So the dinner last week was a little odd.  Nobody came, which kinda doesn't surprise me, and I'm relieved about that.  Not that I didn't want to meet anyone new...but that restaurant was NOT conducive to discrete conversation.  Just one room (and not all that big) with a whole lot of tables.

The food was okay, for being previously frozen, but very, very expensive for what I ended up getting: a two pieces of battered halibut and some fries was over $20.  I'm not sure how long this place is going to stay in business.

Anyway, I'm going to plan another "event" in a few months...maybe at an all-you-can-eat Indian buffet (I know of a couple of good places in town that are reasonably priced).

In other news, the gain is progressing...slowly...  I'm up to 204 pounds now which represents a gain of less than a pound per week.  Really not earth shattering but at least the number on the scale is moving steadily upward.

4 February 2014

So in the spirit of reaching out to community, I've decided to organize a "gainer meet and greet" next Monday February 10th.  Not sure if I have any Edmonton followers on here but I figured I'd put this out there:

Brit's Fish and Chips, 11603 - 104 Avenue (Oliver Square), 7 pm.  They DO gluten free (which is why I'm curious to try them out).  It's an added bonus that it's all deep fried high calorie food there...

Here's a link to the restaurant: http://www.britsfishandchipsab.com/

And here's a link to the Facebook event that I created for the occasion: https://www.facebook.com/events/215901501935203/?ref_dashboard_filter=upcoming

Maybe people will come...maybe they won't.  Either way, I'm going to get a nice meal out of it.

3 February 2014

So...I appear to have identified yet another roadblock to successful gaining.

I've been relying on heavy cream to get the calories necessary for building lots of body fat.  It seems like, though, when I consume too much of it, or even smaller amounts over time (for example about a half cup a day over a week or two) I get bloated and sick feeling as though I've had gluten.  I the past I chalked it up to my body simply not being able to assimilate the extra dietary fat or my digestive system's reaction to gaining in general

I did some research yesterday and discovered that it's probably NOT the fat in the cream at all...but the carrageenan used to thicken it and to prevent the fat separating from the buttermilk.  Carrageenan is produced from seaweed, which you would think would be safe for a celiac to eat...but apparently not.  There's numerous articles out there in Internet Land linking it to digestive tract inflammation and bowel disease (example: http://whattofeedyourkids.blogspot.ca/2011/08/what-is-carrageenan.html)...which makes sense because I also get the same symptoms from xanthan gum (another gluten free stabilizer/thickener that some celiacs react to).

So...what does this mean for me?  Well, no more heavy cream, unless I can find it in an unadulterated form. And, sadly, many brands of ice cream (except the super classy expensive stuff...a pint of which I currently possess and plan to eat just as soon as I get off the computer) are off limits if I want to avoid the evil seaweed.

Anyway, my adaption to this new challenge is to pick up a couple of pounds of unsalted butter...which is pure, unadulterated diary fat.  Yup.  I'm going *there* again.

I'll keep you posted as to the creative ways I can come up with to ingest this stuff without hurling...

Wish me luck!

So here's what I look like today.  I'm wearing size 36 jeans.  The belly's looking good...so far...but will be so much better when it's a LOT bigger.

1 February 2014

Well, the drastic slowdown at work (read: not working seven days a week!) combined with some good eating is paying off.  I'm currently up to a consistent 201 pounds.  It's definitely showing - I've had people commenting to me about how I appear to be getting fat (I am!).  I'm waiting for someone to actually express some kind of concern or to suggest I go on a diet.  I plan to say "Hey, I'm happy with how I am.  Why can't *you* be?"...or else "Yup...and you ain't seen nothing yet!"  Should make for either a very short or a very interesting conversation.

I'm definitely feeling the difference: everything's firmed back up again (I hate that feeling of my skin feeling too loose/large for my body after I've lost weight), belly's feeling nice and solid, and I'm feeling heavier overall especially when I run...it's distracting to realize that I'm starting to jiggle in places that I never did before.  I imagine that it's just going to get more intense as I continue gaining weight.  I'm not put out, mind you, because it's a tangible reminder that in spite of my glacially slow progress, I *am* (finally!) managing to put on some much anticipated and welcome fat to compliment the muscle I've been gaining through so much hard work over the last few months.