How I Lost Ten Pounds in One Day and Lived to Brag about it.

Here I hinted about losing ten pounds in one day, and I thought I might explain how that came to be.  Before I get into that, though, I must say that if you want to get most anyone's attention, all you have to do is mention losing ten pounds in one day and you've got their 100% undivided focus for about as long as you want it.

Speaking of that, I kinda try to practice a little Zen or Eastern religion myself.  At many times I like to 'stay in the moment,' as they say in acting class.  When I do that the most remarkable things can happen.  Not always, of course, but sometimes, especially when dealing with people.

I think, though I haven't formally learned this, that many times when people are having a conversation when they should be listening they are instead thinking about what they are going to say next.   This makes sense, because in a normal conversation there is a normal back and forth, where each person takes turn speaking.  But another thing I have learned from studying scripts is that many times, during a dialogue or conversation, there is one person who is more or less driving the discussion and the other person is more or less along for the ride.  As a side note, memorizing the 'driver' part is more difficult than memorizing the 'passenger' part, because the driver is responsible for the direction of the conversation.

What I am suggesting that you do, at least once, when in a conversation, is to try to intentionally take the 'passenger role.'  Forget about composing what you will say.  Instead, not only listen to the other person, but listen with all your senses - hear the words, watch their expressions, feel the temperature, smell the smells.  Do NOT touch their bodies though.  Unh uh.  That would be WAY too 'active' of a listening style.  Well, actually, a touch on the shoulder or arm works very well, but you better be REALLY good at this before you try that, or BAD BAD things will happen.

Is this 'staying in the moment?'   think so, or at least that is my interpretation.  If you try this, at least a few times, it can become second nature.  Your body will become still, and if you get really good at it you will find yourself subtly echoing the other person's gestures, and when that happens something rather remarkable can happen.  For yourself - you will get so much more out of the talk, because instead of being lost in your own thoughts and speeches, which you probably already know by heart, you will be seeing and hearing something *new*.  In addition, and here is the freaky part, the _other_  person will also change somewhat.  Somehow they can sense the difference, although usually it is a subtle feeling only, but they will become, I dunno, more spontaneous and more into the conversation.  If you think about it in a certain way, you could consider this listening style to be a gift you are giving to the other person, the gift of your full attention, although in reality you are really giving the gift to yourself.  Or maybe a gift to both of you!  Either way, I think it is a worthwhile thing to do, and if nothing else it can jazz up a boring day.

But back to the weight loss.  Yes, I truly did lose ten pounds in about eight hours, under a Doctor's supervision.  Maybe I fibbed a bit though, because what I actually did was gain about four pounds first, then lose the ten pounds.  Then gain back the six, back to my original weight.

I don't know if I mentioned it before but one of the perks of living near the Mayo Clinic is that I can participate, for pay, in a number of medical studies.  Yeah, I know, the Seinfeld episode, which I have heard all about but have never actually seen.  From what I gather the studies I have been in are sort of like the TV show, only with no writers, and are much less humorous.

I don't remember exactly what this particular study was for, something about something, but the bottom line was that they first ensured I was pumped sufficiently with potassium and other electrolytes and then they drained me like a lizard.  They said that when one loses ten pounds of fluids one is at risk of having an electrolyte imbalance, so that is why they had to prime the pump, so to speak.  Also, I should mention I am a big guy, over 200 pounds, so ten pounds was only about 5% of my body weight.

The study required a day in the hospital and then an overnight stay in the hospital and then part of the next day, so I got about four free hospital meals out of the deal too, woo hoo!  They had me on a pretty big IV the first day, pumping me with fluids.  I had never had such a large IV before, into the back of my hand, and the chill was a little, as the medical people say, 'uncomfortable,' although not terrible. 

Then they hit me with Lasiks, which the nurses said means "lasts six" hours.  Wow!  That stuff dried me out faster than an etoh/caffeine combo.  I was _in_ the bathroom more than I was out of it.  And I dropped the ten pounds with no problem.  I actually could feel the difference in my waist size when I went home.  It felt really good.  But it lasted only about six hours.  After six or eight hours, as I am sure you have already guessed, I gained the six pounds back.  Water weight comes back as quickly as it is lost, which I suppose is a good thing, because in many ways our body is a giant beaker of chemical reactions which all require water in one way or the other, and to stay that dehydrated for long would not be healthy.

But there you have it, how I lost ten pounds in eight hours and lived to brag about it!