Wakeup Call - Exercise and Diet Together

I had my annual physical recently and it was a wakeup call regarding some of my new routines. Even though I have been working out more than ever, my relaxed eating and drinking habits since retiring have been counterproductive.

Since retiring I’ve put in 25% more miles on my bike than my previous best year (just topped 1550) and am more consistently keeping to my other workouts. The timing has changed though, as I am working out later in the morning thanks to being able to sleep later. That timing change is good and bad. Not being rushed to workout before getting ready for work means more relaxed workouts and longer bike rides. The other side of that though is that meal and snack times have shifted to later in the day.

While working I was on a consistent meal and snack routine. A banana before working out, cereal for breakfast, green tea at work, a granola bar mid-morning snack rounded out my morning. Lunch over the last couple of years was a vegetarian mix at least three days a week – thanks to finding riced cauliflower (and later riced mixed vegetables) I was able to eliminate the carbohydrate part of those lunches. An apple was my late afternoon snack near the end of the work day. Changing from sandwiches every day helped me get my key biometric numbers down, including losing a little weight.

Eating habits have become more relaxed since retiring. I still have a banana before my workouts, but frequently eat a more full breakfast later in the morning instead of that quick bowl of cereal. Lunch is later than before and I slipped back into the sandwich habit several days a week. My afternoon snack is sometimes and apple (often with peanut butter) but more often a granola bar. Not major changes, but enough to counter the good of the extra exercise – as shown by my numbers from my recent physical. Besides having gained a few pounds, the numbers associated with eating more processed foods went in the wrong direction.

I have to admit I was surprised by the negative shift in the numbers, and I certainly had expected to lose a bit of weight with the increased exercise. Needless to say, my doctor was not happy with me. But he is a realist, and not prone to pushing medications so he gently but firmly told me that I need to adjust my diet and keep up with the cardio exercise.

My cautionary note to you is that it’s OK to relax for a while after you retire, but don’t take the small changes for granted. As we age, it gets harder and harder to lose weight and stay in shape. I’m going to plead Covid-19 as my excuse for not re-adjusting my diet sooner, but my wakeup call came with my blood test results. I will be watching what and when I eat more carefully with the goal of improving those numbers and shedding some weight. And those things will make retirement more fun and more productive.