If you read the title, then you may instantly think that it is oxymoronic that laziness and fitness would go well together. However, let me explain.
1. Using the Elevator vs. Taking the Stairs
As a lazy person, you want the quickest way to get to the 5th story. That's easy, if you take the stairs. It's quick, because the elevator tends to wait for enough passengers to fill up and stop at almost every single level on a busy day. This is not efficient transportation. Taking the stairs, on the other hand, is faster, because there is less traffic. Also, when a crowd travels by staircase, different individuals will go at different speeds. To take advantage of the staircase, you have to run on full speed up the staircase. Yes, you may feel exhausted at the top, but look on the bright side, if you do this every day, your leg muscles will become stronger. With more powerful leg muscles, you will find this task a breeze.
2. Parking the Car close to the Store vs. farther away from the Store
A very diligent person will work very hard in finding a vacant parking spot close to the store. This is typically a very difficult task, because cars already tend to be crowded close to the store. A very lazy person will just park the car in a vacant parking spot near the entrance. The entrance is usually located at the opposite end of the store, forcing the person to walk all the way to the store. If there is a special sale that ends at a specific time, then the person may even have to hurry up to get that limited-time offer. Although walking and running long-distance are physically demanding tasks, the person does have the advantage of finding a vacant parking spot easily and quickly.
3. Broken Tools that force you to exert more Energy against Your Will
Gas-powered and electric-powered tools will eventually expire, and when they do, they will force you to do something about the problem. It is possible to buy a new tool that is better and lasts longer, but that may cost a lot of money -- money that you don't have currently. Buying a new tool also requires some research, so that you can get a high-quality good for the best price. A lazy person is not going to the store to buy a new product and not going to invest in the energy to research new products. So, he resorts to using basic tools to do his lawn. Although the lazy person has to spend some of his own energy reserves, he is completely unaware of how much energy he spends, because actually doing the task completely consumes his mind.
4. Being a Cheapskate
The cartoon above shows a couple. The woman asks the man for some cash. The man gives 2 dollars. All right. Let's say the woman receives $2 and goes to Dollar Tree to buy something to eat. Should she buy two individual frozen prepackaged meals OR one 2-pound bag of long-grain white rice and one 1-pound bag of frozen vegetables?
The problem with frozen dinners is that, calorically, they do not contain enough calories for your money. Meanwhile, one pound of uncooked rice equals 2.5 cups. This amount makes 8 cups of cooked rice. Each cup of cooked white rice yields about 200 calories, making 1600 calories in just half the package. The frozen vegetables will add more calories and nutrients. I estimate that you are actually meeting your daily calorie requirement, if you buy the frozen vegetables and packaged uncooked rice. However, if you buy the 2 frozen dinners, the frozen dinners (each costing $1) will not provide enough calories and will leave you hungry by suppertime. By the way, food manufacturers are keenly aware of calorie-conscious consumers, so it may be difficult to find an 800-to-1000-calorie individual frozen prepackaged meal. That's why it's actually more resourceful to buy raw materials than a ready-made meal.
Being an extreme cheapskate also means that you drink water. But you don't get water from your kitchen sink, and you don't use the gas/electric stove to boil water. Instead, you carry many water bottles or one big water bottle and refill water at the water fountain in any public place. You get unlimited, free refills. If there is a water fountain right in the grocery store, and you have an empty bottle, you can stop by and refill on water. That saves money, time, and energy.
Frugality is directly related to laziness and a preference for simplicity. A diligent person will carefully browse the store for low-calorie items on the assumption that they are healthier and promote weight loss, while a lazy person will just grab a high-calorie item that can last longer in the pantry.
5. Waiting in Line vs. Bringing Food from Home
If you are at a restaurant, then you have to wait in line or at a table for the employee to take your order. Fast food restaurants are more efficient at taking orders and making meals than the expensive and luxurious restaurants. Many fast food restaurants have a drive-thru area for customers who just want to eat on the go. Again, this makes fast food restaurants very efficient at serving customers, and high efficiency means happy customers, which then means more profits. However, too many people eat at fast food restaurants, thinking to themselves that it's faster. No, it's not faster. The more people there are before you in line or at the drive-thru, the longer you have to wait before the employee takes your order. Not to mention, you have to slow down the car and stop by at a restaurant. Eating at a fast food restaurant is not fast, but it is relatively faster than eating at, say, Red Lobster or Olive Garden.
Only a diligent person will be willing to stop by at a restaurant for food. A lazy person will be more inclined to grab the nearest food -- on the passenger seat next to him. What's more convenient than that? The food (i.e. a washed, raw cucumber) on the passenger seat is from home and may be bought a few days prior at a grocery store. The cucumber may even be more convenient than eating a breakfast-to-go bar. A typical breakfast bar has a wrapper, which can be difficult and stressful to open. A cucumber in a clean, plastic bag taken from a grocery store comes with no wrapper, reducing the stress in trying to open it. A lazy person is always trying to reduce stress.
6. The Fresh Produce Section Has In-Your-Face Advertising
If you go to a supermarket, then the first thing that you see is the fresh produce section. The deli and bakery are usually on the side. This should make grocery shopping for nutrient-dense food very convenient. A lazy person loves convenience.
7. Buying Food for the Week vs. Buying a Meal at a Drive-Thru
Buying a meal at a drive-thru is not faster and more convenient than buying food at a grocery store. First, you have to slow the car down and find the correct building. Then, you have to unroll your window and tell the employee what you want to order. Then, you wait for the meal to be ready and the payment to be processed. All this takes time, money, and energy. To make matters worse, the drive-thru line may be filled with several other cars, making the wait terribly slow and boring.
Stopping at a grocery store, on the other hand, once a week is considerably more efficient. You just have to make ONE trip to buy food. This food supply will last you for the whole week. You can even make a simple grab-and-go meal at home prior to going to school or work. An example of a grab-and-go breakfast would be a plastic bag that has 2 slices of bread, some raisins, and some roasted peanuts. The peanuts provide protein and fat. The raisins and bread provide carbs. In the car, you just have to dig one hand into the plastic bag and take out a piece of food. There is no need to pull on the brakes and stop at a drive-thru. You have all the food you need in the car right there. Simple, fast, convenient.
8. Eating a Piece of Fruit for Dessert instead of Making a Fancy Pastry or even Going to the Store and Buying Pastries
While that guy does use monosodium glutamate in his cooking, the use of monosodium glutamate is not limited to Asians, and not all Asians use the ingredient in cooking. This lady does it too.
The video above shows the difference between American (Western) and Chinese (Asian) cooking methods. American cooking methods tend to be very sophisticated, detailed, and elaborate. There is nothing wrong with fancy culinary techniques and elegantly made dishes; however, if you are doing this everyday or expecting this for dessert every night, then you will burn yourself out. In Italian-American cuisine, there are a lot of pasta dishes. Making a pasta dish from scratch is very labor-intensive and time-consuming. For dessert, Danish pastries, Austrian strudels, and Italian biscotti require a lot of labor, skill, and time. That's why buying these food products at the deli and bakery is considerably more convenient than making them at home. But they are not cheap, unless they are on sale at a 50% discount. The sweet pastries are not cheap, because the business is paying a professional baker or chef to make the food.
In Chinese cuisine, dessert may be as simple as a piece of fruit, as the video wonderfully illustrates. Sweets may be eaten on big holidays, like the mid-autumn festival or Chinese New Year. Eating sweets on big holidays reduces the consumption of added sugar in a year. In addition, a single mooncake is usually made smaller than a typical doughnut.
9. Eating a Washed, Raw Cucumber vs. Carefully Peeling the Many Layers of Wrappers
Previously, I discussed the high efficiency of eating a raw cucumber and the low efficiency of stopping at a drive-thru for food. Now, I explore the driving safety side.
If you are carefully peeling the many layers of wrappers, then chances are, you are not paying enough attention to the road. You are putting yourself at a higher risk for reckless driving. Eating a raw cucumber reduces that risk. A cucumber is an easy, convenient finger food. The durability of the cucumber means that it will hold its shape as you hold it in your mouth while driving. A hamburger and French fries will just create a mess in your car. If you hold the hamburger by mouth, then the wrapper may block your view. As you can see, eating a hamburger and French fries is not a safe driving practice.
10. Simple Cooking vs. Sophisticated Cooking
The picture above is Chinese cold-skin mooncake. It looks very cute and elegantly made. My observation is that, the more complex a recipe is, the more unhealthy it gets. A frozen entrée at the supermarket appears like you'll be eating luxuriously on a fine white plate with a mint leaf. In reality, the only reason why the food retains its shape, flavor, and texture is that the food relies heavily on acids, anticaking agents, antifoaming agents, bulking agents, food dyes, color retention agents, emulsifiers, flavors, flavor enhancers, preservatives, stabilizers, sweeteners, and thickeners. The high level of sophistication, technology, and complexity that goes into the manufacturing process spits out what is now known as processed food. While you can definitely lose weight on low-calorie processed food, the excessive amount of artificial ingredients will deteriorate your health in the long run.
So, if you want to appear young and attractive longer, then you should eliminate or minimize the consumption of highly processed food. In making your own food, baking and microwaving and using toaster ovens are for beginner cooks. The next level is making soups, boiling, and steaming. The next level is stir-frying and sautéing. Deep-frying, barbecue grilling, and burger flipping are kind of difficult culinary skills that take time to develop.
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