Good Morning to you—
Several people have asked about the fate of the skinny guy trapped inside me who's trying to get out, a subject I address from time to time. The bottom line is that I lost about 35 lbs. and have kept it off, but I've been stalled in the 230s for the longest time. My progress was greatly slowed by my illness in January, when I lost way too much weight too fast, then inevitably gained it back. Fast weight loss is not good.
Friend and TOP reader Michael McCaskey wisely called the score on my Gruelandgrass diet..."You need more variety," he said, and he was right. It worked while I stayed on it, but it's too hard to eat the same thing day in and day out. For short periods of time it works, but not for longer periods of time. You just get too sick of the same meal if you eat it too often.
Romantic longing helps dieting, I've found. There's a reason for that phrase "pining away."
Walking is good. Poor Lulu has arthritis, and we need to address the problem of pain management for her soon. She's gotten slower and slower. But Butters can go for energetic 1.5 to 2.5 mile walks and not be detectably less ebullient at the end of the walk than he was at the beginning. I'm much more tired by the end, though. Bottom line: he's exercising me.
My current favorite: fast diets. Reader Marek Fogiel sent me the book
Another strange thing about fasting: It makes you feel better. I'm serious. It makes you feel more alert and somehow more clearheaded. From an evolutionary biological standpoint this makes perfect sense: if you have to secure your own food, when you're not getting any food is when you need to be most on your game—you need energy and clearheadedness to help you get out and find something to eat. I have to admit I really rather like the feeling. It's energizing and even a bit addictive.
Fasting for a day here and there isn't terribly difficult, either, because hunger isn't linear. What happens is that you get hungry for a little while, and then it goes away. And then it comes back, but then it goes away again. Once you know this, it's pretty easy to deal with it—you just wait.
Next up in the parade of dietary experiments: Soylent. I've got it on order, but they're way back-ordered following a popular New Yorker article. I'm going to try it, and I'll report back. And yes, I'm aware that it's kinda crazy. But I've been running experiments on myself for two and a half years now, so what's one more?
Absolute best diet: either be someone or marry someone who enjoys cooking and fixes healthy meals. My congenital and irremediable inability to cook impedes proper eating, no question.
Hope you have a great day today—eat healthy (but not too hearty).
Mike
"Morning Coffee" is auto-published weekdays at 3:30 a.m. Central Time today to be in time for morning coffee breaks in the UK and Europe. For those who rise later, it will be there. The feature is a month-long experiment to give people something to check in with while I'm busy moving.
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Original contents copyright 2014 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site.
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