When I first came to London I became a key user of those horrible microwave meals. You know the type which were cheap (£2.99) and could be heated inside their plastic tray container in 2 to 3 minutes. The obvious advantages being speed of delivery, ease of cooking and no need to wash up any plates. The obvious downside was the noxious cancer causing plastic drippings I must have lapped up over those years. But the other effect was rather poor effect on my physiology and diet. My weight fluctuated (over and under), my skin was unhealthy and I would even dare to say it affected my psychological well-being. Now you would have expected me to put on large amounts of weight, but this was a time when I was quite fit being in the Territorial Army.

This did get me thinking though…as since from when I met my wife our meals have been far more balanced, home cooked and regular. My physical regime is really not great really walking to and from work and on weekends. I don’t jog or run! And yet my weight has been a fairly constant 88 to 91 kg and I am generally slim and trim (I am a tall fellow). Now people would argue that it was my metabolism or something that keeps me healthy, but I would still propose that the food intake of the equation is the most important rather than the output.

Let’s face it that weight inside the body is a function of food in less energy out. If you have a net surplus, you will put on weight and if you have a deficit, you will lose weight. I believe it that simple. I will be controversial here and say that when one walks around a shopping centre (and I'm probably digging a huge hole for myself with a certain bias!), invariably when I have seen (dare I say it?) a rather chubbier person, they are more likely to be eating or drinking when you see them! Now the whole of Western civilisation does not help us here. We are fed a constant barrage of marketing stimuli and consumerism to keep feeding our faces and at the same time especially fast food is just loaded with sugar and salt and hidden calories. So we get into a cycle of eating, feeling guilty, going on binge diets (some of which are really weird) and also trying to lose the weight in the gym or pounding the streets. Coupled with the fact that fast food is actually quite cheap!

Now I am not advocating NOT running or riding. Some people really enjoy their sports…they are the types that actually get addicted to either the competition, the camaraderie or the adrenaline. They should continue to be. But many of us don’t really want to have to run or go religiously to the gym. I have twice signed up for gyms in my life only to see my participation slowly dwindle and die. And the key reason is that inherently I don’t like gyms! I don’t like the sweaty machines, the chlorine smell in the air, the beeping and certainly not running on a treadmill when there are such lovely parks and roads outside. Get out of the gym people and onto the streets!

So my advice is to make small incremental changes to your life. Pick up a Fitbit or something and make sure you walk (yes walk) 8 to 10,000 steps per day (Which equates to about 8 kms). Now the interesting thing is that my daily commute on any given day is about 800m to the station, another 800m at midpoint changing trains, about 1km at destination to the office, lunch can be easily 1km of walking around and then reverse everything to get home. So on an average day without even leaving my sedentary desk I can do 6.2km. Another break during the day or an evening walk at home and you can easily get to the 8km. Couple this with good eating and you are practically there. Did I mention that I don’t run!

Admittedly Americans have a problem in that they do not walk. Of all the countries I have visited, parts of America are surely the most pedestrian unfriendly. I remember once being on the wrong side of a motor freeway in Florida trying to get across to the shops on the other side and being perplexed that there was no pedestrian bridge to cross over. The planners presupposed that no one in their right mind would go to a mall WITHOUT their car. So I’m afraid for you I have no solution because I have 6.2kms already a day on you using public transportation. I guess there is always the gym!

Part 2 on some thoughts on food can be read here: https://steemit.com/food/@genxlifelessons/thoughts-on-food-part-2