Have you been thinking that there are not enough hours in the day for all the tasks that need to get done AND to walk?  We are all multi-tasking ladies, so I have been thinking about how to add walking to my daily tasks.  Consider for example how much “walking” is done in the grocery store. The other day I started the mapmywalk app to track how much I walked while I was grocery shopping and I was surprised to see that I walked over a mile. It made me think of all the walking I did just performing regular tasks and how I could magnify my results.   Here are a few small changes that you can make that will add more walking to your daily life.

1) Parking farther from the door – easier now than in winter, but just think of the extra calories burned in winter, since you body is additionally working to keep you warm.

2) Walk while your children are in a class or playing a sport.  Most of us just sit on the sidelines and chat, but you could easily walk during that time.  I keep my hat, sunglasses, and water bottle with me just for this reason. Inspire other moms to walk with you – and have them join Happy Feet!

3) While you are chatting on the phone, walk and talk in your house! I have walked at least half a mile or more during phone calls. The closer the friend, the longer the conversion and the more walking you can do !!!

4) Think of all the walking you do while you are cleaning your house.  As you pick up toys, papers, and clean the mess, try to do an extra two or three rounds around the room.  Just adding these extra steps can add  0.5 miles in 30 minutes of cleaning.

5) When you go shopping at the mall, after you pick up what you need, just take a walk of the whole mall, before you walk to your car.

If you have more ideas about how to add walking to daily tasks – share them in the comments.