Yes, this sounds too heady. I've been thinking about the Laws of thermodynamics for a while now. Well, abstractly since my Chemistry-major days at CU-Boulder. But these past couple weeks in a very personal way.
The first law states that a body in motion tends to stay in motion while a body at rest tends to stay at rest. Also known as the law of inertia. Applying that to the present day situation, a person who stays in motion, tends to stay in motion. A person who lounges too much, tends to keep lounging. Of course, you know I'm talking about exercise. The more you do, the more you benefit. The more you lounge around and sit, well, the more you want to lounge around and sit.
A couple weeks ago I downloaded an free app, MapMyFitness. I've been recording my Pilates reformer classes, Bikram (hot) yoga classes, general Hatha yoga classes, and mountain hiking. One cool factor is that the app has GPS reckoning and maps our hikes plus records how many miles, how long we hiked, and estimates calories burned. Of all those forms of exercise, guess which one burns the most calories per minute? Not what I thought. It's hot yoga at a whomping 673 calories per hour. General Hatha yoga is 471. But alas, the Pilates reformer class only burns 236. Hiking with a light pack is about 475. (the app doesn't account for changes in altitude. Yet. I am certain I burn more calories on steeper hike.)
Not that I care so much about calories as the mere counting gets crazy-making if one is concerned about weight. I still find that eating 0-5 (eat when hungry, stop when comfortable) works easily, as does eating the amount of food equal to the size of my fist 3 or 4 times a day.
The Hot Yoga is more super powerful than I thought. As it feels so good and soothes brain chemicals. meaning stress and anxiety, too.
In tracking my exercise over the past month or so I've discovered that if I reach 4 hours in a week, I have more energy. On my skimpy weeks of only 2 or so hours, I have less energy and want to lounge around more. Notice I'm not doing "killer" aerobics or running. I'm doing "doable" and accessible and relatively inexpensive exercise. My knee that was scoped over 20 years ago thanks me.
The second law of thermodynamics states that a system in order tends to go to disorder. Meaning that if your house is clean today, it won't be within a week. Everything and everybody needs maintenance to stay in good working order. After thinking about this a while, I've added a new category to my "to-do" list - the "maintenance" category. Get the car serviced, delete old emails, get hair cut, clean out closets.
I've also noticed that an "older" person needs more maintenance that a younger person to stay "in order." Not only more exercise, but also more attention to health matters, to eating healthier food, to getting plenty of high-quality sleep, to having more fun. To maintaining relationships with family and keeping current with friends. I don't mean taking the lazy way out and using Facebook. I mean phone calls in which one actually talks to a live person. Add to that parties, activities, and old-fashioned socializing.
The maintenance could include face "inject-able" scheduling, new forms of pampering like massages and classes, new hobbies and puzzles for brain sharpening. My list seems endless when some days are filled with scheduling and doing maintenance. Weeks without scheduled maintenance make me feel as if I'm in 30's and 40's.
We were taught in Physics 101 that the Laws of Thermodynamics were immutable and constant. What they didn't teach us was that these very laws have great impact on our lifelong health and well being.
Have fun being well.
Lucy Beale Partridge
