Our Cars are Killing Us

No this is not another story about ozone depleting automobiles and the future health of our planet.

This is about today and your heath.  What millions of people don't realize is our dependence on and use of our cars is killing us and not even slowly like the ozone issues.

On a recent visit to my favorite place in the entire universe - Hawaii - I decided to not rent a car.  Primarily, with the length of my visit it would have cost me a fortune.  Instead, I decided to use buses and my good old feet.  So this decision had nothing to do with exercise or fitness.

I admit, I have spent my entire life fussing and worrying about my health, fitness and sigh, my weight.  And expected to continue in this mode of counting calories and hours exercised on this trip.

So you can imagine my surprise, when I ate what I wanted and never gained an ounce in fact got so fit, my friends commented on how I looked on our SKYPE calls.  I even stopped "exercising".  I just walked were ever I needed to get to and carried everything I needed from the here to there.  And I got way more cardio- and strength-training than I ever did at any gym I used.  Only thing I continued from my "old" program was my 15 minutes of yoga every morning to keep flexible.

Here is essentially what I did:

• walked to the bus stop, beach, all over town
• walked up and down the hill ever time I wanted anything from anywhere
• walked to visit friends
• carried groceries, cameras and supplies up or down steep hills
• swam in the ocean and walked the beach
• did a ton of yard work
• 15 minutes of yoga every morning
• ate what ever I wanted

And almost like a miracle, I was fitter and trimmer than I can ever remember being and I was nationally ranked competitive athlete at one point.

Human bodies were evolved to move.  To walk every where while we hunted and gathered.  Not sit at computers all day and in front of TV's all night or to ride in vehicles to get to where we want to go.  But to MOVE and carry and climb and lift and well you get the idea.

So next time you need to get somewhere, think about using the best exercise equipment in the world...your feet! Much cheaper than a gym membership too!