I joined Fitstuff running group for their weekly run last night.
Free run, good folks, interesting session, and a free tee as a bonus. Yep, I enjoyed it :)
Went for a run, came back alive!
Month: January 2018
Morning note…
I came across this image yesterday, and found it interesting and insightful.
We often focus on how big earth is, how far Mars is, how many times bigger than earth Jupiter is.
This image for me shows the real big thing…. how far everything even within the solar system is. What makes it really strike is when I see the inner 4 planets clustered around right next to the sun, and then compare the spaces between the outer 5 planets1.2
Morning notes…
Starting with the sad.
Pal passed away last night :'(
Smiley was old, and had done a long and loving stint making the world happy. Pal was just getting started. He was young, handsome, joyous, huge, and lovely. I’m sad. Can’t even fathom how Joanne and her family are coping.
I’m missing Pal :(
So, Chewie is getting extra hugs, treats and kisses today.
Caught in the middle again…
“Life is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to those who feel.”
— Jean Racine
Last week on Garmin
A cold heart
It’s nearly noon.
The temperature outside feels like -1°C.
Heating isn’t working.
Boy is restless.
I’m cold and miserable.
I want to run away. The -1°C outside seems better than a cold home.
Swimming, the anti-depressant
Natural water has always held the magical power to cure. Somehow or other, it transmits its own self-regenerating powers to swimmers. I can dive in with a long face and what feels like a terminal case of depression, and come out a whistling idiot.
-Roger Deakin, in “Swimming”
Start of the year digital slate wipe
Un-followed about 200 people across my two Twitter accounts.
I’m sorry if you didn’t make the list, but this cull may not be permanent.
Archived all unread/unactioned emails from 2017 (and before).
Moved all but 3 unread articles from my Instapaper home folder to an archive folder.
How did your year start?
Fitness & diet advice from non-specialist doctors
I routinely tell most people to take fitness/diet advice from non-specialist doctors with a large dose of circumspection. This quote puts one of my reasons perfectly:
Surprisingly, medical doctors are often seen as poor sources of dietary advice because medical schools are slow to adapt to and teach new developments in nutrition.
Source: If you want to lose weight, don’t look to Instagram for inspiration—use Reddit instead
The other reason is that most doctors don’t stay up-to-date on developments in medicine (including those impacting fitness/diet) outside of their areas of specialisation.
So a generic doctor’s understanding of principles of fitness/diet may be way outdated – probably dating to when the syllabus was set for their time in med school.
It’s hard to ignore the doctor’s advice,
even if we strongly doubt it’s reasoning,
even if it’s on an area that’s not the doctor’s specialisation,
even if the doctor themself insists that they’re not up-to-date on the domain.
Better, do your research, go to a specialist for advice, and challenge their advice (even if to understand the reasoning) if it doesn’t match your research.