Writing Updates / The "HATE" Diet

My current Works in Progress are:


- LOVERS (novel...39,000 + words)
- DEATH WITCH (novella...8,000 + words)
- CARBURETOR PUPPY MILL (short story...just over 3,000 words. Currently editing)


~~~~~~~~~~~

THE "HATE" DIET
On Wednesday, April 6th, 2016, I woke at 4:30 AM and hit the snooze button until 5:00 when I rose and jumped in the shower as I do each weekday morning. By 5:25 I started getting dressed. As I bent down to tie my shoes, I felt incredibly uncomfortable and realized I was gasping for breath. It had been building for a while, but this particular day was intense and freaked me out. Call it an epiphany. Call it whatever you'd like. I call it a life-changing eye-opener, especially now that I'm 48 years old and have seen far too many friends die due to health related issues over the past 10-15 years.
I am 5'11" tall and have had a bit of a "beer" gut since just after high school (sometime around 1986-7). Since my mid teenage years, my weight had always been around 180 pounds, until I quite smoking way back in 1991. Since that time, I've maintained a 200 pound level, give or take a few pounds. Not too bad, but not great either for my height. But when I went downstairs two weeks ago after gasping due to a shoe-tie attempt, I stepped on the scale to reveal a horrifying truth: I had tipped the scale the highest I ever had in my life. I was 220 pounds. TWO HUNDRED AND TWENTY DAMN POUNDS. And my gut had become so big it was causing back pain (not to mention co-workers pointing to my stomach and asking me when the blessed date was).
It was time for a change.
Since Thursday, April 7th, 2016, I have been hellbent on losing weight, primarily on losing my gut. I can handle the jokes and what not, but the difficulty breathing while trying to do an everyday mundane task? Nope. Just not going to let that happen. Italian heritage be DAMNED. Shit had to change. Two weeks later, it has.
I am now down to 206 pounds (that's a whopping 14 pounds in two weeks), and even after the first week I felt 100% better. The breathing is almost back to normal, although my gut hasn't visibly changed too much. But that will happen in due time, of this I am sure, because as I've mentioned, I am HELLBENT on doing this. A lot of guys lose 12-15 pounds the first two weeks during a crash diet, and I understand losing more isn't going to be so easy. The hard part is just beginning. But I'm committed.
Here's what I use for inspiration:
There are a couple of people in my life (no names will be mentioned here or in private so please don't ask) who I absolutely can't stand. They're not only out of shape, but do nothing to change the deadly course they're on. I refuse to become one of them. SO: when I have my breakfast (no longer a cream cheese-filled bagel, but a banana or an orange) and my lunch (no longer leftovers from dinner or hero sandwiches, but an orange and an 8 oz Ensure drink or 11 oz Fit & Active drink), I eat slowly and think of these people who I can't stand mentally or physically, who I don't want to become. WHO I WILL NOT BECOME. (I should note here that I don't "hate" anyone because of their appearance. These assholes just happen to be out of shape, and on my current diet, it gives me more mental fuel to go on. Agree or disagree with this technique, but know I probably love you, the reader).
I think of these people clutching their chests, or laying down on the floor due to extreme back pain, or passing out due to exhaustion from walking up a mere half flight of stairs (I have actually witnessed some of this in my workplace). I think of these things not only as I eat my reduced meals (which is a MAJOR lifestyle change for me), but also when I get the munchies, which is usually thirty minutes after I have a reduced meal. Instead, when the desire to go off my diet gets too strong, I slap on my headphones, find a private spot, and crank three back-to-back songs from NAPALM DEATH. For those not familiar, NAPALM DEATH is one of the first "extreme" metal bands who are still alive and kicking 30 years since their first album was released. For those not familiar, they probably sound like a wall of sonic noise. And that's fine. The point is, when I crank up these three songs*, I use the raw power they emit to satisfy my hunger. And guess what? For me, it actually works. I keep the power and force of the music in my heart and mind for the rest of the day, and when I get home at night, dinner has never tasted so damn good.
Yes, it's difficult eating a balanced dinner (and only having one helping after living on fruit and nutrition drinks all day with no snacking inbetween), but after these past two weeks it's starting to not only get easier, it's becoming addictive. Walking around work all day (and around the neighborhood at night with my dogs) has never felt better. And my breathing has almost returned to normal when I put on and take off my shoes.
As "they" say, Your Mileage May Vary. This particular system (which is basically the old "Slim Fast" diet) is the way I have chosen to kick start my gut loss. Once my stomach stops looking like a spare tire, I will begin to eat small, healthier meals. I am re-learning how to eat (difficult for anyone, let alone an Italian who was raised with some of the best food on the planet at his disposal on a daily basis).
I feel great. I might go deaf in the process, but that's the gamble I am taking. A little loud death metal and fantasizing about crushing-in certain people's heads?
Let's. Do. This...
THE "HATE" DIET is on...


(DISCLAIMER: I don't actually "hate" the people mentioned in this article. Well, one of them I do. But my point here is to do whatever it is you have to do to accomplish your goals, as long as it's legal and no one gets hurt in the process. Again, I most likely love you, the reader).
(* My mini NAPALM DEATH playlist, for those interested, are the songs "Silence is Deafening," "Lowpoint," and "Breed to Breathe." Listen at your own risk and without a nutrition drink in your hand).