not think about the distance in terms of calories burned while you're doing it, but in reality it is doing you so much good to walk instead of drive. Now, I've always been the kind of person that was always in too much of a hurry to not drive, but since moving here, I've slowed down in so many ways. Not only do I enjoy walking, I feel more accomplished from it in some ways. 

Now, when I say that we walk a lot, I mean we really cover a lot of miles over the course of a weekend. I don't know exactly how many, but it's a lot. I do know that. Let me paint you a little picture: I ate 2 hamburgers, a large sandwich, fries on two separate occasions, granola-type bars, bananas, coffee with real sugar, shrimp pasta, a fried prawn appetizer, ice cream on 2 separate occasions and still managed to lose more than 3 pounds. That's how much walking we do. The point that I'm trying to make here is that if you're able, do little things to encourage yourself to walk in your daily routine. At the grocery store, don't fight other people for that front parking spot. Park toward the back and walk a little bit. It won't kill you. Little things like that can add up and really become a positive, noticeable change. If you're not at the point of being able to run for exercise, walk instead and build yourself up. I mean, that's how this former fatty got started! 

Back to my weekend. It was pretty amazing. I was off for almost the whole day on Friday, so we went to lunch then headed into SF. We walked around, caught a movie, then met up with a friend of mine from home. This was such a treat! It was comforting to hear those Southern accents and talk about familiar things :) From the house he was staying in, we were able to watch the fireworks from AT&T Park after the Giants' win. That was a pretty great experience. Saturday was a bit lazy, but enjoyable nonetheless. Sunday, we went back into SF for the Giants game. *Sigh*. I love living here. I love that I'm able to do this so easily. The game was awesome (we won 5-0) and of course the company was enjoyable, as well. After the game, we walked back through the city to a friend's place to borrow his car and we drove back to my house, but not before taking in a delicious dinner at First Street Cafe in Benicia. Despite the blisters on my poor feet, this weekend was near perfection. Nothing super exciting, yet pleasant, fun, and memorable. 

The adventures are on-going and there's never a dull moment lately. Being out in the Sun, enjoying life seems to be what I do best now. That's definitely not a bad thing, though. Eventually the lounging and adventures will be more sporadic when it's time to start school again, but for now, I'm taking everything in as it happens and not taking anything for granted. And you should do the same, no matter your circumstance. Nothing is ever so bad that you can't take a moment to smile about something. Now get out there and walk!