8/27/2023

The obesity rate of the US is 41.9%. Compare that to the UK at 27.8% and Japan at 4.3%. This causes enormous suffering in our country. I am convinced that the whole attitude embodied by the concept of “exercise” is one of the problems.

When I’ve lived and traveled overseas, I am always struck by how tiring each day is. By the time I get in bed, I feel like I’ve had a full intense workout. This is despite the fact that I would rarely visit a gym. My cumulative daily physical exertion was far higher than it was at home.

In the US, we think of exercise as requiring a particular set of clothing that is often on the expensive end. You need appropriate pants, shirts, exercise bras, socks, shoes, etc. Most gyms have dress codes to enforce this. Afterwords you shower and change into the clothes you will wear the rest of the day. These are nice clothes, not clothes to exercise in.

One problem is this: it is hard to get enough exercise in at the gym. An hour “working out” often cannot make up for eight hours at a desk and an hour commute in the car. Here is the second related problem: people don’t want to sweat in their daily clothes. Even if they need to travel a short distance, they will get in their car.

It is an attitude problem. When I was living in the UK, I would frequently walk up to six miles a day. Other military spouses I knew also lived the pedestrian and public transportation life. When we would visit the military base, we would suddenly switch cultures. The buildings were close enough to walk from one to another. Still, we would drive between the bowling alley, the BX, the grocery store, and the gym.

I have often thought about this. Being American meant getting in the car. It is great if it is just an occasional luxury. However in our culture, even when walking is possible, we get in the car. And we suffer from extra fat. We have higher rates of cancer, diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis. We are dying early deaths.

We need to think more deeply about how we use our bodies on an hour-to-hour basis.

Several years ago I did a pilgrimage with my husband and baby up to Monserrate in Bogotá. By American standards, this is a substantial hike. One thing that struck me was how dressed up Colombians were as they hiked up the mountain. Many were wearing church clothes and dress shoes. Walking, even long distances, even in the mountains, did not require special clothing. In the US, in general, people doing pilgrimages up mountains wear “exercise” clothes.

I noticed this same phenomena in Japan as well. In the middle of summer the heat and humidity would press down on Tokyo. On the weekends, people would still dress up in formal clothes and shoes and go strolling. They were not afraid of moving and sweating in nice clothes.

We don’t need to have a daily regimen of limited time where we wear spandex and try to shape and sculpt our bodies. We simply need to allow ourselves to move more all day. We need to think of ourselves as people who sweat even in work or church clothes. It is okay to sweat off schedule.