Saturday, February 16, 2013

So far.

Dear Diary,

Here's what I've learned this year so far: Simplifying your life, easy steps in four weekends.


1. home entertainment

A. Buy an Ooma hub and get it working.

B. Get an apple Tv and get it working, or a streaming net box. (Or a smart tv that does all that)

C. Tell your cable company that you no longer want telephone or cable, just internet, thanks. Shop around for a better price on internet if you have to.

--How this simplifies your life: you will spend less money (100 a month in some cases), and be free of the barrage of commercials that seek to convince you that you are too fat, ugly, sad, or hungry when you really aren't. You'll be more thoughtful in your entertainment, instead of just watching whatever garbage is on. You'll watch more indies and documentaries. If you need noise while you're working, Pandora is available on those streaming boxes, for free.

 

 

2. Simplify your 'friends'.

A. Delete people who you honestly don't like, or who have over 600 "friends" and you haven't communicated with in quite some time.

B. Uncheck "show in news feed" on anyone who fills your newsfeed with posts that waste time or piss you off. They won't know, and they won't be unfriended.

C. Go through your settings on Pinterest, Google+, and Twitter and get rid of all notifications. You won't get an alert or email everytime someone breathes.

--How this improves your life: you will get updates on people you truly care about and have less aggravation from wanting to argue with others. Less clutter in your email inbox. Seriously...if you weren't friends with them in school, are you friends with them now?

 

 

3. simplify your house.

A. Go through your house, room-by-room, and pull out five objects that you totally don't want or need from every room. Ask yourself when was the last time you used it. If it's more than six months, put it in a box, tape the box, and date it. In three months if you haven't gone into that box specifically to get one object, donate the box to goodwill without opening it.

B. offer cherished knick-knacks to those closest to you.

C. Ask yourself if you're really going to read those books again. Probably not. Most information is on the Internet, and books collect dust and powdery mold. So, list them on Half.com and buy some mailing envelopes. As you sell them, enjoy the empty spaces on your shelves.

D. Clear off horizontal surfaces.

--How this simplifies your life: it's easier to clean, and easier to find things, when you don't have to navigate around clutter.

 

 

4. simplify your closet

Go through your closet and make four piles: things that don't fit, things that fit but are out of season, and things that are in season and fit. Remove anything you haven't worn in a year for the fourth pile. Put the no fit and no wear piles in a box, as in step one. Put the rest back in your closet, with out of season clothes in the back. Do NOT get caught up in thr lost money. That money's already gone, so get rid of the closet clutter.

How this simplifies your life: It's easier to get dressed when you only have clothes that your wear and that fit to choose from.

Geeky simplifying reference-->

...

 

Sunday, February 10, 2013

Day 3: like a racehorse.

Dear Diary,

"Let's do this another day," he said. Then he went for a about a six mile run, hilly trail run at a 9:30 pace, and it felt good. We went to the store and bought more celery, which we seem to go through pretty fast, a dn kale, berries, and other stuff. I was looking for a nice herbal tea. It's hard to find herbal teas without mint in them; what's up with that?

So it's the beginning day three. Yesterday, Baboo came home and said he felt good, energy problems, not really hungry, but....but, "i feel deprived." I know what he means. I've been thinking of popcorn al day. Wth truffle oil on it. Mmmmmm.

I feel Good. not great, but good. I met DP and SW Tri Gal at Einsteins yesteday, where the were giving out free bagels. Thanks for that. I had tea, and gave my bagel away. On the way home I pulled into the parking lot of the AA Super Buffet. Nobody would ever know, I said to myself. Then I sighed and drove back out of the parking lot and went home. I watched a whole bunch of documentaries on netflix while I cleaned. I love those little documentaries. I can feel the liberal hippie in me rising when I watch them. I'm all, oo, I'm gonna join a coop! I wanna raise chickens! I'm gonna march in a parade! Then I remember I can barely put together and maintain a training plan, and I get real.

Today, I started peeing. And peeing. And peeing. It's nearly clear, probably because I drink a glass of water between every two glasses of juice. I"m well-hydrated.

Then again, I'm a skeptic. I'm one of the people that don't seem to be affected by the Placebo effect, which of course to new-agers means that I canceled out product/process X by my lack of positivity. I'm one of the most positive people I know, so bite me. Of course, one of the secrets of my positivity is that I dump all my negative thoughts here, so don't be fooled.

So, Baboo and I broke the three day fast tonight. He said he was feeling a bit weak in his ruuning and for us, that’s a deal breaker. He lost about four pounds and I lost three. I got him turned into green tea for fasting days. I told him that for the break-fast I wanted protein, and lots of it. So, we went to the County Line and I had a steak and vegetable skewer. We talked about moving forward.

Baboo and I decided that based on our all reading we would follow a 5:2 fasting program. Fast two days, then eat normally five days, rinse, repeat. There's some research to support this method of intermittant fasting and being reasonable and beneficial. So, we're going to give it a shot. Fasting days will be Monday and Tuesday.

Of course, tomorrow is Monday. So another two days starts.

 

 

Saturday, February 09, 2013

Day 2: saturday.

Dear Diary,

I'm not sure why I thought a weekend was a good place to start a fast. It's a stupid place to start a fast. I'm bored, and when I'm bored, I eat.

Last night was fine. I wasn't hungry. Baboo, however, said he had a "general feeling of suffering". I made him some broth. He declared the broth "awesome". He declined eating, and wanted to go one more day. Then he fell asleep in the chair at 6:30. I imagine that part of his tiredness yesterday comes from the fact that he didn't have any caffeine, and he usually starts the day with, oh, about four cups of java. No, I'm not making that up. He blends it in a 1000 ml beaker I bought for him for that purpose, with 8 ounces of skim milk and protein powder.

I've doing some intermittant fasting for almost two months now, so I guess my body is used to it. Usually, I don't eat on Mondays. I also read that the worse your diet is, the worse the first few days are. I don't know if that's true, but my symptoms have been minimal. Baboo says his are too, but then he woke up with a headache, probably from lack of caffeine.

I tried to develop an eating disorder in high school. One of those stupid things teenage girls do, I guess. Before I under the anguish and frustration of actually having one, I was all, I wish that was my problem. I don't have the willpower for it. Purging is a lot of work. And deliberately tracking everything I eat and such...I am Lazy. Now, Binging, on the other hand, I'm all over it. I can put away food like nobody's business. But food restriction, and the rest, I guess it takes a certain personality type, maybe more type a-ish. I will often forget to eat, but when I think about it, I want to eat. and when I'm really ramping p the training, my car mysteriously steers towards tne nearest super buffet, where I consume mass quantities of chicken and seafood. those are my weakness. As for purging, well, never gonna happen. once it's it's eaten, it's eaten, let that shit go, man. I'm like Jeff Bridges in Tron you're really messing with my zen thing here....as also evidenced by my startling lack of placing in runs. I'm all, whatever.

So anyway. Last night Baboo said, with wide eyes, the broth was awesome. It is awesome. One of the things I read, and I can't remember where, is that some of the really crappy feelings from juicing fasts come from lack of sodium. Plus, it gives your taste buds a break. Juices are sweet. Not sugary, syrupy sweet, but sweetish. This was a surprise to me. Even the cruciferous vegetables are sweet when juiced.

I gave Baboo a large cup of green tea this morning, because he has guard duty, and some tea bags to take along with his kit.

I put a piece of chicken in my mouth and chewed it up and spit it out. I thought it would be satisfying. Nope. Mostly, I'm bored. I don't really feel hnger, which means I need to rexamine my relationship with food, I guess. Or clean my filthy house.

I got me some new Sarah Palin glasses. I personally have always loved how she dressed. Too bad about the room temperature IQ thing.

So....we're off to day 2. I have a 15 mile run/walk....maybe. This should be interesting. I wonder if putting a drop or two of truffle oil in my broth is cheating.

 

 

Friday, February 08, 2013

Juice fast: day 1

Dear Diary,

Last night, Baboo and I bought about $70 worth of kale, celery, strawberries, carrots, and other produce, and I juiced for about an hour to set us up for today.

8:00 am: Holy shit I'm already hungry. Maybe it's a psychological thing. Maybe. AND I'm cranky. Why do people drive 30 in a 40? Seriously, why? Is it because they're afraid of going downhill too fast? Parking brake stuck on? Some misguided attempt to save on brakes, gas, or help the rest of us slow down? This is, quite literally, a hazard when people in front of you start veering out of the way, and you're not quite sure why, and then all of the sudden you are nearly up the ass of a woman in a Subaru who is doing who knows what the eff. MOVE!!!

Interesting article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19112549

10 am. Okay, I'm not as hungry as I was before. Maybe that's an early morning thing. That seems to be a weak time for me. I've had a juice, and lots of water with MIA in it.

noon. I just had a cup of broth, my own little personalization in this experiment. I feel a bit of a headache coming on. I'm on track, so far, to what I'm supposed to be doing. So, to keep my mind busy during my lunch break, I calculate the calories in my juice: Strawberry Delight, 240 calories. "Jack's favorite", 270.

3:00, I feel pretty good, actually. Surprising. No more headache.

The big test for me will be TV watching. I like to munch. Maybe I'll munch on broth.

4:00 I'm about to head home. i sent an email to Baboo just now and asked how he was doing. When he gets home we'll decide just how "modified" this fast will be. I'm dreaming of a whole fried chicken. Or a whole rotisserie chicken. Think I"m making that up? I am a former binge-eater, my friend. I have sat in my car in the parking lot at Walmart and eaten a whole rotisserie chicken.

"Modified" fast, by the way, is the misnomer given by big babies like me to a process that is kind of fast-like, but without going full Ghandi.

Johnny come lately

Dear Diary,

Unlike the rest of the US who already saw the documentary Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead, Sweet Baboo and I had it in out Netflix queue for over a year before watching it last weekend. Baboo was fascinated.

Hey, should we try this?

"Try this?" This, from a man who has nearly torn cabinets off the wall because of a hunger pang? I was suspicious. I finally asked him, later, why he wanted to try this.

Turns out he wants to 'make weight'. This is a throwback term from days of being an athlete...Baboo is in the Military and, at 6'1" his weight limit is 208 lbs. (I'm now officially to lazy to convert that to kg or stone, but Google will do it nicely if you type in, "hiw many stone is 200 pounds?") He's convinced that they mis-measured measured his height and he's actually 6' and thus, his weight limit is 200. Military members are given periodic fitness assessments, and getting high points on these is part of qualifying for promotion, or for some, continued stay in the military.

But he's solid, and I do mean solid, muscle. If you're overweight, then they 'tape' you, meaning that they measure your abdomen with a tape measure. As long as the abdomin-to-height ratio is acceptable, then you can be overweight. Baboo, however, is a perfectionist (hence myself, his Lovely Wife) and he was firm. I don't wanna be taped.

Also, he wants to drop about ten pounds, or more, to be faster. He wants to qualify for Boston again. I think he feels mildly cheated by the record insanely fucking hot year that was 2012. So now he's shooting for 2014.

Now, here's what's interesting. Himself hates vegetables. Haaaaates them. Did I say hates? He fucking LOATHES them. But, he insists that this is because of their texture, not necessarily their taste. He will eat the following vegetables in their whole form: peas, carrots, green beans, beets, and corn.

Corn is a grain, I pointed out.

He feels that he might be able to stand the juice.

So, last Sunday, while the rest of the US was chowing on wings and beer, we parked directly in front of my favorite cookery store (and I am telling you, shopping during the Stupor Bowl is the BOMB. The streets are empty, the parking lots are empty, and there were more store employees than customers. I wish every weekend was the Stupor Bowl; my general dislike of crowds and well, let's face it people would be mollified while people sat in their wall-e chairs and gazed straight ahead)

Ahem. Anyway.

<-- We got this. I read through many, many reviews of juicers on Amazon before selecting this. They had to search long and hard for this one at the store, being as it was the lowest-priced one there. It's the Breville 850 watt model with variable speed. It takes up an impressive amount of counter-space, and other than a home espresso machine, may quite possibly be the messiest thing I've ever used. But it does a good job juicing. It is a centrifugal type juicer. Putists will insist that it raises the temperature and destroys important enzymes, to which I have found that 1) according to the company it does, indeed, raise the temperature two whole degrees Farenheit, and 2) there are absolutely no studies about enzymes being destroyed. It's a weak hypothesis, at best.

As I gazed upon it sitting on the counter, I realized, I now officially old. -er. All i need now is the large divided pill box full of supplements and oh shit wait, I already have that.

I read. And read. And read. When considering this type of thing, one has to wade through a lot of quasi-scientific new age (I'm not even bothing to capitalize that) bullshit. I also consulted with one of my work collegues, who is a DO and a psychiatrist.

I told Baboo we would start with a three-day fast, and see how it goes, starting Friday morning. This weekend he will have guard duty, which will keep him busy and keep his mind off eating. I am also doing this, because apparently it's difficult to do a juice fast if your partner is in the next room frying chicken, er, I mean sauteeing chicken. Whatever.

Purists will also insist that there should be NO SODIUM and NO CAFFEINE. I posit that this is a good idea for people who have the luxury of fasting while lying in bed all day. But it gave me an idea: Baboo starts off his day wuth about 4 to 6 cuos of coffee. I'd like to break that cycle.

Day 1: Here are the rules, which I emailed to Baboo at work and to his personal email:

8 ounces of juice, (recipes to follow) consumed at 9, 11, 1, and 3.

8 ounces of water at 8, 10, 12, 2, and 4.

8 ounces of broth with plenty of sodium at noon and maybe later in the afternoon if you get hungry.

Evening, to be determined.

Now, devotees of the Juicing Lifestyle insist that the juice be made and consumed within the same time-frame. it oxidizes, they insist.

I don't know where these people work, but I don't want them in my office, which is on a locked psychiatric unit and where coworkers take a dim view of loud machinery spewing bits of vegetable matter hither and yon.

So, I made the juices the night before, and froze them, in 20 ounce containers -->

I didn't freeze the morning juice, which is thus:

--1 cup of strawberries

--3 large carrots

--1 small zuchinni

--4 celery stalks

--1 medium granny smith apple

I have to say, this was pretty damned good. I like this juice. It made two cups, and that was breakfast.

I was warned, in my reading, against eating too much fruit, which has a ton of sugar in it. A little fruit is good, though, because of the high water content and because it makes the juices more palatable.

So, here is mine ands Baboo's juicing fast kit for the day:

The caraf in the middle has the morning strawberry mix in it.

Note the spoon, broth base, and plastic knives--the plastic knives are for chipping away at at the iced juices. They are much better when fresh, and when cold.

It's 6 am on day 1.

Ready?

Here we go...

 

 

 

 

Moved.

 I'm no longer involved in multisport or endurance sports. I've started my own business, a psychotherapist specializing in anxiety d...