The Little Things Add Up: Walking

I've found that little things can add up and make a big difference not only for weight loss, but also for overall physical and emotional health - I've blogged about it a bit already. Here is another example: I work at a university, and it is nearly impossible to find parking near my office after about 7:45am during the spring and fall semesters. This means that if I have a meeting in the morning and do not get to work until after 9 or 10am, I have to park in the west parking structure, which is across the campus from my office. I hate parking all the way across campus because it takes me forever to get into work and I usually have three tons of work to get done. That said, now when I have to park across campus, I make the best of it. Instead of taking the campus shuttle, I walk across campus to my office. It takes probably five minutes longer at most because the shuttle takes several minutes to arrive and then makes several stops along the way to mine. Skipping the shuttle provides me with an opportunity to fit an extra 30 minutes of walking into my day (15 minutes each way - the first half of which is mostly uphill) and it gives me a few minutes of peace before I enter into the potential chaos of my work day.  In the end my having to do this walk is a great way to start my day. I'm less stressed and a little more clear-headed when I get into the office and I've gotten a little exercise in.