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No, I'm not talking about the most recent Pocahontas remake. I'm not talking about the visually impressive box office juggernaut with wooden performances of cardboard cutout characters. I'm not talking about the film that will likely provide a titanic shafting like the one doled out to L.A. Confidential 13 years ago. I'm talking about my poker avatar: the rolly polly Giant Buddha.

Lately, I've been resembling my avatar a bit too much for my comfort. At 6'1", I can accommodate 190 lbs. without too much trouble. I think that's around Christian Bale's height and weight in The Dark Knight (if you want to talk about Oscar hosings). But I'm not exactly sporting the batman build these days. It's more of a soft 190. While I wouldn't call myself a fat vegan, I have put on 40 or 50 pounds since I was 20, and it's not all muscle.

The answer is of course diet and exercise. I've invented a crazy fad diet for myself: The Samurai Diet. This has nothing to do with what Samurai actually ate. It's simply Sushi, Soup, Salad, and Smoothies. I've used it before to good effect (although adding S'Mores didn't help much). So I'm going back on this diet until I start my Grindathon next Monday.

As for exercise, it's finally nice outside! The slush has cleared away, and I went running by the river for the first time this year. I'll be running every day this week, so by the time I'm ready to shut myself in for 28 days, I should have the physical stamina to go with the mental stamina necessary for extreme poker training. It's easy to forget how much physical energy playing poker all day consumes. I intend to remember.