Lose the Car, Lose the Weight

Losing their cars inspired a different kind of loss for 250 city dwellers who took on Zipcar’s “low-car diet” this year. The participants dropped a collective 413 pounds by giving up their personal gas-guzzlers for a month. They walked 93 percent more miles and biked 132 percent more miles on their new car-sharing plan.

The folks at Zipcar might be on to something: Maintaining the industrialized world’s most time-consuming work schedule can make it hard to squeeze treadmill time into an already booked day.  But with about 100 calories in every mile walked, returning to the world’s original “treadmill”—a.k.a. transporting yourself—can be seriously good for you and the environment.

Even a short daily walk to public transit can benefit your health. 

One hundred of the participants liked their car-free lifestyle so much they decided to stick with it. You can read their blogs and find out more about the challenge here.

--Sarah F. Kessler