Thursday, November 29, 2007

Sweating it off without doing a thing

I am a bit under the weather, but its just the sniffles, nothing major. I was going to attempt swimming tonight, though I couldn't remember the adage about whether you could exercise when you had symptoms above the neck. (You can - I just looked it up. If symptoms are above the neck - nasal, headache, etc. - you can still exercise, just slow it down. Below the neck - take the day off.) Even if it would have been okay, I wasn't sure how the breathing thing would work while swimming. If I'm stuffed up, can I still breath when I come up for air? Well, I used the excuse that I forgot my goggles (I think I actually lost them.) and nixed the swimming idea. I had read some things recently about the benefits of saunas and I had brought a book with me to do some leisurely reading, so I jumped right in. Its really quite awful - you sweat just sitting there - not a comfortable feeling for me. I think I'd rather run three miles. Apparently 15-20 minutes in the sauna burns 300 calories, which is equivalent to the calories burned in a one hour brisk walk.

2 comments:

turbotoast said...

Notice how Megan is effectively using the "art of the secondary excuse" to get out of doing something she doesn't really want to do (ie, can't find her goggles = not going to swim tonight). I must say, as my prize student, I am quite proud of her progress and tenacity in the face of exercise.

Well done, Megan. Well done.

debojo said...

Oh man seriously? I am totally in love with the sauna. I wish I had time to use it more often...it's like sitting in a hot car that's been in the sun - but drier heat! Although, I admit, sometimes I'm jealous of lizards basking on hot rocks too, so I might not be a great source.