By Kevin Kolodziejski
Sometimes it’s perfectly understandable, sometimes it’s just so much easier, and sometimes it’s downright dangerous. And sometimes you just want the RoadBikeRider article to get immediately to the heart of the matter. So here goes.
What about cycling is all three of those adjectives occasionally?
Powering the pedals while you’re on what we’ll call autopilot.
What’s ‘Cycling on Autopilot’?
You know, it’s that cycling you do without fully being aware you’re cycling because your mind and focus are elsewhere. Doing so is perfectly understandable when you ride after a workday of never-ending frustrations or unresolved problems. And after a day like that, of course, it’s just so much easier to give no thought at all to the ride’s course and ride roads you’ve ridden hundreds of times before.
But even oft-traveled roads can be downright dangerous.
Ten days ago, I was no more than three miles away from my home on the road that ends half of my rides and going fast for a cooldown. Not only did I have a tailwind aiding me, but I had also had a really good ride, and I was reliving the best parts of it in my mind. Luckily, the daydream ended just in time for me to see the brand-new pothole big enough to conceal a beach ball in front of me and avoid a nightmare.
While this cycling-on-autopilot story has a happy ending, that doesn’t mean you should make a habit of it. That’s just common sense. You’d think the same could be said about eating on autopilot, but doing exactly that is trending on social media. And Boshoi Khella is possibly the one most responsible for this.
Introducing Boshoi Khella
Soon after graduating from college, Khella decided to become a businessman. It only took five years for the online business he co-founded featuring watches made of natural wood to become a really big success — and for Khella to become a really big man. Always a bit overweight growing up, he now weighed 352 pounds.
Two years later, however, he told a Newsweek reporter his weight was 187 pounds. Today, he tells the world via his website his weight is “sitting at 200 pounds at 10 percent body fat.” Reading about Khella must have you wondering two things: “How did this guy lose so much weight?” and “Why in the world are you writing about him now?”
Answering the Two Questions About Khella
Second answer first: Because as Khella’s body has shrunk, his business ventures have expanded.
Those daily weight-loss selfies he posted on Instagram and TikTok over a two-year period have led to more than nearly 800,000 followers and a Newsweek article. He now trains others interested in weight loss or getting in better shape either one-on-one or via his personalized workout app. Moreover, in the world of social media Khella’s now considered a “content creator,” as Korin Miller notes in an article for Health, “Is It Bad to Eat the Same Thing Every Day?” In that article, she cites what he’s posted on TikTok about the dietary practice now trending on all platforms, the same one that allowed him to lose all that weight.
To eat the same thing every day.
Khella says he does so to “put [eating] on autopilot. I don’t want to think about what meals I’m going to be eating.” Which is all well and good. But is it safe?
Is ‘Eating on Autopilot’ Safe?
After all, Khella acknowledges on his website he’s “just a regular dude,” doesn’t have any sort of a degree in health or fitness, and that what he has his clients do “isn’t based on theory.” It’s just exactly what he did to lose over 160 pounds. That made me want to know what a professional medical association thinks of the movement Miller calls “meal uniformity.”
While The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics doesn’t necessarily see eating the same thing every single day as a telltale sign of an eating disorder like bulimia or anorexia nervosa, it does warn the practice could be a sign of “disordered eating,” which can lead to either. But what if your decision to eat the same thing every day is not rooted in a mental struggle, but, as Khella explains in the Newsweek article, a desire to “stop planning, not overcomplicate things,” and keep eating simple? Can such a plan also benefit your physical health?
I’d say it’s possible albeit unlikely — but Miller didn’t ask me. She asked Deborah Cohen, DCN, an associate professor in the department of clinical and preventive nutrition sciences at Rutgers University School of Health Professions, who calls the prospect “very difficult” and emphasizes “even those who eat the healthiest of diets may not necessarily consume all of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fiber, and phytochemicals for good health on a daily basis.” She says the best way to ensure receiving an optimal intake of nutrients is by consuming a variety of foods.
In other, more metaphorical words, she believes while eating on autopilot may not transform the airplane you are into a blimp, it does make an eventual crash — whether you’re a narrowbody, a widebody, or a UFO — a near certainty. But there is a way for you to steer clear of eating-on-autopilot mishaps.
The Way to Make ‘Eating on Autopilot’ Healthy
With it, you still get not to think about meals, but you don’t eat the same ones every single day. Instead you decide upon three healthy breakfast, lunch, supper, and snacks options and then rotate them over the course of three days in whatever way you see fit. It creates the variety Cohen calls for, and (surprise, surprise) it’s the way I’ve been eating about 85 percent of the time for the last 30-plus years — which is nearly as long as I’ve been seriously cycling.
And during that time, I’ve never had a problem maintaining an optimal cycling weight or any type of nutritional deficiency.
If the idea of eating on autopilot appeals to you, I’d say give it a month-long try. Just be sure to create a pattern (as short as two days or as long as seven) that’s diverse.
Kevin Kolodziejski began his writing career in earnest in 1989. Since then he’s written a weekly health and fitness column and his articles have appeared in magazines such as “MuscleMag,” “Ironman,” “Vegetarian Times,” and “Bicycle Guide.” He has Bachelor and Masters degrees in English from DeSales and Kutztown Universities.
A competitive cyclist for more than 30 years, Kevin won two Pennsylvania State Time Trial championships in his 30’s, the aptly named Pain Mountain Time Trial 4 out of 5 times in his 40s, two more state TT’s in his 50’s, and the season-long Pennsylvania 40+ BAR championship at 43.