Ever wonder what happened to a 24-hour day? Especially if you’re over 50, you will recall those days of leisure when you actually had time to relax in the evening. That was before we knew we had to do so much just to continue to live so that we could continue to keep our schedule so that we could live (etc., ad naseum) . . . .
Never eat within three hours of bedtime.
Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night.
Eat five or six small meals a day as opposed to three large ones.
Exercise at least 1 hour a day, five days a week . . .
o . . . but never within three hours of bedtime.
Don’t workout right after eating.
Eat fresh foods, not processed.
Avoid fat and the three evil whites (sugar, salt, and refined flour).
We have so much information now about how to best live our lives; how to live longer, better, if only we can keep to the recommendations. Not wishing to become prescription dependent, I try to do my best to follow popular recommendations. My doctor, in fact, during my recent annual physical pointed out the benefits to me of the Curves diet when I wailed about my post-menopausal weight gain and the impossibility of losing it. That diet prescribes six light meals a day (some cooking and preparation involved).
Okay. Now let’s do the math. There are 24 hours in a day, take away 8 hours for sleep. That leaves 16 hours. Assume that we all work and in order to accommodate an 8-hour work shift will require being there 9 hours. Factor in travel time and you are gone from your home a good 10-11 hours a day, depending on traffic. Let’s go worse case scenario and deduct 11 hours for working. That way, if you have to stop at the cleaners or the store, you’re covered. Alright, 16 hours minus 11 equals 5 hours left. Take an hour off of that for showers, hair and make up, shaving and we’re down to 4 hours left in our perfect day.
We still have to workout. So taking 1 hour to work out, plus say, 15 minutes or so to dress down, get to the gym, find your bicycle, whatever, and we are now down to < 3 hours in our day and we still have to eat!!
Now THERE’S a challenge for you! I now have < 3 hours, split that in half morning and evening, and there is 1 ½ hours each to slice, dice, chop, peel, and steam those fresh veggies and eat, but remember, not within three hours of bedtime. Right. That’ll happen.
Let’s look at an average day – my average day, and mind you, I am now an empty-nester. God help those of you with children - -
5:30 a.m. – rise, shower, do face, hair, feed the cat, feed the dogs, fold a load of clothes, make bed, fix lunch, eat breakfast, gather dirty dishes from night before and deposit in sink for hubby to do later, make sure cat is in the house, and leave by 7:00 in order to be at work by 8:00. (Pant, pant, pant! That chick on TV has nothing on me!) Forget working out! There’s no time here.
8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. – on the job – no time for self. Work out at lunch? I don’t think so! Fifteen minutes to get to the gym and dress down; 1 hour to work out, 15 minutes to quickly shower and re-dress; 45 minutes to put face and hair back together. Two hour 15 minute lunch – I’m fired! It ain’t happening! And I still haven’t had lunch! I need nourishment. Remember the five or six meals a day thing?
Home at 5:45 or 6:00, depending on traffic. Dress down, ride bike, walk or treadmill for 1 hour (must do now – can’t eat then exercise, you know); play with the dogs, feed the horse, clean stalls, feed the dogs, fill up the bird feeders, clean the kitty litter, start another batch of laundry, then change into sweats for the evening. Damn! The cat just pewked on the carpet! Time is now 8:30 p.m. and I haven’t eaten yet.
YIKES!! In order to get my eight hours’ sleep, I need to be in bed in 30 minutes in order to wind down, lights out at 9:30. When do I eat my evening meal? I can’t now. It’s too close to bedtime. Better skip it. But what about tomorrow’s lunch and three snacks that I must prepare in order to eat right?
But wait! There’s more! What if the cat has to go to the vet? Or what if I have to stop at the grocery store? The pharmacy? The dry cleaners? Nordstrom’s half-yearly sale!
By now, the demands on my time trying to live the perfect life have become so stressful that I will need medication to deal with the high blood pressure!
Who is the idiot that came up with these impossible recommendations? I want my pound of flesh! Obviously, it is somebody with way more money and time on their hands than the average working person has in this country today.
Wanna know what I think? Screw it. Relax. Have a drink. After all, two drinks a day are recommended as healthy. Right?
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perfect life, exercise, worker's day, 24 hours
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