I Will Not Die

After all the enjoyable sensations I was having last night, I was disappointed to wake up feeling so bad. Heavy fatigue, low energy, irritability, aching lungs, shortness of breath, to name a few. It’s notable the degree to which I can so quickly become winded. The good news is that once I had been at work for a couple of hours, I noticed something: I wasn’t hungry. No cravings for food, at all. None. As the day went on, I felt better and better–more energy, alertness, and my mood continued to improve. The bad news is that I may have ruined my good fortune in the evening. A friend of mine was moving to an apartment and asked for help. Don’t let your friends move alone. I warned him about my strength and told him what I was doing, but went along anyways to cart off as much small stuff as possible. The small trips back and forth from their house to my car quickly wore me out. I almost fainted a couple of times. For the rest of the evening, I was weaker than I have been since the beginning. I was so tired in fact, that I couldn’t even manage to write this post during day three, but am now writing it on day four. One thing of particular note was that ketosis apparently began, definitively, late last night. I was sitting there near my wife when she remarked on my bad breath. Normally that would be strange because I’ve only had water, a single multivitamin, and more water over the last three days, and I still brush my teeth 2-3 times daily. I’m definitely cannibalizing now. When I woke up this morning, I was still extremely tired. I’ll post more about the rest of today, later tonight.

Dereck :: Apr.26.2008 :: Health :: No Comments »

Last night, like yesterday afternoon when I took a nap, I slept as hard as the dead. Getting up was extremely difficult. Every time I had almost enough energy to fully wake up, my body dragged me back to sleep. That cycle actually felt kind of good, because the sleep was of such high quality depth, but I still had to go to work (which is probably a good thing, because if I didn’t, I’d probably still be in bed). Also, just like the nap, I felt feverish whenever I did wake up a bit. It felt identical to the fever sensation we can get when we’re sick–complete with the periodic bouts of sweating and chills. I thought that was a little strange because everything I’ve read has unanimously indicated that core body temperature falls during fasts.

After I finally woke up officially this morning, I still felt somewhat bad (slightly sore throat, low energy, and an “out of sorts” sensation). I also began experiencing shortness of breath and weakness. If I went up even short flights of stairs, my lungs would actually burn and could feel my heart begin to pound. Taking long, slow breaths did not help. I stood in line at a gas station and starting to feel like I might faint (I was getting dizzy and broke into a cold and sudden sweat). That was kind of scary. However, my mild headache from yesterday had transformed away from pain and was now a sensation of pressure in my frontal lobes. This was the beginning of what I’m calling the “Android Phase.” With the pressure in the frontal lobes came this really interesting symptom: I had this remarkable sense of focus. When I looked at anything, it seemed clearer. Things had sharper colors too. As far as I can tell so far, the heightened sense seems to only be visual. I don’t notice anything with taste, smell or sound. In fact, I’m still feeling the same sensation now, Thursday evening. Every time I look at anything, it feels like I’m absorbing twice as much information from it. It’s really interesting. I feel like I’m walking around analyzing things and absorbing all possible data on it.

Once I got to work, my cravings for food increased significantly. I work in a cubicle, and I wonder if sitting for somewhat long periods of time in the same place lets my body remind me more often. When I’m not there, I definitely crave food much less. In fact, I’d say that the food cravings were the defining aspect of the whole day while at work. I was constantly distracted by urgings to wolf down anything. I actually got so uncomfortable that I made some unsweetened tea. Just having something with flavor on my tongue helped. Honestly, I was hoping it would help more than it did. Also, about midday, I started getting an acidy stomach (I still have that slightly now, though it’s better).

When I got home from work, I, like yesterday, took a nap. By this point, I could definitely tell that my body temperature was falling. I was feeling chilly even under blankets. I slept extremely hard again but don’t recall having any vivid dreams. Now for the best part yet: when I woke up, I felt extremely good. Extremely. I had an abundance of energy, I was alert, I still had the Android vision, I felt calm and focused. It gets even better though. Every 30-60 seconds I would get this incredible wave of ecstasy. The closest thing I can think of to describe the sensation is the emotional trigger you might feel at a particular point in a song that really moves you. If you can think of a song that at some point sends shivers up your back, or almost makes you cry joyfully, even if just for the briefest period, then that’s about what I was feeling. It would just be a short wave of that feeling lasting a few seconds. It must be something hormonal. Whatever it is, it’s terrific.

I’m off to bed soon. I took a multi-vitamin just now. The only other thing to report is that I started feeling some achy-ness in my thighs. At first it felt like muscular soreness, but it’s now deeper, almost like growing pains.

Dereck :: Apr.25.2008 :: Health :: No Comments »

Or maybe five. We’ll see how this goes. Why did I decide to fast? I’ve thought about fasting for some time now. Besides the many medical benefits (which cover reduced-calorie & alternate-day fasting, also try here for lots of research leads), I have wanted to do it simply as a test of my will. You see, it’s hard. Also, in the long scheme of things, when I look at myself in perspective, I sometimes feel surrounded by a constant, often intense orgy of consumption–I am a rat among rats in a race among rats. I, just like anyone else, can get tied up into this sometimes frenzied life style where we get up and plow forward from dawn ‘til dusk, accomplishing this task, tackling that one, and then crash and repeat. Fasting feels like a good way to unplug. At work, instead of being lured by my stomach at midday for lunch, I’m going to just find a quiet place to think. Just me and my glass of water.

Day One

I stopped eating almost exactly twenty-four hours ago, Tuesday evening. It was a very delightful portion of homemade vanilla ice cream with Oreo’s crumbled throughout (sniff). As anyone should expect, no symptoms began until the middle of the day today. Initially it just felt like I was skipping a meal (I don’t generally eat breakfast), but I was hungrier than usual during the time I would normally eat lunch at work. I think the anticipation of not eating was weighing on my mind. Somewhat strangely, about an hour or so after lunchtime, I felt better. I was definitely hungrier during the time I would normally eat.

By mid-afternoon I was starting to get sleepy, and I could clearly tell that my mind was becoming a little foggy. It felt more like initial sleep deprivation than food depravation. Around four o’clock I was beginning to have serious cravings for food. My body was definitely telling me loud and clear that I had forgotten something. It was also around this time where I began to get a mild headache. The woman in the cubicle next to me (who is in on my little adventure and who has fasted before too) saved me from a granola bar that someone offered me–I was having serious doubts about following through with the fast by then.

By the time I was heading home from work, I could tell that my blood sugar had dropped through the floor. I had a slightly increased heart rate, was pretty thirsty, still had the headache, and could begin to detect a slight decrease in my motor skills. I could detect delays in my actions, slight ones mind you. By the time I got home, I decided to take a nap (I was definitely feeling a lack of energy). The weird thing about the nap is that it felt incredible. I slept very deeply, and had very vivid dreams. Oddly, I also got extremely overheated and felt almost like I was running a fever.

Every time I thought about getting back up, I easily slipped right back into sleep again. I could effortlessly doze back off–very strange. I finally got the gumption to get up and move around. I did some errands, got my hair cut and chatted with a friend who stopped by. Unfortunately, I was also getting irritable (er, sorry Honey). The strange thing is that even with the irritability and the mental fogginess, I feel a low-key-ness, a calm. I’m heading to bed soon. Presently, I feel the same mild headache, a constant light hunger pain (with sporadic sharper hunger pangs every 15-20 minutes), a light buzz in my head, a mild sore throat, and slight congestion in my head. I’m interested in describing how I will feel tomorrow.

Dereck :: Apr.24.2008 :: Health :: 6 Comments »