I started my journey, roughly, on July 14. It’s been about three months. What have I seen in myself?
- atrial fibrillation: back in January, even the most basic activities – showering, getting dressed, walking more than a few feet – left me heaving for oxygen. I struggled to sleep because of my heart. I was told I was in congestive heart failure – later “downgraded” to a-fib. Since then I’ve been on a cocktail of medications, and a failed effort to restart my heart in a proper rhythm. Since starting my first fast, my breathing has been much more regular with normal activities, and my a-fib testing has been coming up negative more often than not.
- blood pressure: also part of the January scare, my blood pressure has been elevated most of the year, but dropped a lot once fasting began. I’m still on the medications, but I got off them once before and feel confident I can do so again.
- Body composition: autophagy is supposedly one of fasting’s secret weapons for weight loss. When the body consumes cells and other stuff no longer needed, excess skin is said to be on the plate. Anecdotally, I don’t know that all loose skin is on the menu, but I can say that my losses this time out have come with more significant positive body changes than when i did a “medical fast” involving 600 calories of shakes a day, and when I exercised off the pounds but kept eating a lot, especially protein. I feel more hopeful this time out that loose skin won’t be a mandated-surgery part of my future. I’ve seen folks like “butter Bob” Briggs who do have loose skin after significant losses, but he has little enough that I’d be happy with it. Bags of fatty skin down to my knees? Surgery wouuld be on the table.
- inflammation: my first medical scare was about a year ago, when I ended up in the emergency room with a bad case of cellulitis and edema in my left leg. It took months of antibiotics to clear up the infection to the point that when it gets hot and pink now it’s something new. My left knee has been giving me fits ever since, to greater or lesser degrees. When I started fasting, I noticed greatly reduced pain in my knee and ankles, and other trouble spots in my back and hips, shoulders and elbows. You may not notice the pain until it’s gone – you just get used to it, and only notice changes in intensity. The inflammation can come back as quickly as it goes when eating the wrong things, but it’s amazing when it’s gone. The reduced inflammation throughout the body makes deep tissue massages a lot less traumatic, and I need a lot less tylenol.
- mental: a few days into a fast, my brain feels much more awake. I’ve been feeling an increasing amount of brain fog in recent years, so when it flees in less than a week, the difference is stark. In the “oh yeah, I used to be this smart” sort of way. In some of my daily puzzle games, I notice the improvement in my SuDoku game.
- Monkey love: I’m old enough to just say sex, but heck with it; I married late and I own my arrested development. Bottom line: the reduced inflammation and pain, increased stamina and focus, and increased accessibility and flexibility are all conducive to more enjoyable happy fun time with the missus.