Nearly three years ago, virtual teacher Jessica Miller learned a life-changing lesson.
The Connecticut resident was unaware of how her sedentary lifestyle and unhealthy habits were conspiring against her. A routine physical gave her the wake-up call she needed.
“Nothing was good. My cholesterol was terrible,” the 47-year-old recalled to TODAY.com this week. “My blood pressure was terrible. I needed to lose some weight.”
Miller’s doctor suggested exercise and pills for blood pressure and cholesterol as two avenues to improve her overall health, but she admitted she doesn’t often remember to take medications. She tried walking instead.
Miller’s daily step count had been shockingly low up to that point — just “as many as it takes to get from my desk to the coffee machine,” she confessed to TODAY.com.
Determined to make a change, she worked her way from 10 minutes of walking to 20, eventually averaging a daily step count of 10,000 or more.
Experts agree that walking is as simple as it is beneficial. Mayo Clinic cardiologist Francisco López-Jiménez recently told Vogue.com, “Walking is one of the easiest, most affordable, and most effective types of physical activity that humans can do.”
Effective indeed, as within six months, Miller not only lost 25 pounds but saw significant drops in her blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
“I know that’s what helped me,” she told TODAY.com. “I try to eat better, too, but I like to eat. Mostly, it’s the walking.”
Recent research found that walking 5,000 steps three times a week for two years could add three years to a person’s life expectancy and decrease their healthcare costs by up to 13%.
Miller typically rises around 5 a.m., walking outside when possible and indoors at the mall when winter temperatures drop.
She uses audiobooks to keep her motivated, restricting her listening to the time she spends walking, “If I want to hear what happens in the book, I have to be walking to listen to it.”
Her rise-and-step routine is in step with expert recommendations for when to walk.
“If we can choose, sunrise and sunset have some extra benefits,” biologist Tamara Pazos told Vogue. “This will align with the circadian rhythms in the rest of the body’s organs. Our entire body functions in a rhythmic manner according to our routine, keeping us active during daylight hours and relaxing to allow a good rest at night.”
Miller has found success replacing driving with walking whenever she can.
“I used to think, ‘I’m not walking someplace, that’s weird. I don’t want anyone to see me walking. They’re going to think I can’t drive or something,’” she told TODAY.com. “Now I try to do it, and if I walk someplace, I have to walk home. That forces me to walk more.”
While her step count has skyrocketed, her trips to the coffee machine have decreased. A former 20-cups-a-day drinker, Miller has gradually scaled back to two cups by hydrating with a full water bottle before her first cup and integrating decaf.
Miller also credits walking with helping her ease off the caffeine crutch, “Exercising makes me feel better about myself and improves my mood, which makes me not want to eat junk food or drink coffee.”
In addition to cutting back on her caffeine intake, Miller eliminated soda and alcohol, the latter of which was negatively affecting her sleep cycle.
While the bodily benefits of exercise have been significant, Miller says it is her mental health that’s seen the starkest improvement.
“I feel like all that negativity goes away when I’m walking,” she gushed to TODAY.com. “When I can get my steps in, I can clear my mind, and I feel better.”
