best available choice - part 2

best available choice - working out

Earlier this week I wrote about making the best choice when you're eating and your normal options aren't available. Well, the same holds true for exercising and being active. In fact, the whole day is nothing more than a series of choices.

The impetus for this post was a comparison (and contrast) of two days from a vacation my wife & I just got back from.

Day 1

• Eat a filling breakfast
• Lounge by the pool for awhile
• Order lunch & drinks from the poolside waitress
• Take a cab 1.5 miles to our evening destination
• Eat a gigantic dinner; order more drinks
• Watch great entertainment
• Take a cab back to our hotel

We took advantage of being away from our regular, busy life with too many things to do at any one time, and enjoyed our quiet time without distractions. Not surprisingly, we both woke up the next day feeling sluggish and gross.

Day 2

• Eat a small breakfast
• Relax (and recover) by the pool for awhile
• Swim 20 minutes of sprint-intervals: swim fast across the long hotel pool, recover for 30-45 seconds, then swim fast back to the other side.
• Take a cab 2 miles to our destination. (this time it was because we were too late to walk.)
• Give ourselves a walking tour for about an hour.
• Eat a medium sized, late afternoon, lunch-dinner combo meal.
• Walk back to our hotel
• Enjoy the hotel's evening entertainment
• Call it a night

Not surprisingly, we both felt 100 times better after Day 2!

It's hard to imagine two more different days than what we experienced. Both were fun, both were kid-free, and both were low-pressure and relaxing. Yet Day 1 was not very healthy (a lifetime of those days would be a short, obese, health problem-filled lifetime), and Day 2 was extremely healthy (a lifetime of those days would lead to a long, wonderful life).

Don't use disruptions to your normal schedule to have a Day 1. Instead, use them as an opportunity to have a Day 2!

-Chris Butterworth

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