Tuesday, December 14, 2021

fasting, Day 6: numbers

Feeling sluggish. Lacking energy. But a definite drop in weight today:

Weight: 102 kg
BP: 122/84
Pulse: 97 (later 72)
Blood Sugar: 98(!)

Don't know what's up with my blood sugar. Could it be the aforementioned gluconeogenesis? I'm no doctor, so I really don't know. We'll see how my numbers are tomorrow and early Thursday morning (I have to be at the hospital two hours before the actual appointment to get my blood drawn and worked over, so I need to wake up early and do my self-check earlier than normal). Maybe this is a temporary thing; maybe it's something else. At any rate, a score of 98, while bad from a certain point of view, is still in the high end of normal, so while I'm a bit worried about this trend, I'm not worried about the score itself.

By contrast, I'm happy to see my weight is almost down to where it was at its lowest point. I doubt I'll break the 101-kg barrier before my appointment, but that's fine. If I lose only 9 kg and end up at 101 kg again by Thursday, I'll be happy. As before, I still look fat; I really have another 10-15 kg to go before I'm at my goal weight, and even then, I'll need to start strength training to tighten myself up. I'm impatient for my shoulder to heal so I can get into strength training in earnest at the beginning of next year, but I may have to wait, at least for some of it. We'll see. Developing muscle is good for increasing your basal metabolic rate, and another benefit of being stronger is that you're less likely to become a weak, shambling mess when you're older. I want to remain able to take care of myself for as long as possible.

Blood pressure continues to amaze. Nothing was happening for several days, and then the nut finally cracked, and I'm down in the 120-something over 80-something range. That's two days in a row—a good sign that this could be a trend. May it continue.

My pulse went crazy because I took the reading after spending an hour working on pulled pork this morning, which meant I was moving around all over my apartment, lifting heavy slow-cooker pots, forking apart the meat, separating out the fatty bits, etc. I took another pulse reading later, and it was down by a lot (that's the number in parentheses).

So my body is a mixed bag, and my numbers trend in all sorts of different directions. There's no rhyme or reason to the Kevin, and I honestly don't understand, even now, even after all the research I've done, how it all fits together. I'm pretty sure I've been cursed with what Dr. Sten Ekberg calls "a stubborn body," i.e., a body that, once it gains weight, doesn't want to let go of it. That's my cross to bear, and I have to play the hand I've been dealt my Mother Nature.



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