I’ve been having back pain off and on for eight months. I’ve tried lots of things to make it feel better, but so far only a few things have helped: more stretching and walking, and less sitting. Like many of you, I spend a lot of time sitting. Like, a lot.

There are all kinds of scary statistics about the negative health effects of sitting, but I’m more interested in the positive effects of walking:

1. It helps us think.
2. It improves our physical heath.
3. It improves our mental health.

Believe me, I absolutely know how hard it is to sit less and move more, especially if you have a job that requires you to sit all day. Some things that have helped me, or people I know are:

1. Walk to work. For example, I can walk from my home to a BART station, rather than take a bus most of the way.
2. Set a timer and get up from your desk every 30-60 minutes.
3. Take a walk as part of your lunch break.
4. Have walking meetings at work. Beth Kanter shares 5 tips to host effective walking meetings.
5. Meet friends for a walk in an interesting neighborhood, or natural setting.
6. Walk to errands. I’m lucky enough to live about a mile from a grocery store, so I can walk there and back plus get in some functional fitness by carrying a couple bags. If you don’t live within walking distance of stores, you could park at the farthest point away from the entrance as possible.
7. Get a Fitbit, or other fitness tracker. I love my Fitbit Zip. It doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles, but it keeps me aware of how much, or how little I move each day.
8. Take photos. Sometimes I get bored walking, especially if it is on the same route day-after-day, but once I set the intention to take a least one photo every time I went for a walk, I enjoyed it a lot more.
9. Get a dog!

One of my favorite dogs ever.

What tips do you have for how to sit less and move more?

All photos by me.