629 - Just in time

I found this article just in time for the holidays. OK, so it's been out there for almost a year. It's still new and exciting information to me.

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It's once again time for New Year's resolutions—the time of year when we solemnly vow to eat right, exercise, save more than we spend, and be nicer to the people around us (at least for a few days). Fortunately, the editors at the Journal of the American Medical Association were nice enough to provide us with a New Year's resolution holiday gift: a new study that says it's not so bad to be a bit overweight, as long you're in good shape.
This study, led by Xuemei Sui of the University of South Carolina, followed 2,600 people over the age of 60 for an average of 12 years. The authors looked at overall fitness (measured by treadmill testing), body mass index (BMI), and other measurements such as waist circumference and body-fat percentage. They then investigated which of these was most important in predicting survival.
What they found struck a blow for common sense—and for the occasional holiday cookie. It was a person's level of fitness, not his or her BMI, that was associated with the lowest mortality over the 12-year study. In fact, people in the lowest 20 percent of physical fitness had more than twice the risk of dying, compared with people who were walking as little as 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

Discover Magazine - more links to other articles.

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I sure am glad I'm in good shape. I've been on the treadmill 3 - 4 times in .......... the last 3 - 4 months. I wonder if you can get that 30 minutes a day once a week instead. It takes me 2 1/2 hours to cut the lawn. That should count as a week. And if I have to cut the lawn twice in a week .... well you get the idea. I think I've done enough over the summer that I should be good all winter.

And then to top it off I found another happiness article. Unfortunately they don't mention bloggers.