AWKWARD ZOMBIE

I thought counting calories was kind of a joke but that's what I've been doing today. After lunch I'm at about 1300, which might seem like a lot but I guarantee it's probably a third of my usual daily intake.

Sidenote: This sucks and I am miserable.

How much of a deficit are you aiming for?

Right now I'm just aiming for 2000 per day. NO idea what I usually get but I would not be surprised if it was more than 4000. I doubt I'll have the willpower to keep it up for long, but I just want to see what happens for as long as I can maintain it.

Maybe you just need to eat more filling foods? Fiber etc?

When I counted calories (I really need to start again), soda and general junk food were the bane of my existence because, as it turns out, liquid sugar and Cheetos Puffs are very big on calories and not big on actual full-ness or any useful nutrients at all.
I wasn't even actively cutting out junk food and soda, it's just that if I wanted to count calories, those things had to go if I wanted to actually eat food and still stay in my range.

I wonder if I can just eat fistfuls of flax seed and raw broccoli.

I did have salad for lunch for the last two days (they both had meat but give me a break I need this transition period) and I worked out a system where at work I can use those drink mixes that you add to water.

I pretty much replaced soda with flavored sparkling water, myself. All the fizzy goodness and none of the sugar.

I'm the only one who really likes it, apparently, so I have my own supply of beverages while Hansel and Gretel consume even more sugar until the forest witch turns them into high-fructose popcorn.

uh, flavored water still has sugar. It's not innocent just because it's not soda.

But it says sugar-free, THE COMPANIES WHO SELL ME THINGS WOULDN'T LIE.

I won't say you have to avoid it completely, as non-sugar sweeteners can be a good interim to trying to consume less sweets in general, particularly when you have those drink mixes where you can control the concentration to gradually use less and less. (You clearly already recognize that plain water is best for the majority of your beverage consumption, so there's no need for anyone to harp on that.)

However, it should be noted that there are quite a few studies that have found a potential link between high consumption of several of those artificial sweeteners, and either low-level addiction, or training your metabolism to react in some way that bizarrely makes weight loss more difficult than it already is. Granted, there are just as many studies arguing against that, and saying that it's a personality issue, not a substance issue, and that the people who ended up on the negative side of those studies are simply more prone to over-justifying high-calorie foods when they consume the zero-calorie sweeteners, or they are people that tend to just be easily addicted to sweets and fatty foods in general, regardless of what is used to make it that way.

ISN'T WATCHING YOUR DIET WITH PROCESSED FOODS FUN.
Also, remember to watch out for calories in alcohol. It's not technically sugar (unless it's a wheat or sweet drink), but it can be moderate to high in calories for the volume. It can also wreak havoc with your blood sugar, and always makes me crave carbs if I drink "too much".

I've begun to wonder if maybe that's why I don't get hangovers. regardless of how much I drink. I drink enough water to avoid the dehydration side of it, but then I tend to eat starchy foods like macaroni and cheese once my blood sugar starts to dip (at least, I presume that is what causes the craving). Anyone a hangover expert here?

For the longest time I could not drink water unless it was bottled and it had to be specific brands. To me Smart Water is the most neutral tasting, but I've finally gotten used to filtered water that uses potassium fitration to get rid of the calcium and chlorine taste of our tap water. Try to see what water is palateable to you and work on solutions to make your water consumption easier and cheaper to achieve. Even flavored water and mixes can take a bit of water and kidney power to process, so try not to rely too heavily on drinks with additives to replace water.

Alcohol is way too many calories vs actual effect of alcohol.
And I never get hangovers, either. I never thought of a reason, I just figured it was because of youth or something. But I always eat food and drink water while boozing, so either that's it or I'm very lucky.


re: water
I like Fiji water. i don't care if they load up the water on some nasty booty boat and ship it across more water to the united states, or if its all a lie and it just comes from a well in North Dakota (something has to come from North Dakota, right? why are they there?), it's the best water.

Maybe we're both lucky! (also, I apologize for any weird phrasing/typos I may not notice. I'm to the tingly-faced stage of drunk, so it takes me a bit too long to catch up to things every once in a while.)

While I don't generally drink bottled water (wary of wasting plastic), Fiji does tend to be the preferred brand by my non-smoker customers at the grocery store (so, the ones who can actually taste/smell to their full and original capabilities.) So that might be something to consider. I don't generally have a solid opinion on such things, as I grew up drinking relatively included well water, with various mineral contents, depending on which parent's house I was at.

I am sorry it took me so fucking long to type this with minimal errors.

For me, I think I went off water when we changed carriers (and the tap went to tasting like shit because we were no longer pulling aquifer spring water) and when I got a lot more sensitive to temperature of drinks. I actually cannot drink refrigerated or iced water because the temperature difference upsets my stomach (other drinks don't as much, but cold soda does bother me a bit if I'm not eating hot food). Bottled water helped me control the temperature and taste of my water until we recently got a new filter system. I am probably the pickiest person when it comes to water, but I know a lot of people deal with being very sensitive to additives.

It's actually something I miss from Japan because all of their water is tasty as hell compared to the hard water calcium hell that is large portions of the US.

As far as hangovers go, Alcohol is usually put on the back burner when you have food to process, and your body really prioritizes carbs and protein. Plus carb rich food often has room to soak up some liquid and will pull the alcohol in allowing for more gradual absorption and breakdown as a result of the carbs needing to be broken down first to let the body get at the alcohol. Add in that everyone is different and it's based on the amount of enzymes your body can produce, and alcohol is a two step degradation (from alcohol to acetaldehyde to vinegar), which requires 2 enzymes. Some people have more of the first enzyme and fewer of the second which means the alcohol is processed faster (resulting in you feeling drunk for less time), but takes longer to convert to vinegar (resulting in bad hangovers). Alternatively, you can have more of the second enzyme and less of the first, resulting in alcohol lingering for longer (dangerous to your BAC) but processing way faster into vinegar (leaving little to no hangover).

But equally important is that your liver can pull double duty and protect you against the effects of alcohol at the expense of its own health (after all, your liver being healthy means nothing if it allows you to die from poisoning), to the point where its longevity is threatened. Heavy drinking in the 20's often means the effects don't really manifest on one's health until their mid-30's (roughly 15 years later). It's like skipping brushing your teeth. It's not going to make them fall out immediately, but maybe you shouldn't count on them still being around 20 years from now without proper maintenance and consideration.

themoreyouknow.jpeg

So I have extra of enzyme #2? Neat.

It uses sucralose instead of sugar. 0 calories.