Knowing When To Cut Your Losses

Photo credit: y Jeff Kubina

When I first saw the title of this guest post by Greg at Live Fit Blog, I anticipated a pep talk on how to get back on track with healthy eating after scarfing too many cupcakes or cheeseburgers or something. Turns out, he had a different a whole different "point" to make! (And note: Cranky Fitness is aware that the term "sword swallowing" may have other connotations, but let's take the high road here, shall we?)


Do you ever find yourself justifying your actions? You started off with good intentions, but somewhere along the way, things took a left turn. Maybe something good comes out of it, but before you know it, you're justifying your actions. Perhaps you would have been better off to cut your losses and walk away.

Sword Swallowing
Many people have made sacrifices to improve our understanding of medical science. A review of Wikipedia's History of Medicine covers the advancement of medicine in many areas of the world. There you can find mention of figures such as Hippocrates, Galen, and Avicenna. These people, and others, have suffered for their passion.


Then, there are the sword swallowers...

Believe it or not, there is a Sword Swallowers Association. The website describes their purpose as being dedicated to the networking of sword swallowers around the world, both professional and amateur. In a recent press release, the president of their organization declared February 28th International Sword Swallowers Awareness Day. Both there, and at their public site, they extol the virtues of their art, discussing among other things, the great contributions of sword swallowers to our understanding of medical science.

This, my friends, is what we call justifying. According to their site, sword swallowing originated in India around 4000 years ago. Among other things, they credit the first endoscopic exam as the result of a chance encounter between a German surgeon and a sword swallower. Perhaps that's true. Today however, there are only a few dozen remaining practitioners. Big shock there, right? If you go to their site, one of the most prominent things you will see is a big disclaimer. I wonder why? For that matter, I would be interested in hearing what differentiates an amateur sword swallower from a professional. smile_sarcastic Seriously! I always thought the whole sword swallowing thing was a hoax!

By their own admission, there are between 4 and 6 reported serious injuries that result from this practice each year, with many more unreported. When there are only a few dozen practitioners, that's not very good odds. Assuming that an injury doesn't result in death, they further state that treatment for such an injury costs between $23,000 and $76,000. I can't fathom what would make someone take up this trade. Talk about suffering for you art.

Have you ever found yourself wondering how you ended up where you are in life? I think (or hope) most of us would look at this story and wonder why the heck someone would decide to stick a sword down their gullet. Then again, most of the time I can't figure out my own motivations, much less understand the motivations of others. But sometimes, just maybe, its worth stepping back and taking a long, hard look at your choices. Bounce them off someone you know and trust. Then, decide if its time to cut your losses.

Detour!

Whoops!



Note to new visitors: this is normally a health and fitness blog. But Crabby McSlacker is on a cross-country trip and is posting pictures from the road instead. Because… well, just because.


Let’s take some random pictures and try to create a fitness analogy, shall we?

So has this ever happened to you? You have a perfectly good plan, like say, to go to an aerobics class. But then the class is canceled so you have to try something else. Like a spinning class or a whole new piece of gym equipment. And then the new thing turns out to be great! And you never would have known about it had your original plan not gone awry.

And so, um, the lesson is to take advantage of when things go wrong and keep and open mind or something like that?

Yeah, that's it!

Anyway, the picture above is the sign that greeted us at the end of a long day of driving. We’d stayed at that campground before: it was nearly empty, quiet, a night sky filled with beautiful stars, a nice trail for running or hiking in the morning...

Bu who knew? Apparently camping destinations in temperate climates are popular when it's cold in the rest of the country. So our route changed and we ended up taking a detour through Bisbee, Arizona!

The Lobster says hi from Bisbee!

It’s a cute little mining town that sits next to a very big hole in the ground.

There used to be stuff in here, but they took it out.

The town has been nicely preserved, and made tourist-friendly without totally ruining the flavor of the place.

This is shortly before Crabby got a free sample of espresso.
She was smiling a LOT more after that.

In Bisbee, they’ve got old Western stuff all over the place.




Yet the town also has a funky counter-culture vibe. Lots of bikers and hippies and eccentric-looking old guys who looked straight off the set of Deadwood. (No pictures of the scraggly old cowboy dudes, sorry.)

Plus, Bisbee has way cooler graffiti than most places!



So, um, remember next time your gym class is canceled... that you could end up in a cute little mining town in Arizona! Oops… dang-- analogy FAIL.

Anyone else ever end up doing or seeing something better when your original plans went awry?

In the end, comfort rules

Alien life form or bicycle seat? You decide.

If you've ever tried riding a bike as an adult, after years of neglect or as a newbie, you'll quickly notice a fundamental problem in your fundament. In other words, bicycle seats can cause a lot of problems in the end.

Yes, I will stop with the end jokes. Eventually. Well, probably.

As one writer put it, "A seat is a bit like a pair of shoes. The same way you’d buy a certain sneaker for a particular foot and sport, you must purchase a saddle that fits your body and your style of riding."

You can get used to a seat after awhile, but if after a few weeks the agony hasn't abated, it's time to shop.


Some steps to take when you've got Numb Bum (or one you really wish was numb) are:

1 - If you've just bought a new bike, take it back and see if they'll swap the seat for one that fits better.
2 - If you've inherited a bike, first of all make sure it's the right size for you.
3 - If the bike fits apart from the seat, try out new seats. Buy them if you have to. It'll pay in the end. (Told you I wasn't done yet.)
4 - Before trying a new seat, ask yourself one question: am I a man or a woman? (If you have difficulty with this question, then you need to be reading a vastly more serious and responsible self-help blog, and quickly. For transgender situations, go with whether you have an XX or XY chromosomal pair.)


Bad things can happen if the seat doesn't fit right. One researcher claims, "bicycles should come with a warning label, similar to those on cigarette packs, that cycling may cause impotence."

On the positive side, there are lots of different types of seats out there. You can probably find one that will suit your seat. Plus, you won't have to worry about warning labels. (Unless you smoke, but that's the subject for another post.)

Doughnut seat
Well, that's my name for it. This is a type of seat that tries to take the pressure off the tender areas by cutting a hole in the middle of the seat.

My opinion is that this kind of seat is better than a filled-in seat, but if the sitz bones don't align with the seat, you're still going to get painful pressure. Men who lean forward while riding on a seat like this are still going to become numb, just not in the bum.

Jello seat

Again, not what the people who want to sell you one call it. These seats are filled with gel stuff makes the seat softer. You can still get pressure on the tender spots though, if the sitz bones aren't lined up with the sitting part of the seat. The one pictured above does have a cut-out middle section, so I suppose you could call this a jelly doughnut.

Other gel seats just slap gel on top of the original seat. Not sure if I would recommend these. (Though of course some people love them. this is just my take on it.)

Nose-less seat
These seats Just Look Odd to me. Not to disparage them, but I've been conditioned to expect bicycle seats to have a nose.

Supposedly, these seats make it a little more difficult to steer the bicycle. I should imagine that's a matter of becoming accustomed to a slightly different way of riding. So long as the seat is aligned with the sitz bones, there's no worry at all about sensitive areas going numb.

My bike seat has no nose!
Really? Then how does it ... okay, so it sounded funnier when Monty Python did it.

A variation on the noseless seat

The illustrious Dr. Mirkin seems rather taken with The Seat. (Yeah, they put a lot of thought into that name). It's a cross between a pointless seat and a gel seat -- it may not have a nose, but it does have plenty of stuff to cushion the ride.

Some bicycle seats look really, really odd to me -- like the Manta. It might well be comfortable, but it looks like it belongs in a modern art museum.

Other seats are realllllllly stretched out.


Traditionally, bike seats have been modeled after racing bike seats, i.e. long and narrow. Some people believe that a wider seat is more comfortable. The Real seat is extra wide. I thought that this was for people with extra-wide seats of their own, but it has a weight limit of 275.

To me, it doesn't make a difference how wide the seat is -- what matters is how well supported your own personal sitz bones are on a seat.


Another seat -- the bummer* -- you can make on your own. (See? I'm not the only one with a bottom-less fund of bad wordplay)

I'm not sure whom you would sue when it falls on while you're riding it. (At least, it would fall off if I tried to make one.)


If you want to read more information about different types of seats to try, you might want to check out these links below:

Reviews about Bike seats and saddles

The irrefutable Sheldon Brown's take on a comfortable bicycle saddle.

BikeHacks.com's article To banana or not: bicycle seat issues.

Bicycle seats explained (If you're interested in different types of seats, this link has a chart that goes into way more detail about the infinite variety of seats.)

I devoted a whole post to this subject because, frankly, this is a tender issue to me, as the result of tender tissue that really complains if the seat ain't sweet. And bike riding is tremendous fun and a great way to get around while keeping fit, so I want to keep doing it as much as I can. Yes, I'm biased.

Has anyone else experimented with different kind of bicycle seats? Do you have any hard-won words of wisdom to share? Or is this a ... sore subject?

Okay, now I'm done. Enough with the pun. For today.

Alien bike seat courtesy of Kris Cohen.

Drill Sergeant vs. Lazy Girl

Photo credit:Joseph Hoetzl

This guest post is by Jill, who blogs over at The Sassy Pear. She blogs about the process of losing weight and getting active - and also whatever she thinks is funny! She describes herself as a "thirtysomething wife and mom who is trying to overcome generations of putting butter and bacon grease on everything, while also trying to become active and healthy. (My people were built for comfort, not 5k races)." Thanks, Jill!

Some days, I feel like I have two distinct personalities living inside my head (my husband would say there are more than that, but that’s a post for another blog) and depending on the time of day, month, or year these two opposing forces can really battle it out. The first personality is the Drill Sergeant – she’s focused, she’s in control, and she doesn’t let anything get in the way of a workout. She gets high off of endorphins and she can totally rock the elliptical trainer. I like Drill Sergeant; I can count on her to get things done and to make me feel like a million bucks.

Then there’s Lazy Girl who, although she appears to love nothing more than to melt into the couch and stare off into oblivion, actually works really hard to derail the Drill Sergeant’s good intentions. When the Drill Sergeant is thinking about how awesome her run will be after work, Lazy Girl will, upon arriving home, sit on the couch and remain there until Oprah is over and the time allotted for the run has come and gone. She’s a sneaky one!


Sometimes the two will have an actual argument that sounds something like this:

DS: Okay! Time to workout!! Shall we do Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred or shall we do 45 minutes on the elliptical tonight??

LG: Yeah either one is great, but first let’s watch American Idol, okay?

DS: No! You know as well as I do that if we don’t get it done now, the workout won’t happen, so let’s go!!

LG: Um, okay but don’t you think we should maybe get a snack first? I saw some Oreos in the pantry…

DS: NO! No Oreos – are you crazy? Just get up and let’s get this workout done, then you can watch all the American Idol you want - that’s why God gave us DVRs.

LG: Sure, I’ll be right there…man this couch is extra comfy tonight. I could go for a nap…

DS: Get up!!! Get up NOW!!! Just think how much better you’ll feel when you have accomplished an excruciatingly difficult workout! You’ll feel like a champ!!

LG: Maybe we could just get up extra early in the morning and work out then…

DS: (hysterical laughter) Oh my gosh, I just peed a little! That’s a good one LG! *wipes tears from eyes*

LG: Okay, fine! *throws down remote* I’ll do the blasted workout, but I won’t enjoy it!

DS: That’s okay. I’ll enjoy it enough for the both of us. Now move it Girlie!!

Disturbing, isn’t it? Most days the Drill Sergeant wins, but some days Lazy Girl just keeps whining until DS regretfully gives in and they both feel awful afterward. As long as DS wins most of the battles, I’ll be in good shape, but that LG can be persuasive, especially when she’s got TOM and Bitchy egging her on and tempting her with chocolate. But like I said, that’s a post for another blog entirely.

Gym Bunny? Or Not?

This Guest Post was written by Cari Corbet-Owen: Clinical psychologist and author of 'The Mind over Fatter Programme' and 'The Joy-Filled Body: Eat! Play! Love and Live!' Catch her over at her website, Ditch Diets, Live Light!


I'm trying to think of the most sensible thing I've done.... and you know what, I had to conclude it was resigning from the gym - and feeling relieved about it. WHAT? I can just hear the .... and she thinks that's sensible??? Hold on, hold on, I can explain.

One upon a size xxxxl (that followed the period when I had been not so sensibly anorexic and thin enough that you could have faxed me) I signed up zealously at the gym. Yip - I was going to exercise this fat bod into submission, even if I got exercise bulimia, (which I thought from experience was a vastly more sensible option than anorexia, I mean I could eat loads doing the weight loss thing this way) um... even if it killed me. It nearly did.

Now, look to my credit, I had gone out and invested in leggings and a headband that matched my leotard, you see if there was one thing I knew for sure it was that I wasn't going to be fat AND unfashionable! I my fantasy life I just knew I was going to be one of those 'cool-as a cucumber, hardly-raising-a-sweat-types' who arrived in pristine makeup and left looking the same way.

So I try to make myself as invisible as possible. But Houston we have a problem. My breasts alone are about the size of the Grand Tetons and if I unleashed them two black eyes would be my lot. I'm only about double the size (even if it was only in my mind) of every other thinderella there. How come they all seem to have that cucumber coolness while I'm more um.... well let's just politely label it 'beet puce'. and I'm breathing as if in labour.

Everyone else's makeup seems run-proof. Mine - ( I don't usually wear any but I made an exception for gym - I mean that's sensible isn't it?) well it's sweated itself everywhere and to cap it all, I've got about as much rhythm as a broken windmill. When everyone else's leg is up - mine's the only one still down. The instructor tries smiling at me and I want to slap her. Why does she have to notice me. She (that's me) shuffles, look down....I mean, I'm a psychologist, that's a rational reaction isn't it???? Please say 'yes'.

And if you've ever believed in this 'no pain, no gain' principle you'll know that you get two stages to stiffness; the first day you're worried you're not going to live and by the second day you're more concerned that you are going to! I went through both these. So, you've got to admit that the only sensible thing to do to avoid future near death experiences of this kind was to turn in my resignation. By that I mean, I buried that gym card in my bottom drawer and never went back.

But it did teach me something of value (I finally locate my sensible cap)- being a gym bunny isn't for everyone. Some people like structured classes. Not me. I'm someone who likes to hop on my bike, throw on my shoes when the fancy takes me and head off on a hike, or dance when no-one is looking. (it has to be when no-one is looking - remember I told you about that rhythm thing)

I'm not someone who does well starting off doing too much too soon. I suppose I have to admit that my masochistic tendencies just aren't developed strongly enough. And if yours are, and your body doesn't take exception, that's cool by me. I discovered my body really does much better with regular exercise that I can increase over time. It really likes getting stronger and fitter slowly, it finds that sustainable and enjoyable.

I hate anything that means I have to dress fashionably (what was I thinking?...in truth I could easily win the award for the worst dressed woman around) - and heck when I'm out enjoying the breeze (I prefer the outdoors too) and the delight of being active, I don't want to have to compare myself with a cucumber cool flawless barbie. I used to aspire to being one, but I've handed in my notice on that idea. Getting older is fabulous - as my eyesight declines, I'm finding it vastly easier to fall in like with myself.

I'm also someone who hates having to get into my car to drive somewhere to exercise - it just robs my day of time. I don't do well on an exercise program that I have to tie my life in knots to fit in. I want being active to just be a natural part of my day. So, I'd rather have a workout walking up the steep hill to the shops with my backpack on. I'm killing a couple birds with one stone.... fitting in my shopping, fitting in some sunshine, smiling at a few people on the way, doing my affirmations, taking a break from work AND striding out. An hour later I'm back at my computer feeling refreshed and invigorated. I somehow never felt that way at the gym.

Yip, I guess, there are many ways of staying fit and healthy and the best way to do it, at least for me, has been to find out what I enjoy and what I know I can keep on doing without it being a bore and a chore and something I dread.