It's the first full day since returning to my retro diet and I feel fantastic! OK, so yesterday could have been the first day, but the insight didn't hit me until after I had a MCT/butter coffee. Of course, it's too soon to make commentary on energy levels, but if I experience what I did in 2018 and 2019, I should not feel any drop in my workouts with the reduced caloric intake.

I return to Todoist after spending most of October and then some on Habitica. Again, while I like the idea of Habitica, its gamification execution fails to pass the starting level—I've written enough about that already in past posts! Oh, disappointment! As far as actual needs go, I just want something that I can quickly jot into as a reminder before my thoughts move on to something else. OK, maybe there's something more to it...

...I want to think about New Year Resolutions for 2021 and the steps required to reach them. It's rather freeing, this dreaming process. The potential of possibilities can be mesmerizing. To Do lists are more than taking out the trash or points to hit during gym time. To Do lists can be the scaffolding to dreams that take a starward leap into the abyss.

(While I did not know today's song title would match my topic, I'm delighted by the parallels!)

Diet changes abound! "BILL! Didn't you solidify things in your last post?" Hardly! Change, change, change! And we're back at 1. Or I should say The 7th?

From May 29 to October 1, 2019, I had lost weight in The 7th, 8th, and 9th Expeditions with losses of 43, 24 and 14.75 lbs. I was frustrated that The 9th seemed so lowed especially as I put my daily work in my gym.

How did The 13th, 14th, and 15th fare? 24.25, 12 and 11.75 lbs? I thought with the greater focus on daily training and renewed discipline on my carnivore diet that I would have something to show for it come weigh-in. But, before that day some 5 weeks from now, I thought I'd better to do a quick check just to make sure I'm now headed in the right direction. Nope. Absolutely nope! After six days, I've lost a pound. A single pound. 2.5+ hour workouts M-F and staying atop whatever diet I chose and that's all I've got!

Something concerned me last night: while my day was simple of just eggs, ground beef, water, and salt, I felt nauseated as I lay in bed at night. I also was fatigued late afternoon into the night. When I woke up at 3 whatever this morning, as I looked deeply into the sole light of the candle triad, I knew I had to make a fundamental break from what I've been doing for the last 132 days: I'm going retro! I'm going back to the diet where I lost silly amounts of weight. Yes, it cannot withstand The Bump but can any diet withstand the onslaught after its stoppage?

Look, there was nothing wrong with my past diet; if I had followed it up for Expeditions 13 - 15, I would already be knocking at the door or under 200, like I was this time in 2019. As I've said for years, I need a solid exit strategy, and when its time, I believe I have it through keto. It's delightful for maintenance, but I know I can lose weight faster with my own diet.

What does it look like right now?

Breakfast Smoothie (post workout)

• Soybeans, 6.7 oz
• Flax seed, 4 tbsp
• Cinnamon, 1 tsp
• Coffee, 16 oz
• Cacao Powder, 2 tbsp
• Total Whole Grain Cereal, 0.5 oz
• Sunflower seeds, 0.5oz
• Original No Salt Alternative, 1/4 tsp
• iodine supplement

Lunch

• Frozen broccoli, 6 oz
• Frozen spinach, 6 oz
• Eggs, 2

General

• Coffee, 5 cups

Nutrition & Carbs

At 1006 kcal, the diet hits all the RDAs and amino acids sans choline, which is at 98%. Another egg would have fixed it, but I didn't find it particularly compelling. Net carbs is at 26 grams while and fiber is 50 grams. While ketogenic, it's not "keto" as it relates to macro numbers—47% fat vs 70%; all of its fiber yanks up the total carb value to 28% vs 5%, but eating mummy wrappings will do that! If macros mattered, it would have mattered!

I still believe in a low carb approach (CLEARLY), but the great thing about dieting is that there all sorts of ways to achieve that end. And 5 weeks, we'll just see if that slope of my weigh-in will drastically change! Not weighing in until then—that's how confidant I am in the success of this diet!

This morning's gym space was a superior session over yesterday's output—it's a reminder that even when we run into a wall, that we shouldn't punt the whole thing instead, but persevere until an opening breaks.

Seemingly, I am forever tinkering with my diet's approach. Today, I'm considering a full-on carnivore application : eggs, meat, salt and water. And yet, I am also considering a version that includes butter & coffee. And if I'm going to include butter, perhaps hard cheeses would be on the menu?

While I like the ideas of breaking away from artificial substances and shelving caffeine as a workout PED, in practice, this dialing-down-the-fun transition would be tough. I've never been the type to suffer withdrawal symptoms, but I would miss its contribution to my 4 AM warmup.

Of course, all of this deserves temporary consideration as its about the rest of 2020 and its last push for fitness.

Who knows what 2021 will bring? 2001 delivered to me all sorts of changes...