The active way of life

60 in 3 had that interesting post last week about how having an active life is really a key step in one’s journey to health and weight loss, and I couldn’t agree more with what the author had to say about the matter. Because, when we think of it, when we turn a keen eye on it, being active isn’t necessarily what we think it is, nor are we necessarily as active as we should be.

What’s being active? Contrary to what I used to think myself in the past, it doesn’t always mean having a life filled to the gullet with various duties and ’stuff to do’. In that matter that interests us today–mainly, losing weight–it simply means having an active physical life. And physical activity doesn’t have to include three hours at the gym every day for the rest of your life either.

I’m going to take my own case as an example to explain what I (and what 60 in 3’s author) mean by that: I’m a student who also happens to have a part-time job, since I’m too old to resort to State-funded grants, and don’t want to get a loan if I can avoid it. That means I have my job, classes to attend, and homework to do. Technically speaking, my life is pretty full; but if I leave it at that, it’s not particularly active, in that taking the bus to the office or to the campus isn’t exactly a very physical feat, nor is doing my homework at my desk or in the library.

Now, what about taking my bike to go to school and to work? Which is what I do: it takes me 35 minutes to go to work–10 to 15 minutes less than if I were to take the bus, because I don’t have to cope with waiting for the connection, and can also take a more direct way that isn’t serviced by that bus and streetcar. I bike to go to my friends’, to the gym, to the supermarket, everywhere–I even bike to Germany to buy produce that can’t be found, or is more expensive, in my country. Granted, this isn’t such an accomplishment in itself, since I live about 15 minutes from the border, and there’s a town right on the other side, but that still makes 30 more minutes of biking at the end of the day. I also take the stairs instead of the elevator to go to my 4th-floor studio apartment.

Of course, it can’t work that way for everyone and in every cases. If going by bike, for instance, really takes much more time than with your car, it’s evident that you won’t keep that commitment running for long–we all want to have a life in the evenings! But let’s just keep in mind that every little effort counts. Every time you park 100m from the entrance and walk rather than running in circles for two minutes trying to find a closer spot, every time you climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator, every time you carry your groceries through the supermarket instead of taking a cart, it’s a little step toward a more active lifestyle.

And those little things have a tendency to pile upon each other, and become quite an activity in itself after a while. That’s a certain amount of calories burned, after all.