May 2005

Nostalgic – this was the last stretch of the road to the bus stop back when I lived in the original Chaos Node. I would also walk there frequently in the afternoon, as one of the several round trips I could take.

I have  lately been reading up on some of my entries from May 2005, a time which was in some ways similar to now. For years up to Easter 2005, I was moderately overweight. Well, my Body Mass Index was at least above the magic line of 25, although the only visible sign of overweight was a modest paunch or gut bulge, which I could probably have hidden with stronger stomach muscles.

Around the time of Easter, I became acutely ill. For a week or so, I could not digest food at all, it seemed, and I felt terrible. The doctor later said it was probably a virus. That is probably true but does not really tell anything more than it not being magic. For some days, I evidently produced no bile at all, but it did not last so long that I got yellow eyes like with the more famous liver infections. I gradually recovered, but discovered that from then on, I could only eat small amounts of fat at any one time, or I would get violently ill. The amount has increased slightly since 2005, but is still fairly small.

These events caused me to take an interest in physiology and health. In May, I wrote about these things extensively. I also bought a pulse watch and a pair of good jogging shoes, and started walking all over the place. Just like now, I would burn approximately 600-700 calories per day walking outdoors. (One and a half hour today, 900 calories, but that is above average.)  I expected this to be one of my usual fads, to fade away after a couple weeks. But it continued throughout the summer and fall. With the onset of winter, I was already busy moving, and got my exercise from that. There was a lot to carry over to my new apartment, which was within (a long) walking distance from the old. In the end, I did not actually move in there, but hurriedly moved to the house at Nodeland.

During my last 9 months or so in the original Chaos Node, I lost almost 15% of my body mass, all of it fat. I was hungry constantly, and in the end I would wake up in the night with hunger pangs and had to eat before going back to bed. (On the plus side, my acid reflux was gone.)

After I moved, I gradually put most of the weight back on, although not enough to be overweight again. I stabilized at a BMI of 25 or just below. I doubt I will be able to exceed that unless I become able to digest fat normally again.

And now, it seems I have resumed my practice of walking around for an hour each day.  I had almost forgotten that I used to do this in 2005 too. But then I looked for something else in my archives and found this, and remembered it clearly again. I wonder if it will be one of those 2-week fads again this time, or whether it will become part of my lifestyle again. I am not sure quite why it faded away last time. Perhaps I just did not enjoy starving all the time, even when my stomach was full. (Yes, I really felt hungry even then. It was like the brain was detached from the stomach in that regard.) Hopefully I can find a better balance this time.

In spring 2005, my digestion had not yet adapted to life without fat. In the years before, I ate small meals, but rich in fat. These days, my meals are larger but contain mostly carbohydrates. So it was in the meantime, while I could not eat fat but also could only eat small meals, that I lost all that weight. I don’t think it will happen again, for better or for worse. But then, I am not overweight either. I guess that is also beginning to be a rare thing these days.

One thing I noticed back then that I am noticing again, is that I am sleepier. And on that note, good night!