I thought this would be simple

I was pleasantly surprised this morning. I was expecting frigid and windy - in other words -18 which had been predicted earlier in the week. I awoke to a thermometer which read 14! And although windy, it wasn't bad. Even the freshly fallen snow wasn't too bad to run in. The city had done a good job of plowing. Although our pace did reflect the smooshy conditions (slow). Plus Christy was pleasant company (as usual).

So, in a previous post I mentioned the idea that I got from the movie Julia & Julie. Which is to blog everyday on some tidbit of advice/inspiration given by a running calendar.

I thought this would be easy - that is finding such a calendar. In this day of diets, working out, losing weight and The Biggest Loser, I thought it would be VERY easy to find a calendar that had a daily 5 -15 minute workout or SOMETHING. As I liked to say (and still do) in 8th grade... NOT! (Did that come from some movie?)

Seriously, I thought I could just go to Amazon and type in 'daily fitness calendar' and a plethora of calendars would be listed. Again - NOT! I tried many different search words and the best I could come up with was Eat, Drink, and Be Gorgeous 2010 Daily Calendar. I am not joking. I even did a Google search and came up dry. So, now I am turning to online daily workouts.

Stay tuned to see what I decide or maybe a better way to phrase it what I FIND! (Considering today is January 8th, I am realizing that I may be using this as a delay tactic too!)

Lose It!

Inspiration has just been falling in my lap....

My new "gadget" is an "app" (application for you NOT in the know". I saw it reviewed in some best apps of 2009 article and decided to check it out. It is called "Lose It!" I didn't think it would be that great since it is free and there tends to be a direct correlation between what you pay for something and how well it works (At least that is what my Mom taught me). The reviews were high so I thought I would give it a try.

It is pretty fun so far, but that is not why I am blogging about it. One of the features is that you can enter in your exercise for the day and it will calculate the calories burned. I was showing this feature to a friend and realized that there is an EXTENSIVE list of fitness activities such as Jai Alai (and no, you will be shocked to know that I don't know what that is) to the old standby - Badminton. And of course we all have a Luge course in our backyard (I guess the winter Olympics are coming up) and what I always think of first when I think of a good workout - music playing. And of course... Sexual Activity. Yes, that is right - no exercise list is complete with out Sexual Activity.

Now, guys - don't get your hopes up. And gals, don't worry that your husband/significant other has another "tool in his toolbox" in addition to lingerie to get you into bed more often. According to Lose It! 15 minutes (I always make sure I don't OVER estimate how many calories I burn) of "general, moderate" sexual activity burns up....

wait for it...

Wait For It......

WAIT FOR IT........

5 calories!

Yep! 5!

Oh, I know you are asking, "But wait! 'Active/vigorous' sexual activity must burn up A LOT more!" I won't make you wait for it this time. The ASTOUNDING amount is..... 8 calories. (Am I hearing groans out there?)

Okay - for you love birds out there (Larry/Judy and Al/Sheri) I know you are saying "Come On! give us credit where credit is due! What are the numbers for an hour???? Be ready to groan even louder (and not in a sexual way, because it should be obvious by now that it won't do you any good) 20 calories for moderate and 33 for vigorous. Hmmmm..... as my friend said "I'll take the candy bar instead".

Now, if you are thinking, "Well, it is just WRONG!" I did a little (quick) checking on the Internet and although admittedly it was low, it wasn't so low to totally discount it. for 15 minutes of moderate sex, 2 calculators gave estimates of 12.5 and 22 calories.

I also compared what my Garmin gave for today's lovely run with the Cousins. My Garmin said I burned 582 calories and Lose It calculated 546. So, given the amount of variables that go in to calorie burning calculators, not too far off.

Just something for you all to ponder.

A little bit of excitement on this morning's run. The snow removal people were out in force around Walgreens making it quite difficult to get into the parking lot. We had to go around the block and through the alley. Yes, that qualifies as "a little bit of excitement".

Inspiration

I know, I know.... I have NOT been good about posting to my blog. I just haven't been very inspired lately. Maybe it is because Tom hasn't run with us for quite awhile so I don't have any new material to work with! Mike tries to help me out, but since he has gotten his promotion and a girlfriend he is so serious.

But a new year is upon us and it will be my FOURTH year of blogging! Whew! Time flies! No wonder I am struggling to write something new and interesting. The New Year Baby (remember that animated TV holiday special? (I am not sure I have my adjectives in the right order there)) must have visited me. Jim and I watched Julia & Julie last night. For those of you who don't know the story is about Julie who blogs about cooking every recipe in Julia Child's first cookbook.

So, the thought occurred to me...maybe I would find a running calendar which had some type of inspirational message on which I would blog about. So, I have gone in search of such a calendar, but currently I am side tracked.....

I found the "Running 2010 Wall Calendar". It is also a log and it must be a darn good one because the calendar costs $146.86 and used it is $146.92! No, it is not a typo, at least not by me. Maybe it is printed on gold or guarantees a Boston qualifying time at your next marathon? Hmmm. I am tempted to order it just to see what all the fuss is about... NOT.

Then I found one that may be much more interesting at a much more reasonable price -

What's Your Poo Telling You? Although, I am not sure I am really up for writing about poop, especially my poop for a whole year.

Or maybe one that is much more realistic is: 2010 Daily Calendar: 365 Excuses for All Occasions

Also on the consideration list is I Can Do It 2010 Calendar: 365 Daily Affirmations. I can just hear Mike's or Tom's voice telling me the daily affirmation in a soothing, but confidence inspiring voice.

But I probably would get 3 faithful readers (you know who you are) if I featured The Biggest Loser Simple Swaps: 100 Easy Changes to Start Living a Healthier Lifestyle.

In order to complete my New Years Resolution to deal with the lady on Rusk Street who tries to drive as close to us as possible just so we can clearly see how her middle finger is erect, I should get 2010 Getting in Touch with Your Inner Bitch boxed calendar

The "Who thought of THAT title" prize goes to the Grandma's Dead: 2010 Postcard Day-to-Day Calendar. Honest! That is a name of a calendar!

The calendar I would probably enjoy most, but who be the hardest to blog about (because a picture IS like a thousand words) is the Daily Hunk 2010 Daily Boxed Calendar (Calendar). The fact that they had to put the word calendar in parentheses behind the word calendar in the title goes to show you the level of intelligence they are expecting in the people interested in anything with the word "hunk" in the title!

I also found it very interesting that when I did a search for "workout calendars" I got

2010 Daily Calendar: 365 Reasons to Have Sex. I think there is a conspiracy out there!

So, what shall it be? Any requests?