Binge Eating and 7000 Stairs

Last night I had my dinner at the appropriate time on my last flight.  I had my snack and should have been able to fall asleep on time, let my body rest as long as it wanted and enjoy a nice morning.

But, instead, when the cravings hit, I didn't say no.  Nothing really bad,  just so much at the wrong time of day.  :/ epic fail.

Chocolate Dipped Kind Nut Bar   200 calories
Chocolate covered Clif Bar 140
4 squares of chocolate 200
Cocoa dusted almonds 300
Dark chocolate cashews 200
Snack pack of multi grain crackers 80
(One of these things is not like the other! )

So that's a grand total of 1120 calories right before bed.  Nothing even horrible,  and there is a common theme.  Nuts and chocolate.  Not sure what that means
... but apparently I needed whatever they offer.

Usually if I have a higher intake day here and there I don't worry about it.  My activity is high enough to absorb them randomly.
 But that's like an extra 400-500. Not 1120.

I slept like crap. Woke up multiple times, hard time falling back asleep. Awful night.

I don't need my mind thinking that eating like this is OK.  And I'm not into punishing myself for a binge. But I felt like I needed a reminder of what 1120 calories feels like.

Thus,  7000 stairs.  Yes,  you read that right, 7000 stairs.

After a little Google research,  I discovered that the average adult (150-165 lbs) will burn .11 calorie ascending and .05 calorie descending a stair.  Total = .16 per stair.  (There were higher estimates, but I found this on several sites and many had research to back the findings)

1120/.16 = 7000 stairs exactly.

What does 7000 stairs look like?  Well most homes are going to have 13-14 stairs in each flight.

So go run up and down that once.  Feel your heart rate increase?  Breathing a little harder? A bit of a burn in your calves?

Now do that 500 times.

That is what 1120 calories and 7000 stairs is like.

My hotel had 18 floors and two parking levels under that.  Well really it has 17 floors, (no 13th floor haha) but the first floor is extra tall.  Anyway, using my super sleuthing skills, I now know that there are 282 stairs and total of 20 floors (including the parking) with an average of 14 steps per floor.

I did the entire thing 25 times.  25 * 20 floors = 500 flights and 7000 stairs.

My calves are going to HATE me tomorrow!

But today I love that I did this.  When you dissociate the food you eat, with the effort it takes to burn it, you are on a slippery slope to becoming unfit.

And if you have never understood the relationship, this might help you understand why you are not seeing the results you are hoping for.

A specific weight or size is not the end all be all,  but they are tools to help you gauge your fitness.  Knowing the types of food, quantity and the amount of exercise needed to help you feel good and meet your goals is important.

And today, I learned that 7000 steps is a lot of work. Certainly not worth 15 minutes of binge eating.