Day Fourteen: the Dirk Gently homage

I survived the cycling experiment yesterday. I was so hungry all day, I don't think I stopped eating. I started out relatively healthily with fruit and tomatoes, but after lunch as my options at work grew more limited it degenerated to Jaffa Cakes and Krispy Kreme doughnuts. I haven't had a day like that for so long it was rather a shock. 

Due to the fundamental interconnectedness of all things, it is not possible to determine a single cause for this aberration. It could have been my body reacting in horror to the unaccustomed exercise, it could have been a random hormonal surge, it could have been a solar flare. Who knows. If it was related to the cycling it would be rather a cause for concern as I was planning on cycling on fast days too.

As it happened, due to unforeseen circumstances totally outside my control, I had to cycle home from the station as well last night, which was not part of the plan. Given the vast sugar reserve I had consumed in the afternoon, this actually wasn't too bad, but all I was capable of on getting home was stuffing some pizza in my face and going to bed.

And then - I slept really well! I know I shouldn't be surprised that physical activity produces better quality sleep, but I'm so used to sleeping badly I never expect a decent night until it happens. Even my youngest requiring cuddles and being carried back to bed at 3a.m. didn't spoil it.

This morning I gingerly got back on my bike, much to the suffering of my poor bottom, even with a gel cover on the saddle, and cruised the two and a bit miles to the station. (The extra bit makes a difference. Really.) OK, so not exactly cruised, but made it in one piece. I have been somewhat hyper all day (can you tell?), feeling really great, enjoying every meagre mouthful of fast day food, and generally annoying the hell out of my colleagues by being disgustingly cheerful. Possibly I am still on a sugar high from yesterday. The cycling/fasting combination doesn't seem to be a problem so far. If I have to cycle home again, however, all bets are off.

If I had been on pretty much any other weight loss / health plan, yesterday would have been a cause of great guilt and hair-pulling, as I calculated how much damage I had done and punished myself for being imperfect. As it is, I can just say - hey, no problem, today is a fast day and I'm nailing it. I wouldn't recommend a diet of Krispy Kreme every non-fast day, but once every now and then will make no difference whatsoever to my long term success.