12 ways to walk more with arthritis

You exercise your hips and knees so you can walk more, without pain or exhaustion. But doctors will also tell you that the best way to walk more is to...walk more. Here are 12 ideas to get you on your feet and moving:

1. Every night, immediately after dinner, take a 20-minute stroll. Don't let the weather stop you — that's what jackets, boots and umbrellas are for. In fact, there's something wonderfully refreshing and childlike about a walk in the rain or snow. After dinner is the perfect time for a walk. It gets you away from the television, it's when others are outside, it's a lovely time of day and it stops you from eating more.
2. Develop a habit: Never sit while talking on the phone. Instead, walk around your home or pace back and forth. You'd be surprised how much movement you can do when you are concentrating on a conversation rather than the exertion.
3. Make more social events around walking. For example, rather than meeting friends for coffee or lunch, suggest meeting at the public gardens for a stroll.
4. When watching television, always get up and move about during commercials. You've seen them already, anyhow. During a single one-hour show, you can get in more than 10 minutes of activity!
5. Take the stairs, take the stairs, take the stairs. You've heard it a million times, but if it is three flights or less, you have no excuse to take an elevator, unless your arthritis pain is truly prohibitive. In that case, take one flight of stairs instead.
6. For an evening's diversion, do some outdoor window-shopping. Strolling down a street of shops is great for people-watching, talking and feeling alive.
7. Split your lunch hour in two: Thirty minutes of eating, 30 minutes of walking. No one needs to eat for 60 minutes. Chances are, you're just sitting and talking. Invite your lunch partner along for the stroll.
8. Find a park or a wilderness area near you and commit to a nature walk a few times a week. Nothing lifts your soul as much as a good walk in the woods (or by the lake or even in the desert).
9. Locate the outdoor mailbox closest to your home and get in the habit of walking to it to send off your bills or letters. Maybe it'll get you to write more letters — wonderful for your hands, even better for your friends and family.
10. If you have little children in your life — be they yours, grandchildren, nieces, nephews or even just neighbours — commit to the following per year: a trip to the ball game, a trip to the circus, a trip to the zoo, a trip to the aquarium and a trip to the kids' museum. Buy the tickets far in advance and exercise in advance so you're ready for a full day of fun.
11. Somehow, somehow, find a way to dance. Don't wait for a date or a wedding. Turn on the stereo and dance at home. Join a square-dance group or take ballroom lessons.
12. Come up with a personal "instant walk" trigger. For example, anytime you become drowsy, take a five-minute walk. Or, anytime you want a snack. Or, anytime you get angry, bored, melancholy or stressed. Walking isn't just an antidote for arthritis pain, it is a wonderful way to work out mental and emotional issues as well.