Active transportation means walking, biking or using mass transit. I guess the mass transit is in there because you have to walk to the bus stop or train station. (Unless there has been a change, I am pretty sure that trains and buses aren’t using the Fred Flintstone propulsion method.)
What this all boiled down to was that Europeans burned more calories than the average US citizen – converting to annual pounds lost here’s the score: Europeans 5 to 9 pounds, Americans 2 pounds.
Unfortunately the effect is cumulative, so as time goes by the weight stays with you. If Americans would get more active, we could be losing an additional 3 pounds per year, and perhaps the obesity rate would drop.
What are you doing to contribute to this? One way that you can add exercise to your life without going to extremes is to walk when you would normally ride. Examples: taking stairs instead of the escalator or the elevator, park at the end of the row instead of circling like a vulture looking for that front row space, walking from one end of the strip mall to the other, instead of moving your car a quarter mile.
I realize these aren’t active transportation and don’t have anything to do with your daily commute or driving habits, but they can impact your health by burning a few extra calories a day. Every little bit adds up.
What I read stated that Europeans average 237 miles of walking per year, while Americans averaged 87. Here’s the question, are you competitive? Are you going to let some European walk more than you? I say no. We can walk as well or better (and more) than any other citizen of this planet, by golly! Let’s get out there and do it. I am going to get my 237 miles in before the end of the year, how about you? Let’s see with 14 calendar days left, that’s only 16.9 miles per day. Totally do-able! Well, maybe not. Breaking it down as a realistic goal for next year, that is less than one mile per day. Are you up to the challenge?
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