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| Blackout Map After Sandy (flickr.com photo by NASA) |
On Monday, October 29, 2012, Hurricane Sandy was a huge storm, stretching along most of the eastern United States. It was being described in the media as a “Superstorm” or “Frankenstorm.” Here on Long Island, we were preparing ourselves for a power outage, possibly lengthy, as well as some major flooding in the areas that are usually prone to water damage. As it turned out, our home was among the approximately 900,000 customers on Long Island who lost electrical service on October 29. We were among those fortunate enough to have our home left intact by the storm, despite some large tree branches falling in the yard. Power was restored to our home eight days later (November 6). We’re thankful that our situation was not as bad as it was for those who lost everything to the storm.
What are the health and fitness implications of being in the cold and dark for the better part of eight days? (OK, it was only about six days, because we spent a couple of nights with friends who had power.) For the first day or two, I tried to make the best of it. I pulled out my old friend, Bring It! by Tony Horton. After all, I had a flashlight, and my list of now-familiar exercises. The basement was cold, but not too bad at that point. The first workout went off without a hitch, and I took a lukewarm shower afterwards with the some of the water remaining in the hot water tank.
On the second day, the cold was starting to get to me. My workout was not as productive. I was developing some unusual aches and pains in my lower back, neck, and head. In short, I felt miserable, and I had no idea why. Maybe it was a touch of food poisoning, as we were trying to work our way through leftovers before they spoiled. Maybe the cold was affecting me somehow. A few days later, I also had sinus pain and headaches.
At that point, I decided that it was not going to be “business as usual” for my healthy habits, until power was restored. I took a long walk with a friend around the neighborhood, to examine the storm damage and see what gas stations were open during the fuel shortage caused by the storm. What a mess! Anyway, the walk loosened up my back a little, along with a couple of visits to the chiropractor that week. I did my best to get as much sleep as possible, since there wasn’t much to do, but the noise of generators in the neighbors’ yards didn’t help. As far as healthy eating was concerned, we ate meals with friends, or fast food, or whatever we could find at a supermarket that actually had electrical power. The biggest change in my healthy habits for the week? I didn’t log my food in Calorie Count at all! I figured that I would deal with the damage when the lights came back on, and surely all the shivering I was doing had to be burning some calories, right?
It was a hectic week, with long lines at gas stations, getting back to the office as soon as I could to get some work done, taking care of the family in a cold, dark house for several nights, and cleaning up the minor storm damage in the yard. The morning after the power was restored, November 7, I weighed myself as the first step towards getting back on track. I had lost two pounds, which was not my goal, but I had certainly not gained any inches around my waist from all the unplanned meals and stressful situations. I was near the end of my schedule for P90X2 round 2 before the blackout, but I decided to take some recovery time before finishing. I have been doing recovery workouts from P90X and P90X2 since then (about a week and a half).
What lessons can I take from this experience? First of all, I definitely feel better when I exercise regularly and eat healthy food. Second, I prefer to be in temperatures above 60 degrees most of the time, unless I am exercising or wearing a jacket. (The inside of our house got down to the low 50s while we were still there, and colder for the days we were gone.) Third, I need to work on my attitude during stressful situations. I am definitely a “glass half-empty” sort of person, which is not helpful when times are tough! Even though I doubted my commitment to healthy habits when I was living day-to-day without electricity, I am happy to report that I am easing my way back into the right frame of mind. Oh, and losing the entire contents of our refrigerator and large freezer is an opportunity to stock them with healthy food, right?
