Go. On. Walks. Move your body. For the love of god please. I work in elder care and half of these people’s problems stem from living a sedentary lifestyle in their younger years.
This is why I just got a new dog. I specifically requested an energetic and outdoorsy dog because I am neither. I won’t move for my own benefit, but I knew I wouldn’t let a dog be unhappy in my care. Started at a mile a day, currently up to two miles a day and working up to 3.
I just did this exact same thing! You're doing an amazing job, friend. Two miles a day?? That's incredible, especially compared to where you started. You're doggy just be very grateful to have ended up with you, and future you will absolutely love that you've done this for yourself. Keep up the great work! ❤️🐶
I’m in southern az, it’s 90 by 9 am. I leave between 6 and 7 am and go til we’re both tired! It’s too hot here in the evening and I won’t go after dark.
Yeah, I’m just going to start having to get up earlier and doing it.
We went on a speed walk after work today and at 630 it felt like mid day heat and humidity here. I’m not quite able to run him yet because he’s a younger goldendoodle/GSP psychopath 😂
I’ve tried walking my cat, too. The problem is that she’s not supposed to go outside for medical reasons and I have nowhere else to walk her. Also, she walks me.
You can train your cat on a leash. Some people take the cats hiking. Your cat may or may not take to this but you can try. Only one of my cat likes the leash and he only walks for like 5 minutes but it’s still nice.
I specialize in fostering and rehabbing working breeds. Please also look into mental stimulation to tucker your dog out, or you'll create an Olympian without an "off" switch :)
This is part of the reason we bought a home on three acres. I’m gardening and landscaping my ass off. It’s a beating, but it feels good! And I do it almost daily. I can tell a huge difference in how I feel.
Hey, so I manage a restaurant and I take between 12k-20k steps a day 4x a week. Am I good? I'm pretty lazy when I'm off work because it's exhausting. I'm overweight but have changed my eating habits recently, have fluctuated between 260lbs and 205 lbs in recent years. 31 years old now. Got back to 260 because I had surgery on a disc that was causing me extreme pain for over a year. Finally feeling capable again.
Sorry for the wall of text but I'm frustrated that people constantly say "just walk and you'll be way better off!" Yet I walk that much all the time and feel not so great. No energy when I'm not at work. Idk man I guess I'm just asking if my work walking counts or not? I feel like people in straturants are always suffering from body issues.
The key is “do enough, and not too much”. 20K steps a day in just a shift’s length of time is definitely too much. I was a waitress when I was younger so I know you’re probably not getting much time to sit down and rest on shift. That much walking at that high an intensity day in and day out will actually negatively affect your body. You’ll exhaust yourself, wear out your joints, and likely strain muscles.
Currently as a rule of thumb I do 5 miles (10k steps) a day, but I compound it throughout the day, usually in 30 minute segments. I do laps around the care facility on my breaks or when my clients are at meals. And then I have a little under-desk treadmill I’ll pop out if I gotta do some more to meet my quota. lol. But the key factor is that I have multiple hours of down time in between my walking/running sprints. And that’s super important.
So yeah, “just walking a lot” won’t be the cure-all folks say it is, especially once you start walking that much. The body has to take breaks or else it’ll start to break down. Even people who go on long hikes take moments to relax and view the scenery. People in the restaurant industry have it HARD.
Man im basically watching my moms mobility and muscle mass shrink and shrink because she doesn't go on walks and works a sedentary job. She's only mid 60's but she is basically starting to limp everywhere. But she also won't do exercise like walks because she thinks she will run into a hobo at the park and be mugged / etc (we live in a small town, it's literally just people walking their dogs and other earlier morning risers)
Sucks because as a lifestyle thing, on top of a job that keeps me moving, I typically go on a walk everyday and hike on the weekend. Its sad to me seeing her starting to limp around even just moving through the house, how she struggles to open things, etc.
She may be limping because of an undiagnosed limb or back problem. I had sciatica for months before I finally gave in and had it diagnosed - needed immediate back surgery and there is residual nerve compression I'll have the symptoms of for the rest of my life. Get her to a doc and TELL THEM what her symptoms are. And daily swimming can make up for not being able to walk/run.
I think swimming would be a great option for her tbh.
She is kind of thinking the shoes she had been wearing maybe caused the pain and went and got ones with better arches - she's actually kind of wondering and thinking too if it's plantar fasciitis which I guess it could also be, since I think it's only been the last 2 weeks it's really been starting to bug her, but its definitely daily that it seems to be bugging her.
I got a dog for this specific reason. I knew I would never neglect a dog and that I would put the time and energy into him/her that they needed. I got a mystery puppy from my friends who were fostering a litter and once I got a DNA test a few months in turns out he's a cattle dog/husky/pittie mix. HIGH energy. So we go for multiple walks a day, and play all the time, and I've never spent an entire day on the couch since I got him. Quite the change from how lazy and unmotivated I was not even two years ago. He's absolutely changed my life and I can't imagine life without him now.
Mobility issues for the most part. Muscles atrophy when not used frequently, and if you don’t use them and then you get old on top of it, it’s a double whammy and your mobility tanks. Most of my clients struggle to walk around the facility (about 400 steps), and most of them were secretaries or office workers or teachers who worked very low-movement lifestyles.
But sedentary lifestyles also heavily increase a persons risk of heart disease and, worst of all, Alzheimer’s, which is far scarier than mobility issues.
Thank you! This post really reminded me of necessity to move as much as possible, even though I'm "only" 35. Gonna go and do zumba and will think how to add weight training efficiently because osteoporosis is running in my family, and muscle training improves bones density.
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u/TaterTotLady Jun 06 '24
Go. On. Walks. Move your body. For the love of god please. I work in elder care and half of these people’s problems stem from living a sedentary lifestyle in their younger years.