First Off Day

This is my first off day in the Body for Life Challenge. I still took my vitamin C and Calcium supplements this morning and I drank a glass of water and ate a banana before I left for work. This is a change for me. Usually, I go from the shower to getting dressed and out the door in one seamless rush, without pausing for contemplation or repast. I don't plan to indulge myself too much, but I forced myself to leave my meal planning sheets at home. I'll probably track calories in my head anyway, but I'm really trying to take the day off. As I've said before, my biggest danger is burnout and the off day is one way to fight it. So I'm sticking with the plan.

I met some friends for lunch on Saturday. We went to a sub sandwich place and a friend of mine gave me a look of utter contempt when I ordered my chicken sub as a tortilla wrap. I just couldn't see consuming almost 200 calories of bread, but my friend seemed offended that I was making a healthy choice. I've run into several interesting reactions to my new lifestyle. People at work have noticed that I'm tracking my meals, but they haven't asked me about it. Some of my friends are pulling for us to complete the program, but don't think they could ever commit to such a thing. And then there's a small group of people that just seem offended by the whole idea. I guess they don't want anyone else to improve because it highlights their own lack of ambition.

Cheryl and I went to the park yesterday. Since she was still sore from the lower body workout earlier in the week, she decided to sit and crochet while I went walking. It was the first day of daylight savings time and one of the nicest Spring days we've had so far, so the park was full of people, but there were very few on the walking trail. I guess everyone's been working out all Winter and didn't need the exercise.

When I walk, I tend to let my mind wander. I read this article in Rolling Stone magazine about the decline of the petroleum culture. According to the article, in forty years or so, all the oil will be gone and our society will change drastically due to the lack of cheap energy, cheap transportation and cheap consumer goods. I also read an article last week about the future of the stock market as interest rates rise to keep inflation in check. Apparently, the US economy has been out of balance for some time and something had to give. As interest rates go up, the stock market tends to decline. Right now, economists can't predict how high interest rates will have to go to keep inflation from rising out of control. Which means stock market investors (of which I am one) face an uncertain future. Rising petroleum costs are part of this process and only make it that much worse.

So, the question is, why should one invest in an economy with an uncertain future? And the answer is that you really don't have a lot of alternatives. You can't control the world economy, so you just have to make the best choices you can. In fact, you have to make better choices now than when the economy was good. And why should someone invest the time to do Body for Life when there's terrorism, rising crime, rising levels of toxins, and so many other things that could cut your life short? The same reason. With the prevailing conditions in our society, it's more important than ever to make healthy choices. When fewer and fewer things are in our control, it's critical to make the best choices we can with the things we can control.

Yes, you might be hit by a bus tomorrow, but the odds are you are going to live another twelve weeks and hopefully a lot more. So why not spend twelve weeks tweaking your lifestyle, making good choices, and increasing your chances for happiness?