Is it that Difficult to Stay Healthy While on a Cruise?

LadyIronChef blogged about 5 easy ways to exercise while on holidays. Essentially, the calories expended in the 5 activities look like this:

Walk - 3 hrs, 405 kcal
Hike - 2 to 3 hrs, 674 to 1014 kcal
Swim - 20 min, 115 kcal
Circuit around hotel room - 7 min, 58 kcal
Dance - 2 to 3 hrs, 930 to 1395 kcal

The above made me recall about my last cruise experience on board Royal Carribean's Mariner of the Seas.

Great views and great entertainment, even if they're somewhat cabaret like. Shrek is the theme on board this ship.

As always for cruise, it was a food binge of immense proportions. Staying in a Grand Suite came with greater benefits, including the use of the VIP Lounge. That meant even more food! What's a cruise without the food?

I figured my daily food intake was in the region of 3,000 kcal. Maybe more. I could be in denial. Since my Basal Metabolic Rate was in the region of 2,000 kcal, that meant I had to exercise away 1,000 kcal per day. No small feat to achieve given that I only averaged 200 kcal on a normal working day, and perhaps closer to 500 kcal a day on weekends.

Turns out, it wasn't too difficult to accomplish on board the cruise ship. An hour per day in the gym clocked about 500 kcal. Walking to restaurants for meals and to various entertainments from the bow to the stern, and from the stern to the bow of the ship several times each day meant that I also clocked more than 10,000 steps per day. That works out to another 500 kcal or so. It's a lot of serious walking. There, 1,000 kcal a day expended to shed the excess.

No net weight gain. Pays to stay healthy. Exercise away for the good life.

Great health, good wealth! Enjoy your next cruise.