The Shawzbear Chronicles

The best laid plans can take a real *@$ kicking sometimes. The first 3 days had gone fairly well (cutlery shenanigans aside) so I was feeling pretty good going into day 4…and then life happened.

It started with a 4 am phone call..I didn’t know it was a phone call at first, but after unsuccessfully beating up my alarm clock didn’t make the noise go away, I answered the phone. I was getting called out.

So by the time I get back and catch another hour sleep, it’s time to go to work…like a zombie. Now normally, when I’m super tired, I’d grab a couple donuts and maybe top off with a chocolate bar in the afternoon. How would the day go now?

Oh, and to top it off, I had to drive to Lloydminister for a 6pm outage, which would bring me home for about 9…which means I’d have to grab some food on the road too. This usually meant Wendy’s or Dairy Queen, which again aren’t world renowned for their sugar free options. So how would it go?

Did I mention I forgot to pack water again?

So 7 hours of OT and a Wendy’s chilli later..and many coffees, I staggered home and into bed.

So did day 5 go better? Meh…started off alright, super tired…went out for a decent lunch, being Friday and all! Got home at a decent time…tired and grumpy but alive. So what was the highlight of Day 5. Left the water…at home..again….

Planning a run tomorrow morning, it will be interesting to see how a longer run goes after being sugar for a week. Join me tomorrow won’t you? 😀

Have to admit, a banana makes a pretty decent Pre workout energy drink replacement. I was able to do a pretty decent medium run today, putting together a 5 miler. And no massive, debillitating head pains.  Woohoo.
 

  

Thought I had it all planned for today, yes sir…lunch. Check! Forks (grumble grumble) check! Water..check!  I’m set for anything now life…take your best shot!! What you got?!?!?

  
Pro tip #2 – Keep snacks in your car, ESPECIALLY if you have the type of job where you get called out to work (like this guy did). I’ll have to think up something packaged that could do the trick there…(Mental note, look for dehydrated hot dogs. If no such thing, invent dehydrated hot dogs, retire as multi billionaire and buy small country to run as tough but fair dictator)

Alrighty! Have a good night all, 1/10 of the way there…home stretch now!! 😦

After my sad, sad attempt at exercise yesterday I decided to forgo it this morning and just get a little more sleep. That turned out to be a good choice, as my head was a little bit clearer, and the voices telling me to kill weren’t AS loud…which was good, because the lack of a migraine was about to be the highlight of my day.

Pro tip #1 for anyone aspiring to give up sugar. You’re going to be grouchy. Like, when you get a 12 pack of donuts and they are all honey crueller grouchy! So, you need to keep food nearby to keep your blood sugar up…and if you pack loads of good food to eat so this wont happen and then FORGET TO PACK ANYTHING TO FREAKING EAT IT WITH AND THEN WORK IN AN INDUSTRIAL ZONE ALL DAY WHERE THERE’S NO FAST FOOD PLACES TO GRAB SOME PLASTIC FORKS NOT EVEN AN ARBYS WHERE AT LEAST YOU COULD GET SOME CURLY FRIES TO KEEP THE ANGER AWAY, WHY ARE ALL THE CUSTOMERS SO FREAKING DUMB I DONT KNOW WHY YOUR FIREWALL DOESNT LINK UP MAYBE YOU SHOULD TAKE IT, TURN IT SIDEWAYS AND SHOVE IT UP YOUR

Ahem. So anyways, make sure to keep blood sugar up kids! Annnd, I may have to look for alternate work.
Anyways, off to bed…going to try another run tomorrow morning. Going to try a banana this time before running, evidently thats what people used to use before Red Bull was invented. Savages!

As the alarm went off at 6:30, I sprang out of bed..ready to face the morning full of vim and viger. Birds were singing, the sun was shining, unicorns were farting rainbows…it was glorious.
 

 
So…what really happened? I staggered out of bed, mumbling something about cutting the first person I run into. Like badly. My head felt like I’d chased bleach with drain cleaner (uh…so I hear). Stunbling my way to the bathroom for the baseline weigh in…

267 lbs. Not too bad for a 7 foot 9 man, but since I’m not Manute Bol, I’ve got some work ahead of me.

Still shaking the cobwebs out, I get changed for the morning run, which I am REALLY excited about today. Oh well, at least I’ll feel a little more ready to go once I grab my pre-run Vega. Oh. Thats got sugar in it…won’t really do to cheat on the first day, so maybe I’ll switch to the….nope…nope thats got sugar too. In fact, every running drink or energy chew I have, lists sugar somewhere in the ingredients. Oh, for the love of…

 

 
Screw it…I’ll just have some water. How much difference could it make anyways?

So, after limping off the treadmill at about 3 miles at a pace I could have log rolled to, I made a mental note to look up sugar free alternatives for the morning run. Also, I need to make sure I’m getting close to 3 liters of water throughout the day, as I remember dehydration playing a key part in energy levels. Check and check..

So I showered up, grabbed my Vega (the meal stuff is sugar free and has seemed historically to do well for me  for aftter run breakfasts) and headed off to work. I then made an important discovery, one which will affect the way this all plays out for the next 30 days..Tim Hortons without sugar is the stuff nightmares are made of. Holy Dinah, someone needs to spread the word about this! We’re all just drinking sweetened battery acid, and loving it!!

 

 
So after making it through the 1st day, (with hardly killing anybody at all)..I realized a few things. I need a LOT more protein in my diet, or my blood sugar dips I’m not artificially medicating with the sweet stuff are going to result in me appearing on the news an AWFUL lot more.  I’m also going to need to ask for some snacking ideas from family (Hi Jen!), as eating the same threee snack food is going to drive me insane..and lastly

I’ve got a pretty patient and loving family. Sorry guys, this’ll get better here soon guys, and will be worth it in the long run. A couple of long weeks now might lead to some changes that will mean both my girls will have a Daddy to walk them down the aisle, and my son will have someone to teach him all the important guy things…like how to belch the alphabet 😉

And sweet sweet Google money aside, that’ll make this all worth it 😀

With my 40th birthday looming in just over a year, I’ve been starting training for my second full length marathon…after the first one darn near killed me a couple of years ago, I promised I’d do just one more for the 40th.  I’ve had a really slow start with the training, little or no energy and zero motivation. Now part of that is to blame on my 3 children, who love nothing more than to use me as a jungle gym…and part is to blame on my side job fighting crime…
 

 
But far more important, and hard to accept, is the fact I’m an addict. Not meth, heroin, or Bon Jovi albums…but sugar. Sweet, sweet sugar. I’m a junkie, and Mr Christie is my pusher….

Now, being an addict to the sweet stuff has been made even more comical by the fact that I am surrounded on all sides by health experts..my lovely wife has been making healthy, nutritious meals for me all 15 years of our marriage. My sister is a Holistic Nutritionist, one brother in law reviews fitness videos professionally..and my other brother in law is a freaking personal trainer who lost over a hundred pounds by eating a healthy diet and exercise.

So, making a rash weekend decision (the best kind, historically) I’m announcing that starting Monday, this guy is going sugar free for 30 days! 

I originally thought of this, because just maybe all these people who have been doing this for a while and have changed their lives might know what they are talking about..but then I came back to my senses with some ice cream. 
THEN I thought that if I actually went through with this, I’d have some easy blog material and might drum up some views..and make some of that sweet, sweet Google money 😀

So join me, won’t you, for the next 30 days. Because if this fluffy, pale sugar junkie can do it…then maybe we all have some hope. And at the very least, you’ll get some enjoyment out of my misery!