Spaz - why I like a spaz

This evening I was out shopping at five different stores looking for shoes and shorts.  On the fourth stop I was at the Shoe Carnival.  There was a boy, about 12 years old, that I noticed twice but did not pay much mind to.  Upon leaving the store I saw him acting out just as he was in the store.  I wished I had paid a little more attention to get some detail, but I saw enough to know that the boy was what years ago we would call a 'spaz'.  (I believe word was coined by Bill Murray in Meatballs).  When I saw how his father reacted to him I was certain.   A spaz is a hyperactive, intelligent, and funny kid that elicits polar reactions from others.  Some people are repulsed by them, others, like me, alternatively tolerate and admire them.  They constantly are acting out verbally and physically to get reactions out of people with little to no forethought.  They often make you cringe but laugh at the same time.  One thing I've noticed about spazzes is that they usually carry no malice, and that their humor comes not from making fun of others but bringing attention to themselves.  This is why I admire them often and tolerate them when they go too far.

attempting another 24 fast - complete

4 hours ago I completed my second 24 hours fast in 8 days.  I still don't know if there is a benefit to doing this but I have an open mind.  I weighed in once this past week and had dropped 3.5 lbs.  During the afternoon I felt low on energy but didn't struggle to complete the time.  After dinner I had a BM and will be turning in soon with no hunger.

I spent the afternoon at Binder Park Zoo.   I'm often struck by the number of obese people in Michigan.  I am one of them according to my BMI so I'm working my way to just being overweight.  I am hoping fasting can help me change my overall eating habits so that I can reach the goal.

attempting another 24 hour fast - 16.5 hrs complete

I've made it to 10 am the following morning and feel much the same way I did last week.  My stomach is telling me to eat something.  I read a free online book in pdf form called quickfast.pdf.  It says that the symptoms that you experience in fasting are actually the body starting to rid itself of toxins.  Telling myself that I'm not actually hungry but getting cleaner is a technique I'm just starting to use.  Most of the day I'll be spending at Binder Park Zoo which is 90 minutes away.  I'm trying to keep my mind occcupied.  I'll report later, hopefully to be successful and see what worked.

Patience

Regardless of whether patience is a virtue, I have never had much of it.  I recently spent three weeks away from my family, and in that time resolved to improve my patience, among other things, for my own good and for those around me.  I'm so naturally impatient even when I thing I'm being easygoing people sense it and try to diffuse it by saying, "Sir, I'll be with you in a moment."  Two common triggers of impatience are grocery stores and driving.  If any of the following makes you think of yourself, you may want to work on this as well. 

1) Grocery stores - Profiling people in checkout lines and the cashier to gauge which will be the fastest; having a near heart attack when the lady in front of you fumbles through her purse, pulls out a wad of coupons, or uses a checkbook; mortification when you see other lines moving faster than yours.
Advice for checkout lines is to distract yourself:  read People magazine, compare candy bar prices, do calculations in your head, count, breath deeply, people watch.  Basically anything but watch the cashier or customer before you.  Before you know it you'll be choosing paper or plastic.

2) Driving -  Speeding up when a light turns yellow, passing on the right, making a turn that is out of the way just to avoid stopping, profiling drivers by the make and model of their vehicle, knowing all the traffic light patterns in your city, etc.
Overcoming impatience is tricky because of the safety issues.  Talking on the phone, texting, and looking for the right song on the radio are all potentially dangerous remedies to boredom, or in my case impatience.  I've found two techniques to be effective.  One is deep breathing.  Impatience can impair judgement  and performance by causing your muscles to tense and breath to shorten.  Taking in a long, deep breath will reduce some of the mental and physical tension you are creating.  Second is giving a wide berth to cars around you.  This entails not getting near the car in front of you at any time, and yielding the front runners position to a car moving in the same direction in an adjacent lane.  Often the "idiot"  I've cursed at is actually a safer, more efficient, and saner drive than me who will always move through traffic more quickly.

I wish you the best with improving your patience!

Popayan, pre-trip

In July I spent a week on vacation in Colombia.  Most of that time was spent in or near a city (pop. 200K) called Popayan.  Prior to the trip whenever I informed Colombians (mostly from Bogota) about the destination they uniformly asked incredulously, "Why?”

It's common for Latin Americans to invite a new friend to visit them wherever they may live.  It's genuine but also understood that it will likely never happen.  Two years ago I met a couple that invited me there.  They referred to Popayan with a smirk, suggesting a slight inferiority complex but also perhaps some pride.  As time passed I got to see more of Colombia and was looking for somewhere new to go.  From what I could see it looked like an ideal place;  Spanish colonial architecture, history, museums, food, a national park and other attractions nearby.  Curiously most of the people I spoke with about Popayan had never been there.

My friends were surprised but pleased when I informed them in May of my upcoming visit.  And I was just starting to learn what hospitality, Colombian-style was all about.

another 24 hour fast - mission aborted

I decided to pull the plug on this fast after just over 6 hours.  I took a nap after work and woke up feeling weak.  Of course this is expected with a fast.  But for a novice like me to be in that place after 6 hours did not bode well for the next 18.  I had a lunch-size meal and am now feeling better.  So I'm starting anew as of 7:20pm and will go through the night and then see how I do tomorrow.  This was my first attempt during the work week.  I'm not going to draw any conclusions except that today wasn't the day.

another 24 hour fast - others' experiences

I've never been very good for keeping secrets.  If I try something bold, I usually tell people about it.  As with fasting, the conventional wisdom about telling others your goals is mixed.  Some say it's best to tell people so you'll be accountable.  Others say just telling people about a goal creates a false sense of fulfillment that prevents them from carrying it out.  I've spoken to friends and others that are for, against, and indifferent about fasting.  The people that are indifferent haven't done one.  But that doesn't stop non-faster from having an opinion.  A Colombian co-worker always criticizes fasting when I bring it up.  In fact, today she told me I was attracting free radicals.  A friend from California by way of Mexico is a huge champion, and says the body needs to take inventory through fasting.  Opinions are as varied as people, so I think if you're curious about it you should try it for yourself.  If you don't want to go to 24 hours, at least try 12 and see if you get hungry.  I have a co-worker friend that's trying it too.  Maybe trying something with another will help.