Rain and No Workout - the Lethal Combination
This has been a horrible winter for all of us in San Diego. The usually fairly dry city has been beset by a series of winter storms, the latest passing over my head right now. It’s an El Niño year, which always means more rain for us, and this one is particularly nasty (nothing like the 1998 season, though).
Unable to get to my workout (and too lazy to replace it with something else), I decided to just eat less. Sometimes I just let myself go on days like this, but this time it was too important to me: I still have to lose 10 of the 15 pounds I gained after my motorcycle accident, and stopping right now would have been terrible for my motivation (especially since the weather is going to be nice tomorrow).
What can I tell you – I never feel cravings and hunger, to the point of physical discomfort, unless I don’t work out. Even after a hard workout, even if I really need food, the hunger never feels as bad if I am actually working out. When I am not, my body starts feeling ill and I know that only excessive food intake can make that all go away.
What is it? I think it’s mostly low blood pressure, brought on by the weather (don’t ask me why) and by the lack of exercise. I get lethargic as soon as the weather turns bad, and that is the original reason for my feeling unwell.
I have gone to the gym on rainy days, and I have skipped the gym on sunny days. The effects are as I had expected: lethargy is caused by lack of workout. The weather contributes only in that it starts me off on the wrong foot.
Solution: just go to the gym first thing in the morning on rainy days. Not an option on Sundays, since the gym opens late, but there is no excuse on other days.