Mental Energy as a Workout?

jillerin457

I teach college art classes, normally 2 hours at a time, MWF. Because I'm an overloaded graduate student in the middle of qualifying exams, sometimes this is the most "exercise" I get in a week. I've noticed that after I teach, I'm completely exhausted and starving, even if I had a good breakfast!

While I do spend the entire time on my feet, moving around the classroom, projecting my voice, demonstrating/gesturing, and writing on the board, it's nothing high-impact and would never cause me to break a sweat. My mentoring professor has said she experiences the same thing. (We have similar lifestyles -- watching our calories, trying to make time for walking or other light exercise, but mostly academic with noses buried in a book!)

I normally enter this as "walking 2.0 mph" or something minor like that, but I wonder if I'm actually burning more calories than that! Does the mental exercise of giving a lecture and interacting with students count for more? Has anyone else experienced something like this?

jillerin457

Bump -- I think I got swamped out this morning!

myofibril

Does the mental exercise of giving a lecture and interacting with students count for more? Has anyone else experienced something like this?

Unfortunately not. My work involves a high intellectual component and if mental exertion was equivalent to physcial exercise then I would never have to go to the gym!

In fact long periods of concentration such as this can actually lead to weight gain. Brain function is fuelled primarily by glucose. Glucose burns off quickly. Spiking variations in glucose levels leads to hunger. The body releases insulin to deal with excess sugar in the bloodstream and blood sugar levels fall sharply. This fast drop increases appetite in an effort to bring blood sugar levels back up leading to over eating. After eating, the body releases even more insulin to get rid of extra glucose, and over time, this cycle of high and low blood sugar levels can have a detrimental impact.

In short, if you have a job which involves deep thought for long periods getting your diet right is important to help regulate blood sugar levels and keep them constant during the day.

jillerin457

That makes sense -- thanks!