Visit to the Doctor

Short and sweet...

I'm pre-diabetic.

I'm at the crossroads and it's time to DO the choices I perceive as hard in life.

I had very good results with a few weeks of Slow Carb diet so I will be returning to that...this is my LAST Day One!

I will be weighing myself tomorrow morning as a starting weight...I'm sure I gained all of what I lost back.

From now on I will make my official cheat day Saturday and will be weighing in each Saturday morning before eating.

-Ian

Flash & Blink

Almost choked to death at my nephew’s birthday party!

So I have not been on any diet or exercise plan for about 4 months and I’m sure I have gained all the weight back that I have lost. I’m not sure if this post fits here on this blog or not because it’s not only about physical health.

My wife and I drove 4 hours north out of the city for this special event because of a long caravan of long weekend RVs heading towards Athabasca we decided to take the slightly longer road through Slave Lake. This was the first time I had been to Slave Lake since the fire…my first look at my childhood town since devastation struck. It really felt like rebuilding after a war. At least two places I lived as a child burned down and it was a little emotional for me.

Well we made it to Wabasca safe and sound but about 10 minutes into eating junk food and pizza…in the blink of an eye…I began choking on my food.  First I just tried to cough it out but that didn’t work, then I tried to breathe in and that didn’t work.  Panic set in…I jumped to my feet still trying to breathe. I completely forgot the international sign for choking to put my hands up to my neck. I think just wanted to get to business so I began hitting myself in my stomach. I think at this point everyone realized what was happening. Half a second later the main thought in my mind was “Why isn’t anyone trying to save me?” so I got mad! At that point I forced the words “come on” out my blocked wind pipe as to say “Come on some do the Heimlich maneuver on me”.

Suddenly, I could breathe! Getting angered and forcing the frustrated words out saved my own life. At this same moment the loving and forceful hands of my wife wrapped around my waist. I had to tell her and everyone at the party that I was ok before she really got to work on my stomach.

As I sat back down and everyone began talking about what happened and making jokes to lighten the mood I got to thinking.

First I thought of how embarrassed I was.

Then I thought of how I should not be embarrassed at all. These things happen and it was not my complete stupidity that put me in that situation. I don’t even remember what was happening just before I began to choke. Was I laughing at a joke? Was my nose plugged and I was trying to breathe through my mouth as I ate? Was I talking with my mouth full?

Next I thought of what my last words would have been. “Come on you guys!” said angrily at friends and family as if my last “fuck you” and thanks for not being there for me. I must be some sort of real f-ing asshole with an elitist view of the world and people around me. Is it normal for someone to spend their whole life trying to be humble? Sometimes I really do feel like I’m surrounded by morons that lack common sense. Why the hell do people want to be my friend anyway? I know I wouldn’t want a friend like me always telling me there is a better way to do things! I keep attributing my elitism and arrogance to my ability to learn from other people mistakes. I will admit I got in my share of trouble but having to grow up faster the way I did in a divorced household I feel like I learn a useful way of avoiding pain.

No wonder I can’t relate to people and I’m socially awkward in small group settings. As an arrogant elitist I’m more comfortable in front of 500 people telling them “the way it is”. I feel like a pissed of babysitter “Thanks for the job but you raised you kids wrong and I’ll have them all fixed by the time you get home!” So just thinking and writing about these things again makes me think of how I must work harder to be humble.

I’m sorry to say but my final thoughts on this whole choking business are that my life did not flash before my eyes. No filmstrip of life started up and no closing song. You could say that maybe I was not close enough to death since the whole episode was about 10-15 seconds and I sure it would take me at least a minute of no breathing to die. Oxygen loss to my brain had not started at this point so I could explain away not seeing the final credits do to the fact that my brain was not in peril so not firing random thoughts trying to find a way to save my life. My brain decided to get mad!

Maybe as a completely non-religious person I will not get the life filmstrip upon my death. I don’t believe in heaven, hell, miracles, or any form of God and as I get older my thoughts on this topic get more solidified. Faith is slowly fading from my vocabulary in the religious sense. I can have faith that someone will do or not do what they said they would but faith in a God and any sort of afterlife feels really absurd to me. This is just another reason for me to be elitist and arrogant so I must work harder to be humble.

I respect each person’s choice or duty to believe in their individual religions and I will always fight for people to have the freedom to worship how they please as long as it does not affect other people’s ability to believe and worship in something else.

Can an arrogant elitist who can’t chew his food help to save the human race and the planet Earth?

New Check List

1) Chew food properly

2) Be MORE humble

3) Get in shape

4) Spend time with my wife and sometimes other loved ones

5) Respect and learn from diversity

6) Leave a legacy of love and helpfulness

-Ian

Slow-Carb First Week Update

Right to the chase…

I have lost 9.6 lbs since Monday morning! Only 5 days! Since I started on a Monday I will not be going a full 6 days before having my first cheat day today! Funny thing is I’m not really craving anything but I did make a list of the things I would eat today. Every time I had a small craving I put it on my list!

Worst Meal Ever

Half way through the week I decided to try and integrate Slow-Carb foods that Tim has listed as higher in electrolytes like Potassium, Magnesium, and Calcium. I had a shoulder cramp on Tuesday all day and that was not fun since I was a work. I know that when I was doing the Atkins Low-Carb Diet I was prone to very painful leg cramps in the middle of the night. If you see in Tim’s book he has a list of foods that naturally give you electrolytes.

I have also bought a special “HealtheSalt” to keep my sodium intake lower but giving me extra Potassium that I put on each meal.

So I created a meal with salmon with bones (from the can), spinach (from frozen with butter), lima beans (from can), and HealtheSalt!  I’m not a fancy cook and when I cook for myself I just cook the parts and eat them as is. This meal was not good at all! I forced it down just because I didn’t want to waste any food since money is tight right now.

Pleasant Surprise

I thought for sure I would have cravings like mad all week but I didn’t. I think only one time did I feel weak enough that if someone asked to would cheat. After finding our Almonds and Peanuts are Slow-Carb foods I got very excited! Now I have a bunch with each meal and it’s the perfect snack food while watching TV when other people in the house are eating junk food! On the first and second nights I did have about 2 tablespoons of almond butter to get me through the evening minor cravings.

A second surprise I had was the fact that I really like the taste of frozen veggies and Lentils! I cook the frozen veggies, Lentils from a can, half teaspoon of HealtheSalt, some garlic powder, and a little butter for 4 minutes in the microwave. Sounds boring but I’m loving it and if I’m having it at least 2 times per day it really seems to keep my satisfied.

The third surprise was the fact that I really didn’t have to make many adjustments to the size of my meals as I went along. I started out thinking I was going to be hungry so I just made a lot! It was a bit hard to eat so much food first thing in the morning when I have been use to smoothies from my last diet program. Also, I have been getting hungry by 11am but I wait till noon to eat when I’m at work. I just thought of it now but I should be bringing extra baggy of nuts to work for a morning snack!

No Exercise

I didn’t do any special exercises this week at all! I had Monday off for New Year but I spent the day sitting on the couch watching TV. I rest of the week I was at work like normal. Some days at work I do run around the office a bit trying to get things done but this week was about normal. The washroom in our area was out of order for a day so I did have to make a few trips up to the second floor washroom so I guess maybe I got a little extra exercise there but not much. Each night after work we came home and watched NetFlix but one night we did have to stop at the Real Canadian Superstore to shop so that was about an hour long slow walk that could have been counted as exercise.

Point is my week was about normal for me. As the months roll on and I loose a bit more I will be starting to do some the exercises that Tim talks about in his book The 4-Hour Body but that will not be for some time I think.

I’m off to start my cheat day! I did have a Slow-Carb breakfast when I woke up at 11am this fine Saturday and I’m just now getting hungry again.

PS – My body fat also went down 0.8% over the last 5 days.

Have a great day,
-Ian

Slow Carb via 4 Hour Body has begun!

Update from last post:
Stayed mostly on program for November when I was working but weekends and some evenings were hard. We decided to take December off from all diet plans! This made for a great Christmas season and I don't regret the 18.3 lbs I gained since my last post. Well I don't regret the weight gain but I do feel sick to my stomach when I think of junk food now...maybe that's a good thing? lol

FYI: I program we were on and I lost about almost 60 lbs but gain some back over Christmas was UWeight Loss Clinics. It was very costly mainly for vitamins. The program was balanced meals about 35% protein, 35% carbs and 30% healthy fats. This method works IF your don't mind cooking and your addiction to food is not as strong as mine. I have cravings for chocolate and doughnuts all the time. The program people said my cravings would go away after a few weeks but they never did...my hunger was satisfied most of the time but the cravings were always there.

Slow Carb Diet via 4 Hour Body

So over the Christmas season I made the decision to start the Slow Carb Diet. Everyone knows I've been reading Tim's book since about 2 weeks after starting our last program when we maxed out our credit cards.

I just estimated the cost of slow carb for me to be about $110 per week in food including $50 for eating out and junk food on cheat days. I hope to tweak this a bit to get it under $100 and maybe under $75 per week. I don't know what I'm going to feel like eating on cheat days so for now I'm trying to make sure I have it in budget. I do plan on having a slow carb breakfast on cheat days for now to help with some extra weight loss.

I do not plan on taking the PAGG stack for now. I may only try to get some cheap calcium, magnesium, and potassium supplements to help prevent cramps and head aches from rapid weight loss. I also know that not all supplements are created equal so I have issues buying the crap vitamins from the store but can't afford the 5 star vitamins I know are out there.

I'm going to keep drinking about 5 L of water per day. Does anyone know if I can keep putting lemon in my water? I know Tim says to avoid fruit at all costs except for cheat days so maybe I will avoid the lemon for now.

My first slow carb meal this morning was:
-about 2 cups of mixed frozen veggies (microwaved for 4min)
-about 1/3 large can of Lentils (microwaved for 2min)
-2 eggs and about 1/4 cup egg whites scrambled (were done before veggies)
-about 5 cups water (I drank 1 glass before taking this picture)
5-6 minutes and I was sitting ready to eat...very easy for a lazy guy like me!

First Slow Carb meal!

I was very full after eating this meal but I did try to make sure I had a lot. I will test the amounts of food I need at each meal for the next week to make adjustments.

Happy New Year Everyone!
-Ian