Assessment

Things have been coming to a head in the health department.

I've mentioned a few times in the past how the weather was hurting me. Well, it had gotten to the point where any front moving through the area would leave me useless. It didn't need to rain where I was at for this to happen, just if the pressure dropped in the area.

To this was added the problem of me having gained around forty pounds in four months.

Full disclosure: I had to stop my calisthenics early last year. I was running out of air before I could work up a sweat. My allergist said I had "exercise induced asthma" and that I should do what I could and wait for the allergy shots to start working. Well, "doing what I could" amounted to keeping myself from becoming a complete invalid. Around October I was able to start my calisthenics again and I was to the point where I could work up a sweat before my lungs gave out. Around Dec. I found my lungs were giving out too soon again. I determined that this was due to my weight gain.

But the lack of activity was not the cause of my rapid weight gain from 11/07 to 2/08. No, that was caused by my own stupidity. See, I had taken to bringing some trail mix of the dried fruit variety to work to snack on and in Nov. I switched brands to one that had more sunflower seeds. I had no clue how many calories sunflower seeds packed. At the start of this month, on a whim I checked the label. 140 calories per serving with nine servings per bag. So I was taking in around 1200 extra calories a day.

The rapid weight gain was causing me problems with my sleep and things were shaping up to be a repeat of the health problems of 2006.

I've started two things to turn this around.

One is to change my style of nasal wash. Some background on that - at the start of my health issues in 2006 my wife suggested I start using a neti pot nasal wash as it had been recommended on websites she frequents. I tried it a few times, found it to be very unpleasant an stopped. After a few days my head was pounding. So I started again and had some small relief but stopped again thinking the relief was a coincidence. Again, after a few days my head was pounding. So it did help, just very little.

Fast forward to Dec of last year -- Instapundit posted the second item about nasal washing in about six months. Out of curiosity I checked out the NeilMed products. After about three days I determined that the NeilMed system was far superior to the neti pot style.

I found a few technique changes that helped a great deal. One I found in the NeilMed literature to the effect of snorting the remaining wash back up the nose after finishing one side. That was a horrendous experience. However within a day the worst of my ear complaints went away. The other technique was tilting my head over the sink so that my chin was almost touching my chest and that the top of my head was nearly pointing down. This causes the wash to run through the frontal sinuses.

Lastly, while hunting around for nasal wash recipes I found two items of note. One, don't use oil based ingredients in the wash. I came across an ENT site that indicated that oil in the nose can get into the lungs and that oil in the lungs can cause pneumonia. And two, I found a hydrogen peroxide recipe that cleared my head right up. In experimenting around I've found the following:

Baking Soda -- 1/4 - 1/2tsp per 8oz of water:
This is used to make the wash more comfortable by changing the acidity of the salt you'll be using.

Salt -- 1/2 - 1.5tsp per 8oz of water:
This is used to dry out the sinuses. I.E. too much and your sinuses will be uncomfortably dry and too little won't do much at all.

Hydrogen Peroxide (3%)-- 1/8 - 1/4tsp per 8oz of water:
I made the mistake of thinking that I should feel the hydrogen peroxide doing something (bubbling) in my head and upped the dose to 1/2tsp. I still felt nothing during the wash but by late afternoon my sinuses were very dry. With that in mind, I suggest adding this only when the salt and baking soda alone don't work. Even then, bear in mind that you won't know how effective it is for several hours after. So please keep the initial dose low.

Within a week of using the NeilMed and the new recipe I found that weather fronts just gave me a minor headache. I don't know how to explain this properly. I've not felt this good since 2004.

But now onto the problem with the rapid weight gain and its effects on my sleep. I decided I would not become the near invalid I was in 2006 and have started a diet.

In the past I found the following to be a good rule of thumb:
10 x bodyweight in calories - very slow and safe weight loss
12-13 x bodyweight in calories - maintains current bodyweight
15 x bodyweight in calories - very slow and safe weight gain with minimal fat gain

I decided my health was showing signs that something drastic was needed up front. So I started the following 1600 calorie diet:

Breakfast: 1/2cup musli in 3/2cup sugar free yogurt. Approximately 500 calories.
Dinner: Approximately 500 calories of lean meat, veggies, and whole grains.
From 10am - 5pm every half hour: 2-3 Kashi crackers or chips and 2oz of V8 low sodium juice. (low sodium V8 is very bland and I suggest adding some hot sauce of some sort)

The all day crackers and V8 is based off of experiments I've done in the past. I found that fiber can help one feel physically full but that the feeling passes quickly. In one experiment involving very large salads every night I found that I could be physically full and yet still be very hungry. That is where the Kashi crackers come in. Besides having a good deal of fiber, they have a goodly amount of fat. Fat intake is what tells the brain to be quiet about hunger.

I'm wholly surprised at how well the V8 and Kashi crackers throughout the day help with hunger pangs. At most they've been at the annoying but still easily controllable level. I've started to chew gum as well as I've read the act of chewing can curb hunger. I've found that it drops the hunger level down to a very manageable level.

Now this 1600 calorie diet is not maintainable. My intent in doing this is to drop as much as I can before my body fights to enter starvation mode (i.e. metabolism drops, mental focus degrades, etc). I'm trying to balance two sides as a very low calorie diet will force me to add calories sooner and will avoid entering the muscle cannibalization stage of starvation mode.

I started this diet on Feb 14 and lost 21 pounds the first week. I'm assuming that most of that is water. Based on how tired I am currently I will begin upping my calories this Thursday (2/28). I'm aiming at (bodyweight - 20) x 10 which will allow me to drop approximately 1-3 pounds a week. However, I may not just add the difference in calories to the 1600 I'm taking in now. No, I'll add 200 calories a week until I hit my target. I'm guessing that on Thursday my target will by 2800 calories and that it'll be six weeks before I can hit that. In those six weeks I'll most likely have lost more and I'll have to readjust.

My problems with focus are keeping me from my stones but I try to change that shortly.