Comments (26)

By kilax, December 31, 2009 5:33 am

We all want to know – how much exercise do we really need each week? How little can we get away with?

There was an interesting (although VERY confusing) article on the Well blog covering this topic yesterday.  The article stemmed from a study done in Scotland that concluded you only need 20 minutes of exercise a week to increase your contentment. Okay, but how much do you need to be healthy?

That’s more difficult to define. The article went into a discussion about “MET” minutes, which are “Metabolic Equivalent of Task” minutes. Huh? Apparently  you need 500 of those as week, and they vary based on what you are doing for exercise and how intense it is. For example, running at 6 mph is a 10-MET activity. So if you run for 60 minutes, that is 600 MET minutes. So, you’re done for the week then? Confusing…

Has anyone heard of this MET mumbo-jumbo before? How do you decide how much to exercise a week? Do you have any exercise goals for 2010?

I aim for at least 30 minutes a day, but usually go by how I feel. If I am in the groove, I will keep going! If I feel like crap, I won’t work out at all.

A few other interesting points from the article (repetitive, but interesting):

According to the Physical Activity Guidelines report, “It has been estimated that people who are physically active for approximately seven hours a week have a 40 percent lower risk of dying early than those who are active for less than 30 minutes a week.”

Interestingly, they did not find that exercise beyond a certain point conferred significant additional health benefits. Instead, the “dose response” for exercise, the committee found, is “curvilinear.” In other words, people who are the least active to start with get the most health benefit from starting to exercise. People who already are fit don’t necessarily get a big additional health benefit from adding more workout time to their regimens.

You do not necessarily have to divide your exercise time into daily allotments, either. Existing “scientific evidence does not allow researchers to say, for example, whether the health benefits of 30 minutes on five days a week are any different from the health benefits of 50 minutes on three days a week,” according to the activity guidelines. Do what suits your schedule.

Meme time! Leah, Gelareh and Holly have all tagged me for the “7 Random Things About Me” meme. Thanks, ladies! Click “more” to read on…

And of course, Happy New Years Eve! Enjoy your evening and be safe!

Continue reading 'How little exercise can you get away with? / 7 Random Things About Me meme'»

Comments (18)

By kilax, February 20, 2009 12:34 pm

If your high school had a ten-year (or any year) reunion, would you/did you go? Why or why not?

Heck no, I wouldn’t go.

My high school was kind of in a crappy part of town, filled with crappy students. I probably can’t remember more than a dozen of their names. I don’t think there would be much “catching up” to do if I went back. I don’t think I would be able to relate to many of them.

Comments (18)

By kilax, November 21, 2008 5:42 am

When you were in high school did you eat dinner with your family or on your own?

I was thinking about this the other day. About midway through my freshman year, around the time I started theater, I began eating dinner on my own or with friends. Then I started working at McDonald’s the following summer, and I think I ate dinner there EVERY night I worked. I became a manager after working for a year, and then I got FREE McDonald’s food every day I worked. Ha!

I remember I used to go to soccer practice or theater or WHATEVER after school and then go to work to do the closing shift. I would eat french fries, ice cream, tortillas with cheese, cookie dough, shakes… basically whatever I wanted, all night long. Wow. I can’t believe I didn’t turn into a blimp!

I don’t remember ever eating diner with my family on a school night during high school. But it was just because I was busy and doing my own thing. Is this typical?

Comments (10)

By kilax, April 12, 2008 8:04 am

Guess what was ready for me to pick up last night…

I worked and went to high school with this really annoying, know-it-all kid who thought he was better than me… and liked to bowl. He always talked about bowling at work. His high score, his new bowling ball, his bowling shirt, blah blah blah. Oh my gosh! I just wanted to punch him in the face. I think a lot of people did.

Poor kid.

So I always kind of thought that bowling was for geeky know-it-alls who didn’t like to associate with the rest of society, or really know how to have fun.

But Steven likes to bowl, and he’s not like that at all. And I actually enjoy bowling with him. And I get to look at his cute little butt when he gets up for his turn.

Anyway, I found out I was wrong about bowling. So… how did I end up with my own bowling ball?

Steven has wanted one for awhile, so I thought, “what the heck, if he is getting serious about it, I might as well give it a shot, so we can have something fun to do in common.”

But I honestly didn’t think a custom bowling ball would improve my game at all. For me, bowling is all about having fun, and not being too serious about the score. My high is usually somewhere between 40-60.

With this new ball though, all 3 of my games were over 100! Now, that isn’t much for someone who has been bowling for a long time, but for me, it’s a BIG deal. I felt like the new ball just glided off my hand, down the lane… beautifully.

Maybe that kid was so excited about bowling because it actually is that much fun? Or maybe I just had an “on” night…