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Vacation and Weight Management

How It's Very Possible to Not Gain a Pound!

By Living The DreamPublished 6 years ago 3 min read
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I recently went on vacation with my family and I managed to not gain a single pound. Sure, if I went to the Olympic training center, this would not be much of a feat; however, we went to Michigan. Additionally, we ate out one to two times a day for 7 days. And still, I did not gain a pound. We ate ice cream, we ate pizza, we ate burgers, we drank drinks. I did not have a lot of water nor did I sleep very well. From eating habits alone, it seems like I should have gained 10 pounds!

Sure, I am 23-years-old and in good shape so you can argue that I have a high metabolism and it’s genetics. Let’s throw that notion aside because in reality, I don’t have great genetics as obesity and diabetes runs in the family. Heck, my grandfather had to get quadruple bypass surgery and my other grandfather passed away from a heart attack before he turned 50. Genetics is not on my side. Generally, about 2400-2600 calories a day is maintenance; that is not a huge amount for a person my age.

So how did I do it?

Well before I go into that, here is a little background about how weight change occurs. On a broad scheme, the body burns X amount of calories every day just to live; this is called the Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). For me, a 155-pound-male, 5’6”, 23-years-old, my BMR is roughly 1630. This means I burn 1630 calories a day to stay alive. Now you can alter this number with dieting and what not, but we are not going to go into that. Earlier I mentioned that I need about 2500 calories to maintain my weight; that means on average I burn an extra 900 calories from actually moving, whether it’s walking, reaching for a cup of water, fidgeting, etc.

Alright, so how did I not gain any weight on vacation after eating out all the time and consuming many more calories than normal?

I walked.

Yep, pretty simple.

Notable walks of the trip included 20 minutes to breakfast one morning, a 2-hour round trip to a lighthouse, and a 3-hour walk around the Detroit Zoo. A majority of our walks were short walks downtown, in and out of shops. By no means is it necessary to take hour long walks—even the littlest of activity will add up. We walked virtually everywhere we went. We did not go out of our way for any extra walks, that was just our mode of transportation. By increasing my everyday calorie expenditure with walking, I was able to offset the extra calories I ate.

How can YOU apply this?

Here’s the general science behind it:

  • The average person walks 1 mile in about 20 minutes (3 MPH).
  • A 180-pound person burns about 100 calories per mile walked.
    • Equating to 300 calories an hour burned
  • A 120-pound person burns about 65 calories per mile walked.
    • Equating to 195 calories an hour burned

As you can see, a couple hours of walking can really start to add up in calories burned. If you add in a 20 minute walk every day for a month, that is about an extra pound burned.

A pound a month is a good start but here’s the real kicker; the hardest part about exercise is starting. Once you get up and moving, you are more likely to stay up and active throughout the day. Not only that, your body loves exercise. There are numerous studies out proving the benefits for the heart, skeletal system, mind, and much more.

Whether you are walking, hiking, riding a bike, playing with kids, etc. just be active!

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About the Creator

Living The Dream

Living the dream one day at a time

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