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How walking suddenly turned bad for your health...
16th November 2007
This week I've taken my life in my own hands...
Not once, but twice. And there was nothing anyone could
do to stop me.
As Lara and the kids tearfully waved me off, I took a
deep breath, and bravely entered the kitchen.
There, armed with only a knife (all right, and a fork), I
faced one of man's biggest dangers and against all the
odds I've lived to tell the tale.
Yep four rashers of bacon. Two on Monday and
another couple last night.
I reckon I should get my own TV show The World's
Most Dangerous Foods or When Breakfasts Attack!
Next week, I'll approach a cup of coffee in a sealed
room, armed with nothing but a spoon and a small jug of
milk.
Now, just in case I'm giving you the wrong idea, I'm not
staging some sort of marathon baconeating protest
against all the guff that's come out of the media about
bacon and cancer recently.
No my reasons for eating a bit of bacon are a lot
simpler than that. My mate Mick popped over late last
Sunday on his way back to London. He'd been in Devon
with the family, and had stocked up on some lovely local
produce.
And I was lucky enough to get a few treats. Of course, if
you believe Channel 4 my neighbours should have rushed
over to daub the mark of the unclean on my front door.
But to date, I can officially report no ill effects from the
bacon.
Of course I'll keep you fully updated on my condition.
Talking of condition...Is walking bad for you now?Okay, the papers haven't gone as far as to say that you
should burn your trainers. And Channel 4 have yet to
broadcast a programme linking walking to blindness...
But according to one buriedaway piece of information I
came across, walking may not be all it's cracked up to be.
A survey by researchers at Brunel and Exeter universities
have discovered that 56% of men and 71% of women
believe that easygoing exercise such as walking is the
best way to improve and maintain a healthy body.
And now the papers are slamming it, saying walking is
NOT the answer to good health and you should run
everywhere.
Anything for a good headline.
But dig a little deeper, and that's not what the research is
telling us...
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Common sense to the rescue once again...The main concern the researchers voiced was that people
were starting to think that any kind of gentle exercise was
enough to keep them fit and healthy. So a spot of
gardening, or a stroll down to the shops, and voila -
you'd be as fit as Paula Radcliffe.
Obviously that won't happen. And I doubt many people
truly believe that waking to the front door to pick up their
morning paper constitutes a work out.
In fact, in my opinion the only people who would think a
light stroll is enough to keep fit are the people who do no
exercise at all.
This reminds me of a documentary I saw, where an obese
lady insisted she was getting enough vegetables in her
diet by arguing that 'there's lettuce and tomato in a
quarter pounder isn't there?'
Obviously that person has a real problem. As does
anyone who insists that walking downstairs before sitting
in front of the telly counts as exercise.
But to turn that into an argument that walking won't help
to keep you fit and protect your health is rubbish.
In fact, it's irresponsible. Because if this message scares
an average person into suddenly taking up jogging and
busting a lung, that person could suffer joint problems or
even heart problems.
So, once again, let's see what common sense had to say
about this...
- Walking IS good for you! Let's face it, scientists
and experts seem to change their minds daily when it
comes to what's best for us, so personally I listen to
my body and make sure I work it properly. In my
case that means I go for a long walk - maybe 2 miles
or so - practically every day. And I go at a pace that
has me breathing hard and feeling it in my muscles.
- Don't turn this into a chore! I incorporate a
vigorous walk into my everyday life. Whether I need
to go to the shops, am off to see a friend, or just want
to get some sun on my face, I leave the car behind
and set off. Just dress comfortably, carrying warmer
clothing to put on once you've reached your
destination, and that's it.
- Get your food right. Before I set out, I always have a
banana - no matter what I've eaten up to that point. It
just gives me that little kick of extra energy I need to
move a bit faster.
- Start the day right. I always start the day with a cup
of hot water poured over two slices of fresh lemon
(and these days I'm sure you always have some fresh
lemon in the house, especially since I've shown you
this - Click here for 'The Lemon Book' ).
This gets my body ticking over and ready to face the
day. Honestly, I can't big this up enough. Try a cup
of hot lemon tea first thing, and see what a difference
it makes.
And finally...
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If you really want walking to protect your
health, try one of these...Sometimes the hardest thing about any exercise is the
pointlessness of it all, which is why I've found this little
gizmo really useful...
Personally this makes my walks a lot more fun, because I
can challenge myself and get more out of each walk I
take, whether it's a short rapid burst or a longer two-mile
walk.
I even use this at home, because it's amazing to see how
much distance you clock up running after the kids or
dashing to beat your wife to the remote control when X-
factor's on at the same time as World Cup Rugby.
Honestly, give this a try and see what a difference it
makes to the amount of effort you put in, and how much
healthier you feel as a result...
Click here for the Talking Pedometer
That's it for today. Have a great weekend, and I'll be
back again on Sunday.
Till then,
Yours as ever,
Ray Collins
The Good Life Letter
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