Wednesday Workout: Energy Balance

There are five primary areas of practice to the Writer Wellness plan. Every other week I will post an idea for relaxation (Monday Meditation,) creative play (Tuesday Tickle,) fitness and exercise (Wednesday Workout,) journaling and misc. (Thursday Thought,) and nutrition (Friday Feast.)

The food you eat equals the energy you have to burn. Food in, energy out…supposedly. What happens more often than not is more food/energy in than we burn off daily. This is the cause of weight gain. There is no secret to losing weight. The human body requires food to produce energy to function. When someone eats more food/energy than they need on a daily basis, the food/energy is converted into fat and stored for a day when the body “might” use it up. It’s an ancient process that all people experience. It’s called survival.

Our bodies need energy to operate. Food is the source of the energy. Energy from food is what our bodies utilize for basic metabolic functions like batting your eyes and pumping blood through your veins. Our bodies cannot function without the energy provided through the foods we eat and digest. The problem arises when we drive by a fast food restaurant and think, “A cheese burger would really hit the spot right now,” even though it’s only been two hours since we ate a taco salad for lunch. It’s okay to eat every two hours because that practice keeps metabolism in high gear (burning calories) and that helps us loose or maintain weight. The problem arises from eating a cheese burger at noon and again at two o’clock and then a full course meal at six after an afternoon snack of popcorn.

The secret of the universe is balance, but people don’t know what balance means these days. That’s why the principle of energy balance doesn’t make an impact on our thinking or our diets because we don’t have a clue what it means. What is energy balance?

To maintain a certain weight, people need to burn or expend all of the calories they eat in a day. This is energy balance. To lose weight, people need to burn or expend MORE of the calories they eat DAILY. This is a tough job. 

This sounds like The Hunger Games, if you ask me, but it doesn’t have to be. We don’t need calculators or scales or premeasured food. We need more exercise. The number of people who sit for a living is staggering I’m sure. If you include telemarketers, the most sit-worthy group in the working world, I’m sure the percentage of people whose jobs require them to SIT hour after hour is astronomical. When you sit for a living, fat has nowhere to go but down…into your bum and thighs. The only hope we have for redirecting the calories is exercise. Exercise daily for thirty minutes and eat every two hours if you want to, but watch what goes into your energy calculator. Too much energy in coupled with too many hours of sitting for a living equals too many pounds of body weight which can lead to all sorts of trouble. Heart disease, obesity, cancer, brain sluggishness, and size 24W pants to name a few problems.

Where is my recumbent bike?

Meanwhile, remember to look for a digital or print copy of Writer Wellness, A Writer’s Path to Health and Creativity at Who Dares Wins Publishing, http://whodareswinspublishing.com.

And check out these great blogs for ideas to keep your writing and publishing healthy and prosperous.

http://writeitforward.wordpress.com/ Bob Mayer

http://jenniholbrooktalty.wordpress.com/ Jenni Holbrook

http://warriorwriters.wordpress.com/ Kristen Lamb

http://inspiration4writers.blogspot.com/ Inspiration for Writers, Inc.

 Be well, write well.

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