Bitter Pills and Being Sedentary | StrongFirst
"While a healthy lifestyle includes exercise, exercise alone does not make a healthy lifestyle."
Wise, and honest, words from StrongFirst's Director of Education, @Brett Jones.
My own formula for a healthy lifestyle outside of exercise is something I owe to my wife; allow me to explain.
My wife grew up in the countryside outside of Philadelphia, PA, in an area which, at the time, was so rural that she didn't have a normal street address. Her mailing address included the abbreviation "RD", which means a Rural Delivery route of the US Post Office - you were so far out in the country that your address identified which postal route you lived on and, other than that, the mailman would simply have to know in which house to find you. To say my wife found living in the country isolating would be to understate her feelings greatly - she'd been there, done that, and wanted no parts of it again.
About 25 years ago, while we were living in an apartment in New York City and, having decided we didn't want to raise our children there, we started house hunting outside the city. We'd just had our first child. I worked in New York City. Having grown up in the suburbs, I thought that living in the country would be nice change from city and suburban life, but my wife would have no part of it. We agreed on a compromise - no country for me, no city for her. It would be the suburbs for us both.
This might sound silly now, but my wife insisted on two things - sidewalks, and being able to walk on those sidewalks to buy a cappuccino. My wife said she'd have no part of being stuck in the house while I went to work, so she wanted to be able to walk, with the stroller, to a good coffee shop. We settled on a house just outside the downtown area of a small town, Northern NJ town that did, indeed, have a sidewalk in front of it and was less than a 5-minute walk to a good cup of coffee (or cappuccino).
The upshot of her insistence on sidewalks and good coffee was that we ended up situated to be able to walk to almost everything one needs in day to day life: the bank, the movie theater, several coffee shops, several grocery stores, not to mention a number of restaurants, and including a fair amount of shopping that doesn't require a trip to the mall - clothing and jewelry stores, and even several places to get a haircut.
I walk a couple of miles every day - my favorite grocery store is about a mile each way, and I shop like a city dweller, bringing home what will fit in my backpack and a grocery bag or two almost every day, and walking to my other errands like the bank and the post office. I have everything you could imagine within walking distance: the library, a movie theater, and lots of small shops. I feel fortunate to live where I do - fortunate that it allows me to easily choose a healthy lifestyle that includes a lot of walking. I know it's not as easy for some people.
That's my story - please feel free to share your thoughts on Brett's article and on a healthy lifestyle outside of exercise by posting your own message in this thread.
-S-
"While a healthy lifestyle includes exercise, exercise alone does not make a healthy lifestyle."
Wise, and honest, words from StrongFirst's Director of Education, @Brett Jones.
My own formula for a healthy lifestyle outside of exercise is something I owe to my wife; allow me to explain.
My wife grew up in the countryside outside of Philadelphia, PA, in an area which, at the time, was so rural that she didn't have a normal street address. Her mailing address included the abbreviation "RD", which means a Rural Delivery route of the US Post Office - you were so far out in the country that your address identified which postal route you lived on and, other than that, the mailman would simply have to know in which house to find you. To say my wife found living in the country isolating would be to understate her feelings greatly - she'd been there, done that, and wanted no parts of it again.
About 25 years ago, while we were living in an apartment in New York City and, having decided we didn't want to raise our children there, we started house hunting outside the city. We'd just had our first child. I worked in New York City. Having grown up in the suburbs, I thought that living in the country would be nice change from city and suburban life, but my wife would have no part of it. We agreed on a compromise - no country for me, no city for her. It would be the suburbs for us both.
This might sound silly now, but my wife insisted on two things - sidewalks, and being able to walk on those sidewalks to buy a cappuccino. My wife said she'd have no part of being stuck in the house while I went to work, so she wanted to be able to walk, with the stroller, to a good coffee shop. We settled on a house just outside the downtown area of a small town, Northern NJ town that did, indeed, have a sidewalk in front of it and was less than a 5-minute walk to a good cup of coffee (or cappuccino).
The upshot of her insistence on sidewalks and good coffee was that we ended up situated to be able to walk to almost everything one needs in day to day life: the bank, the movie theater, several coffee shops, several grocery stores, not to mention a number of restaurants, and including a fair amount of shopping that doesn't require a trip to the mall - clothing and jewelry stores, and even several places to get a haircut.
I walk a couple of miles every day - my favorite grocery store is about a mile each way, and I shop like a city dweller, bringing home what will fit in my backpack and a grocery bag or two almost every day, and walking to my other errands like the bank and the post office. I have everything you could imagine within walking distance: the library, a movie theater, and lots of small shops. I feel fortunate to live where I do - fortunate that it allows me to easily choose a healthy lifestyle that includes a lot of walking. I know it's not as easy for some people.
That's my story - please feel free to share your thoughts on Brett's article and on a healthy lifestyle outside of exercise by posting your own message in this thread.
-S-