Day Six - Tired but happy

20 mins rowing machine, 40 mins cycling, 1 set sit-ups

I conked out again this evening. My ex-colleagues at Canon were having a small get-together in Haarlem, a mere 30 minute scooter ride from home. But after a busy week of work and transformation, plus 28 degrees of heat and a rowing machine session, I just felt like, well, sitting.

Lucky me, I lay on the roof-terrace, read my Tony Parsons page-turner for 3 hours and watched the sun go down.

It is genuinely hard to remember the last Friday night I was stone-cold sobre. It might have been six years ago. That doesn't read right, does it? No wonder I'm struggling with weight.

Now, where were we? Oh, yes - vitamins and amino acids. Check the "How to quit..." site from Patrick Holford for more info, but the thrust of it is like this.

The brain naturally creates various chemicals which make you feel good, calm, excited, etc. Most people have heard of endorphins and adrenalin, but there are others such as Gabba (which calms you) and Dopamin (which excites you).

These chemicals are also released in greater quantities when stimulants - like alcohol (Gabba), cigarettes, caffeine (Dopamin) and drugs - are taken. So in the short term and in rare and small doses, this is great and harmless. But invariably people exceed the minimal amounts.

And here's the thing.

The brain gives up naturally producing the good-feeling chemicals when it thinks they are being over-stimulated.

Think about that. The natural production stops, leaving the body wanting more of the stimulant which the brain assumes is going to do the work.

Now what's also interesting is how these chemicals are created in the first place. There is a complicated explanation about neuro-sensors and dendrides and the like - but let's skip all that. Basically, the chemicals are created by amino acids - and amino acids are made by vitamins.

Then the double whammy of having a bad diet (leading to vitamin deficiency) and using stimulants is that the body could be massively unable to provide feel-good moments. That means that if you try to stop the stimulant without changing the diet, you'll be heavily at risk of relapse because life suddenly flatlines - not feeling so tired and not suffering hangovers or early morning coughing, but just bloody bored.

The only choice is to go for the whole hog - diet, stimulants and, in my view, exercise. 'Cos exercise is one of the ways to get the natural stimulants too.

And on that note, time for bed. Sobre sleep. Lovely.