I will start this blog with a first post that might seems like "common sense" but I keep on being amazed by seeing how little people walk on a regular basis, and how much we love those cars...
French people are used to walk outside, go for a walk, it is part of a daily routine. Cities are made so that you walk to the center to do your grocery shopping, go to a restaurant, a museum, catch your bus, etc... and this is a big secret of why french women are skinnier in general.
Walking - and by walking I mean outside, not on a treadmill - helps you maintain your cardio-vascular system and to gently tone your entire body. If practiced on a regular basis it helps you evacuate the stress and tension, purify the organism by improving your intestinal transit. This will also get you outside and breathe some fresh air: that office, the mall, that store is filled with that A/C that everybody is sharing and exhaling CO2 in such a limited area. Noting better than the fresh air, even if you live in a big city.
Now what kind of walking? I would say: any is better than none!!! Of course walking 30 minutes at a fast paced will get you a better exercise: idealistically you should walk dynamically without being out of breath. What we are told all the time in France is that you should walk at least 20 min /day (dynamic walk).
I love to walk with my baby in the stroller and my dog - and they both enjoy it as well - whether it is with a target destination or just for the fact of getting some fresh air, I always come back home regenerated.
Bottom line: anywhere you can go for less than 30 minutes walk = put on your walking shoes and leave your car behind! (unless of course you have some medical contre-indication or you have to cross/walk along a highway ;) It can start by little things: go to your neighbor, go to that grocery store 2-3 blocks away to get your dinner, park you car further away when you go to the store, avoid going back to your car once your done with one store to drive 1500 feet to the other store. Just use those feet!!!
If if you tell me "I am not young, I am tired, I do not have time, I am not in shape enough" ; I will tell you "My great great parents were walking daily 2-3 miles until they died - around 90 years old, walking will re-energize you, make time for your health (and your kids': bring them along!), man was made to walk, turn it into a habit again". Plus, it might get useful when that Zombies invasion happens... lol.. just kidding ;)
