I went to the pool for the first time in a decade and… couldn’t swim!
This is a weird one. At the Katsushika Sports Center, which is within walking distance from my house (there is also a bus that’s practically door-to-door) there is a nice pool. I hadn’t been there for over a decade, but decided to visit it again. I need to do more exercise and build up muscles. All my blood tests (blood sugar, cholesterol, etc.) are fine, except the doctor says I need more muscles.
I used to love swimming. It was my favorite sport. Maybe the only sport I actually like. So I got a new bathing suit (my old one was 5 sizes too large) and went on over. Everybody was really nice, and the facilities are great.
I got into the pool and was completely shocked. I had trouble staying afloat! I couldn’t swim like I used to!
The problem wasn’t lack of strength. It turned out, to my surprise, that the problem was because I lost so much body fat – like half my original weight – that my body density became larger than the density of water.
It turns out that body fat has less density than water. Only 90%. So if you are very fat – like I was – all that fat keeps you afloat. I used to notice that and even joke that I was a human life raft, and that it was impossible for me to drown.
What shocked me was how pronounced this was when I tried swimming the other day. My body would just sink! The water wasn’t that deep, so there was no danger of drowning. But I couldn’t just relax and move my arms and kick freestyle and do laps. I couldn’t believe it!
There are swimming kickboards there I suppose I can use in the meantime. But I really wanted to move my upper body more and build up some strength. I’m going to have to ask around and basically learn to swim from scratch, after all these years. I do intend to go back.
The preview image shows the Apple Watch reporting on how long it took me to do laps. I am skeptical of the accuracy.
Bonus: Photos from my healthy birthday lunch at Sizzler’s yesterday.
Sizzler’s in Tokyo does this for people celebrating birthdays.
My healthy salad bar lunch. I had some fruit for dessert.
Sizzler’s also brings a cake out for people celebrating their birthday. I didn’t eat it, so Hirokazu and Satoh-san split it.
Thanks for the beautiful flowers, Satoh-san!
I have not gotten in a pool for a very long time for fear of sinking like you did. Happy belated birthday!
In my second attempt a few days later it was better. I found I could safely side-stroke and back-stroke and actually complete a few laps. I figured it must be possible, because not all swimmers are obese. 🙂
Hello, Doug.
I saw you on Chef AJ. What a journey!
I am also WFPF (low SOS) and live in Tokyo (way too hot now).
My question to you is, have you started or considered starting a WFPB group here?
It would be nice to have a support group. Thank you!
Hina
Thanks for your comment. And yes, it’s been way too hot here lately. I do take a morning shopping-and-errands walk, and then later in the afternoon a dog walk. But my dog can’t take long walks in this weather.
Have not not thought about a WFPB group here in Tokyo. But an interesting idea. Do you mean something like an online group? A Facebook group maybe? Or we could do something on a social network that my tiny company runs – but that would require people signing up for the site. What are your thoughts?
Hi, thank you for your quick response–greatly appreciated. Happy Belated Birthday, too!
Well, I wish I had some ideas–let me work on it–yes, probably something online to begin with. Your Olympics reunion sounded like a great get together, so I just casually thought that if we could get a few more people together, we could meet and exchange notes eventually. WFPB has been a lonely journey here. Through Chef AJ’s program I have stayed in touch with a lovely woman in Singapore who has truly been my life line/life saver, and she’s a fan of yours. I guess my question is (1) how can we find other WFPB people in Tokyo (later all of Japan, I suppose) and (2) how would the social network run on your site? With the passing of Dr. McDougall, all of a sudden, I felt a sense of urgency to do something. Reaching out to you was my very first step.
On my site, I would just create a community. The advantage over Facebook is that there would be no ads and we would have control over everything, rather than Facebook. The disadvantage would be trying to get people to join yet another site when everybody is already on Facebook. 🙂
I think online to start with would be good, with in-person get-togethers later on. Are you on Facebook? I can try to start a group and we can mention it in the Tokyo ex-pats group, for example.
Dr. McDougall’s passing was a big shock. He was always so friendly. He would reply by email whenever I wrote him.
Hi Doug,
For some reason, I missed your reply and just saw your message. My apologies.
Yes, creating an online community starting with Tokyo ex-pats would be ideal…..having said so, I am not on Facebook, a rare breed I suppose. I personally prefer a private site, but if we do go the Facebook route, I will seriously consider taking a leap. Getting this group going in Japan is so critical–I feel it in my gut. I am hoping that someday, somehow, we could invite Chef AJ to Tokyo as a keynote speaker to our WFPB conference. Eat kale. Dream big.
I’m not sure Chef AJ would come all the way to Tokyo, but it would be fun. I’m thinking of how best to get a group going.
Hi, Doug. Thank you for getting back with me. I hope you are surviving this heat.
I know that it’s a long shot, but if we could secure a sponsor, I have a feeling that Chef AJ would be happy to come to Tokyo. She has fond memories of her time here. I will keep on the back burner as my pet project.
First, as you say, we need to figure out how to get a group going. Anyone in Tokyo (or anywhere in Japan for that matter) interested in a WFPB group? Anyone reading this? Doug is special. You don’t have to be as hard core as Doug. I am mostly WFPB minimal SOS, sometimes allowing cultural dishes in my diet. If you are interested, please reach out to us. Thank you.
Hi, Hina. It’s still hot!
I’m a bit skeptical about finding a sponsor and creating a live audience environment for a visit since she does everything online these days. But it sounds interesting. I didn’t realize she had been to Tokyo before.
More realistic in the short-term would be getting a group going. It might as well be for anywhere in Japan and not limit it to Tokyo if it’s an online group.
Funny that you call me “hard core.” In addition to health and weight control, I actually find eating this way easy!
Anyway, one option is FB. The pluses are that everybody in the world except you 🙂 is already a member. The downsides include less control over content. Plus I’ve had my own issues with Facebook over the years. I actually got kicked out 5 times for no reason and lost contact with everybody! Finally a friend of a friend who worked at FB sorted it out and I think I’m safely back in, but you never know.
I do operate my own social network (demo site is at lifemind.com) and people can have their own feeds and we can create a WFPB group there. The pluses are that we control everything and it works well I think. The downside is just that it’s really hard to get people to join new sites these days. Even during my “downtime” at FB it was hard to get friends to sign up to continue discussions there.
And there is also Reddit. We can always create a group there. That might be a good compromise.
Hi Doug, I stumbled upon your blog due to googling about WFPB and calorie density. But I am also a swimmer so this grabbed my attention! I thought you may like to know about a swimming style known as “total immersion”. You’ll need to practice where you hold your head in the water so that you balance with your legs more. It is a very graceful swimming style. I’m glad that you were able to get some backstroke to work for you. Take care!
Here is a video of a famous Japanese total immersion coach demonstrating his graceful style.
https://youtu.be/rJpFVvho0o4
Following up on my previous comment, this would be an amazing opportunity for learning swimming over again. They have in person option in Chiba or online. I’m all the way in Australia but you are so close, what an incredible opportunity to meet the worlds most graceful swimmer. You only need the same fitness level as walking for this kind of swimming style. It’s very relaxed. You can go a long distance without getting tired because it is more efficient. Wish you best of luck!
https://swimlikeshinji.teachable.com/p/home
Thanks for that. I’ll try it when I go to the swimming pool next time!