Personal Update 201808 | 31 Aug 2018 | Friday
Greetings,
I hope you’re doing well. Thanks for taking a moment to read my August update. I’m sending this newsletter a few weeks late and plan to send the September update out a little later this month. Although I’m writing this on Sep 21, I have dated the post as 31 Aug for the publish date.
HEALTH
For those of us working on weight loss, there are periods of success when we count how much weight we’ve lost, and other periods where we gain it back — usually in much less time than it took to lose it. So, it can be difficult to effectively track our net progress. That’s why I track my progress based on my highest weight. I’ve lost about 10 pounds since my highest weight, and about 7 pounds since last month.
For some people, weight isn’t an issue — losing it and keeping it off is easy. For other people, it’s easy to gain weight and hard to lose it — requiring more effort to achieve and maintain a healthy weight.
Some people who are overweight may be so because the live a sedentary life and make poor food choices. The lack of exercise and poor nutrition perhaps more than the weight itself produces life shortening conditions. Those with an ideal body weight who don’t exercise or eat right can be at greater risk than those who may be overweight but exercise and make good food choices. Of course, the combination of a healthy weight, diet, and lifestyle are the ideal.
I use a nutrition app on my smartphone to keep track of my calories and nutrition goals. In addition to tracking calories, I also track sugar and carbs because they can stimulate fat storage in the body — causing more weight gain than other foods of equal calories. If certain foods stimulate fat storage and slow down metabolism, then the net impact of those foods is similar to them having more calories. Also, foods that result in an eventual energy crash down (like sweets or caffein) can result in a desire to eat more to gain energy. So, the end result in more consumption. I tend to eat when I’m tired so I try to avoid foods that make me tired. My daily diet is usually a salad and veggie protein patties for breakfast and dinner, with a variable lunch meal — trying to keep everything around 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day. The lower the better, but it’s easy to have an off day.
I’m very committed to regular exercise — not to burn calories, but to give me more energy during the day, reduce my appetite, build strength, increase stamina, avoid injuries, and give me better sleep. During the month of August I lifted about 196,000 pounds. That’s a 30,000 pound increase over my July strength training total. I also have a cardio exercise routine that includes walking, elliptical, and bike riding.
The small number of calories burned during exercise are inconsequential. A single bagel without cream cheese can wipe out the caloric benefit of a 3.5mph 1-hour walk. (source) There are some indulgences and restaurant meals that would require you to run a marathon to burn the calories off. In other words, skipping some food excesses has an equivalent caloric benefit as running a marathon every day.
If I lift about 200,000 pounds per month, get a cardio workout every day, watch what I eat, practice intermittent fasting, and consistently get the quality and quantity of sleep I need, I can lose about 1-2 pounds per week as long as I don’t slip up. So, the program takes discipline, self control, and consistency. It’s easy to get side tracked by other things that in the moment seem pressing.
TOPICS AND WRITINGS
In August I shared and wrote about a few topics of interest including:
- A new phone service from Google
- An inspiring advertisement from Volvo from Feb 2017 that I only recently discovered called “Live Fully Now” as well as some other videos from Volvo
- John McCain’s farewell letter to America
- An amazing duo of women called Salmon Sisters who have their own fishing business in Alaska and also sell apparel
MUSIC VIDEO
I created a music video in August using a song with permission from the artist and some stock video footage. I thought the song and the visuals went together well. I hope you enjoy it.
THANKS
Many thanks to all of you who keep in touch and provide support for the work I do.
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Origins. For those of you who are new to these monthly personal updates, they began about 18 years ago out of a desire to share from my personal life about topics of lifeways (faith), health, career, finances, relationships, effective living, and activism. This is based on the life map presented on the Resources For Life website.