Day 1

I've mentioned here once, or maybe a few times, that I've been thinking about experimenting with quantifying more of my life. My activity tracker already records a great deal; steps taken, calories burned, heart rate, etc. I've noticed that being aware of those numbers drives me to attain the goals set for them; going out on walks, even rather late in the evening, to achieve my steps for the day, or controlling what I eat in order to stay at a desired weight. I also noticed that the display of consecutive days learning on the website teaching me spanish is a surprisingly powerful motivator to learn every day, at least a little bit. I'd also rather not be totally beholden to another company or person to track and record all this data.

So I started out yesterday by making a spreadsheet. It has various rows for tracking the sorts of things I'm interested in tracking. Some of them are health-related; weight, heart rate, blood pressure, that sort of thing. Others are performance-related; reps on strength training exercises (tomorrow it goes up to 81!), whether I stretched that day or not, steps taken, etc. There is a separate tab for other exercises (I'll get to that). Dietary macros are tracked, along with water and fiber intake. I've also decided to add a column for whether or not I smoked that day; I quit some time ago, but the idea is amusing. I've also included a nap column. I came across the idea that all the sleep you need in a day is 6 hours at "night" (or whenever your sleep cycle usually is) and a 20-minute nap during the day. I may give something like that a try, but not right away. I don't want to change too much too soon.

So, for now, the goals are A. to start tracking various parameters using the spreadsheet, tweaking it as I go, B. to walk at least 10 kilometers (or 10,000 steps) each day (climbing at least 10 flights of stairs as I go), and C. to read (actually read, not listen to) at least 20 pages a day. That last goal isn't very ambitious, but that feeds into the next point; this is the first full day of the system. It's not perfect. For example, the function in the spreadsheet that tracks sleep assume your sleep cycle will span midnight; mine doesn't always do so. I may find that 20 pages a day is incredibly easy, or that 10 kilometers a day is too much of a time sink. But while this is meant to motivate me to improve, it's also important that I maintain a sense of perspective; I shouldn't go out running at quarter to midnight in a desperate attempt to get a few more steps in before midnight when I need to be awake and functional at 5 AM to bike to work. There need to be priorities, there needs to be perspective, and if I go weeks and weeks without missing a single metric...at least one of them is probably set too low.

Oh, the exercise tab. I'm interested in tracking a fair number of factors, mostly related to weather and clothing. It's getting cold here, quickly, and I have very little experience biking in the cold. Because I'm tracking so many, I made a separate tab just for exercises. It tracks such things as what sort of activity it was, when, how long it took, what I wore, etc. There are also notations for whether I was too cold, too hot, etc. Like the main page, I fully expect to make significant alterations to this one as I find what works well for me.

Three more quick things. One, I converted my running shoes back into screw shoes. Two, work and weather conspired to make my "rest week" more restful than it should have been; I missed my second swim AND my second run. Three, my experiment to make eggs in my electric kettle resulted, on the very first try, in the best hardboiled eggs I've ever made; 1 liter of room-temperature water in the kettle, add 4 eggs from the fridge, turn it on, and remove the eggs 10 minutes after the kettle turns itself off. The yolks were perfectly done with no overcooking. I'm very pleased.

Snow

And biking in it. Today, when I left for work, I wore a thermal layer and my hemp running shorts. It was snowing very lightly, and I arrived with cold hands. Over the course of the day, an actual layer of snow (and slush) accumulated; again, really all that got cold were my hands. But that will probably not last. I need to accept that a waterproof shell will become a necessity. I think tat I have enough thermal layers to stay warm no matter what, but I need to stay dry, and my hands will not survive in the park tool company working gloves I have been using. Tonight, I will ride in the winter gloves I bought to run in and see how well that works.

Today was supposed to be a swim day, but work prevented that. The snow made it seem unwise to run after coming home. So I'm going to expedite adding sheet metal screws to my running shoes, as I did last winter. Hopefully, that means I will get my run in tomorrow, so the only workout I'll miss this week is a swim. It also means I'll be able to test my new hemp shorts on a run.

I'm doing more research, and seriously considering pursuing a more data-driven life. Not just calories burned, but macros consumed (along with water and fiber), sleep times, weight, mood, weather conditions during exercise, that sort of thing. I don't want to be beholden to a specific app. A well-designed spreadsheet that works across various programs might be best.

Oh, and I had a very minor culinary experiment. I put 1 liter of room-temperature water and 4 eggs straight from the fridge into my electric kettle, turned it on, and started a 10 minute timer once it turned itself off. I then removed the eggs and out them in the fridge. I'll see if you can soft-boil eggs effectively that way.

Ups and downs

In terms of bodyweight, that is. Over the course of the last five days, I've fluctuated a LOT. I went down by more than four and a half pounds between yesterday morning and this morning, after having risen by noticeable amounts for three days. I'm still under 180, but it just goes to show how wide-ranging the changes can be. Apparently, it's recommended for men to weigh themselves once per week. I intend to keep weighing myself daily; it's hard to see how more information could be harmful.

My last swim, yesterday, was in the rain. Today, I biked to work without a rear fender (it broke), and took a long route home. The ride home was in the pouring rain and my hands were numb by the time I arrived. My new exercise shorts arrived (adonis from rawganique), and I wore one pair of them for the ride home. They seemed to work fine, even if they are a bit baggy. I'll wear them again when I run, and if they work out, I'll probably keep them. They're pure hemp, made in Romania, and my main gripe with them is that they're a rather fine mesh rather than a solid cloth. I rather doubt that I could wear them without an undergarment and maintain my modesty.

I find myself thinking more and more about measuring my life. Weather conditions and garments worn for each workout, specific fats and mixing methods used for keto chow, hydration, that sort of thing. After all, if you don't measure it, you can't improve it (or so they say).

Yesterday, I had an ~15 mile round trip on my bike to buy an electric kettle. I realized I have pretty much only been using my stove to boil water. I'm interested to see how well I can do with an electric kettle and a fridge as my only appliances. I tried mixing a butter-based keto chow using the kettle; I poured 14 ounces of boiling water into a bottle with half a stick of butter (straight from the freezer). It melted relatively quickly. I added a scoop of keto chow and shook it vigorously. Today, that bottle had a noticeable fatty deposit around the spout. So butter-based keto chow with the kettle is possible, but not ideal. I think I will use up my butter and heavy cream and transition to using only shelf-stable fats. The only things in my freezer besides butter are my microbe cultures, a container of homemade schmaltz, some gutted anchovies from the korean market, and a vanilla pod. My fridge contains only keto chow, water, a couple eggs, tonic water, yeast, and a few condiments. The yeast and condiments are reflections of how much I enjoy cooking.

My relationship with food has changed a lot over the last few months. It's become a split personality sort of thing. I enjoy cooking, very much, but not in a solitary context. I like cooking for friends and family, but food made and eaten alone seems to lack flavor. And thank to covid, there is little to be had in the way of social cooking. I prepare food now in an almost utilitarian fashion; it need only be palatable enough to consume. Eating (or, for keto chow, drinking) is more a function of necessity than enjoyment. It's neither enjoyable nor unpleasant, like brushing my teeth or bathing. It's not a chore, it's not a pastime or a hobby or a diversion. It's just something I need to do in order to function properly.

So now my kitchen is mostly empty cupboards and unused utensils. I make coffee and keto chow and sometimes a mug of bouillon. I'll probably cook the last few eggs and eat them just so they don't go to waste. I should cook them in the schmaltz. And then it's just a once-daily ritual of mixing powder, water, and fat.

Rolling into a rest week

So this week turns out to be a "rest week"; I rest on what would normally be my first run-only day (Thurday), and my swims are shorter than those from last week. Today also marks the first day of 80 reps each for my strength exercises. That felt quite good.

I went on a long walk to get my distance in for the day. I bought a bottle of avocado oil; even from a clearance store, a liter (which is almost a perfect week's worth) is $15. I can get a week's worth of butter for about $11. On the one hand, 20-25% savings. On the other hand, it's only $4, and the benefit is no refrigeration needed. I made one meal with it; I want to see how it tastes. This morning, I also made a meal of chocolate keto chow with heavy cream, chilled it, and ran it through the ice cream machine. It was so-so; neither good nor bad. Tomorrow is a 1.5-hour bike ride at an easy pace, so about 20 miles. I should go to the hardware store with my bike trailer, buy a big basin, then bike 20 miles round trip to work to deliver some flour and get a covid test. From there, I cold go pick crab apples, a whole basin full; bring them home, wash them, and maybe get to trimming. I could be making juice by Wednesday, which I'd have to store for maybe 2-3 weeks while I await the arrival of the weck jars I ordered today; a dozen each of 160 and 500 mL sizes. Crab apple jelly and, crab apple butter, and crab apple leather. It should be worth it.

Relentlessly good news

If I had any readers, I'd worry about coming across as too optimistic; things keep going well.

Yesterday, I went on a 35-minute run with my folding tri bike to be. I knew I had to go to work at midnight, so I went on a moderate-length walk to burn some energy and get my steps in for the day before trying to nap. The nap was not a success. So I left for work three hours before I needed to be there, planning a 15-mile bike route through a state park (hoping to find hickory nuts). I got extremely lost and trespassed on roads for access to the water supply of the city of Winchester. At about 10:30 at night. But I found my way out and made it to work on time.

After that eight hour shift, I biked home, changed, biked to the beach, swam, biked home, and started a load of laundry. I went on a long walk to get my steps in for the day and buy a few small groceries from one of the neighborhood markets around here, came back and finished the laundry as I did my daily stretches, did my strength training, and had a good meal (with my daily Spanish lesson while it cooked). Now I'm typing this, having been awake for abut 33 hours, a run, a swim, four bike rides, and two complete sessions of stretching and strength training.

I wanted to put off so many of these things. I told myself I could stretch or do strength training when I got up to go to work tonight. I could do the Spanish training this evening. But I just kept doing things, and it worked out in so may ways. I wanted a can of beans for my meal, but I had none in the house and I reallllly do not want to go into a store in a wetsuit (as I am when biking home from swimming). The walk got me my beans and my steps. If I had put off stretches and strength training, I'd have had to move the laundry rack when I awoke. Doing things now is working out so well. I wonder that people don't do it more. Why does procrastination feel so good?

Side note; 1 standard-sized bike water bottle is just about enough to wash both your feet at the beach.

Success

This morning, I weighed in under 180 pounds. I expect that tomorrow I may well be above 180, as it was a hefty shift, but we'll see. I had a pair of big tasks at work today. Partway through the first of them, I was convinced I wouldn't get any tri training done today. I was wrong. I came home, changed, and went to the beach. It was windy and overcast, but I still managed to achieve 1,300 strokes of swimming. Two major tasks at work, four bike rides, my longest swim so far...I even finished husking all my black walnuts today. I've accomplished a great deal today. Perhaps accomplishments do not tire one out, as is commonly thought. Perhaps they energize and motivate you.

I also tried a new approach to dinner. I sauteed some marinated artichoke hearts until well browned, added a few eggs until they also got crispy, and topped it all with some chili garlic sauce. Quite tasty.

Making problems into opportunities

Today marked day 1 of the second half of my training program; my work schedule prevented me from going swimming this morning. All day at work, this and that happened, preventing me from getting many steps in. When it was time to head home, I discovered that my bike tire was flat; that ate up a fair bit of time. By the time I got home, it was starting to get dark; biking to the beach to swim in the dusk seemed chancy, and it wold have left me with a few miles of walking to do once I got home in order to reach my steps for the day. So instead, I went for the run that would have been run tomorrow. I may just swap all the runs and swims this week; swim tomorrow, run friday, and swim saturday.

I broke open a bag of keto chow in a new flavor; vanilla. Tomorrow has three different shakes; one chocolate made with butter, one vanilla made with butter, and one chocolate made with coconut oil. The coconut oil is particularly intriguing. Coconut oil is shelf stable, and when combined with keto chow, a 2-gallon bucket could easily last a month at 2,400 calories per day. I intend to test it with a variety of flavors.

I'm getting very close to my target weight. I hope to achieve it by the end of the week. I'll probably stay in keto for at least another week, maybe two, so I can stabilize at my new weight. One thing's for sure, I'll have to be strict about weighing myself regularly and keeping at my new weight. It would be easy to just start eating fried chicken and burgers all the time and going back to my old size, but it just wouldn't be worth it.

Two big days

Yesterday was my weekly rest day, exercise-wise. Sort of. I ended up hitching my bike trailer up and going on a very long trip in search of goodies to forage. I was hoping to find at least a few hickory nuts, but no dice. What I did find was a full trailerload of black walnuts. They came home with me and half filled a marina cart, where they are soaking. I'm going to husk at least 100 a day until they are all husked. I need to find a good way to finish off the shells; maybe pressure washing. Then they'll get hung to dry and cure for a while. In any event, I burned around 3,800 calories yesterday, and that's without my app knowing I was towing an extra 50 pounds.

Today was the first day of 75 reps of strength training. Manageable, but not easy. I had a brick this morning, and didn't even bother showering afterwards. Because I biked 10-ish miles to another spot hoping for hickory nuts (struck out again), then biked 5 more miles to work. All told, I may break 4,000 calories today. I went on a bit of a walk after I came home. The bread factory near me has several sugar maples growing on their property, and I found some more in a public park. Makes me wonder about tapping them for syrup next year.

A (mostly) successful week

So yesterday turned out to have yet another indication that exercise just wasn't in the cards; I got a call to come into work very early. It was a false alarm, so I got my stretches and strength training in. My situps were not done all in a row, but I had a very poor method of restraining my feet. Today went fine; 71 of each exercise, and 1200+ strokes of swimming. I even took a longer route on my bike ride home. The showers at the public beach have been shut down for the winter; I continue to daydream about a van/bus/RV that I can just drive to the beach. I could get out of the ocean and be home in a hundred yards.

This afternoon, I went and gathered a bunch of acorns from an oak tree near one of the city buildings. I washed them and intend to let them air dry for a while. I intend to try to make flour from them, and experiment with several different methods of leaching. Supposedly, they can even be leached whole in the shells by repeated soaking in change after change of cold water.

There's a website called falling fruit that documents the locations of various edible plants. Fruit and nut trees, berries, ramps, wild garlic, etc. Supposedly, there are a number of black walnut and hickory trees within relatively easy biking distance. I think I may bike to some of them tomorrow to check them out. The question is; do I bring the trailer? Hickory nuts should be easy enough to shell on the spot, but black walnuts are probably best brought home whole to be processed. I'd happily bring home a trailer full, if I thought there would be that many. I should probably also bring my work gloves and hammer. Pedaling against all that extra resistance for nothing might be frustrating; at least I could console myself that it would burn extra calories.

A stack of indications

That tomorrow will not go as originally planned. My fitness tracker broke (thanks, Garmin). My knees felt rather sore after this morning's run. My work schedule tomorrow precludes swimming before work unless I swim in open water in pitch dark.

Tomorrow was supposed to be a swim, and Saturday a run. Given the stack of difficulties, I'm going to not train tomorrow, and substitute a swim for the run on Saturday. I've been generally pleased with my running improvements, but swimming should get more attention. My last swim was a bit over 1,200 strokes continuously. Absent a coach, I'm focusing more on physical endurance and confidence in the water than form. Assuming that each stroke while dragging a load results in half a meter of travel, I need to build up to 3,000 strokes. It turns out that simply wearing my wetsuit while going to the beach works fine. Changing only at home is simpler, and requires less space in the bag.

As of this morning, I'm still well under 183 pounds. I think that three or fours weeks of keto will see me stable at or around 180.

30

My second post in a row with just a number as a title. Today, the number of pounds I've lost since moving here. As of this morning, I'm 30 pounds lighter than I was about two and a half years ago. It was a massive shift; fully 3 and a half pounds less this morning than yesterday morning, and I fully expect most of it to come back by tomorrow morning. But it was pleasing nonetheless. I've been staying well hydrated, so I doubt it was water weight, but it's tough to guess what else it could be. I certainly didn't burn that many calories in 24 hours. I don't now if that would even be humanly possible. My target weight is in reach. I'm going to achieve 180, stay there for a week or two, then transition off keto and try to hold steady. If that works, I'll go get another body analysis.

My bike ride this morning was shorter than expected. Travel in the dark, in the rain, and through a heavily populated area slows me down much more than anticipated.

70

Today was day 1 of 70 reps each for my strength training exercises. I also swapped the order of my exercises around; I did my tri training first (a brick ending in a 2-mile run with my bike), then did my stretches and strength training. So the strength training took place after I as more fatigued than usual, but I still managed to do each set without a rest.

I also saw the step decrease in my weight that I kind of expected from transitioning into keto (my ketones tested at 2.0 this afternoon); I'm 3.3 pounds lighter than I was 36 hours ago, despite being well hydrated both times. That's obviously not all fat, but it's a start. I'm staying with the idea of not going above a deficit of 1000 calories. 3 shakes a day is just shy of 1600 calories, so I'm still eating other food, but I'm making it protein-rich. Over easy eggs with hot sauce is a popular choice; so is a spoonful of peanut butter. I expect that today's caloric expenditure is going to be around 3500, so tomorrow I'll need 900 calories over and above the three shakes; even 4 shakes leaves me over 300 calories shy, and I'd prefer not to have four shakes. I have very little in the home that's keto and calorically dense. My fridge is looking quite empty, and the freezer has almost nothing but butter. I like that. I'm getting to the point of being dependent on refrigeration only for water, my shakes, and the butter I make them with. That does mean I need to start finding keto-friendly shelf-stable food, preferably that's mostly fat. I may have to start drinking bulletproof coffee again.

I ordered a few bits and bobs for the shadow box I'm having made as a record of sorts of my military career. Other than the jumper that's going into it, I'm getting rid of my old dress uniforms (finally). Once I get a couple good pairs of exercise shorts, my wardrobe will finally be A. complete and B. free of unnecessary extras. I'm pleased that my previous pair of shorts lasted for 15 years, despite significant use. But it's AMAZINGLY difficult to find exercise shorts that don't include synthetic fibers.

I'm also getting very interested in a recycling shower, possibly integrated with laundry. Taking cold showers simplifies the design of a recycling shower considerably. It's really just a vessel, coarse filter, pump, fine filter, chemical filter, UV sterilizer, and shower head with some interconnecting tubing and a curtain. Pour in a few gallons of water, step in, turn on the pump, and you're good to go. Add in a few valves, and that same water can then be pumped into a washing machine; it can even be drained from that machine and re-filtered and pumped back in for rinsing (it may be worthwhile to add an oil trapping filter). Or if the amount of water is right and the vessel is the right size and shape, clothes cold be washed directly in it with a hand plunger. Add a wringer on the side, and I'm one clothesline away from a complete person and clothing cleaning apparatus that can probably run on 5 gallons of water. Bonus points if everything can easily and quickly disassemble and fit into the vessel for storage.

One more push

I thought about making the title "one LAST push", but that's too final. I'm talking about a push on my weight. My recent trip to the doctor included the determination that I'm about 13.6% body fat; assuming I had the same muscle mass two years ago versus now, that means I've lost nearly half the fat I was carrying around; it's probably more, because I probably have greater muscle mass now. I'm just a bit under 187 pounds right now. If I lose 7 more pounds of fat and maintain everything else, I'll be within a rounding error of 10 percent body fat. I've been hovering within two pounds or so of my current weight for over a month. 

Previously, keto had been giving me good performance in terms of weight loss. This is probably due to several factors; less incidental snacking (because none of the incidental snacks are keto-friendly), ketosis obviously burning fat more efficiently, etc. But no matter why it works, it works. That being said, going into starvation mode is not productive. Right now, if I drink keto chow for 3 meals a day, at half a stick of butter each, that's just shy of 1,600 calories/day. I average over 3,000 calories expended per day. If I want to keep the deficit at no more than 1,000, that means I need to eat at least 400 more calories per day, and probably more. Whether that means snacks, more butter, or whatever, I'm going to start consuming 1,000 calories per day less than I burned the previous day; in theory, anyway, that means I should get to my target weight within 4 weeks.

I'm probably going to try making keto muffins and keto whipped chocolate mousse; the former for ease of transport, the latter as a treat, and both for curiosity.

Good days

 Yesterday, I achieved the first sub-30 minute 5K carrying a bike. Today, I went swimming. In a significant but ultimately very satisfying deviation from my triathlon training plan, I didn't do a whole series of exercises interspersed with rest periods; I swam 1000 strokes of front crawl with no resting except the moments in which I turned around. Around the 180 stroke mark, I was sure I wouldn't make it to 1000. But I kept swimming 100 strokes, turning around, and going again. Until 1000 happened.

That turned out to be about 800 meters; just over half of what an olympic triathlon is. With better form and technique, that many strokes cold become 1000 meters. In any case, it was extremely satisfying. I still need to figure out what I'm going to do as the weather gets colder. I may be able to simply bike home in my wetsuit. That's what I did today, without stripping to the waist as I normally do.

I've been thinking about the saying "what we measure, improves". What should I be measuring, aside from my weight and my exercises? Duolingo measures my progress learning Spanish. A better question might be "what do I want to improve"? Familial relationships. Friendships. Number of books read. Should I be reading a book a week? Increasing my steps per day from 7,500 to 10,000? 

A successful push

Yesterday, Friday, was a long haul. Get up, stretch, strength training, bike to the beach, swim, bike home, strip off wetsuit and grab second backpack, bike to work, work hard for several hours, bike home, sleep for about five hours, and bike back to work by midnight. Today was a full shift starting at midnight, bike home, stretch, strength training, laundry, and a 30-minute run with the bike; then a big meal and sleep. I'll head back to work soon.

Thursday evening, I packed two backpacks in preparation for Friday. It turned out to be very helpful, but it felt strange; I had never before had a schedule so packed that it was worthwhile to pack two backpacks in advance.

I'm feeling more and more productive. Much of my time at home now is spent asleep. My strength training is proceeding well; 60 reps on each exercise this whole week, with no resting. Next week, I'll do 65. If this rate keeps up, I'll achieve 100 reps around the same time I reach the end of my current triathlon training plan.

"Rest day"

As part of my first "rest week". Today was just stretches, strength training, and bike rides that were part of getting around.  I'm still over 3,000 calories today already. Tomorrow is a swim day; get up, stretch, strength training, bike to the beach, swim, bike home, shower, eat, bike to work, work, bike home, sleep, then bike to work for midnight shift. Bike home at 8 AM, then find the time for sleep, stretches, strength training, and a run before going in for another midnight.

I'm particularly looking forward to the eating. Eggs, beans, mushrooms, onion, and hash browns. I've been looking up recipes for various vegan/vegetarian sausage recipes. Man; what a disappointment. Does anyone really expect people to be hunting down vital wheat gluten and nutritional yeast? If people are going to make bean-based sausages work, they need to be made of common ingredients. And sausages are perhaps the best omnivore food to shift over to vegan; the texture is variable, and the flavor is largely fat and seasonings.