My two ingredients for maintaining a healthy lifestyle are exercising and eating healthy. These two go hand in hand for me to keep fit.
I bike regularly early morning to Valencia with my buddies from the group Tindak Dumaguete. We normally do about a 20-kilometer trail ride uphill and downhill; then on the weekends or on holidays, we do longer trail rides to Baslay or Magsaysay in the southern town of Dauin; Timbao, Mampas, Camp Look-Out, or to Casaroro Falls in Valencia; Tan-awan, Maningkaw, or the Twin Lakes in the northern town of Sibulan.
Mountain biking regularly helps me improve my endurance and stamina. I bike two to three times a week.
I also play badminton about two to three times in a week, something I have been doing for the past 11 years. As a fast-paced game, an hour of playing badminton could burn thousands of calories.
I also go swimming when I find extra time. I just got into a swimming regimen in 2016. Compared to mountain biking and badminton, swimming is not a high-impact sport, and it gives me an opportunity to work on my breathing patterns. It is relaxing, and a welcome respite for an exhausted body.
A common denominator of starting on a sport and doing it on a regular basis is discipline. Despite my schedule as an architect, I always make sure to have time to do some exercise because in the long run, health is wealth.
Eating clean is equally important as well. As the saying goes, you are what you eat. What we eat goes to our system, which is what gives us the energy to move.
I maintain a high-fiber (vegetables) low-fat (steamed or grilled fish for my source of protein) diet.
Normally on my plate, one would see fish and eggs for breakfast; grilled fish or tinolang isda with native chicken soup, vegetables, and yakult for lunch; and grilled fish, vegetables, and yogurt for a light dinner. Each meal with only half a cup of brown rice.
If that sounds bland or boring, let me tell you that it also won’t hurt to reward yourself sometimes with comfort food. I think starving, or depriving one’s self of food cravings would do more harm than good to the body and the psyche.
Finally, it is vital to keep ourselves hydrated. With all the activities in store for the day, sometimes under the heat of the sun, I usually consume about three liters of water on a daily basis. All this regimen keep me going all day.
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Bobby Duray, 52, is an architect from Bislig City in Surigao who has made Dumaguete his home — where his lovely wife, Maribeth Tia, is from. They have two beautiful daughters: Mary Faye and Fritzie Mae. He has been biking the mountains of Dauin, Valencia, Sibulan, Amlan, and Cebu in the last 20 years.
Author’s email: bob_duray@yahoo.com
