Category: Phase 8

I was trying to find a 90s/2000s image but this really old one came up. I wonder if it’s worth trying to hide in Squamish.

Mutant Diet Phase 8 Day 26
The good news is I need to take my belt to the shoe repair place so they can put a new hole in it. The bad news is I weakened last night and had a wine/snack attack. Despite this, my calorie estimate was still below my Fitbit’s estimate of calories burned.

My workout was pretty intense. I managed four sets of six exercises with fairly high (for me) weight setting. I really should not say this, but the reduction in belt size makes me think this phase seems to be faster than last. Although really, why do I lose weight off everywhere I don’t care about first?

I’ve been tinkering with the plan, e.g. better calorie counting and heavy weights. But how do you know what is changing the system?

No matter. It’s Thanksgiving weekend soon and I’m thankful.

Teen Titans as they moved along. I’m scared to look at Vancouver hotel prices.

Mutant Diet Phase 8 Day 25
I had a cardiac stress test today and I passed. There are “no limits” on my choices for what I can do for cardio exercise.

I was not surprised, but apart from a sense of relief knowing that I am not facing some structural issue with my heart, I am still faced with the massive problem of becoming, well, less massive.

At the moment I have to continue this phase’s experiment in which I ask the question, “how strong can I get and will that bump my metabolism to process calories without automatically storing them in fat cells?”

My blood pressure with meds is in the 140s for the top number. I’d like to change that, but is my age and ethnicity making that impossible?

In the 1980s they launched the New Teen Titans phases. It snowed in Calgary.

Mutant Diet Phase 8 Day 24
It was chilly this morning. My exercise was standing outside a school and filming traffic. The things I do for my children.

Yesterday was a little better diet-wise. The personal trainer put me through my paces and pushed my limits. I was really zonked by the evening but today I feel normal.

What I don’t like is my attitude to my body. It swings from “hey, I’m doing OK” to “To call you a fucking ox would be an insult to all oxen.” And this happens seemingly randomly regardless of proximity to a workout or a meal or anything.

The trick is to try to ask the extreme stuff to just chill and pass on. I’ve not had much success with getting angry about how angry I get with myself.

I’m going to work through Teen Titans phases. It’s not raining in Tofino, oddly.

Mutant Diet Phase 8 Day 23
It’s with some sadness I have to admit that chocolate almonds is a decent pain reliever.

Damn.

The cold has not let go either and my daughter had a sore throat and fever last night. I remain pessimistic about my sanity.

Odd thing about workouts. It’s taken over two years to feel a significant change. When I went to the gym yesterday I did not feel like going. I went with the assumption of doing 1/3 of the high intensity workout and managed 2/3. Less than I wanted, but more than I expected.

My muscles start activating as soon as I do a couple of warm up stretches. They are now conditioned to expect work coming. I’m feel like (not sure if this is real) that I’m getting more out of my workouts.

This is a strange voyage, that’s for sure.

Early Teen Titans. If you really want rain, try North Vancouver.

Mutant Diet Phase 8 Day 22
With my cold receding slightly, I’ve looked at what I’m eating and there’s “carb creep.” I’m making little decisions thinking, “Oh, it’s not that bad.” The problem is that I’ll get past the halfway mark and be unhappy I made that many little exceptions. Plus there’s Thanksgiving this weekend so I want to indulge a little. Therefore being more focused during the regular week will be needed.

The trick is to simply be focused as opposed to self-critical. When that happens the rebellious eating behaviour is triggered. It’s all a mess inside my head and no one else can possible imagine how difficult I’m making this for myself.

I’m also going to lose activity calories this week because it’s pouring rain. Last week was a real gift.

Last of Avengers vs X-Men. Next week, Teen Titans. There’s more in Terrace BC than you’d think.

Mutant Diet Phase 8 Day 21
I ran out of gas and ate pizza. Wine. Chocolate. But, oddly, I’m still lower that I thought on the calorie count. Whaaaat? The problem is the ingredients are going to slow down my lard removal. Dairy and wheat are not good for me. If I’m careful today I should not have any tummy trouble.

Colds and being tired don’t help with food choices. I was barely able to pick up the phone and order pizza.

Today seems a bit better, but the cold gunk can leave now. Hopefully I won’t sound like a consumption patient when I do yoga later.

OK. It’s obvious why I picked this picture. I have a new client in Arnold’s Cove NL.

Mutant Diet Phase 8 Day 20 Again
Yes, Day 20 twice. I skipped a number back on Day 14. Ugh; I can’t even count.

Yesterday felt like a more than 2500 calorie day. Maybe I’m missing something. It was a classic Run Out of Proper Food and Eat at Costco mistake. The cold is not helping.

Today I did a visit to the gym near where my son dances and it was busy with loud talkers and I just didn’t feel like it. However, my theory is that the muscles need to be reminded pretty much daily that more lifting is coming. My thinking is that the signals that are sent need the repetition to encourage muscle growth. However, with a cold, bah humbug.

The one benefit of feeling the strength training at work is that it motivates you to try not to eat the wrong things.

A retro Avengers vs X-Men! Let’s hide from the news in Hunter River, PEI.

Mutant Diet Phase 8 Day 20
Argh. I don’t have my chart rigged to properly record my weight training. I have to try again. I also have more exercises than I thought.

I’ve been battling a cold and I’m trying to maintain an exercise effort but not get too much into the strain zone. It seems that the muscles are quick to forget about the training. They want to fall back into the multi-decade lazy space.

Garments are feeling looser, which is a start. But I need to break the obsession cycle around the belt size and the weight (that I never look at).

I still however laugh at the seeming dichotomy between the goal of weight loss and the goal of bulking up on muscle.

More Avengers vs X-Men. Fredericton New Brunswick has a deadlocked provincial election result.

Mutant Diet Phase 8 Day 19
I took some more time to think about calories in and calories out. If you equate these in any way, it’s a false equivalency. I feel like with weight loss we’re in the situation where the only tool we have is a hammer and the problems all look like nails. In the diet/fitness case we have calories and we have unwanted body fat.

My caloric intake on a weekly basis is 2500. The Fitbit is saying I burn around 4500 weekdays and 3500 weekends. So, should I not be a fucking poster boy for the weight loss industry? But if you look at what I’m actually losing, it’s not much. I don’t have numbers yet, but I can feel some small loosening in the waist.

My frustration aside, calories come from thermodynamics. A bomb calorimeter is based on burning substances and measuring the temperature increase of water. There’s not a chance that the bio chemistry that converts food to fat or muscle or other tissues works anything like a bomb calorimeter.

So, science-types, how does it work?

More Avengers vs X-Men. The Fall colours in Caledon should be starting up.

Mutant Diet Phase 8 Day 18
There’s a new pain killer in town. Chocolate and sugar. The personal trainer session was awesome in that I did a lot and moved up in all my weights and added new exercises, but man I was sore. When I’m tired and sore, I hit the bad foods. Dang.

In the good news category, my Fitbit says I burn more than 3500 calories a day. I’m supposed to match activity calories with food calories, but I’m often way past it. See charts below.

Today was dumb because I started at the dentist, ran afoul of meetings times and am now feeling all mixed up. I need to be sure this doesn’t translate into emotional eating. (I had a cavity and now I have to go back tomorrow!)

I spent $150 on a big boy sized blood pressure monitor. Maybe it’ll arrive today.

My new Heavy Lifting Chart is below. More exercises and more weight.