5 ms·

in a walking vs. driving lifestyle, you don't just double your walking, you more than likely 10X your walking. 20X on an exceptionally busy day. i live in LA

in a walking vs. driving lifestyle, you don't just double your walking, you more than likely 10X your walking. 20X on an exceptionally busy day. i live in LA but my 'moves' app tells me that when traveling to walking cities, on a busy day i burn 600+ calories walking. at home it's around 100. sometimes less. this is quantified via GPS and an understanding of human biology. if you choose not to believe this, you're picking another fight entirely. a delta of 500 calories a day combined with eating just a little less, or of healthier foods is rapid weight loss. it's why people can easily lose weight on a vacation to europe or asia.

brandonmenc 12y ago
I do believe this. What I don't believe is that the average American will ever have time to walk 10x more than they currently do, or that the average obese American is eating only in excess of 500 calories a day. My original comment was harsher than it needed to be. I believe our exercise and obesity problem requires a lot more than just ditching cars to fix. Especially when walking is not a convenient mode of travel for people living outside the largest cities. All things being equal, yes, more walking is better.
- smacktoward 12y ago
  > Especially when walking is not a convenient mode of travel for people living outside the largest cities. This part is a chicken-and-egg problem, though: we design sprawled-out, unwalkable communities because everybody has cars; everybody has cars because they live in sprawled-out, unwalkable communities.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
  - zachrose 12y ago
    Maybe we should just let the cars drive themselves and have a treadmill inside the car. "It feels like you're running at an incredible rate, Harry."
- TheCoelacanth 12y ago
  An excess of 500 calories per day would lead to a weight gain of roughly 50 pounds per year. That could lead to obesity in less than a year and morbid obesity in just a few years. Most likely the average obese American is eating an excess of substantially less than 500 calories per day.

brandonmenc 12y ago

I do believe this. What I don't believe is that the average American will ever have time to walk 10x more than they currently do, or that the average obese American is eating only in excess of 500 calories a day. My original comment was harsher than it needed to be. I believe our exercise and obesity problem requires a lot more than just ditching cars to fix. Especially when walking is not a convenient mode of travel for people living outside the largest cities. All things being equal, yes, more walking is better.

smacktoward 12y ago
> Especially when walking is not a convenient mode of travel for people living outside the largest cities. This part is a chicken-and-egg problem, though: we design sprawled-out, unwalkable communities because everybody has cars; everybody has cars because they live in sprawled-out, unwalkable communities.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
- zachrose 12y ago
  Maybe we should just let the cars drive themselves and have a treadmill inside the car. "It feels like you're running at an incredible rate, Harry."
TheCoelacanth 12y ago
An excess of 500 calories per day would lead to a weight gain of roughly 50 pounds per year. That could lead to obesity in less than a year and morbid obesity in just a few years. Most likely the average obese American is eating an excess of substantially less than 500 calories per day.