Break and Treat

This is a picture of a fat me! It is to remind myself of the time, not too long ago (6 months to be precise) where I looked, well, frankly, fat! Or to be more accurate, fatter than I was, and feeling lousy too.

Coming out from a weekend of gym and a long cool run on Tuesday, last night (Wed) was a day-off from the running.

Having breaks in-between is vital for 2 reasons. Physically, it allows the body and muscles to rest, recover from the strenuous activities and also build up muscles to help the body cope with the next round of activity. Mentally, it relieves the body of the 'boredom', we all are fully aware that we are creatures of variety and repeating everything for everyday is a sure-fire recipe for boredom and lack of motivation.

Hence giving myself a treat is a little incentive to keep motivated and on the virtuous path I have been striding so far. My treat for myself was ice-cream, which I shared with my significant other since we met up for lunch. It was yummy.

At the same time however, the consistency theme is ever-present. The 10 minute stretching exercises in the mornings is still present, now supplemented by evening sessions after I am home but before shower. Now, the upper chest muscles are sore, even the abdominals and butt muscles- partly because of the consistency and also I introduced variations into the routine.

This last point is crucial as our muscles becomes efficient at doing something repeatedly due to its evolutionary predilection to save energy. Remember that humans are extremely efficient at storing and minimizing caloric expenditure from our hunter-gatherer days.

So another day of work beckons (groan) while I allow the my consistent morning (and now evenings) exercises to recuperate from their new routine.