Proceed to the Route

What is the most important invention in your lifetime? I saw this question posed online recently and had to give it some thought.  The personal computer and its successor, the smartphone, immediately came to mind. Both were touted as products that would increase productivity and free up leisure time. And they have, in fact, increased productivity by allowing us to shop from the comfort of our beds and by offering instant access to arcane information.  Alas, much of our time is spent using these tools in non-productive ways that have isolated us and made human interactions increasingly impersonal.  But there is one modern invention that has increased productivity and enabled people to come together: the Global Positioning System, or GPS for short.

The idea for GPS originated during the Cold War after the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I - the first man-made satellite to orbit the earth - in 1957.  Today, the GPS consists of 31 satellites owned and operated by the United States. The system attained Full Operational Capacity in April of 1995.  Initially, the highest quality signal was reserved for use by the military, with civilians having access to an intentionally degraded signal.  In 2000, President Clinton signed a directive granting civilians the same military-grade access.  In 2004, Qualcomm became the first company to successfully use active satellite tracking on a mobile phone, which was the beginning of the end for hard-to-fold paper maps and wives begging husbands to stop and ask for directions.

Like many things operated by the federal government, GPS isn't perfect.  It will occasionally steer you to the wrong location or lose its connection.  When the signal is lost, mobile GPS devices will often respond with the playfully confounding statement, "Proceed to the route."  Many find this irritating because the purpose of GPS is to get us to the route.  Or is it?

Maybe "Proceed to the route" is the system's way of telling us to get our act together and be active participants in the process.  We rely heavily on technology, but should we expect it to take care of every little detail?  

Taking it a step further, consider "Proceed to the route" as a call for action that suits any occasion:

Don't feel like exercising today?  Proceed to the route! 

Procrastinating on that home improvement project? Proceed to the route!

Waiting for just the right moment to escape from that uncomfortable gathering?  Proceed to the route!

Not only does GPS have the power to bring people together but it does so efficiently by providing the shortest routes calculated by distance or time.  As we all know, time is short.  And as we get older, time becomes more valuable than money.  With everything going on in the world today, our futures are uncertain.  So whether you're planning to connect with friends, search for that new job, or chase your passion, all you need to do is set a course and proceed to the route.

If The Hat Fits ...

I went to a ball game recently and spotted a man wearing a snapback cap adjusted to its maximum.  This triggered a flashback to youthful days playing baseball and the mild anxiety I experienced when hats were handed out. I never knew - until it was on my head - how the cap was going to fit. Two snaps were acceptable; three were ideal.  One snap was intolerable because it would allow the bands to flex.  I also had to stash the largest batting helmet to prevent teammates from using it. I once had a Little League coach who wore his cap with no snaps fastened.  To this day I don't know if he had a large head or just didn't give a damn.

The ideal solution is to wear a fitted cap, but beyond a certain size, they can be difficult to find, and they are not cheap.  Years ago I was shopping for a cowboy hat in a western-wear shop.  The kid helping me loudly announced, "This guy needs a seven-and-five-eighths!"  The manager quickly shushed his salesman to ensure the other customers would not be terrorized by the horror of a giant cranium.

And in case you were wondering, a snapback with excessive overlap is just as bad.  In this case, at least, the offending excess can be snipped off to improve the look.  Surprisingly, I found a modern snapback that I can actually wear with confidence. Hopefully, my head hasn't shrunk.

                          

                    too tight

just right

                           

With today's caps, there are multiple sizing options available. Choices include hook and loop (aka Velcro), adjustable strap, buckle closure, and flex-fit.  Of these, the flex-fit style provides the cleanest look.  Nobody should ever wear an ill-fitting cap again.

                           

                     hook & loop

adjustable strap

                                 

                        

                        buckle closure

     

flex-fit

It's no secret that I have a large head; I talk about it frequently.  Cranial girth is a family trait, known among siblings as "the family head".  The phrase is used facetiously, for example, when someone struggles to pull on a t-shirt: "It's the family head!"

My skull has an affinity for nearby objects.  Like a planet with its own gravity, it attracts shelves, car doors, and automated tellers.  I once struck my head on the overhang of an ATM as I leaned in to see the screen on a blindingly sunny day.  I was making a withdrawal, but not without depositing some skin.

Our heads sit precariously atop our unsteady, upright bodies; shielded from below but exposed and vulnerable from above. It's how we evolved; it's what makes us human. We have thick skulls, but that doesn't mean we have to be numbskulls. Life is short: Wear a hat that fits!

Heading to the bank!

Balance

I am wearing shorts here.

For the past few months, my typical workout has consisted of a run around the 'hood with stops at local playgrounds for bodyweight exercises on the climbing equipment. But near the end of July, I came up gimpy with a sore left knee so I decided to focus on strength training until the knee was better. Then, while doing an exercise with dumbells on the lawn, I strained my knee to the point that I couldn't put any weight on my leg.  So I used a cane to get around for four days.  And that's how I ended up doing 5,000 pushups during August.

I'm no stranger to push-ups; I normally do about 100 per week as part of my training regimen. But after reading about a pushup challenge, I decided to see how far I could go.  I did pushups on nineteen days ranging from 150 to 450.  I also found that I could use the recumbent bike without pain so I totaled about seven hours of spinning as well.  Heading into September, the knee feels better but I won't be running just yet.

At a recent shindig, I had the good fortune to meet a young man who is studying physical therapy.  He heard about my knee injury (from someone else) and despite my honest attempt not to pump him for information, he insisted.  The leg is a kinetic chain, and an imbalance anywhere along that chain can cause pain.  So now I'm working on strengthening my gluteus medius and left arch, to prevent my leg from collapsing inward.  In the meantime, I'll continue to use the bike for cardio and quads, and will be adding a rack to the home gym so I can do bodyweight stuff without leaving the house.

Some will tell you that I take things to extremes; I call it passion.  I do like to keep a figurative pedal to the metal, but I need to remember to pump the brakes once in a while.  So I'm going to vary my workouts, to ensure that I can continue to workout with passion. 

This is a needed reminder that life is a balancing act.  Whether it be work, family, booze, food, or exercise - or any combination of these - it's best to find a balance.

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One For All?

There is a  house around the corner from ours that  I've affectionately dubbed  The  Olive Garden for its architectural resemblance to the popular purveyor of unlimited breadsticks.  It's a stately, stone residence fronted by a fountain and palm trees, and it stands out conspicuously among the other modest homes in the area.

At some point in the past couple of years, the house was vacated.  Soon after, there were trucks for a commercial insulation installer in the driveway.  I suspected a home improvement project.  I was wrong.  A California company is now running a business out of the four-car garage and the crew is living in the home.  The trucks are loaded with insulation each morning, head out to a job site for the day, and return in the evening.  

On the opposite side of our street, and within view of our home, is another house that has suffered a similar fate.  After the owner passed away, the house sat vacant for months.  It briefly harbored an illegal marijuana-growing operation and is now occupied by sketchy characters who have erected a large building in the back without a permit.  The yard and driveway are cluttered with vehicles, appliances, and furniture.

Both of these sites are violating local residential codes.  The city has levied fines and yet the violations continue. In the past, people wouldn't have subjected their neighbors to this blight out of shame or embarrassment. Today there is dwindling respect for local laws and for our sense of community.

Is it any wonder, is it any wonder,

Is it any wonder, that we fuss and fight?

Neighbours do unto strangers, 

do unto neighbours

what you do to yourself ...

 ~ Neighbours

On a state level, our freeways are strewn with litter even though signs warn that violators will feel pain.  Apparently, it's inconvenient to dispose of trash at home. Are motorists actually reporting littering violators? Our state has an Adopt-A-Highway program that allows volunteers to clean up the litter in exchange for a sign that lets drivers know who is keeping their roadways clean.  Incredibly, the state charges those volunteers $300-$900 for those signs. They must be trying to make up for lost revenue. 

Nationally, we're battling a widening public health crisis with unknown - and potentially long-term - side effects. Many citizens of our great United States would rather fret about personal rights and overload the health care system than seek compromise or be inconvenienced in any way.

And finally, on a global scale, science has been repeatedly telling us there's a problem and yet there is ongoing discord and a subsequent lack of meaningful action on our earth's loss of biodiversity and the impending climate disaster.  The planet will adapt, but humanity may not be so lucky.

Think the time is right 

for a palace revolution

But where I live the game to play 

is compromise solution ...

~ Street Fighting Man

Have you ever noticed how a flock of birds can morph and change direction instantly?  Each bird is acting instinctively as a single cell in a larger organism.  The movements protect the flock from predators and conserve energy by making flight more efficient.  They don't overthink or debate the situation - they just act. It remains to be seen, however, if they can protect themselves from humanity.

There was a time in the not-to-distant past when humans banded together in cooperation to ensure survival. Imagine what our species could accomplish today if we chose to set aside ego, greed, and ignorance in pursuit of a common goal.  Maybe we could take a lesson in longevity from a few guys who have worked through their differences and prospered ...

RIP Charlie Watts

    

"Let's grab the world, girl 

by the scruff of the neck

And drink it down deeply, 

and love it do death ... "

 ~ Mixed Emotions

Mind Games

Motivated by my daughter - a voracious consumer of books - I've started reading again.  By reading, I mean actually holding a book, turning the pages, and attempting to process the information without falling asleep.

I used to read more but got pulled away by, among other things, the smartphone.  I now try to read after the first cup of java in the morning and before turning out the lights at night, which is a far superior soporific to mindless scrolling.

I prefer non-fiction books on sports, music, popular culture, or science.  I am currently reading Subliminal: How Your Unconscious Mind Rules Your Behavior by Leonard Mlodinow. 

I actually bought the book in 2013, and it sat on the shelf until recently.  I may have been unconsciously avoiding it.

Mlodinow, a theoretical physicist and mathematician, posits that our subconscious minds have more influence on our behavior than we fully understand.  This arrangement is needed, he says, because as humans we are continually flooded with information and would be completely overwhelmed without the subconscious mind running interference and handling the small details.

Further, he claims that our superior human intelligence evolved as a result of our need for social interaction.  That is, "social cooperation and the social intelligence it requires seem to have been crucial to our survival."

Mlodinow cites as examples the large-scale cooperation and diverse skill sets needed to build a car (facilities, design, raw materials, assembly, etc.) or just to brew a cup of coffee.  

Another human endeavor that requires a high degree of cooperation is the internet.  But I submit that it is that very same internet that is now destroying social cooperation.

It starts innocently enough with the "One Must Go Forever" posts.  These are done in the spirit of fun, but they are not-so-subtly directing the viewer to make a polarizing choice.  And we willingly play along!  Why must one go?

And then there are the posts that instruct the viewer to choose one musician or band over another one.  Ronnie James Dio or Frank Sinatra?  Fleetwood Mac or Metallica?  Of course, you may prefer one over the other, but why must we choose?

Politics, however, is the least socially cooperative subject of all.  Today we have vaxers vs. anti-vaxers, maskers vs. anti-maskers, Sith vs. Jedi, and on and on and on.  I've stopped watching the news and I avoid politics when I am online. The energy spent bickering on social media would be better spent on exercise, reading, or helping others. Like Frankenstein's monster, the creation will eventually destroy its creator.

So the next time you feel the need to call somebody out online, put the phone down and demonstrate your social intelligence by picking up a book instead.  If you're not careful, you might learn something. 

Frame of Reference

I can’t remember the last time I went bowling. Come to think of it, I can’t remember the first time I went bowling. But I do remember that whenever I did go bowling I enjoyed it.

Bowling alleys today are not the same as they were in the seventies and eighties.  Back then there was an element of uncertainty when you entered, like a fight might break out at any second. The smell of greasy food, lane oil, and shoe disinfectant combined to form a thick, lingering aroma that was going home with you whether you wanted it to or not.

Due to unfriendly associations of the word "alley", today’s facilities are now called bowling centers. These are sanitized, family-friendly versions of your father's lanes. The biggest change? The prohibition on smoking in public buildings eliminated a serious health hazard. But you can still get a platter of deep-fried everything, and there are actually 11 states with no public prohibition on indoor smoking. If you enjoy second-hand smoke with your strikes and spares, see this list 👉: https://www.cdc.gov/statesystem/factsheets/sfia/SmokeFreeIndoorAir.html

While the game remains the same, the technology has changed. Bowling has been cleansed of its secret scoring science. Gone are the oversized advertising scoresheets and stubby pencils, replaced by automated systems that make identifying upright pins easier while dulling our math skills.  Scoring a bowling match manually is similar to keeping book at a baseball game: both require a sharp pencil and sport-specific knowledge to be done correctly.

"FRED AND HERB WELCOME YOU TO OWENSVILLE BOWL"

The composition of bowling balls has also changed. Originally, balls were made of an extremely durable wood known as lignum vitae (Latin for "wood of life").  Over time the coverstock (outer layer) changed from rubber to polyester to urethane to reactive resin to proactive particle, which gave balls more bite.  The cores have become more complex as well, to facilitate spin. In fact, since the early nineties, manufacturers have used sophisticated design software to improve ball performance.

Bowling is unusual in that it's one of the few "ball sports" in which the ball is not passed from player to player (golf is another).  In the four big leagues (NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB), the balls are all adorned with the league commissioner's name.  Does anybody know the name of the commissioner of the Professional Bowlers Association? No, because Tom Clark's name is only on his ball.  A bowling ball is a personal item and should be readily identifiable to all parties.  Nobody wants to handle the other players' balls.  And therein lies the quintessence of bowling: the personalized ball. In researching this piece I scoured the web for images of personalized balls to build my All-Name dream team. The only requirement was that the names have a bowling-esque, you-know-it-when-you-see-it quality.  Here's the team: 

Velda, Melva, Stu, and the mysterious M. Main

Admittedly, I was never much of a bowler. I never owned a ball (although I did own a pre-enjoyed bowling shirt) and didn’t frequent bowling alleys other than for the occasional late-night, beer-fueled, recreational game.  Bowling for me is like golf: taking it seriously takes the fun out of it.  What makes it great is that anyone can walk in, rent some shoes, grab a house ball, and start bowling. 

When I did bowl it was most likely at the hautily named Steuben Bowling Academy in Bath, NY.  Sadly, the pinsetters were silenced after a wall of the building collapsed in September of 2018. There was no reset. After more than 80 years in business, Steuben Bowl was razed and replaced with a parking lot. It would have been a fabulous gesture for the village to honor the site by memorializing the pin-setting locations in that lot.

On a recent visit to a local thrift store, with nothing particular in mind, a shiny object caught my eye.  I picked it up and turned it over in my hands.  Fashioned of metal and wood, it had substantial weight for its size, which to me is a reliable indicator of quality.  It was covered with a fine layer of dust.  An inscription bore the numbers 62 and 63 - were they referencing 1962 and 1963?  Was this $1.99 treasure approaching its golden anniversary?  What stories did it hold?  Many years ago it surely meant something to someone but was now lingering in a thrift store bin with bike helmets and ab rollers. And so, unwilling to let this travesty continue, I rescued the showpiece which is now properly and proudly displayed in my brother's man cave in Rochester, NY.  

Let the good times roll!

There Are Many Things Under The Sun

Many people have asked me about the blog title "Supernatural Baloney".  

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OK, so nobody has asked me about the blog title. But in case you're curious, the name is taken from a scene in the 1934 horror film The Black Cat starring Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff. 

Link 👇

The Black Cat

The audio clip is also found on the soundtrack to The Monkees 1968 feature film, Head,  under the title "Superstitious". 

Link 👇

The Monkees - Superstitious

Lugosi's delivery - particularly his pronunciation of baloney - lends gravitas to both the scene and the phrase.  Perhaps you agree.  Then again ...

How I Spent My Pandemic, Part II: The Experiment

Over the course of my life, I have only a few minor regrets. Setting goals was never a priority for me. My modus operandi has been to take advantage of opportunities as they arise and roll with the punches, rather than setting a goal and seeing it through. And while I'm satisfied with my current state of being, setting and achieving some goals would likely have boosted my overall satisfaction.

My original weight loss goal was to get down to 185 pounds. A finite goal like this is more challenging than a general goal of losing “some” weight and can result in frustration when it doesn’t happen quickly.  I had doubts that I could hit that mark, but a two-step process helped me make it happen: Setting the goal and reaffirming the goal.  Setting a goal is obvious – you can’t hit a target without knowing what it is.  The reaffirmation came in the form of my 2020 running log which was subtitled “Target 185”.  Every time I opened the document to record my time, I was reminded of the goal.

Target 185

I reached 185 pounds in mid-November after four-and-a-half months of running - 116 workouts for a total of 71 hours. But I wasn’t fully satisfied with the aesthetics and wondered how far I could take it.  Let the experiment begin!.

Diet is a four-letter word that for many implies a temporary eating plan employed in an attempt to lose weight, typically for a wedding or a class reunion.  But to truly sustain the results, a diet must be a lifestyle change.  

Many of today’s most popular diets are based on restricted carbohydrate consumption, a.k.a. “low-carb” diets.  Dr. Robert Atkins promoted a low-carb diet way back in 1972 with his book, Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution.  Today we have the Ketogenic (or Keto) Diet, the Paleo (or Caveman) Diet, the Low-Carb High-Fat (LCHF) Diet, the Mediterranean Diet, and several others.  While Atkins was the low-carb pioneer, the Paleo crowd - who insist on eating as our prehistoric ancestors did - can stake an anachronous claim to the title.

I started with a reduction (not an all-out ban) of refined carbs, including bread and pasta, and eliminated yogurt and half-and-half, which I replaced with oat milk.  I also stopped using maple syrup and honey as sweeteners.  I like the taste of oat milk in coffee but I've since discovered it contains sunflower oil (a seed oil) and am now reconsidering half-and-half and full-fat yogurt.

By the end of December, I was down to 177 pounds. I was now able to navigate the crawl space beneath the house to investigate and correct a problem in the HVAC ducting.  On January 8, 2021, I dropped below 175 pounds.

Creepy-crawly crawl space

January 8, 2021

I had a colonoscopy scheduled for the last week of January and took a welcomed two-day exercise break.  During the prep for the procedure, the nurse asked if I was feeling all right.  

“I feel great,” I replied.  “Why?”

"Your heart rate is below fifty beats per minute and it triggered an alarm.  Are you an athlete?"

"Yes,” I acknowledged. “I’m a runner.”

I continued to boost my monthly minutes through March and began stopping at neighborhood parks to do bodyweight lifts on the playground equipment, including a variety of dips, pull-ups, and rows. I also noticed a lingering soreness in my left knee that got worse in April.  I originally attributed the knee pain to increasing my volume too quickly so I backed off a bit. I had also been using discounted (i.e. cheap) running shoes and began to suspect them as well, so I switched to a new brand with a wider toe-box that allows the forefoot to splay naturally. After the shoe swap, the knee pain subsided.  One way or another I was going to keep on running.

Topo Magnifly 3

In the meantime, I continued to tweak my diet.  I was eating fewer carbs and highly processed foods, drinking less alcohol, and stopped buying “energy” bars.  At the other end of the spectrum, my consumption of meat, avocados, eggs, nuts, peanut butter, and dark chocolate(!) increased significantly.  Higher protein and fat content are hallmarks of a low-carb diet. Highly processed foods are the enemy.

Stores today are filled with an embarrassment of ultra-processed, ready-to-eat, food-like substances that are essentially empty calories.  As a culture, we’ve been conditioned to believe that it’s OK to snack around the clock to avoid feeling “hangry”.  Weight loss involves burning more calories than one consumes, which makes hunger a requirement.  It also makes the next meal more satisfying.

I stopped weighing myself daily in March.  I stepped on the scale only three times in April.  On May 1st I weighed in at just under 165 pounds.  The lowest documented weight I could find from my first running life was 164.5 pounds in the spring of 2008.  I was not focused on diet in those days and was running more while doing significantly less resistance training than I am today.  Back then some of the guys at work referred to me as Skeletor (but not to my face).  Although Skeletor is jacked, it was not a term of endearment.

Skeletor on a throne of bones

Through May and June, I continued to increase resistance training: dumbbells at home and bodyweight lifts at the park.  Resistance training and cardio are two different methods of achieving the same goal.  The elevated heart rate of cardio burns calories as does the lean muscle developed via lifting.  Resistance training also gives the body some definition, which improves aesthetics - in and out of clothing.

The final piece of the puzzle was intermittent fasting (IF).  A common IF schedule involves an eight-hour “feeding window” (an absolutely horrible term) followed by a sixteen-hour fast. For me, that meant no eating after dinner and then skipping breakfast - except for coffee.  I’m still following a schedule with a 9-hour eating window and a 15-hour fast. Fasting teaches the body to burn fat and also gives the digestive system a break, allowing blood flow and energy typically used for digestion to be repurposed for other bodily functions. 

I now believe that diet is a bigger driver of weight loss than exercise. That doesn’t mean one should not exercise, because I also believe our bodies were made to be wrought.  As I approach the first anniversary of my second running life, the combination of whole foods, low-carb, IF, cardio, strength training, and a supportive family has proven to be a recipe for success. I feel fantastic.

June 12, 2021

     

No chance for these pants!

Here’s the bottom line for weight loss:

• Start with a goal - general or specific - and commit to it.  If you make it public, family and friends can help keep you on track.

• Calories burned must exceed calories consumed.  Stop snacking.  It’s OK to be hungry.

• Eating plans are not one-size-fits-all. Experiment and find what works for you.

• Eight Popular Low-Carb Diets

• The same goes for exercise.  Some may call my routine extreme, but it works for me and I enjoy it.  Just get moving and get healthy.

• Drink more water.

• Disclaimer: Your mileage may vary.

Me in a high school yearbook photo circa 1981, age 16 or 17.

Me pushing 55 in July 2019 and looking like hell.

Me in a high-school cross-country singlet, age 56 + 9 months.

"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."

~ T.S. Eliot

How I Spent My Pandemic, Part I: The Goal

On the morning of January 1, 2020, at age 55, I awoke fully uncommitted to a resolution to lose some weight.  And after weighing in at a portly 225 pounds, what little motivation I might have had disappeared faster than the deviled egg platter at a family gathering.

 

December 27, 2019

Despite my lack of ardor for the task, I did have a goal: get down to my driver’s license weight of 185 pounds. This would allow me to get back into a favorite pair of blue jeans that hadn't seen the light of day for years, and to fit into a recently acquired Seattle University baseball Jersey.   The hardest part would be simply getting started.

I lost lost a lot of weight in my forties when I took up running.  I had never run for exercise before, but quickly got hooked; some would say obsessed.  I ran several races including two marathons, finishing the Portland, Oregon marathon in 3:10:26 in 2007.  In 2010 I totaled over 1,000 miles running and another 1,000 cycling to and from work.  Eventually life got in the way and by the mid-2010s - to quote Forrest Gump – “my runnin’ days was over.”

In early 2020 there were already rumblings of a worldwide pandemic.  A local nursing home near Seattle became the first Covid “hot spot” in the United States.  By March we were wearing masks in public and at work.  Our daughter, who was slated to spend the semester in Amsterdam, was unceremoniously kicked out of Europe.  Businesses - including fitness centers - were closing.  The solitary, outdoor sport of running however, was still an option.

I tried a few times to get rolling.  The chubby-cheeked selfie below was taken in May of 2020 after a run.  I had begun to change my eating habits and had already dropped a few pounds, but runs were sporadic and infrequent.

May 31, 2020

 Credit for getting me over the hump goes to my dear wife Ziba.  She had been urging me to get moving for some time, while knowing in her heart that I might take it to extremes 😉.  It wasn’t until July 3rd that I started running consistently.  I ran for 754 minutes that month (tracking time rather than mileage).  I weighed 218 pounds on July 15th.

 As the pandemic wore on, I wore a neck gaiter while running in public to cover my nose and mouth when I encountered people. Occasionally I'd forget the gaiter and more than once felt the scolding glare of a masked passerby.  It was odd to see runners, pedestrians, and dog-walkers cross the street to avoid each other.

I ran for 878 minutes in August and 935 in September, which included seven straight days on the home treadmill due to poor air quality from wildfires burning in Canada and Eastern Washington.  Treadmill runs are a drag but music makes them tolerable and the cushioned surface gives my  joints a break from pavement pounding.  For variety I began to combine resistance training - dumbbells, body-weight, and medicine ball work - with the treadmill runs.  Running, inside or out, became a diversion from the gloomy pandemic predictions and presidential poppycock.  Each minute I ran was a minute that I wasn't doom-scrolling.  I went under 200 pounds on September 20th, now aged 56.

There seemed to be an unusually high number of celebrity deaths in 2020.  The year began with the losses of Neil Peart and Kobe Bryant in January, but October stood out for the passing of baseball Hall of Famers Bob Gibson, Whitey Ford, and Joe Morgan; actor Sean Connery; and guitar great Eddie Van Halen.  Meanwhile, I hit the mean streets for a new monthly high of 1154 minutes.  By Halloween I was down to 190 pounds, having exorcised 15% of my body weight since the start of the year.

October 31, 2020

The more weight we lose, the more challenging it becomes to lose additional weight. This is because the body tends to store fat as a long-term energy buffer. It’s an evolutionary adaption in the event of  food scarcity. To avoid a plateau I upped the ante on my workouts in November by doing my first 60-minute runs and by increasing the volume of resistance training.  I'd find out later that what and when we eat are just as important to weight loss.  On the 15th I dipped below my goal weight.  In other news, there was a presidential election.

November 15, 2020

As expected, I was able to slip into the denim and the baseball jersey, but will likely never wear those pants again.  At the start of this adventure, I honestly didn't know if I could hit my target. But once I did I wasn’t satisfied with my body composition, so I decided to take it to extremes...