Sustainable diet and exercise
Oct. 22nd, 2016 11:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mtbcI have been gently pushing myself to exercise more from week to week. On the cross-trainer I am now doing forty-minute workouts each morning for which the machine estimates over eight hundred of its
One reason for not being aggressive with my exercise is that I am also dieting: I still restrict my calories to 12,500 per week. Also, for many months now I have done intermittent fasting, which is thought to have its own health benefits. That has settled into my fasting only on weekdays, consuming calories only between 16h and 22h. While there is much research and opinion on what to eat and how to exercise and when to do things, I figure that I am probably not pushing myself too hard with exercise if I don't feel out of breath during it and I can comfortably stand and hold a conversation directly afterward.
The calorie restriction has not been onerous. While fasting at work I am usually distracted by the job at hand. Reducing my calories when I do eat has partly been about two things: First, learning how many calories different foods bear and finding that some simply aren't worth it. For example, I hadn't realized how calorie-dense muesli and oatcakes are, and it's not as if I regard either as being very tasty, whereas poppadoms turn out to be cheap. Second is portion control: if I am not sure how much I want, opt for less, especially if it is mostly carbohydrates, which can increase appetite. I can always eat something more if I find myself still hungry later.
calories. I am pushing myself only a little these days, currently slowly increasing my average workout intensity to the machine's level twelve; I shall see how things are once I settle there. I suspect that I am already exercising enough to achieve my aim of avoiding the health risks arising from my life being otherwise sedentary; it is not my intention to become competitively athletic. It is also convenient that with the alarm going at 6h then after I exercise, shower, and get into work, I am arriving at the university at around 8h which means that I can park in the lot closest to my building in the research complex.
One reason for not being aggressive with my exercise is that I am also dieting: I still restrict my calories to 12,500 per week. Also, for many months now I have done intermittent fasting, which is thought to have its own health benefits. That has settled into my fasting only on weekdays, consuming calories only between 16h and 22h. While there is much research and opinion on what to eat and how to exercise and when to do things, I figure that I am probably not pushing myself too hard with exercise if I don't feel out of breath during it and I can comfortably stand and hold a conversation directly afterward.
The calorie restriction has not been onerous. While fasting at work I am usually distracted by the job at hand. Reducing my calories when I do eat has partly been about two things: First, learning how many calories different foods bear and finding that some simply aren't worth it. For example, I hadn't realized how calorie-dense muesli and oatcakes are, and it's not as if I regard either as being very tasty, whereas poppadoms turn out to be cheap. Second is portion control: if I am not sure how much I want, opt for less, especially if it is mostly carbohydrates, which can increase appetite. I can always eat something more if I find myself still hungry later.
