My youngest daughter always comments when we pull into the parking lot of the grocery store, “Dad, can we park closer this time?”, and I always say, but the best spot is wide open! For me the best spot in the parking lot is the one farthest away from the store. This is for a number of reasons:
1) you always get the best spot
2) no one will ding my car
3) I don’t have to squeeze out of my car so I don’t dig my neighbor’s car – I can just swing my door wide open
4) easier to load when you get back to your car
5) extra exercise (which adds up)
6) a little quality time with my little porkchop (aka, my daughter)
People will say, “Oh, it wastes so much time!” Does it really? I cannot tell you how many times I pull into the store behind someone, while they are looking for the closest spot. Once they find it, they wait for someone to get out of their way and then park and squeeze out and then head into the store and I beat them into the store. So I have gotten to the store quicker and got way more exercise then they have.
The other thing is to put your cart back. Me, since I park in the back, I will grab a cart from the lot or from the cart return and bring it in with me (the people at the store really do appreciate this gesture) and when I return, I walk it back to the cart return which again gives me some more steps and it really does not take that much time (and again it is just a nice thing to do).
We talk a lot about food here, but exercise is half the battle. Here is a little excerpt on exercise I received in my email this morning from Kaiser:
“Exercise can help reduce the risk for many chronic conditions, including diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and depression. It’s even been shown to help improve our ability to concentrate, learn, and maintain our brain power as we age.”
So make sure you get exercise every day and make sure you get the best spot in the parking lot (but don’t take mine)!
Image by: anankkml
