There are many shades of yellow. My eyelids are more of a ochre or mustard colour that varies in intensity. It’s been a curious puzzle for years, here one day and gone the next. Now I’ve discovered there’s a definite relationship to exercise.
My initial exercise strategy this year was to include lots of variety so I could engage every day. That strategy is developing a tainted aura. The variety is still cool. The timing’s the problem. If I overdo the exercise, I might do more harm than good.
There are two pieces of recent information that lead to this conclusion.
The first relates to the mystery of the eyelids. They have to be bright yellow for a doctor to take an interest. So, I’ve decided not to be alarmist. As my sister also has this problem, Gilberts Syndrome is looking like the culprit. It is considered so mild as to not warrant treating. But the consequences for some individuals can be disruptive. One possibility is that exertion and dehydration lead to a level of fatigue that could trigger some negative outcomes. Another possibility is the state of one’s gallbladder and the bile response to exercise. The negative outcomes range in severity across individuals. (I wondered if a type of depression was one of the negative outcomes, but I think I’ve solved that now. Check out my recent post on exercise and depression).
The second piece of information came from an article in the New York Times, “Why Four Workouts a Week May Be Better Than Six”. The less-could-be-more message is popular, but one research result jumped off the screen.
Working out six times a week encourages the body to adjust so that it burns less calories than if working out only four times a week.
No need to feel guilty taking every second day off.
Establishing a new lifestyle will require some problem solving. You audit at the beginning, develop strategies and then start changing things, hopefully for the better. Once those changes have had some run time, evaluate and adjust your strategies whenever necessary.
The new strategy is to ramp up the physicality of my life every second day and ensure the activities are accompanied by the lots of water and protein. If that doesn’t remove the yellow tint from the eyelids and move some weight, then I’ll have to reassess … again.
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Links
New York Times article:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/02/13/why-four-workouts-a-week-may-be-better-than-six/
Information about Gilbert’s Syndrome:
Cherrie Zell 
What are your thoughts?