Rest Redux

I think my knee is getting much better, in fact, today I'd say it's somewhere in the 90% range.  My side still hurts a bit, but it's getting better and my cough will likely be gone tomorrow.  Last night Mrs. Gias and I decided the best course of action today was to not exert my (almost) healed body at the risk of adding a few more days to my recovery.  So this morning I got plenty of sleep and I'm taking it easy today and I think it's helping. 

Hopefully I'll be 100% tomorrow...for my race! (It's an indoor tri with the Tri Club of Kansas City, kind of a winter tune up before the season starts...more info tomorrow...assuming I'm healed enough to compete)

Rest

It all came to a head today.  Hurt knee, hurt side, head cold, cough, lousy sleep.  I'd already worked my upper body three times this week and I just can't put pressure on my knee with any kind of cardio workout.  I figured the best thing was to take a day off and see how I am tomorrow.

It's my first day of no workouts since January 25...Maybe I should schedule more days off.

Conventional Wisdom...we have a problem

I'm sure you've heard the common axiom that the more you exercise and build lean muscle mass, the faster your metabolism and thus, the faster you burn calories.  Well, James Fell from That's Fit (Canada) begs to differ.  He basically states that this principle is simply an old wive's tale perpetuated first in the early 90's by a guy trying to sell supplements.  In actuality, he says, the more you work out, the lower your metabolism gets, truly making that "last ten pounds" especially tough to lose.

Exercise enough so that you "get in shape" and lose a bunch of fat, and your metabolic rate drops. This means you will burn fewer calories while you sleep, while you exercise, while you watch reality TV, or while you do... other stuff.


Bummer.

Think of this: You're in lousy shape and you run a mile. You sweat like crazy, your heart races, your lungs burn etc. Your metabolism is operating at a high level because it's not used to this kind of crap, and your heart and breathing rates stay elevated for a while even after you stop running.

Next scenario: Six months later you weigh less and are in much better shape and you run that same mile. You hardly sweat, your heart rate isn't that high and you aren't breathing very heavy. Also, your metabolic rate returns to normal not long after you stop. Ergo, your metabolism isn't working that hard because it has become accustomed to the exercise.

Guess which mile burned more calories?

That's the sucky part. The better shape you achieve, the harder you have to work to burn calories because your metabolism becomes more efficient at doing work; any kind of work. Even sitting at your desk you will be burning fewer calories once you are in shape.

Honey - An Old Wive's Tale Turns Out to be True!

As you know, B has recently had a terrible cough and had a terrible time trying to sleep.  So bad, that Mrs. GIAS and I had to miss a morning workout (a rare occurence for us) to deal with B.  This entailed me going to the drug store late at night to see if there is any medicine that a three year old can take (there's not) and then trying everything from a vaporizor, extra pillows and every other non-medical remedy we could think of.

Well, two nights ago, Mrs. GIAS said that she had some luck on Facebook with a few "home remedies" that we should try.  The one we used that seemed to work wonders (read: B has slept through the night the past two nights with NO coughing) was to have her take a teaspoon of honey before bed.  I was skeptical at first, but I have to tell you, now I'm a believer.  Then I found this article in the Times UK:

"Natural honey is a more effective remedy for children’s coughs than over-the-counter medicines, researchers say. A dose of buckwheat honey before bedtime easily outperformed a cough suppressant in a US study.

Honey did a better job of reducing the severity and frequency of night-time coughs. It also improved sleep quality for children and their parents."

The article didn't mention if this worked for adults as well, but I kind of hope I catch B's cough, just so I can try it.  Geeky and awesome.