Day 9 – Full of Crap

“An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.”

~ H. L. Mencken

223.3 lbs

The last couple of days I hadn’t had what gets euphemistically called a BM in a while. That’s probably why I was only losing about a half pound a day. When I finally had a good sit, I was pounds lighter when I stood up again.

Some people are voracious eaters. After all, it can be a lot of fun. I see nothing wrong with indulging now and them. Food can be a stimulant; when you eat your body releases certain chemicals into your system – a very small rush – as a figurative pat on the head for performing a survival behavior. Sorta like sex, but on a smaller scale.

But if you get to the point where you’re so addicted to that rush you’re overeating constantly, and become obese, you run into a couple of serious problems. Your odds of sex and the greater rush that goes with it goes way down. Who wants to risk being smothered by their lover in the throws of passion? Yes yes, okay, the S&M crowd might. Or at least the small fraction that don’t play safe. Back to obesity, you pervs.

Another problem is of course your health. When your body has to move that extra bulk around, your heart has to work harder… but fat doesn’t just accumulate in a band around your torso and in your thighs; your organs can also get fatty. That’s why foie gras is made by overfeeding geese – their liver gets so fatty it becomes less like meat and more like a creamy blob of fat.

So your heart has to work harder while the muscle itself is hampered by intramuscular fat building up. That’s right – your heart gets fat too. While I was full of crap for a few days, people who are obese are full of crap for years – but fatty, heart-choking crap that’s slowly but surely killing them. Are burgers, chips, and pizza so good it’s worth it? “Once in a while” should be once every month or two, not twice a week.

I’m on a diet under controlled conditions. Yes it’s extreme, and without supervision it could go spectacularly wrong – and the main reason I’m doing it is to get your attention so you’ll listen.

Do not starve yourself. Do not become a blob of a couch potato. Be active, eat when you’re hungry, and eat crappy processed foods sparingly if at all… or you’ll die a lot sooner than you’d like.