Battle of the Bulge

I gained five pounds and an inch around the belly, which seems a questionable thing to admit for someone entering the world of fitness training. It snuck up on me and although I knew I had slipped from my routine, I didn’t realize it was noticeable until I saw a picture of myself hiking with my family. So how did it happen?

I work as a beer, wine, and spirits buyer for a grocery store, so my world involves all things booze. I managed over the summer to balance this amazingly well. I used tasting glasses to sample products and then poured the other 90% of the drink down the drain. Yes, I know, to beer geeks and wine connoisseurs this amounts to heresy, but it worked to balance my two worlds.

Then Fall arrived.

I remember when I dabbled in jujitsu I told myself that with the extra calories burned I could drink a beer or two. When Fall arrived, the wifey and I struggled to find time for jujitsu, but I did not struggle to find time for those extra beers. Fall is the best season for beer, I told myself. Darks beers often have less calories than IPAs (true) and a beer after a workout can’t hurt (false). The most difficult truth is that it is very tricky to be honest with oneself about drinking.

Last week in my nutrition class the subject was alcohol. The class stressed moderation not abstinence, so I felt pretty good. The text did however explain that the post workout drink will stop your body from either burning fat or building muscle, because after consuming alcohol your body’s only concern is processing the toxin you have ingested. Yeah, I had to read that a couple times. Still, I didn’t have my moment of self-honesty until the next day when I saw a picture of myself hiking with my family. The picture wasn’t a horrible, but I couldn’t help but see a I was losing the battle of the bulge. I always gain weight in the mid-section first.

This is not one of those stories where I swear off booze. I agree with my nutrition class that moderate drinking and fitness can and do co-exist. That said, I have abstained from drinking since seeing the picture of myself and I am going to try to be more honest with myself. Mostly, I am reminded that I don’t have to be perfect. I will make mistakes. I will learn from those mistakes. And I will pick myself up, dust myself off, and keep moving.