Thursday 24 July 2014

Holiday blues

I can only apologize for my lack of posts recently. I have been working my butt off for some exams I had to sit and then I went on holiday - pause while the jealousy kicks in - so I have had a lot of other things to focus on. But now i'm back and you have my full attention.

Anyway back to the post... 

I have the holiday blues but not the typical type. I have the holiday blues of a food and fitness fanatic. I have had the most relaxing 10 days baking the heat of Cypriot sun. But unlike the more sane part of the population – relaxing for me includes incorporating exercise.
Without it I become jittery, anxious and convinced I’m becoming fat. Running also helps keep my head clear and my mind calm. So the 39 degree temperatures did not stop me from running. I promised myself I would go for morning runs before it got too hot. Not every day, I was on holiday after all. I am naturally an early riser so 8am runs came easily the first few days. But, as everyone knows, the sun and the heat can tire you out and make you lethargic. 
It was even baking in the evenings

The fourth day in I woke up at 8.45am at which point the heat was already searing. It was no time for a run. That was fine, as I said I wouldn’t do it every day. The next day was fine, I got up and ran but each day was hotter than the last and it got to a point where I thought I would be sick while running. Never the less, I soldiered on because the route I was doing was only a 15/20 minute run. Short and sweet but enough for a holiday.
But then I woke up late two days in a row and it started to spiral. Now I really started to feel agitated. Normally I would do between 45minutes to one hour exercise, six days a week. So the lack of activity combined with what I like to call the holiday affect – You eat stupid amounts of unhealthy food but are made to believe it is ok because “you’re on holiday”, - spelled trouble. I don’t have enough fingers to count how many people have said that. I am an emotional eater anyway, so if I eat badly I feel like a failure and convince myself I may as well indulge on everything in sight and I can start again tomorrow. This coupled with “you’re on holiday” gave my greedy side license to gorge. So between the guilt and the gluttony and the short, sparse runs, I have come home with the holiday blues. I feel like there is a lot of hard work ahead of me to combat the crux that comes with holidays.