OUR VIEW: Those bodies can be healthy and wise with more exercise
Think of those little measurements of energy all the scientists like to use. They affectionately refer to them as one of the most hateful things (sometimes) to other people, especially Americans, who seem to top the fat charts.
Calories are not seen as a helpful tool people use to know how much energy they are gaining when they eat, and therefore know how much they need to exercise to burn those calories.
No, people see calories as a dreaded nuisance, a plague of the sedentary soul, a torment to the person not fond of exercising. And coming off of Christmas break, people sometimes seem to show they ingested a significant amount of calories, often visible by an extra spare tire around their middles.
Well, is it time to cast off the extra love handles, or is it time to cast off the extra love handles?
The answer to both questions is of course, yes.
The Fieldhouse’s exercise facility has its grand opening Wednesday at noon. Don’t miss it. Take a minute to stroll through the rows of gleaming, new, spiffy treadmills, weight machines, freeweights, stair-steppers, spinning bicycles and other equipment.
The equipment’s voice is almost audible, “Come to me,” it says. “Use me. After all, it cost $450,000 to get me here. You might as well.”
How can anyone pass up such a tantalizing offer? Here is brand, spanking new equipment, and with all of the weight gain/caloric intake during the holidays, who would pass up the chance to put the weight off?
The Fieldhouse will be open from 6 a.m. to midnight on weekdays, and it will open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturdays. That looks like it all but eliminates the I-don’t-have-time-to-work-out excuse.
Don’t let the extra blubber — which may or may not be a useful insulator in the frigid, winter months — speak louder than the mind and the muscles. Muscles need work, combined with healthy eating, to grow stronger in order to support the body and all of its functions. Mothers over the ages have repeated wise counsel of “use ’em, or lose ’em.” Get away from the TV and exercise regularly. The body will thank you for it.