Friday, October 30, 2015

10/30/15: Sleep! It Does the Body Good!

Days of abstinence: 37
Days until surgery: 47 
Weight:  162.4 pounds

We post-bowled last night because the Royals game on Wednesday took precedence over bowling league.  The nice thing about post-bowling is that it goes a lot fast than league bowling, so we were home before 9:00 last night.  I went straight to bed when we got home and had a good, solid night’s sleep.  I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning because it was cold in the house, but that’s the only reason I didn’t want to get up.  I woke up slightly before the alarm went off and felt well rested and ready to go. 

The other bit of good news (it feels like good news to me, anyway) is that the deadline for the project that I have been working on 24/7 for the last couple of months got pushed out by a week or two.  This is good news to me because 99% of the work I needed to do is complete and at this point the ball is in other people’s courts.  That means I don’t have to work this weekend and, for the most part, my really ridiculous schedule of 10-14 hour days, 7 days a week, is done.  I need one more early morning (this morning) to finish a financial model I am working on for a meeting today, but after that, I think reasonable 10 hour days, 6 day weeks, will get me through the rest of this crunch time.  I should be able to manage that, cook all the food I need to cook (that is the only chore I’ve been able to maintain through all this), exercise regularly (I haven’t had time to exercise all week – and that is bad), and get enough sleep.  I am going to enjoy having a schedule that resembles normalcy.  Oh yeah, and there are a maximum of 4 ballgames left, with 2 potential ballgames being at home on Tuesday and Wednesday next week.  I am hoping that we don’t need a game 6 or a game 7, but if we do come home to play ball, I feel confident that we will have had at least one win in New York and our Royals and Johnny Cueto will finish them off on Tuesday.  I’m putting my money on the assumption that Johnny will come out ready to roll for game 6, just like he did for game 2.  That will be the last game of the season for him and after that he is on the market.  If he clinches the World Series for the Royals after the huge clinching game 5 of the ALDS and the huge game 2 of the World Series, I think he can name his price.  If he implodes in game 6 like he did in Toronto, he will still get a decent contract, but I think it will impact his marketability.  I’m no expert, but from what I’ve noticed I believe that when Johnny really wants it, he gets it.  He’ll want that win in game 6 as much or more than anyone else in Kansas City.  Despite all that, I’m still hoping a game 6 is unnecessary.

My food program is as solid as solid can be.  It feels as if there is very little to talk about when it comes to food these days.  I’m On Program and have no desire to eat or drink anything off program.  The only thing I kind of want sometimes is another cup of coffee when I get to work.  Honestly, I think that is just a security blanket kind of thing.  There is something reassuring about having a hot cup of coffee on my desk.  But I am avoiding coffee at work, altogether, and once the urge passes I am fine. 

This morning I found myself wondering what foods and drinks I have given up forever, in addition to sugar and sugar substitutes.  I don’t know the answer to that question.  I know that I am staying 100% On Program until February 1st (I just picked that date, but it makes sense, that gives me 6 weeks of recovery after surgery with what I consider to be an optimal diet), but after February 1st will I want to eat or drink off program foods?  I have no idea.  Sugar, sugar substitutes, and sweet treats have been eliminated from my diet forever.  But what about bread, wine, legumes, oatmeal, quinoa, rice and other such foods that are currently eliminated from my diet that are not sugar?  This is the quandary:  I feel great right now, 37 days into the Whole30, in spite of a ridiculous work load and not getting enough sleep or exercise.  I attribute that to my diet.  Why would I want to feel less good than I feel right now?  This is the second time that I have done the Whole30.  It made me feel just as good last time I did it.  Then I slowly let non-program foods slip into my diet.  The shift was subtle, but the decline in my wellbeing became noticeable.  Why then, would I change anything?  I like the food I’m eating, I’m healthy, I’m happy, and I can maintain my weight easily, eating like this.  It’s as if this program causes my body to be able to self-regulate food consumption at an optimum level.  It really is amazing.  Why on earth would I change a thing?  I have no idea.  But, this sounds so stupid but there is a “but,” it is easy to imagine being at a restaurant for a special occasion and eating a piece of bread or drinking a glass of wine.  I have no idea why I would want to do that, but I can imagine myself wanting to do that.  This is the sort of thing I need to think about.  I do know this, I am not addicted to bread or wine, I am addicted to sugar.  Therefore I must abstain from sugar for life but I don’t feel like a must abstain from other off program foods for life.  I will want to get this figured out before February 1st.

I’ve got to run. 

Have a beautiful day.


2 comments:

  1. What about the tiny amounts of sugar in things like bread?

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    1. I a m not going to eat anything that I know has sugar in it, forever. There is a possibility, when I eat food prepared by others, that I may end up inadvertently eating something that has a little sugar in it. I don't think that will derail me, but for the most part, I will eat only food I prepare. With regard to bread, I think it is very likely that I will include it in the items I avoid forever. The only exception might be things like crab cakes or meatloaf, that might have a little bread in them as a binding agent. But it is very likely that I have eaten my last piece of bread. Sometimes I think to myself, If I had known that was my last fill-in-the-blank when I was eating it, I would have enjoyed it more!

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