As I battle this slight bulge around my waistline, I started to think about how it affects me, especially how it affects other parts of my body. The truth is your body is affected by excess weight. For instance, your knees have to carry around more weight than designed to handled, which causes pain, swelling, and sometimes, problems that are more serious.
The interesting thing is that in addition to excessive weight and other parts of the body, too much weight could actually be influenced by the amount of time spent in the car. At first, this seemed like a silly topic but then, as I looked into it, I found many other people have questioned the relationship between weight and time spent in the car too.
One study, whose researchers included a Canadian professor and American researchers, shows that even 30 minutes in your car can increase the chance of becoming obese. One focus of the study compared those who live in smaller communities with shops close to the home and those who live in an urban or suburban setting that requires driving to stores. What the study showed is that people in smaller communities weigh less. Another part of the study showed individuals living in residential-only areas see significant difference in overall weight.
As I researched to this information, I thought about the times that I choose to walk to “town” rather than take the car. I realized that even when the trip would only take a few minutes on foot and the weather was perfect for walking, I drove the car simply out of habit, not ever considering walking to be an option. Of course, if the trip involves bringing home a large amount of groceries or other items, for example, then driving makes sense. However, sometimes I find myself driving six blocks to buy a soda and then driving back home again when a better option would have been to take a nice stroll.
Studies also show that walking just half a mile, which typically takes between eight and ten minutes, is an excellent way to reduce the chance of obesity by a significant amount. This would seem to be enough reason to walk occasionally, even when there is no definite destination. If you are battling excessive weight and trying to do all you can to make a difference, start walking whenever you can opposed to driving.