SO HOW MUCH ARE YOU EATING

I have recently been up at Loughborough University for an exercise seminar and I picked up a few interesting facts that I thought I would share with you.

In order for us in the 21st Century to equal the self-propelled movement (walking or cycling) of Mr & Mrs Average in the nineteen sixties we need to move a marathon a week – that’s over 26 miles -. If we were to do this, instances of obesity and its ancillary problems would virtually disappear.

The average home in 1970 was heated to 13 degrees Celsius. The average home is now heated to 18 degrees Celsius. The warmer you are the fewer calories you need to keep warm. Therefore we need 300 calories a day less. We are of course, all eating far more than we did in 1970. Conversely, the Americans who use a lot of air conditioning units, are falsely lowering their body temperatures encouraging them to eat more. They are already seriously overeating!

We did not have an obesity problem before Government Nutritional Guidelines were brought in.

As a nation we are in fact, just about hitting the Government Nutritional Guidelines. However the statistics are gathered using only the meals consumed within the home. This is of course, was appropriate in the early eighties when these guidelines were set up. Nowadays, we eat about half the amount of meals in the home. Consider then how many more calories we are eating if the true figure were available.

The scientists involved in determining nutritional guidelines agree that nutritional advice alone will not lower obesity rates. Exercise plays a key role in achieving a healthy lifestyle.

The only good news is that the statistics for childhood obesity are levelling off.

Somehow I found these facts encouraging as they underline the work I am trying to achieve.
Eat healthy food and take exercise to encourage a healthy lifestyle that will look after you for the whole of your life!