Some of you know I started walking more last year following a back injury. I've been exercising for years now, and for me that has mainly been strength training. Once I got past the fact I wasn't truly a fan of exercise, but knew I needed to do so for my health and wellness, it truly became a lifestyle. However, once I started having back issues in my 30s, my lifestyle of fitness would sometimes be challenged. Fast forward to my late 40s, and now a new challenge has arrived, and I think it might have everything to do with perimenopause.
Normally, I would roll out of bed and prepare myself to head downstairs for my workouts about five days a week, but something started to change for me last year. I did not want to lift any weights. Some days, I did not have the energy to do it, and some days I did not have the mental space to do it. I was kind of forced into walking following my back injury, but the next thing I knew, I kept going. A lot of days, I feel like it's all I have to give as far as exercise is concerned, and I do it.
A lot of people have been inquiring about the changes I've seen since I started all of this walking. Now, I know many are looking for an answer in terms of weight, but as I thought about it, there were three things that stood out to me since beginning this journey. I'll get the weight aspect out of the way first. Since February, I've walked well over 350 miles. Have I lost weight? No, the scale has not budged for me, but I try not to get down about that because I have noticed my legs leaning out quite a bit. This may not seem like a lot, but I'll take it, and I'll still try to focus on eating a well-balanced diet that may help with these extra 15 lbs that want to hang out with me.
I never dealt with PMS like some women do. To be honest, because I didn't have this issue monthly, I didn't understand what a lot of women were going through. Then, last year I started to notice at that time of the month I was very uncomfortable. The pain and complete lack of energy left me depleted and laying around for about 24 hours leading up to my period. I began to dread that time of the month, and I didn't know what to do. Since I've been consistently walking, I haven't had that happen to me one time these past few months, and I truly think walking might be the reason.
Lastly, my mental state has been so much better since walking every day. Let me explain. I've never dealt with depression, and again, it was something I didn't understand. Last year, I noticed there were days I just kind of woke up feeling terrible. I didn't want to do anything, talk to anyone, or open my curtains. I just felt blah. I knew I didn't feel like myself, but I couldn't figure out why. This would go on for a few days, and sometimes I would look up and realize I hadn't accomplished anything that week. Even though that disappointed me, I also didn't care. I can't be certain, since I don't have a formal diagnosis, but I think I was experiencing some form of depression. Needless to say, I'm grateful I haven't experienced that feeling these past several months, and it just happens to coincide with the time I got back outdoors and started walking again.
My point in all of this is there have been great unexpected benefits to my walking journey. My physical health is important, but so is my mental, emotional and spiritual health. I think I've tapped into a bit of healing in ways I wouldn't have thought of before. I still plan to strength train because I know having muscle on our bodies as we age is important, but I'm learning to not stress out, and flow in a manner that works best for me. How is your summer fitness routine going so far, and what changes have you noticed?
Thank you for authentically sharing your journey. I think we need to do more of this. Share our journeys, talk about these changes, empower one another, and create community.