How Electric Cars Promote Weight Loss

No, the answer to how electric cars promote weight loss is not because they run out of electricity and you have to walk more. I've been driving the plug-in electric Chevy Volt for a week now. While the Volt’s battery did run out of electricity during extended trips, the car kept going because of its on-board gasoline engine.

New research links air pollution to obesity and diabetes

I came up with an outside-the-box idea that driving an electric car could promote weight loss based on just-released research by Duke University. Duke University researchers found that mammals exposed to air pollution have a higher risk of obesity and diabetes. Could it be that breathing deeply in our urban environments is as bad for our weight as drinking soda?

Obviously, driving electric cars will not solve our national weight crisis. But what we drive is part of the life choices we made that have created our national weight crisis. Seventy percent of the baby boomer generation is overweight or obese. It is projected that 50 percent of Generation Z, the first generation born in the 21st century, will be obese during their lifetime.

That is what motivated me to write "The Boomer Generation Diet." It profiles sustainable best practices that will reshape our bodies and environment for the better. What the Duke University research suggests is that the lifestyle choices that impact our weight and health now extend beyond food to include the type of cars we drive and the source of the fuel we use to generate electricity.

How fun-to-drive electric cars can promote weight loss

One of the research breakthroughs I found in my own weight-loss success is that there's a strong link between having fun and losing weight. We have all failed at dieting. We fail because dieting is a painful process based on denial or eating foods that have a taste somewhere between dull and awful.

We fail at exercising because it is painful and stressful. Who wants to walk into a gym filled with workout warriors when you're wearing plus-size shorts? "No pain, no gain" might have been motivational when we tried out for high-school sports, but in our adult lives we do not need more pain. So, we try exercising and then stop because it hurts. The couch, TV and comfort food seems the better alternative for reducing stress and pain.

Figuring out how to have fun while losing weight was my key to weight-loss success. I never go hungry. I eat a ton of good-for-me food that I think tastes good. I have figured out how to make sustained exercise seem like play by riding a mountain bike. Most days it is the best part of my day. It relieves stress. I laugh over my experiences on the trail. I lose weight.

The beach, fish tacos and the Volt

A huge step toward weight loss is getting out doors. That is where the Volt comes in. Owning a Volt makes you want to “get out there.” That is my observation of the Volt owners I follow on Facebook. They are always reporting on where they're driving their Volts.

That was certainly my experience during the week I test-drove the Volt. I went out of my way to schedule trips to the beach and desert. The following 90-second video profiles one of those trips. It is my trip to San Clemente driving a Volt.

San Clemente is one of my favorite beach towns. It has a great walking path right along the beach that is one of my favorite places in the world to walk. My dog Cooper loves it, too! I have fun. Cooper has a blast. We both keep trim.

And who wants to eat a hamburger and fries when you can sit at an outdoor restaurant on the pier and enjoy some of the best fish tacos in Southern California?

Driving an electric car not only saves money and cuts tailpipe emissions, but it can also be a fun way to find fun locations that promote weight loss. That was my experience in San Clemente!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/OTAla2RWDDQ

Image credit: Bill Roth