I live in Cleveland, but I've been working during the week in Chicago for the past year. When I first started spending time in Chicago, I noticed how thin the average person in the city is compared to Clevelanders. A year into this contracting gig, I've lost 35 pounds without much effort. Want some coffee? The good coffee shop is around the block. Want to meet some friends-of-friends for lunch? It's only a few blocks away. Nice night, maybe I should just walk "home" (I bought a condo in Chicago) -- only 1.5 miles. Oh, and because that condo was an icky short-sale condo, I end up doing stuff like scrubbing floors in the evenings. It's the little things which seem to add up. Stocking my kitchen with mostly stuff which is not awful health-wise surely helped as well.