What I Learned From Walking 10,000 Steps a Day for 21 Days
over 210,000 steps and 80 miles later, some lessons on discipline, consistency and clarity.
On July 14th I decided seemingly out of the blue, to challenge myself to walk a minimum of 10,000 steps every day for 21 days. I chose 21 days because “they” say that’s the amount of time it takes to truly build a habit.
I just completed the challenge, and wanted to share a little more about my why, the biggest lessons and learnings I got from it, and some of my walking recommendations.
Firstly, let’s start with why.
I didn’t do this challenge for weight loss. I thought it was important to start off with that, because I had a couple of people asking in my DMs about the impact on my weight. As this wasn’t my primary goal, I didn’t weigh myself before or after, although I did notice that I tightened up a bit in some areas.
For me, it was about building my muscle of discipline, consistency, and the practice that regardless of my mood, the weather, how my day went, I’d keep promises to myself. It was a daily reminder to myself that I can do hard things, that I can stick to a plan, even when I’m not in the mood.
I also want to note a learning; posting my daily progress on my Instagram stories was also a great motivator and factor in keeping me accountable. So you can do this with people and have an accountability partner, but if not, letting someone know you’re doing it or sharing it online helps a lot.
So 21 days, 210,000+ steps and 80+ miles, what were my biggest takeaways?
Walking is the cheapest mental health tool you’re missing out on:
If you're stressed, anxious, overwhelmed, irritated, or just off, the quickest, cheapest way to shift your mood is to lace up your sneakers and take a walk.
We spend so much money on therapy, apps, books, and journals, which are all incredibly helpful tools. But when I’m spiraling or in a dark headspace, I often don’t want to meditate, journal, or talk to anyone. So I usually just... sit in it.
These last 21 days showed me that walking is the easiest reset I didn’t know I needed. Even 10 minutes outside, though I usually went for 90, always worked immediate wonders on my mind.
By the end of the challenge, I noticed I wasn’t reacting to things the way I used to. The movement, the air, the rhythm of one foot in front of the other; it clears the mental clutter and helps you return to yourself.
Before, I used to only walk after I felt bad. Now, walking daily kept me so grounded that most things didn’t shake me.
This, the power of movement to immediately alter my mood was my biggest learning and takeaway.
Walking enriched my conversations and deepened my relationships:
Walking for 90 minutes straight can get boring and I found many different ways to entertain myself; listening to a podcast, doing a walking meditation, blasting my favorite Spotify playlists.
But the #1 thing that helped pass the time the most on those walks were video calls with people I love, that made the time fly.
Those walks became focused time where I could prioritize catching up with the people in my life, checking in on their lives, and sharing what’s going on in mine. I found that many of my relationships felt deeper especially with my family.
Walking boosted my creativity and ideas
They say some of your best ideas come to you in the shower. I will add to that, and say walking is also another great way to spark your creativity.
My notes app was constantly open during my walks to capture all the ideas consistently pouring out of my mind. I wrote most of this piece and the next 3 on my walks.
Due to the clarity I referred to earlier, you have more mental space to think about things that light you up and bring you joy.
So if you are in a creative rut or funk or feeling stuck, get outside and walk towards some new ideas.
Walking changed my eating habits
Eating well is something I am constantly working on. Exercise has always come easy to me and I love finding new ways to move my body. But when it comes to nutrition, I’ve never been able to build the best habits around it.
However, I noticed during this challenge how much my diet, cravings, and eating habits changed.
In the beginning, from a purely practical perspective, I knew that if I spent all my days eating Chick Fil A, sugary things, and junk food, I wouldn’t have the energy to walk 10,000 steps the next day. So I just stopped reaching for those things to make sure I could keep my promise to myself the next day.
As a result, my cravings subsided and I realized that sweet treat I usually needed after every single meal, I didn’t really need anymore.
And then over time, noticeably after around day 10/11 I just wanted to eat smaller meals, with more vegetables.
That’s what I call a win win.
If you decide to take on this challenge or are just inspired to walk more, I also wanted to share some tips and recommendations:
Stay very aware of your surroundings. For my ladies especially, if you’re walking very early in the morning make sure you’re staying alert and aware of what’s going on around you. These days we all have noise cancelling headphones and so don’t always tend to hear what’s happening but I was constantly looking around to make sure nothing weird was going on.
To add to that I would also recommend you walk the same route every day. This way you build up a great knowledge of the area in case of an emergency. But more importantly when you walk the same route daily, you tend to run into the same people who also become like a walking family that you can count on in case you need help.
And make sure you say hi to those people! That’s just good manners
Also do not walk in the middle of the sidewalk, move to one side to allow others in front of you or behind you to easily get through especially if you have headphones in.
If you are doing this in the summer, please DO NOT forget to wear your sunscreen. This Shiseido sunscreen stick has easily become my favorite skincare product of all time. Outside of protecting my face, it has also done wonders for my skin. For my body I used this Supergoop sunscreen.
And finally, the shoes you wear matter more than I can say. The #1 shoe that worked for me are the New Balance 530s. I’ve had these shoes forever, and didn’t even realize they had gone viral on TikTok for being great walking shoes. I just got a second pair because I saw it on sale at ASOS in a different colorway, and feel like I’ve worn my current ones in pretty well. Obviously all our feet are different, so try out different ones to see what works best.
Another quick note I wanted to share for my ladies, a secondary reason I chose 21 days is because that’s exactly how long my cycle is before I’m back on. So I was very intentional of starting right when one cycle ended and I knew I’d have the most energy before cramps kick in. Wanted to add that in, in case that’s a factor for you!
And those were all my major learnings. Taking on this challenge was incredibly fun, challenging, demanding, and even irritating on some days.
But I’m so glad I did it, and especially grateful I decided to share my daily progress online, as a few people have reached out and tagged me that they’re starting the challenge this August! Love it.
So what does this mean for me and my walking practice going forward now that the official challenge is over?
I definitely plan to still walk, but won’t put as many rules or restrictions around it. With how hot it is in Texas at the moment, I can really only walk in the mornings. And as I want to get back to my morning strength training workouts, I will probably begin to alternate between the two depending on my schedule and needs.
If you have any other questions about the challenge, my process, or something else you’re curious about, drop them below. If you decide to do it too, I’d LOVE to see! Please tag me.
Go lace up those shoes.
Keep Klashing,
Bosola.