The Benefit of Coasting

Coasting (kohst-ing) – verb – to continue to move or advance after effort has ceased; keep going on acquired momentum.

I am a big believer in coasting.  When the price of gas soared a few years ago I made it a game to see how much better millage I could get out of each gallon by safely coasting whenever possible.  I would watch the stop light up ahead and if the odds were good it would be red by the time I reached it I would just take my foot off the gas and coast on up.  I increased my gas efficiency by at least ten percent.

After driving this way for a while I started to notice how, with a little planning, I often would not need to use the gas, nor the brakes because I was not just speeding up to have to stop all of a sudden.  When I ride in a car now with a non-coaster I have to work really hard not to point out not only how much gas they are wasting and brakes they are wearing out, but how scary it is to drive really fast right up behind someone and then have to jam on the breaks because the non-coaster in front was stopping suddenly.  If you know me you know I am fairly unsuccessful at not pointing that out, especially when I let loose a “this-is-not-how-I-planned-to-die-scream.”

Changing driving habits is very similar to changing eating habits.  I have become somewhat of a coaster when it comes to eating these days.  I try to eat just enough to keep the hunger pangs away.  If I think I am hungry before a real honest to god mealtime, I drink a big glass of iced tea or water to see if I can keep coasting until the time I should eat.  If I continue to be hungry I push it just a half hour more.  Usually I get involved with something else and keep what I call brain hunger at bay.  You see I am sure at this point in my privileged life I don’t know what real hunger is and I have boredom hunger.

Now the thing about coasting is you have got to build up momentum at some point in order to be able to coast.  As a child there was nothing more satisfying than after peddling my bike really hard on the upside of a hill I got to coast with legs splayed out, no feet on the peddles, on the down side.

The benefit of coasting is that you are still making forward progress without constantly expending energy and that has to help you go farther in the long run.  So in the heat of the summer I want to encourage you to find good places to coast and take advantage of energy you have already expended to get just a little farther for free.