Category: Mutant Diet

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I googled superheroes and bicycles and found this. For sponsorship, try Squamish, famous for mountain biking.

Let’s talk about cheating. Last night I went to The Billy with Catherine to have a quiet moment (well, apart from the live country music) and discuss some items related to her work for which we needed a child-free hour. I had a beer. Then we went home where I tasted some ice cream that Cath got for Tim and a play date friend from Rain or Shine. But here’s the real story. I did the Mary Homework at lunch time and then rode the 9 km home from work. As I was heading around Science World (see my route map below) I realized that I had a lot of energy left.

On Wednesday when I first started cycling my legs were on fire and I assumed that they’d be unhappy.

It wasn’t that I was fooling myself. After I got home, I went and shopped at Costco to buy the metric tonne of meat for the next couple of weeks and then I came home and did three loads of laundry. And I still had some gas in my tank. You can tell by the step counter (15,234) that I was on my feet a lot. (Normal days with cycling are 8,000 – 12,000).

Honestly the only variation I can truly blame is the wheat and rice removal. I’ve not been 100% with sugar (more like 98%) nor 100% with dairy and it’s in my scrambled eggs. This is very much like the stories I’d heard from other people when they gave up wheat.

Regardless of energy levels, I am very glad this is my rest day. Walking up stairs causes the legs to whine.

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

Golden Age Black Canary image in honour of this week’s Arrow episode. For sponsorship, try Prince Edward Island.

I can’t believe I made it through yesterday but at the same time I have the true feeling that I kind of suck. Granted I only started cycling on Wednesday so my legs are going to be in shock from the sudden re-introduction of cycling. Therefore for the Mary Homework Session, I left out any heavy leg stuff. However, the pullups and pushups were tough as hell (i.e. my sets were all interrupted before I got to 15). I’m was still sore in the shoulders from previous work. At least, that’s my excuse.

Is this a good sign? As I sat on the change room bench at the gym, I held the bridge of my nose as one does when feeling whipped and wondering oh-my-go-what-am-i-doing? I noticed that I had lost weight on my nose. It felt different. How frigging weird is that?.

As I limped through the rest of the day, I was wondering “how the heck am I going to cycle home and do two hours of karate tonight?”

I took the 3.7 km route home as opposed to the 9 km route home. I had a fast turnaround to eat, feed the kids and arrive at 6 PM karate. I was feeling OK for the start of karate. The legs were definitely wobbly. However, I got through it all – a lot of kicks in this session.

I have another Mary Homework Session today. Will I suck at it or can I make a decent go of it?

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

This is a really retro image of The Thing. For sponsorship, try The Yukon.

OK. Today is a gorgeous day outside and despite the pain in my legs, I felt it necessary to ride despite what my legs and backside were telling me. Ouch. My legs. And just about every other part. There’s now the pushing through process. At what point am I at risk of injury? When is it too much? Honestly, I have no idea. I biked today. (You’ll see I logged 12.7 km yesterday.) I have karate tonight and I have a planned Mary Homework for lunch time. I figure if I avoid leg stuff for the Mary homework and then ride the short route home, I’ll save enough legs for karate, which is two hours tonight.

This week’s Mary Homework is below. (click image to enlarge.)

And yesterday’s log entry is here:

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

Cycling today, I thought I was going to croak on Burrard Bridge today. Hey, Brad Wall might be happy today. Please visit Regina.

So, Tuesday’s trainer session with Mary was a new level of intense. The pullups and pushups on an angle with straps as opposed to a machine were crazy. And I got introduced to ball slams and sitting side weight toss. Kind of hard to describe. Sit straight legged. Pick up what looks like a heavy pillow and slam it on the floor alternating either side of you. I’m going to get new homework, which will be fun. The irony is that in order to get more out of the sessions, I need to push myself during homework times so that, in turn, pushes the trainer who then intensifies the next session.

I doubt she’d admit it (for customer service reasons) but I bet dollars to donuts (hmmm donuts) that Trainers hate not being able to move forward at each session. First of all it must be boring for the Trainer and there’s a risk the client will say, “This working out stuff sucks.”

Today I managed to ride my bike to work. I did rescue it from the bike shop and I’m now going to attempt to ride to/from work regularly. The leg muscles seem stronger than last year, but the stamina is rubbish.

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Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

Need to go someplace calm? Try Ucluelet.

Today is my second personal trainer session. I’m feeling stronger so I suspect we’ll be able to up the reps and weight. The other request I’ll have for Mary is a revised homework sheet but with alternates in case something like the pull up machine is being hogged like it was yesterday. Which brings me to the Hulk. For some reason when I left the gym I was really angry but it was not in balance with the annoyance of not being able to complete my workout as planned. Good things happened after that and I forgot all about my unbalanced response. I walked to the bike shop near Granville Island.

It was gorgeous out and I was looking forward to the idea that I would be able to start riding to work.

Then I was told the bike wasn’t ready. Hulk smash. I was in that amp’d up totally pissed off mode again. I was told (in tone more than words) that I was an idiot for coming by when they had not called me to say it was ready. So I confirmed grumpily who should call who and left the shop.

I stood at the corner and let myself amp down. Being told it was ready on Tuesday is not good because Tuesday is the Complicated Child Care Day.

So … What the hell is going on with this diet that’s making me want to go all Terminator T-800 on people?

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Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

As I kick off week 2 I am wondering about the flip flopping feelings I have on all this. I feel like I have made progress, but I also feel, at times, hopeless. What I tell myself is that I won’t really have a sense of breaking through past habits and physical conditions for a month. There’s a tendency to beat oneself up for mistakes a bit more than needed. I see this as the inner self-attacking-go-to-the-couch-with-chips component of my personality that is really feeling existentially threatened by all this.

(Do you like the Avengers #1 cover? Amazing how the characters evolved. For sponsorship, best to check out Winnipeg as I haven’t mentioned Manitoba yet.)

The one thing I’m looking forward to that will help is that I pick up my bike from the shop after work today. That’s a good thing because I can add some exercise to the equation without taking more time out of the day. I do have to watch out for the lower back because last August I fried my lower back due to not stretching out the hip flexors.

This 92-day plan presumes I don’t get sick during it. This occurred to me when I had a short stomach upset on Sunday, which didn’t last long fortunately, but I do have to watch out.

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

Wouldn’t it be great if Ryan Reynolds had a short role in a Ben Afflect Batman film? Sigh.Sponsorship: Moose Jaw is a funny name. Check it out.

It’s Day 7. Week 2 begins tomorrow. I guess I should be happy I made it through a week. Today the plan is to get my bike going, do yoga and complete about 100 tasks I put off while studying for the CSC. I may be being optimistic. I have a couple of friends with significant health issues and I think I’ll dedicate today’s efforts to them. I figure if any of the ailments that afflict them hit me, and I’m in better shape, I’ll fare better than I would otherwise.

Of course, every day it crosses my mind to embrace my inner couch potato and really, really commit to beer, chips and a Netflix account. Even though Jerry prepared about 2 kg of pork chops for me to freeze and mix with veggies, the overhead of this diet from a time-in-the-kitchen perspective is pretty darn big.

Yesterday I ended up at a Tim Horton’s at lunch time (Tim was at ballet) and I managed to eat a wrap that wasn’t too bad. No donuts. But the reason for this mistake was the fact I did not defrost a meal in time to heat it. Stupid mistake.

Tomorrow is a fresh week and I hope to crush it.

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Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

It’s Day 6 and Day 5 did not go according to plan and now Day 6 is not going according to plan. When you get into a process like this if you do not have the right food ready to eat at the right time, stuff is going to go off. People who say — to those of us who’ve got food issues — to just “get a grip” and not eat the bad stuff simply don’t understand.

I want to be Superman in level of self control, but the reality is when you’re doing what I’m doing you can’t think clearly when you are hungry. And the more hungry you get, the less self-control over choices.

This is why pre-planning is mission critical.

We saw Batman vs Superman last night and there’s a real disconnect from the critics and the audience. Apart from the fact I am totally sick of the government jumping to use nuclear missiles as a plot device, the film was fine. I read the Globe & Mail’s review and there’s a paragraph where the reviewer listed things that didn’t make sense, but all of which were actually part of the plot and had a point. There should have been a bit more humour but I feel the shadow of Christopher Nolan was hanging over this film.

Anyway, the point of this is that I did not have a dinner plan. We went to a 5:50 PM show. I got hungry. I ate weak nachos. I went home and tried to balance it out with bacon and eggs.

Frustrating but not fatal. Today I might be able to get my bike fixed.

Today’s sponsorship is an article I wrote last year. www.travelinalberta.com/blog/southern-alberta/drumheller/the-royal-tyrrell-museum-of-palaeontology-in-drumheller/

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

I forgot my lunch at home today so this Hulk image is a bit more appropriate. Why is it with dieting you always feel changes in your body in places you really don’t care about? Like my damn neck. Who cares? The workouts in the scruffy log entry below were pretty intense. I wasn’t even trying to fully do Mary’s workout homework and I was feeling whipped at the end. For sponsorship, another really funny Newfoundland-Labrador place name.

Then of course karate class (2 hours’ worth) involved a lot of kicking. Kicking and my right hip are not friends. However, I did find I could muster more stability. It’s all about activating abdominal muscles and keeping them tight during kicks.

So because I forgot my damn lunch I have to venture out and try to find meat and veggies and NOT be tempted by other stuff.

For those of you keen on detail, the step counter should be viewed as how much walking I’m doing. I broke 13,000 which means I at least walked home and had to have done extra walking or, in Day 4’s case, cardio in the gym and karate class.

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

Announcement Post – Day 1 – Previous Post – Next Post

It’s a nutty day. I did pass the Canadian Securities Exam by the skin of my teeth. I am very relieved. At least I’ve knocked one pressure off my list. As to dieting, the classic situation occurred. My body used lard that I added on the Easter Weekend to make the first three days feel simple. Then the cravings started at 2:30 yesterday. I now have a bag of raisins in my desk at the ready. I can’t risk having to go to Urban Fare. Just too many easily edible things. I’m also finding the carb cravings at dinner time quite intense. However, not eating before bed is easier. Go figure.

The image of my log entries is below. For today’s sponsorship, I’ve decided to put a classic funny name from Newfoundland-Labroador on the site. Check out Woody Point.

Now to go to the gym and test out Mary’s homework.

Click the image for a bigger picture. I clearly have to work on my cursive writing.

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