The Path Forward

      I wanted to start out with my Favorite Thing of The Week. My FTOTW is this.

     Two beautiful dogs back in the White House. Champ is the elder statesman of the family and he is lying near the Presidential seal, while Major the rescue is next to Biden and the resolute desk. I'm so ecstatic over the fact that a rescue dog is in the White House. I have a deep spot in my heart for rescues, and believe that all people should get their pets from shelters, due to the millions of shelter animals in the country. So remember adopt don't shop.

     Today is my final full day of clean keto and although I should do my weigh in and pictures tomorrow, I went ahead and did them today, cause what is a day going to make. I weighed in at 164.4 which is exactly 8 pounds down. That averages out to 1 pound a week, which I'm happy with. What I'm not happy with is how I look. I know I can have more definition, because I have, but I also know that it's a long process that won't happen in just 8 weeks. I may as well get to the pictures and then we can talk about how I move forward after.

     

     The top photo is the one from I believe 4 weeks ago. The others are from today with the exception of the side by side, which was today vs. last Monday. You can also tell by the side by side, I changed the angle a bit and used a different flash. The new flash washes my skin out a bit, but if you look closely, you can see more definition from the beginning to last Monday, to today. Don't let anyone tell you that a week can't make a difference.  I'm still working to get back to where I was and then beyond that. My goal is still the same despite the side track, which is 10% body fat. I did measure body fat a few weeks ago and came in at 22%. I was much lower than that before so it's a disappointment for me that I let myself go so far. It won't happen again. 

     Then path moving forward. I'm having a good ol' cheat day tomorrow, and then taking the week off for very strict eating. Going to just relax eating wise for a week then it will be strict eating again but in 28 day cycles. As for my workouts, those won't change much, even though I did have to change them a bit this week. The shoes in the new photos are my new minimalist running shoes. They are Xero Speed Force shoes. Minimalist shoes take some adjusting, which I didn't do, so I suffered an injury due to my footfall. I'm a hard striker with my heel, which is fine if you have tons of padding, with no padding, not such a great thing. My ankle took a beating on my right foot. There is a little swelling but it will heal. Because of that, I reached out to friends to find out what I needed to change, and they gave me a bunch of great tips, that I'm putting into effect. I can't run right now, but I put the principles to work while power walking. That kept me able to walk the trail at a very brisk pace. I confirmed it was the heel strike that did the damage but simply starting out my walk imitating my runners stride. There was immediate pain, so I made the changes and it was a huge difference. Tomorrow is my full rest day, so I'm hoping that my heel will enjoy the time off. Here is a better picture of the shoes. Despite them basically being a rubber sole and a canvas upper, they are really comfortable. I also love the direct feel and feedback that they give due to being almost barefoot. It's how I was able to tell that it was my stride that was wrong.

     They are a fantastic company and most of their shoes are vegan friendly including the ones I'm wearing. Prices are reasonable. These were on sale for half off which made them really reasonable. I'll put  link if you want to check them out. They do have all types of shoes, not just running, but they are mostly actively based. They also have a DIY sandal that I may eventually get. https://xeroshoes.com     Check them out. I am not an affiliate although they've sent me information on being one, but you have to be vetted and I frankly don't have the followers to be able to be one anyway, I just really love the shoes.

     One last thing, well two actually, before I wrap this up. My mom is getting her second vaccination shot tomorrow, which will take a little more weight off my shoulders. I also have postponed the new story until next week. I rewrote the beginning and had to let it sit with me for a while. I'm beginning to see the path which is a good sign, but I still don't see the ending, which to me is the most important part of my process. I also might work on some art for it as well. Regardless of if I get the artwork done, I will be pushing myself to get this story going this week. I won't make a deadline this time, you'll just have to be surprised of it pops up on a day this week. I hope you have a wonderful and fantastic week Peace in and goodnight.     

A New Story Is Coming, Maybe

      One more week to go. I have one week left on my 8 week challenge of clean eating. I would like to report that the results have been astronomical, but they definitely have not. I've been stuck at the same weight for the last 3 weeks now, and despite doing a lot of different things to break it up, none have really worked. I must also say that I'm not concerned about that at all though. I'm feeling good. I would like to look better, but genetics hit me with a stick a long time ago, so shedding the body fat is all I have left.

     I did start hitting the exercise trail this week. The funny thing about the trail is that it has calisthenic stations, but I'm the only one I see doing the stations. Most people just walk or jog the trail. It's relatively simple but it is still beating me up pretty good. I went 5 days this week starting on Tuesday with a break on Wednesday. On Tuesday, Thursday and Friday I did the stations, and on Saturday and this morning I ran and walked it. That is my plan from now on. Every other day I will do the run/walk and hit the stations on primary days. I'm starting out with the beginner course, which is really easy, but like I said, I'm sore. I'm going to go a few weeks doing that and then I'll hit the advanced course. Once I've mastered that, I'll just increase reps and difficulty. Beside this being good overall exercise for me, it's helping me escape my mind for a little while each day. I will be taking Monday's off and going Tuesday-Sunday. I may eventually figure out a way to slip Monday in, but when I've been hitting the course is when I also do the Monday grocery shopping. I'll figure it out.

     I got an idea for a story this week and even wrote the first paragraph. The only problem is that I have no direction yet. My normal process has always been that the ending comes to me first, then I figure out the beginning and the rest rides the trail to the end. This time I have an idea for a character, or three and a premise. I wrote that first paragraph as a beginning, but I'm not sold on it yet, cause it sounds a bit cliché. I'm going to sit down with the laptop this week and spend some time free writing to see if it all works out, or at least takes a direction. I can tell you that it's going to be a bit of a scary tale, but leaning towards kids or teens. If I can get it all figured out, I may have a first chapter for you to read on Saturday. That's me putting a deadline on myself in order to put a little healthy pressure on my brain.

     For Favorite Thing of the Week, I have a simple photo of Saki. I finally got to have a little ride time on Monday. It was short, but sweet. It's been hard to maintain my tires since I no longer have a compressor (still working on that) so when I went out, the first half of my ride was well, squishy. When you take corners on a motorcycle, the tires should stick and you smoothly go around, but when your tires are soft, you kind of slide a little around the corners. That's not really the best way of describing it, but it's close enough. I ended up stopping at a gas station and using their machine, which only takes a credit card and costs like $2 just to fill up your tires. I really hate doing that, but that's all I have right now. There was a massive difference in how the ride felt. I took my second corner which was a little sandy, so I lost the tire for a millisecond, but the it caught traction and just took off. It was so amazing. I do love losing the tire. That's when the tire slips a little, which isn't the same as having a squishy tire. Much different feeling and that is definitely one you can't describe, you can only experience it. It's that subtle feeling that everything is about to go wrong but having faith in the machine to do what it does. The first time is an real eye opener, after that you get comfortable with it and in my case, enjoy it. I'll tend to look for the sandy spots in turns just to get that little slip. Anyway, here is Saki sitting in the sun enjoying our ride together.

     I can't say it was all sunshine and rainbow. Well it was rainbows. That second half of the ride a rain cloud followed me the whole way home. The fact that I went in a rectangle makes it even stranger.

     So, if everything goes as planned, there will be a Saturday evening post that will be the first chapter of a new story. I have a working title right now, which will probably stick, but I want to leave it as a surprise, so you will just have to wait to see what it is. Peace in and goodnight.

     

My New Crush

     It's been a rough week. Although I've stayed strict with what I've eaten, I haven't stayed strict with quantities this week. It's been a lot of stress eating and as a result, my weight stayed pretty much the same. I have been holding much more water this week and I think it's because of something I got for my mom. I picked up some Atkins bars so that she might eat something calorie dense when she is having one of those days where she won't eat anything other than ice cream sandwiches. Turns out, she didn't like them at all, so since they are technically keto (very dirty keto) I took it upon myself to finish off the box. Not all at once, and there are still 3 bars currently left, but they did have a bad effect on me. Instant bloat hit me and I can tell my my physique that I'm holding a lot of water. The reason it's so noticeable is because my weight is up and down by about a pound but the definition is almost non existent at this point. I'm not saying that you couldn't have success with these bars, but they are definitely not good for me. I will have to struggle through those last three bars, but after that, I'll never have them again. I am happy to say that I've finished the 6 week mark and have 2 weeks of strict keto to go. I really didn't have a set goal, but I did have an idea of hitting 155. I'm 10 pounds from that mark right now, so that doesn't look like it's going to happen. I'm not upset by that but I am a little disappointed in myself. It just means I haven't worked hard enough. I have a new plan to go to an exercise trail a few times a week. I'll find a way to carve out an hour to get that done. I do think this will not only help me get closer to my goal, but I do think it will help my state of mind.

     I know you think that that last line is going to lead into this paragraph, but I'm just going to skip over all the reasons I was stress eating this past week. I'm sure you can figure out most of it. Instead I'm going to share a picture with you of my breakfast from one day this week. I have added minimal dairy back into my diet this week. That was planned, and this breakfast was my first time with some cheese in a few weeks, and it was good. I decided to just make a good old fashioned scramble. It was eggs of course, with some spicy smoked sausage, prosciutto, spinach, cherry tomatoes, and I went with mozzarella instead of the habanero cheddar so that I could see if the spicy smoked sausage brought the heat ( it didn't). Yes, it was as good as it looks.

     I didn't track that macros for it nor the calories, but I'd guess it was somewhere around 600 calories with really good macros. The tomatoes and spinach were only about 4-5 carbs, with it totally loaded with protein. I was probably low on the fat, since I didn't add much oil to it at all, so it was low carb and low fat, and damn tasty.

     I know you saw the title up there. This is one of those rare times when I write the title first and it is all because I have a new crush. I spent a lot of time this week watching the impeachment trial, and a lot of people stood out, but none more to me than Representative Stacey Plaskett. I was taken by her passion and demeanor on a stage in front of the entire world. I of course noticed how smartly dressed she was with blue dress and matching cape. There were a lot of memes with her having the Superman logo on her chest in that outfit, and it fit. So yeah, US Virgin Island Representative Stacey Plaskett is my new crush. No, I don't expect her to ever know, nor do I have an illusions that I would ever meet her.

     That is one smart and stoic woman right there, so I'm proud to call her my new crush.

     Time for Favorite Song of the Week is from a Swedish guy that does nothing but cover songs. He has a twist of course, they are all metal covers. It doesn't matter the song, they all become a metal version, with the exception of actual metal songs. He will give those a hilarious polka twist, well maybe it's a metal polka twist Anyway, this is Leo Morachioli otherwise known as Frogleap Studios with his metal version of Elton John's classic hit "Crocodile Rock".

     Come on, that's just fun. He plays all the instruments on the track and films and edits everything himself. The tiny drum kit is something he does from time to time, he isn't actually playing it. He has a rather impressive drum kit in his home studio which you get a small glimpse of in the beginning and end of the video. He also loves to wear costumes and will sometimes have is young daughter featured in the videos. I've yet to reach the bottom of his videos and I've watched probably a couple hours of them at this point, so if you want to go down a deep dive of creativity, music and fun, give his videos a try. Peace in and goodnight.

I Might Get Shot

      Let's just get into it. My weight plateaued this last week, which is not ideal, but ok. I also made this a rest week where I backed way off what I was doing. This clearly didn't work well for weight loss but it did work well for other things. I feel refreshed for one. On Friday I decided to hit the pull-up bar. It had been since last Saturday that I had done any, and in the months prior to that day, my pull-ups had suffered. I lost a lot from where I was. The rest did it's trick though and I busted out more consecutive and better pull-ups than I had ever done. When most people think of pull-ups, they think of chin-ups, where you just get your chin to touch over the top of the bar. That's not what I'm doing. When I pull-up, my head is entirely above the bar and I'm touching the top part of my chest to the bar. Well, not really, cause I have my body away from the bar, but the top part of my chest is even with the bar. My goal is to be touching the lower part of my chest to the bar, or parallel to it. This is a controlled movement as well. When I hit the top, I pause for just a fraction of a second to hold the peak. It's not just an up and down movement. I was shocked, but I'm not going to just do them once a week. The plan now is to bust them out for a couple of weeks, and then take a few days off and hit a max. All in all on Friday, I think I did somewhere around 50-60 pull-ups on Friday, with my most consecutive being 7. Early goal of course is to get 10 really good consecutive pull-ups, from there, I have no idea what the next step is, other than 15, then 20, and so on and so on.

      Quick facial skin update. My skin is fully back to normal, and might even feel better than it did. I'm thinking the combo of that moisturizer and the Just for Men dye is what did me in, with those gone, I have had no ill affects. I also think I've found the perfect combination to hold the purple color of that Arctic Fox dye better. I use the Henna Labs as a base and then a few days later go in with the purple. Take a look at it now. 

     I really love the color of it right now. I still need to try the other colors our a little more and see if I can really get that pink and aquamarine to pop as well. It's all a learning process, and a fun one at that.

    I have a few photos for you this week, but this one next is of the shirt I wore on Monday. The reason I need to share it with you, is because I was told that I was brave and might get shot for wearing it. I pronounced proudly, that if I'm shot you should politicize my death for all its worth. For someone to get shot for wearing a shirts ridiculous, but that is clearly the state we are living in right now. I plan on wearing this shirt a lot for the next 4 years, and hopefully I can change the wording a bit after the next 4 years to maybe subtract a word from it.

     I'm hoping you can figure out which word I would like to subtract from that statement. Kamala was my original choice to be the front runner so I was maybe not happy, but content when she was chosen as the running mate. Small steps right?

     Ok next picture is of the hot sauce I shared a picture of on my burgers last week. I forgot to get a picture of the bottle, so I got one today. Also, I fasted for a good 30 hours or so and decided to do something kind of dumb, just to see what would happen. I first took a mouthful of my ghost pepper salt, and all went well, so after that I took a good swig from this bottle to see how it would hit me on an empty stomach. Once again, it went well. I really expected to get hit with the cap cramps, but they never came. I did follow that up with some craklins about 20 minutes afterwards. I doubt they would suck up the capsaicin though. Anyway, here is the Tobasco Scorpion Sauce.

      If you're a chili head, this is a good one. It really brings the heat. It does have that classic vinegar taste of Tobasco, but you can kill that flavor with enough better flavor around it. Even as much as I put on my burgers, the vinegar flavor is dulled by the flavor of the spices I put on and the meat. My buddy gave me this bottle, but I think you have to go online to find it anyway, unless you have a specialty store near you that specializes in hot sauces.

      I don't have a Favorite anything of the week this week, so I'm just going to recommend a Netflix show. The second season of Blown Away came out and it's a fun watch. It's a glass blowing competition, and this year they get a few people from around the world to join Americans for a chance at a bunch of money ( I really don't remember how much) and a gallery at a prestigious glass blowing academy ( at least I think it's an acadamy). Look the prize isn't that important, it's watching the process and the art that is created that is important, so give it a chance. Peace in and goodnight.