Walk like the Amish

[johnnybgood]

It seems the Amish community know a thing or two about staying thin and relatively healthy.
The average Amish man walks 18,000 steps daily while everyone else takes about half as many steps on an average day.

I found it interesting that the Amish still eat like everyone pre World War II rural America did , which consisted of a high fat diet rich in lard , bread and drank milk unprocessed straight from the cow.
http://walking.about.com/cs/measure/a/amish010704.htm

This should be a wake up call for those that remain sedentary , getting unhealther by the day causing premature heart disease along with diabetes.

After reading this article I think I'm going to take a long walk.

[kayak karl]

im familiar with the Amish community. they eat just like other farming family's do.

[Old Hillwalker]

Traditional Japanese Geishas walk about twice as far as the normal walker considering their gait.

[hikerboy57]

Traditional Japanese Geishas walk about twice as far as the normal walker considering their gait.

what???considering their gait?

[johnnybgood]

Traditional Japanese Geishas walk about twice as far as the normal walker considering their gait.

Which makes me wonder how many hikers are considered overweight as measured by the Mass Body Index (BMI) scale.
The BMI is a relationship between a persons weight and height in correlation with body fat percentage in determining the health risks & probability.
Age and gender are also factored into the BMI calculator . I'm guessing that 33% of us would be considered overweight by the scale used to determine fitness .

[MuddyWaters]

73% of adult americans are OBESE

The % normal americans that are just overweight, would push in the high 90's for sure

Stayed at a hotel 2 yrs ago in Iowa that a couple of tour buses full of Amish people stayed at. No one looked particularly thin to me, pretty much normal.
Made we wonder, around there tourists go visit the Amish country, were the Amish tourists going out to see the regular world??

[Spokes]

Does this mean we'll see an increase in barn raisings along the trail?

[Feral Bill]

73% of adult americans are OBESE

The % normal americans that are just overweight, would push in the high 90's for sure

I don't believe these figures for a minute. Cite sources please. Also, the difference between slightly overweight and obese can be huge, so to speak.

[hikerboy57]

it seems you've chosen the thin amish, and not the overweight ones. its not just exercise, by the way, its an aversion to gluttony as well.but there are plenty of obese amish as well.

[garlic08]

The Amish like to hike on the AT, too. On my thru hike, I met two Amish families in traditional clothing on day hikes. They had the latest gear--nice backpacks, trekking poles, and even trail runners, all in dark or black colors of course. It was fun seeing that. And they were all in great shape.

[Echraide]

73% of adult americans are OBESE

Wait, what? The latest figures I could find say 1/3 are obese, nowhere near 73%. Where did you get that from?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2009/01/09/us-obesity-usa-idUSTRE50863H20090109
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/overwt.htm

[garlic08]

Didn't you know that 68.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot?

[Sailing_Faith]

Didn't you know that 68.7% of all statistics are made up on the spot?

Actually it is more like 73.98% but you were close.

[Bronk]

I don't believe these figures for a minute. Cite sources please. Also, the difference between slightly overweight and obese can be huge, so to speak.

According to height/weight charts I've looked at, the ideal weight for a man 6ft tall is 165 pounds. I weighed 167 when I stepped off the trail after 4 months and 850 miles and I looked emaciated. And that is the lowest I've weighed since I was 18 years old. I don't know who made the charts or how they came up with the figures, but based upon those charts, yes, most people are considered overweight.

[4Bears]

The trouble with the BMI is it is not an accurate indicator of obesity. Example; Male 5'11", 225 lbs, has a BMI of 31, which is in the obese range. The problem is, the example is a college football running back and has less than 7% body fat. So in fact he is virtually all muscle and bone. While many, myself included, are overweight, the BMI doesnot take into account percentage of body fat, or bone mass. Thus the above example while not the norm, would indicate to an insurance company number cruncher that this young man must be a video game playing junk food eating lazy person and warrant a higher premium, while the exact opposite should be true. BMI=Junk Science.

[Tinker]

Families......... (free spellcheck).

[Tinker]

it seems you've chosen the thin amish, and not the overweight ones. its not just exercise, by the way, its an aversion to gluttony as well.but there are plenty of obese amish as well.

Mennonites and Quakers as well.

It's all part of being Amurrican.

The OP's post is well taken, though. We need to exercise restraint at the table and not restrain exercise (you may quote me on the catchy phrase ).

Unfortunately, there are times that we cannot properly exercise, such as when we are having a flare up of pseudo-gout (as I am having right now - my left toe is extremely sore and swollen). It should clear up in a few days. Also unfortunate in my case is that the cause (and therefore the treatment) are extremely hard to diagnose. With gout, it's usually a high uric acid concentration in the blood, and there are meds for that. I'm looking into dietary causes, but I think it may be hereditary, primarily.

So..............since I can't exercise right now, I'm paying special attention to my daily caloric intake (which I hardly ever do, normally).

[Sierra Echo]

Does this mean we'll see an increase in barn raisings along the trail?

Bah ahhahahahahahhaa~~!!!!!

[Wise Old Owl]

WOO someone needs to work on reading their statistics


That was a small but measurable increase from 62.2% the previous year. The survey finds that 36.6% of Americans are overweight and 26.5% obese.

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index findings are based on telephone interviews with 673,000 adults in January 2008 to December 2009. About 90,000 surveys were done each quarter, and the margin of error for the quarterly results is +/- 0.3 percentage points.
The survey finds that:

• 59.2% of obese Americans exercised at least one day per week, compared to 69.9% of overweight people, and 73.8% of normal-weight people.
• Obese people are less likely than people in every other weight category (overweight, normal weight, underweight) to have eaten five servings of fruits and vegetables on at least three days of the past seven.
• Obese Americans also are less likely to say they ate healthy “all day yesterday.”

someone said sources OWLS FLY HERE

[Pedaling Fool]

Mennonites and Quakers as well.

It's all part of being Amurrican.

The OP's post is well taken, though. We need to exercise restraint at the table and not restrain exercise (you may quote me on the catchy phrase ).

Unfortunately, there are times that we cannot properly exercise, such as when we are having a flare up of pseudo-gout (as I am having right now - my left toe is extremely sore and swollen). It should clear up in a few days. Also unfortunate in my case is that the cause (and therefore the treatment) are extremely hard to diagnose. With gout, it's usually a high uric acid concentration in the blood, and there are meds for that. I'm looking into dietary causes, but I think it may be hereditary, primarily.

So..............since I can't exercise right now, I'm paying special attention to my daily caloric intake (which I hardly ever do, normally).

As far as I'm concerned, mainly by experience and observation, exercise doesn't work to lose weight. Yes you do burn more cals during exercise, but you also tend to eat more due to increased appetite. Most people that set out to lose weight lose it pretty quick in the beginning, thanks to exercise and eating less, but as you become accustomed to exercise your appetite starts to not only come back, but return with a vengence.

Before my 2006 hike I was very active, but starting to get really heavy, i.e. fat. It was bothering me and my hike was all about a restart in health. And that's where I learned you don't need to exercise to lose weight, actually you shouldn't even consider it as a way to lose weight; losing weight is all about you diet. Exercise is all about making the body strong and healthy, period.

I know there's some overlap there, but it really helps me when I think in those terms.