Category: Phase 10

Wolverine is the inspiration for this diet. Here he is fighting.  Cape Breton is dealing with a dead right whale mystery.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Finale
I can say that since March 2016, this phase has been the most effective. I think the previous three years put down the track bed for me to move this hulking train of a process forward.

When I started this voyage, on March 29, 2019, I was 298.7 pounds.

Prior to 2019, my best was November 27, 2018 at 278.4.

Yesterday, June 25, 2019, I was 274.4

The net loss from 2016 is 24.3. That doesn’t seem as much, but I can deadlift 200 pounds. I started with 40 early this year.

However, I feel less than 274. My pants are heading to a size 40 and when I saw a recent picture of myself, I feel like the weight difference between November 2018 and now is greater than what the scale shows. My trainer is trying to determine what kind of muscle mass I might have built. I am looking for a number like “prices adjusted for inflation” – say “Weight adjusted for muscle.”

Future goals

The summer poses eating challenges. I am going to restart a mini Phase 10a on July 8 for four weeks. The objective will be to maintain the weight. The chart below shows how easy it is to gain weight back.

I also want to push harder with weights. For example by the end of 2019, I want to reach about 280 with the deadlift. This however has to be accompanied by nightly roll-out of my IT band and other sore muscles. Last night due to the heavy lifting session with the trainer, I had to roll out my legs; it was that painful.

As for diet, I need to document better and make sure the water and other parts are on track.

I still want to see what I look like at 250 pounds and super strong. It doesn’t seem as impossible anymore.

I needed Spider-man and Deadpool today. Apparently, baby eel trafficking in Nova Scotia is a thing.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 86
Nerves, nerves, nerves.

I weigh-in today and will have for tomorrow’s Phase 10 Finale the actual weight numbers. I need to connect in my mind how my pants are fitting to what the scale shows, to how much I can weight lift. And I need to cross reference to a recent picture of me at my daughter’s graduation. I noticed a difference in the photo and now I want to connect measurements to reality.

I decided that in July I would do a Phase 10a, because there are interruptions, e.g. vacation, that will slow the process down. I’m also going to set a weight lifting goal with the trainer today to see what I can do between now and Christmas.

Wish me luck.

More the original Civil War comic event. Don’t mess with Grizzly bears in Prince George.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 85
OK. I’m one day before final weigh in and I haven’t blogged, I’ve indulged and today’s schedule is another mess.

Oh well.

There was a high school graduation. (I’m a proud papa.) There were relatives visiting. (Dining out.) There were other end of school year events. (Schedule hosed.) And I was tired.

Last night I got back to yoga class after a couple of days of not being to the gym. There was an advantage in that my muscles were rested and they were ready to go for long holds and better planks and so forth. However, at about the 50 minute mark of the 75 minute class I was out of gas. I was sweating like mad and I looked back and saw the back two rows all looking cool and calm. I nearly yelled out “Are none of you bastards finding this intense?!?”

Admire my self-control.

I needed some Spider Women today. Apparently it snowed 75 km west of Kelowna.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 80
Don’t skip dinner, attend a pot luck – at which you attempt not to eat much — and then go out for fast food. It doesn’t work.

Given the sheer volume of things going on, I’m not being too negative about it.

I weighed in yesterday and was down 1.2 pounds now totaling 16.4 in 11 weeks which is 1.49 pounds per week.

What’s coming though is a final week that’s going to be shaky because there are out of town guests, special events, days off work (less formal schedule) and likely more potholes in the diet/fitness plan.

Nevertheless, next Tuesday I wrap this Phase up with a true reveal of actual weight and a plan to maintain and/or lose some over the summer months.

I was thinking it was time for some bad guys. St. John’s NL is 17°

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 79
So I kind of blew it by 500 calories. But I felt like I was on track; i.e. the pants became looser. It seemed like Sunday’s indulgence was chewed up by the exertion at the gym. I weigh in today and I’m going to see what happened. The calorie demands were harsher after a cheat day. The body seems to desperately want to back to the meat and carbs and dessert model so desperately it will try anything.

All I need to do is bring the snack attacks under control. It’s a modest shift that should not be too bad.

Having said that, the schedule starts to go sideways starting this evening. Bad schedule leads to bad calories.

I wonder if they’ll ever bring a Green Lantern version back. Toronto is still happy it seems.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 78
The weekend wasn’t too bad but there was a struggle with a sick child who had to do a piano recital. Effect on diet/fitness? The plan changed. No time on Saturday for a blog entry. Plus there was an unplanned meal out when I was stupid hungry.

Sunday was the planned cheat and I had saved up calories during the day. My friend Jerry’s dessert sent chills down my spine. And of course BBQ. And beer. The one thing about diet austerity is that when you do break loose, you really taste the treats. It’s not just chemicals to feed an addiction.

Today is austerity. The stomach needs to recover and tomorrow I have a second-to-last weigh-in for this phase.

I have to figure out how I’m going to manage the summer weeks. I don’t want to backslide.

I wonder if there’s any movement on a She-Hulk movie. Abbotsford was in the news.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 76

Rookie diet/fitness mistake yesterday. I did the 23 km bike ride home, but ran out of time to eat before having to run errands. Was so tired and grumpy and in a rush that I chose badly when I finally found a window of opportunity.

Physical strain leads to calories.

Due to a problem with a sick child, I did not do the gym today, but given yesterday’s exertions it might be a good idea to lay off the strain and the food.

There’s a new Batman actor. What will everyone else look like? Happy sports fans in Toronto today.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 75
The not making sense part is increasing. During the day I was hungry the whole time. A chocolate nut thing I bought from Costco was hoovered up. I can’t by those addictive things again. Anyway, I rode home and took my son to dance and I expected to be hungry. But I wasn’t. I ate dinner slightly later and was super hungry then. But I held off anything but water afterwards.

When I would be hungry used to be predictable.

Infinite Crisis on Infinite Earths. North Battleford saw a court settlement with an oil company.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 74
This is weird. Yesterday was strict until dinner time when I ran out of time to eat properly before chairing the last Parent Advisory Council meeting for the year. I grabbed food on the run and then when I returned home I fell prey to not enough food therefore not enough sanity.

But this morning I was starving, particularly after I ate my normal egg-and-bacon.

Plus I had that losing-weight-off-my-nose feeling.

With 2600 calories yesterday I should be feeling pretty satisfied.

This Sunday is Father’s Day and I have a significant cheat planned so I really want to stay close to the plan during the days leading up to it.

Swamp Thing had a rough go on the DC Universe streaming platform. Two women from New Brunswick made the news in Ghana.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 73
I made myself laugh. I want to come to work with a more positive attitude. A voice in my head said, “Why not come to work sane?”

I went to the trainer yesterday and she reported that I was down 1.2 pounds. That’s now 15.2 for the 10 weeks. What’s odd is that the calorie count has been creeping up. In the past (say Phase 8) this kind of thing would halt weight loss in its tracks. This is also in contrast to increased weight in the standing deadlifts (now 180 pounds) and slow progress in strength in the other exercises.

Something happened to my body chemistry because it’s more tolerant of deviations in diet. I wish I understood what was going on.