Article - "Maintaining Target Hemoglobin A1c Less than 6% May Increase Mortality in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes"

... gonna try something new and just post as thoughts come to mind.
Post titles may be kinda shit or boring as a result ... but away we go!


"Maintaining Target Hemoglobin A1c Less than 6% May Increase Mortality in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes"

TL:DR:IMO

• both studies referred to in the CVS article are unpublished.  Very helpful, thanks.A
• in the ACCORD trial, more meds ("combinations of diabetes medications") showed "slightly higher rate of death"
• in the ADVANCE trial, "no evidence of increased mortality with intensive glucose-lowering"
• so, more meds may result in more death as compared to fewer meds ... whoopty-fucking-doo.

Until the studies themselves are published, I think we're done here ... move along, nothing more to see.

-tak!  thbbft!

It's Been A Hot! Hot! Hot! Minute, Hasn't It?

Run, You Clever Boy, And Remember

I've been posting reaps of my training on Instagram as of late ... so yeah, go follow me there ... cactustak.

MTAC Update 2017/09/17 ... (Marathon Training Around City) ... Fantastic weather, and the age old battle of sleep vs. doing rears its ugly head! So, an abbreviated 15+ km for the Long Wander today ... I'll up the distance next weekend, then start to taper in preparation for the mid-October race.

A post shared by cactustak (@cactustak) on Sep 17, 2017 at 10:20pm PDT

Depressing News Of The Day

Well, this is an onion in the ointment!

NYT - How Big Business Got Brazil Hooked on Junk Food
(https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/09/16/health/brazil-obesity-nestle.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fhealth)

from the article ... "Dr. Gibney, the nutritionist and Nestlé consultant, said the company deserved credit for reformulating healthier products."
That's like saying "I stopped punching you in the face with my fist ; now I'm wearing a boxing glove".

I haven't finished the article yet ... but sigh, what a shitshow.

-tak!  thbfft!

#millenializeabook

In memory of @midnight and its Hashtag Wars segment, here's #millennializeabook.

... I haven't seen *every* episode of @midnight, so for all I know they've done that topic ... however googling yields no results, whereas googling a previous topic (say, #SluttyMusicals) does yield results.

So I'm assuming this is all original content!  mwahahahaha!

Also, audience participation time, bitches!  Feel free to join in my fun!

I will be updating this list as more titles cross my mind!

-tak! thbfft!

• The Grape's Of Wrath
• Lord Of Ring's 2 Tower's
• The CatchR In The Rye
• The Loneliness Of The TL:DR Runner
• Crimean Punishment
• Wuthering Height's
• DoctR Zhivago
• Ulysse's
• Pride And Social Justice
• Cry Wolf, You Special Snowflake
• The Snapchat Of Dorian Gray
• The Neverending Instagram Story
• Death Of A Social Media Influencer
• The Brother's Karamazov
• There Eye's Were Watching God
• Winnie The 💩
• No Safe Spaces For Old Men
• The Prince's's Bride
• 
  

The Long Wander

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember ...

Sunday, August 6, 2017

A lazy Saturday with mediocre weather, and a long weekend, prompted me to push the long run to Sunday.   Overall, the right call - much nicer weather.

The training plan called for 24 km, and is only going to get longer.  Going around and around and around Queen's Park was starting to get a bit monotonous.  I decided to shake things up - take the Martin Goodman Trail west and then head up to High Park (to go around and around and around there instead)

From home to Long Branch! (map from Wahoo app)

Close-up of Trillium Park detour! (map from Wahoo app)

From home to Long Branch! (map from Runkeeper app)

Close-up of Trillium Park detour! (map from Runkeeper app)

Going along the waterfront was a very nice change of scenery.
Wandered off the trail, and right into Trillium Park!  That was a great detour ... Man, Trillium Park is fucking green!
Then, decided to simply follow the trail until its end, which was at the Humber Bay Arch Bridge, where it turned into the Humber Bay Park Trail.
Followed that as far as I could ... It ended at Norris Crescent Park, so I headed north to Lakeshore Boulevard.
I thought "hey, maybe I'll go west to the Long Branch Loop", so I did.
That was meh ... ok for an urban wander, but otherwise underwhelming.
It was ~22km to the Long Branch Loop, good enough, and time to go home.
Next time, I'm going up to High Park.

-tak! thbfft!

Sunday, Not In The Park, Not With George

Jazz Legs ... That's A Thing, Right?

Sunday, July 30, 2017

(yes, this post is retconned)

My training plan called for 20km this weekend, which would mean ~23km door-to-door.
Instead, I decided to sign up for the Beaches Jazz Run half marathon.  If I'm doing the distance, I may as well get myself a shiny bit of bling while I'm at it.

Unfortunately, the map looks like shit because I ran into some unexpected technology issues on the day ... my phone's GPS decided to make itself useless.

I also thought it would be a good way to gauge where I'm currently at, both compared to last October, and in preparation for my next race this coming October.

The result?  As expected, I set a Personal Worst!!!  (ha ha ha) ... that's the problem with a sample size of 2.

I deliberately started off slower, keeping to heart rate ... yet I still managed to beat my previous time at 5k!  At 10k, I was 28 seconds slower, and then the gap kept widening.

Final result?  3:08:56.7, with a pace of 8:57 min/km  (as compared to 2:59:55.1, with a pace of 8:31 min/km).

What does this mean?  I think I'm running another half marathon in October, although I'll still train for a full.  Well, "train" ... as in I'm really only getting my long run in on a weekly basis.  And maybe I'll sign up for a full in early spring 2018 to see.

Overall it was a pretty nice run - a warm-turning-to-hot sunny day, one of the nicest days we've had this summer, so no complaints.

And I got this, so yay.

-tak! thbbft!

Saturday In The Park ... and also Thursday!

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember

Thursday June 8, 2017

It was a gorgeous day, and I have to get back to running around 3 times a week regardless.
So, after strength training, it was a quick 5+ km clockwise around the park, 9+ km door to door.



Saturday June 10, 2017

More great weather, wooo!
14+ km around the park counterclockwise, 18+ km door to door.

-tak! thbbft!

#np_yyz - 2017/06/07

#np_yyz - Wednesday Morning 6:25AM - 2017/06/07 - #8

good morning Toronto, good morning Mom, good morning #np_yyz #prday!  fuck yeah!

Today's workout and results:
Burpees 53 / 70
Push Ups 70 / 70
Mountain Climbers 70 / 70
Bicycles 70 / 70
Squat Jumps 70 / 70
Hill/Stair Sprints 2 / 10

rules are - do as much as you can, in whatever order/grouping you want, in 30 minutes

Missed a PR, because I forgot how many burpees I had done in my previous PR ... ah well, there's always July!

-tak! thbbft!

Saturday *Morning* In The Park

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember

Saturday June 3, 2017

12k+ around the park, clockwise.
Surprisingly good times - typically under 9 min/km.
Schedule got juggled, because the World Quizzing Championships was at 1pm.
So, I decided to get the run in before - as part of my reason for doing this is to get out in the sun - and do strength training in the evening.

Felt fine during quizzing ; did some grocery shopping at Whole Paycheck afterwards.
Started dinner when I got home (beef short ribs, which take a while in the oven).
As such, didn't get down to the gym until after 8pm, was again feeling a little sluggish, and it showed.
That's twice now where I hadn't eaten for a long stretch (8+ hours at least) after my long run, and both times I was performing a couple of notches below.
What I learned : I need to eat reasonably soon after my long run.
Thankfully, the short ribs were fucking delicious.  I should have bought (and made) more.


Recipe : Lazy Beef Short Ribs

Ingredients:

• 700g beef short ribs (preferably grass fed)
• assorted spices (I used salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion flakes, smoked paprika)
• ~100ml chicken stock
• avocado oil

Steps:

• preheat the oven to 400F
• line a baking dish with foil
• cut the ribs up into 1-bone chunks
• coat the ribs with a little avocado oil
• season generously
• put ribs in baking dish and put in oven
• after 15 minutes, flip ribs over, add chicken stock, cover tightly with foil and turn oven down to 275F
• let ribs bake until very tender, at least 3-4 hours more, depending on how you like them (3 hours for a little chew, 4 hours for meltingly tender)
• pour off the cooking liquid, and use as a jus/sauce.  NB - pour off some of the fat if you wish, I just poured it onto my veggies for extra flavour!
• enjoy!

-tak! thbbft!

Notes from 5/2 fasting - started Sunday May 28 - work in progress

2017/06/07 update
started the 5/2 fast late Saturday evening (June 3).
Realistically, it's going to be more like 108:60 ... with a block of fasting in the 60.
So far, uneventful as expected ... aside from a hankering for more short ribs (which I made for Saturday dinner) ... should've bought more ;)


2017/05/29 update
Put a pause on this fast ... was feeling a little sluggish all day.
I think it was because I pushed my long run to Sunday (instead of Saturday), whereas I had been accustomed to eating after my long runs on Saturdays.
Had all the food at Monday trivia (large house salad w/ 2 pieces grilled salmon and a bag of guac) and later (20 Pizza Nova wings, more salad with anchovies, and some kimchi/kraut), and was feeling much better.

I'll push this to next week, and regardless vary it up so that I eat after my long run, which may end up in some 3/4 or 4/3 days.


(as per title, this is still a work in progress, so there may be updates)

This time, instead of a 7 day water fast, I'm going to play with 5/2 fasting for ... a month?
5/2 fasting being water fasting 5 days, feasting 2 days ... feasting days being roughly Thursday evening to Saturday evening..

Why?

Improving iinsulin sensitivity
https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/fasting-physiology-part-ii/

Stimulating autophagy
https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/fasting-and-autophagy-fasting-25/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3106288/

Immune system support - can eliminate old white blood cells and replace them with more effective new ones
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1934590914001519
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413115002247


"Rules" for this fast

• - water, black coffee, tea only ... coffee being important, IMO, for caffeine's ability to mobilize fat ... that being said, no caffeine after 3pm, so as not to keep me wired all day
• (mostly) no supplements, no greens powder
• only supplements I took were electrolytes, to ensure I didn't get depleted
• 5-7g salt throughout the day

mornings (after waking up and taking stats)

• 2 Tbsp ACV, ~2 Tbsp salt solution, with water
• ~400mg magnesium bisglycinate powder, ~100mg potassium citrate powder

pre-workout

• ~400mg magnesium bisglycinate powder

evenings (before bed)

• ~2 Tbsp ACV, ~2 Tbsp salt solution, with water
• ~1 Tbsp unflavoured magnesium citrate (the kind w/ calcium, potassium and other stuff), ~1 tsp Vitamin C powder, ~100mg potassium citrate

Saturday In The Park - catching up redux

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember

Whoops ...

Sunday May 28, 2017

12k counterclockwise



Saturday May 20, 2017

10k clockwise

Saturday In The Park ... catching up

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember
Saturday May 13, 2017

Weather forecast was off-and-on cloudy, with showers.

The sun was out when I was ready to head out, so it was 11k clockwise around the park!

Averages 9:45-10:00 min per km ... slowly returning to expected timings.

Near the end of the day, it stayed cloudy ... and during my cool down, it started to rain, so I headed for home! #insyncwiththeuniverse (the arrow-looking blob above the "k" in "Queen's Park" is where it started to rain, and I headed for home!)

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember
Saturday May 6, 2017

A rainy Saturday, so it was 10k clockwise at the Y!

-tak! thbbft!

Food Log - 2017/05/13 to 2017/05/20 (in progress)

Given I'm going into another extended fast soon, I thought I'd log whatever goes in my mouth for about the week prior.


2017/05/19 10:00

• 300 ml chaga elixir

2017/05/19 09:00

• 2 Tbsp ACV, 2 Tbsp salt sol'n, 400mg magnesium bisglycinate, 100mg potassium citrate, 500 ml water

2017/05/19 01:30

• 1 Tbsp Natural Calm magnesium (cherry), 0.25 tsp camu camu powder, 0.25 tsp Vitamin C complex, ~100mg potassium citrate, in ~250mL water

2017/05/19 01:00

• 56g pork rinds
• 250ml water

2017/05/18 22:30

• 228g guacamole
• 2 epic bars
• 300ml reishi elixir

2017/05/18 21:15

• 4 large eggs, 20g butter
• 285g frozen broccoli & cauliflower, 20g broccoli sprouts, 20g butter, turmeric, black pepper
• ferments - 40/25 kimchi/kraut
• 200g broth (chicken broth, 10g dried Kombu), 20g collagen hydrolysate, powdered​ ginger/garlic, black pepper

2017/05/18 19:30

• Pre workout supps, 500 ml water

2017/05/18 11:00-18:30

• 300ml crappy coffee
• 3 x 600ml water
• 3g salt

2017/05/18 10:00

• 300 ml chaga elixir

2017/05/18 08:00

• 2 Tbsp ACV, 2 Tbsp salt sol'n, 400mg magnesium bisglycinate, 100mg potassium citrate, 500 ml water

2017/05/18 00:30

• 1 Tbsp Natural Calm magnesium (unflavoured), 0.25 tsp Vitamin C complex, ~100mg potassium citrate, in ~250mL water

2017/05/17 11:00

• 800 ml Lazy Wednesday smoothie (400ml coconut milk, 400ml water, 2 different greens powders, 41g protein powder, 1 tsp maca, 1 tsp cinnamon) ... I was out of avocado :(

2017/05/17 10:00

• 300 ml chaga elixir

2017/05/17 09:00

• 2 Tbsp ACV, 2 Tbsp salt sol'n, 400mg magnesium bisglycinate, 100mg potassium citrate, 500 ml water

2017/05/16 23:00

• 1 Tbsp Natural Calm magnesium (cherry), 0.25 tsp camu camu powder, 0.25 tsp Vitamin C complex, ~100mg potassium citrate, in ~250mL water

2017/05/16 21:00-22:00

• 219g rib eye
• 258g frozen broccoli & cauliflower, g broccoli sprouts, 30g butter, turmeric, black pepper
• 77g shiitake
• ferments - 68g kimchi, 28g cabbage/beet kraut
• 200g broth (chicken broth, 10g dried Kombu, 15g dried shiitake, strained), 20g collagen hydrolysate, powdered​ ginger/garlic, black pepper
• 327g cucumber

2017/05/16 14:30-18:30

• 500ml tea (bitter melon, decaf sencha)
• 750ml water

2017/05/16 13:30-14:30

• 334g greens (baby spinach, kale, chard, mixed greens), 30g butter, 20g coconut oil, 10g collagen, turmeric, black pepper
• 184g rib eye
• 92g sardines
• ~50g butter
• ~30g coconut oil

2017/05/16 11:00

• 300 ml chaga elixir

2017/05/16 09:00

• 2 Tbsp ACV, 2 Tbsp salt sol'n, 400mg magnesium bisglycinate, 100mg potassium citrate, 500 ml water

2017/05/15 00:30

• 1 Tbsp Natural Calm magnesium (cherry), 0.25 tsp camu camu powder, 0.25 tsp Vitamin C complex, ~100mg potassium citrate, in ~250mL water

2017/05/15 23:45 Nando's (takeout)

• 148g chicken livers (hot), + 2 packs (17 ml) hot sauce
• 238g peri peri vegetables (peppers, onions, zucchini ; weight excludes carrots) + 20g butter + turmeric & black pepper
• ferments - 45g kimchi, 20g cabbage/beet kraut
• 20 macadamia nuts
• 1 sachet reishi elixir, in 300 ml water

2017/05/15 20:00 - dinner @ Bedford Academy (I estimated, no pics no weights, because I was at a table of 11 people, and didn't feel like being "that guy")

• kale salad (100-150g kale tops?), w/ pine nuts, shaved pecorino romano
• 2 x 8oz (pre cooked weight) burgers
• 228g guacamole
• 500ml San Pellegrino

2017/05/15 19:00

• Post workout supps (incl 25g protein), 500 ml water
• 10g (3) Brazil nuts

2017/05/15 16:30

• Pre workout supps, 500 ml water

2017/05/15 13:00 - 16:00

• 2 x 300 ml coffee
• 750 ml water

2017/05/15 11:00

• 300 ml coffee (chaga elixir, lion's mane coffee)

2017/05/15 09:00

• 2 Tbsp ACV, 2 Tbsp salt sol'n, 400mg magnesium bisglycinate, 100mg potassium citrate, 500 ml water

2017/05/15 00:30

• 1 Tbsp Natural Calm magnesium (unflavoured), 0.25 tsp Vitamin C complex, ~400mg potassium citrate, in ~250mL water

2017/05/14 16:00 - 23:00

• 750ml San Pellegrino

2017/05/14 15:00

• 200g cucumber
• 3 Brazil nuts
• 20g pork rinds
• 355ml can ginger ale Zevia

2017/05/14 11:30 - 13:30 - Dragon Pearl  (I estimated, no pics no weights, because I was at a table of 6 people - most whom I just met - and didn't feel like being "that guy")

• plate full of broccoli, cauliflower, a little cabbage, baby corn, wood ear mushroom, green beans, 2 pc duck, 3 pc salmon sashimi
• 4 pc duck, 3 pc grilled salmon, 3 pc grilled squid, 3 pc salmon sashimi, a little broccoli
• 2 very small lobster tails
• 2 pc duck, 1 slice roast beef, 1 pc chicken
• 45g butter

2017/05/14 09:30

• 2 Tbsp ACV, 2 Tbsp salt sol'n, 500 ml water

2017/05/14 01:00

• 1 Tbsp Natural Calm magnesium (cherry), 0.25 tsp camu camu powder, 0.25 tsp Vitamin C complex, ~100mg potassium citrate, in ~250mL water

2017/05/14 00:00

• 1 sachet reishi elixir, in ~ 250ml water

2017/05/13 21:50-23:10

• 285g mixed greens (baby spinach, field greens, arugula), 40g butter, turmeric, black pepper, salt
• 220g beef bone broth, 20g beef collagen hydrolysate, salt
• ferments - 63g kimchi, 30g cabbage/beet kraut
• 4 large eggs, 30g butter
• sashimi - 210g salmon, 70g octopus
• sashimi dip - powdered ginger, powdered garlic, black pepper, 2 Tbsp MCT oil, 10g bonito, tamari
• 200g cucumber
• 20g pork rinds
• 12g Brazil nuts (3)
• 355ml can Zevia ginger ale

2017/05/13 6:30pm

• 250ml water during run
• 500 ml coconut milk + 1 scoop cytogreens +1 scoop vegegreens
• 25 macadamias
• 20g pork rinds

2017/05/13 3:00pm

• 500 ml water + 1 scoop ATP BCAA + 8g glutamine + 2g betaine + 3g creatine

2017/05/13 12:30pm

• 1 sachet chaga elixir, 1 sachet cordyceps coffee, 1 cup Kimera Koffee

2017/05/13 12:00

• standard pre-strength workout supps, 500 ml water, 1000IU B12

2017/05/13 10:00

• 2 Tbsp ACV, 2 Tbsp salt sol'n, 500 ml water

#np_yyz - 2017/05/03

#np_yyz - Wednesday Morning 6:15AM - 2017/05/03 - #7

Good morning Toronto, good morning mom, good morning #np_yyz!

First time at November Project Toronto this year (2017)!  It's been a somewhat stressful 2017 so far (as some of you know), and unfortunately this was one of the things I had to put on hold for a while (mainly in the interest of getting sufficient sleep).  Despite my 5 month absence, Sam and Michelle (our fearless leaders) still remember me, as do a few others.

First Wednesday of every month means it's PR Day!  Today's workout and results:

Burpees 46 / 70

Push Ups 70 / 70 

Mountain Climbers 70 / 70

Bicycles 70 / 70

Squat Jumps 70 / 70

Hill/Stair Sprints 2 / 10

rules are - do as much as you can, in whatever order/grouping you want, in 30 minutes

No PR (in fact, I regressed a little), but its' the first time I've done this type of shit in 5 months, so fuck yeah!

Now I need to figure out how #np_yyz fits into my marathon training ... I *think* I may try to go every week, but adjust the intensity based on how I feel.  I also need to find out time and distance from home to Baldwin Steps, as maybe I'll start wrunning there, so I can get some distance in ... Google Maps says it's 3.5 km and 45 min ...

What I *do* know is I need to finalize a training plan.  Soon.

-tak! thbbft!

Saturday In The Park - chilly enough for long sleeves and gloves!

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember
Saturday April 29, 2017

9k+ counter-clockwise around the park (so downhill) ; 13k+ door-to-door ; 9:45 min/km when doing laps around the park.

Saturday In The Park - weed, wedding party, windy

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember
Saturday April 22, 2017

11k+ clockwise around the park (so uphill) ; 14k+ door-to-door ; 10-11 min/km.
Completely underwhelmed by the 11 min/km ... but I need to remind myself that I have just started training again, after basically a 6 month layoff.
Also, I need to get a training plan in place - 3 days of wrunning, likely speed work on one of those days, and figure out where #np_yyz fits into the scheme of things.


What Is Your Why?  (And Remembering It Is Important, Too)
Every voluntary action has a reason - even if it's buried deep in that lizard brain.
I believe it is important to remind yourself why you're doing what you're doing, so as you're doing all of the things, you can make sure whether they are bringing you closer to, or skewing you further from, your goals.

Here's a little example.  Last Friday (April 14) was a statutory holiday - wheee - and as it was a gorgeous day outside, I decided to take my Saturday long run then instead.  When I woke up on Saturday, I was a little achy (partially because it was the longest run of the year to date), which made for a more challenging strength training session.  Then I remembered why I structured my typical weekend the way I did - start with strength training, then go for the long run on the Saturday - leave the Sunday as an active recovery day from the long run.  The key "Why" here being a recovery day after the long run.   The next time I decide to move my long run, I'll try to plan for the next day to be a recovery day.

This holds true for the little things and the big things.   What is your why?

-tak!  thbbft!

Ponderings ... (w/ Run)

Ponderings ...
... if bacon is both singular and plural, does that mean Sir Francis Bacon could have been a literal one man army?

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember
Friday, April 14, 2017

Different HRM application ... which, quite frankly, is a colossal piece of shit.   Disappointing, since the features I paid to unlock are the ones that render the app useless.  Sigh.
First proper long day in a while ; 10k around Queen's Park.  Holy crap do I feel S-L-O-W walking at MAF pace ... I'm very curious about how much I may have exceeded MAF pace ... but all the data is locked in the piece of shit HRM app.  Sigh.  #firstworldproblemsiknow #stillfirstworldannoying

-tak!  thbbft!

Notes from the March 2017 7 Day Water Fast (work in progress)

(as per title, this is still a work in progress, so there may be updates)

I'm thinking I'll try and do a 7 day water fast every quarter.
Again, around 180 hours.

Why?

Improving iinsulin sensitivity
https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/fasting-physiology-part-ii/

Stimulating autophagy
https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/fasting-and-autophagy-fasting-25/
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3106288/

Immune system support - can eliminate old white blood cells and replace them with more effective new ones
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1934590914001519
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550413115002247


"Rules" for this fast
- water, black coffee, tea only ... coffee being important, IMO, for caffeine's ability to mobilize fat ... that being said, no caffeine after 3pm, so as not to keep me wired all day
- (mostly) no supplements, no greens powder
- only supplements I took were electrolytes, to ensure I didn't get depleted

• mornings (after waking up and taking stats)
• ~2 Tbsp ACV, ~2 Tbsp salt solution, with water
• ~400mg magnesium bisglycinate powder (I forgot to check my notes, so I forgot to add the ~1 tsp Vitamin C powder, and didn't have straight potassium on hand (didn't want to empty caps again - didn't want the fillers))
• evenings (before bed)
• ~2 Tbsp ACV, ~2 Tbsp salt solution, with water
• ~2 tsp unflavoured magnesium citrate (the kind w/ calcium, potassium and other stuff), ~1 tsp Vitamin C powder

Last meal finished around 2am 2017/03/05; so assume digestion ended around 5am (~3 hours for the stomach to empty)

Date	Time	BG	Ket	Wt	BP	Pulse
2017/03/04	18:25	5.9	0.9	82.7	n/a	n/a
2017/03/05	14:40	5.8	0.4	n/a	n/a	na
2017/03/05	23:35	4.7	1.3	82.1	126/76	87
2017/03/06	09:20	4.6	1.4	n/a	n/a	n/a
2017/03/07	09:40	3.7	3
2017/03/07	23:20	4.3	3.2	80.4
2017/03/08	08:56	4.2	3.1
2017/03/08	23:50	4.6	3.9	78.9
2017/03/09	09:00	3.8	3.9	78.1
2017/03/10	01:15	4.1	3.9
2017/03/10	08:30	4.3	3.7	77.5
2017/03/11	01:50	3.7	4.1
2017/03/11	10:20	3.7	3.8	77	108/73	89
2017/03/12	12:20	3.6	5.2	77.3
2017/03/12	09:45	4.2	3.8	77
2017/03/12	19:20	3.8	5.7
2017/03/13	09:20	4.6	3.4
2017/03/13	22:30	5.8	1.7
2017/03/14	09:10	5.2	2.6
2017/03/15	08:55	5.4	1.8

General observations ...

• Tuesday was surprisingly tough - perhaps the toughest night I've had since the first time I ever tried fasting.  Strange - I thought I would have been used to this by now.
• I had a more noticeable low level of hunger Tues/Wed/Thurs/Fri than in previous extended fasts
• Saturday was an interesting day.
• Strength training was interesting ... more tiring than usual
• Marathon training afterwards was even stranger.  I had to work *hard* to get my heart rate up to around the MAF limit - so more like 60/40 run/walk instead of mostly walking ... and as a result, was feeling tired after ~5k, so ended the day there.
• Slept well Saturday night, thought not as long as I would have liked - lost an hour due to Daylight Savings Time, and had to get up early-ish for me on a Sunday.  Despite that, I was feeling great all day.  No low level hunger, and this was while I was running around through all the grocery stores and Chinatown getting re-stocked!  I even thought about keeping the fast going.  However, I thought this time around it would be prudent to end it as planned.

Given I broke the fast Sunday evening, no real point in "fasting" on Monday before strength training.
So, regular eating until Wednesday morning, then back to the regular routine, with IF.

Next extended fast will be sometime mid-May ... and this time it'll be 7+ days ... I'll see how I feel, and may go as long as 14 days!

-tak

The Revenge Of The Unreliable Witness!

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember
Saturday Feb 25, 2017

8K at the Y ...

A New, Equally Unreliable Witness!

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember
Saturday Mar 4, 2017

8K at the Y ... not enough time for 10K

Lincoln, Lincoln, I've Been Thinkin' (updated)

... It's The Little Things ...

Question : aw snap!  WTF am I going to have for dinner tonight?
Answer : SWEET MERCIFUL CRAP!  McDonald's All Day Breakfast just started!

... and then the voices!

Me : all day McD's breakfast!  YAY!

Low-key Me : ordered at the self service kiosk so I don't have to deal with explaining my order to a random human being (zoom in on the receipt ...)

Orthorexic Me : Ya know ... Those are grain fed factory farmed eggs ; that's grain fed factory farmed pork ; there's some sugar in the sausage mix ; do you trust that each of these round eggs is an actual whole egg from the shell and not that liquid egg goop they make other breakfast eggs with? ; do you trust that the "butter" is actually butter and not some kind of bullshit industrial seed oil toxic disaster? ; Oh god what if those "eggs" are some kind of  brand new abomination?

Rational Me : I acknowledge that I can't unknow what I know, but shut the fuck up Orthorexic Me!  An occasional McBreakfast isn't gonna fuck up my shit!

Accountable Me : of course, I also had my usual big fucking pile of vegetables

The Real Me : <in a DeNiroesque mobster accent> Hey!  I'm all Inside Out in here!

Now off to eat before shit gets cold!

update ...

ok, check out the eggs ... looks consistent with an actual egg from the shell ; clear delineation between the "yolk" and the "white" areas ; no overall yellow or marbled consistency.
So either ... it's an actual egg from the shell, or else McDonald's has created some next generation frankenfood that simulates the characteristics of an actual egg.

I'm gonna use Occam's Razor and go with the assumption that it's an actual egg.
Suck it, Orthorexic Me!


update 2 ...

A&W is also serving all-day breakfast, and they also have locations open 24 hours!

This is the only other fast-food chain I know of that cracks real eggs, and does not use either pre-formed egg patty things or boxed egg slurries.

So far so good.  However, to my disappointment, I discovered that for their Sausage and Egger (my goto breakfast thingy of choice), they use some real crap ... 

• Margarine (Canola oil, water, modified palm and palm kernel oils, salt, vegetable monoglycerides, soya lecithin, sodium benzoate, citric acid, natural flavour, colour, vitamin A palmitate, vitamin D3)
• Canola Pan Coating (canola oil, soy lecithin, natural flavour) 

Most disappointing.

So, McDonald's breakfast >>>>>>>>>> A&W breakfast.

For reference, here's a link to McDonald's' nutrition info, and my breakfast of choice is the Sausage and Egg McMuffin.  Pro Tip: only the "Egg McMuffin" family uses a real cracked egg ... all the other breakfast items (most of which aren't available all-day) use some mystery egg patty or slurry-in-a-box.

'nuff said.

-tak

Hello, It's Been A While ...

... Not Much, How' Bout You?

Run You Clever Boy, And Remember
Monday, Feb 20, 2017

A ridiculously mild long weekend ... and I pick the coldest day of the three to finally get out to Queen's Park!  All in all it was a fine 5+k, except I had the wrong gloves - couldn't find the ones I wanted, and didn't think it was cold enough to warrant the full on winter gloves.

I also didn't get out the door until after 3:30pm, despite my best intentions.

On the upside, I broke in my new GoreTex trail runners ... I *swear* they were new when I walked out the door!  :)  No problems with the sloppy patches all around Queen's Park!  My socks were dry and clean!  (well, no muddy water) ... and in a fit of inspiration on the way home, I stopped by Dollarama and picked up a cheap utility brush to scrub the mud and dirt out of my soles!

-tak

Reflectionings

Moments Of Gratitude

Haven't posted for a while ... thunderous stampede of work, coupled with holiday madness (second only to space madness!) has left precious little time for writing.  But here we are.

Call it woo-woo if you want, but I'm going to take this moment to reflect upon a couple of things I'm grateful for.

This holiday season has been a difficult one, to say the least.  Dunno why, but the Christmas season has made itself the shitshow fuckarama season ... I suppose I should start anticipating it and bracing for Sunday to come 'round about December 20th from now on ...

Regardless (or maybe because of), I'm grateful for the following

• The fact that I'm able to pull a 48 hour fast at the drop of a hat - comes in handy when choosing between trying to regain a normal sleep schedule and the chaos of the day meaning dinner proper would be at 3AM ...
• (I had more, but my train of thought derailed ... I reserve the right to retcon this at a future date)

Food Stuffs

TL;DR - don't eat your turmeric without adding a good pile of black pepper!

There's a lot to like about turmeric.  Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric, is a powerful anti-inflammatory compound.  I'm not here to espouse its benefits ... see the examine.com link below for that.  All I want to do here is remind you that if you're ingesting turmeric, make sure that you're doing so with a healthy dose of black pepper.  The piperine in the black pepper enhances the bioavailability of the curcumin by 2000%, according to the pubmed article linked below.

Links:

• examine.com entry on curcumin
• pubmed article - "Influence of piperine on the pharmacokinetics of curcumin in animals and human volunteers"