Come tomorrow, we will be halfway through the Eating Season. How are you doing? Gained anything yet? You know, like a extra notch in the belt or a dress size or are you about halfway towards the Dreaded Holiday 15?! Every year I struggle with this season...not the gift giving or parties and get-togethers, no I struggle with gaining a few extra and unneeded pounds. That is, until last year.
Last year, I had determined that I really didn't want a repeat of the illness that I had acquired the previous winter. Therefore, I took a hard look at my training log and what I was doing in terms of rest and food consumption. (I'm sure this is old hat for most of you but for this old rider who loves to eat, it was a new adventure.) After much scrutiny of the previous year's log and devouring two new books regarding training for cyclists, specifically cyclists over 50 years of age, I decided to try a few experiments.
Here's what I did last year through the Eating Season:
1. I decided to lower the intensity of my times on the machine. Usually, this time of year the actual miles on the bike are diminished because of lack of daylight, cold and/or rainy weather. However, I determined not to go into the red zone at all when riding during chilly weather. I just stayed in that fat burning zone. I really enjoyed those long slow distance rides. Besides, you can't go hard all year. My doctor had expressed that it isn't good for the lungs to have cold moist air rushing in and out of those guys. He said I need to find a way to warm the air up first, or just slow down the breathing. I chose the latter.
2. I cut out as much sweets as I could stand. I ate no candy, cake, pies, ice cream, (donuts) and especially no sodas of any kind. This was very difficult but I kept telling myself it is just through the Eating Season. I cheated a few times, however I noticed that each time I ate something sweet it made it harder to not eat the sweets again. So after a few battles with that, I decided it was easier to just go cold turkey and not cheat at all.
3. I determined to get as much rest as possible. I would go to bed early as often as I could. I would take naps on the weekends and generally try to get in a restful state whenever possible. This was no easy task as most of you know, this is the busiest time of year. However, I would look for times when I was, for example, waiting on the lovely Mrs Graves so we could leave for a party or shopping or something...at other times I would be busying myself with something around the house, but during that time last year, I decided to sit down in the recliner and put my feet up for a few minutes. More than once she had to wake me.
4. I really beefed up on the vitamins and herbs. I know some of you think this is a bunch of hooey. But, combined with the other experiments, I think it really helped. I mainly took Vitamin C with some A and E to supplement the multivitamin and I tried daily garlic, some zinc and also some echinacea if I felt like I was starting to fight a head cold or something.
The results of the experiments from last year's Eating Season?
I didn't gain a pound, (actually lost a few) and I didn't get sick. Yeah! Considering that not getting sick was my main goal so I was really glad about that. I'm trying it again this year...I'll let you know how it goes. Right now I'm in the battle with the sweets. Hope that's over soon!
Other observations:
The older I get, the more I am coming to realize how much what I eat and how much rest, or lack of rest, really affects my health. I know, I know, the healthcare professionals have been telling us that for decades. However, until I experimented, I truly didn't make the connection...I mean on a personal level anyway. It is easy to see how it could change the potato chip eating, football game watching sluggard on the sofa downing a few cokes to balance out the sodium he's consuming in all those chips. But, I didn't see how what I was eating was affecting me...in very real everyday life.
You know, there's a really old proverb that says this; "Everyone does what's right in their own eyes." Maybe that's a good reason to try a few experiments this Eating Season or anytime for that matter...to determine if what I'm doing and thinking it's right is actually best. Worth a try anyway. Or, I guess I could just wait until my doctor tells me otherwise.
See you out on the road,
Bob
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