Consequences and Repercussions

Day 37

For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
- Sir Isaac Newton

Translation: Work Out too hard and YOU WILL pay for it.
- Margaret Angell

Holy Crap! My upper body is killing me. Oh how I love the feel of pumping iron. Oh how I hate the next day. Jeez Louise! It hurt to wash my hair this morning. I can't help but laugh at myself after yesterday's post going on and on about how I was gonna PUMP you UP. Suddently, cardio is not looking all that terrible today.

I've got a bone to pick with Sir Isaac. I don't think his laws apply to nutrition at all. They're probably not intended to either but I need something to write about, so cut me some slack here and deal with it.

How is it that it is practically a certainty that one not so great day of eating will show up on the scale yet days and days of exercising and eating well won't yield squat? What is up with that? I can look at a piece of cheesecake sideways and BOOM it'll plaster itself on my ass. That is not an equal reaction in my book.

We may not become fat overnight, but it happens a lot faster than getting thin ever will. It takes about two minutes to eat a Snickers Bar (271 calories and 13.5 grams of fat). It takes about 48.5 minutes to walk off that Snickers. That is not a fair exchange. Think about the last time you went on vacation. One could easily gain 3-5 lbs eating and drinking for a week at an all inclusive resort. But, how long do you think you'd have to sacrifice and work for that one week of pleasure? At least two, probably three.

The same goes for exercise. If you stop exercising for two weeks and then come back to it, you will find that you've have lost both strength and endurance. The upside is that it won't take you as long to build back up to your previous condition as it did the first time. Stop for two years and you're back to square one. I know this to be a fact in my own exercise life.

I'll try to remember all of this good knowledge tomorrow when I'm surrounded by chips, dips, pigs in a blanket, cheese, crackers, veggies, My famous chili, Gina's famous brownies and beer. It is free day after all. Sampling is ok... bingefest 2010 is not!

There are always consequences and repercussions to the stupid (and smart) things we do in life.

Cheers!
Margaret