does school burn calories?

Question.

I was thinking to myself the other day....you burn calories through physical exercise, everyone knows that. But do you burn calories through thinking hard? Say you're doing really harm maths sums for like an hour or more, your using lots of brain power, so does this actually burn energy? cuz basically, you're still working your body, just in a different way...

I could be very wrong, but its a nice idea! "Here, have some math homework! Lose weight"

also, i feel mega hungry by lunchtime at school, but never at home! I dont exercise physically at shcool (infact less) than at home, so does that mean ive used energy tinking? PLus all this advertising "People who skip breakfast's energy levels drop, etc." and lucozade which is packed with sugar (therefore calories) is "brain energy in a bottle"

That would be amazing. I'd lose all this weight just by being on the internetz!

But I think brawn burns a lot more calories than brain, fortunately/unfortunately.

Just throwing this out there-- is it possible you're more hungry because you are moving around more than you realize compared to the average morning spent at home, and also you are physically more alert because you are surrounded by people and not in a necessarily 'safe and comfortable' setting?

EDIT; Never take advertising slogans literally. Otherwise, Burger King would be churning out non fat 50 calorie burgers by this time. I wanted it my way, dammit!

yeah...

you're probably right though...:P:P lol i got all excited for a while thinkking about it after i went for a jog that morning..i thought...does it ever get easier than this??? lol

well exercise can be pretty enjoyable i guess, after u get the hang of it.

50 calorie burgers?? wow thatd be nice. Thats just so weird to even think about. the closeset thing to 50 calories on burger kings menu is the sachet of ketchup probably....

Thinking is not the same as working out. The energy burned by thinking and doing mental work is the same energy used by the body to function correctly and efficiently. If thinking caused one to burn calories, college students would all be skinny, and the freshmen 15 wouldn't be a reality, would it?

Not necessarily! :D

I doubt it will burn much calories,but if thinking hard engages your mind for a long time( computer games etc) , the fact you are not eating is a help. Unfortunately many people end up eating like they had been exercising rather than been sedentary.   Some people find it helpful though have to pace, move around while thinking, they probebly find thinking -hard burns energy for them.  Not something that can be done in a classroom.

The brain actually accounts for a large percentage of calories burned by your basic metabolism, as much as 30%.  I would guess that working hard math problems would increase the amount of calories that your brain is using but the increase would be negligible as far as weight loss is concerned.  For that you need to engage your large muscle groups.

Calories Burned are based on 150 lb person and for no reason to be taken seriously Taking notes – 93 calories per hour

Taking notes when professor talks to fast- 126 calories per hour

Removing textbook form bag- 351 calories per hour

Squint to decipher professor’s handwriting on board- 325 calories per hour

Raising hand, (full extension)- 423 calories per hour

Raising hand (partial extension)- 211 calories per hour

Fighting the urge to nap (winning)- 517 calories per hour

Fighting the urge to nap (losing)- 74 calories per hour

Concentrating- 372 calories per hour

Doodling in the margin of notes- 118 calories per hour

I think part of it may be 'hunger from boredom'. I have some class that keep me running around for three hours and I don't notice hunger because I'm busy. But other times when I'm sitting in World Civilizations... zzz.

You may also be hungrier at school because you are awake for more hours than you would be at home by the time you get to lunch. If at home you sleep in until 9 then have breakfast and mostly sit around for the morning, by noon you would not be as hungry as you may have been if you had been up and moving about since 6 and had breakfast at 7 am.

I actually wore my heart rate monitor in a maths exam, and it got my heart rate up and i burned like 200-300 calories, i cant remember now. but i was panicking as i did it in pencil, finished closed it and it said must be done in pen. that was a rush ill never forget.

Original Post by poscagirl:

I actually wore my heart rate monitor in a maths exam, and it got my heart rate up and i burned like 200-300 calories, i cant remember now. but i was panicking as i did it in pencil, finished closed it and it said must be done in pen. that was a rush ill never forget.

 I think a raised heartbeat in that case is due to adrenaline, rather than increased oxygen needs due to calories burned. It's a part of the fight or flight response  in which the body prepares to have to do large amounts of physical activity by circulating high amounts of oxygen and hormones, but if you don't actually do that physical activity then you're not burning those calories. Unfortunately, your heart rate monitor can't tell the difference between a stress-based increase in heartbeat and one caused by physical exertion, which is why it assumed you were burning calories.

haha

yeah...i imagine i get hungry is either cuz i eat at seven thirty or eight and then dont get to eat again til one oclock..anyway school sucks so they should give an hour of maths or science a 600 calorie burn!!!!

wow....

if you can burn 300 calories in a math exam summers gonna be great!! i have like 7 exams!

just kidding....

sighs as she puts her running shoes back on...