![\"jim](\"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/jim-bona-head-box.jpg\")
<\/a>By Jim Bona<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n(Hamilton, NY \u2013 Oct. 2014) One bad thing about not working: it’s more difficult to get out.\u00a0 Since getting to work was by foot, I realize now I am doing much less walking.\u00a0 (The scale is telling me so).\u00a0 Even worse, most of the time I was at work was spent walking. I was always on the move, never sitting for too long.<\/p>\n
Being out of the workforce demands that I make the conscious decision to walk more.\u00a0 Before, it was walking as the way to get to work, which helped keep me healthy.\u00a0 Now, walking is for fun and exercise.\u00a0 In order to help keep track of my new exercise plan, I dug out my pedometer, which had been sitting around gathering dust. I surprised myself by finding so fast.\u00a0 I wasn\u2019t surprised to see that the batteries had conked out.\u00a0 Before I could put my gizmo into action, I had to go find some fresh ones.\u00a0 (Had to search on line for the directions, but found them almost as fast as I found the pedometer).<\/p>\n
I went to the big box store, figuring that the batteries could be easily found.\u00a0 Not so easy.\u00a0 Took a couple more tries, but eventually did find them.\u00a0 Fired the pedometer up, adjusted the settings so that the device would be accurate for my length of stride, and took it out for a spin.\u00a0 It worked just fine, but made me realize that I have to go longer if I want to do the same amount of walking that I was doing before I retired.<\/p>\n
Walking is great exercise and gives you the chance to be outside.\u00a0 I never was a big fan of the exercise machines, which tend to be boring, stationary and inside.\u00a0 Much better to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of a walk in the woods or even around the block.\u00a0 (Some serious cooking going on out there).\u00a0 Of course, using the pedometer is not necessary.\u00a0 It’s just another chotski (tchotchke) to play with.\u00a0 As long as you get out for an extended period, you are doing yourself well.\u00a0 Combine it with some errands, and you can actually accomplish some tasks at the same time.<\/p>\n
Weather cannot be your enemy and cause you to postpone your walk with the excuse that it is too cold or too rainy or too snowy.\u00a0 If you do have to go out when it is dark, a flashlight is recommended.\u00a0 Not so much for you to be able to see, but rather so that you can be seen, especially vehicles.\u00a0 Oh, stay to the sidewalk too, if there is one.\u00a0 Much safer.\u00a0 If you have to walk where there is no sidewalk, make sure to walk on the side of the road facing traffic.\u00a0 You have a better chance to see what is approaching, even if they can’t see you.<\/p>\n
Another good idea is to bring your phone with you.\u00a0 Don’t use it.\u00a0 Have it handy, just in case. Distracted walking is very dangerous. One thing I definitely won’t do to get my walk in is drive to the gym.\u00a0 That defeats the purpose of walking for exercise and trying to be green.\u00a0 Maybe I will see you out there?<\/p>\n
Jim Bona is recently retired and a resident of the village of Hamilton for more than 30 years.\u00a0\u00a0 He is passionate about all things green\u2026and a few other things too. He can be reached at: madnews@m3pmedia.com.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Going Green By Jim Bona (Hamilton, NY \u2013 Oct. 2014) One bad thing about not working: it’s more difficult to get out.\u00a0 Since getting to work was by foot, I realize now I am doing much less walking.\u00a0 (The scale is telling me so).\u00a0 Even worse, most of the time I was at work was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=58635"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58635\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=58635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=58635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=58635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}