Daily Musings...

Topic: Body Cleanses
Definition courtesy of Wikipedia: "Body cleansing or detoxification is a treatment in alternative medicine which proponents claim rid the body of accumulated harmful substances that exert a negative effect on individual health. Critics argue that such cleansings are often unnecessary, and are based on questionable or disproved scientific claims."

My thoughts: Basically, people who want a cleanse are hoping to rid themselves of toxics in their system. Fair enough. But the means they go through with it are quite bizarre and not healthy in my humble opinion. Doing a week-long, tabasco/cinnamon/water cleanse is not my ideal way to rid my body of toxics(and yes, I know someone who did this). I asked her how she felt..."I was a little weak the first few days but afterwards I felt good." Okay so hunger pains set in, then your body went into conservation/survival mode. Not what I deem as healthy.

My suggestion and this goes to all of you out their struggling with dieting as well. Diets are worthless in the long term. The best way to lose weight and keep it off is to increase muscle and aerobic capacity. But the ultimate key is the idea: "Calories in are less than Calories Out." So if you eat less calories than you burn, you will lose weight. I think everyone struggles with weight at some point in their life. I think about it. Now, you think ohh you can eat all you want. Ohh contraire, being a top-competition rider requires one to manage weight properly. In cycling we have this magic number. Its called Power-to-Weight. Its the power in watts that you can create per kilo of weight. Its not as significant on the flats but as soon as the road goes up, its huge. Without the benefit of draft, you are at the mercy of fundamental physics, gravity. The key for cyclists and for others is to find their lowest weight w/o sacraficing power. Its difficult and takes lots of time to figure out. I had dinner with Shawn and Karl last night. We were looking over my old training files. In April 2005, at that time I was 77kg. Last night I weighed in at 73kg. My power has increased by over 100 watts. Its not a world-class p-t-w but I know i have a lot more considering the power numbers were much higher last may. For cyclists, you can either increase power or decrease weight. Both have limits so its better to find a combo.

Okay now back to cleansing. Its stupid. The vast majority of those who enter cleanses go right back to their old habits days or weeks afterways. Sure you get that "ohh I feel so healthy and proud of myself" feeling but its all temporary. What one needs to do is make a life change. I started giving up stuff with lots of sugar in it. I think its definitely helped shed pounds and I also focus now on eating plenty of high-fiber and greens along with fresh fruit. Is it easy? Hell no! I like to think of my daily food intake as equally important as a hard training ride. I wouldn't botch a ride so why should I botch food? But I do sometimes slip. I'm a foodie so its my cross to bear I guess. But its okay to occassionally slip. Otherwise you would lead to deprivation then to overconsumption. So the key is moderation. Now when I was in Europe I wrote a lot about the food. Everyone thinks Americans are overweight. They are compared to the rest of Europe. But its not what we eat, its how we eat and how much of it. In France, portions are small, but caloric/fat density is super high. They also walk more and don't eat as much on the go. So you want to maintain the foodie lifestyle? Cut back on the serving size and walk to the store rather than drive.

Ohh and get on your bicycle, its faster and more healthy =)

Chow,
Matthew