The last article focused on bad news. This time I’m going to focus on good news — or at least, what good news I’ve been able to find. You can enjoy eggs again As mentioned in the last article, for most people eggs do not contribute to high cholesterol levels. They’re also good for you, and very nutritious. Just try and pick up the free range ones. I like omelets and quiche, and it has been good to be able to eat them again without feeling guilty.
Before I start talking about what I did do, I think it’s worth mentioning some things I didn’t do because they don’t work. I’m also going to talk about some completely untrue things that I used to believe, and a few other unpleasant truths it’s important to understand. This article is long, and probably pretty depressing. To make up for it, the next article will contain a bunch of good news.
For years now, I’ve been curious about recumbent trikes. It turns out that Austin has a recumbent store, Easy Street Recumbents, and they had a mini show today. We went along and took a look. I tried out three trikes: the Catrike Villager, the TerraTrike Path, and the Scarab 2026. The Catrike was first. Setting off I was immediately struck by how comfortable it was compared to a regular bike, probably because of the relatively upright seating.
I did one of those online religion questionnaires. I’m not going to reproduce the whole list of what it suggested for me; the interesting part is it rated Buddhism above Secular Humanism. (Specifically, Therevada Buddhism.) Intellectually, that’s spot on, but the problem I always have is observance. Somehow I seem to be unable to sustain a practice of regular meditation. And without at least that, I don’t see that I could honestly describe myself as a Buddhist.
I didn’t drive until 2004. I relied on public transit to get everywhere. This meant that I thought nothing of walking for half an hour to get where I wanted to be, and then walking back afterwards. Especially if the bus didn’t turn up. In Massachusetts, I would start to gain weight as winter set in; all my body wanted me to do was eat and stay in bed. But in spring and summer, I’d walk it all off again.
I’ve realized that I have a problem. During my formative years I was effectively trained to associate gyms and locker rooms with misery, pain and humiliation. This makes it very difficult to maintain a regular exercise regime. Oh, sure, there’s biking and walking. Unless it’s summer, when it’s too hot, or winter when it’s dark and wet and sometimes cold, or spring when I’m in allergy hell. So I find myself thinking about exercise machines.