Being Fit and Energy Consumption

We had a guy from the local Heating company over last week to look at our heat pump. We're considering getting it replaced with a more efficient (and quieter!) model at some point, and wanted him to evaluate our whole system and how it was working for the house. We did get some great information about new energy efficient models of heat pumps and air circulators, and we'll be putting that on the list of things we'd like to upgrade when time/money becomes available to do so (also on the list: solar panels, solar greenhouse, rainwater storage system... the list goes on).

The heating guy told us something interesting though, while he was here. We talked about our current heat pump usage and mentioned that we keep our thermostat set at 58 - 60 degrees and he said that we could only really do that because we are all very fit and healthy people in this family. Because we all exercise regularly, our metabolisms run at a fairly high rate, keeping us warmer than more sedentary humans. When we do something sedentary like watching a movie together in the evenings, we bundle under the blankets and keep warm that way.

It's always interesting to me how everything goes in circles. We eat healthy, which makes it possible for us to have lots of energy. Because we have lots of energy, we can lead very active lifestyles. Because we have sustainability as a goal, we tend to bicycle and walk a lot, and we garden and work outside as well. This in turn makes us healthier, more resistant to disease, and even allows us to keep our thermostat lower, which saves us money and furthers our goals of sustainability and using our resources wisely. It all comes around.

So here's to a daily walk or bike ride, keep those (internal human) fires burning!

Back in the Saddle Again

After one solid month of experiencing your basic American way of life (sitting too much, driving too much), my foot is finally feeling good enough to use a little bit. So I managed to run today for a short while. Even better, I can bike for transportation again. I biked to work tonight and realized how very much I have missed this. The streets that cyclists use are largely quiet and dark, and in our town have traffic modifications such as selective entry areas that keep them from being heavily used by cars As a funny side note, I kept ending up on these non-car-friendly streets when I was driving, because I'm more used to getting around town on a bike. They are very frustrating to car drivers, but I'm still glad they're there because they make biking around town so much easier!

It's true that the American way of life is so bad for your body. I couldn't believe how much worse it felt to just be sitting all the time (my foot began to ache after even a short time standing.) After just a week of this, my back started hurting, I won't go into details but my entire digestive system changed its operating procedures, even my vision (which is normally great) started giving me headaches from staring and screens and books for so long. It's no wonder we are a nation of people popping pills for back pain, pills for stomach upset, pills for reflux and heartburn, using laxatives and hemorrhoid cream to cure all the ills of a sedentary lifestyle. It's hard to believe, but people willingly choose to live like this, choose to feel like this!

The good news is that it doesn't take much to rid your body of all of these plagues. I'm not exercising at anything near the level I was before getting injured. I still can't swim without using a floatie for my legs (I can't kick), and I can bicycle a bit, on flats and around town. I did manage to run one mile yesterday without foot pain, so I have hope for that as well. But just the minimal amount of movement I am now able to do has banished most of my sedentary symptoms. More than anything, I'm happy not to be dependent on a vehicle for even a short trip to the store. It was really eye-opening not to be able to even stroll down to the corner market, and made me appreciate the wonders of my body's basic abilities even more.