Nature deficiency is something I discovered when I began to conduct my Peeke Week Retreats in nature, hoping to give people an opportunity to learn just how Mentally and Physically Fit to Live they were. Outside of diehard outdoor athletes, the people with lots of Toxic Belly Fat were amazed at just how out of shape they were, covered in sweat as they scampered over rocks, hoofing it on hiking trails, or gasping for breath as they trudged up each hill. The difference between the groups was that the Fit to Live people had the Body Dollar reserves to hit the hills and keep pace without collapsing. They were able to put their Physical and Mental Fitness to the test with natural challenges. The other group, who thought they were okay, found out that, when placed in nature outside of their usual comfort zone and asked to push beyond it, they had few reserves to succeed. Each group had quite a humbling but exhilarating learning experience.
When was the last time you were out in nature? How did it make you feel?
It's important to explore the transition from green place to cement place and what that does to your well-being and our waists. Infuse some healthy green and detox your surroundings. Explore "tree therapy", so you can become truly "Environmentally Fit to Live".
Nature vs. The Toxic Lifestyle
"When a man moves away from nature, his heart becomes hard."
--LAKOTA PROVERB
Nature has come full circle. In the beginning, of course, the out of doors was our home. We used all our senses--sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing--not only to survive, but also to thrive within the natural world. As we moved from caves to farms, we still stayed tied to the daily and yearly cycles of nature. Some folks lived in cities, but very few. In 1790, only 5 percent of the US population were city dwellers; the rest lived in rural areas. Slowly over the next 150 years, we began deserting the farms for cities and suburbs. But even up to the 1970s, most of us lived closer to nature than we do now.
Now we seem to be coming back to our roots. People are paying extra money to have a larger green space around their homes; to locate in places close to walking, biking, and hiking trails; and to revel in all that is natural. New books show us how to build homes with a seamless inside and outside connection--rooms and decks built around trees, huge windows to give the sense of living under the sun and natural surroundings.
Are you old enough to remember walking to school and playing outside on weekends and after school? As we explored in the last chapter, homes used to be small, and backyards were big. I had a typical childhood in the late '50s and '60s in suburban northern California. When I came home from school, I got a quick graham cracker and apple snack and then I was outside to terrorize the neighborhood with my friends. We lived across the street from the beach and one block from the zoo. When I wasn't at one of those two places, my friends and I played in undeveloped fields and woods, as well as one another's big backyards. I was in seventh heaven.
Then, between the 1970s and 2006, the US population grew by almost 100 million. These days, 80 percent of Americans live in urban areas--cities or the sprawling suburbs that surround them. Because of this spreading, we all live in our cars, which makes it a bit hard to experience nature except as a blur going by. Today, only 16 percent of us live close enough not to drive to work; in the '60s, that number was over 30 percent. Once we finally arrive at the office after fighting freeway gridlock, we are crammed into tiny offices and cubicles, often with no windows and no access to open space at all.
When we struggle home in the evenings, we unlock the front door and collapse on the couch for the duration of the evening. How much time do you spend outdoors a day? If you do dare walk around your neighborhood, do you ever see anyone out in their front yard? Or on the sidewalks? We're all holed up inside, with our gigantic refrigerators and oversize reclining chairs. We now spend 90 percent of our time indoors. Ninety percent!
Many of us want this to be different. A major national study found that a majority of Americans would like to walk and bike more rather than drive. But many neighborhoods don't even have sidewalks that would encourage walking, and some neighborhoods are simply unsafe to walk in.
Where we live, say experts, is one of the most important determinants of whether we exercise. Things such as lack of sidewalks, hills, heavy traffic, roaming dogs, a dearth of scenery, and high levels of crime all keep us from moving. So do long distances between homes, malls, and schools in suburbs. Adults who live in houses built before 1973 are significantly more likely to walk 1 mile or farther more than 20 times a month than those who live in newer houses, regardless of race, gender, age, income, or health-related problems. How come? Sidewalks. Our newer neighborhoods have been designed around our sedentary, car-based toxic lifestyle.
I've been interested in the connection between health and the environment since I was a college student. I was premed and did a second major in conservation of natural resources. I discovered with shock and horror the "big disconnect." On one side of the campus, my professors were extolling the virtues of healthy living to prevent disease. But directly across campus, students in the City and Regional Planning program were learning how to cram homes together to squeeze optimal cost-effectiveness from every square inch of terrain. So we're supposed to maintain good health and well-being living in cement blocks with few parks, sidewalks, and home gardens.
My concern was part of the reason I entered the UC Berkeley's School of Public Health for my masters' degree. That was years ago. Now my fear has come to haunt us all in the worst way, because it's all fine and dandy for me to say, "Go take a walk." But if you have nowhere safe or accessible to walk, what are you supposed to do?
I had a big lesson in this while taping a show for the National Body Challenge. One of my families, the Holmeses, lived in a modest home in southeast Los Angeles, in an area of drive-by shootings and drug trafficking. One very hot day, my producer said, "Dr. Peeke, it's time for you and the Holmeses to go for a walk for the camera."
As I was happily tightening up my sneakers, the head of the household, Shequestra Holmes, said, "Well, now, walking in this neighborhood could be a bit challenging."
I said, "I realize it's a little hot today. But you've got plenty of sidewalks."
"No, no, no," she replied. "We don't even walk our dog in this neighborhood. The pit bulls and rottweilers roam free, so there are packs of wild dogs in the neighborhood looking for trouble. That's why we have a golf club by the front door, in case a dog tries to attack us as we go in and out."
By this time, it was 97 degrees in Los Angeles. But it was 150 degrees in my body. Believe me, that was the fastest walking segment I've ever done. My heart broke for this beautiful family whose lives were in peril every time they stepped outside the door. Despite this challenge, the whole family did so well, they were profiled on my show.
Safety issues also mean that kids can't stomp through the snow by themselves to get to school or to roam the neighborhood when they come home. Check this out--in 1977, kids ages 5 to 15 walked or rode their bikes for over 15 percent of their trips. Guess what the number was in 1995? Under 10 percent, a drop of 37 percent. It's just not safe--in terms of traffic, stranger danger, and random violence.
Reprinted from Fit to Live by Pam Peeke. Copyright 2007 by Pamela Peeke, MD.
Permission granted by Rodale, Inc. Emmaus, PA 18098
Available at the Discovery Store, directly from the publisher by calling (800) 848-4735, or wherever books are sold.
