“I’m making little commitments,” says Lisa Williams, receptionist, Northern California Region. “First I started walking one to two days a week for 30 minutes. Then I started back at the gym; I’m walking on the treadmill three days a week and doing yoga one day a week. I’m glad to be in KP Walk! It’s motivating me.”

By walking 30 minutes a day, five days a week, you’re taking thousands of positive steps. Here are ways to continue that momentum:

• Adopt a dog. Dog owners are more likely to walk every day and have a healthy body weight, lower cholesterol, and reduced stress — as well as being tobacco-free.

• Break it up. Facing a time crunch? Don’t take one walk — take two. Walking 15 minutes twice a day offers many of the same health benefits as one 30-minute walk.

• Don’t stop. A New England Journal of Medicine report shows that one week of inactivity has the same harmful effects as smoking a pack of cigarettes.

Every step you take contributes to good health. You can also promote good health by adding minutes of physical activity (and fun!) to your workday. Try an Instant Recess® with your coworkers. Instant Recess includes short, 5-to-10 minute physical activity breaks that can be done anywhere, by anyone, in any attire. Routines can be adapted to include people with limited mobility. The Instant Recess toolkit has everything you need to start an Instant Recess in your office, labs, call center, patient floor, or anywhere else. Try one today!