Back to 189

I was pretty excited to go from 195 yesterday to 189 today, even while on Paleolithic. Let's keep this party rocking -- if I can drop down to 185 again while still enjoying crabs, shrimp, lobster, and lean land-based meats (chicken primarily, but also top sirloin steak), there will be good times all around.

Day 1 on Paleolithic

So far, so good. I've had chicken salad twice today and a few picked broiled shrimps as well. Tasty! Not feeling tired. Let's see how things go with my energy levels and weight throughout the rest of the week.

I started the 100-pushup challenge today and did well. Tomorrow should be more kettlebell swings.

Broke through 185!

I finally broke through my plateau of 185, for the day at least. This morning I tipped the scale at 183.8 pounds, a record low for me in 7 years. I'm staying on raw until Friday/Saturday when I transition to Paleolithic (possibly for the weekend), then raw/paleo next week.

This is good. I'm still feeling a bit tired in the afternoons so in the past two days I caved and had some coffee, but it was black and merely to give me a caffeine boost. Once I'm back in the Shire I won't have to worry about this. The Shire is vacation compared to Mordor.

More Reason to Use Mass Transit

I just paid off a $200 using-your-cell-phone-in-DC violation and a $182 15-miles-over-the-speed-limit-in-yuppy-Arlington ticket. Combine that with the hundreds of dollars I've paid Palo Alto for parking tickets at my home (literally, just leaving the car there as I traveled so much) with the occasional towing of said car because of some arbitrary street work done, and I've spent over $1,000 in the last six months in some form of stupid city violation.

All in all, I'm super happy I'm using the DC metro a lot these days for getting to/from work, and I'm even happier I sold my car in California since I don't need that additional headache anymore. Let's not forget gas prices will be topping $5/gallon across the nation for premium within a couple of months, and you've got yourself an even more compelling case for mass transit.

It feels good! I think I could stick with this for a while. Cabs are relatively cheap and taking the metro is quite enjoyable since I get to read my books, meditate, plan out my day, etc. Game on.

Onward

I almost caved today. I was so tired at work that I almost fell asleep at the keyboard, but I did not cave to cooked foods. I had eaten a salad, apples, grapes... almost everything I brought with me. Nothing was keeping me awake, so I decided to concede only the simplest desire: black coffee. I got myself a tall cup of Starbucks, no cream, no sugar, and gulped it down.

I had an energy surge for the next few hours and it was delightful. I am so glad I did not cave, though, because I would feel sick afterward.

We'll see how things go over the next week or so. My body weight seems to have locked in around 185, but I think this is a great opportunity to step up my high intensity workout.

Never give up, never surrender. A good start.

Checkpoint

I reached 184.8 lbs this morning, but my bodyfat continues to climb as my weight drops: 16.6% BF. WTF, mate? So the possibilities are that my scale is off, or that I'm simply losing muscle instead of fat. I'm considering my options here:

• Continue on this diet for a few more weeks but enhance my weightlifting (kettlebells primarily)
• Shift diets to Paleo
  
• Read Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle by Tom Venuto (in progress)
• Read the Raw Food Bodybuilding Training Manual by Charlie Abel

I have all of the above with the exception of the kettlebell, which is on its way for delivery tomorrow. I'm probably going to do all of the above: read as much as I can, then make an informed decision. I do know from the past that I lost a lot of bodyfat % while eating a "bodybuilding" diet, i.e. lots of small meals throughout the day with high protein content (e.g. 6 oz grilled chicken with broccoli and brown rice). However, I still have faith in the raw vegan diet so I will see what Charlie Abel can introduce. I may still use Tom's practices, however, as he basically has the perfect V-shape I'm looking for.

I need some more running shoes and orthotics; I think I injured myself with too much HIIT.

Oh, also, I spoke with Dr. Brown from the Rhodiola rosea book I finished -- he advised me to throttle back my intake (Arctic Root from the Swedes might be too intense) and to combine it with EZ Energy (both from Ameriden). I've ordered both EZ Energy and Rosavin Plus from Ameriden and we'll see how that treats me. How cool is that -- the author wrote me back in e-mail and then called me on my cell phone! That's a first and I really appreciated it.

Another plus: I am under 185 lbs. That's awesome. My pleatau is around here, so I think this week it's time to step it up a notch.

Onward!

Diets: Raw Vegan vs. Paleolithic Diet

I'm still debating the raw vegan diet as it stacks against the Paleolithic diet, although in a sense raw vegan is a type of Paleolithic diet, minus the meat. I do enjoy having naturally smoother skin and not having to cook anything, but at the same time I feel not as energized recently. Perhaps I am detoxing? I did start adding MSM to my morning pills and into my smoothies, and MSM is supposed to accelerate the detoxification effect.

If I can't make it forever on raw vegan, I am happy to know I can downgrade to the Paleolithic diet and still enjoy lots of fresh fruits and vegetables but also shrimp and crab, both of which I truly enjoy. I'll throw lobster in there as well, but not as often.

Need to get some shoes tomorrow -- I've been hurting my feet on the HIIT, and my left arm is also sore now from some intense lifting. I may switch back to P90X as it's mostly bodyweights anyway. Then again, my kettlebell arrives at Weathertop next week. So many options!

Update: my Electric MINI Petition made WIRED!

I saw yesterday that Wired post an article citing that BMW would build 500 electric MINI Coopers in order to make the bureacrats happy in California, but none more. I wrote the author and told him about my petition, and he wrote an article about it in their blog!

http://blog.wired.com/cars/2008/07/want-an-electri.html

Don't forget to sign the petition!