I recently quit my contract with my fitness studio. Imagine, I have been a member since I was 18. That’s exactly half of my life, and I still don’t look like an athlete. Actually the most important thing for me is to have a flat belly. When I turned 30 I had to realize that the belly came easily, already after 2 days of eating too much fatty stuff. I am 37 now, and I am in control of my belly. And this is how I did it: I don’t use lifts. That’s it. I always take the stairs. And in addition to that I don’t drink coke, sprite and all the other stuff from the Coca Cola Company, even not Apollinaris. Just water from the tab. In the office where I work we have a tab water automat. And I work in the fourth floor, there is an elevator, which I don’t use. There are 88 stairs to the 4th floor, this is 15 meters up. And I walk up about three times a day, which is 45 meters a day, or approximately 11.000 meters a year. I think, it’s the combination between the stairs thing and the no sugar water principle that keeps me in shape. The only habit, that I can not get rid off is coffee (with sugar). When I stopped using elevators? I can tell you exactly: When I first saw a shortfilm called “Touching the stairs” by green activist Michael Wright from the campaigning site Do the Green Thing. It’s a comedy shortfim and tells the story of a group of three alpinists who want to get real high. But they are not climbing a mountain …
There are also websites, that explains factually why it’s good to take the stairs. But often they cannot achieve to change my habits. It’s always culture, who can really change habits, Harald Welzer once said. It’s not the facts, it’s the feel. So this movie gave me a feel and hopefully it does the same thing with you. I do not regret being no McFit-member anymore. I have won time. Time, that I can spend on my family, watching Do the Green thing-videos and writing this blog for you.
Touching the stairs, by Michael Wright (2009)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2m2rKz52olw&list=PL7FAB459A7DC7D968