Everyday Systems

Yeah, I need to lose a lot of weight. A lot. But I don't want to get on a plan. (I'm not the mose conventional person out there).



I don't want to have to buy from Jenny or pay for some equipment to sit in my house not being used.



I'm all for multi tasking.



I think I love the idea of all of your forums (No S, shovelglove and the UR).



I am trying to incorporate it into my lifestyle. However, I drive my two daughters to and pick them up from two different locations everyday plus get myself to work. SO the walk to work thing is out.



The lunch walk is hmm, can we say 105 heat index outside? Hot and muggy like all get out? How do you lunch walk without breaking into a sweat? DO I change clothes to do this?



My office building has no shower facilities, so how would I justify being all sweaty and stuff when I get back?



Heck, I get sweaty just walking to the back of the parking lot to my car.



Okay, it may sound like I'm copping out, but I'm truly not. I already ride my bike with my girls for about 45 minutes each evening. It is a must (a family ritutal so to speak). So I'm not tryig to get out of exercising.



So help me figure this out. If I DRIVE to the mall, I can walk inside for 35 minutes, but that wastes 25 minutes that I can spend walking and I feel that getting in the car to go there kind of defeats the purpose.



There is a huge lot that I can walk around for about 35-40 minutes, but the sweat factor is what keeps me indoors.



Looking forward to some great responses and suggestions.



Thanks in advance.


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UR may not be practical for you on an every day basis. You probably can, however, incorporate some URing a couple or three days per week (think weekends).

Consistent NoS plus a daily exercise program (such as SG) with as much URing as possible will go a long way toward helping you lose unwanted bodyfat, but you have to be serious about making a commitment to changing your habits and following through.

If something is important, do it everyday. Make controlled eating and exercise a part of every day. Get up earlier if necessary to make it happen.

Joel

Hi newb_E,

I walk through blizzards and heat waves, but I live in relatively temperate new England, so I don't have to too often. As for the sweat... well, if it happens it happens. I sweat a lot less now that I've burned off all this extra luggage. For me, braving the elements is part of the urban ranger self-mythologizing.

If you live somewhere *brutally* hot, and/or being sweaty in the office just isn't gonna cut it, then I guess I'd have to advise timing your walk so that you can shower right after. That may be inconvenient... but somewhere you're going to have to make a trade off of some kind: either the discomfort of sweating, the inconvenience of an oddball time, or the time to drive somewhere comfortable. Sorry!

What I'd recommend is maybe decide to do some kind of urban ranger every week day, and then try out these various trade offs and see which works best. It can be hard to know in advance. You might discover that it isn't actually that bad to get a little sweaty, that fear of sweat is the worst part. You might discover that popping out for a quick 15-20 minute walk in the early morning before you shower not only gets you some vital exercise but also clears and focuses your mind for the coming day. You might even discover new, better trade offs that we haven't thought of yet (post them if you do!). Every day is like an experiment (but a mandatory experiment).

If you want to get concrete about this, create an urbanranger HabitCal tag, and as long as you get it done somehow each day (maybe give yourself a minimum time, like 14 minutes), mark it green. If not, red. Delegate the details of how and where and when you walk to your daily self.

Reinhard

Is there somewhere you can walk inside your office? I know it sounds silly, but indoor walking in a small confined space (pacing) is better than nothing.

I am a twitchy person and sitting down all day drives me nuts. At events where they have you sit most of the day I take the time to find an unused conference room and pace back and forth during the lunch break. When I take a bathroom break I walk to the furthest bathroom, little things like that keep me sane.

The view is usually nothing to write home about but I use the time to cultivate an active fantasy life or write The Great American Novel (okay, maybe not so great) in my head. Reinhard would no doubt pack an audio book. Sometimes I just think happy thoughts about my friends and family. I'm sure the folks who peek into the room and see me grinning and chuckling to myself think I'm nuts, but who cares about them?

Another way you can squeeze some urban ranger in is stairs.

Just vow that whenever you have the option to take the stairs instead of an escalator or elevator you will. It doesn't seem like much, but it adds up. And I've found it actually tends to get me where I'm going faster than I would otherwise.

Reinhard

FYI: we've all been responding to a repost by a spambot here. But it was originally a real post from a real human being, so however dubious the provenance, I think it's been a profitable discussion.