No More Mister Fat Guy

 

 

So, in the land of fat guys trying to be (or even just stay) thinner guys, much of the day is spent trying to eat less (or at least differently) than one usually does, or did, but the other key component to all this is the exercise part of the equation. Yes, you’ll get more bang for your weight-loss buck by consuming fewer calories and it’s probably a lot easier to skip that two-hundred-calorie snack than it is to lace on those sneakers and run two miles; still, burning off a few hundred additional calories a day by exercising is something akin to finding a lot of loose change in your pockets or on your dresser. In other words, it adds up quickly—or in this case, subtracts?

 

Perhaps the reason I’ve avoided talking too much about this side of the street is that I’ve always spent much of my time there; as much for mental health reasons as anything else, I work out almost every day; I just feel a whole lot better after I’ve exercised, and I’m not picky about what kind—running, walking, tennis, squash, cycling, weight-lifting, basketball, swimming, you name it, I’ve probably done it. Whatever's most handy.

 

It’s hard to describe a typical week of exercise for me, because there never is a “typical” week. I tend to do what I feel like, which, for example, last week, with all that sunny, warm weather we were having looked something like this: Friday afternoon, an hour or so of tennis (singles). Saturday, more morning tennis, then more late-morning tennis with my daughter, which does entail almost as much picking up the balls as hitting them, but no matter. Sunday morning more tennis with my daughter, then two sets of hard singles with a more equal? opponent. Monday morning a bit of squash with my daughter before work (here the playing field is a lot more level), and that night, 90 minutes of platform tennis after work; Tuesday, 35 minutes running on the treadmill at lunch; Wednesday (today as I write this), rest, or rather take an after work walk with the dog and wife if the weather keeps improving. But Thursday, it’s another round of tennis after work. And Friday, a.m., I’ve got a morning squash game on my day timer.

 

Each of these activities burns roughly 500 calories a pop, or upward of 3000 calories a week, close to a pound. Multiply this by 52 weeks, we’re talking 156,000 calories burned over the course of a year. While this may not directly translate into 52 pounds lost in a year (I certainly hope not), it does provide some much needed insurance for those occasional diet slip ups. And even if you're a regular exerciser, it doesn't hurt to up the ante a bit. Run that extra mile. Get in an additonal weight-lifting workout, and boost the old metabolism even further. Not to mention it helps prevent getting so many diseases, I could get writer's cramp trying to list them all. [March 24, 2010]