Life At Slow-Mo

Today I spent 6 hours virtually doing nothing in the heat of the day. I was having my driver’s license renewed. On this particular day, the computer system of the driver’s license admin decided to throw a tantrum and errored out. The place was 37 kilometers (22 miles) from my home, and it was a hassle to go back and return. I decided to wait until the system would run normally. “Probably it will only take an hour or so,” I thought. The only thing left was for them to print the license, which they could not do because of the error. I decided to camp out in one of the warungs* at the back of the parking lot since they didn’t allow visitors to wait in the building.

The warung had no air conditioning nor did a fan. It was 32 degrees C (89 degrees F) outside with 92% humidity. You can nearly feel you’re melting inside. It’s the kind of weather that makes you tired even when you are just sitting.

I arrived very early in the morning. I completed the registrations and the rest of the process at a quarter to 9 AM. Thinking I had to wait for at least an hour, I broke my fast with a heavy breakfast. 10 AM came, and I was still waiting. Later I had coffee and a fried banana while chatting with other patrons to kill time. Lunchtime came and there was still no sign that they solved the problem. I got bored talking so I moved to another stall to have a small meal for lunch while playing solitaire on my phone. Finally, a little before 2 PM they gave me my new driver’s license.

When I got home, I was so tired and hungry, even after all the food I had at the warung. I felt like my diet for the day was already ruined. I decided to skip my walk for today, and not to eat anything else until I had dinner at 4.30 PM and close my eating window at 5 PM.

After a week of intermittent fasting, I am getting used to not eating for a long period of time. The hunger usually does not bother me. But today, it’s like I am back on square one. I am starving, and I am craving food. If I was not worried about sleep deprivation, right now I would have made myself a cup of strong coffee to fight this hunger. I still have 10 hours before my eating window opens tomorrow.

Here’s what I found at menshealth.com when googling for ideas to stave off cravings.

• I started the intermitten fasting directly with 16:8 pattern. I should have started with 12-hour fast, and moved up from there. 12 hours is enough to produce results.
• I was not worried about eating right when I began this diet. That is the recommended thing to do to avoid overwhelming the body with too much change.
• I mostly eat white carbs like rice and bread. I should have more protein for a more filling meals, and I should have limit the amount of white carbs. They cause the blood sugar level to dip faster and leave me hungry and cranky.
• The night is the time we often turn to food for comfort. Even when I was not hungry, I used to look for food just to make me at ease. That is why I need to get my thoughts off food by doing something I enjoy right after dinner.
• Doing exercise at night can help as well to reduce cravings. Exercising raises the level of hormone that suppresses appetite. It will make you tired enough to go straight to sleep without thinking about food.
• When all else fail, I can try to give myself a pep-talk to keep the cravings away.

Yes, I can go through tonight and tomorrow morning just fine! Go me! Go me! Go me!

==The Distracted Guy==

*A warung is a tiny diner, often makeshift, which serves simple home cook meals.