Hot Girl Walks Are for Everyone
Here’s your inspiration to get your walk on.
I learned something new about Hot Girl Walks (and all walks) recently - they’re great for boosting creativity. Walking comes with a whole host of benefits, which we’ll get into, but creativity was a new one for me. The American Psychological Association put out a study looking at the relationship between walking and creativity, and interestingly, they found that there were similar levels of increased creativity whether someone was walking outdoors or inside on a treadmill. This surprised me, but it drives home an important point - it doesn’t matter where you’re walking, it’s just important to get moving. As a bonus, the study found a residual effect on creativity even when participants were seated back at their desks.
Shout out to Tik Tok for bringing walking back, because there are very few downsides and the upsides are massive:
It’s great for your heart. When we think of aerobic activity, we usually think of running or jumping rope or rapid popcorn squats, but it doesn’t have to be that serious. Walking gets your heart rate up, which is all you really need to improve your heart health (and most people would argue that walking is a lot more enjoyable than burpees).
It improves cognition. This ties in a bit with the creativity piece. Research shows that walking can help lower the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia. It can help stimulate your problem solving capabilities and help you approach a difficult task from a different perspective. The next time you feel like you’re getting nothing done at work, take a 30 minute walk and see if you notice a difference when you come back to your computer.
Not all walks are this pretty, but sometimes you get lucky.
It’s been shown to improve mood. Research in young adults found that walking specifically helped them regulate their emotions. Regular walkers were less likely to get angry and let small things bother them. The world could use more of that energy.
Helps improve sleep quality. And we all need better sleep.
Can help fight depression. It seems like every day, scientists are finding more and more evidence of the mind/body connection. In addition to all of the other benefits walking has on the brain, it can also help fight depression. I would imagine this effect is even greater if the sun is out and you can couple your walk with a healthy dose of Vitamin D.
Walking may help you live longer. If you’re anything like me, you’re looking to not just live long, but live well. Walking can help you accomplish both.
Maybe it’s the San Diego sunshine, or maybe it’s just seeing how much joy it brings Rasta, but either way, I’ve been very into our walks lately. They help me take a step back from the wild ride that is life and reset my mind and nervous system. Most problems seem smaller to me after a good long wander. I’m partial to the outdoors, but you do what you gotta do when it rains, my beloved Pacific Northwesterners. Happy walking to all!
Sources:
https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/releases/xlm-a0036577.pdf
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6064756/
https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/hormone-links-exercise-cognitive-benefits
https://www.goodrx.com/well-being/movement-exercise/benefits-of-walking
https://ijbnpa.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12966-014-0132-x
https://www.prevention.com/fitness/a20485587/benefits-from-walking-every-day/
Becoming a Tourist in Your Own Town
How to shake up your routine when you’re in a rut, without having to run to the far corners of the earth.
As a notoriously restless person, today’s topic is near and dear to my heart. Before we get into it, let me just say, sometimes you need to get out. Sometimes the best move is an actual physical move to a new city, and sometimes you really need a change of scenery in the form of a vacation. I am decidedly pro-moving (and DEFINITELY pro-vacation), but those are larger commitments and not always the right answer.
If you’re feeling stuck, or restless, or things are a bit more dull than you would like, I highly encourage you to consider being a tourist in your town for a day. This can take many forms, but here are a few of my favorite ways to shake things up:
Try out a new coffee shop. If you’ve tried all of the coffee shops in your town (no judgments here), go one town over.
Take an alternate route. If you’re still commuting to work, switch up your commute. Same goes for dropping your kids off at school, or running to Target, or going to your favorite exercise class. Just take a different route. This simple act can bring your brain back into the present, help improve your memory, and boost your creative thinking skills.
Find a new green space. I guarantee there is a park within a 30-45 minute drive from you that you have not yet checked out. Find some open space, lay out a blanket, bring a book or a podcast (and your headphones, because ruining everyone else’s park experience with your music or podcast isn’t cool), and enjoy. Bonus: it’s free.
A very cool park in downtown Greensboro, NC
Take a walk or go for a run in a different area. This is one of my favorites! As convenient as it is to go a for a walk or run from your house, most of us only have access to so many routes if we’re leaving from our front door. By driving just a few miles down the road, you open yourself up to a whole new set of options. I’m a big fan of MapMyRun.com if you want to map your route ahead of time (and you know, avoid ending up walking alongside the highway).
Try out a new exercise class. I’ll talk more about the importance of movement at a later date, but movement + something novel can be huge for shaking you out of a rut. Hot yoga, a HIIT class, water aerobics, a new weight lifting program, or a hiking club - it doesn’t matter, just challenge yourself to try something new.
Plan a day trip. We so often forget how many interesting places are within a couple hours drive. I can't tell you how many people I’ve met while traveling who grew up in the area where they’re currently living and told me “I still somehow haven’t made it to XYZ cool place nearby”. When you live relatively close to something, you think you have an infinite amount of time to check it out, and yet, so often years go by without ever making it there. If you’re close to the coast, plan a day trip to that beach you’ve been wanting to explore. If you have mountains nearby, find a new hike to try. If you’re in South Dakota and the Corn Palace isn’t that far, for sure go check that out.
If ever you find yourself driving through South Dakota… would recommend the Corn Palace.
Think about where you would want to take a visitor. This always helps get my wheels turning. Usually, there is something that I’ve been wanting to do, or some place I’ve been wanting to go, that I think would be perfect to do when a friend/family member comes to town. This is your sign to stop waiting for that person to visit and treat yourself to some solo time doing the thing you’ve been wanting to do. If you end up really loving it, you can take your friends and family when they come by, and if you don’t, better to have not wasted their time on something that wasn’t very exciting to begin with.
That’s all I have for now, but I’m sure there are a ton of other great ideas out there. Feel free to leave any other ideas in the comments below! My challenge to you this week is to try something new in your neighborhood, even if it’s just take-out from a different place on Friday night. And if you’re feeling reeeallllyy stuck, well, you can always move ;)
The Power of Music
Music makes everything better.
Have you ever been bummed, whether for good reason or no reason, and then found your mood transformed by a really great playlist? Ever found yourself screaming “I love this song!” many songs in a row?
For me, this comes in the form of a country playlist on a sunny day. I don’t listen to country music that often, but the second I’m driving on an open road with the sun on my face, I crave some Keith Urban and Thomas Rhett (the happy stuff, not the my-dog-died-and-my-girlfriend-left-me stuff).
Music has an incredible ability to take us outside of our current circumstances, and like most art, it spans cultures, languages, and time.
This isn’t just anecdotal. Science shows that music can:
Reduce stress
Boost mood quickly
Help you express yourself
Prevent disease, because our psychological state is inextricably linked to our immune system
Interestingly, music’s effect on us doesn’t change much as we age. According to an article in the National Library of Medicine, “Singing to new-borns, a widespread activity practised worldwide, has been demonstrated to have valuable benefits such as improving mother-infant interaction and reducing infant distress (Vlismas et al., 2013; Mualem and Klein, 2013a). In the same way, music has been reported as an aid in the reduction of anxiety and agitation in older adults with senile dementia (Sung et al., 2012)." From the beginning of our lives, to the very end, music’s positive effects are far-reaching.
Thomas Rhett in all his glory.
I encourage you to find a playlist on Spotify, Youtube, Apple Music or the radio that boosts your mood. A few genres that help shake me out of a funk:
Reggae
Oldies
Motown/Doo Wop
Happy Country
Top 40
Hip-Hop
Jam Bands (not actually my cup of tea, but a lot of people swear by them)
If you use a platform like Spotify, you can also just search for titles that sound appealing. For example, “100 Most Uplifting Songs Ever” is a good one on Spotify, as is “Beach Tunes”, if you like a mix of just about everything. My personal country playlist is titled “Don’t Forget Your Roots”. You can have fun with this - start searching for a specific feeling you’re chasing, and I guarantee that with a little patience, the internet will deliver. And if you don’t pay for a subscription service, YouTube is aways a solid option.
No matter how you’re feeling today, music can elevate your experience by a notch or two if you take the time to seek out what feels good.
Enjoy your weekend! I hope its full of jams that bring you joy.
Sources:
https://jedfoundation.org/resource/how-music-can-improve-your-mental-health/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8566759/
The D-Brief on Vitamin D
Why our mood plummets without sunshine and what we can do about it.
Hi friends, happy March! We’re currently in Prescott, AZ (living that nomad life) and it’s snowing buckets outside. We’re supposed to get 14” today and this normally snow-loving gal is over it. I’m from North Carolina, where it’s currently 65 degrees, and I still maintain that March = Spring, but the west strongly disagrees.
Because we’ve spent the last couple of months in snowy, cold climates, I’ve been diligent about taking Vitamin D3. Which brings me to today’s little dose of joy… if you can’t get real sunshine, a Vitamin D supplement is a game changer.
Your body naturally produces Vitamin D in the skin after sun exposure, and it can also be found in some of the foods we eat. However, most of us don’t get enough, and it’s especially tough in the winter, when we can go months without consistent sunshine. I've taken 10 mcg (400 IU) of Vitamin D3 every winter morning for the past three years, and it’s had a noticeable positive impact on my mood.
Some of the benefits of Vitamin D:
Supports bone health
Is integral to your body’s ability to absorb calcium
Lowers your risk of cognitive decline
May reduce depression and anxiety
May reduce your risk of cancer-related death
In addition to getting sun exposure when possible, you can also up your Vitamin D intake by eating foods that are either naturally rich in Vitamin D or that are fortified. Salmon, egg yolks, shrimp and mushrooms are all good natural sources, while dairy milk and some cereals and yogurts are fortified.
Why take Vitamin D3 as opposed to Vitamin D2? According to The Nutrition Source at Harvard Health, “A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials that compared the effects of vitamin D2 and D3 supplements on blood levels found that D3 supplements tended to raise blood concentrations of the vitamin more and sustained those levels longer than D2.” Both are easy to find in stores, and Vitamin D2 is vegan, so if that’s important to you, Vitamin D2 is still a great option.
If you’re riding out the tail-end of winter like a lot of us, stay strong, it’s (hopefully) coming to a close here soon! Add a Vitamin D supplement to your routine and let me know if you notice a difference. And if you’re lucky enough to live somewhere that’s already embracing spring, go soak up the sunshine on behalf of the rest of us!
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/benefits-vitamin-d