My initial plan was to give up alcohol for 30 days. Not the end of the world, I thought, as I'm not a binge drinker by any stretch of the imagination. I had fallen into the longtime habit, though, of having a beer or glass of wine most nights, certainly more nights that not. I often had a glass of wine with dinner, or walked down to Edley's for a couple of beers after the boys went to bed. Many times, I stopped by Edley's after a night run in the neighborhood. Again, I rarely, rarely got drunk, but I rarely went more than a night or maybe two without having a drink of some sort.
Then, I thought, I might as well give up bread, too. And potato chips and french fries. Hell, all potatoes. And pasta. And sweets and things with refined sugar (no Cliff bars, Balance bars, etc.).
That, I thought, is raising the stakes a bit. That, I thought, is a "life hack." For me, anyway. A 30-day life lack.
I didn't know if I could do it. I didn't know how I would feel. I didn't know if it would be hard. I didn't want to blog about it. I just wanted to see if I could do it. For me.
And, as always, I was interested in the process. I was very curious to see how difficult it would be and to see how it would make me feel.
My personality, I think, lends itself to all or nothing lifestyle adjustments. This is probably a good time to mention that in my late 20's, I decided to see what it would be like to not eat meat or chicken for six weeks. For no apparent reason, just to see if I could do it and to see what it was like. Sound familiar? I ate my first meat five plus years later - a hamburger at Brown's Diner. You see what I mean?
So, how did the 30-day life hack go? Swimmingly, to be honest.
Surprisingly, the alcohol prohibition was no big deal. Especially at first, I missed the social aspect of having a drink at a bar. Especially at Edley's, where the bartenders have become friends of mine. I missed sitting at the bar, alone, and having a couple of beers while I quietly read that week's New Yorker magazine. I did miss, just a bit, what I called the "two beer buzz," where I was able to take the edge off my workday or my worries about my mom, but not be impaired, intoxicated or drunk.
There's a line in a James McMurtry song - Hurricane Party - that speaks to that feeling.
The hurricane party's windin' down
and we're all waitin' for the end
And I don't want another drink,
I only want that last one again.
As for the change in my diet, once my body got adjusted to not eating bread, french fries, potato chips, etc., it seemed to stop wanting those kinds of foods. Strangely, it became no problem to hand out to go burgers and fries from BurgerUp to Jude and the boys, knowing I wasn't eating fries and that I was just going to eat veggies.
Rather than wolfing down a sandwich an a half of a bag of chips on Saturday or Sunday for lunch, I ate what call "ham rollups." Ham wrapped around a slice of cheese.
And, of course, no chips. No more grabbing a handful of chips when I get home, right before dinner. No more snacking on Triscuits or Wheat Thins while I'm working late at night. Really, for the most party, no more snacking after dinner.
What have I eaten? A lot of salads. Meat and cheese. Almonds and other nuts. High protein, low sugar/low car energy bars. Chicken. Burger patties with no bun. Even a hot dog or two with no bun, of course.
How do I feel? Really, really good. I guess it's been kind of a gluten-free diet, thought not intended to be that way. Kind of a Keto diet. Kind of a Paleo diet. Not in any formal way.
I ran 4 miles, effortlessly, at an 8:13 pace the other night. That was cool and not because I'm running high mileage lately, because I'm not.
I'm wearing khaki pants I've not worn in a few years because they were little tight for me. My suits pants are too big for me, which is comical but cool. My shorts are big on me which, again, is comical but cool. My dress shirts are looser at the neck when I put a tie on in the mornings for work. And, I realized this morning, I've got maybe one or two pairs of jeans that actually fit.
Where do I go from here?
Well, I'm almost 50 days into the 30-day life hack. I've eaten no bread, one popsicle, no pasta, no potatoes of any sort and no Cliff bars, etc. I've a had a handful of beers and a drink or two, but that's it.
I like how I feel. And that's important to me. More important, I think, than returning to snacking and eating foods that aren't good for me. Empty calories, so to speak.
I'm going to keep it up and if things ease up a bit at work, I think I might crank up the running and exercising to a higher level. I'd kind of like to see what kind of shape I can get this 52 year old body in if I take a little better care of it and put a different kind of fuel in the tank.
And, as always, I was interested in the process. I was very curious to see how difficult it would be and to see how it would make me feel.
My personality, I think, lends itself to all or nothing lifestyle adjustments. This is probably a good time to mention that in my late 20's, I decided to see what it would be like to not eat meat or chicken for six weeks. For no apparent reason, just to see if I could do it and to see what it was like. Sound familiar? I ate my first meat five plus years later - a hamburger at Brown's Diner. You see what I mean?
So, how did the 30-day life hack go? Swimmingly, to be honest.
Surprisingly, the alcohol prohibition was no big deal. Especially at first, I missed the social aspect of having a drink at a bar. Especially at Edley's, where the bartenders have become friends of mine. I missed sitting at the bar, alone, and having a couple of beers while I quietly read that week's New Yorker magazine. I did miss, just a bit, what I called the "two beer buzz," where I was able to take the edge off my workday or my worries about my mom, but not be impaired, intoxicated or drunk.
There's a line in a James McMurtry song - Hurricane Party - that speaks to that feeling.
The hurricane party's windin' down
and we're all waitin' for the end
And I don't want another drink,
I only want that last one again.
As for the change in my diet, once my body got adjusted to not eating bread, french fries, potato chips, etc., it seemed to stop wanting those kinds of foods. Strangely, it became no problem to hand out to go burgers and fries from BurgerUp to Jude and the boys, knowing I wasn't eating fries and that I was just going to eat veggies.
Rather than wolfing down a sandwich an a half of a bag of chips on Saturday or Sunday for lunch, I ate what call "ham rollups." Ham wrapped around a slice of cheese.
And, of course, no chips. No more grabbing a handful of chips when I get home, right before dinner. No more snacking on Triscuits or Wheat Thins while I'm working late at night. Really, for the most party, no more snacking after dinner.
What have I eaten? A lot of salads. Meat and cheese. Almonds and other nuts. High protein, low sugar/low car energy bars. Chicken. Burger patties with no bun. Even a hot dog or two with no bun, of course.
How do I feel? Really, really good. I guess it's been kind of a gluten-free diet, thought not intended to be that way. Kind of a Keto diet. Kind of a Paleo diet. Not in any formal way.
I ran 4 miles, effortlessly, at an 8:13 pace the other night. That was cool and not because I'm running high mileage lately, because I'm not.
I'm wearing khaki pants I've not worn in a few years because they were little tight for me. My suits pants are too big for me, which is comical but cool. My shorts are big on me which, again, is comical but cool. My dress shirts are looser at the neck when I put a tie on in the mornings for work. And, I realized this morning, I've got maybe one or two pairs of jeans that actually fit.
Where do I go from here?
Well, I'm almost 50 days into the 30-day life hack. I've eaten no bread, one popsicle, no pasta, no potatoes of any sort and no Cliff bars, etc. I've a had a handful of beers and a drink or two, but that's it.
I like how I feel. And that's important to me. More important, I think, than returning to snacking and eating foods that aren't good for me. Empty calories, so to speak.
I'm going to keep it up and if things ease up a bit at work, I think I might crank up the running and exercising to a higher level. I'd kind of like to see what kind of shape I can get this 52 year old body in if I take a little better care of it and put a different kind of fuel in the tank.
No comments:
Post a Comment