[11thEarlOfMar]

Haha....

Absolutely, Tokyo is mind-boggling in the sheer numbers of people they move daily.

For the same reason, taxis are generally preferred by those who just don't want to deal with those crowds. I lived in Tokyo for a couple of years, losing 15 pounds in the process. When people commented on my new svelte physique, I joked that I was "on the JR Exercise Program". (JR = Japan Railways)

[jschwartzi]

This same thing happened to me when I moved to a small town and stopped driving for a year. I lost 20 or 30 pounds.

[ekianjo]

more likely the effect of food change and not eating meat with hormones.

[11thEarlOfMar]

Definitely was from walking to and from train stations, standing on trains, sometimes for multiple hours/day, running to make connections and walking up and down a couple dozen flights of stairs.

Not sure why that earns a down vote, but there you have it.

[lacampbell]

None of those things exert many calories at all. People usually over estimate how much exercise contributes to their weight.

Last year I had a job where most of my commute was sitting or standing in a bus. Now I have a 10km round trip which I cycle or walk. It's had no effect on my weight what so ever.

[onlyrealcuzzo]

You're correct. The affect of exercise is vastly overrated on weight loss [1]. The more you exercise, the hungrier you get, the more you eat. That being said, you're healthier if you're overweight and exercise than if you're overweight and don't exercise. BUT, if you're going form COMPLETELY sedentary to walking to and from train stations, up and down stairs, and standing on the train -- that's likely to have a dramatic effect. Completely sedentary lifestyles and depression and obesity tend to go hand and hand because of hormonal / neurotransmitter issues.

In any case, changing your diet is likely much more effective for losing weight.

[1] https://www.dietdoctor.com/does-exercise-promote-weight-loss

[csydas]

I would agree that those alone will have little impact, but they also tend to be indicative of an overall different life-style. It's hard to over-shop for groceries, for example, when you have to carry everything home on your person, and soft drinks tend to be more difficulty to acquire in bulk because of the weight.

You do have to adjust to a different life style when you rely entirely on public transit, and it allows for more positive choices just because of necessity.

[lacampbell]

I don't own a car and usually walk or cycle everywhere I need to go. This has been my lifestyle for practically all of my life. And none of what you say rings true to me. It's very easy to me to carry to go to the supermarket and walk out carrying an absurd amount of calories.

I actually eat worse when I go out walking, because I am more likely to stop at dairies (convenience stores). In a car I am I tend to go out of my way slightly to get some better food.

[csydas]

Well, I will grant there are exceptions to my expectation, and it might just be my own bias coloring it; I tend to avoid "bad" foods pretty regularly, cook my own meals, and I am not very tempted by convenience stores at all.

I would easily accept that it's still subject to personal bias more strongly.

[mehwoot]

Definitely was from walking to and from train stations

I don't see how you could possibly know that for sure.

[11thEarlOfMar]

True... I couldn't know it in a scientific sense. But I went from a commute from garage to parking lot and a weekly outing to the bowling alley, to all that walking, standing, and stair climbing. It was a couple of hours daily by the time you added it all up. That's a good, I dunno, 400 calories daily of additional burn? So I had to be eating more as well, or I would have dropped a lot more weight than 15 pounds in 2 years.

[Majestic121]

400 calories is a half hour running, for comparison. I think you'd be closer to 100-150 calories, as standing does not consume much (not saying it is not unpleasant, but as energy consumption go, it's pretty negligible) and walking consume way less than running.

It's always good exercise, and probably helped to look slimmer. However, as other mentioned, losing weight via exercise is not that easy, and a good diet is way more important

[awjr]

People living in urban environments are lighter than people living in suburban or rural environments.