Day 10 - Starch Solution

Today’s stats:

I slept pretty well last night, but when I woke up I still felt groggy. Not sure why but it could just be that I woke up at the wrong point in the sleep cycle. It’s annoying when that happens but can’t be helped. I might see if I can dig up the alarm app that supposedly wakes you up at the right point in the cycle. Maybe my fitbit supports it - I’ll have to check that too.

The ripe bananas are getting too ripe, so I grabbed two of those again. Breakfast was just one sachet of oats today, plus a super ripe banana. That was surprisingly filling and kept me going easily until lunch time (though I admit I sneaked in a handful of grapes or so). Today, I really wanted breakfast, no question about it, but I guess yesterday’s dinner was pretty early and I didn’t eat anything after that.

Actually come lunch time I wasn’t that hungry, and I had planned to go out to get some sun first before eating lunch when I got back. Unfortunately I forgot I was going to do that and microwaved my lunch anyway. This just goes to show how much of the eating process is psychological. I definitely wasn’t hungry, but I hit up the microwave anyway. If it had only been about the food, then I would simply have forgotten about it. Need to watch out for that and learn some new habits.

Another interesting thing was, I wasn’t able to finish the lunch box. Most people in the UK are brought up to “clear the plate”. We are constantly reminded of poor or starving children elsewhere in the world who don’t have anything to eat. Now this is a good sentiment and all, and it behooves us to be grateful, but making our children overweight and obese for the sake of a few mouthfuls of food seems a bit of a lose lose situation. Clearly if parents cooked the right amount of food and gave the correct to amount to their children, there would be no waste or anything left on any plates.

Still, that aside, most people want to finish what they start and for whatever reason that can often mean “eating into the pain” as Dr Doug Lisle says. So I was quite surprised when about ²⁄₃ of the way through my lunch box where I just couldn’t bring myself to eat any more. Just no interest in eating it, and the food didn’t really taste satisfying any more. I just started feeling more unsatisfied the more I tried to eat until I just pushed it away unfinished (fear not I shall eat the rest later).

This is especially interesting because I can’t recall any time where that has happened before. I mean sure it has happened where I’ve physically stuffed myself (eating into the pain again) but in this cases it has been a simple case of matter over mind - the mind is wiling but the flesh is weak and all that. I’d happily eat more if I could only get some more in there. This time though, I had no interest in eating it, even though I could easily get more in.

So pretty much the exact opposite of before… Interesting…

Nibbling

I ended up nibbling the remains of my lunch box through out the afternoon, though interestingly I still ended up hungry about the same time. We had a moon cake tasting at work, which involved very rich moon cakes (a very big thing in Hong Kong) made with rich lotus paste, and of course the modern options which were ice cream based and mochi based. I’m sure they were very tasty, but I wouldn’t know as I didn’t participate. Well I went over and had a look, took some pictures and could see others were enjoying them - but it just wasn’t really food for me.

Dinner and course

This time I started of with a handful of grapes (I was hungry and so I needed something quick and easy) and my dinner bowl was the same as usual, only this time I had some tomatoes as well. Very tasty and filling. I started watching another McDougall lecture (yes, I know I watch a lot of these, but they’re truly fascinating and I love to learn) and then I remembered that my next plan nutrition course should start today and I hadn’t received any email about it.

Turns out I was really lucky as I was able to subscribe to the course (it seems it didn’t work last time) and get accepted just an hour before the course actually opened. I wasn’t able to actually watch any of those lectures yet, but I’m hoping to start on that tonight. The first course was really good so I’m expecting great things from part 2.

Better joints

It’s not exactly scientific data, but I found something quite interesting yesterday. As I sat on the floor (as is my want) to sort through some papers, I wanted a drink and realised that I’d left the can on the table. So I just got up to get it, and that’s when I noticed how easy and fluid I was moving.

Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t exactly paralyzed before and previously I’ve been able to run a good 5km in a not too embarrassing amount of time. But still, I noticed a difference. It just seemed a lot less effort, as though someone had sneaked in and oiled my joints. In fact I had another go and again, it felt different.

This may not be convincing for many people. After all, my goal is to show that starch works, so I’m inherently biased regardless, and you have no way to know whether I’m telling you the truth or just writing what I want you to hear. Still, in this case, it was one of those events where something happens that’s just slightly out of the ordinary and it catches your attention. Like when you go to pick up your keys from the place you always leave them but they’re a few inches to the left… your brain just catches on that instant in time, and suddenly you’re focusing your attention on it. It’s different, it’s not normal and it’s unexpected.

Anyway I thought I’d share that as it was a benefit I was not really expecting :)