Trying to regain past glory: jogging, long business trip and entailing disruptions
Forlorn hope is an overpowering desire, compelling many a men and women to go out there and just do it.
Just do it! Despite the oddities of trail and complexities of traditions, searing challenges have to be faced and overcome in an unrelenting pursuit of glory or regaining the former glory. The crown that adorns the head of the wearer, is simply too enticing, and probably worth it.
Its this flame of desire that fires the imagination to try out just that little extra or the little something new, unique and the uneasy.
Passionate fires ignited, I flashbacked on how I was able to pull that splendid feat of slashing down 25 to 30 kgs weight in a few good months. To secure those glorious heights, I planned to do the same rerun, taking a whole chapter out of my late 80s book. Yes, it was over a decade and half, yet the squeezed window of effectiveness is still overwhelmingly enticing.
A supreme prerequisite for reenacting this splendid chapter is open field, and a big one too for adequate running space, at least the size of a football field. The municipal park, bang in front of our building, just fitted the ask perfectly. So, the basic prerequisite bites the dust.
Passion was overflowing and roaring.The fire lit up in the belly. Donned the sporting gear and a light Tshirt to hit the ground running. Quite a huge park, which had sitting benches, area residents strolling and ladies gossiping. Few people were jogging as well, minding the kids playing on sidelines.
Away from this serene settings, war clouds started gathering over the entire Arabian peninsula. The Caliphate land of Iraq became a war theatre, and western powers achieved a swift victory. The war overhang momentarily paused the business atmosphere in the Gulf countries, however, things returned to the normal, as political dust settled. In the meanwhile, I continued with my endeavour, often wondering why the results are not fast enough, as from those golden days.
The first part of the year did have an impact on my business, and I wasn't getting much traction from my newer verticals. Possibly, the biggest casualty of any war induced uncertainty is on investment and savings business. People get frozen in their decision making. Mine was no exception.
However, the striving for that chiseled ( or rather whittled) frame continued. Jog after jog in the early morning hours before 8 AM became a regular itinerary. Returning to my apartment, I did some pushups and aerobics to buttress up the envisaged gains from this magic endeavour.
Simultaneously, tried some restrictive dietary attempts in the evening like gorging on watermelon slices to beat the heat and skip a full meal. Ignorance ran supreme. Reverberations from a long gone past, rendered thick on my mind space. The premise in this conceptualisation is based on a latent fallacy. You cannot stuff high on fiberless wonders throughout the day and starve yourself in the evening, hoping to squeeze your way to top health and frame, irrespective of the physical efforts you put in. And the same was boiling down in my jogging rounds.
Nothing superlative was happening, probably a kilo here or there bounced off my body, nothing substantive to write about.
The phenomenon is illustrated by deep research and evidential findings in article Why you shouldn't exercise to lose weight, explained with 60+ studies by Julia Belluz and Javier Zaraccina in Show me the evidence section of Vox.com, updated 31st October, 2017, eliciting a groundbreaking research conducted by anthropologist Herman Pontzer on hunter-gatherer Hadza tribe in Tanzania ( published in journal PLOS ONE, July 2012):
While the hunter-gatherers were physically active and lean, they actually burned the same amount of calories every day as the average American or European, even after the researchers controlled for body size.
"The Hadza are burning the same energy, but they're not as obese [as Westerners]," Pontzer said. "They don't overeat, so they don't become obese."
Coach Jeff in runnersconnect.net article:
Why you might not lose weight by running, 2013 March, vociferously points towards the high carbohydrate fast food like big mac burger or coffee latte or the hidden calorific high energy drinks and gels, consumed immediately post an intense running session, neutralises any calorie burned as a result.
Coming to effectiveness of jogging, Garrett and Luc in a blog on The Platform: Why jogging maybe a waste of your time, 12th November, 2015 draws on specific counters to logically conclude about jogging or long drawn running:
We cause adaptations when we can tap into the “fight or flight” response of our body. We can do this effectively in high intensity exercises, but unfortunately many runners sink into a comfortable pace that they get used to, and this beneficial adaptation never comes.
Flight or fight never came to benefit me either, but I had to think about feeding my family, paying the recurring bills, clearing off the rentals etc. Business slackened, however, newer verticals have to be ploughed, creating more business. The biggest impediment in pushing new frontiers, became the present workplace.I decided to move on.
Needed a trigger to pull off the change, which came in the current organisation's annual function. The management flecitated me with an empty envelope, supposed to contain a cheque for maintaining the highest persistency level on the policies submitted. I subsequently, wrote a protest letter to the new head of the organisation, anticipating the obvious consequences.
Simultaneously, I made my arrangements for the next move. I got invited by a senior insurance professional from Kuwait who ran a brokerage firm in his country.The penultimate day, my passport was handed over at the airport, and I flighted to Kuwait city in Kuwait Airways.
A new land, which came in the eye of storms in both Iraq wars of 1991 and 2003, awaited me.The arrangement was immaculate. I was boarded in a downtown hotel though further from the workplace ( the insurance brokerage office) and airport, it had all amenities in proximity.
A car rental also arranged for the necessary mobility, as the workstation being on the outer edge of the city, a 50 kms distance had to be traversed either way by road through the sprawling mega city, being four fold size to Dubai.
All things nicely tucked in, I still was lost like a ball in high weeds on the food arrangement. Not wanting to overload on my host's generosity, I decided to dine out three times a day, fending the bill from my own pocket.
Exploring the area, I found an eatery that served breakfast too, and lo behold! What a sumptuous breakfast. A rich spread of two to three eggs, fried sunny side up in a thick layer of cooking oil, garnished by dollops of Ghee (clarified butter) and sprinkled over by ample pepper, salt and chili powdering, served with a huge Naan to boot. The dream breakfast can make anyone so full that the poor fellow may plop off to a surreal siesta, even before starting the work day!
Kuwait city, never known for its nightlife or being an exciting place to hangout after working hours, I spent my evenings quitely in my hotel room or strolled out to nearby parks after my meal.
I used this experience to learn more about the business environment prevailing in Kuwait, and the scope of bringing savings plan vertical to my host's firm. I began to prepare a draft project report in this context. Daily, I commuted the long haul in the rented car, and compiled pages of this virtuous report in the brokerage office. However, the lunch availability was rudimentary Arabic fare of Shawarma or sandwich with salad, hummus and chickpeas pickled in a vinegar base.
I used this station to complete my visa change and employment ban removal for return back to Dubai in a new workplace. Gradually, I discovered that my food bill was completely paid in the hotel, and so the laundry bill too. Still, I had the satisfaction of not overextending my host's welcome measure.
Yet, I couldn't help, but wanted to at least savour what the hotel offered, and so the good food started rolling.
Sheesh kebabs, mix grill and those wonderous goodies kept pouring in, unmindful of the affect this would have on my onerous weight reducing programme, which however, got shelved to the back row momentarily.
For the time being, let me enjoy this heavenly bliss for free.
However, the cost of it ran too heavily that I wasn't abhorrent to its raking up toll. I became certain that weighing scale would tilt towards 120 kgs if not more in this state of ignorant bliss.
This situation exactly corresponds to research work on frequent business travel (over 21 nights in a month) to light business travel (1 to 6 nights in a month), the chances of obesity is over 90% for the former in comparison with the later.
I returned to Dubai, mission accomplished and carrying a pretty cash packet in the world's highest denominated currency i.e. the Kuwaiti Dinar, remuneration of the report compiled for my Kuwaiti host. It turned out to be my first earnings in a currency beyond US dollars, UAE Dirhams or Indian rupees.
Going back for a day or so in my sweeter half's arms and hugging my bundle of joy, was exhilarating to the core. They flew to the home shores, until I get all our new resident visas in order to start afresh in the next workplace.
I still had the viatical and life settlement direct agency, and I closed a large investment through a client's reference, which equalised my earnings to a respectable monthly figure average, although falling 40% short of my 2002 earnings benchmark.
What would the following year entail in the next workplace? More essentially, where will I be in this milieu of shifting workplaces and the burgeoning weight overhang ( 120 kgs and counting)? Piling on weight in the unflinching pursuit of foodie pleasure, becomes a recipe for an unmitigated health disaster. Flip over for more in this absorbing battle of weight perseverance and food.
If you have enjoyed my continued battles in the unfolding articles then please support me on:
https://ko-fi.com/shariqthedolphin
Referencing:
https://www.vox.com/2016/4/28/11518804/weight-loss-exercise-myth-burn-calories
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0040503
https://runnersconnect.net/not-losing-weight-running/
https://www.theplatformfitness.com/blog/2015/11/12/why-jogging-may-be-a-waste-of-your-time
https://journals.lww.com/joem/Abstract/2011/04000/Business_Travel_and_Self_rated_Health,_Obesity,.4.aspx
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140630132828-247570422-5-things-i-do-on-business-travel-that-make-me-fat
Comments
Post a Comment