the triad exercise programvideo, while also spending 4 hours on the Internet.” From the
fourth quarter in 2009 to the first quarter in 2010, the average
hours:minutes watched per month increased from 153:47 to
158:25.^14
That’s five hours per day of television and more than 150 hours
per month! If Americans exercised daily for one-tenth (thirty min-
utes) or one-fifth (one hour) of the time they were watching televi-
sion per day on some type of aerobic machine—Game Over!—the
most dramatic public health improvement ever accomplished in
the United States would occur. This wouldn’t cost anybody a dime
except the initial investment in some kind of exercise machine. (If
the government could prove you exercised during your television
watching at least a half-hour, the equipment should be tax deduct-
ible or there should be some type of rebate! I mean this sincerely.)
No extra time would be taken out from your precious day. Millions
if not billions of dollars in healthcare costs could be saved from
this simple campaign. Just think—if we added a whole-food diet
to this national campaign of exercising while watching television!
Voila! Healthcare reform is a moot point!
So don’t ever tell me you watch television but don’t have time
to exercise—that is not an excuse! If you have a favorite televi-
sion show and you watch television daily, you should purchase
something like a stair-stepper, rebounder, treadmill, exercycle, or
elliptical rider (whatever) and put it in front of the TV (not garage
or spare bedroom!). When you first turn on the television for your
favorite show, get on whatever piece of equipment you have and
stay on it for the duration of that show minimally. Even if you can’t
afford to purchase some type of exercise equipment, if you just
stand up and then sit down from your couch or chair continuously
for a half-hour for just one show, or stepped in place, that would
dramatically change the health of this country. It is that simple!
Recently, I had a seventy-year-old patient who was so proud
that she had walked on the treadmill during a half-hour of the Oprah
show five days per week (as I had been harping on for months!).
I said, “Oprah’s show is an hour. Why only thirty minutes?!” Then
I asked, “What show are you going to watch on the weekends to
exercise every day?” She and I laughed, but I was dead serious. Use