A cheap, easy way to stay slim, avoid serious illness and early death

[jeffrey]

What would you say to a cheap, easy way to stay slim, one that would help avoid serious illness and early death? How about if it made your neighbors healthier, too? It could be as simple as biking to the store.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin were wondering if getting people out of their cars just a wee bit would create measurable improvements in health. So they gathered up data sets on obesity, health effects of pollution, and air pollution caused by automobiles in 11 Midwestern cities, and did a mashup...

Secret To A Long, Healthy Life: Bike To The Store : Shots - Health Blog : NPR

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

I think for many people finding the extra time to do errands on foot or bike is problematic. But there can be other problems. Do you take the kids with you? The article mentioned public using transportation will get you 20 minutes of decent walking. Yes, but again, do you take the kids with you and have to pay those fares? Do you find someone to watch them at home--a sitter, a relative, their other parent? Will you be gone long enough to have to bring the diaper bag, bottled water, lunch? Is there a continuous bike lane, road shoulder, or sidewalk between home and your destination? Can you get safely across the giant parking lot in front of the grocery store? (As a pedestrian, I've noticed that at the outer edges of the lot, away from the mass of parked cars, drivers really increase their speed--yet there is no designated path to walk in from the street to the store, so I feel like a target.) Do you have the gear to bring home a sack of apples, a gallon of milk, a bag of flour, a loaf of bread, etc without breaking either your arms or mushing the bread?

[MonkeyMama]

I think Joan brings up good points. Problem is if you walk in my own neighborhood, you are probably several times more likely to end up dead. Stop signs and speed limits are apparently optional in our neighborhood - it is really terrible. (It's bad enough trying to drive with these crazy people).

Per article:

"Public policies that make cities safer for bicyclists and walkers would go a long way towards encouraging people to shift a bit of their daily two and fro away from cars, he adds. "There are so many win-wins. Better health, personal economics, and finally less greenhouse gases."

They mentioned that this only works in places where it is safe to bike and walk. But maybe this is a good reason to work on making it safer. Lord knows my community is trying.

[bjl584]

It would be hard for me to bike or walk to the store. My road is somewhat rural, so there is a narrow shoulder, no sidewalks, and several turns and blindspots. It would be a gamble biking or walking on that road.

[disneysteve]

I would love to bike more. I used to be an avid biker when I was younger. While I sometimes think about biking rather than driving places, the reality is where exactly would I go? I can't bike to the supermarket. How would I get the stuff home? I can't bike to our synagogue - too far away. I can't bike to work - too far away. I don't really go anywhere else that is within reasonable biking distance that wouldn't involve carrying stuff that I couldn't carry on a bike. So I could ride my bike purely for exercise but who has the time?

[murphyc]

I did without a car for three years. I did a ton of walking. My area is safe and I'm luckily very close to almost everything (including doc and dental offices, hospital, post office, library)plus have two great bus routes very close by. No dependents so no worries that way. I have to chuckle about losing much weight, however; that didn't happen since I didn't cut down on eating, though I also didn't increase what I ate. Of course, I felt better with all the physical activity and hauling things that weren't too heavy. My blood work did improve a bit, though I'm relatively healthy anyway and not drastically overweight. Having to walk places to purchase groceries or even catching a bus will make you carefully and thoughtfully determine your purchases; I definitely chose better and smarter, bought less junk. (I always had access to my mother's car, by the way, in case I truly needed it). Anyway, great if you can do it and a very educating experience for future reference when somebody might take your car keys away from you. Now that mom can no longer drive due to Alzheimer's, her car is in my garage to use. I kinda miss the walking, though.

[snshijuptr]

I really enjoy this website to assess the Walkability of your current location, Get Your Walk Score - A Walkability Score For Any Address It's not really that helpful when you are already settled, but I plan to check it out when I graduate and DH and I move.

[GrimJack]

Hmmm, If you drive to work, can you park 5 blocks away? That would add a mile to your walking. I bus to work and get off the bus about 10 block early and walk to work but catch the nearest bus for the ride home. I tried using the stairs at work; bad mistake as I apparently have the beginnings of arthritis and now my knees are a problem; the mistake was jumping right in and walking 10-14 flights per day. I climbed the stairs for a couple months before my knees gave out. that was about 2 years ago - I know that losing the weight will take some pressure off my knees.

Rather than walk to the nearest bus stop to go to work, I drive to a bus stop near my health club so that I can work out after work so I am not sure if this is a wash or not. I need to lose about 30 pounds; I set my 'goal' as the next lower weight 'decade' so I am now trying to get below 230 (I started at 250) - I have been below 240 for months now; that is good/bad news (haven't gained it back but haven't lost more, sigh).