The theme of the month is love fiercely. And by that, we mean strive to love with your whole heart. With honesty and without reservation.

For many of us -- maybe for all of us -- that kind of loves feels incredibly risky because somewhere along the line, we have all learned that opening your heart opens you to heartbreak. And seriously, who wants that?

It seems as though everywhere I turn, someone new is sick. Last week, my son’s teacher sent home an urgent request for donations of tissues and Lysol wipes. Yesterday, two of my meetings got canceled -- one because the person I was supposed to meet with was sick and one because, yup, her kid was sick. And high school and college sports games across the country and being postponed because they don’t have enough healthy players.

Walking has countless benefits for your love life, and yes, that even includes better sex. Here are 9 reasons you should take a walk with your partner today.

What happens when you miss a day of walking? What happens when one day becomes two days and two days becomes five days?

Many of us suffer from an all-or-nothing mentality. We think in absolutes: good or bad. Active or couch potato. Fat or thin. Fit or not. Dieting or binging.

My flight was delayed and I was killing time in the airport bookstore when I spotted a book that had been recommended by a friend. I pulled it off the shelf. It looked like a short read, something I could get through on my flight to California if I ever managed to get on the plane. Excited, I bought the book and began to read it while I continued to wait for the fog to lift and the plane to board. What I discovered was a simple practice that has changed my life.

Enough people abandon their New Year’s Resolutions by January 17 that the day has officially been dubbed “Ditch Day.”

But not around here.

Around here, we don’t give up on the promises we make to ourselves. We don’t quit on our dreams. We don’t have an all or nothing mentality which means when we slip -- when we skip a walk, eat ice cream or snap at our kids -- we don’t throw in the towel. We keep going.

We all strive to be better. It is one of the best things about human nature. And the start of the year is a moment in time when many of us take stock and make commitments to ourselves. For those of you awesome members of the 99 Walks Pack, that commitment involves more movement, more walking … a commitment to walking our way to better this year.

But life happens. Kids get sick. We stare down five straight days of rain. And then there’s the flu, work deadlines and the days when we just “don’t feel like it.” It gets hard.

Here are my top nine tips for sustaining your walking practice in 2020.

It is time to start talking Goal Crushing 2020! A new decade presents the perfect time to begin working toward new dreams. And while I know it seems hard and big and scary, I encourage you to take some time over the next few days to really think about where you want to be at the close of this decade. What in your life would you like to change, shift or evolve? What are your dreams and your goals for the next decade?

This Goal Crushing plan has 9 steps. You don't have to do them all at once. In fact, you probably shouldn't because you may have to give your mind time to percolate. But you do need to work through them, preferably in order. Ready?

Here. We. Go.

When I was in college, I would come home at the end of the semester, crawl into my parents’ king-sized bed and watch TV for three straight days. I would get up only to eat and, at the end of the day, wander into my own room to sleep. Though I never gave it conscious thought, intuitively, I knew that my body and my mind needed the rest.

Guess what? We still need rest. We still need days when we commit to nothing, accomplish nothing and do nothing. Or, at least the days when we don’t feel any pressure to commit to anything, accomplish anything or do anything. Leave your hair in a bun. Treat your kids to a “no rules” day.

Stay in your pajamas.

The holidays are around the corner and we are all scurrying around like crazy. Baking cookies. Wrapping gifts. Struggling to find the perfect present for great aunt Matilda. Hoping that this will be the holiday that makes our children’s dreams come true. What gets lost in the holiday shuffle amidst Christmas carols, tinsel and wrapping paper, is us. Here are nine ways to hold on to your sanity, your self, and your intentions as we barrel into the holiday home stretch.

Last summer, I was at the beach watching a dad take his three-year-old into the ocean. As soon as the little boy touched the water, he was off, his little arms and legs motoring. Within seconds, he was five feet away. The dad tore off his t-shirt, tossed it to the beach and went after his bobbing toddler. The shirt landed on the beach, so close to the water’s edge that one big wave was sure to sweep it away. I got up from my beach chair, grabbed the dad’s t-shirt and moved it out of the reach of the coming tide.

I love dark chocolate. And I believe, based on everything I've read, that dark chocolate is good for you. So usually, when I want a piece of dark chocolate, I eat a piece of dark chocolate. But. There is a downside. Here's what happened this past Friday.

I am not a nutritionist. Or a doctor. Or a chemist, biologist or diet expert. But I am a student of nutrition and, after decades of reading everything I can get my hands on and tinkering with my own nutrition and wellness, I know what works for me and I’ve learned that a whole lot of what works for me works for others.

So here are my nine nutrition hacks. Nine things that work for me. They won’t all work for you. But some will. 

Do you consider yourself to be a grateful person and say “thank you” regularly? If so, you likely are already seeing the benefits.

Here are 9 of our favorite reasons to adopt an attitude of gratitude:

My daughter likes her bananas green. Once they turn yellow, she declares them mushy and inedible. My son and I both prefer our bananas fully ripe and yellow. This means that when we go to the grocery store, we are likely to buy two different bunches of bananas: one green and one yellow. Now here’s the tricky part: we have one large beautiful wooden fruit bowl that sits on our counter, typically filled with apples and bananas and oranges and, come summer, nectarines. But if we put both bunches of bananas next to each other in the fruit bowl, my daughter's green bananas quickly turn yellow.

The world can be changed by little acts of kindness because small acts have a ripple effect and little changes, compounded over time, can have a massive impact. And when your children see you commit daily acts of kindness, taking care of yourself, being kind to others, you teach them by example.

Here are 9 ways to change the world today.

I wish I could do it for you. I really do. But I can't.

I can educate you with the knowledge about why a regular walking practice is so very important, and impactful, to your health and wellness.

I can provide you with tools to help you track, measure and improve your performance.

I can remind you that you are worth a 30-minute daily investment and that you will be a better partner, parent and person if you take that time for you.

But I can't lace up your sneakers for you.

It’s no secret I LOVE photography. I picked up a camera because I wanted to take those professional level crisp, clear, bright, “perfect” photos of my family.

I quickly learned life as a busy mom is in a word....exhausting and less than perfect.

Moms are overwhelmed, stressed, worried that we're not living up to our own high expectations. Not to mention we’re bombarded daily with a Facebook feed of photos with everyone else's highlight reel.

We all know that walking is good for us physically, but have you ever considered what it can do for your mental health?

Here are just 6 mental health benefits of walking:

f you don’t know where you are going, you are likely to get lost. So the first step in accomplishing your goals is defining your goals. And that’s not as easy, nor intuitive, as it sounds.

Effective goal setting takes practice. Here’s how