Small, but still an operation, left me with a bit of fear of the unknown. I welcome new experiences, be they good or bad. Odd, is it not?
The wait was not overly taxing, but a bit long. I tried deep breathing, but in the end this did not lower my BP. Still, I did not have anxiety within my thoughts. I moved from one waiting area to another. The ear protection helped me block out the busy and unfamiliar outside stimulus. I had prepared well.
It has been a long haul of 16 months in Canada, and specifically Ontario. Ontario has made some major mistakes in its pandemic response, resulting in prolonged lock down, but all that is now in the past. Now we are in a better place, with over 50% of citizens double vaccinated and near 78% single vaccinated. Lock down measures have been greatly reduced. But is the pandemic over? Not by a long shot.
Any exercise is better than no exercise. That said, for cardio exercise there are nuances that can affect you. HIIT is quick and stressing, and moderate cardio is slow and time consuming but gentle. Are the results the same for both?
High intensity interval training HIIT requires you to go all out in your cardio workout, but for extremely short periods of time, such as one minute. You then rest for a couple of minutes and repeat. A couple of cycles of this, and three times a week, and you’re done. You may not even do cardio for an hour per week, cumulatively. Maybe you do this for only 15 minutes a week.
Flippant, I was, when I was younger, when I said the way to reduce your weight is to simply eat less. In a way I was right, but in my naivety I did not know the complexity of the problem. Age has a way of providing more wisdom to the problem. It turns out that I am not alone, as the percentage of obese people in the Western world is now alarming and rising. This is a big problem that needs to be solved.
Sarcopenia, a decline in skeletal muscle with age, is inevitable. I have experienced symptoms of this and have then taken measures, which includes weight lifting. It has helped a lot.
Causes of the loss of muscle mass or strength might include hormonal changes, sedentary lifestyles, oxidative damage, infiltration of fat into muscles, inflammation and resistance to insulin. Some problems stem from the brain and nervous system, which activate the muscles.
Experts say the best approach to restoring or maintaining muscle mass and strength is exercise, particularly resistance training.
The standard practice is to eat breakfast every day. The saying “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day” has been drilled into my tiny brain since birth. For me it just was not so important. Over the years I have deviated from this breakfast practice on many occasions, mostly without issue. I say mostly because I often inadvertently delay until well past lunch. This is the 16/8 fast, don’t eat for 16 hrs a day, but eat for only 8. It is not as radical as you might think, as most of the time you are asleep.
