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Another Avengers image. My thoughts turn to hiding on Bowen Island.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 24
Yesterday was annoying because I got hungry at 10 AM in a bad way. This is not normal for Phase 7; I tend not to have the deadly munchies until after lunch and almost always after dinner.

Knowing that today was my first day back on the bike, I added half-a-slice of bacon to the morning eggs-and-bacon to try to see if I can offset the cravings.

Another special condition was being stuck in traffic. I was coming back from North Vancouver and there were problems with both bridges. Nothing like being hungry and having a sore lower back in bumper-to-bumper traffic.

I’m curious to see how riding the bike will affect the cravings, if at all.

My second Avengers image. A lot of people are thinking about Toronto today.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 23
I can handle fairly easily the hunger during the day. I lapsed last week into the chocolate snacks but that madness seems to have passed. Fingers crossed.

What I have to figure out is the evening. Because I like dining with my family, on Mondays, we aren’t all home until 7:30. So I delay. A coffee helps suppress the appetite and I’m doing chores and so forth.

However, last night, I felt hungry about 11 ms after finishing dinner. Then until I got to bed I was dealing with the cravings and I knew I was out of calories for the day.

I’m going to have to find a better strategy or the risk of derailment will increase.

I am doing an Avengers series this week. Huh. It’s warmer in Halifax.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 22
Monday. A fresh start. Sunday is the official cheat day but I found myself trying a little harder not to overdo it. One thing from the Diet Fix book was a description of how a weekend can turn easily into a three day cheat with the following weekdays all being used to correct the course. I really want to avoid one-step-forward-two-steps-back.

At least I have supplies at home and the office to make it easier to keep on track.

This is a cool cover I never saw before. Just go to Niagara Falls and click on something will you?

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 21
Sunday. The Vancouver Sun Run is on and that makes for traffic hell until well into the afternoon. Lucky for them it’s sunny, but I hope the runners are wearing an extra layer. 5° C.

Due to a supply problem, and the fact I was really hungry this morning, I took a Double Smoked Bacon sandwich at Starbucks. It has a bun so that’s a carbohydrate no-no on the Mutant Diet, but Starbucks had the calorie count online of 490.

Yesterday was more or less back on track after the Friday evening blow out.

The challenge here is the intensity of the correction phase. The Diet Fix book talks about enjoyment but enjoying a weight loss regime is as sensible to me as enjoying a forensic tax audit or un-anaesthetized dental surgery.

The weight correction phase reminds me of physical training where you need to strain the muscle the right amount to cause growth without causing injury.

You want to strangle the calorie and refined carb flow to as low an extent without

• inducing a starvation response in your metabolism or,
• ending up being arrested in a grocery store’s baked goods section after a psychotic break.

I never did like the look of tightropes.

Apparently in the comics Catwoman and Batman marry. I’ve always wanted to go to Osoyoos.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 20
Yesterday was a classic time where I threw the diet away. The normal sensation is to feel guilty and beat myself up, but it occurred to me that it might be instructive to compare plan to actual and see what went off course.

The plan was indeed to see a movie with a friend and go out to dinner. At dinner I was going to ask them to hold whatever carbs were coming and double the vegetables.

Long before dinner, I was ravenous to the point of being uncomfortable. A meeting ran longer than I thought and went into the lunch hour. I was so hungry I felt I could not go to the gym. So I had the regular. Then not long after I was craving again. I medicated with chocolate almonds.

Then we had trouble finding a restaurant that wasn’t full. After all that kafuffle we ended up at The Keg. And I was too hungry to be smart. Nachos were shared. Then when it came to mains, the healthy option that I had to modify anyway was $13 more than a burger and fries.

This makes me remember a hack from the Diet Fix book in which you pre-eat something before going to a restaurant. I’ll have to remember that for next time.

The good news is that I enjoyed myself. The better news will be if I manage to reset to the diet plan today.

I needed a retro Spider-man today. I must be hungry if I’m thinking of Nanaimo.

Mutant Diet Phase 7 Day 19
It seems a stricter diet simply gives you more chances to feel guilty and beat yourself up.

I was really stressing over being super hungry last night. I did find myself grabbing scraps of food while working in the kitchen. Even though I applied a bit of a penalty in the calorie count, I was still within the boundaries.

However, if I start slagging myself for every single gram of food that’s off the plan, I’m going to be even more miserable than I normally am.

The solution may be as simple as, “try not to think about food and how hungry you are.”

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?