Decolonizing Your Body: How Walking 10k Steps Daily Is Helping To Decolonize My Body

After my recent trip to Mexico, I was astonished by the number of steps I was getting, according to my phone. I was doing 20,000 to 40,000 steps every single day, as I was walking on the beach and on cobblestone streets, just visiting tourist attractions. Dancing the night away and partying at bars and nightclubs also contributed to the staggering numbers of steps recorded. I found this fascinating because prior to going on this trip, I was worried that I would return with weight gain due to me letting loose and relaxing by going on vacation-mode with extra indulgences like high-calorie foods and alcohol. But interestingly, my body remained relatively similar to before the trip, as confirmed by the numbers on my scale after the trip, all probably thanks to the increased physical activity I was getting on vacation. This led me to question the difference in my life and mentality before and after the trip. Before the trip, I was living a more sedentary lifestyle, spending most of my days sitting and lounging. Even though I had lost 20 pounds and was doing some exercises, I was on the weight loss journey by calorie restriction, and thus living with a limiting and deficit-focused mindset. During those months of pre-vacation, my smartphone told me that my daily step count was an average of 3000. When reflecting on all of this, I realized that such a lifestyle was not at all what my ancestors would have lived and thrived in. Our human ancestors would have been very active even with limited calories, because physical activity was required for survival without modern technologies and comforts. That is when I began to realize that by living a modern and "Western" lifestyle, I had let my body be colonized, resulting in me living such a sedentary life. This is an effect that we see all around the world, as countless places and bodies become colonized by fast food and lazy transportation methods. It is also worthy to note that places that still cherish traditional and ancestral diets with dense living environments with quality public transportation such as East Asia and Europe, the bodies that inhabit those places do not have trouble with obesity and other preventative health issues.

So after settling in after this trip and returning to my life in "comfortable" North America, where I drive everywhere and can buy convenient foods, I started to feel myself returning to the same colonized and sedentary lifestyle. Also, I missed the feeling of my body being active, even just by walking, and feeling its best. I was also beginning to feel frustrated that my weight loss journey was plateauing after the trip and I wanted to get back on track by continuing to lose more weight and gain more muscle. In hindsight, maybe the few weeks of plateau was my body recovering from all the alcohol I drank while on vacation. Regardless, this week I began to walk every evening, making it a goal to hit 9000 steps daily. I discovered that it takes about 1.5 hours to accomplish this goal, but it takes less than that if I was conscious about this goal at work and walked more during my workday. This also helps me destress after work and allows me to get outdoors to breathe fresh air. Even though walking for an hour or so everyday may be a small thing, it truly has had a huge impact on my life and on my body. My body feels more "in tune" with itself and I am getting better sleep at night. I am able to weight train in the mornings now before work. My stiff left hip is feeling more loose and flexible.

Ultimately, walking 10k steps daily is another commitment I am making for myself, so that I can become stronger and cultivate a powerful body for creating a better and decolonized authentic life. As I feel my body becoming tired and sore throughout the week, I am reminded of Mel Robbins, who said to visualize and imagine yourself doing the necessary hard work even when things get extra difficult, so that I can be prepared to keep going when things get tough. Not giving up and showing up for yourself is half the battle. Even just a few months ago, I would not have been able to think in such a way and commit to actioning this using my body and mind. But as I increasingly attract and be focused on improving myself and decolonizing everything and everyone, including myself, I am realizing that this is all starting to come together. So taking 10k steps daily by walking outdoors is helping to decolonize my body one more day at a time, freeing me from being a prisoner of the sedentary, colonial, and settled lifestyle of modern-day living. I hope you can decolonize your body as well by incorporating more natural and organic ways of moving your body to become more active. The hardest thing is to get started, so just do it without thinking - don't let your colonized mind to "reason" and "logic" you from doing what is best for you!