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In the comics, The Vision is actually based on a WWII android called the Human Torch. Alberta has an election.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 15
I’m really worried about tomorrow’s weigh-in. The body feels like it’s still dropping but I know my inner child voice wants this over with. It feels like the conversation I have with my 10-year-old when he has an idea for a creative project that will take far longer than he can actually imagine.

There’s a green comfy chair in the living room that used to hug me closer. It seems less huggy now.

New yoga teacher last night. Intensity is always increased when you can’t fully predict the moves.

Must focus. Wish me luck for tomorrow – not for weight loss, but for inner calm.

The Wasp isn’t in the Avengers, but should be. Sun Run today in Vancouver.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 14
My innards were not happy yesterday. But I can’t figure out what disagreed with me. It seems to be OK now. As a result the calorie count was down due to being a bit afraid of food.

Today is technically the cheat day, so I started with the best muffin in town. Probably 400 calories so I have to hold on until lunch. I want to see if I can stay in the calorie count while cheating.

The fitness part of this is almost as mystifying as the diet. I was really sore Friday night from the full high intensity workout from that day. Saturday morning was all aches, but I put myself through a basic set of weights including deadlifts. I found I am short on reps at my old weight so I have to keep at that one.

I am feeling like my body is rearranging itself, but I’m going to wait until Tuesday’s weigh-in to try to correspond sensations to measurements.

I saw Captain Marvel last night for the second time. Brie Larson is glad they changed up her costume in the comics. I am fighting for music in schools. Petition here.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 13
On I was hungry really early in the day. A half donut some satanic bastard had in the office was eaten; I’d hoped it would offset the cravings. By lunch, I wondered — as I walked to the gym — where I was going to find the energy to work out beyond walking up the stairs. Then I did a full high intensity workout. I haven’t been able to do one of those since last Fall.

Then at about 3:15 I was set upon by hunger. I’m was out of supplies and fortunately a friend had some plain almonds. Honestly I thought I was going to faint.

I was expecting the severity of being hungry to reduce in the second week.

This morning I am just sore and grumpy, but made it to the gym for a weights workout.

The Thor/Hulk rivalry has gone on for a long time. Charlottetown is 6°. Winter seems slow to leave everywhere.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 12
My hunger kicked in a lot faster than I imagined this morning. Last night, it was brutal when I dropped off my son for an after school class. It was meditation time and trying to find a quiet corner was difficult. I picked a longer meditation and I think it took me to a better spot — for a few minutes anyway.

The hunger though was rough, so I ate Starbucks egg bites which are fairly satisfying. Pastries just don’t last when you’re super hungry. Once home I hoovered up the meat and a lot of salad. You know you are dieting when you are desperate for salad.

I seem to have annoyed some muscles in-between my shoulder blades.

No one ever said this would be easy.

I am very curious as to what Gamora will be doing in Avengers Endgame. Fort Nelson is only a few degrees cooler than Vancouver.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 11
I has a mistake where I did not bring my frozen chicken to work and after yoga class had to head to a food court. The problem of course is estimating this stuff. And going to the providers and inquiring is just too much.

I don’t feel like I went too far off. The calorie count is suspiciously low.

I’m wondering if dieting truly does lead to more talking-to-yourself-in-your-out-loud-voice. I confused a couple of people yesterday when my mutterings were partly overheard and they asked if I was talking to them. Good grief.

Iron Man and The Hulk are big in the Avengers. I checked in on Fredericton. -1° and light snow. Ick.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 10
It with hesitation I tell you I lost 5.6 pounds in a week. Why the hesitation? Why not jump up and down for joy that, after 3 years, I found a diet/fitness combo that shows results on the scale?

I simply don’t trust that my body won’t adapt to the lower calorie count and figure a way to keep weight. I also want to see what week 2 of the experiment holds in terms of weight change. The common assumption is that the first week of a diet is always the biggest drop due to the sudden surprise arrival of dietary discipline.

But, for the record, in the previous three years at this insane process, I never had a single week’s loss equal this.

This is the hardest diet/fitness experiment I’ve ever done and, assuming it works, I have to find something that is do-able. The sheer strain of this is not something I can handle. Call me brave. Call me wimpy. Just don’t call me Shirley.

The many faces of reality-altering Scarlet Witch. I saw some reports of “snow grains” in Ottawa.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 9
This 2000 calorie limit has not become easier with time. I was feeling really weird yesterday. The sense of being free of the diet after Sunday’s cheat lasted until about 10:30 AM. Then the mild sense of deprivation kicked in and by lunch time I was desperate and added a piece of chicken.

Last night there was a gallery showing for a friend and it was at a brew pub. I shared a beer with my wife and had a handful of yogurt raisins. I was feeling really fatigued. I thought I had blown the calorie count but in the end I was OK.

Today is a weigh-in with the trainer. I’m curious to see if there was any meaningful change from the scale’s perspective. I wonder how much the fat that came off my nose weighs.

Dr. Strange from an early comic. He was in Infinity War. Halifax has a snowfall warning.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 8
Technically yesterday was supposed to be a mini cheat day. I was planning on sushi, but the sushi place wasn’t open so I settled on a giant burger. Fries but no bun. Frankly it felt great. But today has to be free of any mistakes as I do the week weigh in tomorrow. I am only going to find out the direction, if any, of weight change and by how much. The interesting part will be in another week to see how two weeks at this process goes.

I asked my son who I should profile from the Avengers and he said Captain Marvel. This an image from when she was Ms Marvel. It reminds me of how some of the people at the gym yesterday were dressed. West Vancouver is 7° and cloudy.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 7
I read an article about metabolism and it confirmed for me that we have no idea how it works.

www.vox.com/2016/5/18/11685254/metabolism-definition-booster-weight-loss

Therefore I am free to make up my own theory. It feels like, based on my jeans that, in a week, I’ve removed the March Break weight I gained. My theory is when you diet, i.e. strangling off the high sugar sources, the body uses the newest stored fat as it’s easier to break down. FIFO. First In; First Out.

I’m no endocrinologist or biologist; I am left with basic physics. However, I know the heat model of calories doesn’t really work perfectly in biology. This is because we know a small percentage of the population can eat anything and stay the same mass while others keep more.

I was reminded of titration in chemistry. I remember in class working on mixing chemicals to get a neutral PH balance. Too much, no good. Too little, no good.

Somehow in all bodies there’s a set of triggers that tell it to unpack fat or muscle for use in keeping the body functioning. Inversely there’s a similar set of triggers that says, “Save for winter.” In case of muscle, I suspect the regular slight over use of muscle tells it, “Hey, we’ll likely have to lift more stuff so build some extra in case we’re asked again.”

I conclude extremes in anything seem to be self-limiting. The article references the people from the Biggest Loser who had their base metabolic rates seemingly forever damaged.

So I now imagine the diet process to be like titration. Reel back food intake a bit at a time to see if fat usage can occur without freaking out the body. Same with exercise – how much can you do without injury?

I still have to wait a week-and-a-day to see what the scale say about my 2000 calorie limit experiment.

Despite being off a normal schedule, I managed to stay on track.

With Avengers Endgame coming, I thought I’d focus on key characters, in this case Black Widow. Victoria BC is 9° and cloudy.

Mutant Diet Phase 10 Day 6
The biggest test of this 2-week experiment was a pot-luck dinner last night. I managed this one by going pre-fed, but it was not pre-fed enough. I was still hungry, so I focused primarily on salads. Interestingly, salads taste better when you are really hungry.

Now that it’s Saturday and the schedule less regimented, I have the challenges of not being close to the pre-set food supply at home. I don’t have an exact plan, so I am going to have to be super mindful.

On the workout front, my seated row went to 14 and my chest press machine went to 9. Both record highs. And, I felt like crap going to the gym this morning. I guess the idea that any effort helps and it may surprise you.

My jeans this week went from tough-to-put-on to I am almost at the belt notch I was at the height of Phase 8. Phase 9 was a near total bust. This feels really odd. I am not anticipating movement on the scale because of past history and totally perversity of this process.