The‘ exercise causes weight loss’ myth 98 try to work out the quickest way to do things, we need to now perfect the reverse art of doing things the long way around to increase our IA. Add to taking longcuts our skills of mindfulness and savoring and now we are taking a walk to smell the roses. If it’ s a glorious day think about how you can take a longcut to walk through a park or beside a river. Then exercise your skills of mindfulness( one of the best forms of exercise!) to be fully present in the moment. Now, when I go to the shops, instead of spending five minutes competitively hunting down the closest car park to the shop entrance, I park well away from the entrance where no one else parks and spend two minutes walking there. Not only do I save time, I get my step count up and save my car from shopping trolley dents! If your days are essentially sedentary, e. g. if you drive a desk all day, you may need to supplement your activity with some walks. Fortunately, walking, because it is relatively gentle, does not seem to trigger overcompensation eating. So what else can we do? If you have a dog – walk it. The research shows that people with dogs find it easier to walk regularly than people with a canine deficiency. If you don’ t have a dog but you have a spouse, walk them. A lot of couples who get into regular walking tell me that the biggest spin-off is the emotional intimacy that comes from walking and talking as they finally discover what is happening in their partner’ s lives. When one partner feels unmotivated, often the other will carry the day, or the walk. Every time you think of something you need to get from another room, jump up and get it immediately. See forgetting things as nothing but a clever way to get your step count up! Perhaps the biggest contributor to your step count can come from parking your car further from work and walking on a daily basis. If you have school age children the same goes for taking the kids to and from school. Avoid the parking frenzy at the front gates with a leisurely walk from a couple of blocks away. You will find this is also a time when your kids will chatter away happily to you about their day. As