I've been without a car for about the past three and a half months now. My '94 Volvo 940 self destructed after 264,638 miles. Due to some personal circumstances I'm just not in a position to make a new purchase. I've been walking everywhere... literally. I walk 2 miles to the gym in the morning and train and then 2 miles back home - its brutal on leg day. Then I walk 2 miles to the studio - with most nights getting a ride home. If I have to go to the bank I walk. Shopping for small items.. I walk.

When I told my friend John about this he said "you're living the  European lifestyle" and I shot back that here in Phoenix places are much more spread out. In Europe neighborhoods are more compact. People work closer to home. Its doable. Nothing is close in Phoenix.

Add to that the blistering hot sun. Most days I leave for the gym by 7:30 AM and its a pleasant 80+ degrees. By the time I'm done training and heading home its creeping up to the high 90's and by the time I head into the studio which is generally around 11:00AM its hitting the 100's.

Sometime I use that time to make phone calls. I was talking to Eric from Muscel Pharm yesterday while walking to the studio. It was 113 degrees and I was carrying  two laptops, six cans of tuna, a nearly full gallon of water and various materials in my briefcase over my shoulder as we talked. Eric asked if I was doing cardio and when I told him that I was walking in the Phoenix sun to the studio and what I was carrying he showed some concern. He knows I'm 52 years old. I actually enjoy my time walking.

I started to look to see if the Europeans actually do walk more than we Americans. Here's what I discovered. Both Rutgers University and the University of Tennessee looked at the rate Europeans walk -vs- Americans. They found that on average we Americans walk about 87 miles a year while our European counterparts walk 237! Europeans also bike more - 116 miles per year -vs- Americans 24.

Researchers looked at "active transportation" data - the combination of walking and biking -  from the Netherlands (Holland), Sweden, Latvia, Switzerland and Italy as well as data from Australia and the U.S. When compared to the rates of obesity the number played out as one would expect. Americans topped the charts in obesity at 23.9%. Sweden had the lowest rates of obesity at 8%.

Maybe the secret of the Mediterranean Diet has nothing to do with the food at all. Maybe its the walk to the restaurant and the walk home afterwards that bestows the health and longevity benefits!