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364 Days in
So here we are; the day before the 1 year mark.
Wow, there were times there that I thought we weren’t going to make it. Times when I couldn’t figure out how to help Emma, times when I couldn’t figure out how to help myself. Times when I thought that of all the things that I COULD do, none of them were going to get us out of the hole (I thought) we were in.
But then, there have been many many days like this one; where we talked about what we wanted and dared to share a little bit of the scary dreams we hadn’t really discussed with ourselves, let along each other. Easy days of rest and getting used to each other; allowing ourselves to be ourselves and, sort of, finding out what we are really like.
It’s going to be interesting to discover where we go from here. We have some “general outlines of the frame work of what we hope to accomplish” (plans) which sound crazy and a little bit wonky. Just like us.
Yeah; I think things are going to be just great!
It’s 9:20pm and Emma is freaking out.
We have to go pick up our guests from the airport.
On Friday Emma posted our house on the AirBnB, a quiet room in Perth, and 4 hours later she had her first enquiry. To arrive the next day and stay for two days.
So, after much hand wringing and e-mailing back and forth, Emma has approved the booking and now we are here, the day before our anniversary, getting in the car to pick up strangers from the airport.
It’s all going to be fine.
And it will be fun!
Wheeeeeeeeeeeee
I heard about this great way to deal with having to make decisions that, for some reason, become impossible to resolve without fisticuffs.
B: “What would you like for dinner?”
E: “I don’t know, anything.”
<– cut –>
It’s 5-3-1 time! Person B has to make 5 suggestions, Person E gets to veto two of them, then Person B vetoes another two. The remaining option is the one you go with.
</– cut –>
B: “Nando’s, Subway, Maya Masala, Sumo-Salad, I.G.A.”
E: “Not I.G.A. and not Nando’s; we went there yesterday.”
B: “Okay. Not Subway. Not Sumo-Salad.”
E: “Maya Masala it is then!”
<– cut –>
It’s great because:
- We both get to veto two items.
- The person who didn’t want to decide, ends up saying the answer (which is like pseudo-deciding)
- The person asking the question has to come up with 5 options to start with (as opposed to none when asking the first question)
</– cut –>
We have successfully trialed this game and found it to be both easy to play and very effective.
I’m losing weight.
For as long as I can remember, I have been (within 700g of) 78kg. It’s really frustrating. For me.
A couple of months back we tried not eating any grains for an entire month. We both lost weight. We both had more energy and we both think that it was easier to not fly off the handle during that month. I found out about it via Tim Ferriss’ blog and was very happy that we tried it out. Only problem was; we just sort of tried it out; we didn’t measure anything and tried to stick to the plan, but weren’t too phased when we didn’t. Well, Emma did spend a bit of time feeling guilty, but that’s her favourite past-time.
So I have been very interested in Tim’s new book The 4 Hour Body. Great read, I highly recommend it for people who want to see things differently.
So, I’m doing a new experiment:
The Slow Carb Diet
- Avoid “white” carbohydrates (Wheat, Sugar, Potato, Corn, Quinoa)
- Celebrate Festivus once every week (consume as much, of whatever, as you want) [We party on Saturdays]
It’s not easy to follow, and I have paraphrased it down to the fundamentals because Tim makes some great suggestions as rules that are really reiterations of the first rule.
I did this for two weeks, went from 77.9kgs –> 73.9kgs and watched the fluctuations when I deviated from the plan. My body fat is now 6.9%. This part works!
So now, I’m going from Geek to Freak.
Target: 90kgs of raw Ben.
Same basic diet, but lots more protein. I went to the gym today, it was pretty entertaining. I am sure I looked mighty thin in the mirrors-of-self-love lining the long wall. Another fortnight and we’ll see who’s sneering at who, Conan.
Pulled from MetaFilter, but definitely worth expanding and posting again!
Elmo is Love
Grover is Bravery
Ernie and Bert are Friendship
Big Bird is Innocence
Oscar the Grouch is IndependenceKermit is Responsibilitiy
Miss Piggy is Determination
Gonzo is Joy
Fozzie is Fortitude
Scooter is Consistency
Rowlf is Wisdom
Statler and Waldorf are Nostalgia
Bunsen Honeydew is Experimentation
The Swedish Chef is Entropy
Sam the Eagle is Truth
Dr. Teeth is Jubilation
Animal is Tumultousand, of course,
The Count is Counting
