I made it through the dreaded Day 3. Whether fasting or adopting a ketogenic application as I leave a high sugar diet behind, how I have LOVED splashing into the inviting waters of the 4th day! In those first three days, I am dangerously sensitive to emotional eating. Even as I recognize my lack of appetite, I'll plow through a shelf of crinkly-packaged pastry narcotics! And this is from a guy who can absolutely CRUSH a bag of roasted pistachio nuts to the point that it makes me belch a stench from the black cauldron pot of Hell. "Nothing a few more handfuls can't fix!"

When eating is no longer rational, it no longer matters I recognize how the oligarchy that is carbs is just another name for sugar. When I eat for the moment as I shove things into the magical box that is my mouth, I don't consider how that product influences my system, or greater still, my vision for the future. No, I funnel my sugary delights down my throat like a toddler flushing down her stuffed animal. *poof* Tada! And while I gotta think there has been at least one time I came away from a night of gorging to review it with a thumbs up for brilliancy, I've largely experienced intense regret before shaking my fist a couple of times and seeking a night of tumbling slumber to ease the discomfort.

The thing is, food fails to answer our negative reaction to emotions. These emotions are ephemeral, hence why they can so easily be driven away by our sugar stimulants! Unfortunately, those same sugars can pile on pounds onto our problems. We don't have a plan in our backpocket to whip out that will shoo those emotions away AND put us in a superior position down the road.

And THIS is why I like Day 4: I slip out of Sugar's omoplata domo arigato misuta robotto choke hold.

Yesterday in my second day of Supernatural, my workouts featured these songs:

Boxing:

1. Twisted Sister - I Wanna Rock
2. KISS - Heaven's On Fire
3. Bon Jovi - Livin' on a Prayer
4. Rolling Stones - Start Me Up
5. Tom Petty - Don't Do Me Like That
6. Doobie Bros - Listen to the Music
7. The Weeknd - In the Night
8. The Weeknd - In Your Eyes
9. The Weeknd - Sacrifice
10. The Weeknd - False Alarm
11. The Weeknd - The Hills

Flow:

1. Cranberries - Dreams
2. Third Eye Blind - Jumper
3. Sugar Ray - Someday
4. Third Eye Blind - Never Let You Go
5. Goo Goo Dolls - Slide
6. Boyz II Men - I'll Make Love to You
7. K-Ci & Jojo - All My Life

I'm nowhere near the stamina I once possessed in my gym (and I miss slamming my Everlast gloves into the bag), but I'm having a lot of fun! And I need to dial back things 'cause I'm hitting max heart rate and lovin' it! That's a key to repeatable fitness: fun. There's NO WAY I'd be doing all of this sustainable movement in the house if it wasn't for this headset. It's a surreal fealing to exist in virtual reality as if I have a portal to an alternate universe.

Admittedly, I'm a bit enamored with the app. It ties into my vision that I see in the future: Summer '23.

YouTube Link

While moving into the city might seem to afford me greater opportunity for fitness, as I approach the two-year milemarker in the spring, I find that I am less active than out in the country. I no longer have my treadmill, elliptical machine, bike, body & speed bags, a couple of benches, a vertical climber or even just a room sized set of mats. I no longer rip an outdoor deck with my bare heads or gather fallen limbs around the property. I haven't had to pull out a handsaw for yardwork in a LONG time.

No, this is the city where I recline on a couch and cram Twinkies into my mouth. The only lifting I do involves a pizza lid. When I crank out the reps, it's about how many tacos I can eat. I could go on, but you get the point.

I remain 40 lbs away from beating the heaviest I've ever been in my life; that's one dusty trophy I'd like to keep on the shelf!

I wrote yesterday of my winning approach to diet, one that is so EASY a caveman could do it—well, DID it. Quite honestly, I could eat bacon everyday for the rest of my life—I know, I know, that is one truth reveal of a Sisyphean feat, but I'm willing to do that for the world. Seriously, the great thing about the carnivore is that there are no silly things like calorie counts or point tallying. It's about recognizing satiety. And there's something different about animals than plants. Not once have I ever rampaged through leaves like I have through a medium rare ribeye.

And...well, I could write at length on carnivore. Come to think of it, I HAVE in this space! It's amusing to me that if I need encouragement on my diet, I just gotta read my own words from the past.

And to put all of this in this morning's context, I'm enjoying a cup of broth derived from a 12-hour slow cooking of 1 lb of beef shoulder. Add a pinch of Redmond's salt into the cup and it is delightful (my choice of salt may show my being influenced by the carnivore community; there's a correlation in there).

And thus, I will NOT be threatening my title of heaviest weight again in my life. That said, how am I going to drop down to that high school weight again and glide upon the earth as adventure beats within my heart? Winter is coming and while there have been some promising places on Zillow, I remain in a 1000 sq foot place in Memphis.

I don't like gyms—not in my 40s anyway. I don't like sharing equipment, feeling rushed and watched. I didn't realize having my own personal gym complete with a multimedia setup was such a luxury. I cannot have that right now, so what can motivate me to move daily and use this body beyond JJ's Pies storage?

How can I have more space? Virtual reality for virtual realty!

I picked up a Meta Quest 2 the other day to serve this purpose. Yes, I know <insert long-winded Facebook frowney face here>. But, it's really good! It's an untethered experience unlike my past failure with PSVR. The Quest 2's resolution is remarkable at its pricepoint.

There are four apps I'm running for a fitness regimen:

• Supernatural - a straight-up fitness program complete with trainers and good music. I'm debating the $20/m subscription, but if it's a daily thing, it would TOTALLY be worth it.
• Beat Saber - a Jedi drummer. To get an idea of it, Moonrider seems to be a browser-based clone.
• The Thrill of the Fight - a realistic boxing game, not the nonsense that was Wii boxing.
• Superhot VR - This FPS doesn't ratchet up the heart rate, but moves at your speed. Moving at the same rate as you do, it is a good opportunity for body awareness—it's the closest thing I can feel like Neo from The Matrix.

The key to all of these is movement while having fun...and unlesh their compounding effects over time. 2023 will be a exceptonal year. Will it be a gamechanger like 2013? 2003? 1993? Even 1983!