My rebirth

[Jon]

Forgive the narcissism for a moment. That is why it is under the mental health section.

I am undergoing what amounts to a gender change. This may come as a shock to some of you, but it's been a long time coming. But you can relax, it is not what you think. Instead of removing certain parts (or indeed just changing my mental connections to match the female brain), I am making some simple yet significant changes in my life. Here are a few of them.

Changes:
- Get up at 7:45am. This would be a great improvement on my 9:30am average.
- Superfood shake for breakfast. Generally speaking, I've been having a pan au raisin at my local coffee shop, or a croissant with jam and butter, or a biscuit. Today, I had almond milk, chia seeds, frozen blueberries, cocoa nibs and protein powder. Wow!
- Weights on Mondays and Fridays. I was doing this before but not so consistently.
- Prune some of my daily home exercise routine. To go are: hand grips, press-ups.
- Much lighter lunch, with far fewer carbs.
- No snack at my local coffee shop. Just coffee.
- Removal of most rubbish snacks like crisps, biscuits, ice cream. No more in the house! Replaced with carmalised nuts, fruit etc.

I have more changes than the above, but these are significant in themselves.

How am I getting along on day one? Well, I found that by having my superfood shake, it was 3pm and I wasn't even starving like I normally would be. It is 3:30pm right now and I might make an omelette at 4pm. In the past, even if having a pastry, I would be starving by now.

My alarm went at 8am. I couldn't face the world right then so shouted, "Alexa, cancel timer. Alexa, wake me up in 30 minutes." The second time I got up.

So far, so good!

[Edit: Having re-read the introduction, it appears less clear than I first intended. What I meant to say was that I am making big changes in my life. I am keeping the important bits just in case!]

 

[Jon]

Bit of a disaster on day two. I went low carb yesterday. As has happened in the past, I ended up with a splitting headache. Had it all night too so rubbish sleep. I managed to get in bed by 11:15pm and set my alarm for 8am. But I was awake so much last night that I got up at 10:48am!! Rubbish!

Note to self: when going low carb, slowly move in that direction, not all in one go. My body doesn't like it.

Still have the headache now, but slightly better. I did have my superfood shake for breakfast as planned.

So, it is a case of one step forwards, one step back. I am also aching from the gym sessions yesterday, where I did deadlifts, bench, bent over rows. I am walking a bit funny now.

 

[Jon]

Thought I would update this thread after completing a journal post about identity change. I've been watching some YouTube videos about it.

I think it is interesting to see where I was, where I am now, and where I will be soon. I think there is quite some lag in perception between who you were and where you are now, since identity changes slowly, even if everything else changes more quickly.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

On your list, I have a couple of items that overlap and that took a while to work into or out of my routine.

I have stopped the vitamin stack on advice from my gastroenterologist. Apparently, vitamins aren't quite as good for you as some folks say. In particular, if they are gel caps with vitamins suspended in fish oil, they can stress your liver. Unless you have a diagnosed vitamin deficiency, a simple and healthy diet should give you all you need. And if you take mega-doses of vitamins for more than a little while, you reach a point where most of them are excreted one way or another.

On the other hand, some time ago I reached the situation where, when weather permits, I take a 3-mile walk each day. It's not a run or jog, it is just a walk - but not a slow, dawdling walk. I finish that 3 miles in 1 hour 10 minutes or less, unless I stop to chat briefly with a neighbor. If I push the rate just a little, my legs remind me that I'm now 71, but that big belly (that was one of your items) is trimming down to the point that I see some level of definition at the sides. Still a keg rather than a six-pack, but maybe it is now closer to a half-keg.

As to getting up earlier? I'm retired. Screw that. But my natural sleep cycle has me up between 7:30 and 8:00 every day anyway.

As to the sauna? I live in New Orleans, where the summertime weather pattern is 95/95 (that's heat & humidity). My 1-hour+ walk IS the sauna.

 

[Jon]

Interesting points Doc. Regarding the Vits, I am using the term loosely. Instead, I am talking about supplements, some of which are Vits. My stack includes:
- Pterostilbene
- Tru Niagen
- L-Carnosine
- Astaxanthin
- Vit D3
- Curcumin
- Fish oil

The Vit D3...you cannot get enough through a normal diet and during winter in the UK, there is no enough sun to generate any significant amount. So, from memory, most people are deficient in D3 in the UK.

 

[The_Doc_Man]

Jon, since you are on a health kick, you probably have your blood work done on some schedule. If your liver functions start to go haywire, check with a gastro specialist about fish oil. In high quantity it will whack your liver.

The insidious part of it all is that many supplements are in soft liquid caps where the supplement is a suspension in fish oil.