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On Tuesday I do the final weigh-in for Plan D. Better frigging ditch the carbs for a couple of days. Damn. Last night’s yoga class reminded me how much stronger I am and also carrying a heavy box down to the basement storage was easier too. It’s nice to have less risk to the lower back.

The other thing that changed is the hernia. I haven’t written about it much because it really was a distraction and, once the doctor said he wouldn’t do anything about it until my weight stabilized, I decided to pretty much ignore it. Except a few times when I pushed it back in a bit. Yuck. The point is that a couple of moves in yoga, specifically wide-leg forward fold and triangle pose are not as bad as before. I think with the gym workouts I’ve added core strength that lets me hold the dumb hernia in a reasonable place.

All right. Let’s see if I can stay carb free today.

Yesterday I said to a personal trainer that a formal diet/fitness program was a dumb idea after the first Christmas Party weekend of the year, which is either very late November or early December.

People will say it’s all about will power, you don’t need to eat that, blah blah. But those folks who say this kind of thing do so from a place of peace and love. But I bet they were never truly addicted to recreational eating.

One thing that has changed is the quantity of bad stuff. I don’t eat as much. I can take breaks when over indulging.

Another aspect of the December period is schedule. It goes sideways with extra activities with your kids, your office, year end work items and so forth. The adage you can always make time for diet or fitness doesn’t really hold. I had to skip the gym earlier this week to make up for time to take my son to the orthodontist. It was either gym or be in trouble with work.

Maybe next year I’ll write short story where someone can literally make time.

On this 95th Day of 99, I’m wondering if I’m nuts. Yesterday I drove to work due to time crunch after the orthodontist and I was going to pick up a filing cabinet. Which would not fit in the car. And also due to time I didn’t get to the gym. Then once homes, frustrations built and I had to go for a walk, which is the only reason there are any steps on the step counter at all.

Then out of the blue a friend called and said we could come keep her company at The Billy Bishop Legion.

Yes, there a million things to do but damn we never catch a break.

Note. If you haven’t had dinner and you drink two pints, only dinner right after sets you back on an even keel.

And then it makes factoring this more difficult.

There’s a great clenching feeling in your wallet after taking your kid to the orthodontist.

This has nothing to do with my diet/fitness. My sanity maybe.

This rolling to the finish line is going to be lame. However, the results are what they are and the process continues. I am not doing any of the major bad dietary things I used to do and I’m still way stronger.

For example, when I was finished at the massage therapist, I distinctly remembered the time when I was in so much pain I could not easily bring myself on or off the bench.

Just keep going, just keep going, just keep going.

Today is a combo massage therapy treatment plus yoga. Hopefully these will complement each other. My RMT says that 80% of her work is office workers bent out of shape due to sitting. I am standing as I type this because I feel OK this way and I have a desk I can switch position. It takes a lot of concentration to remember your own posture. That seems odd.

Yesterday was the Elbow Room and I indulged but I was not in the mindset of the crazy pancakes or anything. It was fun to be out with work folks in a silly low key environment that wasn’t crazy expensive.

I have to dash as it’s time to go to yoga and I’m slammed at work.

OK, I can survey the damage before the day even starts.

Our team at work is having a mini Christmas celebration at The Elbow Room. See the article I wrote a couple of years ago.

But I did prepare the food for final week of Plan D pretty much in advance. I have lots of proteins and veggies to go to as the festive season progresses.

Thank goodness I got some sleep last night. The night before, there were jackhammers opening the street outside out place to fix a water pipe. At 3 AM!

OK. I get it. I indulged on the weekend and it frigging snowed (in downtown Vancouver no less) and I had to walk to work in rubbish rain boots. Argh.

So we 8 days to go I realize that trying to do a formal diet/fitness program during and after the first weekend in December was a dumb idea.

Oddly though the improved fitness allowed me to stand and sit in awkward positions for much longer with less discomfort and faster recovery. After the big Christmas with The Bach Choir concert on Sunday, I forced myself to do a pile of stretches and pushups just to activate the muscles that had been literally sitting around.

This isn’t the nicest thing to think, but when you have a conference call with your brother and sister discussing your octogenarian mother’s health conditions, it makes you want to go to the gym.

Not that it would have stopped me enjoying the work Christmas Party last night. It just tells me that truly has to be the exception, not the rule.

Today is nutty because soon 75% of my family will be on stage at the Orpheum for Christmas with the Bach Choir.

And … I’m coming into the home stretch on Plan D. I have to think about how in 2017 to put this over the line.

Well the full on siege of diet versus Christmas is upon us. Two factors impact this.

1. Access to high quality hard-to-resist snacks
2. The hosing of one’s schedule

Yesterday was my choir chaperone day where the kids sang for Peter Mansbridge at the Sutton Place and shortly thereafter we walking in the pouring rain and cold down to Canada Place to sing for folks enjoying Fly Over Canada.

And the eating showed that I was not on my normal schedule.

Ten days until the finish line of Plan D. Would it surprise you that I’m already planning for 2017? I’m thinking of calling it something more creative like “Phase 2.” There are more numbers than there are letters in the alphabet.

Today’s going to be different. I’m helping Catherine escort the Hudson Elementary Senior Choir to two events including the Canadian Club where Peter Mansbridge (better known to the kids as Peter Moosebridge) is speaking and then to Fly Over Canada.

For diet/fitness I had a good trip to the gym and had a chance to chat with my trainer. The kettle bell workout still wins the award for Most Intense even when you aren’t able to do the whole thing. Yesterday was great until the pizza and beer showed up at an office function.

However, by my standards, moderation was applied. For example the requisite sweets selection was present but it wasn’t sufficiently compelling. Could I have taken the sugar addition from major to mild?