Winter blues

So, the past few months, I hadn't been really working out as hard as possible. I've been in the middle of the winter blues and the offseason of racing. I especially have issues when it comes to winter. Depression hits every year, the lack of sun really hits me hard. I eat more than I should (I'm a comfort food eater), I tend to gain weight and generally just walk around miserable. Not fun for me and not fun for my family either. Cabin fever doesn't help either.

I have had an issue with depression for the past 7 years or so. From what I've read on CTE's, there's a good chance that that's what I have going on in my brain from years of professional wrestling. For those of you unfamiliar with CTE's, CTE stands for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and it's a progressive degenerative disease in the brain. Stems from repeated head trauma and concussions and is seen a lot in boxers and pro football players. Symptoms include loss of memory, dementia, depression etc. Depression and memory loss... I definitely have those two locked up.

I have found solid exercise is one of the few things that can help me snap out of my funks. Having a race goal to look forward to helps me increase my training and keeps me focused on working out and keeps my mood up

Now, spring is around the corner. Daylight savings time is a couple weeks away and the first race is two weeks from tomorrow. So, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. That said, I jumped up my training big time recently.

I went from running 3 times a week and swimming twice a week to now doing 3-4 runs, 4 swims and 3 bikes. Add to that some intense strength and conditioning training 2-3 times a week and I can tell you there is a difference. This week alone, I shed about 8 pounds from just the increase of work. My mood is much improved, my confidence is better and I'm eating better. I found a new level of running speed this week and swimming is getting a bit easier. My energy levels feel better, I'm not snapping at everyone and I'm able to kind of roll with things better.

In conclusion, I have found that my training and workouts are my best defense against my depression. I'm looking better, feeling better, and just doing better in general. Go outside, get some work done and enjoy life... It's better than feeling bad sitting indoors...

Obesity and American Eating Habits

Today, I'm including an article from Bodybuilding.com on obesity.
Obesity in America!

Along with this article, I'm including my own viewpoint. I got an opportunity to wrestle over in Portugal back in 2007. Some things that I noticed.
1) It's almost impossible to find meat for breakfast over there. Lot of pastries. For someone that eats 6 times a day and has a high protein diet, this was an issue for me, but I was able to find something eventually.
2) Portion sizes are WAY smaller over there. A large coke at McDonald's is still 20 oz (Remember the 1980's in America?). You just can't find the huge pigout meals that are commonplace in America. A Large fry was equivalent to a Medium fry here.
3) Condiments are a rarity as well. No dunking your fries in 10 lbs of catsup.
3) People didn't seem to be as sedentary and many people were out walking, biking, etc. Part of this is due to the price of cars over there as a Renault Cleo (Essentially the size of a Mazda 3) was somewhere around $38K. No big vehicles either.
4) All this said, supplements were massively expensive. A jug of protein that would be maybe 30 bucks here was around 75 over there.

So, I didn't see more than just a few overweight people across the pond. At the same time, you don't see the few really ripped and muscular women and men that you can see in the states. There was more of an average size. In fact, I was one of the larger people in Portugal in regards to muscle size.

The main thing to take from this article is portion control, portion control, portion control. Eating small meals and taking your time with them will keep you from overeating. I know everyone is busy, but instead of scarfing a Big Mac, maybe look at just a 6 inch subway sandwich on wheat and hold that mayo!