Healthy Living with Blue: the World is my Gym
Shannon Howard | Aug 02, 2010 | Comments 5
The World is my Gym! How a Trip to Walgreens Changed My Life
by Blue Tapp Scheffer
Who needs to pay for an expensive gym membership and then find time to drive there to work out several times a week? Not me! Last month I described my quest to incorporate fitness into a frenetically busy lifestyle. The answer came to me quite unexpectedly one day a couple of years ago.
I had to run to Walgreens to pick something up and for some reason I decided to walk there. It’s about four blocks away and I’d walked there occasionally before. But usually I would hop into my car and zip over there and back. I don’t know why I decided to walk that day. It was overcast and even sprinkling a bit. But I walked.
It’s an enjoyable ten-minute trip past January Wabash Park. Sometimes when you live next to a beautiful park, you stop really seeing it anymore. Beauty becomes mundane when it is too abundant. But I try not to let that happen to me; I consciously soaked in the view as I walked by the lake, the fountain, the trees, the ducks and geese. It’s really pretty.
My new favorite fitness friend: a wheeled cart filled with Envirosax grocery bags
And then it happened… The planets aligned, steeple bells began ringing, a lone piglet flew by and I swear I heard a sweet chorus of angels singing somewhere just past the trees. I had an epiphany.
WHY, I asked myself, do I EVER drive my car to Walgreens? Why SHOULD I ever drive there? Perhaps I should NEVER drive there again! What a waste of an opportunity to get in a nice quick walk with a lovely view if I drive four blocks to Walgreens. It’s only four blocks. Suddenly the thought of driving four blocks to Walgreens just felt WRONG to me.
Right then and there I made a commitment to ALWAYS walk to Walgreens. Well that opened up a whole new way of thinking for me. Why should I drive anywhere within a mile or two of my house? The pharmacy, grocery store, hardware store, farmers’ market, city hall, library, coffee house and several restaurants are all within a two-mile radius. I could turn trips to all these places into exercise opportunities. This was an exciting new frontier! But there was one problem to be solved…
I shop for groceries at Shop N’ Save, which is just another half a block down the street from Walgreens. I needed to find a way to carry all those groceries back to my house. So I searched online and found a sturdy wheeled cart from The Container Store for $60. I also bought a little softshell cooler bag to hold my frozen items during the summer for $10. I was all set!
I’ve been walking to the grocery store ever since, all year long. I love it. It’s gratifying on multiple levels. What used to be a boring weekly chore is now a fun way to get in a 30-minute workout. I’ve turned something that I have to do into a way to incorporate fitness into my week, and the benefits are numerous: I get to spend some time outdoors, which I love. I feel more connected to my community just by getting out of my car and walking through the neighborhood. I’m saving a little bit of gas money and it’s better for the environment than driving.
There’s also a certain harmony in that the act of gathering food is now a fitness exercise. I have to do a little workout before I can eat. That just feels balanced and right to me.
So, can you start walking to some of your destinations as well? Not everyone lives four and a half blocks away from the grocery store. But take an inventory of your regular errands. I’ll bet there are a few that are nearby. Try walking to any place within a mile or two of your house. Try it when the weather’s nice. And make it fun. It might just change your life!
_____________________________________________________________
A North County resident for 30+ years, Blue Tapp Scheffer began her own website development and commercial graphics company, Blue’s ArtHouse Graphics & Web Design, in 1998, which has since successfully weathered two recessions and continues to thrive. She is a solo acoustic musician/singer and performs around the St. Louis area 3-5 times a month.
Blue and her husband, Craig, live in Ferguson with a dog and a cat and are heavily involved in LiveWell Ferguson. They are both bicycle commuters, bicycle tourists, bicycle advocates as well as long distance runners. They are active members of the Ferguson Cycling Club and team leaders for the LiveWell Ferguson Running Club. Blue also enjoys home gardening, green living and loves to cook healthy fresh food!
Filed Under: People
Are you getting ready for the big day? NOCO is a proud sponsor of the 3rd annual Live Well Ferguson 5K
Blue & Craig are amazing examples of living well (and green) in Ferguson! Love this article! Thanks for the inspiration!
“World Gym” concept is in a “Simple Living” book I have @ home. After I started bicycle commuting in 2003 I had a same sort of “enlightenment” that came to me. I walk, bike, and use a combo of both w/ transit. Our family of four share one car. Lighter on our family budjet, lighter on the earth, closer to community, Don’t need a doctor as much. The multiplier effect in full swing! (WIN-WIN-WIN etc.) Thanks for sharing Blue!
I know what you mean. I’ve always tried to live where I can walk to some stores or restaurants. When I lived in UCity I used to walk to The Loop all the time.
But…you’re not walking in this heat are you?
@Jeff – I read a quote in this month’s “Adventure Cyclist” magazine about cycling to work. The cyclist said, “Take a look at someone who has cycled to work and someone who has been sitting in traffic. It’s obvious which one is happier.” That is so true. People mistakenly think that avoiding physical labor equals happiness when the opposite is true.
@Virginia – yep I’m walking and cycling every day even in this heat. I try to get out early in the morning and early evening rather than in the middle of the day.
And, ya know, those short trips are hardest for the car and when the car pollutes the most.