Fit Friday- "burn calories, not electricity"!

I have been so energized in the past couple weeks to start something on my blog that contributes to living a healthy lifestyle. As most of you know, I have been on Weight Watchers for the past two months and have lost over 8% of my body weight, woo!! I still have more to lose, but I am getting closer and closer to my goal weight and am really feeling fantastic! I have incorporated exercise into my daily life and I feel like it is really helping Andrew as well. By seeing me working out and eating healthy, he is doing the same- he has so much more energy lately and sleeps like a log after spending a day outside exercising. :)

So I thought I would share something with you all as well... every Friday I am going to devote my blog to a "fit and healthy" topic! If you have any good tips for all of us, leave a comment here or email me to let me know. I want to include all of you in this so we can bounce ideas around and help out all of the friends we have made in the blog world! :)

This week, I want to share with you something I read about this week that is currently happening in New York City. City officials have implemented the "Burn Calories, Not Electricity" campaign in an effort to help reduce the electricity New Yorkers expend each day, as well as burning up as many calories as possible. By taking the stairs instead of the elevator, it is shocking how much it is doing to help both your body as well as the environment:

• Stair climbing burns almost 700% the number of calories you burn standing on an elevator.
• Just two minutes of stair-climbing each day burns enough calories to eliminate the one pound an average adult gains each year.
• Men who climbed at least 20 floors a week (about 3 floors a day) had a 20% lower risk of stroke or death from all causes, in one study.
• Stair-climbing has been shown to raise good cholesterol and improve cardiovascular health
• Stair use also advances the city’s GreeNYC effort to reduce energy consumption. An escalator that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, can use 28,000 kilowatt hours of energy over the course of a year. That’s enough to create 43,000 pounds of carbon dioxide – more than three times the amount a car produces.

AMAZING, right??? This is something that is not only beneficial in New York City, but anywhere in the world. We can all incorporate this idea into our lives- I know there are lots of times when I can ditch the elevator and drag my butt up those stairs. It is a small change we can make, but it makes a huge impact in the end. :)

Will you be taking the stairs this week??! Can't wait until next Friday so we can chat about the healthy things in our life!! Have a great weekend everyone, xo!