March Madness

March Madness is quite a tradition. It is always a fun to watch the games and see who will be the Cinderella story. We wait for One Shining Moment to play at the end of the tournament, and grown men weep. Love it.

I have been filling out a bracket since my freshman year of college--I was in a pool with the rest of my fraternity, Chamber (at the time I was the only female). With Baylor absent from the tournament, I picked teams based on what city I would rather live in or visit. And as the story so often goes, I beat the guys who had been keeping up with the basketball all season.Whoo hoo!

This year, I thought I would do a little research and determine how many calories are being burned during a March Madness game. Check out this comparison:

Approximately 0.063 Calories per minute per pound of body weight.
A game has 20 minute halves.
I weigh *** lbs.
So if I played the entire game, I would burn 327.6 calories.

But let's face it, who plays basketball? Not me. The closest I have been to playing NCAA basketball was babysittingChanning Frye way back when...he didn't really need a babysitter, but his mom and my mom were friends and his mom wanted someone to watch Channing and his little brother (who actually needed the babysitter).

I do however watch the games. Watching a game for approximately 2 1/2 hours burns approximately 120 calories. Hmmm...

But who watches the game without eating?
Check out these average sports bar& grill calories:

Pint of lager
200
Pint of bitter
200
Low-alcohol lager
100
Pint of cider
250
Glass champagne
80
Packet roasted nuts
300
Packet salted nuts
250
Packet of crisps
130
Large pizza
400
Burger
400
Kebab
500
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It's not pretty is it...as you are enjoying the rest of March Madness, think about what you are putting in the mouth. Just because the players are working up a sweat and perhaps stressing you out, doesn't mean you are burning calories. Try eating half of your burger, chips,etc. Or perhaps alternate insert a glass of water every other drink. Hopefully when March ends, you've won your bracket, your team is victorious, and your pants still fit comfortably.
-RXW