Mental Health

Benefits Of Getting Moving

For years I’ve always said exercise is dangerous. Exercise causes injuries which can hurt and can stop you going to work and earning a wage. Pretty dangerous when you’ve a family to support. But in reality, exercise is brilliant if you do it properly.

When I was younger and at school, I did plenty of exercise. Whether it was walking to school, running around in PE at school or going out with friends outside of school, I was always doing something. Then when I left school it started to subside. I passed my driving test and started driving everywhere instead of walking or getting on the bike. As much as I have relied on driving for work etc, it really killed me health wise.

I gained weight rapidly after passing my driving test. That mixed with working meant I had money. Where did I spend money? Food outlets such as McDonalds, Frankie and Bennys, the local Chip Shop, the pub. I spent money on food like it was going out of fashion because in my late teens it was a way of getting out of the house.

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End Of #REDJanuary | My Take On Zwift

It’s February people, which means an end to #REDJanuary for this year. I complete every ride through January on the trainer as I simply don’t have the kit, nor the desire, to go outside on the bike when it’s cold, by cold I mean lower than 5 deg C. I’m simply not equipped to ride in temperatures lower than that.

Out of the 31 days of January I managed to ride on 29 of them. Two less than I aimed for, but still more than I imagined I would complete. A lot of people who have done #REDJanuary have raised money for the UK Charity Mind. It’s kind of what #REDJanuary was for, but I didn’t pursue any fundraising, purely on the basis that I thought I would have given up a week into January. But here we are with nearly every day completed.

I set out with a goal of riding 310 miles through January which would mean riding 10 miles per day on average. In the end, I managed a shade over 280 miles. Considering from June to December 2018 I only rode 196 miles I thought this was really good going. I’ve done more miles in a month than in 6 months last year.

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#REDJanuary: Week 4 In Review

Now on the final stretch to February. I can’t believe January seems to have gone by so quickly. It doesn’t seem that long ago since it was Christmas and the New Year was breaking in, but here we are 4 weeks into the year already.

This week physically hurt on the bike. My body has never done anything like this every day. Usually, if I exercise it takes me a couple of days to recover, but that seems to be changing. I’m feeling good for the miles I’ve ridden so far this year. I’m already past last years total mileage, so now it’s just about finishing the month off strong.

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#REDJanuary: Week 3 In Review

This last week has been difficult. Trying to juggle family time, cycling and spending time with the wife has been tough. I haven’t got on the bike anywhere near as much as I’d like to have done, but I’ve still been on every day.

The week started off OK, completing the usual programs, but by the time I had got to the weekend I struggled to put in the time needed to complete the planned long ride for the Fondo training.

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#REDJanuary Week 2 In Review

Already 2 weeks into the New Year and still going strong. Am I getting bored of cycling yet? Hell no, though I am itching to get outside… hurry up better weather and more daylight. I’m really enjoying riding Zwift on the turbo at the moment, the format of the workouts are keeping me engaged in what I’m doing.

So week 1 I completed 74.7 miles. I’m at 151.3 miles for the month/year now, so that makes 76.6 miles for days 8 to 14. I said I was going to beat the first week total and I have, just. This makes me feel good, makes me feel I’ve achieved something as I haven’t had quite as much time this week to do some longer rides as week 1. Some rides this week have been under 30 minutes, but still enough to clock up a few miles and get the heart rate up a bit.

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Idiots On The Radio: Fad Diets

My blood was boiling this morning on my drive to work. I usually listen to the radio, the guys on the Breakfast Show on Gem106 (or Gem Radio online and on DAB) are normally quite entertaining. But this morning they really got my blood boiling.

Let me set the scene with a little background info. Last year Jo (the female presenter) joined Slimming World. Through the year she basically lost half of what you should lose in your first month. She basically didn’t stick to the plan and found that it doesn’t work – well it won’t if you don’t follow the rules. This got me wound up before Christmas as she was basically advertising on the radio that Slimming World doesn’t work. I agree it doesn’t for everyone, but it does for the majority if the plan is followed. It’s not like most diets where you have to weigh and measure everything, it’s just about eating the right foods.

Photo by Kaboompics .com on Pexels.com
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Starting 2019 On A Positive

Happy New Year folks, 2019 is finally here, not sure where 2018 went, but it’s January again. You know what that means? New Year, New Me! Pffft… no chance, yes it’s a New Year, but it’s still me, I’m still a fat man trying to lose some weight. So no huge changes around here I’m afraid.

On the plus side, I have been to get weighed this evening as per usual on a Wednesday. It was nice to be back into routine with the Slimming World Group, so the slate can be wiped clean and we start again in a new week. Last week I was away so didn’t get weighed. This means that the 7.5 lbs gain I have taken has been over two weeks. That’s not to bad, I was expecting worse after what I had consumed over Christmas.

Photo by mali maeder on Pexels.com
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