Fasting the slow way

Today is my fourth day of fasting and the middle of a second week of daily meditation. The fasting is part of what might be called a detox of sorts. Most of 2020 was spent in a haze of over eating and alcohol consumption during both a pandemic and a divorce. Combine that with a little internal bleeding and a 3 day hospital stay I decided I need to get off the train to Wrecksville and on to Healthville.

I'm 48 years old, which means my body doesn't work as well as it did when I was 28. On the other hand it works better in certain ways, such as putting on fat at the drop of a hat and saying 'yes' to that second round...or third...of beer. Not exactly the sort of improvements I was hoping for by this age. Yet, as my doctor says, "You're in good health for someone your age". I intend to keep it that way.

Smiling, but still in the Hospital

 This year is going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship with myself. Last year was "the valley". This year will be "the grassy knoll". I'm starting with a 7 day fast to allow my digestive system time to purge and recover just a little bit. I've done 7 day fasts before, and always dread it, but not for the reasons you might think. I dread it because it's so easy to stop eating altogether that it is very difficult to start up again. Yes, it is difficult to start eating again.

Now, don't get me wrong, I haven't stopped all caloric intake. I ingest many ounces of water each day to keep full. On the off chance that I get a little light headed I keep a bottle of Martinelli's apple juice in the fridge for a pick-me-up. I appreciate Martinelli's because it is like drinking candy that has been harvested from trees right here in the US. That means the bottles didn't travel across the ocean to get to me. The bottle is glass too, so I can reuse it for water, or spare nuts and bolts, or play in a jug band. Who knows? The possibilities are endless.

My fridge

Oh, man. Where was I? Being light-headed, right. Those past few sentences seemed to ramble. Light-headedness is to be expected. I also take my medications daily. Each bottle has a warning: "take on a full stomach". Ha! To get around this conundrum I drink a glass of V8 before taking my medications and vitamins. It seems to help any discomfort the pills would cause otherwise. So far, so good.

During the first days I drank a few ounces of orange juice mixed with Metamucil to both fill me up a bit and also to get me going. For the record I've lost almost 8 lbs over the past four days. Bear in mind much of that is waste weight. Yup. I was full of... well, you know. Regardless, I'm feeling lighter and my head fog has gone away. And I'm not bleeding from my rectum as the bottle of Metamucil said I might. Fun!

Well, that's all I can say. I have a few more days of fasting left, but I'm considering calling it early because I want to go hunting this Saturday. I'll need my energy to carry everything through the woods and setup the blind, etc.. If I do that on an empty stomach I'm sure to get ill. Decisions decisions. Since I'm doing this for my health I lean toward breaking early so I don't get sick. We'll see....

Thanks for reading!

UPDATE: I stopped on the 5th day because I wanted to be sure to have strength to go hunting. Priorities, right?

Back on the Wagon - A Dieter's lament

Well, I'm trying out a new diet today. Since my son is playing football, my daughters are dancing and cheering, I'm feeling a little bit tired. The few extra "vacation" pounds, and lack of exercise are to blame.... sort of. As Jimmy Buffet wrote in his song "Margaritaville", it's my own damn fault.

With full-time work, three kids, a wife, and all the fixin's such as house, lawn, cars, driving, etc... I am just about out of time for exercise. By the time I wake up to the time I return home after sports and extracurricular school activities, I'm beat. With the little energy my wife and I have at the end of the day, it's a wonder the kids are in their pajamas, teeth brushed, and prayers said before I hit the sack myself about midnight.

So, why do I want to overload myself with "30 to 60 minutes" of exercise a day? For starters, my son has an opportunity to play defensive end, center, and kicker on his team. But, only if he remains below 101 lbs (yes, he is a 3rd grader) and retains a single-striper status. Now, what does that mean to everyone reading this? It means that if he exceeds a certain weight-class, then he will NOT be able to kick or play exciting blocking positions. He will instead be a human wall that is not give the opportunity so really smash other players in various ways.

In order to keep his weight down my son has stopped snacking, and stopped eating in general. While independently cutting back on sugary snacks has been a godsend for us, his "not eating in general" is a problem. So, I am searching for resources to help my wife and I configure an eating plan that is founded on common sense and reasonable authority.

Weightwatchers is a program that has helped my wife and I lose weight, but their plan isn't applicable to 8 year olds. Sure, we can probably adjust it so he can lose some weight, but I think the program is not conducive to this situation. So, in my search I found the Federal Government "My Pyramid" website. On this site there is a tool called "My Pyramid Menu Planner".

The "My Pyramid Menu Planner" (http://www.mypyramidtracker.gov) lets you create a profile for each member of the family based on their age or age and height. The menu planner is geared for children ages 2-8 and preteens, teenagers, and adults alike. The site contains a search field in which you build a menu. The menu shows a graph of the meats, veggies, fruits, milk, and grains associated with a particular daily meal plan. It also shows the amount of "extras" such as fats and salts. I think this is a wonderful tool.

This online tool makes it easy to build a meal plan for an entire family. It presents the data in a visual format that, for a computer savvy 6 and 8 year old, is easy to digest (pun intended) and understand. But, you might be wondering where my exercise plan comes in this story. As it turns out, the number of available calories is based on the amount of exercise you get. Since my son practices football for about two hours a day, and then plays games on the weekend, he burns a lot of calories. He also gets a lot of exercise and therefore needs to eat about 2000 calories a day (and cut back on fats/salts).

I figure if he is exercising, and eating right, I should set a good example too. So, by getting exercise and using this online tool to direct some of our food choices, I can set an example for my kids to follow. This is how a leader does it, and this is what I plan to teach my children. I'll keep you all updated as I can on the progress.