Story of my pimples.. :P

Hello friends, it's been a long time I am writing a blog post for samanyabuddhi.blogspot.com . Many might have thought that I have lost the interest and there would be no more posts. But it is not the case. I write the posts on my smartphone. My last phone was 'Microsoft Lumia 540'. It has Windows operating system. As everyone knows Microsoft stopped developing apps for Windows based smartphone. So the blogger app on that phone slowly slowly stopped working. I have also lost some posts while creating/posting. And finally on one day, it stopped working totally. So I got discouraged because the phone was a really great gadget. Though the blogger was not working, the Windows operating system was very user friendly to use. The quality of the hardware and software matching was simply exquisite.

But then my banking and share trading apps were also got discontinued. Then I thought it's time to get a new phone. So I purchased this 'Panasonic Eluga Ray 700' with latest Android operating system. And boy it is a great value for money phone, though I still miss the user-friendlyness of the Windows operating system. But to cut long story short, I AM BACK.

The persuit of health, wealth and happiness will never stop and the use of 'samanyabuddhi' (common sense) is the key.

So let's start with the topic.

Everyone hates pimples right?? Everyone struggles to get rid of them or was once doing everything at their disposal to get rid of them. But what if I tell you this is not a post to get rid of pimples but to bring them back..

If still interested, read on.

I got my first pimple when I was 14. I still remember the development of odd blister on my left cheek. Then after a week came another one and another one and then there was an onslough of pimples. I tried every medicine that was advertised on the media, a couple of doctors too.(My friends were doing the same thing.) But nothing worked beyond few days. Then many many years later, at the age of 25 I realised, I am not having pimples anymore. I was very happy. And with the passing time, I forgot the incident.

Now fast forward by 6 years, I was almost 32 and while undergoing yearly health check-up I observed a pattern that every year my 'Blood Pressure' and 'Pulse Rate' are rising. In my youth days, that is when I was below 25 years old, I used to exercise a lot, I had an unstoppable stamina, we used to trek all day without food, little water and very little sleep/rest, sometimes even 2 days straight. My Blood pressure was below normal at that time(70 & 105), my pulse rate used to be 45-50 in normal condition. I used to donate blood every 3 months sometimes even before 3 months. So, though the difference was minute on yearly basis and below what the doctor would call hypertension, the difference was drastic when compared with youth days.

I recognized, the aging process is getting hold of my body.

Remember the article about aging??

Ageing and Anti-Ageing - 2 of the most popular words in cosmetics advertising.

If not then read following articles in conjunction with this post, to understand this post better.

No. 1 Misconception about great health

So I thought I must do something otherwise soon I shall be a victim of hypertension and will have to start taking blood pressure reducing tablets all the rest of my life. This thought was the motivator. I hate visiting doctors very much, and taking medicine is the worst option for me. Because many times I see that medicine is more harmful than the disease itself in the long run. (I am talking about allopathic medicine. And this is my personal opinion. It may be wrong.)

Well to improve productivity I generally think about solutions which solve more than one problem simultaneously.

So I kept thinking about it for a 3-4 days and came to conclusion that if I purchase a bicycle and use it to commute to office it will give following benefits-

1) Exercise-

My office was 2km away from my company quarters at that time. I used to come back for lunch in the afternoon. So total 8km commuting in a day. And further I was planning to shift my dwelling to a distant place 35km away for my son's education.

I thought if I start cycling now I may build up stamina to cover that 70km to and fro distance in one day while commuting, once per week.

Cycling is a great exercise, if you pedal with all your strength all the while and go as fast as you could, it becomes both cardio+strength exercise.

2) Time saving-

I do not have to spend separate time for commuting and exercise. So though one may think that I shall need more time to commute on bicycle than the motorbike. He is right but when you add the time for exercise it is a different story.

3) Money saving-

I don't need to fill the fuel tank of my motorbike. Plus there are periodical servicing to be done, plus capital cost of the motorbike, plus the depreciation in the price of the motorcycle due to build up of milage.

4) No pollution-

It is almost non polluting. No sound, no tail pipe emission.

Now to the real experience-

So I quickly surveyed various online websites for types and prices, visited a nearest dealer and bought a Dirt Terrain Bike (DTB) of Hero Cycles with shock absorbers at both ends and 6x3 gear combination. I had one of the same type in the college days. DTB is the practical option on Indian roads.

That day I didn't get chance to ride but the next day I went to office twice as per my routine with excitement. I rode it like I was doing when I was in college, pedaling with all the strength. That day was good. But when I woke up the next morning my thighs were in pain. I couldn't even imagine walking for a while, forget about riding the bicycle.

For two days I was in pain. Then I decided to take it easy first. So I took rest for the 3rd day too. In 4th day I went to office in lower gears, at slow pace for one trip, for the second trip I used my motorbike.

Next day was fine. So again repeated the procedure so as to sustain the effort. In the next week did the same, that is going at slower pace in lower gears, total 4 km per day. On Saturday I tried riding a little hard because Sunday was rest day. But again thigh muscles were damaged too much and I have to take Monday, Tuesday off for cycling. Again I started with slow pace on Wednesday for once a day.

To cut long story short, I kept on pushing and there were these little improvements in my strength but there was a lot of pain. I have seen a lot of people (not personally, some are athletes, actors we see on TV). And I just thought if they can do it, so can I.

After 6 months the rate of progress started improving and finally after around 7 months I was riding my bicycle with all my strength, with maximum possible speed. And I still had more juice to do other things.

And hey, in the 7th month, pimples came back again.

Now after about 1 year I live in my new home and ride to office 35km away once in a week. My record timing is 35km in one and half hour straight, including halts for drinking water. Those 35km have 13 pair of slopes(downhill + uphill). Some are as short as 300m and the longest one is 2.5km. That 2.5km (only the uphill side) one is the hardest to climb.

Note- I was also doing exercises for the rest of my body in the same period.

Now let's compare the before and after condition-

Before starting the bicycle riding-

1) I used to exercise a little like pushups, pullups, situps, back-situps, squats etc. But still my health was deteriorating.

2) My food intake was less than half of what it used to be when I was below 25.

3) My pulse rate was 90.

4) Though my stamina was better than my colleagues, it was much less than what it used to be.

Truly speaking, there were just the rising pulse rate and blood pressure was the motivator. I didn't see any other benefits at the start but others came to me as bonus.

Current health condition-

1) I do triple the exercises than what I previously thought the upper limit of my body.

2) My food intake is now restored to it's maximum level.

3) Presently my pulse rate is 55. Blood pressure is not measured yet.

4) I have almost never ending stamina.

5) Pimples are back, my skin is oily again, I do not need to apply body lotion in winter. :-P

6) My body is in better shape now.

7) My damaged muscles heal up much faster now.

8) Much improved lovemaking.

9) Psychologically I am again having the feeling of invincibility.(remember your childhood days??)

I think the exercise caused by bicycle riding has caused increase in testosterone (male sex hormone) and growth hormone production in my body which is making me younger again.

But it needed 6 months of constant efforts and enduring pain to kickstart the production of testosterone and growth hormone.

There are some bad side effects too-

(Apart from oily skin & pimples)

1) Increased aggressiveness.

2) Increased mood swings.

In short child like emotional condition.

3) My love for machines has exploded(childhood days are back).

4) My mind has became sharper (more logical).

5) Tendency towards rash driving on road has increased. (Remember the bratty kids on road??)

These psychological side effects (mood swings and aggressiveness) are bad for my investments as it may result in to emotional decisions. Also in my workplace, I am working with adults, so I can't act childish.

The countermeasures-

1) Knowledge of your psychological condition is itself a cure. 50% problem is solved because of the knowledge only.

2) Most of the remaining 50% is solved by reminding yourself to practice patience all the while.

3) Remind yourself not to be too much happy or too much sad.

4) Implement 'Take it easy policy'.

Finally is it worth the trouble??

Of course.. I can't explain the feeling exactly. You have to experience yourself. It is also necessary to maintain health. And health is one of the pillars without which one cannot enjoy the life.

One more thing is that, I was 32 when I started it, if you are younger you may need less than 6 months to get on track or if you are older you may need to be more persistent but I can assure one thing, the prise of good health in waiting for you.

A wise man has said,

NO PAIN, NO GAIN.

Just keep the pain bearable. This is the case of DELAYED GRATIFICATION.

One more thing I would like to say is- it is not the end, it(exercise) is the way of life.

That's it for now. See you again.

Have a healthy, wealthy and happy life.

Sumit,

The POWER is when,
You use ODDS,
To get EVEN.