So – we have covered how I need to bully myself out for my walking lunch by giving myself a task. But this week we are gonna cover the more important stuff.
The WHY you should go to the effort to get that butt out of the office for at least 20 minutes at lunch time. Why you should get your walking lunch on!
Why you should embrace a walking lunch
It’s an easy way to exercise
I don’t know about you, but I make excuses not to exercise ALL the time. Being too busy to fit it in before or after work is a particular favourite of mine. Walking at lunch time though? Sure what else were ya gonna do with that time? I often attempt to do some work – but in all honesty, it usually ends up with me scrolling through Twitter & Instagram aimlessly… We’ve all been there!
The benefits of a simple, brisk walk are well known. Walking once a day can help you manage your weight, prevent conditions such as high blood pressure, strengthen your bones and even improve your balance and coordination. 20minutes walk a day, 365 days a year totals to over 121 hours a year. That’s 5 and a half days of walking. How can that not be a good thing?! Walking lunch = fitter you.
An opportunity to explore your environment
Spend most of your time travelling from place to place in vehicles, and starring at the world through windows? Don’t you find that you never manage to really observe your surroundings? Take a walk in your local area and take in all the things you have never stopped to notice. Little bits of architecture, well maintained flower beds, the local wildlife… Getting outside is the only way to really enjoy the changing of the seasons ♥
Strengthen your relationships
I’m not going to lie to you guys. Sometimes we sit in our house and watch the TV – and we don’t talk. There is no conversation. Nadda! Beyond the offers of cups of tea, and comments on whatever meaningless drivel we are watching on the box that night… We never walk in silence.
Walk with your partner, walk with your Mam, walk with friends – I promise it will strengthen your relationships nattering away as you walk.
Shinrin-yoku 森林浴
Shinrin-yoku first came about in Japan during the 1980s and has since become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine. The idea is simple: if a person simply visits a natural area and walks in a relaxed way – there are calming, rejuvenating and restorative benefits to their well-being. No technology, not even a camera. Just you and nature.
Turn off & destress.
Your brain will thank you
Of all the ways to use your lunch break to set yourself up for a great afternoon, the most important might be, well, actually taking a break! Yet people are taking shorter and shorter lunch breaks – and often none at all! Taking a break, even just for 20 minutes, is a proven way to sustain concentration and energy levels throughout the day. Never taking a break actually reduces creativity.
Never taking a break actually reduces creativity. How many of those super ideas have you had while staring at a computer screen? I’d hazard a guess that it is many many less than when you’ve been elsewhere!
A great excuse to treat yourself
Fancy a wee coffee? Maybe the sun is out and an ice cream is calling? Go get yourself one, take it on your stroll; you deserve it!
So there we have it – Last week I gave you some little tasks to get yourself out of that seat walking at lunch time and today we have 6 reasons why you should embrace a walking lunch. Next week I will let you know how I have got on over the last month, and any results I have seen!
This is a sponsored post but that does not mean I am not 100% behind Westfield Health’s Walking Lunch Campaign. By getting up and walking a bit more than usual each day – particularly on your lunch break – you can reap the benefits both mentally and physically.
