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METRO WORKOUT

Just enjoy it!

Photo: Vino John

Step by step Walking can be a great physical and mental work-out

Before I start, let me confess that I am basically lazy. No, that doesn’t deter me from occasionally taking a nice stroll around a park or say, getting on to winding walks during my hill holidays. Later, when I think about these walks, I often feel they do a lot to lower my stress level. I feel particularly happy because whatever good it does me, it does without making me conscious of it. Every time I get into my walking shoes, I do so not because it works as a stress buster but because it seems my wish of the moment.

Well, now that I am talking about wish fulfilment, I have one more to mention. That is to get back the body I possessed 10 years ago. And now, please don’t lie. If you have left your 20s behind, don’t you also have such a secret wish? We often defend this yearning with reasons like how a slim waist is good for the health in the long run. But in the heart of hearts, who doesn’t want to hold on to youth?

A similar urge developed wings when, leafing through an international magazine recently, I found it quoting a study report published in the journal Obesity which said if you do 10,000 steps a day, you would lose excess weight irrespective of your walking pace and dietary habits. It looked to me a feasible idea, more appealing than joining the rigorous routine of a gym or the dictates of a personal trainer. And well, before I knew it, I found myself counting one, two, three.

The first day, I could clock barely 1500 steps. I promised myself to step it up to 3000 the next week. Two more weeks passed and I found myself collecting complements. I gradually increased my effort to 5000 steps, then 7000, and then huffed and puffed one evening to 10,000 steps! Dripping sweat, I smiled at my success. Though, it didn’t take me long to realise that I would have to reach the goal daily, to reap the benefits. Not willing to give up easily, I did go on, some days till 7000 steps, some days till the magic count of 10,000.

And then, something happened. I know what. It made me realise that I was no longer enjoying my walks but was just counting steps. Worse, at times I would not greet familiar faces at the park for fear of forgetting my numbers! And then I made my choice. Not to count my steps anymore.

What I do now is set an alarm of 30 minutes on my cell phone. It has worked perfectly for me. It might not work in your case, but what always works is the realisation that the first rule of walking is, it has to be enjoyed. If you shed any flab during that enjoyment, then so be it!

( sangeetab@thehindu.co.in)

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