Fifth level drinking
I’m not sure what level I was at last night when I wrote my cheery post about the mechanics of suicide, but this morning I’m definitely at level five. And reading back what I wrote is not helping the headache.
I don’t really know where that post came from - some deep, dark part of my psyche that gets released when I have too much beer on a school night, it would seem - and I don’t know what to feel about it. I know what some of my friends will feel about: “Stop being such a miserable drama queen and cheer the fuck up”.
By the way, if you’ve never heard it before you should listen to Larry Miller’s Five Levels of Drinking routine (You Tube has a clip); wonderful observational humour.
Back to work
Well it was nice while it lasted - two weeks off work, to laze around the house not doing all those jobs I’d promised myself I was going to do when I had some time off. Weather could have been better, but it wasn’t too bad.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, the non-drinking, healthy-eating, Konjac-taking regime took a bit of a hit while I was off work. Actually, it didn’t just take a bit of a hit - it was completely knocked on the head. Plenty of unhealthy food, and way too much to drink have probably completely wrecked all the good work that I’d previously done. But hey, I was on holiday. I still don’t own a set of scales so I have no idea how bad the damage might have been - which is probably a good thing, as it would probably be a bit depressing.
So, back to work also means back to doing things right. I’ve re-started on the Konjac today (I did keep taking my other supplements while I was off - just didn’t take the Konjac) and yesterday’s beginning of the month shopping chore stocked me up on plenty of bottled water and fresh fruit and veg. Hoping that it will be quite easy to get back into the normal pattern.
The other thing that I need to back into normal patterns is going to bed at a reasonable time; while I was off I found myself staying up as late as 3am just looking at crap on the Net. This has been a slow one to recover from as my body got used to being up late but sleeping late in the day. Last night I finished an online chat about 10.45pm and thought “Time for bed”. Around 1am I was still awake, thinking “If this goes on much longer I may as well just get up!” Of course, once your body realises that you’re having trouble sleeping, your brain starts to wonder why. Which makes it even more impossible to sleep. You start to think about all sorts of things - some good (plans for the weekend), some bad (how crap you’re going to feel come 6am), some impossible to answer (which is better - ouzo shots or kumquat shots) - and that takes you even further from the realm of sleep.
Wolfie’s July Project 4
I must confess that the Project is suffering somewhat this month. You see, I’m on holiday (vacation if you’re from t’other side of the Atlantic) and so I’ve decided that all bets are off.
Having said that, though, I’m still being quite good; whilst I have been indulging in a few ciders they’ve not been too excessive. Food-wise I’m doing OK-ish, but there has been more chocolate and crisps than there otherwise normally would be. I work on the basis, though, that I’ve earned it.
What I thought I’d do would be to skip it for the rest of this month, and then get back on track in September (with a break for my birthday half-way through).
I must say that though I still haven’t invested in those scales to see if I actually have lost any weight, when I look in the mirror there is definitely less to see. So I’m going in the right direction.
Wolfie’s July Project 3
Avid followers of The Wolf’s Howl (I know there are some, I see the stats) will know of my drive to cut down on the booze and to lose a bit of weight. However, its been a while since I posted on the subject so you might be wondering what’s going on. Well, I haven’t really got anything to report.
The Project continues and it seems to be going pretty well. Had a day off from not drinking last Saturday, to celebrate the third birthday of the daughter of some friends (you know the sort of thing; sunshine, barbecue, kids playing while the adults gradually get more and more “merry”) and had one hell of a hangover the next day. It really is amazing how quickly you lose your tolerance for the stuff. Having a couple of beers this evening, as a friend of mine had some that he was getting rid of so it seemed churlish to refuse.
The Konjac Fibre regime remains. I must admit I don’t take this as diligently as I should - I generally miss the morning one as I don’t get up in time to take it - but I am still taking it. From a healthy digestion point of view, it is definitely working well!
As far as losing weight is concerned, I don’t know if this is happening as I don’t own a set of scales. What I do know is that I feel better, my clothes feel looser even if they really aren’t and I feel good about myself. At the end of the day, that’s all that really matters.
(Oh, by the way, could the person who stole my last July Project entry please not steal this one? Have an original thought, eh? I don’t mind you linking to the post, I don’t mind you ripping the piss out of it, but I do object to you stealing the whole thing and passing it off as your own work)
Wolfie’s July Project
I’ve written about my June Project (staying off the alcohol) in three posts so far; check out Taking Those Big Decisions, TTBD2 and TTBD3 for the full story. On the whole, I think it was a success. I had one planned day-off on 16 June, and I slipped slightly last Saturday, when I had two beers with dinner at Pizza Hut. The rest of the month, nothing. So, the June Project continues but is now joined by the July Project.
The June Project had two aims; the first was really financial - I needed to stop spending so much money in pubs at the weekends. Thankfully, that’s worked. I say thankfully, because the bike’s just gone in for some work and a new rear tyre. The June Project has helped me save some more money towards the bill.
The second aim, though, was to try and lose some of the extra weight that I’m currently carrying around (that might be working, too, as my jeans are definitely a bit looser) and it’s this aim that the July Project seeks to continue.
I wrote in Taking Those Big Decisions about a dietary supplement called Konjac Fibre; this is derived from the Japanese Konjac plant and it’s primary constituent - glucomannan - has been recognised for many years as a slimming aid. The way it works is two-fold; firstly, and most immediately, when taken with plenty of water (the correct way to take it) it swells to many times its original size and helps to give you a feeling of fullness. Secondly, it can help to keep your blood-sugar level at normal, thus meaning you don’t get the hunger pangs you normally would. In addition to this, by being a good source of dietary fibre, it helps to keep your digestive system functioning properly. Keeps you regular, as they say.
So this is the what I am now using. As from yesterday, I am taking two capsules before breakfast (at the ungodly hour of 6am), three before lunch and five before dinner. It’s only been two days, but I have already noticed a difference in my hunger responses - I still get hungry around the same times as before (breakfast 6.30am, lunch noon-ish and dinner around 7pm) but I am not needing to eat as much to feel full. All I need to do now is get in the habit of preparing smaller portions. And yes, it does keep you regular.
Studies have shown that taking Konjac Fibre in this way for three months can result in an average weight loss of six pounds (just under 3kg) with no other changes in lifestyle. So far, I’ve made one change - giving up drinking - and another has been foisted on me by my local supermarket; they didn’t have the cereal I normally buy when I did my monthly shop on Monday, so I’m using a different one. Looking at the product labels, I see that by using this cereal for a month my sugar intake will reduce by nearly 1.5kg. With that in mind, I see no reason why I shouldn’t have lost two stone (nearly 13kg) by the end of the year. I’ll keep you posted.
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Konjac Fibre is recommended by leading nutritionist Patrick Holford in his series of FatBurner Diet books. Check out this link for some more information from him about losing weight.
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