June mission: walk to work daily
For too long, I’ve put regular exercise in a priority below the various activities which follow work. I’ve favored hurrying home to watch a movie, write a review, or work on my coding projects to a healthy exercise regimen.
No movie, work, or project is more important than my health. I realized this a few months ago and have finally resolved to do something about it.
Somehow, I need to lose weight. I’ve not maintained my weight since Thanksgiving and Christmas were not kind to my attempted diet. I already eat fairly healthily, so the missing link is exercise.
I recognize that I could join a gym or something, but that costs money I’d rather not surrender and a time commitment which doesn’t fit into my schedule. How can I exercise without sacrificing too much time or money?
Just an approximation, you stalker you
I believe I’ve found an acceptable exercise method: I will walk to and from work daily through June.
The trip normally takes approximately 15 minutes, including about 5 minutes of walking from where I normally park to my office building. It can reach half an hour on bad traffic days. Google Maps says that the trip is 1.6 miles and will take approximately 33 minutes. Fair enough.
In walking, I can get some exercise and savings perhaps a quarter per day in gas. I suppose when compounded through the month, I could save up to…$5.50 by walking. Maybe I’ll buy a beer to celebrate when the month is finished.
However, I recognize that there are certain times when walking will be a great inconvenience to me or my coworkers. I am permitted to drive under these very few conditions:
- An injury sustained during the month makes the journey unbearable.
- It is raining with such ferocity that an umbrella or rainsuit would be useless.
- I awaken or would otherwise leave too late to arrive by 9:30.
- At some point during the day, I must leave work to go to something to which I cannot reasonably walk.
- I must go somewhere immediately after work and could not walk home in time to get my car and get to my destination.
If any of these conditions occur, I must go for at least a 30 minute walk after work in order to make up for it, unless it is unsafe for me to do so. If I am unable to walk for the day, there is no repercussion, as I can’t really think of anything to make up for it.
I tried this for the first time today. I was exhausted by the time I got to work, and I probably left my apartment just a little too late. I carried in my backpack a towel and an extra shirt. It was raining lightly, so I stopped at my car to get an umbrella. The journey back was far more pleasant, and I actually typed the majority of this blog post on my phone
For future travels, I’ll likely wear my Jaybird bluetooth stereo headset and enjoy some tunes or audiobooks. The latter would likely help me power through some books I’ve been wanting to read, but have not found the time to read, such as Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything
I don’t know if I’ll log my weight loss during the month, but I intend as of this moment to post again in a month’s time on this subject and hopefully report positive results.
Please help me on this, and help keep me to this. Thanks.
