Now, Fall has descended upon Northern Ohio....and hibernation mode is in full swing!! My body is preparing itself for the long, cold winter that lies just around the corner. I have traded in my daily green juice smoothies for piles and piles of Oreo Double Stuff cookies and potato chips. My goodness.....I just can't get enough!!
In fact....I present to you.....definitive PROOF that I am, indeed, going into hibernation mode. Check out this article from the UK's "Daily Mail". I'm sure this is bonafide, peer-reviewed data here!! And really....let's be honest......as long as it goes along with what I think, I will take it as "factual" regardless of its sources:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-94678/Tired-hungry-sad-Relax-youre-hibernating.html
See!! Oreos make the perfect hibernation food!!!
Need more proof? Well, have a look at this picture that I took just the other day of our back yard during our "Pre-Halloween-6-inch-lake-effect-snow-event"
Friends.....if it's good enough for the squirrels....it's good enough for me!!!
The way I see it, I can do things with this scientific information that I have always known in my heart to be true: I can use this as yet another excuse, just roll over (in my nice, warm, cozy bed) and let nature take its course (see ya in the Spring!!). Or....I can recognize and respect the foe against whom I will be fighting for the next 6 months....and fight it every. single. day. Winter is, and always has been, very difficult for me to get through without getting sluggish (LAZY) and gaining weight.
How am I going to fight against my very own genetic make up? Generations and generations of evolutionary behaviors?! I want to hibernate! Every cell in my body is under the spell of crunchy, creamy, sugary, Oreo Greatness!!!!!
I'm going to shuffle.
That's how.
Shuffling is my only weapon against this demon of mine. Shuffling long enough to get my heart rate up to an uncomfortable, sweaty level....breathing fresh air deep into my longs....taking step after step after step, until my legs are aching...my feet begging me to stop. Only then do I feel calm....awake....normal...
.....better.
I have decided to give up the notion of cutting calories and restricting foods to lose weight through this winter. If I shuffle, I stop craving sugar. What I DO crave is proteins...carbs (mostly fruit)....water....foods high in potassium....and salt. Shuffling not only decreases my appetite, it decreases my depression...my anxiety....my cloudy mind....all of that in one hour of not-so-athletic shuffling.
Today was a perfect example. I fought with myself for about an hour to get out for a shuffle. On a scale of 0 to 10.....10 being "I have better things to do with my time, like do Google searches for why pictures of giraffes are blowing up Facebook!"......0 being "I am too tired to BREATHE let alone shuffle!!!" my motivation to go out for a shuffle was about a negative 8!! (For reference, going to get my annual gynecological exam ranks at about a negative 4). But I forced myself to do a slow 5 miler (12 min hilly miles) and felt 150 times better by the time I got home. One hour of fresh air, sunshine, cool autumn breezes, sweat, and a pounding heart gets my mind and body to a great place.
So.....I'm hitting the reset button. I am starting over. I will no longer look at these last couple months as a failure....it is a natural reaction that I (unfortunately) have to the changing of the seasons here. It is a demon I will fight until Spring. Today is my "square one". My new goal is to successfully shuffle the 20 mile race for which we are registered in April. I will NEED to shuffle regularly throughout the winter to meet that goal. I will get back into the habit of blogging, as the feedback from my friends and family keeps me motivated.
Hibernation is not an option.
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