Less Automation Would Do Us Good

Today I was out in my driveway shoveling the newly delivered gravel to spread it evenly and a neighbor walked by and asked if there was a more automated way I could do that.  My response was, “It is my exercise for the day.”  Which we both agreed was a good workout.

His comment got me thinking about how we have automated so much in our lives that it is no wonder people are over weight.  We no longer do so many of the things we used to that burned up calories.  Here is a very short list:

When was the last time you got up to turn on or off the TV, change the channel or raise the volume?  Think of the number of squats a remote control removed from your daily activity.

If you have a lawn do you cut it yourself?  If so, do you ride on a lawnmower to do it?  If you walk give yourself a hand, but is your mower self-propelled?  I can bet not one person reading this cuts their own lawn under their own steam.

Such little things as hanging the laundry out to dry was exercise.  Holding soaking towels above eyelevel and clipping them to a line with a clothespin has got to equal lifting three-pound weights.

I saw a beautiful British ex-model turned TV chef on the cooking channel this morning making French bread.  She demonstrated making it by manually kneading the dough for ten minutes straight.  She said you could use a machine, but that it was a better workout by hand.  I would say so.  No wonder she had beautiful arms and was also able to actually eat the bread without guilt when it was finished.

When was the last time you had to get up from a chair to answer the phone?  Most of us have a phone in our pocket all the time.  For those people who still have a land line many just the voice mail take the message and then later when they are near the phone they might listen to it.  More squats are needed to make up for that automation.

Even power steering on cars cuts out expending some energy.  We have a car now that will parallel park it self, although I refuse to try it.  Really turning my power steering wheel is just not that hard.

Everything from leaf blowers to that machine that automatically squirts a 360-degree spray of foam cleaner in your shower that just runs the dirt and scum down the drain has caused us to expend fewer calories just to survive.

Now I am not looking for a washboard and tub to clean my clothes, but I do think a little more gravel shoveling and getting up and down out of my chair to answer the phone would do me good.