The Southwest Voice

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Food, family, friends, and fun — the great Kern County Fair! We are challenged daily to eat right and exercise, but some times are more challenging than others — like the fair. Who can resist corn dogs, cotton candy, funnel cakes, taffy, and, of course, the hot, soft, sticky, sweet, and incredibly tempting cinnamon roll?

Well I say why bother? Resistance is futile — go for it! Just choose your poison and enjoy it, after all, the fair only comes around once a year. You can indulge without the bulge, the trick is to balance the overindulgence out with an equally indulgent work out. If you plan to pack it in, then plan to burn it off. The cinnamon roll doesn’t have to cause a belly roll. You can have your funnel cake and eat it too if you plan ahead, and behind! Eat smarter the rest of the day and take an extra step class or a longer walk, run, bike ride, or swim. Strolling the exhibit halls and riding the Tilt-A-Whirl won’t burn those buns or reduce the rolls, and throwing darts or tossing coins can’t replace a tennis game or a little weight lifting.

Now, let’s be fair! If you eat it, you have to move it — you know, “Move it to lose it” — and 3,500 calories equals 1 pound. If you suck in calories, you will have to suck in your gut. Excessive calories will be stored as fat and will become that “muffin top” that hangs over your hipsters or the extra “junk in the trunk.” So if the cinnamon roll is 500 calories ,you will need to burn off 500 calories more than if you had just said no. Sixty minutes of vigorous exercise (it doesn’t have to be done all at once) will do the trick. Walking up the stairs to the giant slide counts, sliding down doesn’t!

You don’t want to go to the fair hungry, so don’t starve yourself all day in order to have some cotton candy or taffy. Rather, earlier in the day, eat a lighter fare such as a salad with grilled or broiled chicken without cheese, croutons, or high-fat dressing.

No matter how dedicated we are to exercise and a healthy diet, we will all slip up from time to time. To err is human, to eat is divine! Realize that this will happen and take the necessary steps (pun intended) to prevent a little slip up from becoming a giant landslide.