In spite of a pathological hatred of school PE, I’ve always enjoyed exercise. As a young adult, I’d happily attend two or three exercise classes per week, but time and children got the better of me and I lapsed into couch potato habits. In later years, a colleague and I walked at lunchtime. Well, we started to, and then when things got busy in the surgery, we inevitably stopped.

In the first lockdown, I started walking daily. We’re lucky to live in a rural location, and so I made the most of the time allowed for exercise, and the roads were quieter than usual, which was pleasant. But life moved on, and time became shorter.

I’ve recently taken up walking again though. In January, it felt hard and cold, but I have a walking buddy and we always set the world to rights as we go. She and I (though, if I’m honest, more she than I!) made a commitment to walk, and so walk we do. Twice a week, it’s booked in my diary. I know that sounds like quite a commitment, but it’s under an hour twice a week. And having an allocated time means that I rearrange it rather than cancel it. I cannot walk on my own; I spend too much time thinking about the other things I “should” be doing.

Of course, there are benefits to walking, and the NHS website tells us about some of them. Over time, I should see improvements in my health and stamina. And that seems to be true because I barely notice a 5k walk now, and we’re definitely getting faster.

We live five miles from our local school, so I now park the car further away and walk the remaining distance to pick up my children, which has the added benefit of reducing the traffic in the village centre. I’m fitter, have lost some weight and I feel better for doing it. We also acquired a dog (you may be familiar with my struggles to teach the dog to walk on a lead!) and every day we now have a commitment to walk the dog.

There have been unintentional consequences of walking. As I spend a lot of time in front of a computer or glued to the desk, walking has made an incredible difference to my overall wellbeing. Having made the effort to walk, I’m now more careful about what I’m eating, and how much of it I’m eating. It doesn’t feel like a hardship either, because it’s more mindful eating rather than a “diet”. I’ve noticed increased motivation too, and the house and garden are certainly seeing the benefits of that.

If six months sets a habit, then I’ve only got a couple of months before it becomes a fully fledged part of my life (I hope).

One of the biggest benefits of walking is the “low barrier to entry”. You don’t need fancy kit or an expensive membership. You don’t need amazing trainers or even loads of time. Get off the bus one stop earlier. Park further away and walk. Set aside ten minutes of your lunch break and do a lap or two around the town. Walk at your own pace; there’s no need to compete with anyone.

Living Streets are organising “National Walking Month”  this month (May 2023) and they have lots of suggestions for making walking fun. With the theme of National Walking Month being #TRY20, Living Streets have developed a list of 20 Tips for walking.

If I can fit 20 minutes of walking into my day, I’m sure you can too; just make the decision and off you go.