OK, my bloggin’ bro, a sucker for alliteration (runs in our DNA), told me blogger belly, although not uniquely his terminology, is real regardless and although anecdotal, he had the poundage to prove it. During the economic downturn, he took to his laptop with a vengeance, ranting night and day about the state of the nation, hitting the fridge for sustenance to keep his brain and fingers nimble until he tipped the scales with a 25-pound weight gain. A disciplined guy, he took a failed modem as a sign from the gods to back away from the Internet, disabled his website and embarked on nearly a two year media fast.
During that time I grew increasingly irritated that I could not email him. I called. I got his voicemail. He eventually called back but in his own sweet time. I sent text messages. He responded with letters. Yes, handwritten, USPS delivered letters. I was furious, yet on another level I respected what he needed to do as at the same time I became involved in Yelp.
For those of you unfamiliar with Yelp, it’s a social networking site predominately about food/eating out. My food posts there are mostly about where I purchase it in the raw, as well as, prepared forms, e.g. grocery stores, farmers markets. When I do review a restaurant it garners way more “hits” than when I review a professional service, that’s simply the site’s energy.
So, it’s safe to say, Yelp food reviews, make that restaurant reviews, prevail. The accompanying pictures are provocative, so much so, to make you drool, then call whatever resto is still open and willing to deliver. Many a night when comping friends content, I have rushed to the kitchen to simulate a maple-bacon-peanut-butter doughnut with Ezekiel® low-sodium bread, Trader Joe’s unsalted peanut butter, Wellshire® organic bacon bits and honey; Pavlov calling n’est-ce pas? Is my behavior as fattening as my brother’s? Hell yes! Is my midnight pseudo replication as tasty as what I saw on Yelp? Nah.
True confession, I gained five pounds my first year Yelping and not because I was eating out to write reviews. Nope, I was on my butt catching up with over 600 friends, a late night, sitting, fridge-raiding ménage a trios, took place when I should have been sleeping. Yes, I too had to pull the plug and create limits to remain active on a site I truly enjoy. Faced with Facebook, a page recently created (please “like” me there even if you don’t in real life), similar restraint needs to happen and I may have found the tool to do so.
Enter Health-Calc Health & Fitness Calculator. Whether you fritter time away on the net or simply sit for work, use the dials on the Total Energy Expenditure page to enter your activity levels each day and what you learn will be enlightening. For example, yesterday, even though I worked with two private clients (was on my feet but not exercising), taught a 75-minute high intensity interval training (HIIT) class, cooked dinner, cleaned the kitchen and vacuumed I still sat a total of 15 hours (three of that in my car)!! This eval was free but equally helpful fitness apps for your iPhone or Android run around $3. I say totally worth it if it gets you off your duff, keeps you on track!
Oh, and my bro, he’s back to his fighting weight, online and bloggin’ in moderation. Me too.