Monday, December 13, 2021

fasting, Day 5: numbers

Finally seeing what might be progress with my blood pressure:

Weight: 103.5 kg
BP: 129/85
Pulse: 81 (64)
Blood Sugar: 86

I'm assuming I actually lost weight since yesterday; my scale was a bit funny this morning. At first, I got on it, and the scale seemed to waver between 104 and 105 kg depending on whether I leaned forward or backward. Then I stepped off the scale and saw the calibration had been thrown off: instead of 0 kg, the scale said 0.5 kg, and when I stepped back on it (without adjusting the calibration), the scale clearly read 104 kg. So my thinking was, "104 - 0.5 = 103.5 kg." That's what I'm going with, and my reduced blood pressure would seem to confirm that I'm continuing to lose weight, despite whatever metabolic clampdown is occurring as this fast continues. This also dovetails with previous fasts, where I'd lose about a kilo a day.

So that's the next bit of good news: my BP seems finally to be going down. 120-something over 80-something is better news than I've had in the previous days of this fast, but frankly, there's no guarantee that tomorrow's numbers will be as good.

I checked my pulse soon after coming back from this morning's Costco run, which is one reason why it's so high, but last night, while I was in bed, I could tell my pulse was much slower, and when I timed it by hand, I got 64 beats per minute (count pulses for 15 seconds, multiply by 4). So make of that what you will. On Thursday, when I'm at the hospital, both my pulse and my BP will be high because of stress.

Blood sugar is a wee bit higher than yesterday, but 86 is still pretty damn good, so I'm not worried. We'll see whether it goes back down tomorrow.

Today's Costco run saw me carrying a really heavy bag that ended up breaking from the strain, and while one effect of carrying the bag was that it drove my heart rate up, the other effect was that it once again highlighted my bodily weakness. I'm supposed to do 1.5 staircases this evening, but I'm thinking it might be better just to do a hundred squats inside my studio. At least there, if I faint, I'll be home when it happens. But who knows? If I'm feeling energetic this evening, I might try the stairs, anyway. More soon.



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