The Carnivore

Today is my day of rest. At 160 days, today is also where I am beyond 25% of the distance of my prior carnivore experience. It seems a bit ago since I launched this thing back before Thanksgiving and there really is no stopping me from surpassing that mark in August 2024. I have learned to stay away from my heavy whipping cream nemesis or any dairy for that matter—no oopsie cake! And Little Debbie ain't a nurse for my pain. She'll only cripple me.

I have maintained my High Fat Carnivore (HFC) approach, too, with my 200+ / 75 gram approach. Now, the protein grams have calculated a little high as they've been in the 80s the past few days, but it is not accurate: my bacon has been on the floppy side due to my recent oven approach. Throw 'em in a pan and the weight drops in half as I crisp them up.

Also in the past couple of days, I switched out ground beef for chicken wings. Again though, it is way too easy to bump my head against the protein threshold. I make this huge soft taco out of two eggs and stuff it with bacon. Then I'll eat 4 chicken wings crisped up for 22 min at 400℉ in the air fryer. It makes for a hearty meal for the day. That's around 73 grams of protein there. And you kinda can eat more than four!

A HFC approach is easy, optimizes hormones, supports intermittent fasting, drops the weight and loads me up with energy. In a week, I went from 0-60 like Sammy Haggar I Can't Drive 55 and Steppenwolf's Born to Be Wild, empowering a one-legged Bruce Banner on the couch to transform into The Hulk with a weekday morning schedule of 2 ½ hours dedicated to training.

@theGym

All that said, the mental game is always the most challenging. Yesterday's time on at the gym was underwhelming. OK, it was failing. As I approached the doors around that Saturday morning's 9 AM, it just didn't feel right; I gotta have my darkness. I missed the clock edging up to 5 AM.

But, I got in there, went up those stairs and hit the track. I made remarkable time (for me) and even passed a guy with long legs. But, I knew my place was in the cardio room so I headed back down. I climbed about the arc trainer next to this other fella and went to work.

Unfortunately, one of the benefits of being a carnivore is an enhanced sense of smell. I suppose it came useful back when we ran down prey. Well, I can readily smell people's scent for which they are unaware. And that guy next to me was...well, he knew how to carve out his own space. I began sticking it out as he was stinking me out, but did I want that for the next 50 minutes? So, I hopped off my machine, wiped it down and headed to the treadmill.

So, I fired it up, set it to 7% and went to work. Unfortunately, they were running infomercials in the cardio room TVs. Where's my Walking Dead marathon?! CORAL!

I gotta admit, I was missing those ellipticals at UofM that each carried its own cable TV. It made me wish I kept one of my old iPads to bring in my own content. And then my music...well, it was slow and it threw my game off. I was not dialed in like I am during the weekday. So, I headed for the door, but not before taking away some complementary Ugly Mug Coffee. Everything there is so tied up into my memories, isn't it?

And so I Walk(ed) On from the places I have been in 2001. On to Monday.

Dog

We were moments away from adding more responsibilities to our life. Yes, we had our eyes set on a free puppy from a breeder's pure Boerboel who had a late-night escapade with a German Sheperd. I was enamored by that combination of dogs, dogs that are built to be the way dogs should be, when clans huddled around fires that raged against the night and evil lurked in the shadows.

I even had a name in my mind for this female: Jugger. Short for...you guessed it: juggernaut.

What ultimately led me to flip off the switch is the kind of time and treasure commitment the dog would require.

1. What are the costs to benefits?
2. What is the utility that the animal provides and can I more effectively gain that with another option?
3. Can I receive approximately the same value elsewhere at a cheaper cost?
4. What are the opportunity costs, i.e., what are all that I am choosing away from by choosing this dog?
5. What are the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of making this decision?

Too often, folks rush into a decade-long fallout of a decision that was high on the smoke of emotions. I totally envisioned myself in this role:

YouTube Link

...but I cannot succumb to pure emotion.

It is a serious undertaking to train a dog while also training my kids. What is the payoff of my investing time into this animal? Again, what am I choosing away from?

And I have got to be a good steward of our treasure. I see folks who have BOTH parents running off to the workplace to put food on the table and a roof over everyone's heads (in theory, but in practice...). Thus, both parents go to enrich the coffers of the elite while handing over their kids to the State. As it is, there is a Creepy Old Man Says He Thinks Of Your Kids As His Own.

No, my family only requires one source of income because we (mostly) plan expenses rather than react to expenses. Generally, folks get in trouble when they just want something without sitting down to consider its merits. A ten-year commitment ought to be prodded over for longer than picking something off the drive-thru menu.

@theGym

This optimization mindset continued with my training program. You will recall that my earlier resistance regimen featured exercises that I could choose from each day that I never had the time to hit all of them with my 5x15 approach in 45 minutes.

Well, I revised the PDF of my Resistance Sheet.

I include three exercises per day to fit the time constraint. I also squeezed in the muscle targets for each exercise. The great thing about it is that everything is out there scheduled so I do not have to even think about that morning. Just get in there and do the work and get so to run out and do cardio.

I revisited my Fitness calendar and updated my observations, removing my VR boot and pool work. Not that I do not do those things, but there was not enough time to do VR pre-dawn and there are moving pieces regarding my afternoons. And pool time is so finicky!

YouTube Link

I have yet to transform this site, but this favorite album above is a prompting of the past while pointing to the future. I feel vibrant. I have been surprised as to how alive I feel in my mornings, more so than any other part of the day. I dream. I am who I want to be. So often, folks look down the road and what they want. I am what I want.

I rolled out my Arms routine this morning. Again, there never was enough time with this 5x15 schema. This was on my plate:

• DB Curls
• DB Hammer Curls
• DB Lying Triceps Extensions

I whiffed on attempting DB Triceps Extensions, not that my triceps could not do the weight I once did, but my elbow was doing this popping thing. It did not hurt, however. Yet, it was concerning, a souvenir from that pre-dawn run back in 2022 as I evaded that zombie. Thus, I shifted to extensions on the bench. It was also a reminder that this resistance workout is more than just for toning, but strengthens ligaments and builds bone mass. Sure, those and just the general hypertrophy will take away from my success on the scale, but I am totally OK with that! I am already seeing performance gains on the elliptical, just two weeks into my cardio approach.

I hit the door at 4:45 AM and settled into my cardio at the gym at 5 AM. I put in...

• 32 minutes on the elliptical
• 31 on the arc trainer, including an ending that really worked over my quads
• 7 min cooldown on the indoor track

Finally, I ended with maybe 5 minutes on the spin bike. I set the height to 11, though I might set it to 12 in the future. I do not know the spinning way of doing things; I just know the best approach when I commuted to work to generate power coming out of a stop light. Observation: why are there so many short people on spin bikes? Oh yeah, because they weigh nothing!

So, I pulled my upper 220's(?) frame atop and did the whole pedaling thing, on and out of the saddle—I could do it! But, my tank had the low fuel light pop on. I do not know if it was because of my prior workout with its quad focus, my legs day on Wednesday, my weight or just at the outset of my fitness so that my stamina sucks, but I do not know if I could go the distance for a class. I dunno, throw some Def Leppard on...some KISS...hey, some DISCO, and..."I'm your huckleberry."

That said, I would rather set it as a target once I am sub-200. It is right around the corner and I would welcome the challenge after 12 weeks of these 6 days-a-week workouts. Honestly, there is a part of me that would invite adding my own spin class each week.

I am amused at the impact I have had on the gym. The bucket at the back of the cardio room for the wipes is off-kilter with a bent leg because of me. And on the indoor track upstairs, the wet floor warning sign is on the far side is my doing.