Brought to you by the letter "P"

Day: 4
Current Weight: 234.0

I don’t know what my exact weight is, but my scale at home does say that I had a slight gain. No big deal. I did do some research and found that if you feel like you’re starving yourself, what little food you intake will immediately be stored as fat. Apparently, the body is thinking it’s in survival mode and food is scarce so it stores whatever comes its way was fat.

As mentioned in a previous post, I earned my first degree in biology. The one surprising thing I learned is that the most people don’t get enough of the most basic of nutrients (i.e. oxygen, water, protein, etc.). Apparently not everyone breathes to his or her full capacity, and I’m not even talking about deep breathing. Normal breath isn’t exactly healthy breath. From what I’ve read, rhythm is key, which would explain why people who do yoga regularly don’t age like “normal” people.

Then there’s water. That’s something we all can have a little more control over. Whether you’re on a diet like me, or in training for whatever reason, everyone tells you to drink lots and lots and LOTS of water. If your urinary system is working well and you don’t suffer from some sort of edema or lymph problems, you should pretty much use up all the water you should be using and your body gets rid of the excess.

How does it do that? There’s sweating, breathing, normal respiration, and the one that is most unpleasant (and equally hilarious if it’s not happening to you) micturition. What? You’ve never heard of it? Well, on the streets it’s referred to as peeing, taking a piss, draining the lizard, making apple juice. You get the point.

I’ve started to eat normal portions of food: a small meal every two or three hours. I can actually eat vegetables and fruit and load up on lettuce. And here’s a good trick to remember. A lot of times, we only feel hungry because of a hormone telling us we should eat more (more of that “body thinking you’re in survival mode” stuff). But if you drink a whole lot of water after a meal, you can actually trick your body into being full. It’s not permanent, but it does stave off the craving long enough to think before you eat.

Sure, I can go into the details of how it works. I can explain how the water expands the cardiac orifice of the stomach that tells the brain to tell the body to stop craving food. But… I’ve really got to go make some apple juice. So, just sit back and enjoy this short from Animaniacs that truly reflects the complexities of being on this diet and my love of movies. Enjoy!