April 23, 2009

Random Thursday posts cause a flat stomach!

My personal theory is that reading Random Thursday posts causes people to become healthy, fit, flat-stomached, and fully prepared for anything that the rest of the week may bring.

Photo credit: luiginter




Sisters make people happy

Sisters spread happiness while brothers breed distress, experts believe. Researchers quizzed 571 people aged 17 to 25 about their lives and found those who grew up with sisters were more likely to be happy and balanced.

Except... I have more brothers than I do sisters, so does that mean I'm more distressed than I am happy?

People who snore heavily burn more calories

People who snore heavily or have sleep apnea burn more calories when resting when the condition is more severe, researchers have found. Researchers at the University of California at San Francisco found that the average number of calories burned during rest was 1,763 per day. But those who scored the worst on a scale of apnea and disruptions in breathing burned 1,999 calories per day, about 300 more on average than those who scored the lowest.

Since people who live with heavy snorers are themselves likely to have trouble sleeping, and since lack of sleep can interfere with the ability to lose weight, that means the snorers will be thin and the non-snorers won't be?

Do people who take the bus to the gym get extra credit?

People who use public transit are three times more likely to meet fitness guidelines than those who don't, say researchers at the University of British Columbia.

When I first read this article, I thought "Well, duh." The researchers asked people to keep travel diaries for two consecutive days in two consecutive years, which sounds a bit skimpy. However, they interviewed over 18,000 people, which sounds more impressive. (Also sounds like a lot of work to me.)

Maybe Nike should try doing this...

This has absolutely no relation to health or fitness... or even whining... but I thought it was kinda cool. This website lists different shoes and articles of clothing made by the company Patagonia. It describes what part of the world the clothing was made in, where in the U.S. it's distributed from, the carbon dioxide emissions involved in transporting it... okay, so I ended up feeling a bit guilty after reading these things. Still good to know: Patagonia: the Footprint chronicles.

A Random Thursday post traditionally finishes up with a S.A.V. (yes, Silly Animal Video). Today, it's time for a change.



[Text for the video-impaired: musical rendition of ordering food in a restaurant. Kind of like the Monty Python Spam sketch, only with classier music.]


My other, and more probable, personal theory is that people who read Crabby's marvelous post tomorrow will tend to be healthier, thinner, fitter, richer, flat-stomacher, and better suited for the weekend.

What, you got a better personal theory?

32 comments:

  1. I would still rather not have sleep apnea or snoring problems.

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  2. oooh and I have two sisters whom I adore but who can be utterly exhausting at times---does that mean I buck another study?

    xo xo,
    Miz, who is awake due to sleeping next to a HIGH CALORIE BURNER.

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  3. Hmmm, I have a brother AND a sister.....does that make me extremely well balanced in all areas of life?

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  4. Great random thursday!

    And I thought the same thing about public transportation: Duh.

    Loved the video! It was fascinating though, how horrible the morning food choices sounded to me! I am apparently irredeemably Western in my approach to breakfast.

    However, if you had folks from another culture evaluating my breakfast, I'm sure a peanut butter and banana sandwich would sound a lot more barfy than grilled trout, rice, anchovies, pickles, tofu, and turnip soup for breakfast.

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  5. I am the oldest of 3 girls and would not describe myself as happy and balanced. Does that mean I get to blame them for not doing their job?

    They'll love that, I'm sure. :-)

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  6. One brother and one sister. My sister is definitely the greater source of "stress" in our family, so I don't know if I buy this one...

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  7. I have neither a sister or a brother so I guess I'm all evened out.

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  8. Whoa, I totally feel fitter, healthier, etc already!!!

    I have 3 bros and 4 stepbros. I'm totally distressed!

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  9. No sisters...I think I'm pretty normal...but husband snores and claims* I do, but I doubt it! ha

    ~rupal

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  10. Great post!

    And the breakfast choices all sounded a bit odd to me, but I guess that's a cultural thing.

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  11. I imagine the Japanese find the idea of eggs and bacon at breakfast at bit weird too :)

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  12. so I'm one of two girls... but my sister died last month - I think the distress now may outweigh the prior happy.

    mm.. sorry for the downer comment!

    At least the weather in the northeast will be *beautiful* tomorrow when my mom and I take Lilly and my sister's twins to do some outdoor shopping :)

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  13. Just the title of your post alone had me cracking up! Every time I see one of those "flat belly, one rule" ads I think of you guys!!

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  14. 1 sister and a crazy brother in law - what does that say about me?! he he

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  15. I always tell my sister she makes my life so much better. This study just fits into my whole "girls rule, boys drool" worldview.

    As for sleep apnea-- the few people I know who have serious sleep apnea are overweight, which the article mentions, too. Sounds to me like burning a lot of calories when the body is supposed to be at rest is not necessarily as healthy or slimming as it would seem.

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  16. I'd be a lot more well balanced if I was an only child!

    Great post. My pants are baggy now because of my flat stomach. :-)

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  17. What if the sisters snore?

    Mary Anne in Kentucky

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  18. I like where your head's at.

    I think I'll post this blog at my gym and have all of our clients read it upon entry. They will leave with flat bellies and happy faces.

    You did the work and I'll get the credit.

    Again, like where your head's at.

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  19. Actually, I'd buy your theory for a dollar. Think of this blog as the rest period, which everyone needs for an effective weight loss plan.

    Ta-da!

    I grew up with my sister and I'm almost in a constant state of distress. My hubs and his brother grew up together and they are fidgety and perpetually bored. Of course, I was brought up in a strict Catholic household; his was UCC. I betcha that has something to do with it.

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  20. I've got two sisters and no brothers and our stress levels are through the roof. This study, clearly, does not apply to, ummm... everybody? Well they never do.

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  21. Love the public transportation bit. I could have guessed that but it's good to have it validated. Go public transportation!

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  22. Thank you SO much for the Monty Python interlude - such great comic relief. Will be looking up the Lumberjack skit later.

    I have one brother and one sister - the sister is too toxic to have a relationship with and bro is better but detached. So does that make me an only child or just the typically well-adjusted middle child?

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  23. I completely agree with your theory! And I have a sister and like to think i'm happier because of it! haha It seems brothers WOULD add more distress!

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  24. Has anyone actually been a part of one of these studies? I know college kids are often used in the university setting but are they really representative of the population as a whole? I am also a cheery health nut (sorry) but I get my kicks from this website! Thanks for the comic relief!

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  25. I have 1 bro & 2 sisters & we are all somewhat unbalanced! I new study coming???

    Snoring.. none of that in this house... yeah right! Glad to hear it is burning more calories. I can tell my hubby that! He snores too but refuses to admit it!

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  26. One sister and three brothers. I try to ignore my brothers. My sister is one of my greatest joys.

    I'm glad we got off that beef jerky topic.

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  27. footprint chronicles? COOL!

    I heart my sister. The snoring conundrum is funny.

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  28. I love your conclusion! I think I shall have to go back and read all your posts :-)

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  29. Thanks, Crabby,

    I try to use public transportation at least some of the time for the earth's sake. never thought about it's affect on my own health, but it makes sense.

    Walk to the train climb two flights of stairs, get off train, climb two flights of stairs, walk to destination and then reverse the trip. OR walk to bus stop, stand and wait, climb on bus, climb off bus, walk to destination.

    Sounds healthy to me. I'll have to try it more often.

    Terrie

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  30. Spring Girl, thanks!

    Ang, only the first study dealt with college students. The snoring study was carried out by UCSF, which is a university that turns out medical doctors, and the victims, er, I mean research subjects, were selected based on their snoring and sleep apnea. The third study had a research pool of over 18,000 people, which makes me suspect they were not all college students.

    Terrie... sniff!

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  31. Sorry about that, Lyn ;)

    Should we bring it back?

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