I live in Manhattan, a busy, bustling city. Something very interesting that I’ve noticed is the fact that our city’s obesity rate is very much lower than that of the rest of the country.
Do we eat healthier foods? Perhaps to an extent, though the city is filled with delicious pizza restaurants, burger joints, and other unhealthy food genres that seem to attract very many patrons on a regular basis.
What I came to realize is that this is all most likely a result of the fact that people tend to walk here as a means of getting from place to place. Compare this to the rest of the driving world, and one group of people is burning more calories every day.
Even if you’re simply walking to a train, you’ll usually have to walk at least a quarter of a mile in order to get to the station, and probably the same once you’re leaving the station. That’s a half mile right there, and there are many advantages to walking as a result.
This would be an afterthought in most places, since cars can easily get us from place to place. However, it’s led me to realize that walking regularly can very effectively be a means of keeping one’s weight down.
Let’s say you spent 30 minutes walking on a daily basis. You’d probably end up burning off close to 100 calories during this span. Do that for a month, and you can see how that might add up over time. Now consider the idea of doing it for years.
That’s over nearly the equivalent of running a mile at a pretty aggressive pace. You’d have to think that someone who ran a mile per day would be in pretty good physical condition, wouldn’t you?
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.
This is a small suggestion, but one that can make a world of difference if you begin walking on a daily basis. Try it out for a few months and there’s a very good chance that you’ll have some great results to show for it.
The author of this piece also writes about waterproof boots and children’s rain boots.
categories: exercise,fitness,weight loss,diets,health,women’s issues,cardio,nutrition,men’s issues,advice,recreation,leisure,free,education
This is a great post! Walking just small distances really does add up – I do it too, I don't have a car as I live in the city and just walk to get my groceries or go out. I think it's healthy, and good for you even if you don't always feel like it!
Walking is really one of the best activities to burn the extra calories. The speed of walking also matter as well. The faster you walk the more calories you burn. One of the benefit of walking which I think the author left out was, although running burns more calories, walking actually burn fat as compared to running.