Calories Burned at Disney World Parks

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I, along with about half the US, am so excited about our Disney trip planned this summer! Every year we try to plan a day trip to Disney World on our way back from Michigan, and every year we end up not doing it. That is, until this year. Business will be taking us down the mid-line of the state and it just makes sense to stop in along the way... Especially since it will give me so many possibilities for healthy Disney blog posts in the future!

In the past I have done totals on calories burned at Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Animal Kingdom, and Hollywood Studios. Although the information has been hecka useful in the past, it has never been condescend into one simple post talking about where we burn the most Calories at Disney and why.

There have been rumors that one walks the most in EPCOT and therefore burns the most calories. I am happy to say this myth is completely untrue. In fact, the park that will burn the most calories is Magic Kingdom- the place almost all of us go on every trip to Disney World. This is partially due to all the back and forth walking and partially due to the inclines you have no idea you are hiking. Next after Magic Kingdom is EPCOT since it is just so big. This is followed by Animal Kingdom. Then, way in the back is Hollywood Studios. This really cannot be much of a surprise since Hollywood Studios is just so darn small.

Below is a handy dandy chart showing my averages for all parks over 8-hours of time. Of course, your steps and calorie burn could be way different than mine depending what you do and how you get there. In almost every situation we drive or take the bus. Then, we tend to go on 3-8 rides in 8-hours and sit down for 1-3 shows, depending on the park. There is also eating time that we are not walking and lots of back-and-forth time for things like Sorcerers of the Magic Kingdom or the Pirate Quest in Adventureland.

It is also good to take into consideration that there are very few people who will spend a whole 8-hours in either Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. Although the calories burned is for 8-hours in each park, these two parks are more likely to be 4-6 hours, tops.

Interesting Reads

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Happy Monday! I hope your weekend was fantastic. I was able to get a lot of reading done this week and announce one big thing on the blog yesterday. If you were not able to read my crazy excited ramblings yet, you can find it's here. Enjoy.

Other than being ridiculously excited and catching up on some back-logged blogs, I was also able to travel down that YouTube black whole of videos. It all started by watching a Mother's Day video and quickly spiraled from there. Because of that, today's interesting reads may have a few interesting watches as well! Here are some kind of educational reads to ease you out of that weekend and into your week. Let's make it a wonderful one!

This YouTube video and is about a pretty serious and not-so understood problem. Do you know someone who is a workout addict or are you one yourself? Here is all the information you may want to know in a nice, nutshell of a video.

A nice trick for drying wet running shoes.

This super intriguing AMRAP workout.

The Fabletics new spring line.

A spaghetti squash recipe that looks like the best. thing. ever.

Something all those pre-vaccinated babies and Mommas will be happy to see.

Fun graphics that tell us all about caffeine. I seriously love things that are pretty and educational!

Bag Love

We do not talk about random style often on P+K, but today will have to be an exception. When we were in California last year we bought too much and needed a new bag. The hubs picked this one out and I happily accepted. For the hubs and I, picking out weekender bags is something of a hobby. We both have an addiction to weekender bags... Especially me. My closet has an entire rack dedicated to my favorite weekender bags and our guest closet is full of my not-so favorites that I cannot yet bare to give up.

Thankfully, this one has cured my obsessions [for now]. It is so pretty with it's leather straps and red stripe lining, but my favorite part is the zipper shoe pocket that runs the bottom length of the bag. That pocket was the most handy thing ever after running the Expedition Everest Challenge and having super yucky clothes+shoes.

Side note: We will have a full Expedition Everest run-down (so punny!) next week; and did you know it was the last year for it? Seriously curious about what will be taking it's place!

Sure, it is a bit pricey for a weekender, but it is completely worth it! If you have not checked out the bags at Herschel Supply Co., I would recommend doing so for sure. Especially with all those summer trips I know we are all going on :)

And.... To bring it all back to fitness, here is the Herschel Gym Bag I have been eyeing. Happy Weekend!

Does Where We Live Affect Our Health

I recently watched this video on YouTube. It was very informative on diets and healthstyle in Japan, and got me wondering about the US. Yes, we know that the US tops the World charts for obesity, but are there areas around the US that are better or worse? And where should I live if I want to diet successfully? Turns out that the answers to all of these questions were just a few searches away. Oh internets, what did we ever do without you?

As far as demographics for BMI in the US, that one is pretty easy. States were ranked depending on the percentage of people who fell into the "obese" category for the Body Mass Index.  A healthy BMI is between 18.5%-24.9%, overweight is 25%-29.9%, and obese is anything 30% and above. If you do not know your BMI, click here for a quick calculation. Although no state is the US has below 20% of the people being obese, there were quite a few with 20%-25% of people being over 30% BMI. As of 2010, those with the best score included California, Colorado, Alaska, Arizona, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Vermont, and Utah. In 2009, Colorado was the only state to have below 20% of the population fall into the obese category.

States with the highest percentage of obesity (more than 30% of the population) were Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Michigan, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia. The state with the highest percent of obesity was Mississippi at 34%.

Although these numbers by no means say that certain states have all unhealthy people in them or are, overall, less healthy than others, it is very interesting to look at which states fall into each category. Obviously, states where health and fitness are highly encouraged (like California, Colorado, and New York) have lower percentages of obesity. These states are also less accepting of fast and preservative filled foods.

Whether we are healthier or less healthy depending on our area is a completely new thought in many research fields. Researchers are currently finding that everything from the UV index of your area to the altitude at which you live can affect your health. Those who live closer to chemical plants, smog, and fast food restaurants tend to be less healthy than those who live near fresh produce groceries and even those at higher altitudes.

Personally, I know that when we go up to Michigan (a red state in obesity), I tend to gain between 2-3 pounds per summer. Then, I come home and it is gone within two months. This is not to say anything terrible about Michigan, I just do not eat as healthy as I do at home even though we work to eat healthier every summer we are away!

P.S. For a super detailed list of obesity depending on state, check out the link here. The CDC also has some fantastic info on obesity. Most of my numbers were taken straight from this article along with tidbits from here, and here, and here... Just in case there were not enough random numbers for you to look at ;)