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I find that anything with the word “pants” in it makes me laugh.

Mutant Diet Phase 2 Day 6

This is the latest in the day that I’ve written my Mutant Diet blog post. Reasons? Well, an out-of-town visitor, a sick child, another child’s bowling birthday party and a realization that we had to do yoga today, because tomorrow’s normal time slot had another event in it.

Important safety tip: A personal trainer workout following by bowling followed in the same day by yoga is a bad idea.

The food log has to be filled in on Monday because I left my sheets at work. I am off a bit today because we had lunch today at the Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company which, as the name implies, involves bread. Gluten free isn’t the same as carb free.

Enjoy the weekend.

I need a theme for next week. With this weather, it’s time to think Caribbean, Belize.

Mutant Diet Phase 2 Day 5

OMG it’s fun to have weird weeks. This work week ends with schedule weirdness continuing. I was in meetings on-and-off from 8 AM to 10 PM covering topics from elementary school volunteer fundraising to financial industry website redesign (all day) to high school teacher meetings to a strata council meeting.

The food process went fairly well. There’s a restaurant called Tractor which is a fancy healthy food place that is set up like a cafeteria. It did have the feature of being able to avoid carbs. Of course by 3:30 PM the chili and salad had worn off and I was glad to have my stash of meat at the office.

Today is my first personal trainer session for this phase. I’m going to weigh in but I don’t think I’ll look at the numbers. I feel the changes from the diet change but don’t think it’s yet counteracted Christmas indulgences. Also, with this week being so freaky, it won’t tell me much without the context of the next weigh-in, which will be about two weeks from now.

When I was dining with co-workers at Tractor, one of my teammates was describing how to make almond milk at home. I couldn’t help it, I asked “So, if you use chocolate almonds do you get chocolate almond milk.” There’s a Certain Look (or scowl) that people give you when you make a joke like that.

More Spider people. See Toronto for a place warmer than Vancouver.

Mutant Diet Phase 2 Day 4

It’s becoming so not-according-to-plan that it’s silly. Last night I stopped by IGA on the way home to make what I call macho nachos fixings for vegetarians. This includes a vegetarian ground round with taco seasoning and guacamole and all the good stuff. Dinner is late on Wednesdays due to Catherine work schedules. This delay made me “hangry” and I had some of the nachos because it was so damn good. Not a lot, but still.

My steps are super low because I wasn’t feeling 100% after shopping so I took the bus the rest of the way. I did the advanced 1:10 yoga class which is not crazy but more challenging. I could feel this cold bug trying to get in and I told my body to activate defences.

Then, for fun, after dinner I started to feel really rough so I went to be early. As far as I can tell, this has done the trick. I’ll have to keep an eye out.

More Spiderverse with women spider folks. I bet you can’t find spiders right now in Banff.

Mutant Diet Phase 2 Day 3

Did I mention this phase is 77 days long?

I don’t think this first week of Phase 2 was fated to be normal. I was supposed to have my first personal trainer session this morning, but yesterday the trainer herself emailed in sick! My boss, another super fit person, is off sick. My friend who’s taking this low-carb challenge with me is sick. I’m not sure if this is the power of suggestion, but yesterday afternoon I was working on not catching something. Furthermore, I missed going to the gym yesterday due to meeting conflicts.

What went well was the eating. I dodged Sushi at lunch (except one piece of dynamite roll) and when I got hungry at 3 PM, I broke out the salad. I did lose it at home on mixed nuts and I found a couple of teaspoons of chocolate sauce to try to offset the stunning cravings.

The key at this point is to laugh at the oddities of the week and try to build some momentum. I’ve definitely strangled the supply of carbs and I can feel my body rebelling.

And more dumb meetings today will interfere with fitness. Humpf.

More Spiderverse. I am still trying to find time to scan images. Please check out Halifax a place I’d like to visit again.

Mutant Diet Phase 2 Day 2

OK. Day 1 went better than I thought given I was sleep deprived, had pizza delivered to the meeting I was running, and had not finished the wine that was left from Christmas.

We finished the wine. Now the apartment is dry.

My gym workout was lame as I felt too weak to swing the kettle bell around and the Sunday evening yoga class was still working its way through my hamstrings.

I really would like the weather to warm up (to at least 8 C) so I can ride my bike.

I modified the log page I use to include specific spots for points where I deviate from low carb/no sugar. It’s not pessimism but honesty and also a way to analyse where I go off.

I’m back into the Spiderverse. I’m hoping to scan some images from my own collection. Please visit Travel In Ontario for sponsorship reasons.

Mutant Diet Phase 2 Day 1

This is not a good start. Today I have a meeting that I arranged for which I’m ordering in pizza. My plan is to deliver, leave, eat my food I brought and then come back. I’m a moron.

Also, we still have wine at home. There was this grand plan to drink it all over the weekend. This isn’t a lot but during the planned pound-it-back time we find our daughter has totally lost it over Chemistry. So instead of drinking I am struggling with the valences of SO4 and other delightful gas molecule combinations.

I did remember to wear the step counter and I have the log sheets ready. The first trainer session is Wednesday AM at 8. This isn’t normal because of all the work meetings that are hosing up my normal lunchtime workout patterns. Although this smacks of procrastination, it might have been a better idea to do the kick off next week.

Too late. We’re here I’m sick of not making progress lard-wise.

In other news, a buddy of mine has taken up the challenge. He’s going to tackle his popcorn/potato chip habit during the day, go to zero carbs until dinner and workout 5 times a week.

Misery loves company.

And so we begin again. And yes Spider-man is a favourite still. Like the new layout? Remember to visit sponsor sites (e.g. Travel In BC)

Mutant Diet Phase 2 Part 1, Planning

I have never looked forward to a year less than I have 2017.

So it’s with some amusement that I’m actually looking forward to my next dietary challenge. The plan is now to execute Phase 2 of the original Mutant Diet (see here for details).

This week is planning and preparation week. Indulgences were had over Christmas and New Year’s. What I did notice in comparison to the previous year was my strength, which is always tested by the mass of my family’s luggage at the airport. It is really nice to not feel like the least effort or powerful gaseous emission is going to put my back out. Running like a lunatic to Budget Rent a Car before it closed at Pearson was a nice test as well.

Over the holidays, during a discussion of body image with my daughter, I asked her if she knew why I was doing all this fitness and diet stuff. She responded that I wanted to look better. I said, not really. What I was really trying to do was avoid an effing heart attack. White. Male. Overweight. Desk job. Lots of situational stress. The statistics never once said this is a recipe for long term heart health.

The problem is that I feel like I’ve reached the limits of the diet that I’ve been doing. What realistic changes can I make?

1. More strict on carbs. Wheat, corn, rice and potatoes have to be avoided. The data from my own blog entries showed I routinely weakened. Solution: plan better in the evenings when the problems tended to happen.

2. No alcohol for a least the period of January 9 – February 7. I was using wine, primarily, as a pain management technique. That will halt for this period to see if not having it makes a difference.

3. Try to avoid the 2 PM sugar attack. The first step is to avoid Urban Fare across the street. The trick I’m trying is to put the message into my mind that I can’t go in there for any reason. This conscious thought process has to override the craving and power-of-suggestion. I proved to myself on Dec 31 that just thinking about not buying chocolate almonds led me to Urban Fare minutes later. I’m also thinking of booking appointments with anyone at work I can justify a meeting with in order to have something to do during that crucial time slot.

Hey … do you like the improved website? It’s now mobile friendly and easier for me to maintain. Let me know in the comments section if anything is off.