Yes, exercise is good for you, but it isn’t always easy to find the motivation to get moving. What if you decided to add just one mile this week — on foot or on wheels? Here are three women who rose to the challenge.
Challenge: add a mile — bike it, walk it, run it
Why? We all know exercise is good for weight loss and heart health. But did you know it can also boost your mood, give you energy and improve your sex life?
Mom Kristen says “Diva Lila (age 5) took her helmet off for this photo.”
Kristen: Exercise is necessary, but for me has to be fun. And when at all possible it must involve our girls, so naturally I choose cardio with the kiddos. And what better way to trek a mile than with my 5-year-old on a bike and me on Rollerblades while trailing my toddler in a wagon? Admittedly, we didn’t go very fast, and had a few training-wheel mishaps on the “con-creek” trail, as Lila calls it. But any time we get outdoors as a family, plus get some exercise in is a good day. And luckily, on wheels, a mile is short.
Kerry: I was thrown a curve ball this week. Turns out relocation might be in my future. If I go, I’ll be uprooting my family and everything they know. If I stay, let the job search commence. The stress has been intense, and it would be easy to calm my anxieties with chocolate. By day two, however, I elected to put on the running shoes. Pounding out a few miles was the perfect way to alleviate some tension and clear my head. I see many more trail runs in my future.
Deborah: I am a freelance writer by profession, so you might say that my job is pretty sedentary. I don’t get up and move a lot, and my body has definitely suffered for it. The weather has started to warm up and I have decided to add a mile to my daily routine. Luckily, my neighborhood is one that has miles of beautiful walking nature trails. So I dropped the girls off at school, plugged in my earbuds, turned on running radio on Pandora and just. Did. It. That walk changed my whole attitude for the rest of the day. Needless to say, the walk is staying. Every big change starts with a single step.
Our Everyday Inspiration series wants to inspire you with small ways to improve your life. We’ve asked 20 women to take on a variety of small challenges and share their results. See all of our Everyday Inspiration challenges here, and meet the women here.
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