WALKING IN PLACE

On Monday, my hotel did not have a fitness room.  To complicate my workout schedule, the weather outside was frightful. That may be overstated a bit. But it was cold and rainy all day. The appeal of getting dressed to take some kind of hike in the rain was completely unappealing. Instead, I simply watched a lot of Netflix, and while I did, I stood up in my hotel room and simply 'walked in place.'  When the night was over, my fitbit still managed to record 20,000+ steps.  I am sure that this is not as effective as a session on the elliptical machine or as effective as an actual hike. I am completely sure that this is still better than nothing. This morning, I found the results of a 2012 study that seemed to confirm what only makes sense. 

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Your Food Diary For:

Monday, November 28, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Bagel With Cream Cheese, 1 bagel	400	58	12	13	780	4
Quaker - Apples & Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal	650	135	8	15	800	45
Kellogg's - Raisin Bran Crunch	400	95	2	8	421	40
	1,450	288	22	36	2,001	89
L U N C H
Edame Hummus	300	10	27	7	300	0
Rutherford & Meyer - Gourmet Wafers	200	44	6	6	313	0
Sharp Cheddar Spreadable Cheese	200	13	18	13	450	10
	700	67	51	26	1,063	10
D I N N E R
Speedway - Italian Footlong Sub	800	14	37	50	3,305	9
Nature Valley - Oats 'n Honey Crunch Bar	190	29	7	3	180	11
	990	43	44	53	3,485	20
Totals	3,140	398	117	115	6,549	119
Your Daily Goal	2,597	324	86	130	2,300	97
Remaining	-543	-74	-31	15	-4,249	-22
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Monday, November 28, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking in Place	180	900
Add Exercise Quick Tools
Daily Total / Goal	180 / 30	900 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	181 / 210	906 / 4,130

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this article was lifted from medicalxpress.com

Walking in place during commercials offers a good calorie burn

January 24, 2012 By Jeannine Stein

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Fitness experts are always telling us that incorporating movement into our day is a good way to burn calories. But is it effective? A study finds that walking in place during commercials while watching TV actually provides a pretty good workout.

Researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville studied a group of 23 men and women ages 18 to 65 under a number of conditions to see how many calories they burned. The study participants also represented a wide range of weights, from normal to obese.

Their calorie expenditure was monitored while the participants were both sedentary and active, such as reclining, sitting and watching televisionfor an hour, standing, stepping in place during commercials while watching television for an hour and walking on a treadmill at 3 mph. Steps were counted during the walking-in-place scenario.

Stepping in place during commercials burned an average 148 calories and resulted in an average 2,111 steps in about 25 minutes. Walking on a treadmill for an hour burned an average 304 calories. Being sedentary didn't provide much activity at all - sitting and watching TV for an hour burned a whopping 81 calories, hardly enough to make a dent in that bowl of ice cream.

The study authors said that commercials could serve as a good cue for people, reminding them to get up and be active for a few minutes. Having environmental cues for regular activity is helpful in developing new, healthful habits, a study found, and is part of making small changes for better health.

"Given the large number of hours American adults watch TV," they wrote, "we suggest that TV commercial stepping is one potential approach for reducing sedentary behavior and increasing physical activity."

The study appears in the February issue of the journal Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

COMPLETE DAY OFF

Yesterday I was busy at a local wholesale fabric tradeshow. After the show, the seven sales reps who sell their fabrics traditionally get together and have pizza afterwards. I had planned to use the elliptical machine after dinner, but I fell asleep in my room before I had the chance to use the equipment. Yesterday was a complete day off from exercise. Unfortunately it was not a day off from over-eating. it was also my first full day without the benefit of a cellphone which was rendered useless during a mishap at Matthiessen State Park on Saturday.  One forgets how important one's cellphone is until one does not have it available.  Aside from making or receiving phone calls, texts and emails. I realized in my hotel that I was not without a reliable alarm clock. Without a camera I could not email my orders to my vendors. And there are quite a few other countless inconveniences that one is simply not used to dealing with. I hope to have this situation rectified by later today, Monday

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Everyone enjoys their day off in a way that suits them.

Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, September 11, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Biscuits and Gravy, 1 biscuit	415	22	30	12	0	0
Sausage, 3 links	170	2	14	10	490	1
Scrambled Egg - Scrambled Eggs	158	2	12	14	160	0
Kellogg's - Raisin Bran Crunch, 2 cups	380	90	2	8	400	38
	1,123	116	58	44	1,050	39
L U N C H
Rice Krispies Treats Chocolately Drizzle	800	136	24	8	760	64
Fiber one cheesecake - Danish	450	72	18	6	390	30
	1,250	208	42	14	1,150	94
D I N N E R
Medium Sausage & Bacon Pizza	1,000	108	46	40	2,420	0
	1,000	108	46	40	2,420	0
S N A C K S
Totals	3,373	432	146	98	4,620	133
Your Daily Goal	1,930	241	64	97	2,300	72
Remaining	-1,443	-191	-82	-1	-2,320	-61
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g

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UNSUNG ADVANTAGE OF EXERCISE

Now that I am temporarily sidelined with what I believe to be a hernia, I have discovered an unsung advantage of exercise.

unsung

play

adjective un·sung \ˌən-ˈsəŋ\

Simple Definition of unsung

• : not given attention and praise that is deserved for doing good things

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When one is exercising, for example spending 90 or 120 minutes on an elliptical machine, there is at least that part of the day when one is not eating.  This past weekend, I spent a lot of time sitting in front of my computer. It is extra hard not to eat when one is just sitting around all day.  I really need to address my physical condition (calling doctor today) and get better.  soon.

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Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, April 10, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Nice! - Honey Grahams , 6 pieces	390	72	9	6	510	24
	390	72	9	6	510	24
L U N C H
Chunky Campbell's - New England Clam Chowder	360	36	20	10	1,780	2
Trident - Alaskan Salmon Burgers, 1 patty	170	2	9	20	330	0
Butterball - Bacon	140	2	12	8	600	0
	670	40	41	38	2,710	2
D I N N E R
Broccoli - Broccoli, 2 cup	120	12	1	11	98	0
EARTHBOUND FARM - ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 170 g (approx 3 oz, two cups)	40	0	0	4	130	0
Weight Watcher's - Cabbage Soup, 2.28 cups cooked	100	10	0	2	79	6
Potstickers - Potstickers, 10 ea	520	78	14	24	1,200	8
	780	100	15	41	1,507	14
S N A C K S
Nice! - Honey Grahams , 6 pieces	390	72	9	6	510	24
Cherry Cheese Danish, 1 Danish	560	75	26	8	570	37
	950	147	35	14	1,080	61
Totals	2,790	359	100	99	5,807	101
Your Daily Goal	1,933	241	64	97	2,300	72
Remaining	-857	-118	-36	-1	-3,506	-28
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 3 extra calories from exercise today

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YANKEES I KNOW. WHAT ARE METS?

The Yankees, I know.  I have been a fan since I was 10 years old, maybe even earlier.  Mickey Mantle was still on the team when I started paying attention.  And he wasn't the DH, as that ridiculous idea hadn't been invented yet.

The Mets, I know (and have always 'hated')   

But until recently, I had not noticed the word, 'mets' on exercise equipment.  The explanation is very technical and I have simply reproduced an entry from wikipedia.com to offer a definition.

• Scope of usage of the MET concept 

• MET (Metabolic Equivalent): The ratio of the work metabolic rate to the resting metabolic rate. One MET is defined as 1 kcal/kg/hour and is roughly equivalent to the energy cost of sitting quietly. A MET also is defined as oxygen uptake in ml/kg/min with one MET equal to the oxygen cost of sitting quietly, equivalent to 3.5 ml/kg/min. 

• Moreover MET is used to provide general medical thresholds and guidelines to a population.A MET is the ratio of the rate of energy expended during an activity to the rate of energy expended at rest. For example, 1 MET is the rate of energy expenditure while at rest. A 4 MET activity expends 4 times the energy used by the body at rest. If a person does a 4 MET activity for 30 minutes, he or she has done 4 x 30 = 120 MET-minutes (or 2.0 MET-hours) of physical activity. A person could also achieve 120 MET-minutes by doing an 8 MET activity for 15 minutes.

• Physical activity	MET
  Light intensity activities	< 3
  sleeping	0.9
  watching television	1.0
  writing, desk work, typing	1.8
  walking, 1.7 mph (2.7 km/h), level ground, strolling, very slow	2.3
  walking, 2.5 mph (4 km/h)	2.9
  Moderate intensity activities	3 to 6
  bicycling, stationary, 50 watts, very light effort	3.0
  walking 3.0 mph (4.8 km/h)	3.3
  calisthenics, home exercise, light or moderate effort, general	3.5
  walking 3.4 mph (5.5 km/h)	3.6
  bicycling, <10 mph (16 km/h), leisure, to work or for pleasure	4.0
  bicycling, stationary, 100 watts, light effort	5.5
  sexual activity	5.8
  Vigorous intensity activities	> 6
  jogging, general	7.0
  calisthenics (e.g. pushups, situps, pullups,jumping jacks), heavy, vigorous effort	8.0
  running jogging, in place	8.0
  rope jumping	10.0

As I understand this information, watching TV has the equivalent MET (Metabolic Equivalent) of 1.0.  Bicycling on a stationary bike with very light effort has a MET of 3.0.  The body needs three times the energy for biking as TV watching.  However, it could also be said that WATCHING TV FOR 3 HOURS would equal the energy needed to bike (lightly) for one hour.  JOGGING REQUIRES 8 TIMES the energy than TV watching.  However, if one could watch TV for 8 hours, one would use the same energy as a one hour jog.

CONCLUSION:  Although many of us use exercise to assist in weight loss, as we know that vigorous exercise will burn calories - SIMPLY LIVING BURNS CALORIES TOO.  This should not be a surprise as for many people that hardly exercise at all - we still burn nearly 2000 calories per day.

RIDICULOUS CONCLUSION:  You could watch one season of '24' and really burn some calories. Each episode without commercials runs about 42 minutes.  There are 24 episodes x 42 minutes/episode which is 1008 minutes.  This translates to about 17 hours.  So, if you sat on your couch and watched one complete season of '24' you would 'burn' even more calories than you would doing TWO HOURS OF VIGOROUS CALISTHENICS.  A 17 hour TV watching marathon would be a very dubious achievement. It doesn't really seem very practical.  Especially as a weight loss idea, as most of those 17 hours of TV watching would likely be augmented  by 17 hours of  TV SNACKING!  It's probably just best to burn some extra calories doing an actual physical activity.

Sit down, watch an entire season, 24 episodes of '24'  (17 hours) and you will burn even more calories than you would doing TWO HOURS OF VIGOROUS CALISTHENICS.  (NOT VERY PRACTICAL)

THURSDAY MENU

breakfast    apple & hard-boiled egg                                                              158 calories
lunch          Panera Soba Noodle Bowl w/Chicken                                         390 calories
dinner         two salmon burgers, spinach salad w/balsamic, pumpkin soup  372 calories

total calories consumed 921 calories

calories burned
6AM LaQuinta StarTrac Elliptical 30 minutes    310 calories
6PM  Home StarTrac Elliptical 31 minutes         420 calories

total calories burned 730 calories

net caloric consumption 191 CALORIES

...and one more thing...

Here is something else somewhat confusing.  I was very happy to discover the same brand of elliptical machine at the hotel I had stayed at the last two nights.  I set the machine with precisely the same settings that I do at home.  I was disappointed that in both of the two workouts on that machine I was only able to log a 310 calorie workout.  It seemed odd to me.  When I returned  home yesterday for my early evening session on the elliptical I was able to last for 31 minutes and log 420 CALORIES.  The question that I have for myself is this:  Why such a discrepancy between two machines with the same settings?   HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE?  

Tomorrow,  Saturday,  is the day that I look forward to with tremendous anticipation.  I only weigh myself once per week.  It is very exciting and gratifying to get a numeric value for my efforts the week before.  Basically it is my version of  'report card' day.   Unlike in school when my report card was not always reflective of my potential,  I have prepared well.  I am expecting a good grade.  


SEE YOU TOMORROW!