The Amazing Vanishing Metabolism.
02.07.20
E02:26
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Guess what kiddies? Now I've finally done it. No, no, this has no relation to the two previous entries, and it's amusing in sort of a sick, perverse, "I-told-you-so" manner. Basically, people have been telling me for a while that my daily self-imposed limit of 1,000 calories per day is a Bad Idea, and that I should stop. Being myself and all, I paid no heed, especially because I was losing weight, as I'm shamefully preoccupied by it, and have been for a while. It's no secret to anyone, before I left for Japan in 2000 I felt I was too heavy, and I was actually suffering some health complications from it (such as high blood pressure). So I began to exercise (I was rather sedentary, myself being a fan of more nerdly pursuits) and eat healthier, eliminated carbonated beverages from my diet, etc, etc. And lost weight. And to went to Japan. And lost more weight. And we continue to the present, when about 40-45 pounds from the original time have been lost. By now I've developed a routine, and for the past two years it's pretty much just been going down and down. Until suddenly, I start gaining weight, when I've been eating well UNDER 1,000 calories per day. Which means that I've likely done what people've told me I would do eventually: my body's convinced I'm starving it and has gone into "famine mode":
When you go on a low-calorie (starvation-level) diet, your body interprets the deficient caloric intake as a life-threatening situation.
In response, it tries to defend you against what it perceives to be eminent starvation - by conserving energy - from the small amounts of food you are eating, and in the stores of body-fat you already have. The way your body does this, is to automatically slow down its metabolic rate.
This automatic metabolic adjustment causes lower (caloric) energy consumption and a tendency to store excess (fat) reserves. Consequently, your body's natural defense against starvation -- which in reality was triggered by your dieting -- can create an impenetrable barrier against losing weight.
Don't worry, I'm not depending on these excerpts for my "diagnosis", I've done more research than that. Basically I've screwed up my metabolism royally, my body's eating my muscles, and I'm gaining weight. Life is not happy in the land of Sho's Body, thanks to her own overzealous misguided efforts. Which means now I have to fix metabolism, by the combined efforts of A) eating more B) drinking lots of water (like most of the population, I'm perpetually dehydrated) and C) exercise, which I've embarrassingly been neglectful of as of late thanks to having guests over for extended stays. Perhaps I should visit a dietician? So now I feel a bit silly. Yes, I know that 1,000 calories a day is categorized by most as malnutrition at best, for most health societies and whatnot. I guess I was just to stubborn to listen until it finally jumped up and hit me between the eyes. So yeah, I'm not angsting or beating myself up too much, just feeling a bit sheepish now.
But it is late, and I must sleep, for I have work upon the morrow. However, I also had work this day, and I've arrived at the conclusion that I'm too weird to answer phones at a pizza place. Seriously, they should just stuff me behind the counter topping pizzas for hours and leave me there. Because I'm not a driver and seem to have no sense of the street geography of this region despite living here for five years I frequently take orders out of our area. Today I was taking an order and was asking the guy's address. He said he lived on Bolivar, mentioned that it was strange and was about to spell it for me when I interjected, "Like the South American historical figure, right?" "Uhhhh..." "Right." Which I knew, because I'd seen that street sign before. Now I've started talking about how "all of our pizzas are accompanied by beverages". Seriously, if anyone does not belong on a phone, it is I. But off I go, for the glory of sleep and work calls. Good night, all.
chronos
Ekairos
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