Free the Animal

iNote

Completely out of character for me, I stood in line 2 1/2 hours yesterday at the Palo Alto Apple Store in order to get the new iPhone 3G. I originally went to the store at the Westfield at Valley Fair here in San Jose. Long line, of course, so I decided to take a drive to the PA store for shits & giggles. Long line there as well, outside even, but the people standing in it were of a completely different caliber. In essence, I got sucked into shooting the shit with cool and diverse strangers for a couple of hours and it turned out to be pleasant and fun.

Yep, love the new phone. I had 3G before, so that was a tradeoff in going to the iPhone originally. Now, all is right with the Universe. The new OS, 2.0 (which works on the original iPhone as well) is a great enhancement. It's turned it into a mobile computing device of important proportions. Check out the applications already available. There are hundreds, many free. There will be thousands. I sat at breakfast this morning browsing a bunch of them. Lots and lots of interesting stuff. One I find intriguing is Loopt. It's free, you download right on the phone. Once you set it up, it can source off the buit-in GPS, upload to the server, and family and friends that you've given permission to can see exactly where you are (and you them). That might be real cool in an urban environment, as you notice or get an alert when a friend or family member is nearby and you can run an intercept on foot or via other transportation.

Naturally, you can "go private" any time you like.

Lipid Panel

Following up from this, I don't see how you could have a better lipid panel than this, which is a clip right off my Med record on Kaiser's website, results obtained yesterday:

Total Cholesterol is really a bullshit number, because observe that I could get to an "ideal" <200 by making my HDL worse, like say 50. Triglycerides way low, just like you want, and HDLs stratospheric, also, just like you want. LDL is only 4 points off "above optimal" figure of <100.

The ratios are as follows:

• Total/HDL = 2.1 (average is 4-6 and ideal is 2-3; I'm on the extreme end of ideal)
• HDL/LDL = 1 (average is .3-.4 and ideal is above .4; again extreme end of ideal)
• Triglyceride/HDL = .4 (optimal is <2, so again, extreme end of ideal)

While my fasting glucose seems high at 109, free insulin was only 6 (standard being 4-29, lower the better) and Glycohemoglobin (HGBA1C %) comes in at 4.8 (standard range 4.6 -  6 with the lower range being optimal). Glycohemoglobin is the percent of hemoglobin with sugar bound to it and doesn't change very rapidly over time, while a blood glucose test is sugar levels at that moment, so the HGBA1C % is a far more reliable method of checking whether you're borderline Type II.

All in all, not bad for being on such an unhealthy diet and eating things like this and this and this.

So, any of you low-fat-grain-eaters want to go up against those numbers?

Elevator Pitch

Sometime within the last month or so, I am suddenly getting the "wow, you've really lost weight!" accolades from virtually everyone I know, and even people I don't actually know, but who've seen me around -- like waitresses in restaurants I frequent.

Everyone wants to know "the secret." What's the magic? Bea hates it when I get started, and has taken to warning people. And, I'm getting a bit tired of going over the whole story myself; because just like with politics, and the silly notion that humans ought to be free and not the living equivalent of Soylent Green, I know it's going in one ear and out another. Maybe I ought to charge $49.95 for "the secret" and be done with it. It might actually be profitable, where people wouldn't pay me a cent for my political views (lies, impossible promises and delusions are sweet, and always free).

While I work out the business plan on that, I'm playing around with a 30-second elevator pitch. It might go something like this:

Well. I was on this wonderfully healthily low-fat diet with plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains most of my life. As a kid, I developed an antihistamine deficiency, but luckily, was able to obtain supplements. As I hit 40, I began to have so much excess energy from my healthy low-fat diet of veggies, fruits, and whole grains that it had nowhere to go but to be stored as excess pounds. Then I developed both a levothyroxine and an omeprazole deficiency; but again, was able to obtain supplements. For reasons inexplicable (though I suspect the 3.5 mile walks every day), my gums began to rot and I had two surguries. In utter obese despair, I finally just gave up. I switched to an unhealthy, artery-clogging high-fat diet of big steaks and other meat, eggs & bacon, and otherwise plenty of fat. Little veggies or fruits; and no grains. Cured all my deficiencies and the gum disease, at least. I'll probably die soon, but at least I'll look pretty good.

Suggestions for sarcastic, condescending, contemptuous improvement, anyone?

Doctor Visit

Three years since a physical, which didn't go very well. Blood work not that great; fat -- & getting fatter -- puffy face. The doc was not impressed. Drink way less, stop smoking, eat more veggies, fruits, whole grains and so on.

I'm working on the drinking of spirits too often, too much, and on the smoking as well. And obviously, at least for the last year, I've far from followed the SAD (Standard American Diet). But I went in and got me a physical today. The nice lean Dr. from Hungary (I eliminated all the fat faces), with 40 peer-reviewed articles under his belt in fields such as hematology, immunology and diabetes, was quite impressed once I showed him my prior self, thanks to the photos I keep on my iPhone. I even had a chance to discuss fasting and he was quite surprised that I knew that gene expression seems to mimic that of caloric restriction which we already know extends lifespan in virtually every species it's been tried on. He agreed that we have much to learn re-learn from the dietary habits of indigenous peoples (I have lots in the queue on that score) who have to exist by means of their own minds,  rather than via the advice from "authorities" and hyped advertising.

I told him I eat no grains, hyper low-carb, and often substantial fat. He didn't bat an eye, nor -- I noticed -- did he write that down or say anything negative. If I had to guess, I'd assume that the HMO he works for has policies, such as are plastered all over the wall: "Eat the SAD." My BP was high going in (140/100), but that was probably because I got there 25 minutes in advance of my appointment and had waited 50 minutes by the time I got in. Apparently, he was caught up at one of the other med centers he works at. Once we'd chatted a bit, he took the BP again and I was 125/70. Plus, I told him that I measure it myself at home and though I'll get a spike now and then, it's normally normal. No worries; turns out I don't have a diuretic deficiency.

He took great care in listening to my pulse at the extremities, particularly my feet. Said they were all "thunderous, excellent." I assumed that would be a marker for clogged arteries, so I didn't bother to ask him to elaborate, though he did say that if it's good there, is going to be good everywhere.

In addition to the standard battery of blood/urine work, he ordered up a test for gluten intolerance, as well as one for blood insulin levels. He said I'd need to be fasted and I said no problem. I don't skip breakfast; I just eat it when I'm hungry, whether 9am, or 1pm. "Good; you listen to your body." In the end, he concluded that my transformation was remarkable. We'll see what the blood work reveals in a few days.

One For All You Smileys

All my life I'm getting admonishments from those brave enough -- like mom -- to "smile." It's not a natural facial expression for me, folks, even when I'm plenty happy and content. Plus, my natural frown serves me well. People don't fuck with me, and they don't pester me. They tend to stand off and I've heard from others that I come off as "unapproachable." Suits me fine. The less banality I have to deal with, the better, I say.

So let me throw you a rare bone, taken just this week with my bro-in-law, Sam who's looking good into his 50s.

Photo Update

Looks like I need to do some shopping, eh? Thing is, probably another 4 inches of circumference is going to come off, as the sub-cutaneous belly fat and abdominal external obliques ("love handles") melt away. That's definitely the most stubborn fat for me. It's like I'm leaning out from the bottom up and top down and the midsection will be the last to go. I'm particularly pleased with how the shoulders are leaning out, even with some vascularity beginning to show. Progress is rather slow, but it's steady and consistent and so I'm satisfied. The last couple of photo shoots here and here.

Later: Just to preclude the questions; 47 years old, 5' 10", just a smidgen under 200 pounds. Rough estimate is that 180 will leave me at about 10% BF. Whatever the figure, I'll get there. And how? Just as I've been doing to get this far. First, an intermittent style of eating that's always low in carbs with no grain products at all. No vegetable oils except olive, coconut, palm and sesame seed. Meat (and fish and shellfish), some veggies, some dairy -- mostly cheese -- some fruit -- mostly berries and melons -- and some nuts, excluding peanuts. I alternate between a few more carbs in the form of fruit, or sometimes dark chocolate (80%+ cacao) and pretty high fat, usually in the form of butter, lard, cheese, coconut milk and heavy cream. Then there's the twice weekly, 30-minutes of intense resistance training in which I've managed to add an estimated 20 pounds of lean muscle over the last year. Finally, intermittent fasting a-la EatStopEat by Brad Pilon. I fast twice per week and will go to once per week once I get to 10% BF.

The whole story is documented here, for about three pages of posts, in reverse chronological order.