Diet results Jun 28, 2010
My short-lived diet was successful:  I lost 4-5 lbs in 12 days, and it wasn't too bad.  But for the sake of posterity, here are some thoughts: 
  1. The first week was bad.  I was hungry a lot, and hungry is often equivalent to angry.  But after that first week, I got used to being hungry and even going to bed hungry.
  2. My diet consisted solely of calorie counting, which meant I could eat anything as long as I accounted for the calories.  I quickly decided that my morning coffee (which includes creamer and an undisclosed but copious amount of sugar) wasn't worth it, nor was my morning Pop Tart or many other common foods.
  3. I spent a lot of time finding foods that were a good bang for the calorie, i.e. filling but not high in calories, i.e. not rice cakes or things like that.  In addition to blueberries and strawberries, which are fairly low in calories, I made good use of carrots (the least vegetable-y vegetable) and pickles, which are vegetables disguised as non-vegetables.
  4. I finally understood the concept of empty calories, which essentially are things you eat or drink that give you calories but don't make you less hungry.  For me, that includes things like juice, soda, and alcohol.  I've never had more of a craving for alcohol than when I wasn't allowed to have any.
  5. Speaking of cravings, the thought crossed my mind that I might be addicted to food and/or alcohol.  Somebody would open a beer or eat some Oreos near me, and I would look on lustfully, counting the days to when I could gorge myself.  When the diet was finally over, my appetite and metabolism had changed so much that I could barely finish a single beer.  But I'm working on that as I write this.
  6. I felt pretty drained of energy most of the time, but when I would work out, I would feel fine.  I'm not sure if my body has some sort of extra energy reservoir that's only accessed during workouts, but that's how it appears.
All in all, my diet was successful and I survived.  But it's certainly no way to live.  Cheers to a high metabolism! #health
Fighting vs. mating Jun 28, 2010
A few weeks ago I saw some birds in a parking lot, and they were acting strange.  There was a lot of posturing and squawking, and then one of the birds was on top of one of the other birds, doing a bunch more posturing and squawking.  Other people were in the parking lot with me, and someone suggested we do something about this apparent fight, but I think we all collectively decided to let nature take its course.  After a few seconds, the avian madness ended, and the birds went on their way.  That's the thing with animals:  The only real difference between fighting and mating is that mating produces babies.  Otherwise, the mechanics and commotion are pretty much exactly the same. #nature