Friday, August 13, 2010

Man meets bike. On vacation. Man loves bike. On vacation.

My last post outlined my excellent game plan to stay in shape on vacation.  I laid it out with outstanding diligence and detail.  And I was gently mocked, both on this blog and outside of it.  I think the gist of the message was:  lighten up (no pun intended), it's a freaking vacation.  Sound advice, I must admit.

Yet, not posting on this blog is making me feel unfulfilled.  Either that or I am needing to satisfying my OCD-like need to publicly navel gaze about, well, my navel.  So at the risk of attracting more derision and teasing, here's my vacation week so far.

Eating:  not bad, far from perfect, but far from descending into the ninth ring of eating Hades.  As promised, I am keeping it together on breakfast and lunch.  Dinner, as always, is not bad while not perfect. I have tried to snack on fruit, with many apples and peaches consumed.  I am still a bit prone to mindless grazing on salty, refined, nutritionally bankrupt snacks, but it hasn't been at extremely disgusting levels.  And I've been sneaking ice cream (I know, what mid-40's person really needs to "sneak" ice cream -- sad).

Exercise:  hit the gym for weights three mornings this week, and I've only completely blown off exercise completely one day.  I've done a good bit of running around on the beach with the vague notion of keeping up with the kids.  Walks on the beach have been reasonably frequent.

But the best news on the exercise front has been my new/old friend, my bicycle.  I am an early riser by nature, and I'm often up at least one to two hours before the next biped stirs.  The last two mornings, I've hit the bike trails with a nice little vengeance.  The joy of outdoor exercise cannot be understated, particularly at the crack of dawn. At 6:30 in the morning at a beach town, there is hardly a moving vehicle to be found (in stark contrast to an August afternoon).  Going fast in peaceful silence is an amazing, almost meditative experience.  Further, the pleasure of blitzing through a long bike trail, and to then emerge on a brilliant, blue ocean is almost surreally beautiful.  It's all a nice reminder that exercise does not have to be a chore, but can be a form of unabashed amore.


My bike.  Is it weird to love an inanimate object?

I don't know what I'd do now without my exercise, and I'm grateful that I found it and made room for it in my life.  My navel is equally grateful.

Cheers,

dk

6 comments:

  1. I love my bicycle so I'm thinking it's pretty normal. Let's go with that, okay?

    I'm on vacation and away from my bike, but I've become closely acquainted with the elliptical machine. And stepping out of my normal routine has been good for my workouts because I've been burning calories at record speed on that thing. I love it.

    I hope you're enjoying yourself..best to you..

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  2. Glad you are enjoying yourself, David. Sounds like you're doing great and I always enjoy your blog. Take care.

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  3. I rediscovered tennis in my goal to lose weight. My wife isn't a big fan, but my stepdaughter likes it and we're equally good (or, in this case, equally bad).

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  4. Here is a link to a thread over on GOAD.

    Why so few guys at WW meetings?

    http://www.weightwatchers.com/community/mbd/post.aspx?page_size=25&rownum=12&threadpage_no=1&sincedate=8%2f17%2f2010+12%3a00%3a00+AM&thread_id=145412010&board_id=15&forum_id=1&thread_name=Why+so+few+guys+at+WW+meetings%3f&mod_no=&daterange=2days&viewchange=OPENDATEDESC

    Would be interesting to hear your take.

    Dave Brokeagainbutnotout

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  5. Good for you Dave! Vacation IS a time for yourself and to enjoy it. And helthy eating does not have to take a vacation while we are. It is finding a balance between healthy eating,fun exercises/activities that we will stick to... Buy you know all that, right? I am glad you have reacquainted yourself with that old flame of yours on 2 wheels... Good riding to you!
    AM

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