What I've Learned From Walking 10,000 Steps Every Day For 6 Weeks

Last Updated on 11th April 2023

I can safely say that I never thought I’d be writing any kind of fitness or exercise-related post on my blog, never mind a post about walking 10,000 steps every day because I enjoy it.

Exercise to me was always a chore, and while walking 10,000 steps isn’t exactly as strenuous as training for a marathon, it’s been much more of a commitment than I think I ever realised and for those people who manage to hit that target every single day without too much effort, I wholeheartedly applaud you!

I also just want to add a bit of a disclaimer and say that the whole idea of walking 10,000 steps every day is quite arbitrary; I’m not 100% convinced of the scientific reasoning behind it and I’m pretty sure it all started as a marketing ploy. However, walking 10,000 steps every day is a goal that I set for myself for a number of reasons and over the last six weeks, it’s taught me quite a few valuable lessons.

Here’s what I’ve learned from walking 10,000 steps every day for 6 weeks!

1. It’s pushed me out of my comfort zone

Walking 10,000 steps every day has quite literally pushed me out of my comfort zone, in that sometimes when I’m doing it, I’m literally not very comfortable. Whether it’s the route that I take (like walking up a giant hill, for example) or the weather when it’s chucking it down with rain and it’s freezing cold, I’m not always actually comfortable when I’m out walking.

Not only that, but it pushes me out of my comfort zone by encouraging me to go out by myself when I might not always be entirely comfortable doing so and also, exercising has really never been something that was within my comfort zone, so that in itself has been enough of a push!

2. It’s helped me get to in much better shape

While I’m still not quite rocking an awesome six-pack and I’m pretty sure I’ll never be as “fit” as I was at 16/17 years old (mainly because I love food and drink too much!), walking 10,000 steps every day has certainly helped me to get in better shape and has helped me become fitter in terms of the amount of “exercise” I can do.

Walking itself is by no means a strenuous form of exercise, especially compared to things like running or HIIT, but for someone like me who quite literally has never properly exercised in their life, walking 10,000 steps a day has made quite an impact on my fitness levels.

3. It’s given me some alone time

While working from home means that I do spend quite a lot of time on my own (although Matt’s usually somewhere in the house working on his own endeavours!), I started to realise that it wasn’t really valuable or fully dedicated alone time.

Pushing myself to go out and walk 10k steps every day, however, has given me some often much-needed alone time. Matt does occasionally join me for a little walk, but mostly I go out on my own and I think it’s really been great for me to just be alone with my thoughts. It helps me to process the day’s activities (especially if I go out for a walk in the evening), or it helps set me up with a fresh frame of mind if I go out in the morning.

4. Walking 10,000 steps has helped me to connect with nature

I’m not one for nature really at all, and I don’t particularly like walking in dense fields or woodlands where there are loads of bugs and insects, but I have somewhat enjoyed the ability that walking has given me to connect with nature.

As my challenge began in mid-April, I’ve been lucky enough to be out and about when spring was in full bloom in the UK and seeing all the beautiful flowers, plants and trees come alive over the last few weeks have been so lovely.

5. It’s given me so much creative thinking time

I suppose this point ties in somewhat with the alone time one, but walking every day has really given me so much creative thinking time.

My best ideas for both my blog and business usually come from some source of outside inspiration (I actually got the idea to write this post while on one of my walks!), so having the chance to get outside more and give my brain some creative freedom has done wonders for my creativity and I’m incredibly thankful for that!

6. It’s made me fully commit to something

I’ve always been one to set myself goals and I always thoroughly enjoy the challenge of trying to complete them, but I have noticed that sometimes I don’t fully commit to them, especially when it comes to anything fitness or exercise-related.

With this challenge, however, it’s really made me properly commit to making myself go outside every single day for a dedicated walk and I think it’s done me the world of good to stick to something like this for weeks now.

7. Walking 10,000 steps has proven that I can exercise

I know I’ve touched on this point all throughout this post but I think one of the biggest lessons that walking 10k steps every day has taught me is that I can actually exercise. As I’ve said, I know it’s nothing compared to training for/running a marathon, but I firmly believe that any sort of movement is good for you and while I’d always struggled to motivate myself to get out of the house to exercise before, now I find myself enjoying it almost every time.

8. It’s helped to break up my working day

Working for myself from home for the vast majority of the time, I often struggle to separate my home and work life as it’s nearly always rolled into one blur throughout the day.

Making myself go outside every day for a walk, however, whether it’s first thing in the morning, on my “lunch break” or in the evening to wind down after the day’s work, trying to hit my goal of walking 10,000 steps every day has definitely helped me achieve a better work/life balance.

9. It’s helped me sleep much better

I’m definitely someone who truly loves their sleep and I used to be able to nap pretty much anywhere, simply just because I loved to sleep, but I’ve found myself really quite struggling some nights over the last year or so.

I’m not sure if it’s down to the pandemic, worrying about family stuff, my grandad passing away or a combination of all the above, but I’ve really suffered from nightmares and restless nights many times over the last year.

However, in the last six weeks or so, since I started my 10,000 steps challenge, I’ve found that I’ve started sleeping much better again. I’m nearly always actually tired when I go to bed and because of the exercise element, plus all the extra fresh air I’m getting, I’ve been finding it much easier to sleep thanks to this challenge.

10. Walking 10,000 steps has saved me money

I’m not saying that simply walking 10,000 steps every day has made me a millionaire, but it has helped me to save a bit of extra money on things like bus fare and paying for car parks.

Instead of getting the bus or driving into town, I now much prefer to walk. It takes me around 45-minutes each way to walk into the city centre of York and whereas before I’d either spend £2.50 each way on bus fare or pay around £2.60 an hour for car parking, I now save that money just by walking into town instead.

Overall, I’ve absolutely loved walking 10,000 steps every day for the last 6+ weeks. When I started the challenge, I wasn’t really sure how long I wanted to do it, and I’m still not 100% sure now, but I think that I want to continue trying to hit 10,000 steps every day for the foreseeable.

Unless I physically can’t due to reasons such as travelling long distances where I’m simply not able to walk much throughout the day, or if I’m unwell and can’t face going out for such a long walk, I’m really hoping that I can continue pushing myself to walk 10,000 steps every day for as long as I can. I’ll be sure to continue updating this post as and when appropriate to keep you in the loop!

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Do you have any fitness goals you’re working towards? What do you think about my goal of walking 10,000 steps every day? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram at @imjustagirl_16.