Getting healthy and fit in real time, in real life…

I love how “It’s Raining!” is the top news story in Vancouver this week. I’m not even from here, and that doesn’t seem like its news to me.

To be fair, this week does feel a lot more like October than August. As I was fairly content exercising during the warmer temperatures, there were major adjustments that I had to make now that the temperature has dropped.

I’m a snacker at heart, and the heat wave took care of my after dinner sweet tooth. Now that it’s cooled off, my snacking tendencies have returned with a vengeance.  So my challenge this week is to control my snacking.  I’ve boiled it down to a 3 step strategy.

Step 1:  Get Busy
I have noticed that when I have the urge to snack, it’s not really when I’m hungry, it’s more likely that I’m bored.  I find that when I watch TV in the evenings, I’m so conditioned to snacking, regardless of whether or not I just ate dinner. To counteract this habit, I’ve tried to save all my emails to family and friends until evening when I’d normally just be sitting, watching TV. So now I am keeping my hands and brain busy so I hopefully forget about snacking altogether.

Step 2: Time’s up!
I’m a late night snacker. I usually want something sweet an hour or so after dinner. So, a few months ago I made a conscious effort to avoid eating after 8pm. Really, it was just an arbitrary time between when I finished dinner and when I went to bed.  It worked really well for a few weeks, but I slipped up once and then stopped being so strict about it. I think I’ll try to implement that cut off time again starting this week. 

Step 3: Out of Sight, Out of Mind
I’ve been pretty good at this one lately.  I think that’s mostly because I hate grocery shopping, so I’m always in a hurry to get out!  Simply put: if you don’t buy it, you can’t eat it. So I’ve avoided buying my favourite snack foods, like chips and cookies.  Instead I fill my basket with fruits and vegetables and yogurt. Most of the time when I’m in a snacking mood and can’t find the food I want to snack on, I lose the urge to snack.  That’s when I realize, I wasn’t actually hungry.  Sometimes, however, I am legitimately hungry, and then I prepare myself a healthy snack.

I’ll try these 3 strategies this week and report back with my success (or lack thereof).

In the pouring rain, I drove down the highway. I always drive the Sea to Sky with a cup of hot coffee in my cupholder, waiting for it to cool down until I can take a sip.  I’m not feeling particularly motivated to get to work- it’s a Monday morning after all- and I know that there’s this beautiful little spot called Gallileo Coffee at Britannia Beach.  When I get to Britannia, I debate, but then find myself pulled over in the parking lot, and soon, wrapping my hands around a warm cup of coffee with two sugars.

The ritual of having a cup of coffee sometimes is a little too comforting to pass up.  I keep revisiting my reasoning and wondering why I felt like I needed to give up coffee.  I keep thinking why didn’t I just try to drink a LOT of water- why did I feel like I had to give up coffee too?

The more I try to kick coffee, the more I realize how much I miss my cup of comfort.  The more I miss that cup of coffee, the more I realize how much more important it must be for me to give it up. 

Caffeine is an addictive substance, but I’ve moved beyond the point where the physical addiction would come into play.  Now I find the psychological addiction is so much stronger.  The idea that I’m *that* psychologically addicted seems really disturbing to me.

I used to work in substance abuse prevention, and in those days, I found it frustrating when people talked about those with addictions as “having a lack of willpower.”  But I have to admit, as I’m trying to kick coffee, I’m shaming myself with “why are you not strong enough!?” types of naggings.  And at the same time, I have the little devil on the other shoulder telling me that I don’t really need to quit coffee in the first place.  The truth be told, this is reminding me about how much more compassion I should have for those with addictions to much more destructive drugs (like alcohol or tobacco or cocaine).  Because this is SO HARD.

I have a new argument to fight against the dirty devil on my shoulder, however.  For my birthday last week, one of my best friends gave me the gift of health. He knows that i have a ton of food allergies (I should carry a sign that says “please don’t feed me dairy, soy or eggs or kiwis or bananas”), and he sees me struggling consistently with feeling listless for no reason.   So he told me to go see a naturopath.  I believe in naturopaths and the like, but haven’t seen one since last year when I moved.

The naturopath tells me that there are a lot of things I need to do to fix my digestion (I won’t list them all here) which will ultimately fix my energy levels.  One of the things on the list is, of course: DO NOT DRINK COFFEE.

So there you go.  I have yet another reason to fight against my consistent impulse to go buy a cup of dark roast at the corner coffee shop.  I have to admit though- I had two cups of coffee last week, and another on Monday morning… so I’m really going to have to work at this.  So far it seems I haven’t really kicked my coffee habit at all. 

Is there possibly anybody out there who HAS quit coffee?!  I know folks who never drink coffee, but none that have actually loved it and left it.  It’d be nice to have a little I Quit Coffee Club…

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As a reminder from my introductory blog, I noted that I used to coach hockey for approximately 8 years. This was a great way to stay in shape and enjoy a sport that I was literally raised on like many Ontario-born men my age.

I can remember crisp, bright moonlit nights with my dad in our backyard in suburban Toronto, hose in hand, spreading the water carefully over a pounded- down snow surface gentler than if you were filling a glass with juice.

And now I live in a province where spreading water in my backyard in the winter is still just watering my lawn like in summer.

Summers are a great time of year for me to restart exercising. Yes – I actually enjoy cutting the front and back lawns, trimming the edges, raking, weeding and watering the shrubs. For those of you who enjoy the same, you know that there is something about giving nature a hair cut (not too much off the sides) that has a natural, communal feel to it. You see your results immediately and your customer never complains. Mind you – the customer never tips either but such are labors of love.

Between Saturday and Sunday, theses activities will consume 3 to 4 hours in total.

During the week, it gets more challenging. I am up at 4:00 am and leave for work at 5:45 am. My work schedule is 6:45 am to 4:30 pm. I usually get home by 6:00 pm. If my day schedule includes a meeting across campus, I usually get my exercise in a brisk walk to and from my meeting. The walk can be up to 40 minutes both ways and I’ve noticed that I feel more energetic for the remainder of the day.

If my work day does not include a walk, I must make a conscientious effort to push myself out the door for a 40 minute walk when I get home. That is to say, come home, get changed and go. Don’t focus on anything else like reading the mail or asking the cat how her day was. You can do that afterwards. She won’t mind.

When the weather will get wet, I will throw on a light windbreaker and still go.  

As I noted before, my commitment to my journey to wellness must have the same level of dedication that I apply to work and my family.

Next week – returning to visit an old friend in the gym.

  
Have a week of good health,
 
Rick