Don't People Walk Anymore?

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24

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  • Angie80281
    Angie80281 Posts: 444 Member
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    I try to walk around the neighborhood when the weather is nice. however, walking as a mode of transportation is unrealistic for me. I live in the Hampton Roads area of VA, which is a group of 7 cities spanning a great deal of distance. It's not unusual to live in one city and work in another that's a good 40-60 minutes away by car. No matter which route I take to work, I have to cross a bridge or tunnel to get there, none of which are biker-friendly. I envy you, I'd love to be able to bike or walk to work.
  • byHISstrength
    byHISstrength Posts: 984 Member
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    I guess it really depends on your circumstances. You said yourself that you don't own a car and you live in the city. Most things are pretty accessible in the city. Also, there are loads of public transportation.

    I don't live in the city. My daily commute to work round trip, by car, is 50 minutes...I certainly would not walk that.

    I don't have any dogs to walk.

    I do exercise 6-7 days a week.

    So, aside from my daily activity, I don't walk much.
  • scircle
    scircle Posts: 16 Member
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    I walk everywhere! We are a one car family so I'm home all day with a baby and no transportation but my own two feet.
  • JNettie73
    JNettie73 Posts: 1,208 Member
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    It is a valid question, no offense taken.. You are much more active than I am. Personally for me, walking to work is not an option. I live on Long Island and we drive everywhere. On top of it, I am a Special Education teacher who provides home based services to my students, after school, in their homes. My students live at least 30-40 minutes away from me by car. Unfortunately I have no choice but to drive because I have to go from house to house and bring all my materials with me. Walking would take entirely too long for me to get there at my scheduled appointment time. :ohwell: I supposed if I lived in a city rather than the burbs this would be different.

    I do have to say though, I enjoy going to the parks and going on a nice hike from time to time. There is nothing like being outdoors in the fresh air!

    Happy walking! :happy:
  • MuffinMan25
    MuffinMan25 Posts: 110
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    I love walking on my breaks at work!! :love:
  • inspiration345
    inspiration345 Posts: 218 Member
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    I walk and cycle a lot. Don't have a car and where I live it's easy to get around with public transport.
  • ACEgirl1
    ACEgirl1 Posts: 133 Member
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    I also walked everywhere when I lived in a city. Now, I live in the country, and I need to use a car to get anywhere. It is 3 hours to get to Target, Lowe's, etc. I have to make an effort to get out and walk; (which I do).
  • jlikennedy3
    jlikennedy3 Posts: 15 Member
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    I live about 25 miles from work so walking to work is not an option, especially when it is interstate most of the way. I sit at a computer desk most of the day at work so I entered my lifestyle as sedentary. It allows me to log my activities above the norm. I go walking/running about 4 times a week and then I usually log other activities (cleaning, etc for the other days). I only log my cleaning because I ususally do heavy duty cleaning like mopping, stripping my floors,rewaxing, vacuuming, and steam cleaning. I usually spend about 3-4 hours at a time deep cleaning areas of my house... (my husband thinks I am extreme on keeping my floors a certain way!) This past weekend my husband and I went shopping for about 8 hrs. I made him keep up with he pedometer and by the end of the day we had walked 5+ miles... you can bet I counted it. I also used it as an example to show him that shopping is good for you! (Just not quite so much for your pocket book) :)
  • nikmaack
    nikmaack Posts: 28 Member
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    I guess I should explain: I have my activity level set to sedentary and track all my exercise. I found this more efficient than simply assuming I would maintain a certain level of activity in general. In my crazy desire to be as accurate as possible, I've briefly toyed with the idea of getting a heart monitor runners use to track calories more accurately. But that seems a little crazy. ;-)
  • NorthernCally
    NorthernCally Posts: 50
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    Before I moved out to the sticks, I did a lot of walking. I lived in a fair-sized city, and my office was about 1.7 miles away. For about the last 5 years, I walked home from work 5 or 6 days a week, year-round. When it was light out early enough, I would walk in, too. I would go for 2 hr walks, just because. Or walk a few hours to get to the grocery store. But, since I moved out to the country 2 years ago, where I am now 5 miles away from even a "convenience store" (and just off a major highway), I hadn't been walking much at all. But, I've started back into it. I started walking from my house to the highway and back (it's about a mile, round-trip), once or twice a day, at least 5 times a week. I'm at a slower pace than when I used to walk in the city, but I want to build that up again, so I can get back to walking like I used to-without shin splints!
  • Contrarian
    Contrarian Posts: 8,138 Member
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    I walk everywhere. I don't even own a car because I don't need one. I log some walks, but I don't log every time I leave the house.
  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
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    I only log my gym time. I do not log when I walk to work, walk my dogs, walk to the store, clean my house, mow my lawn.

    That is just ridiculous.

    I'm this.
    I don't own a car, so walking/buses/metro is how I get everywhere. I walk all day, I just don't log it because it's part of my day, it's not extra exercise.
  • latepaul
    latepaul Posts: 49 Member
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    I walk to and from work (about 15mins each way) and I walk every lunch time (40-50mins) just to get out of the office. I don't log those because I did them before I started dieting. I only log my "exercise walks" (about 70mins weekdays, 90mins w/ends) where I try to walk more briskly.
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
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    I live in a rural area, outside even the city limits of the suburb of the urban area. I live 40 miles from work. So no, I don't walk to work.
  • clarech82
    clarech82 Posts: 244 Member
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    I walk a lot as I don't drive but I've always done it even at my largest so I dont log it as exercise the only time I do add it is if I walk extra fast or I'm walking carrying my 38lb three year old as its not something I do often and he's bloody heavy lol.
  • ilookthetype
    ilookthetype Posts: 3,021 Member
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    I live in a rural area, outside even the city limits of the suburb of the urban area. I live 40 miles from work. So no, I don't walk to work.

    Q, you are so lazy. I don't know how I manage to remain friends with you...
  • whatwentwrong
    whatwentwrong Posts: 228
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    i live in the middle of nowhere- the closest thing to walk to is a mile each way, and it's a convenience store. getting groceries would be a 10 mile roundtrip. i walked a LOT when i lived in the city, but i wouldn't have logged it in my exercise calories :/
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
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    I live in a rural mountainous area. It's great for hiking, but not so great for walking anywhere. The roads are narrow and rarely have sidewalks, and if you are going more than 1/2 mile you'll likely have to walk up or down a steep hill.
  • SarabellPlus3
    SarabellPlus3 Posts: 496 Member
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    Wow, you're doing amazing! Good for you.

    Like others, I have to point out that it depends on where/how you live. I walk my kids to and from school (unless there's a blizzard or it's over 100*-- you'd have to coach me more to walk through those LOL), it is a little over a mile round-trip. That is well worth doing. But my husband would have to walk about 30 miles, on the Interstate and across fields, to walk to work. Not so much practical. LOL
    I always toy with the idea of walking to the grocery store, but it'd be 2 miles round trip, carrying the grocery bags, and that's to the closer grocery store, when I prefer the one about twice as far. I guess I'd say that I don't walk there because I don't have to walk there.

    I love the idea of living in the heart of a big city and never driving anywhere, but it's not the place I choose to live. I love everything else about not living in the heart of a big city, I guess!


    eta: I don't log my walking. I take it into account in deciding whether I'm "sedentary," "lightly active," etc. When I jog, and my gym time, I log, and do NOT count into whether I'm "sedentary," etc. I think that's how this website is meant to be used. (?)
  • Laurarunnergirl
    Laurarunnergirl Posts: 36 Member
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    I no longer own a car, so I walk/run/bus wherever I'm going (we have an excellent public transportation system, even out to the 'burbs and beyond). Since walking is part of my daily routine, I don't log it as exercise unless I'm intentionally exercising/power walking. I do, however, have a pedometer/step counter, so I can keep track of how many steps I take, and up the activity if I'm sitting too much.

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