High gas prices offer opportunity for shaping up

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade.

One of the latest examples -- shall we say opportunities -- is the gasoline pump, where prices are ranging up to $3 or more, depending on the part of the state where you find yourself in need of fuel.

According to the recent figures, Nebraskans need to get busy squeezing some lemons. According to figures cited by Nancy Hicks in a recent Lincoln Journal-Star article, the average Nebraska woman was 5 foot 5 and weighed 145 pounds only 16 years ago. Today, she's still 5 foot 5, but weighs 158 pounds.

Men haven't done any better, holding steady at 5-foot 11, but growing from 181 to 195 pounds.

Fast food and larger portions are easy to blame for the increase, and certainly deserve part of it, but so does our lifestyle, with about half of the American workforce now spending its time in front of a computer. And, when we're off, how many of us spend our time in front of another type of tube -- or if we're lucky, a big-screen monitor?

But it may be hard to pay for that flat-screen if your gasoline bill has climbed by a third or more.

That's where the lemonade comes in. A leisurely, 20 minute walk can burn off about 80 calories, bicycling takes care of 160 and running burns about 90 calories in 20 minutes.

Now, 20 minutes of exercise won't put much of a dent in the 266 calories in a candy bar, but it sure beats watching TV. And, 20 minutes of walking will get you nearly anywhere in McCook, and the same time spent cycling will easily get you across town.

That's all without contributing anything to oil company profits.

If transportation's not your goal, there are plenty of other fun ways to burn off calories. In 20 minutes of dancing, you can burn off 120 calories, 140 at aerobics or weights, 50 calories cleaning, 25 driving, 100 swimming, 120 playing tennis, 200 rowing, 45 playing golf, 260 at circuit training, 100 skipping, 160 gardening and 130 skiing.

While you're counting calories, remember that women require a minimum of 1,300 calories and men 1,600 a day just to maintain a healthy weight if they stayed in bed all day.

So get out the walking shoes or bicycle, save some gasoline and burn some calories. You'll feel better and we'll all be better off as a result.