by Susan Mazur-Stommen

The term “freeway flyer” doesn’t exactly evoke the image of a marathoner, complete with super-low body mass index, ultra-oxygenation, and rippling abs. In fact, academics in general tend to make people think of pasty little poindexters, pulling on our inhalers. Or else we are seen as paunchy, pompous professors, barely able to squeeze behind our desks after one too many faculty wine and cheese events. But I am here to stand up for the idea that teaching is a lot more aerobic than many people give it credit for, and on many days, I think it even approaches manual labor (more on this below). Don’t get me wrong, I gained the requisite 100 pounds of stress-induced lard in graduate school – eating at Mickey D’s multiple times a day (like the guy in the film “Super Size Me”) because I was too busy studying for my qualifying exams to cook a decent meal. Add a baby during dissertation writing time and you have a recipe for obesity!

Luckily, I have made a dent in my manteca problem over the past year through added exercise, eating better, and quitting the nightly half-bot of Petit Syrah and smokes.

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