Exercise

[teamsaint]

Parkrun is finally scheduled to return in late June.
And not a minute too soon for the many people for whom it is so important ,in terms of their physical and mental health.

[LHC]

That encapsulates both a specific and a general problem. Many people don't realise how easy it is to rack up the calorie intake with alcohol, not helped by the way wine glasses for instance are so much larger than 20 or 30 years ago, so that "one glass of wine" is now a significant chunk of a bottle in one go. Alcohol can also make appetites bigger. Linked with very much larger portion/plate sizes, this means that it is all too easy to take in far larger calorie loads than are required. Stomachs obligingly stretch to accommodate the larger load and so don't feel "full enough" with the right amounts, and the eye/brain relationship will likewise look at a correct size portion and perceive it as too small because it's on a modern over-sized plate. Consumption of ready meals/takeaways compounds the problem through the overlarge portion sizes of high calorie ingredients. TV programmes now demonstrate this, the most recent being Channel 5 last Wednesday(Secrets of your supermarket food) showing an overweight family how what they see as normal servings are up to 90% larger than they were 20 years ago.

Several years ago some friends of ours were given a set of wine glasses, the main selling point of which was that when full, each glass could hold a full bottle of wine. On the first occasion they used them, Mrs LHC was pouring the wine and put what appeared to her to be the usual amount of wine in each glass. Unfortunately, after pouring just three glasses, the bottle was empty!

We eventually managed to share the wine out equally between the 6 of us that were there, but each glass appeared to be almost empty, despite holding over 12 cl of wine.

[Padraig]

Delighted to report that I had my first swim in over a year. From 20 lengths 3 times a week I started with 8 lengths yesterday and immediately felt the better for it even today. Booking a day in advance is required so I'm hoping to start on Monday to restore my 3-day schedule.
I was tempted to join the outdoor swimmers who are becoming increasingly popular around here with so many beaches handy, but I chickened out. Any hardy Spartans here?

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

That encapsulates both a specific and a general problem. Many people don't realise how easy it is to rack up the calorie intake with alcohol, not helped by the way wine glasses for instance are so much larger than 20 or 30 years ago, so that "one glass of wine" is now a significant chunk of a bottle in one go. Alcohol can also make appetites bigger. Linked with very much larger portion/plate sizes, this means that it is all too easy to take in far larger calorie loads than are required. Stomachs obligingly stretch to accommodate the larger load and so don't feel "full enough" with the right amounts, and the eye/brain relationship will likewise look at a correct size portion and perceive it as too small because it's on a modern over-sized plate. Consumption of ready meals/takeaways compounds the problem through the overlarge portion sizes of high calorie ingredients. TV programmes now demonstrate this, the most recent being Channel 5 last Wednesday(Secrets of your supermarket food) showing an overweight family how what they see as normal servings are up to 90% larger than they were 20 years ago.

Re controlling levels of alcohol consumed, I’d never quite understood the reasoning behind the following. You can buy 2 packets of 16 paracetamol tablets in your supermarket shopping spree. However, you can fill your trolley (or more than one trolley) with beer cans, wine bottles, spirits, cider, etc. for which the only limit is your budget.

[Jonathan]

Good point! About 20 years ago, I spent a very enjoyable afternoon in a university library investigating the volume of the human stomach (the company I worked for was concerned about dilution of their tablets and hence reduced efficacy). The concensus was the volume varies between 100mL and 5000mL! It's no wonder people can put pints and pints of beer into their stomachs!

[Constantbee]

Parkrun is finally scheduled to return in late June.
And not a minute too soon for the many people for whom it is so important ,in terms of their physical and mental health.

Let's hope so, TS, although my reading of the decision was that it would resume only if conditions had been met to ease restrictions by 21 June.

[Constantbee]

Any hardy Spartans here?

Well, no, not really. Good for you, though Pre-Covid I was gearing up for a mini sprint triathlon: 400 swim, 10 bike ride, 2.5km run. Doubt whether I could even think about it now The local open air pool does put on an Aquathlon, though, which is just the swim and the run. The entry level distance called the Splash and Dash is 4 lengths swim, one lap run. Next level up is the Bronze which is an 8 lengths swim and 2 lap run. That might get me out of my deckchair

[teamsaint]

Let's hope so, TS, although my reading of the decision was that it would resume only if conditions had been met to ease restrictions by 21 June.

CB, they only need to meet stage 2 or something, and could ,under the guidance/ law/ restrictions/ whatever they are ,have restarted in March. It was landowner permissions that caused the holdups.
Some of the local authorities and others have not covered themselves in glory over this.......

[teamsaint]

Well, no, not really. Good for you, though Pre-Covid I was gearing up for a mini sprint triathlon: 400 swim, 10 bike ride, 2.5km run. Doubt whether I could even think about it now The local open air pool does put on an Aquathlon, though, which is just the swim and the run. The entry level distance called the Splash and Dash is 4 lengths swim, one lap run. Next level up is the Bronze which is an 8 lengths swim and 2 lap run. That might get me out of my deckchair

Not heard of sprint triathlon. Sounds fun, though no good to me, as I am a truly terrible swimmer.


And don’t own a bike......

[Serial_Apologist]

Well, no, not really. Good for you, though Pre-Covid I was gearing up for a mini sprint triathlon: 400 swim, 10 bike ride, 2.5km run. Doubt whether I could even think about it now The local open air pool does put on an Aquathlon, though, which is just the swim and the run. The entry level distance called the Splash and Dash is 4 lengths swim, one lap run. Next level up is the Bronze which is an 8 lengths swim and 2 lap run. That might get me out of my deckchair

We used to spend a couple of weeks in your area each summer, while Mum and her family were still alive, staying in Saltburn at The Queen. Irrespective of how warm the weather was - and it was, occasionally - one memory I have is of how perishingly cold the North Sea always was for bathing.

[Padraig]

Well, no, not really. Good for you, though Pre-Covid I was gearing up for a mini sprint triathlon: 400 swim, 10 bike ride, 2.5km run. Doubt whether I could even think about it now

I think, Constantbee, that your triathlon puts my 8 lengths (4 by 2 in the deep shade, but I thank you for the star - I don't get many.

I'll award you a if you go for the bronze!

[Sir Velo]

Parkrun is finally scheduled to return in late June.
And not a minute too soon for the many people for whom it is so important ,in terms of their physical and mental health.

What absolute tosh! Was there Parkrun in the 70s, 80s, 90s? If you seriously need to hide behind the cancellation of an organised event as an excuse for staying idle then there really is no hope!

[vinteuil]

.

... never done any exercise in my life (loathed school 'sports' and PE) and have out-lived my father.

I blame Thomas Arnold for all this obsession with gamesmanship and sportitude

( ... I know I could blame the ancient Greeks too)

.

[teamsaint]

What absolute tosh! Was there Parkrun in the 70s, 80s, 90s? If you seriously need to hide behind the cancellation of an organised event as an excuse for staying idle then there really is no hope!

You are talking complete bollocks.
Again.
Who is “ hiding” ?

[Serial_Apologist]

What absolute tosh! Was there Parkrun in the 70s, 80s, 90s? If you seriously need to hide behind the cancellation of an organised event as an excuse for staying idle then there really is no hope!

Sometimes it is easier to join in with some larger activity than expose oneself to possible ridicule by engaging in same activity on one's own.