Easy Ways to Get Some Exercise

Nutrisystem has a tip for you: easy walking or cycling is really fun exercise. Plus, they’re great ways to kill two birds with one stone: by replacing short car trips with walking or a bike ride, you’ll be doing yourself and the environment a favor. They can be very easy exercises. Here’s how it works:

Imagine your house is at the center of a circle that is a half-mile across. Then pick one day of the week and decide that every trip you take within that small circle will be either by foot or by bicycle. Leave the car at home, and rather than driving, walk the kids to school or ride to the post office. You can take an easy stroll to the pharmacy or a soft spin to the coffee shop to meet friends. You’ll burn about 80 calories if you walk 20 minutes at an easy pace; about 100 if you’re carrying a bag with a few pounds of groceries. Walk a bit faster, or farther, and you’ll burn even more. You’ll burn about 100 if you ride a bike to and from the edge of that circle.

Once you’re comfortable with that distance, you can push out the radius. Make it one mile, and your calorie burn will increase. You can then resolve to skip the car on two days of the week, or even three. If you walk two miles a day at a moderate pace, and do it three days a week, you’ll burn enough calories to lose one pound. When you combine that with the portion control you’re already practicing on the Nutrisystem program, you’ll accelerate your weight loss.

By leaving the car at home, you’ll also be saving money on gasoline and wear-and-tear on your car. And by leaving the car at home for short trips, when automobile engines are at their least efficient and least clean, you’ll be keeping pollutants out of the air. So give it a try. Everyone will win. Especially you.