Last week, I started a new endeavor. I became a loser — a Cincinnati Loser. Cincinnati Losers is a group of seven women committed to losing weight, but more importantly, to getting healthy and getting fit. We all have different goals — mine is to lose 10 pounds before my wedding on Oct. 4, and in the long term, to reclaim my fitness. You can read my introductory Loser post here.
All of the amazing women participating in this grand experiment are Shannan, Amy, Kate, Michelle, Julie, Monika, and me!
So as a tribute to this great venture and wonderful group of women, I thought I would offer some tips for people wanting to make their workouts a little more environmentally friendly.
Tip #1 – Get outside! The gym is filled with energy sucking equipment, bad lighting, and a whole lot of work without going anywhere or seeing anything. Instead of hitting the treadmill, take a walk or run around your neighborhood or hit up a cycling route or bike trail. If you have to head to the gym, take a class that’s unplugged, like spin or mat pilates.
Tip #2 – Walk to take care of small errands. Of course, this becomes easier depending on how walkable your neighborhood is. Don’t hop in the car to go to the bank, pharmacy or coffee shop if it’s a mile or less away. You’ll lessen your carbon footprint while burning calories.
Tip #3 – Don’t buy bottled water. The amount of wasted resources and garbage created thanks to empty plastic water bottles is astronomical: 1.5 million barrels of oil are used to create bottles for bottled water in America. 3.65 billion empty water bottles ended up in the trash in 2004. Those bottles will take 1000 years to biodegrade in our landfills.
Those are my three best tips for greening your fitness. There are plenty more, but these are the easiest to pull off, in my opinion. Any other ideas on how to green your fitness?
UPDATE (9-2-08): Check out a few more tips from Carole Carson, author of From Fat to Fit: Turn yourself into a weapon of mass reduction. Thanks for your comment and for bringing these other great ideas to my attention.
I enjoyed your article. It resonated with me because I had written a piece similar to this that was reprinted in several newspapers. If you like, I’ll send it to you and you can share it with your group. Just let me know what email address you would like me to use.
Best.
Carole
PS: I’m the author of From Fat to Fit: Turn Yourself into a Weapon of Mass Reduction.
The great thing about getting outside for your exercise…is that it has a fantastic mind clearing effect.
For me, fast paced walking (powerwalking) or hiking brings about a powerful positive mental energy, and focus.
Take this time to really get ‘in tune’ with your goals.
Combine these three links for success:
1- positive mental lock on your goals
2 – proper fuel intake (the right food, healthy eating)
3 – get physical (stay active, exercise)
I know I have so much to be proud of right now. I’ve had incredible success in this journey so far, especially considering my added health problems. I regularly visit articles on health and related topics. I found your tips could help me better. Thank you.
Good tips! I bought a Sigg bottle for my birthday last year and I love it. of course, my coworkers thought it was a flask – ha!
I am not proudof work commute, but I won’t give up on my neighborhood because of its walkability factor – I can walk to the grocery, bank, library and pharmacy. By having to carry whatever I buy, I am doing weigh-bearing exercise and it keeps me from overspending!
Nice article I have posted a few ideas for basic bodyweight exercises that you can do anywhere at http://www.greenfitnessworld.com/green-fitness/awesome-basic-bodyweight-exercises-for-green-fitness