Breathing, drinking, eating are all regular necessities. There are many hints and hacks that can be used with breathing to control my attention and what I am letting get to me or give me a lift. I try to be sure to drink enough water and other fluids each day, even though what is needed is not always really defined. I have written before about over-hydration, to the level that interferes with my nerve transmission and kills me, as is reported to have happened to a marathon runner who overdid drinking water. And clearly, many people in the US and elsewhere are having difficulty eating enough but not too much.
I would like to know more about the process of breathing. I gathered at one time that oxygen actually passed into me during the exhalation of breath but I am not sure that is correct. Even if it is, I am not clear as to whether I might do better with (slightly) increased oxygenation. I am also unclear about when exhaling with more force increases my oxygen. I suspect that even slight increases, maybe even only a couple of times a day, raise my mood and might give me other effects worth having.
I had an operation on my knee when I was 19 as a result of a wrestling injury. That knee and that leg have been a bit sensitive ever since. Now, my left ankle is always larger than the right one and that seems to be because the veins and arteries in that leg are a bit screwed up. Because of that ankle's swelling, I take a diuretic daily. I seem to have a 24 hour cycle of needing more water and then not needing it. I have heard of older men who have trouble having enough internal water and I am interested in finding ways to do all right. Both water and sleep are generally available so I have a long standing interest in good hydration and good sleep since they seem open for grabs.
The matter of food is much more complicated. Dr. Susan Peirce Thompson and her Bright Line Eating and the 5:2 Diet have both opened our eyes to the actual fun of occasional fasting and semi-fasting. Her rules of no flour and no added sugar are simple but challenging enough to be engaging. The 5:2 diet says 600 calories a day for a man and 500 for a woman on two non-consecutive days of the week. We have both re-learned that we won't die if we skip breakfast, and lunch, too. It can feel good not to eat and then when we do, the food is extra good.
