Why Cutting the Fat Can Help You Save the World and Make Some Money
By: Bean Jones
Fit Factor. There's more than meets the eye when it comes to lowering your gas consumption.
Did you know that by getting fit you could save the world and save money at the same time? You see, if you're fit, you can help lessen pollution as well as save money on gas.
In 2007, a University of Illinois study found that "cars on US roads must burn nearly one billion additional gallons of gas per year because of overweight drivers and passengers." With federal data on gas consumption and weigh gain from 1960 to 2002, computer science professor Sheldon Jacobson and his colleague Laura McLay used a mathematical model to determine the correlation between the two factors.
Jacobson and McLay pointed out that the average American's weight increased by more than 24 pounds over the time period covered by their data. According to them, this means that we use up "at least 938 million more gallons [of gas] than we did in 1960."
Then again, while lowering your gas consumption and lessening pollutant while you're at it are indeed an added incentives of getting fit, you should keep in mind that keeping yourself healthy should already be enough to motivate you.
Credits: Photo by Petr Kratochvil, courtesy of Public Domain Pictures.
Suggested Resource: Check out Simpleology 103: The Simple Science of Personal Energy and find out how you can start getting fit for life. You won't just save money on gas. You'll save money on medical bills that are sure to plague you if you aren't as healthy as you can be.
Comments
Cut the fat? That smacks of advising a low-fat diet.
Back in 1999, I lost 100 lbs. On a high-fat, high-protein diet. And kept it off for 10 years now. And improved my health greatly. The ONLY problem I have had to date with low-carb is well-meaning fools trying to 'explain' how 'unhealthy' it is.
I understand the reasoning behind what your trying to get across but it's still hard to keep my tongue out of my cheek. after I was done reading the article it became funny and then it's easily forgotten. ya gotta do better'n dat dude.
[quote]According to them, this means that we use up "at least 938 million more gallons [of gas] than we did in 1960."[/quote]
They've got to be kidding!!! Cars were FAR less fuel efficient in 1960 and there were fewer of them. They're comparing apples and oranges.