Increase Your Calorie Salary!

A merchant might make more money by lowering prices and selling more products because the prices are lower. There is a price, however, at which it is no longer affordable to sell for less. The same is true for trying to control our weight by eating fewer and fewer calories.

Eating less food works -- up to a point. Eventually, however, it is difficult to consume adequate nutrients from the decreased amount of food. It is hard to maintain a diet where we continually feel hungry. And, finally, our bodies, sensing they are being starved, become more efficient in using fewer calories. Weight loss at that point actually may be less than on a higher-calorie diet!

What if we could eat more, and still achieve or maintain a desirable weight?

Adding more activity to our lifestyles is like getting a free loan every day. It increases our "calorie salary" so we can consume more calories.

Use Your Feet More So You Can Eat More!

With rising percentages of overweight adults and youth, energy intake and expenditure is often out of balance. While portion sizes may be larger than in the past, activity levels tend to be lower. Eating fewer calories is only half the answer; expending more calories is the other half.

More of us now work in sedentary settings than in the past. Labor-saving technologies reduce calorie expenditure in many aspects of our lives. Not only can we sit on the sofa and watch TV for entertainment, we don't even have to get up to change the channel!

"More than 60% of American adults do not get the recommended 30 minutes of physical activity a day and 25% of American adult aren't physically active at all," according to America on the Move <www.americaonthemove.org>.

The National Weight Control Registry (NWCR) studies successful weight control strategies of people 18 and older who have lost at least 30 pounds and kept it off for at least one year. The average person listed with NWCR expends about 400 calories a day in physical exercise, with walking the most frequently cited activity.

"The major barriers most people face when trying to increase physical activity are time, access to convenient facilities, and safe environments in which to be active," according to Healthy People 2010, a set of health goals for America to achieve over the first decade of the new century. Physical activity is considered so important one of the goals recommends: Improve health, fitness, and quality of life through daily physical activity. <www.healthypeople.gov/Document/HTML/Volume2/22Physical.htm>

As a general guideline, a person will burn about 100 calories walking a mile. Expending just an additional 100 calories per day will help a person lose about 10 pounds a year. Or, allow a person to eat 100 more calories per day without gaining weight.

Build Walking into Everyday Activities

To pursue a more active lifestyle, we need look no farther than our own two feet. People often feel they have to carve out an extra half hour to hour daily to start a "walking program." Wrong! Just start walking. Walking may even give you added energy and help you sleep better so you are able to walk more. Here are some steps to get you started.

1. Keep Track to Stay on Track

Investing in a pedometer is a good way to begin and stay motivated with walking.

Health experts recommend walking around 10,000 steps/day (about 5 miles) on most days for cardiovascular health. More steps may be needed for weight loss. Some pedometers can be adjusted to calculate miles, speed and approximate calories burned, but simply monitoring the number of steps is enough and may be more accurate than some of the other measurements. Determine your current number of steps for a couple of days and gradually build up.

TIP: If you'd like a chart to help track your steps, you may find this one from University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension helpful: lancaster.unl.edu/food/walk.pdf

2. Walk Rather than Watch the Grass Grow

How many times do we find ourselves standing (or sitting) around watching something that doesn't need watching? Like a TV commercial we've seen a dozen times before. Or a microwave that is set for a couple of minutes or more. Try walking instead.

TIP: Rather than waiting and watching, take a quick walk up and down the stairs or to another area and back.

Put on a backpack and walk for errands of one-mile away or less. Walk to buy an item from a nearby shopping center or to pick up medications from the pharmacy.

TIPS:

• Remove a backpack in stores. It's easy to knock into something. And many stores follow a version of the china-shop verse: Lovely to look at, Delightful to hold, But if you break it, Consider it SOLD!

• Some features that make a backpack more comfortable include:

• padded back to protect against hard objects in pack,
• padded, adjustable shoulder straps,
• water bottle section,

• waistbelt to hold pack comfortably in place.

• As an alternative to a backpack, carry a lightweight handbag with a wide shoulder strap. Shoulder straps that can be worn diagonally across your body are especially comfortable when walking.

4. Walk Between Loads of Laundry

There's always time to work, but often not time to walk. Take short walks between work activities rather than wait until you've finished all your tasks. For example, put in a load of laundry and walk around the block a few times. Repeat until your laundry is done.

5. Walk Your Talk

Meet for a walk with a coworker to discuss a project or problem.

6. Ask: When Is a Car Not a Convenience?

Do you really need a rental car on your next vacation or business trip? Or can you use a combination of walking, public transportation and taxis?

Compared to the money/time spent paying for a car, gas, parking, picking up/returning the car and searching for parking, you may be ahead if you do without. Plus, you can enjoy more of the view if you're not busy reading road maps and watching road signs.

TIPS:

• For longer distances, walk TO a location and take a taxi or public transportation back to your hotel.

• Carry a cell phone and the phone numbers of a few taxi companies should you change your mind about walking or misjudge the distance.

• Always check with someone about safe walking areas before setting out.

7. Become a "Stair Stepper"

Rather than purchase a stair stepper, create opportunities to use real stairs. Store some frequently used items up- or down-stairs. Your legs will get a workout every time you retrieve something. For starters, if you don't have room for many canned goods or bargain buys of paper towels in your kitchen, store them in your basement.

Add steps to your day by parking as far as possible from your destination.

TIP: Sometimes, using a more distant parking lot may even save money, such as at the airport.

9. Move While Meditating

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D., University of Massachusetts Medical Center and author of Wherever You Go, There You Are, recommends a walking meditation for people who wish to meditate but find it difficult to sit still. There are no "rules" as to pace, place, etc. Simply take each step as it comes and be fully present with it.

10. Pace When Life Gets Pressing

In his book, Stopping: How to be Still When You Have to Keep Going, David Kundtz, Ph.D., suggests pacing as helpful when feeling anxious or nervous. He recommends picking a safe course and then pacing back and forth or in a circle in your room, office, yard, park or anywhere.

Because your course is safe and predictable, it offers what Kundtz calls a "stillpoint." A stillpoint is a quick stop during the day during which one does nothing. It may be done many times a day and helps reduce stress.

11. Walk While Waiting to Fly

Buy the type of carry-on luggage that makes it easy to walk in the airport while waiting to catch planes. For example, use a backpack or rolling luggage. There are many new models of tote bags on wheels that are small enough to fit under most airplane seats.

Julia Cameron, in The Artist's Way at Work, suggests as a tool for getting in touch with yourself, to "walk your wisdom." Whether getting off the subway one stop early or heading out the door at lunch, a twenty-minute walk offers a time for reflection and getting in touch with yourself.

13. Ask: How Can I Walk More As I Work More?

If you're working more hours a day, look for normal daytime activities where you can build in some walking -- for example:

• Use the bathroom farthest from your office. Use a bathroom on a different floor at home. Do the same when you're at conferences and meetings.

• Walk around in your office while on a phone conference.

• Walk to someone's office rather than sending an e-mail.

14. Think Energy Management vs. Time Management

"Managing energy, not time, is the key to high performance and personal renewal," according to Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz, in The Power of Full Engagement.

Loehr and Schwartz stress the importance of balancing stress and recovery in managing energy in all facets of our lives. To sustain full engagement, they advise taking a recovery break every 90 to 120 minutes. Getting some type of physical activity daily is one of their recommended recovery and renewal strategies.

It is paradoxical, but to perform at the highest levels over time, it is necessary to take some time out. Stephen Covey in his book, "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" has a 7th habit of "Sharpen the Saw". He gives an example that can be applied to many activities. If you're sawing wood and don't sharpen the saw regularly, even though you work harder and harder, eventually you'll produce less wood.

Permission to reproduce: You may reproduce these materials for educational purposes but not for sales purposes. You're also welcome to link to "Food Reflections" from your website. Please credit: Food Reflections, University of Nebraska Cooperative Extension (lancaster.unl.edu/food/foodtalk.htm)

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