It’s no Surprise

Here is another great article on how our decreasing activity level has created the obesity epidemic. It isn’t any surprise, since NEAT-Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis- burns far more calories than the gym. What all this means is that we used to be more active all day long, and since we aren’t now, there isn’t that much you can do at the gym to offset it. Think about it, unless you are extremely ardent, you are only spending 3-5 hours a week at the gym, out of your 168. If you are spending a lot of the other 163 sitting, very few calories are being burned.

I also ran into this article on the top ten nations for life expectancy. While they attribute it to access to health care, they did mention low smoking rates. I’m all for good health care, but how about personal responsibility? Food is very expensive in Switzerland, so they aren’t as prone to overeating.  They also walk a lot. I can’t guarantee you will live a long life if you don’t smoke, eat right and keep your stress levels down, but it can’t hurt. The article also drove me nuts about insurance- I still argue that insurance doesn’t do anything but add a layer of bureaucracy, subsidies the health care industry directly, not an ancillary business that provides no benefit.

Go, seize the day and park far away from you destination. Don’t smoke and have a salad with chicken or salmon for lunch.