Category: Phase 7

Deadpool is putting together X-Force. Should be fun. Deep Cove in Vancouver is worth the visit.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 18
Proof in the chocolate almonds (not pudding) that you can easily blow a calorie restriction is included in this post.

I’m not particularly angry at myself because the strain was getting to me and I needed a break, even for an hour. I managed a nice walk home and I’m hoping the balance was kept. Given how frigging hungry I was after dinner, I feel like I’m still tracking the right way.

I want my lower back to un-f*ck itself. There was a yoga pose that involved one knee down and the other leg straight that nearly brought tears to my eyes. If I wanted to effing cry, I’d watch Terms of Endearment again.

Unless Disney buys every movie studio on the planet, this crossover won’t happen on film. More movie filming in Kitsilano today.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 17
It occurred to me after yesterday’s rant over sleep advice, that had the article acknowledged real life (e.g. parenting challenges) and suggested to try one of the pieces of advice, I might have been less cranky.

Catch 22 #9032: If you have sleep apnea, one of the symptoms is that it’s harder to lose weight. I am 99% sure I have sleep apnea. One of the ways to cure sleep apnea is to lose weight.

Insert head in blender and spin.

Yes, I am seeking medical advice on the sleep apnea, hopefully next week.

I worked with the trainer and we’ve planned May 1 as a weigh in date. I don’t want to because it’s so upsetting, but I’ll need the info to deal with the inevitable questions from medical people. And I should compare to previous phases. I have two weeks to figure out how not to obsess on it.

Deadpool and Domino. I saw the latest Deadpool 2 trailer. Maybe I could get a good night’s sleep in Tofino.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 16
I read a how-to-get-better-sleep article and I just had a rant with a friend at work. These articles simply think you are a weak-willed butt-faced dickhead because you can’t organize your children, your chores and take a moment to chill AND take “proper” sleep every night … OMG the downsides of poor sleep are DEATH. Well f*ck me sweet Jesus I’m going to hell for watching Stephen Colbert.

I am so tired of
a) Being tired
b) Being told I’m a loser slacker f*ck for letting myself get tired
c) Being told that we who like food are evil environmental disasters because we crap so much we’re destroying the environment. And have bad taste in clothes.

Nope. Nope. Nope. I am not have a negative nelly morning.

Here’s the annoyingly formatted article that set me off.

www.bakadesuyo.com/2018/04/how-to-sleep-better/

More Justice League Dark. At least it’s clear weather in Cape Breton today.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 15
As I start week three of Phase 7, I noticed that the cravings and sheer pain of this process is less. I must be adapting but I hope I’m not adapting to a slower metabolism. I don’t want my body to gain back weight that easily.

This assumes I’m actually losing any weight. I went to Mark’s Work Warehouse to obtain some dress shirts. I am still a 3X. Part of the problem is my middle, but there’s no way a 2X can cope with my shoulders and arms. Similarly in casual t-shorts and golf shirts, although my waist is OK in those cuts, the shoulders are not.

If I keep working out, I’ll be stuck with 3X shoulders. So much for buying off the rack.

Shopping Questions

Why are the small sizes on the top of the shelf and the extraordinarily rare 2X and 3X kept at the bottom near the floor?

Why are there so few 2X and 3X items in stock when there are a lot of big guys like me?

Justice League Dark. That would be a fun movie. I’d complain about the pollen in Vancouver but with freezing rain in Toronto, uh, no, it’s just fine here.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 14
I felt like I cheated like crazy yesterday, but the calorie count came in within boundaries. I’m hoping not to obsess over this, but calorie estimating is part of the process. The results will be whatever the body decides it will be. But I need to let the process have a chance to take effect.

At this stage, my tight jeans from two weeks ago aren’t fitting properly so I will try to place my faith in the process and give it a chance to proceed un-messed with until the end of this month. Then I will steel myself for a weigh-in and measure to see.

Today is my official cheat day, despite nasty carbs creeping in yesterday, I don’t have the same intensity of cravings. Same cravings mind you. I just don’t think they are inducing the same level of distress as last week.

Moon Knight is a cool character that doesn’t seem to be on the movie radar. I was helping a client in Westerose Alberta yesterday

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 13
It’s Saturday morning. Do you know where your calories are? It’s funny because I saw a re-tweet yesterday involving @YoniFreedhoff, the fellow who wrote the Diet Fix book, which is the book I’m semi using to upgrade my Mutant Diet, which was initially inspired by a Keto mindset.

I wonder how often authors of books see nuts like me trying something and wondering which sections of the book I willfully ignored.

Anyway, my body thanked me for not going to the gym because the lower back is still not right. I’ll have to get some more treatment. My wizard(ess) RMT has a waitlist and I’m on it.

But if you’re wondering how I stick to it, I noticed that the jeans I’m wearing were not comfortable two weeks ago and now they are loose.

Notice Batman doesn’t look scared. Difficult to spell, but I went to Kindergarten in Mississauga.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 12
There’s a challenge with keeping the calorie count in the evenings. I’m just getting too hungry. And with muscle pain, it becomes overwhelming and adversely affects my effectiveness in the many things that are going on. I guess I have to try to shift more calories to later in the day. I’m not sure how that works.

In the meantime, I figured out the mathematical reason I’m skipping the scale. (My psychological reasons are due to childhood dieting trauma.)

The scale is simply too blunt an instrument. It’s too slow to show progress. For example, I have never been back to the weight from 2 years ago, even though I lost a meagre 15 pounds. However, I consider that loss a fairly permanent change. I.e. One weekend’s indulgence won’t put it all back.

However, when you are in the middle of working on a new target, your body can put on or take off a pound in the same day. Therefore you can’t really trust the scale until the change has become a new lower baseline. A sensible average weight loss is 1 pound per week. Which means in a month, that’s a piffling 4 pounds. Which frankly for the amount of discomfort I’m experiencing feels almost not worth it.

Therefore, if you wanted to drop 60 pounds, that’s really a-year-and-a-half because Christmas and vacations will at best stall the process for some of the time.

There has to be a better way to measure progress than the scale. There are many changes happening that are not being observed. I don’t trust my own observations and the scale simply won’t inform me.

I read that they’re filming a Teen Titans movie in Toronto.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 11
Yesterday was a tough day for sugar and carb cravings. Given how hungry I was when I went to bed, I don’t think I did too badly, but my estimated calorie count shows a little high.

At Day 11 the excitement, such as it was, for a new attempt at changing the diet is starting to wear off. It’s a big slog on a bumpy road to a destination that is unknowable.

However, I have to ask, am I feeling it in my body. Oddly I think so, but you can’t rule out self-delusion. I can’t bear the thought of the scale until the end of the month. I’m also scared to death that my body will adapt to the lower calorie count and hold onto the weight.

I won’t find out unless I stay the course for at least three weeks.

Werewolf-by-Night or how I feel on a diet. Maybe there’s a nice B&B in Ladner.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 10
I’m wondering “what next?” There’s a mp3 I have on my desktop that is of King Julien from Madagascar where he yells “How long is this going to take?” I think I will play this daily. King Julien clip.

I am sore from my self-paced workout and I see the chiropractor to see if she can shove my lower back somewhere near where it’s supposed to be.

I think my process is working. Last night’s after dinner wanting-to-gnaw-my-own-arm-off feeling was unpleasant. I could also feel my behaviour toward others deteriorating.

There is doubt. Is this the right diet? Am I working out enough? Where could I add more? Am I getting enough sleep? What if this doesn’t work? How will I change if I do reach some sort of end state? What is that end state really?

No wonder I’m tired.

I just thought this was cool. I have no idea what’s going on. A lot of people are thinking about Humboldt Saskatchewan these days.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 9
Wow. I was really hungry last night. Bacon to the rescue and then I had to just try to ignore it for the rest of the night.

Lower back mystery: according to the trainer I was doing the kettle bell wrong. Too high a swing. She made me do deadlifts and I thought it had been easy until after I left the gym and returned to the office. Yeesh.

Practical Tips for Calorie Counting

I was finding calorie counting distressing because it’s difficult to be exact. This is what I learned.

• Don’t stress; it’s not possible to be exact.
• New food? Look on the back of the package and estimate. If no package, Google it and check a couple of different answers. Pick what’s reasonable.

The real value of calorie counting is that part of your mind will know that if you eat anything, you have to write it down and figure out the calorie count. Easier just not to eat.

One tip from the Diet Fix book is to this of calories as money you don’t want to spend.

It’s hard to know if this is working. I feel like I lost weight off my back and my nose. WTF?