Second Helpings

Step and Burn

I went on a rare trip to Nottingham with friends last Wednesday. Jane had a gift voucher for one of our chain stores so as usual we found ourselves exploring the techy part of the shop. We do love our gadgets and find it hard to resist any new inventions, regardless of their usefulness. We were fascinated by the latest smart watches, but being a bit out of our price range she decided to purchase an activity monitor of some sort in an effort to encourage her to be more active instead of sitting too long with other gadgets.

My sister and I have used pedometers for several years now. We had a lot of unsatisfactory ones initially that either dropped off, broke or were inaccurate, but the ones we have now are pretty good. Hers is called Pedro and mine Dominic and we frequently compare step activities, some days proud of achieving over the recommended steps and other days ashamed of the pathetic amount clocked up. I read somewhere the average person walks ten thousand steps a day, but I would debate that strongly as it really takes some doing. Neither my sister or I drive so most days we walk quite a lot, but the ten thousand only happens on hikes or full days out. I'd be surprised if most car drivers get anywhere near ten thousand unless they make a supreme effort.

Anyway, the range of devices available these days is awesome. measuring everything including sleep activity and heart rate and can be synced with your phone and computer. I admit I was tempted by the Fitbit you wear on your wrist, but concluded I'd get paranoid over my rapid heartbeat and knowing I don't sleep well it would probably make matters worse having it confirmed and not knowing what to do about it. Jane settled on a neat little device she can carry in her pocket so hopefully it will give her the incentive she needs to get more active and we'll be able to compare notes and steps.

These things also show information regarding calories burnt. I watched a TV programme last week on that topic and admit to being rather peeved. Not wishing to appear sexist but it seems the male of the species has the advantage on all fronts. Not only are they allowed to consume 500 more calories a day than females, it seems whatever activity involved they burn off more calories per hour simply because they are bigger. Even sitting for an hour a man can burn around six hundred calories whereas a female would clock up under three hundred.

As I mentioned I'm not sleeping very well at the moment, not helped by the clocks going forward last weekend. I've researched advice on getting a better night's sleep and come across some interesting facts and figures. One of them is a study which claims in general females need an hours more sleep a night than males. I guess this gives them the chance to burn even more calories, even if it is only sitting doing nothing. I think I'm going to see the doctor and ask for some help - maybe a sex change.