One Londoner's diary: Walking to work to combat increased mince pie intake. Part 1

A beautiful tree!

I live above a shop in Sutton and work in London so it's not possible for me to walk all the way to work as it would involve walking 12 miles one way. My job is mostly office based so I do not get a huge amount of exercise. I have decided however that walking part of the way to work will help me get the exercise I need to stay healthy and maybe loose some weight!

The first part of my walk to work involved walking along a parade of shops. For the first time in ages I said hello to the shop keepers as I was walking passed. (Normally I usually run to the bus stop without having time to say hello to people!)

On Monday it was freezing but as soon as I started walking I quickly warmed up.

I then walked through my local park. The last time I came here was on fireworks night. I hardly ever get to spend time here, even though it is only 5 minutes walk away. Just the thought of going through this park is one of the things that really motivates me to walk to work. It is so relaxing.

I was quite surprised because by this point I already felt awake. Normally it takes a sausage roll and at least two cups of tea!

I then walked to the end of the park and caught a bus. What was really surprising for me was how quick it took me to walk all that way in such a short time and I got to work at a reasonable time as well.

Published Wednesday 19 December 2007