Weekend Hikes & Walking Your Way to Health #MoveitMondays

How was your Fall weekend? It is seriously cooling down there too?

I heard it snowed in Toronto last weekend and it’s really starting to get chilly here as well (*though, last year it didn’t snow at all in Belgium – a big stretch from my -30 blizzard-filled winters during my undergrad in Ottawa!).

And look at me drabbing on about the weather like a true Canadian 😉 Let’s talk about this past weekend and getting our hiking on. To be honest, it’s totally crack-down time for me with school and my weekends lately have been filled with books and writing papers about those books (fun, right?!). Not really lol. And we’re not talking the fun, romantic-comedy, I’m-on-a-beach kind of relaxing read but the more anthropological sort. One leaves you feeling upbeat and heartfelt and the other is kinda interesting but wellll exhausting. I know it might be strange to call reading a text exhausting but it involves so much of my sheer concentration that I tend to feel pooped after long study days. 

And the one thing I really miss around this crackin-down time of year is fresh air. So that’s where my weekend hikes have been coming in.

I’ve really been enjoying going on long walks Sunday afternoons to relax, reflect and cool down – ready to take on the next week feeling refreshed and my absolute best. This past weekend we went on a 6K Walk for Diabetes with J and his family. It took place in the wonderful trails around Bruges – one of the most majestic and beautiful places ever 🙂 And it was the perrrfect end to a study weekend in. 

Am I right that walking is the most underrated form of exercise? 

I mean, who knew that walking and running actually have the same health benefits!?!

I love walking. And one of the first things I did when moving towards a healthy lifestyle was I started to walk. It seems so simple, right? I always liked walking but never took advantage of how good it makes me feel. I literally ditched my bus pass and began walking everywhere. My love for walking has continued and I’m still car-less, bus pass-less and get everywhere I want to go on these two feet.

Walking may not be the fastest form of transportation but it’s the most enjoyable and gets me where I need to be and my activity on all at once 😉

Just shows that exercise doesn’t have to be a chore. It doesn’t have to be super strenuous. It’s all about finding enjoyable and sustainable ways to move more in our day to day life. 🙂

Happy Monday!

What’s your go-to relaxing activity to unwind?