I just wanted to start with that picture of the first bloom on my Kew Blue, cause I got a rant coming tonight. This is such a beautiful flower, and there are 5 other buds growing right now. Remember, when you plant a garden, make sure it is diverse. It's just beneficial to the prosperity of your garden.
Before I get into the whole carb cycling thing and the picture I took just before writing this. I need to talk about physical distancing practices, and how to properly wear a mask. I had to run some errands today. I would normally do it first thing in the morning when things first open (less people), but I had to wait for someone that was coming over to visit (at a distance) with my mom. That put me heading out after noon. My first stop was Target, and they managed to make things worse for physical distancing measures. They only left one of the entrances open, which is fine, but then they just let everyone run amok. My grocery store has put up oneway arrows for each aisle so that people won't pass each other going separate ways, not at Target. Now with this new found protest of personal freedoms, (seriously, fuck those people {sorry had to use the language, but that will be the only time}) people are now bringing their whole families, and not observing the 6 foot rule. I stayed calm despite the fact that I just wanted to scream. Let's talk about masks now.
This was me today. I wash my hands, and then put that mask on at home, and it doesn't come off until I return home and wash my hands again. The mask is then disinfected and hung up. I have 3 masks (gave one to my nephew), so I have a rotation. That one won't be worn again until I've worn the other two. I saw people throughout the store, taking there mask off and having it rest on their neck and then putting it back on again. If you are going to do that, don't even bother wearing a mask. You just ruined every reason you are wearing it. Let me briefly go into the sunglasses thing. My hands are clean in my car, until I walk through the doors of the building. I put my sunglasses up right before walking in, and they stay up until I'm back in my car and I can clean my hands. Only after my hands are clean, do I put the sunglasses down again. Touching your sunglasses with potentially infected hands, is a real good way to infect you with the virus. Last thing about physical distancing. If you see someone coming the other way, and they are wearing a mask, don't assume that you are kindred sprits and can come real close to each other. Stay away from me. I will let you go buy as I stand as far to the side as possible, that doesn't mean you should walk down the middle of the freaking aisle. Keep your distance.
The last thing is what happened at Lowe's and as bad as Target was, Lowe's was worse. There were so many people there, and I felt like I was running a gauntlet trying to stay away from people. It was insane, and I'm glad I don't have to go back for some time. I had to go there to pick up some dowel rods for a project I'm doing. Someone saw my can stands and wants me to make them some. I had the 2x4, but I was out of the rods, so I had to venture in, if I wanted to get this done, and it' going to be worth my time. I gave the person a price, that I honestly though was really high, but my buddy and his wife were telling me that I was underselling myself. I figured on a price, and expected the person to tell me to shove it, or at the very least, try to talk me down. I had planned for that, I had a bottom price, which I still thought was really high, but I had to take a shot at it. They went for the first price, like they were expecting it to be double what I was asking. It's pretty insane, so I'm going to be making can stands this week.
Ok, now for the carb cycling. My true feelings on this whole way of eating is, that I don't like it much. It isn't for me. I did enjoy a few things about it, but overall it wasn't a good fit. I do think that the final results aren't truly in yet, and they make take a week or two to see what the real effect of carb cycling is for me. Since today was the final day of it, I went a little crazy and just had one of those good ol' fashioned garbage days. That let to bloat city after each meal, but it was worth it for a one time event. Other than a few sugary treats, I ate very clean with very low fat. My fat intake was probably more normal carb intake which is around 5% of my calories. This will be I guess my before photo, which is the final day photo of carb cycling. You can see a noticeable difference in my body from my last set of photos. My body fat stayed the same, but my waist to height ratio was destroyed. Once again, mostly due to stomach bloat. My weight fluctuated greatly, but my final weigh in was at 152.2 which is a 4 pound gain from the start date. If I had to guess my current weight as I sit here which is right after my dinner. I would put it at around the 155 mark. My normal jump during a keto day, is only 2 pounds tops. It's hard to believe, but it's true. Other than my physical appearance, and I'll get to the photo in just a second, was bathroom time. I had some minor constipation, which is supposed to be the case when you take in more carbs and fiber, which I did, by having grains, which I don't eat at all on keto. Regularity was shot completely, which once again is not supposed to happen. Like I said, this way of eating is clearly not for me, but I needed to do this to see what it would do to me. Ok, now for the photo. You can see that I'm quite a bit softer, and puffy from my other photos, and I'll put one of those up after, for comparison. I'm sure the will all go away with in this first week back on keto. I will be starting a 36 hour fast this evening. I'll get to the details on that after the photos.
That was after carb cycling, and this was the last photo after the low fat keto.
I'm going to do a two week update with photos for what the results after the carb cycling, so look forward to that, but I'm all in on another 30 days of the low fat keto, which will probably be much longer. Now for the 36 hour fast. The reason I feel safe going over the 20 hour mark during this pandemic, is the I will not have to go anywhere except for the grocery store, which will be around the 12 hour mark, so my immune system will not be compromised. This 36 will be a quick bounce back into ketosis. This isn't a quick fix to undo what I did with the carbs, this is just a bounce back in. The whole 30 days is the fix for the carbs, which as I said will probably be much longer than the 30 days. What that means, is that I'll be strict for a minimum of 30 days. Discipline is the only way to get things done properly. Oh yeah, I can say that the shorts I'm wearing are size small. I never thought I would ever fit in a small again. The lesson learned from all of this is, that even if you fall of the wagon, (which I didn't, but keto speaking I did) if you do it with control, you will not destroy all your hard work. Even with the stomach bloat, I didn't have to size up on my cloths. Oh yeah, one last thing before I end the carb discussion. I do believe that all the weight gain is water weight. I will know for sure in a couple of days. Most of the water weight will go away with the fast, but it will take burning of all my glycogen stores before all the water weight is gone. That will take about a week, maybe a little less, depending on my workouts. I am so looking forward to eating my way again.
I don't tell anyone when my birthday is, because I don't celebrate, and don't try to figure it out when I say that this is my birthday month. Even though I don't celebrate, I do treat myself a little during this month. This is one of the things I treated myself to.
This shirt serves a dual purpose. It is a replica of the athletic shirt form Star Trek Discovery, which is my new favorite show, so the DISCO stands for a shortened version of Discovery, but it also says DISCO, which is one of the greatest genres of music ever. When I saw that shirt on the show, I had to see if they made it, and they do, so I got it. My other splurge on myself won't be here for a whiles nd probably not until next month. I found a woman that sells fiber optic LED masks that light up and change colors, so I had to have one of those. It was a little pricy, but I felt I was worth it for a change. I will post a video when I get it, since I believe that masks are going to be a common everyday thing from now on. I like the idea of us being more like Japan when it comes to disease transferal prevention. I'm actually all for wearing masks at all times, but I know that won't happen.
I got one last picture for you. I ddi go rock star like the old days with my guyliner today. I had that throwback feeling today and went with it. I may go back to this look a little more often than the subtle look I've been doing when I get the rare chance to go out.
Oh, and no I don't care about what you think of how I look. On a side note, that shirt is small as well, and it fits loose on me. How awesome is that? This new but old look on me, is all part of self improvement, and the most important thing about self care and self improvement is not caring what others think of you. If you like it, that's great, if you don't that's great to, but know that I don't care one way or the other how you think of me. It's how I think about myself that matters. Peace in and goodnight.
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