Dearest Rachel – I think part of the problem with this past weekend was that, when I previously would attempt to fast for the entire length of a given Sunday, I would grab a reasonable lunch on Saturday before showing up at church for rehearsal. This time around, I basically had breakfast – a bowlContinue reading “Healthy at Home”
Tag Archives: fasting
Getting Back to Fasting
Dearest Rachel – I’ve mentioned before – and you remember from the twisted Christmas carols we used to listen to, particularly on our way to and from your parents’, back in the day – how the past couple of weeks’ holidays do a number on one’s resolve toward keeping fit. Bad enough that the weekendContinue reading “Getting Back to Fasting”
Dancing Around Another Line
Dearest Rachel – It’s been a little over a year now – more like thirteen or fourteen months, in fact – since I managed to drop myself down below two hundred and twenty pounds, seemingly never to rise from it again. Why, barely a month after crossing that line, I was coming dangerously close (inContinue reading “Dancing Around Another Line”
Queasy
Dearest Rachel – I don’t know what’s been going on the last few days, honey, but every so often – at least, when I bother to think about it – there’s been this nagging sense of unease in the pit of my stomach going on. Now, it’s entirely possible that it’s simply due to anotherContinue reading “Queasy”
Constructive Notice
Dearest Rachel – This morning, when I woke up and reached for my phone (to see what time it is, honest! I’m not gonna look through my news feed until I know I’m not going to go back to sleep, and need to use the washroom. Yes, that happened this time around, and yes, itContinue reading “Constructive Notice”
Silent Days
Dearest Rachel – I’ve spent very little time this year listening to Christmas music of any sort. Yes, there have been a couple of trips to the mall, and if I heard anything while Daniel and I were there, it was purely by accident; the conversation between the two of us, as well as theContinue reading “Silent Days”
Walking On Fumes
Dearest Rachel – When I got up this morning at 3:30 (I have no idea why or how – I was up until 10:30 last night watching videos with Daniel, so it’s not like I had what I would call an early bedtime. Yes, I know you’d call it that, but five hours isn’t aContinue reading “Walking On Fumes”
To Descend Without Stumbling
Dearest Rachel – I’ll say one thing for these weekends in which I’ve purposed myself to go without eating for forty-plus hours; they make Monday that much more bearable (even setting aside the fact that I don’t have to worry about going to work anymore). At least this morning, I can finally allow myself somethingContinue reading “To Descend Without Stumbling”
Taking Compliments
Dearest Rachel – Yesterday had me breaking my weekend fast at a holiday party at Jeff and Julie’s place; ironically, my last meal had taken place Saturday morning with Jeff in attendance as well, so he probably thinks I eat a lot more often than I do. I can’t recall at this point if you’dContinue reading “Taking Compliments”
Lowering the Ceiling
Dearest Rachel – …And this is why I think I can still take a little pride in just maintaining my weight while traveling the world on that cruise ship, despite never quite being able to escape from that same ten-pound range I would occasionally feel trapped in. The fact that I didn’t gain a considerableContinue reading “Lowering the Ceiling”
The Extent of the Effect
Dearest Rachel – “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” So goes Isaac Newton’s first law of motion, the product of the Enlightenment concept of experimentation and observation, as opposed to blind acceptance of received wisdom from generations past. Best envisioned (and demonstrated) on a billiard table or a croquet lawn, thisContinue reading “The Extent of the Effect”
An Honest Cheat Day
Dearest Rachel – Four-thirty in the morning, and I’m awake. It doesn’t exactly surprise me; while a little earlier than most days this week, I’ve been getting into something of a habit of waking up early enough to walk down to the gym and put in a few miles of walking in before getting backContinue reading “An Honest Cheat Day”
It Takes More Than Just Sweat
Dearest Rachel – It’s been a very hot weekend, honey. Not just outside – which has indeed been hot, getting well up into the 90s – but inside as well. On Friday, Logan pointed out that the pipes for the air conditioner had frost all over them, and when I called the HVAC people toContinue reading “It Takes More Than Just Sweat”
Lapse
Dearest Rachel – These letters aren’t meant to be a confessional of any sort, but occasionally I feel a little compelled to do so regardless. And I know the thing that I’d be confessing this morning wouldn’t be of any concern to you – while I don’t think we we exactly enabled each other, weContinue reading “Lapse”
from Rachel: The Display of Satisfaction and Peace
Read Isaiah 58:6-12, and… write a one sentence summary expressing the heart of this passage. “If someone obeys God and becomes a powerful force for Him, He will satisfy their needs.” Theme 1 (v. 6): The kind of “fasting” God has chosen. Theme 2 (v. 11): [The Lord] will “satisfy” your needs in a sunContinue reading “from Rachel: The Display of Satisfaction and Peace”
Easy On the Envelope
Dearest Rachel – On paper – or on the calendar, anyway – I gave up this weekend; I didn’t manage to fast at all. Both days saw me eating something, despite the fact that, apart from December (because, you know, parties and other holiday get-togethers), I’ve been trying to go without when I’m working the boothContinue reading “Easy On the Envelope”
The Hundred Kilo Coup
Dearest Rachel – Another weekend, another day and a half of fasting, with all the attendant effects. Some of them are good – even intended, which I’ll get to eventually – but some of them can be a real test of willpower. I actually felt slightly bad on Saturday night when one of the guysContinue reading “The Hundred Kilo Coup”
It Seems I Don’t Get ‘Hangry’ – But I Probably Should
Dearest Rachel – The English language is a peculiar one, isn’t it? As I understand it, it’s the only one for which a thesaurus exists, but given that is does, it proves extremely necessary. We can use all manner of words to describe virtually every situation – although this appears to result in us AnglophonesContinue reading “It Seems I Don’t Get ‘Hangry’ – But I Probably Should”
Not Instant, But Gratifying
Dearest Rachel – Setting aside the fact that I’ve explicitly told you numerous times over the course of the last thousand days, I’m sure you could figure out on your own that I don’t enjoy any aspect involved in what I often refer to as my ‘weight loss journey.’ Between the exertions of my workoutContinue reading “Not Instant, But Gratifying”
Indulgences
Dearest Rachel – This past weekend has been the first – and consequently, the only – one this month in which I wasn’t working in the booth at church. This meant that Daniel and I could go to church together – and therefore, since I was the one responsible for getting him there and backContinue reading “Indulgences”
Six Pounds of Scattered Thoughts
Dearest Rachel – Once again, I begin a morning – and a week – with no single, coherent topic to discuss with you today. So I hope that you’ll forgive me for just throwing out a couple of paragraphs here and there as I splash through my stream of consciousness; try not to get tooContinue reading “Six Pounds of Scattered Thoughts”
An Exercise in Willpower
Dearest Rachel – So, after a day of trying to get Daniel to eat a little more (which turned out to be less than necessary, as he’s more than capable of doing so, if he wants to, and there’s something in front of him) by setting more of an example than I probably ought toContinue reading “An Exercise in Willpower”
Letters to Rachel 