Cracks in the Ice

After my self-written scouting report came in last month, I knew it was time for a change... stop being a middle-aged fat ass and improve my game by dropping 50 pounds.

Since working really hard to drop weight to improve my tennis game back in 2007, I've slowly but surely found an extra 40-odd pounds to lug around on my 6'2" frame. I know that sounds like a lot to you, gentle reader, but the male ego is a wondrous thing- allowing even the morbidly obese to believe they are sexy beasts.

So after watching some video of my play, wondering why I'm panting like a racehorse during games and enjoying another post-game 2,000 calorie meal, I decided it was go time.

Keto On

The Keto diet is an Atkins variation that causes your body, through diet, to stop burning sugar and burn fat instead. By denying the body complex sugars and carbohydrates (that get converted to sugars) it is forced into burning fat and protein as the go-to source of energy. The result is weight loss and a drastic change in insulin production.

The diet includes a lot of protein and fat with virtually no carbs or sugars. Here's a typical day for me;

GOALS
Net Calories / Day 2,000
Net Carbs / Day 25g
Fat / Day 133g
Protein / Day 175g

Breakfast 2 egg 3 strip of bacon 1 ounce of cheese coffee with full-fat creamer x2

Lunch 2 ounce lunch meat 2 ounce cheese 1/2 cup strawberries w/ artificial sweetner

Snacks 2 ounce pork rinds 4 tablespoons sour cream dip 1 ounce nuts

Dinner Bunless cheese burger w/mayo & mustard x2 Green salad with onions, mushrooms & cheese 3 tablespoon low carb, full fat ranch dressing

No bread. No rice. No pasta. No processed food. No sugars.

The results after four weeks are as follows;

• 18 pound weight loss
• No hunger pangs or "hanging on" until the next meal
• No sugar crashing or rabid hunger
• 80% reduction of joint and muscle pain from exercise
• Increased energy levels

There's a long but fascinating article available in the New York Times archive (2002) that reveals what may be a big change coming in what we think we know about diet and obesity. It has helped me understand why a diet that contains fat and protein but eliminates carbs and sugars should be the default for us all.

I don't plan on turning this blog into a dieting report, but I will keep it updated with my progress through the rest of the year.

It Was The Summer Of 6.9

Time flies. It has now been more than seven months since I began my journey back from a 25-year hockey absence and a lot has changed in the past couple of months.

Perhaps most noteworthy has been my "elevation" from I-League, A.K.A. anyone-with-skates-and-two-hundred-bucks-can-play, to D-League where you have to be asked to join a team.

First I was asked by my local rink manager to join a new D team called, THE WHALE. Of course I jumped at the chance. Finally I was on the path to the big leagues! Not long after, I got an e-mail from a stranger about joining a D team in a nearby town who had lost their goalie. I was to become one of THE BEER KINGS!

Initially, I may have been blinded by excitement of playing for these new teams and surely there was a stroke to my ego. Teams were seeking me out. I must be getting good. They must see something.

THE WHALE, it turns out, are a rag-tag group of semi regulars and subs who are rounding out the number of teams in the league and forfeit every game on the official scoresheet even though games are played. In four games, I think I've seen three familiar faces in the locker room and while sometimes stacked with hotshot ringers who have dropped in for ice time, you can't count on them for defense past center ice. We lose most of our games 8-6 or 9-7. Lot's of offense but...

THE BEER KINGS have turned out to be second-class citizens in their league too. Barely scraping together 6 or 7 skaters a game, I've faced 47, 54 and 52 shots in our first 3 games. A nicer group of sexagenarians I've never met but when I'm the youngest and thinnest on the team it doesn't take long to figure out why they've held the basement spot for several consecutive seasons.

So now the glow and excitement of being "recruited" has faded and has been replaced with the realization that Ancient Netminders get called up from I-League when teams can't find a bale of hay to put between the pipes. But  I find myself enjoying stress-free hockey. It's easier to enjoy playing when there's little pressure to win and, aww shucks I let in 6 goals on 55 shots.

I'm playing weekly with my good pal, Paul in the I-League and gutting out some pretty nifty performances on two really bad D teams. I'm loving every minute.

GAA? Yep, it's the summer of 6.9 just like Bryan Adams said.