Well! 24 Hours Later

First let me acknowledge that today is Friday the 13th, and the moon is full in the house of Scorpio. It means something but I don't know what. Once upon a time when I had parasites in 2009 (my own diagnosis) I learned that the best time to treat against them was just before the full moon. This is all coming back to me at this moment because it was only today that I was informed of the full moon. For the past few weeks my weight has been up; fat weight in particular. I diagnosed yesterday's event as food poisoning, but, in retrospect, because of the timing, it could have been parasites.

In any case I'm better now.

If it weren't for the date of the calendar I would've started this entry by stating something about, the day after any gastronomic misadventure I'm a little paranoid about what I put in my stomach. 

March 2005 Eval Pic.

That's the irrational side of me. Today, we were cautious; nibbling on the banana I started last night, eating finger-fulls of trail mix instead of handfuls, sipping the master cleanse - I didn't even drink a whole cup of tea this morning. I don't have many of these events. There are few enough to remember. A big-eating weekend between Brooklyn and Philadelphia in 2008 ended in such an event that suggested food poisoning, and in 2009... the parasites thing which ended my relationship with Chinese food, (fried rice, lo mein, that sort of dish.) I'll still eat roast duck however.

I made it into the gig today, which was a must and later opted for the home workout instead of the YMCA. The first "meal" so to speak, since the event was the protein shake I just finished.

These events for me are literally life changing. I'm not exaggerating.

All day I've been thinking about an updated eating strategy in which I would no longer be a regular at the food/salad bar, which may or may not be the source of the event. I should be nibbling throughout the day and saving "big" meals for eating events.

Seriously... the way my day unfolds... up at 4AM and exercise for 30 - 40 minutes. On days I'm not extending the fast I'll eat at 6AM and go to work, then munch on trail mix until lunch time when I'll eat a big-ish meal usually 75% - 100% of a pound of food. After the gig I hit the gym, walk home 40 minutes and either have a shake and/or make dinner. I'm done eating by 8PM, so I'm fasting for 10 hours before I eat next. That has been working out until a couple of weeks ago. (I'll have to look over my notes, although hindsight will no doubt get in the way, should this pattern emerge again I'll at least have a clue.)

Behavioral changes are tricky, it usually takes some kind of memorable event to inspire them. I will of course let you know how this turns out. Perhaps in future posts I'll even explain why small snacks throughout the day are better than three squares (although I hear intermittent fasting is the best strategy of all.)

I hope this shake doesn't have a negative effect on my recovery.



Photo: One of a series of periodic evaluation pix taken March 10th, 2005. This was before I was obsessively checking the scale. It was one of my strongest years, but that strength was mostly upper body. Legs were lacking. The ratio is more even now.