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When you decide to take steps toward improving your health, walking may just be the easiest place to start. And when you do — even for just a few minutes a day — you’re likely to improve your mood, have more energy and see positive changes in your physical health.
This month, we’re challenging you to go on a walking streak to make a daily walk a habit for the next 30 days.
Often, taking that first step is the hardest part. Different strategies can help you put one foot in front of the other and develop a regular walking routine. Here’s what worked for 17 people, all members of Start TODAY, who built their walking habits from scratch and saw impressive results.
Change your vocabulary to change your mindset
Al Roker is an outspoken advocate for the power that walking has to transform your health. He has been spearheading our monthly walking challenges and is a success story himself, once weighing in at 340 pounds. It has been more than 20 years since his gastric bypass surgery and he continues to make his health a priority (last year he even lost an additional 50 pounds!). One of his top tips is to shift the way you talk to yourself about your workouts.
Roker never uses the word “only” when referring to his fitness routine — and he wants you to ditch that mindset, too. “Stop using the word only. So many of you on our Facebook page were talking about, ‘Oh you only did this, you only did that,’” he said in a Facebook video. “The fact is, you got it done, you made it happen, and that’s what counts.” In his daily video updates in the Start TODAY group, Roker often stresses that “something is better than nothing,” encouraging people do what they can — and celebrate whatever that is.
Do it for your mental health
Kari Hughes Newman, 46, likes to explore…
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