Wednesday Weigh-In 20220830

Just a brief weigh-in post...

Waist = 40"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20220817

I got a bit of a shock this morning because the first time I stepped on the scale it read 151.5.

Waist = 40.25"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

Wednesday Weigh-In 20220809

I've been doing food combining when not fasting.

Waist = 40.75"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.

To Make Time Go Slow, Fast

If it seems like your day goes by in a blur, try skipping a couple of meals.  That’s right, go on a fast to make the day go slow.

Why does this work?  First, you save time that you’d otherwise waste preparing the meal, eating the meal, and then cleaning up afterward.

Second, your digestive system stays in the background instead of siphoning off the resources you need to cope with the day.  So you actually have more energy during the fast.

There are a few different types of fasts: eating nothing at all; liquid only (herbal tea, fruit and vegetable juices, broth); raw fruit, sprouts, vegetables.  Also, duration can vary from just a few hours to one day or a weekend; or they can be extended, as on a retreat¹.

I came across this idea when I got sick while reading Health Via Food, by William Howard Hay².  I had no appetite and no sense of hunger when I was sick.  And then when I recovered, I still felt no hunger.  So I leveraged that feeling and broke with my tradition of having a large breakfast, rich in protein and vegetables.  Instead I sliced up an apple and ate small pieces slowly throughout the morning.

There two keys to making a fast work, for me; they are mindfulness and abstaining from stimulants such as coffee and added sugars.  The mindfulness tells me when the urge to eat is out of boredom, habit, stress or anxiety rather than a need to eat.  Turns out I rarely have a legitimate need to eat.   Coffee produces a hollow gnawing sensation in my stomach, which compels me to eat something more to fill the hollow.  And the so-called energy bars stimulate my appetite while giving me brain fog.

I am amazed at how much better I feel, and at how slow the mornings go.  Luckily, I still can work from home a few days a week.  This gives me the assurance that if I needed to eat something, I’d have plenty of healthy options on-hand to choose from.

And I’ve been noticing that when I forestalled breakfast until later in the workday morning, I’d go through my pre-breakfast chores so quickly.  I could feed the cats and dog, clean the litter boxes, go to the bathroom, take in the newspaper, prepare my wife’s breakfast, guess the daily Wordle, all without much movement on the clock.  But once I ate the breakfast, suddenly it seemed like time sped up and it was already time to leave for work.

So don’t wait to get sick like I did before you try a fast.  Schedule your first one on a slow day, or take a sick day if you work.  You’ll be pleasantly surprised at how good you feel and how much you’ll accomplish.

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¹http://healingwithwholefoods.com/
²https://soilandhealth.org/book/health-via-food/

Wednesday Weigh-In 20220801

The brownies that I ate the night before my previous weigh-in made me really sluggish the morning after. It was so bad that I took a sick day off from work. Then on Monday I collapsed into bed, still clothed, to nap before going to bed. And on Tuesday morning my body temperature was elevated. I usually run cool, but it was as high as 99.9F. I felt woosy, exhausted and had no appetite.

I've been reading Health Via Food, by William Howard Hay, and I got inspired to switch my breakfast from sausage and bottled vegetable to fresh fruit such as an apple or pineapple chunks. I survived, and not only that, I was revived. So for a while I've been eating in very small amounts. This explains my lower weight and waist size.

Waist = 41.5"
Height = 5' 7"

References:

1. Wikipedia BMI page
2. Balance Body Composition Bath Scale
3. Javascript must be enabled to view the data.