August 6, 2010Read: Luke 18 "Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." --Luke 18:25

In the movie "Cast Away," Tom Hanks' character, Chuck Noland was a time-obsessed FedEx analyst with a simple job: deliver the mail on time. After his plane crashed, he got washed up on a deserted island where he spent four lonely years. Well, he wasn't totally alone.

Wilson, a volleyball Chuck found in the wreckage, became more like a friend than a piece of sporting goods equipment. Clearly out of his mind, Chuck would talk and even argue with the ball. But when he finally escaped from the island, his raft was hit by a storm. And when he woke up, he realized Wilson had been thrown overboard (cue the sad music). After attempts to retrieve Wilson failed, a heartbroken Chuck realized he couldn't take it with him. He knew he had to decide: Be saved or go in after his prized possession.

Silly, right? I mean, who in their right mind would act that way? When I saw that scene, I was shaking my head thinking, "It's a VOLLEYBALL, you NUT!" But then I thought of the rich young ruler, and the answer Jesus gave him. Haven't we all been in that boat? Ever gone overboard on stuff? Funny, like watching Chuck, I wonder if the Lord ever shakes His head at how crazy we get about our toys.

--J.P.

WHICH BURNS MORE FAT? Learn the benefits of high- and low-intensity exercise I've often been asked which burns more fat, training at a low intensity or high intensity. The answer is both. Let us explain.

Let's take an hour worth of exercise as an example. At a low intensity, the body will burn more fat relative to the total number of calories burned, so percentage-wise, low-intensity activity burns a higher percentage of fat calories. But take that same person and have him/her train at a high intensity, and they'll burn more total fat calories, even though as a percentage of the total, it's less.

But let's apply some numbers to make things a little more clear:

>> Person A walks for an hour and burns 2oo calories. And of those 200 calories, 80% of that comes from fat. So he burns 160 calories just from fat.

>> Person B does high-intensity intervals for an hour and burns 500 calories. And of those 500 calories, only 50% comes from fat. So he burns 250 calories from fat.

So even though Person B burns less fat as a percentage of the total (50 compared to 80), he/she still burns more absolute fat calories as well as total calories than person A. The summary? Both are good but it's always good to challenge your body to do more and to change your workouts from time to time to get the greatest results.

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