I was pretty bummed about the idea of having to give up my car when I moved to a city. Then again, there was a hidden benefit that I never realized existed. People here are slimmer.

I couldn’t really figure out why this would be the case. Not everyone here happens to be a fitness and nutrition freak, yet people generally keep their weight down. Something didn’t add and there had to be more to it.

The answer definitely has something to do with a small daily activity that has a profound impact on weight loss. This activity is walking. No one really drives a car here, which requires most people to walk in order to get from one place to another.

We don’t think of it as much, but it all adds up over the course of a full day. People will happily walk 15 blocks to work, or 3 blocks away to the nearest convenience store. In a regular situation, one would likely drive this distance.

While those living in towns would very obviously drive from one destination to another, you might want to consider the idea of walking. It saves money on gas costs, and it benefits your body.

They say that every mile walked will burn somewhere between 50 and 60 calories. That’s the equivalent of 7 grams of fat, which really adds up over time. Walk this distance both ways, and you’ll definitely begin to see some benefits over time.

Doing so really only takes a few extra minutes, and there are other benefits as well. It’s nice to be outside, and you’ll be keeping your legs fresh in general.

Some people have short attention spans and may have difficulty walking instead of driving. Replace your car radio with an MP3 player and some headphones, or make a phone call to keep you occupied as you walk.

Try walking once or twice per day instead of driving, as long as the distance allows you to do so. You’d be amazed at the difference it ends up making over time.

The author of this article also writes about waterproof shoes and kids rain boots.

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment