Useful stuff from 83 years of Yankee:
Take it from cold-weather expert Murray Hamlet: When the temperature drops, don’t skimp on fuel. “Doughnut lovers love me for saying this,” says Hamlet, formerly of the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine. “You need more calories in winter. You need to eat more fatty, slow-burning foods.”
But how easy is it for New Englanders to work off what they love to eat? Using data from Harvard Health Letter for a 185-pound person, we ran the numbers:
Running a Snowblower
Calories burned per hour: 400 Food indulgence earned:Come in from the cold, shake the snow off your eyebrows, and settle into your comfiest recliner—you deserve a big mug of rich hot chocolate with a dollop of whipped cream.
Carrying and Stacking Wood
Calories burned per hour: 444 Food indulgence earned:Is this chore included on your “honey-do” list? It’ll earn you a big bar of fine dark chocolate and the appreciation of everyone who gets to settle next to the woodstove at your place.
Shoveling Snow
Calories burned per hour: 532 Food indulgence earned:OK, you probably drew the short straw. But push on through, knowing that you’re working up an appetite for a handful of chewy oatmeal raisin cookies, fresh from the oven—guilt-free.
Sledding or Ice Skating
Calories burned per hour: 622 Food indulgence earned:All you had to do was enjoy an hour of fun to burn off a hearty helping of French toast with maple syrup.
Snowshoeing
Calories burned per hour: 710 Food indulgence earned:Keep it up for five hours and you’ll work off the caloric equivalent of one pound. Of course, you’ll be absolutely ravenous….
—Adapted from “Our Not-So-Serious Guide to Winter,” January/February 2012
