Last year, when masking, social distancing and isolating became the ‘new norm’ , I worked hard to keep up my fitness level and avoid regaining the tummy fat I had lost with my ketogenic and intermittent fasting life style. All through spring and summer, before the sun was fully up, I  rose with the larks. Well, actually it was more like the sea gulls and the Canada geese.

With my Urban Poles to add an upper body workout, I set off on a sea wall walk, unmasked to keep my immune system active, and to able to smile at the few people who were out as early as I was. 

Came late autumn and winter, the mornings were dark, cold and rainy, and covid news was everywhere. Though I still rose early, I didn’t venture out. As my days were filled with virtual networking, working on my book, course and podcast, and the sea wall became more crowded, days went by with minimal exercise.  

I didn’t reach my minimum target of 10,000 steps a day, my fitness level decreased, and my body felt stiff and creaky when I got up. Pillar 4 of the GOLY Project is about changing your aging through movement. My aging was clearly going in the wrong direction. 

For the last few weeks I have again been rising with the sea gulls and heading out on an early morning walk. The extra 5 lbs I gained are dropping off and I’m feeling less creaky.

Out of curiosity I thought I would see whether the DNA tests I had  looked at traits like lark versus nightingale.  (see DNA  – Your Blueprint and Whence it Came). I was amused to find that one calculation of my most likely circadian rhythm, based on SNPs in 4 genes, classified me as less likely to be a morning person and recommended that my best exercise would be late afternoon or night. Definitely not me.

Another test based on 450 markers suggested that my wakeup time would be around 6:50 am. Actually I rarely set an alarm and on most days I naturally wake up between [5:30] and 6 am. But that might also be from years of conditioning by getting up early to get to exercise classes before work. 

If you want to learn more about the GOLY Project and the importance of movement to change your aging, leave a comment below, or email me privately at askdrgill@gmail.com to arrange a complementary discovery call.