When you're trying to correct life-long habits that have led to serious health problems, you have to look inward from time to time and rethink what's going on with you.
There's a popular episode of Seinfeld when George decides to do the opposite. He figures everything he's done so far in life has led to him being a total failure. So he decides to do the opposite of whatever his instincts tell him to do. It works out well for him, for the episode, anyway.
What I've been doing most of my life with regards to my weight and health hasn't worked out well for me. So why not challenge myself? Why not try new things? Why not re-examine old beliefs? Why not shake things up a little?
In my fitness endeavor today I did the opposite of what my previous instincts would have had me do. For one thing, I did the opposite of sitting on the couch. On this rainy, cool day I went mountain biking on dirt trails outside the city. My previous instincts have always been to stay indoors when it rains and to keep bicycles away from water and mud. However, today I decided to do the opposite.
And boy was it invigorating and just plain different!
I discovered that lowering the air pressure in my tires allowed me to ride off-road with far less vibration and strain on my arms. It reduces your efficiency but allows for a much more comfortable ride when off road.
My bike got so clogged up with mud, I could barely push it, let alone ride it up hill. I might have been a bit freaked out by this in the past. Today, I threw caution to the wind and just went with it. A visit to the car wash later took care of most of the mud.
There was no one out there in the valley, there was no oppressive heat to burden me and the adrenaline involved in the challenge roused my spirit. Wheels slipped around and even spun in place at times. These are things I haven't experienced before in cycling. I was living dangerously.
When you start to get old like I am, time speeds up. A challenge I've given myself apart from my fitness journey, is to slow time down. Doing new things and challenging myself is one way I think I can slow down my rapid decent into old age. If everything's the same every day, time just keeps going by quicker and quicker.
It's hard to teach an old dog new tricks. It's hard to break old patterns. It's hard to challenge old beliefs. But doing so, I think, is necessary as part of what it will likely take to permanently change the obese person's destructive course.
It's one of a thousand little things I'm working on to overcome my weight-related health issues. And it's always fun.
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