Celebrate Earth Day by Walking

As people around the world celebrate Earth Day (on April 22) and Earth Month (during April), they need look no further than their own feet for inspiration. Walking is a fantastic form of transportation that's low impact both on your body and the environment. Here are a few ideas for how to implement more walking into your day:

• Park your car farther away from the store when you go shopping. Instead of circling the parking lot multiple times looking for the absolute closest parking space, park at the far end of a row and walk.
• Rather than emailing a colleague at the office, get out of your chair and deliver your message in person.
• Take the stairs rather than an elevator or escalator. In addition to the extra walking, you'll get the extra benefit of raising your heart rate by climbing the stairs.
• Look for ways to get to work or school that don't involve driving your car alone. If you live close enough to walk, try it for a day or two to see if you can do it all or most of the time. If you live too far away to walk comfortably, consider walking to a nearby bus stop and riding the bus to work.
• Instead of driving a mile or less to run errands, walk to the grocery store or post office. It will save wear and tear on your car when you're not using it to drive short distances, and you'll improve your health in the process.

These are only a small portion of the many ways you can get more walking into your life. Here's the main idea: as you get ready to plan an excursion, think about whether there's a way to walk part or all of the way to your destination. Before long, you'll be walking more and more every day, and wondering how you ever got anywhere without using only your own two feet.

Earth Day

Exercising on a Budget

I've been reading and hearing a lot lately about the effects of the economy on people's exercise habits. The gist of most of the stories seems to be about what gyms are doing to attract and retain customers when people are cutting their budgets to the bone. My first reaction is that it makes me sad to think that people have to sacrifice their health and fitness because they can't afford to exercise. But there are other alternatives for exercise that don't cost a lot of money.

I've never been a big fan of gyms for my own use. I certainly wouldn't say that belonging to a gym is a bad idea for everyone. But I've never been very comfortable exercising in front of lots of other people, many of whom are intimidating to me because of how good they look and how much they obviously work out. Another thing about gyms that doesn't appeal to me is that many have way too many mirrors, not to mention the big windows at the front so that everyone driving by can see me sweat. Fortunately for people like me, there's another option: walking outdoors on my own. I don't have to pay a monthly fee to lace up my shoes and go walking; all I have to do is walk out the door. I chose walking as my preferred form of exercise for a number of reasons, and high on that list is that I'm a cheapskate. I've always loved the fact that the only thing I really need to spend money on to walk is a good pair of walking shoes. That's it. No membership fees, no fancy equipment; just a pair of shoes a couple of times a year. Heck, I'd probably have to spend money on shoes even if I was going to the gym. Sure, there are always things I could spend money on to make my walking experience more fun: walking socks (what can I say - I'm a sucker for comfy socks) and an iPod are two of my favorites. But those are luxury items, not necessities. So at a time when lots of people are paying more attention to dollars and cents, it's nice to know that walking provides a budget-friendly exercise option. And that's something that will lead to a better bottom line (pun fully intended) for all of us.

Is Red Meat Really That Bad for You?

It seems like there's always some new warning about something we need to avoid eating. A recent study continues that trend, with the results showing an increase in the risk of death from cardiovascular disease and cancer among those who ate more red meat. I'm not sure if that's such a big surprise, since we've been told before that there are heart risks related to eating red meat.

To me, though, there were a few interesting items of note from this study. First, in spite of all the money that's been spent on "The Other White Meat" advertising campaign, pork is still considered red meat, and that means switching from beef to pork doesn't necessarily reduce your risk. Second, it wasn't only red meat that caused health problems in study participants: those who consumed processed meat products like cold cuts and hot dogs (including reduced-fat hot dogs) saw an increased risk of mortality, although the risk was slightly less than those eating more red meat. Third, I was surprised by the amount of red meat considered to be a risk: about 1/4 pound (or 4 ounces) daily.

I'm generally not a big eater of red meat, but that doesn't mean I'm off the hook completely. For one thing, I do eat some, and the message from this study is for me to pay attention to that "some" and make sure I'm within healthy limits. I'll also confess to enjoying the occasional hot dog, and I had convinced myself that by buying the reduced-fat version, I was okay. I don't know that I need to swear off hot dogs completely, but I do need to pay attention to how many I eat, and how often I partake.

I also believe there's a helpful message here about portion control. What I know about nutrition is that a serving of meat (or protein) should be about 3 ounces. That's not too far off the 4 ounce red meat threshold in the study. But honestly, how many of us really limit our meat portions to a mere 3 ounces? (For reference, that's about the size of a deck of cards, or the palm of your hand.) A lot has been said and written about increasing portion sizes, but consider the size of the last steak you ate and ask yourself: was it anywhere close to 3 ounces? I'm not one to advocate swearing off red meat completely, or at least not for everyone. Each person needs to make his or her own choices about what and how much to eat. And there are some nutritional benefits to red meat, including B12 and iron. But on the other hand, there certainly are benefits to using more plant-based sources of proteins (like beans). Swapping out beans or other legumes for meat (even white meat like chicken breasts) can improve your health as well as your budget, since you'll most likely save money by buying less meat.

For me, I don't know that there are easy answers. I definitely need to pay more attention to portion size, both in terms of red meat and everything else I eat. I also could stand to look for ways to cut back on the amount of animal protein I eat overall, since I know it would help both my diet and my wallet. I think that ultimately it comes down to balance and moderation. I don't know that it's possible to eat perfectly all the time, but if I eat pretty well most of the time, I think I'll be on the right track.