For those of you who work out on a regular basis, (most of you, some of you, anybody, Bueller, Bueller) did you ever have one of those days when you have to drag yourself to the gym? And then you get there and you struggle. And you struggle, and you want to do your cardio, but.....
So what do you do? I had one of those days today. I lolligagged around the house, I lolligagged my way to the gym, I lolligagged getting out of the car. You know what that makes me? A lolligagger! I decided I'd just get on the elliptical and cruise for 10 minutes, do the short version of my arm work out, and go back home to the comfort and security of my couch. A funny thing happened on my way to a light/lazy day. About 5 minutes in I checked to see how far I'd gone and how many calories I had burned. Generally I do 1 mile on the elliptical in about 15 minutes and I burn about 350 calories. At the 5 minute mark I had gone .3 miles and 93 calories. For those of you who need someone to do the math, I was no where near 1/3 of the way to my usual numbers. And then one of the elliptical "regulars" came in, got on the elliptical next to me, and my competitive juices started flowing. I wasn't going to allow the guy next to me to outdo me. It took 17 minutes instead of the usual 15, but I got to my mile and my 350 calories. And as happens all the time, it got me to thinking. It would have been easy to cruise through it, after all, who would know? The answer was me. I'd know I didn't do what I should have. When I was at SCI, now Benedictine, I had a communications teacher that told me what I'm sure every English/Communications teacher has told their students. If you are stuck, if you can't come up with anything to write, just start writing. Pretty soon the creative juices will start to flow, and you'll get that paper written. It's the same with exercise. The fact that I was at the gym finally triggered something and I ended up having a very good workout.
Okay, how about a diet and an exercise tip today? Do you know your BMR? Do you know what a BMR is or why you should know what yours is? At the risk of making this class too easy, I'm going to give you the answer. BMR is Basal Metabolic Rate. If you are trying to lose, maintain or gain (really, is anybody trying to gain?) weight your BMR is important. Your BMR is the amount of calories you would burn if you sat on the couch all day. I could give you the formula, it's only about a 6 step equation, but instead I'll tell you to Google BMR Calculator. Next time I'll tell you how to use your BMR to lose weight. This post is already too long. I'll leave you with one final thought, "I was in the pool! I was in the pool!"
