Today I chose gardening for my daily exercise. Not just pulling up a few weeds. I trimmed trees, pulled up roots, and did some serious digging for two hours. I was feeling pleased with myself, ready to calculate how many calories I had burned, and thinking of a nice healthy lunch when I came across a box of doughnuts on the kitchen counter. Not one, not two, but a whole box. My son, who is 6' 4" and doesn't have an inch of fat on him, has a sweet tooth. The old me would have eaten one or two, but I had to think what the new me was going to do. Here's the first question: Do I like doughnuts? The answer is no. I can take them or leave them, but if it's food in front of me and I don't have to peel, chop, or cook it, it's hard to resist. I stared some more and even though some of them were covered in chocolate, I closed the lid and marched them to his bedroom. According to a calories burned list I found, heavy duty gardening burns 340 calories an hour (680 for two hours) and one chocolate glazed doughnut has a calorie content of 260. Definitely not worth it. I'll munch on some sugar snap peas and make a healthy sandwich with whole wheat bread instead, and if I want something glazed in chocolate later I have a Quaker Dipps Bar for emergencies.
