A good day today, slept in late, missed the recycle collection, not too big of a deal there. Skipped breakfast and ran some errands in town. Fish & chips for lunch. Got DW a new smart phone, since her phone was positively ancient. She seems pretty happy with it.

Knocked out 5 pullups.
Did the level 1 stretches & 10 a side sidekick stretches.
Had a pretty intense workout at karate tonight, and got to work on roundhouse kicks like a boss.

saw this inspirational quote today too:
“No coach ever won a game by what he knows. It’s what his players learned.”
Paul “Bear” Bryant

I also read something today attributed to a mentor of Pavel Tsatsouline :
“Consistency and moderation over intensity.”
Dr. Jim Wright

That article gives me comfort that my new workout program is the right path to take.

A few small bites of celery for breakfast – simply because it was what I spotted when I opened the fridge.
All chickens mustered present & correct.

Did my stretches and my vertical pulls/shoulder stand squats I just have to remember Pole pole*  for this program – it seems too easy at the beginner stages – going from 2 sets of 35 push ups on the PB plan to wall pushes on this one and some months to go before getting to full push ups again. I really hope I’m not losing too much ground doing it this way, but the book specifically addresses this point, though it is difficult not to have doubts.
I guess I just have to put my faith into the ex-con lol. I may have to get my MIL to send me one those orange T shirts like she has: “Angola – Louisiana’s first gated community.” It would be good for the workouts.
Bacon & eggs for lunch today I think.

Some stuff that originally inspired me, and keeps doing so. Posting them here to remind me to visit them.
Links from MDA real life stories:
When Eating Healthy is Making You Fat! | Mark’s Daily Apple – similar age, simialr start point – great results
The Unconquerable Dave | Mark’s Daily Apple – unconquerable-dave – ’nuff said

Interwebs stuffz:
Tough Mudder Training – YouTube

*Swahili for slowly, surely.

So today I had the bloods done. Lab was hella busy – so busy they had actually taken the chairs from the staff break room and put them out in the waiting room. The fasting thing didn’t worry me too much, and I had a nice sleep in till around 8 a leisurely shower and ambled in to town. The lab is right across the road from the scene of a shooting that made the national news on Saturday – right outside the Police station. Eek.

Got the bloods taken, ran some errands, dropped off the recycle and came home to get busy cleaning the place up since we are expecting to get new windows installed tomorrow. Had to stop half way through to erect some more chicken barricading since they are great escapers.

Got most of the place cleared up enough so people can come and work in each room and they called to postpone since the forecast is dodgy.

Two nights ago DW told me she thought she might like to give the PB a go. Woohooo, I’m sure it will be great for her, although I haven’t been pushing it, just doing it and showing the results (She’s the trooper with the tape measure & calipers every month).
I did my dynamic stretches today from CC2, then sat on the couch and counted reps for DW as she did her p90x (she does the exercises without the video)

We both went to Karate class which was aq really good class, then stopped by the supermarket on the way home.
I picked up: ox heart, sheep kidney, pigs kidney, and calf liver to have with bacon for lunch tomorrow. Regardless of how PB she might go I’m sure DW will NEVER eat organ meat.

I also picked up a 12 pack of Stella – Hey it might be grain based but at least it has been fermented – right?

Ok, so night shifts over for another week. YAY! 24 hour break day today, and being Friday it’s dinner out with my harem
On waking today the scale has dipped under the 80kg mark.
After a quick nap from 9a to noonish it was a quick shower and then “Doctor visit time”. I don’t much enjoy going there, the waiting room puts me in mind of Gay Panda’s shopping trolleys and ATM machines to the power of 512.

Anyway, since I have been more active lately, I have been experiencing a flare up of an old, old knee injury, and for the first time in the last 20 years, I could actually see and feel a large hard lump where the pain is coming from. Maybe prior to this it was buried in a nice layer of fat?

Since Dad has had to have his his prostate removed in the last few months, the family has been bugging me to get a check up.
So it was time. Let’s do this. I was expecting that this would involve a PSA blood test.
New lady doctor that I’ve never met before, ok.
Explain the bit about t5he knee flare ups and roll up the pants leg. Instantly she spots the lump and whacks it. This lady has frikken HUGE hands, and she gives it a wee bash around. Says “Yup that’s bone, and that’s ligament swelling – old injury aggravation – harden up, get some anti-flam gel/cream if you must and carry on. Sweet as. I can deal with that. She is Eastern European, and in my mind I am replaying the scene with Arnold Schwarzenegger saying “It’s not a toomah!”

Next we talk about the bloods. After tapping on her keyboard a few times she says “Yes it’s probably time to do some blood work, you’ve been coming to this practice since 2008 and we have never done any”
So I get to do a fairly full suite of fasted bloods:
Liver/enzymes – liver group
Renal – electrolytes
renal – Creatinine
diabetes – glucose
lipids – lipid group – fasting
prostate – PSA
thyroid – TSH
CBC
ESR – Erythrocyte sedimentation rate

I told her that I expected high total cholesterol, but am expecting that it would be mostly “the good one”. She seemed ok with that idea. I am going to have to follow up with them to get the results, unless there is anything of concern, they won’t contact me at all. So I will need to remember to do that.

The thought had occurred to me to get tested for Vit D, since I am supplementing and maybe T levels, but perhaps that is just over complicating my life? I don’t know if those are included in this suite or not. I guess if there is anything odd in these results we will do more analysis and I can ask then.

3 doctor’s visits in 4 years isn’t too bad is it? I hope I’m not becoming a hypochondriac.

Have just now taken delivery of 15kg of home-grown, grass fed, South Waikato, New Zealand BEEF! None of the prime cuts, but I’m good with that. $2 a kg cheaper than the stupidmarket price and delivered to my door.
Neener neener

Took some measurements today. The scale had been indicating that for the last month or so I have been on a plateau, and that the 80.3 kg (177 lb) that I saw on my last measurement day was a fluke, and my average is more like 81.5kg plus or minus 0.5kg.

Well if the tape measure and rather cheap inaccurate calipers are to be believed, then the reason for it is that I have gained 1.6kg (3.5 lb) of lean mass and lost 1.2 kg (2.6lb) of fat.

I’ve put a centimetre on my chest and lost it from my waist.
I was expecting good things from the measure session, since I have had that ketosis taste in my mouth for much of the last two weeks.

I’m really happy with the BF result.

Food is still going great, mostly primal, although tonight I had rice with veg & pork for dinner, but not too upset over that. I had some dark chocolate for dessert, which was good. A couple of cold left over home-kill sausages for brekksta. 3 scrambled eggs for lunch and a bowl of acidophilus yoghurt and berries just before karate class. Been drinking water or green tea instead of diet coke today – w00t!!

Went for a primal motorcycle ride today. The rest of the lads baled out citing dodgy looking weather and a good chance of rain. We were already in the motorcycling mindset and decided to go for a short pootle anyhow.

Off to Tirau, then Okoroire to Morrinsville, Tahuna, Ohinewai, Cambridge and home. Not bad for a short scoot, and very primal lolz.

This morning one of the chooks decided to jailbreak and go visit the chooks at the neighbours a couple of houses down. Those neighbours were savvy though and kept her on remand until I arranged for extradition back to our place. Rate she’s going she’ll be lucky to dodge the gas (grill) chamber…

Karate class was good, with enough progress and some good feedback to keep the frustration at bay for the time being.

Tomorrow’s meal plan involves a spatchcock chicken – but not the previously fugitive one.

The diet has been going really well. I’m not sure if it’s coincidence or not, but each time I go into ketosis (as evidenced by that taste in my mouth and a sudden weight loss) I seem to suffer terribly with sinus trouble. I don’t know whether it is seasonal (spring time here – and this is the first year in a long time I haven’t suffered major sneezing fits), some sniffle bug that passes round at work, or whether it is somehow related to my diet. It really leaves me feeling like crap. When that kicked in, I upped my D3 intake. If it was some kind of cold/bug it didn’t last that long ( a couple of days) but it sure had me feeling miserable.

I did an LHT yesterday, and managed close to the same results that I had when I last did them, except for my front plank – that sucked big time.
Since then I’ve been working on greasing the groove with 1 x 5 push ups. Next week’s groove will be pull-ups, I need to master those bastards.

The primal chooks are excellent, we are currently getting 3 eggs a a day from the four of the ladies, and the eggs are getting to be a decent size. Too bad that any sane financial model would still value the eggs at around $50 per LOL.
Just being out in the pen and watching them is priceless though

Just yesterday at work, I got an email from a colleague with a few acres who is looking to offload home raised grass fed ground beef and sausages at a good price. My guess is that he kept all of the prime cuts and a few of the extras and is running out of freezer space. I don’t mind that

Then a couple of guys asked if I’d be keen to join them on a motorcycle run. I’m always keen for that so asked where they were headed to. I didn’t really need any more convincing when I found out it was here: Welcome to Pokeno Bacon then on to here: Lighthouse at Manukau Heads – Franklin Country and home. Sounds like a good day out to me.

The forest track is closed again, boo hiss. While we’re on bad news, I still haven’t kicked the diet coke

Martial arts is getting a little frustrating at times. I’m feeling close to testing for my next belt at karate, but then something inevitably happens and I lose confidence in my kata again.

The garden is coming along great, lots of lettuce ready and the cauli and brocs are doing well. Lots of jobs outdoors to tackle at this time of year, still I’m really starting to feel like I need a day away fishing The motorcycle ride should help on the de-stress front anyway.

Had my uni exam today, talk about a day of stress. But that’s ok, all going well I can take a break from studies for a short time and 1 less excuse I have.
Tonight I had karate class. I have gained a kg since I posted my last picture, and the female sensei who has been commenting on my weight loss, seemed tonight to be very worried that I was losing too much weight and was trying to get me to promise not to lose any more.
I was kinda like WTF?
It honestly wouldn’t worry me if I didn’t lose any more weight, I’m really after a change in body comp, and I’m fairly certain that to achieve that I will end up leaning out more.
She was beginning to worry that I had some kind of ED, and I’m like “No way – I like eating animal fat “
I’m putting it down to CW people not being used to seeing such dramatic and seemingly sustainable weight loss without some kind of ED present?
I will take it as further motivation to do the LHTs since I really don’t want to look like a skinny anemic dude, and yes I’d rather look like a sprinter than a marathon runner.
Been getting a bit of sunshine time in lately too.

Wow, a while since an update. I had really bad sinus trouble on my 24 hr break, and basically didn’t get out of bed for the whole day, that was back on Saturday. Friday afternoon the fowl house arrived, and today assembled it.
I haven’t done an LHT for a while, but I did manage to get to Tues and Weds martial arts classes, making progress there. With this ongoing sinus, I was wondering whether I may have the low carb flu, but I’ve been primal for months now. I was really tempted to have a big bowl of rice and potatoes with pasta just in case it was low carb flu. I was that sick of it.
I did have plans to make the paleo buffalo wings again on the 24 hr break but didn’t make it out of bed. By the time I was ready to face it after another two day shifts, the chicken still seemed ok, but had been in the fridge a good 3 days after the Best before date. Not wanting to take a chance with it, I fed it to the dog. They have different systems to us, and seem only too happy to eat days old road kill. He was in seventh heaven.
I did get Lamb’s fry (liver) and bacon & eggs for lunch on Tuesday, and today I had my usual at scoffer’s cafe – bacon, 2 eggs, chorizo, black pudding, tomato, and I leave the toast and most of the hash browns (old school style) on the plate. Yesterday lunch wasn’t so strict, but really the only slip was one bread roll with my quiche roast beef & salad.
After putting the fowl house together yesterday, today I schlepped around town getting some tucker & pine shavings for them, then went out to the free range egg place to pick up some chooks. They told me that they made their last sale of live chickens on Monday and won’t be selling any more until February. Typical.
Anyhow I have sourced 4 red shaver pullets from a little further afield, and all going well I should be able to collect them tomorrow morning. Yay. Mollie gets to name them. I wanted to just call all four ‘Doris’ but apparently that just will not do .

* http://folksong.org.nz/love_in_a_fowlhouse/index.html

Listen here:

http://www.myspace.com/garnerwayne/music/songs/love-in-a-fowl-house-82290415