Five Minutes. That’s It.

There are days when “go for a walk” sounds like one more thing to add to the list.

You’ve got work. Kids. Appointments. Dinner. Laundry that somehow reproduces overnight. Maybe you’re trying to squeeze in a workout, answer the text you forgot about three hours ago, and remember whether you already moved the chicken from the freezer.

And then someone says, “You should get outside and take a walk.”

Cool. With what time?

That’s why this month’s bingo square is intentionally small:

Take a 5-minute walk break.

Not a 30-minute power walk. Not 10,000 steps. Not a new fitness goal.

Five minutes.

At some point today, step away from whatever you’re doing and walk for five minutes.

That’s it.

Walk around the block. Walk down the driveway and back. Walk around your office building. Walk through the parking lot before you get in your car. Walk around your house if the weather is terrible.

You don’t need a fitness tracker.

You don’t need workout clothes.

You don’t even need to walk particularly fast.

The goal is simply to interrupt the day and move your body for five minutes.

If you’re working from home, set a timer and walk around the house.

If you’re at work, use your break.

If you’re home with kids, take them with you.

If you’re already getting plenty of movement, great. This isn’t about adding more punishment to your day. It’s about deliberately creating a small break in the middle of it.

Military life trains us to think in bigger chunks.

PT. Runs. Rucks. Lifts. Long days. Long weekends. Long stretches of doing what needs to be done because there isn’t really another option.

We get pretty good at pushing through.

And then one day, no one is telling us when to move.

No formation.

No scheduled PT.

No one checking whether you showed up.

No one cares if you skip the workout.

That freedom can be fantastic.

It can also create a weird gap between I know movement makes me feel better and I don’t actually have to do it.

A five-minute walk isn’t going to transform your fitness.

That’s not the point.

The point is remembering that movement doesn’t have to be an event.

It doesn’t have to be something you earn time for.

It doesn’t have to be 45 minutes in the gym or a perfectly programmed workout.

Sometimes it’s five minutes between meetings.

Sometimes it’s a lap around the neighborhood after dinner.

Sometimes it’s walking outside because you’ve been staring at the same four walls for six hours and you’re starting to feel like you’re becoming part of the furniture.

Those little interruptions matter.

Especially when you’re navigating a season of life where the calendar is already packed and your own needs tend to slide toward the bottom of the list.

Here’s the trick: don’t make the five-minute walk harder than it needs to be.

You don’t need to change clothes.
Wear whatever you’re already wearing.

You don’t need a route.
Walk to the end of the street and back.

You don’t need to hit a certain pace.
This isn’t cardio testing.

You don’t need to wait for the perfect weather.
Five minutes outside is still five minutes. And if it’s August in Michigan and the humidity is trying to kill you, walking around the house counts too.

You don’t need to do it alone.
Take the dog. Take your kid. Call a friend. Or don’t talk to anyone at all.

And if five minutes turns into ten? Great.

If five minutes is all you have? Also great.

That’s the entire point.

We can get so caught up in whether something “counts” that we skip it altogether.

Five minutes counts.

Maybe your mornings are chaos, so morning walks aren’t happening.

Fine.

Try five minutes after lunch.

Maybe you spend your entire workday sitting.

Set a reminder for sometime in the afternoon and get outside before you start the next task.

Maybe evenings are your only quiet time.

Take five minutes after dinner.

Maybe you’re traveling.

Walk the hotel hallway. Walk around the airport. Take the long way to the gate.

Maybe you’re in a season where your workouts have completely fallen apart.

Don’t wait until you can get back to your “normal.”

Start with five minutes.

There is something useful about choosing a challenge so small that you don’t have much room to negotiate with yourself.

You don’t have to become a person who walks every day.

You just have to take one five-minute walk.

Then tomorrow, you can decide what you want to do.

Pick a time today.

Put the phone down.

Step outside.

Walk for five minutes.

No pace goal. No step goal. No calorie goal.

Just move.

And if you want to mark the bingo square afterward, mark it.

One little square.

One little reminder that taking care of yourself doesn’t always require finding an extra hour in a day that doesn’t have one.

Sometimes it looks like five minutes.

‘If you want the extra accountability for building healthy habits with other women veterans, come join our complimentary online community at join.othersoverself.com’