Mindless Munching

So yesterday, Dr. Coyne deceived us by thinking we were skipping a lecture and moving on to look at media violence. She gave us free donuts and turned on Harry Potter. Now yes, at first glance, this sounds like a PERFECT class day. But then came the deception part. The lecture was actually on how the media leads to mindless munching and eventually obesity (not in all cases of course). Well played, Dr. Coyne, well played.

And I thought about it.

I thought about it, ironically, while munching from a bag of Frito Honey BBQ Twists and watching The Biggest Loser in my bed. Yeah, that's probably bad. Especially since it's usually a slice of pizza I'm eating while watching...which is even worse. I'm pretty sure that defeats the purpose of The Biggest Loser...

One time while mindlessy munching during The Biggest Loser, one of the trainers, Bob Harper, came on TV. He stared straight at us viewers and said, "Hey you on the couch! Get up! I want 20 pushups and 20 jumping jacks during commercial break! No more sitting around!"

Hello, massive slap in the face from Bob! 

But it worked! I got up and did those workouts. But I haven't done it again since.

Perhaps it is because I am under a false sense of security. I'm small, I have a pretty high metabolism, I walk or bike everywhere, I was a dancer, a gymnast, a basketball player, I'm happy with the way I look...so I guess I just falsly assume that I will never be anywhere near as big as those Biggest Loser contestants and I can eat on...WRONG! I'm starting to clearly see the fault in my logic. 

So, my snacks are now apples. Which I guess is at least one step in the right direction. And I'm going to be living on the third floor of a complex with no elevator as opposed to the first floor. I don't own a car and don't really plan on having one in the immediate future. I don't take elevators or escalators. I even once debated getting boxing gloves for a new fun activity. And a jump rope for calves. Or free weights or a stationary bike.

So why not let Bob & Jillian whip you into shape?! What would it hurt? It can only be good for you. Even though Jillian occasionally scares me out of my mind...

So think about what you're doing when you sit down to watch TV or a movie. Are you mindlessly munching? Plain air-popped popcorn or crazy greasy butter popcorn? Potato chips or an apple?