Walking Is Good For You -- Stop Driving and Start Living

The average American drives 33 miles per day. They get in the car to go down the street to the grocery store. They whiz through the drive-through for their 500-calorie lattes. They drive to pick their kids up from school. They drive to work. For the most part, Americans drive everywhere.

On the other hand, Americans usually walk less than 3 miles per day. That's less than 5,000 steps per day. Our team thinks that is backwards; many of us have sold our cars or only use them for long-distance trips because the human body was built to walk long distances.  It was built to carry a backpack on its back and a 30-lb kid on its hips. The body is stronger than most people realize.

For the sake of ease, let's say that walking one mile burns around 60 calories, more if you weigh over 140 pounds. If you walk five miles a day just getting to the places that you have to be, then you burn 300 calories. This presumes a 2.5 MPH pace. Move faster and you will burn more. If you are piggybacking a kid or carrying a heavy backpack, burn even more.  These are the miles that it takes to get places...work, home, school, store...it doesn't count your weight lifting or circuit training and it doesn't take into account the walking you may do at work or elsewhere. It's an extra 5 miles of physical movement added to your day.

Now you may think that this is impossible, but it isn't. One of our nutritionists has been without a car for SEVEN years. She walks with her now 6-year-old everywhere. The nearest grocery store is 2 miles from her house. She only uses the public bus when it's more than 5 miles from her house. And guess what? She's got a six pack.  She has minimal body fat. And even better, she doesn't run or do extensive chronic cardio. 

We bet that if you tried this method of living, you'd lose unwanted fat, build muscle and get closer to a "zen" happiness. After all, that's what we're all about here. Give it a try. Just a week. See where it takes you.