I went swimming this evening. I have to confess that it is the first time I have been in over two weeks. And I haven't been out on the bike in the interim. I have reasons, well, excuses. Well, pathetic really. Laziness, probably, getting dangerously close to a vicious circle or a spiral of decline.
There is a natural slump at this time of year. It has been unusual locally to have such a sustained period of unbroken cold weather, and I haven't handled it well. I do not regard myself as a Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) sufferer, but, I think, like most people, I do find the disproportionate darkness gets me down. To be honest, for the past few cold weeks, I can't really complain about a lack of light. Many days have been gloriously bright. I had a 5pm meeting in another building this evening, so I left my building at 1640 and my spirits soared that it was still light, just about. By the time of my birthday, it is still light at 5pm, and even though it will still be weeks before the Equinox and the clocks going forward, my mood lifts considerably. I wouldn't want to labour a point, I'm not sure it's even a mood. But there are certain thing I do hate, the most significant being standing at the bus stop in the dark waiting to get the bus home.
With more digressions than a Ronnie Corbett monologue, I was saying how I went swimming. I had been putting it off - took my kit into work last Tuesday, took it home Thursday. Took it in again this Tuesday, remembered to take it out of the cupboard, and so I went swimming.
During the autumn I had built up my muscles quite impressively, especially my thigh muscles and my biceps, and there was a noticeable slimming down of my face. I won't say I have lost all that, and I have said before, it's a bit like a game of snakes and ladders. People of my age and with my excess bulk do not lose fat overnight. My objective was not intended as a short-term fix but a drastic and permanent change in lifestyle, aimed firstly at not gaining any more fat, and secondly at reducing the fat (which ought to go hand-in-hand with better tone and firmer muscles) and thirdly re-establishing a healthy lifestyle which will hold me in good stead as the years progress and I face challenges such as osteoporosis* and Alzheimers, and everything I read persuades me that a sustainable exercise habit is the key to a healthy middle-and old-age. I don't think that angsting or guilt-tripping about winter slacking is particularly productive, but incorporating swimming, cycling and leisure walks into a year-round pattern.
I went swimming this evening. I only did ten lengths. I should have done more. I could have done more. But I am going again tomorrow and Saturday looks possible for cycling, even if only for an hour or so.
* actually with my dairy addiction and my astonishingly healthy teeth I am well low risk for osteoporosis
