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Video – 23 and ½ Hours a Day February 3, 2012 (0) Comments in Healthy Tips by Total Therapy

[youtube width=”600″ height=”335″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUaInS6HIGo[/youtube]

A Great Question for Us All – Dr. Mike Evans’ 23 and ½ Hours a Day

It’s a concerning picture. Obesity rates are rising. In 2005, a World Health Organization report stated that 64% of Canadian women and 70% of Canadian men were overweight. Cardiovascular disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, and other so-called “lifestyle” diseases are increasingly affecting our population.

We know that our collective state of health isn’t what it should be. So why are we getting heavier, softer, and more out of shape? Why is physical activity falling by the wayside? We’re busy – we have work, families, long commutes. We’re tired. We have a million reasons for not taking action.

It’s for these reasons that Dr. Mike Evans’ argument is impactful. He asks a very simple question: Can you limit your sleeping and sitting to just 23 ½ hours a day?

Dr. Evans presents a compelling case as to why you should try. He cites multiple research studies that provide strong evidence that physical activity is the single best thing you can do for your health. For example, in a large American longitudinal study, researchers found that low fitness was the single strongest predictor of preventable death. A German study on cardiovascular patients with narrowed arteries found that those who used a stationary bike 20 min a day and attended a 60 min aerobics class once a week had as good or better outcomes than those who had stents surgically implanted.

If that’s not enough motivation for you, consider the results of this Australian study. It found that adults who watch 6 hours of TV a day live 5 years less, on average, than their non-TV counterparts. To put that in perspective, the average adult in the US watches 5 hours of TV a day.

The biggest thing that Dr. Evans stresses is that it doesn’t take much to become healthier. In fact, all you need is 20-30 min a day of walking to reap all the benefits that physical activity has to offer. If someone offered you a magic pill that reduced your risk of dementia by 50%, reduced your risk of diabetes by 58%, reduced your risk of stroke by 64%, and gave you an extra 5 years of life, would you take it?

The video by Dr. Evans gives us a lot of really good reasons why we should get up and get moving. So can you do it? Can you limit your sitting and sleeping to just 23 and ½ hours a day?