on shitting, pissing, and other matters

Much has changed as a result of my current diet. I'm eating a lot healthier, and my sleep habits have changed: I'm actually becoming more of a morning person, which means I come into work earlier now. I normally call morning people pussies for going to sleep so early, and that applies to pretty much all of my married friends, almost none of whom have the stamina to make it past midnight, but now I'm becoming one of them, and I don't know whether to be happy or sad about that. I have a new mental clarity that I haven't had in a while, and it's allowing me to chug ahead with my current book project, which I hope to finish by the end of this year. So that's a welcome change.

But the two things that have really changed as a result of my new healthy habits are my shitting and pissing routines. Diabetics are infamous for needing to urinate frequently, but for weeks now, my frequency of urination has gone way down. It used to be like clockwork: I'd drink something substantial, and forty minutes later, I'd be headed to the pisser. And pooping—that's really changed. I used to be a twice- or even thrice-a-day pooper. Now, I'm lucky if I poop every other day. (Ever since that scary week where I didn't poop at all, I've doubled my fiber intake, and now things are more regular.) So things have been nothing short of revolutionary on the pooping front.

I also haven't missed diet drinks. I thought I would, but I'm apparently fine drinking water, fruit tea, Earl Grey, and fizzy water (Trevi, which I assume is named for the famous fountain in Rome). I do think occasionally about having a Coke, but I've become so numbers-obsessed that I immediately put such thoughts aside, knowing how thoroughly a single 500-ml bottle of Coke would wreck my blood sugar. As I wrote before, though, I do have massive cravings for other things, like pizza and Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Those must be reserved for cheat days. I'll be glad when this current austerity is over so I can go nucking futs and have my one or two cheat days per month.

So far, I'm surviving the second week of this austerity, but the second week is proving harder than the first week. I'll get through this, though, because my stroke has given me a sense of purpose, and the Newcastle Diet was constructed with clear goals in mind. Clarity helps; strictures help. It's easier to know what to do when things are well defined.

As I follow my exercise calendar, I've now ratcheted up on most things, except for my core. I've gone from 3 sets of 40 wall pushups (done while standing) to 3 sets of 35 incline pushups, which require a fence or something a little below chest height to lean on and push against. I've gone from 3 sets of 40 wall pullups (also done vertically) to 3 sets of 25 Australian pullups, where you hold onto a low pullup bar while standing on the ground and leaning back at, in my case, a nearly 45-degree angle. This sounds easy, but for someone as weak as I am, it's actually hard to get through 3 sets of 25. So I stop mid-set if I have to, but I've taken a vow to always finish every set. For stair work, I've now started to go from the B1 level to the 7th floor (up to now, it's been the 5th floor). The stair work is the only truly intense cardio exercise I do, and I'm counting on it to start strengthening my heart once I get to a point where I'm walking up to the 26th floor. To repeat, I haven't changed my core-work schedule because I still haven't totally mastered 3 sets of 30 knee raises, although I did get through 3 sets yesterday without stopping. I'll move on to frog raises next week.

So with calisthenics and stair work ratcheting up, I can only hope the weight loss will continue. I can tighten my belt to the point where I have only three or four holes left; if the weight loss truly continues, I'll eventually have to punch more holes into the leather. How thin will I be by Christmas? I don't know, but we'll see. I'm starting to see a bit of thinness peeking through my face, but my torso tells me I'm still quite fat, so I know I have a long way to go.

And this is one reason why I'm bothering with exercise: as I lose weight, there's the problem of loose skin to worry about, so what's going to fill it, if not muscle? Obviously, with the limited routines I'm doing, I'm not going to take care of the entire loose-skin problem, but the muscles will help at least a little, and all the moving around might help to tighten up the skin somewhat. At least, that's what I hear on YouTube.

I haven't weighed myself yet this week; I'm waiting for Saturday to do that, and to see whether I can lose another 3.5 kg. At a guess, I'd say no:  Week One on any diet is almost always about water weight, and as I've said before, the body can get used to anything, including austerity. So it won't surprise me if I lose barely a single kilo, despite the current calorie deficit, but the Week Two weigh-in will definitely be more interesting and informative than Week One.

That's it for the moment; stay tuned for more later.