There’s nothing like walking around a city to get know the layout, and after three days in Toronto last week my Fitbit needed to be recharged! It seems I logged in 15 to 20,000 steps a day, but at the end of each day, checking the calories burned over the three days, I was discouraged.
It seems, an hour of stepping out, toasted a mere 1,000 calories. What the heck? Crazy Fitbit! So I Facebooked my number one fitness trainer and began to complain. “How in the world can I walk an hour and burn a mere 1,000 plus in calories? It would seem a good hour on the elliptical machine would burn at least that, or more?”
No response. I stumped him. After two years of intense training under his tutelage I have my trainer speechless. Then I saw the blue link appear in the message box. Click.
According to the Harvard Medical School website in 2014, “An hour of regular elliptical exercise burns 540 calories in a 125 pound person, and a 185 pound person expends 800 calories.”
Moments later, “Did you read it?”
“So?”
He types, “Body weight plays an important role in calorie burn so maybe you should be happy with your calorie burn?”
It’s my turn to hold back a response.
And then, “How much do you weigh today?” he asks.
“Never mind!”
And the screen is filled with laughing emoticons. “Now leave me alone,” he types, and this is how he always says good-bye.
Walking has always been a great form of physical activity. Study after study has shown that a daily brisk walk can reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke. It’s great cardio exercise, lowering levels of the bad LDL cholesterol while driving up levels of the good HDL cholesterol. Over time it tones up the buns, legs and tummy and supercharges your energy. Maybe I should just walk? So I type back just that.
The response is immediate. “Nice try! Walking is a great piece to your overall fitness,” he types. “Don’t forget strength and resistance training. Walking isn’t everything and strength and resistance training isn’t everything. Mix it up. Eat well! See you in the gym.”
So the moral of the story is twofold: never complain to your trainer, and look at health and wellness as all encompassing.
Do strength and resistance training and eat wholesome. Walk, run, get to the weight room and ease up on the complaining.
Then I get one more message. “Take off your Fitbit.”
Never!
