ENERGIZED

Two days ago, I took a much needed day off from working out - after failing to locate a nearby YMCA.  I had to admit that I was not too heartbroken that the YMCA that I visited no longer existed. I made the decision that I would skip a day of exercising. I could not remember the last time I missed a day of working out. I know that I should NOT work out EVERY day - but my addictive/obsessive need to exercise each day is strong. Yesterday which was the day after the day off was a different story. Yesterday I was energized.

This time I visited a YMCA that still does exist. I arrived around 5:15PM.  My original goal was to spend two hours on the elliptical machine. After my two hour workout, I still had some energy - so after a short break, I hopped on the machine again for another hour. And after that third hour - I still had some energy to release and worked out for a fourth hour.  It was close to 10:00PM when I left, and I was the last person in the place as the facility closes at 10:00PM. I found an uninspiring dinner of two pre-wrapped sandwiches at a gas station on the way home.  I ate my dinner and at midnight, I still had some energy within myself to unravel.  I spent two hours until 2:00AM walking in place.  I did not stop that particular activity until I had recorded my 10,000th step.  So, today, Thursday when I awoke, I already have 10,000 steps 'in the bank.'

There are two conclusions to explain that abundance of activity. It might be true that that day off was a much needed respite for my body and that it explains my energy burst on the following day. Another conclusion might be made that I am nuts. I guess a third conclusion could be made that both of those statements are true. Yes, that's it.
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Your Food Diary For:

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker Cinnamon & Spice Instant Oatmeal	480	96	6	12	630	33
Crispy Biscotti - Biscoti, 1 bar	150	20	7	2	15	11
KELLOGGS - RAISIN BRAN (dry cereal)	190	46	1	5	210	18
	820	162	14	19	855	62
L U N C H
Colcannon, 0.5 cup	150	27	4	4	164	1
Pasta Roni - Parmesan & Romano Cheese	120	22	3	4	420	2
Codfish	189	0	2	41	140	0
Whole Foods Cherry Granola	240	40	7	5	60	15
Caprese Salad	90	10	4	4	150	5
	789	99	19	58	934	23
D I N N E R
Sheetz - Turkey Deli Sandwich, 2 Sandwich	580	78	14	36	1,700	16
Quaker Rice Crisps Cheddar Cheese	390	63	15	6	1,230	3
Crunchy Granola Bar Oats and Honey	190	29	7	3	180	11
	1,160	170	36	45	3,110	30
S N A C K S
Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate, 1 bar	190	14	12	10	170	6
Fiber One Fiber One Bar, Oats & Chocolate	140	29	4	2	90	10
	330	43	16	12	260	16
Totals	3,099	474	85	134	5,159	131
Your Daily Goal	5,569	696	185	279	2,300	208
Remaining	2,470	222	100	145	-2,859	76
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 3,639 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
PRECOR AMT (ADAPTIVE MOTION TRAINER)	65	909
PRECOR AMT (ADAPTIVE MOTION TRAINER)	65	1,053
PRECOR AMT (ADAPTIVE MOTION TRAINER)	65	949
PRECOR AMT (ADAPTIVE MOTION TRAINER)	65	1,049
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-321
Daily Total / Goal	261 / 30	3,639 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	656 / 210	5,996 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 3099 calories

total calories burned (four hours elliptical) 3960 calories

total net 861 calorie defecit

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fitbit day 203

30351 steps  

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REASONS TO EXERCISE ASIDE FROM WEIGHT LOSS

Yesterday, I stumbled on an article from a website, popsugar.com written by Leta Shy and published on November 19, 2015. I have known for quite a while that exercise contributes just a small fraction of what is required for successful weight loss. Still, I have definitely 'bought in' to the idea that exercise is essential to a happy healthy life.  The article by Leta Shy listed these six benefits:

1. MORE ENERGY
2. DISEASE PREVENTION
3. MOOD BOOST
4. BETTER SLEEP
5. INCREASED PAIN TOLERANCE
6. BETTER BRAIN FUNCTION

I thought I would comment a bit on each of these benefits. It seems counter-intuitive that exercise would make one feel more energetic. Nevertheless, it is true.  Disease prevention is easy to understand. Exercise strengthens one's heart muscle. And it would be very difficult to imagine a more important muscle to have working at optimum efficiency. Many people have heard about 'runners high.'  It turns out that this is real. A workout will release endorphins into your bloodstream and these simply will put you in a better mood. I do know that on a day that I miss exercising, I am not quite as cheerful as I like to be. It is very intuitive that exercising can improve one's sleep. Although, exercising can give you more energy during the day, it is true that when it is time to shut down, sleep comes more easily and can be more restful. The author, also claimed that regular exercise can lead to increased pain tolerance. I am not so sure that I can fully buy into this particular premise. I still find the pain of something as simple as a paper cut to be excruciating. And finally, the author claims that exercise can improve brain function. The claim is that that same endorphins that increase you mood can also help clear your mind and help you think better. 

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Your Food Diary For:

Friday, February 26, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
3 Egg Omelette - Ham and Cheese, 0.67 Omelette	268	1	20	27	821	0
Malt O Meal - Honey Nut Scooters, 60 g	240	48	3	6	420	18
International Delight - Single Creamers	120	20	6	0	0	20
Fiber One - Fiber One Bar, Oats & Chocolate, 2 bar	280	58	8	4	180	20
	908	127	37	37	1,421	58
L U N C H
YOGURT PRETZELS	380	56	16	4	360	38
HYVEE - HUGE SPINACH SALAD	750	0	0	0	0	0
Red Delicious - Apple, Large, 3	333	88	1	2	6	66
Add Food	1,463	144	17	6	366	104
D I N N E R
Spaghetti With Meat Sauce	480	126	3	21	0	0
DATE PIECES	300	75	0	3	25	55
	780	201	3	24	25	55
S N A C K S
Banana Chip	300	34	20	2	0	20
	300	34	20	2	0	20
Totals	3,451	506	77	68	1,812	237
Your Daily Goal	5,598	700	186	280	2,300	210
Remaining	2,147	194	108	212	488	-27
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 3,668 extra calories from exercise today

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Your Exercise Diary for:

Friday, February 26, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	2,187
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,750
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-269
Daily Total / Goal	185 / 30	3,668 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	883 / 210	13,284 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 3451 calories

total calories burned (elliptical-3 HOURS) 3937 calories

total net 486 calorie deficit

. . . . . . . . . . .  

fitbit day 177

22375 steps  

. . . . . . . ..

SATURDAY WEIGHT 228.3 lbs

down slightly from last week...I'll take it...

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BACK TO WORK

I am pretty sure that it will be good to get BACK TO WORK.  For one thing, as a salesman, my income exists only when I do work.

I am also fairly certain that during the downtime of the past two weeks, I have eaten too much too often.  At least when I am working, it is a bit more difficult to be constantly eating, snacking and noshing. While it is true that I did not use this time to ignore my workouts, it is also true that it is virtually impossible to 'erase' calories by working out. Our bodies are extremely efficient at storing energy.  That is what fat does - store energy. It is easy to see why this would have been quite advantageous to our cave-dwelling ancestors during times of famine. Most Americans today, are really not so worried about where their next meal is coming from, and/or if there will be a next meal. If this trend can continue for a few hundred generations perhaps the human being will evolve into a less efficient fat storage unit. Right now, we all have to deal with the efficiency of fat storage that God has implanted in us all.

Now I am not guilty of this during the past two weeks - but it is easy to imagine that this caloric crime might have been committed by many people the past few weeks.  The caloric crime that I am thinking of would be the person who eats not one slice of chocolate cake but two slices of chocolate cake.  A binge like this could easily exceed 1000 calories.  How long does it really take to eat two slices of cake. I am sure that if I tried will all my willpower to eat two slices of cake really slowly, they still would not last more than 15 minutes.  One might have to walk at a brisk pace for one hour to come close to 'erasing' this.  And as Dr Melarvie wrote in his DTOE (Diet Theory of Everything) which I spoke of yesterday:

IT IS MUCH EASIER TO CONSUME 3500 CALORIES THAN IT IS TO LOSE IT. 

THE NATURAL TENDENCY IS TO OVERESTIMATE THE CALORIC EXPENDITURE OF EXERCISE.

When it comes to love it has been said: It is better to have loved and lost than to have never have loved at all. This little piece of wisdom does not translate to diet. It is NOT better to have eaten empty calories and lost than to never have eaten empty calories at all. IT WOULD BE BETTER TO NOT HAVE EATEN EMPTY CALORIES IN THE FIRST PLACE. Surely, that is the best way to manage one's weight, avoid the empty calories in the first place - as much as possible.

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, January 2, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Whole Foods - Oatmeal, 1 cup	300	54	5	10	180	2
WHOLE FOODS - WHOLE CASHEWS (RAW), 43.75 g (approx 1/4 cup)	225	10	18	6	0	3
WHOLE FOODS 8738 - DRIED MANGO SLICES, 40 g (approx 6 pieces)	110	28	0	2	1	20
	635	92	23	18	181	25
L U N C H
WHOLE FOODS 8497 - CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA, 110 g (3/4 cup)	480	80	14	10	120	30
FRESH THYME - JOYVA. SESAME CRUNCH, 45 g (3 pieces)	240	21	12	3	75	21
WHOLE FOODS 5938 - UNSWEETENED BANANA CHIPS, 60 g (1/4 cup)	340	32	20	4	10	2
	1,060	133	46	17	205	53
D I N N E R
S. Rosen's - 100% Whole Wheat Bread, 2 slice	200	38	2	10	380	6
Omaha Steaks - Gourmet Jumbo Franks-beef Hot Dogs, 2 frank (84g)	480	8	40	22	1,560	2
EARTHBOUND FARM - ORGANIC BABY SPINACH, 85 g (approx 3 oz, two cups)	20	0	0	2	65	0
libby's - Sweet Corn, 0.88 cup	105	16	3	4	350	12
Louis Kemp - Crab Delights Leg Style, 3 legs (85g)	70	11	0	6	430	1
KROGER 54060 - SOY NUTS, 50 g (approx 1/2 cup)	240	14	13	18	110	3
	1,115	87	58	62	2,895	24
S N A C K S
WHOLE FOODS - MILK CHOCOLATE CHERRIES, 60 g (approx 9 pieces)	270	38	15	3	15	32
WHOLE FOODS 7882 - GIN GINS ORIGINAL CHEWY GINGER, 36 g (2pcs)	120	30	0	0	0	30
	390	68	15	3	15	62
Totals	3,200	379	141	100	3,296	163
Your Daily Goal	4,328	541	144	217	2,300	162
Remaining	1,128	161	2	117	-996	-1

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Your Exercise Diary for:

      Saturday, January 2, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking, 5.0 mph	13	211
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,955
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	232
Daily Total / Goal	106 / 30	2,398 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	867 / 210	17,885 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 3200 calories

total calories (92 minutes elliptical, walking) 2166 calories

total net calories 1034 calories

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fitbit day 121

24819 steps

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I was looking for 'back to work' themes - and although this does not meet that criteria - it still amused me.