For all the wonderful weather in the 60's and 70's that framed my last posts, we are now bundled up in the 30's.

As for me, the only bummed feelings I have on the matter is that the bitter chill removes the opportunity to comfortably move in the park or train in my gym. Not that it is particularly cold; I took my lumps in Alaska! Oh, I could train alone in the park or return to my 3-somethings in the morning. I just might.

For days now, I've been waking up ready to start my day at...1:20 AM. I'll lay in bed for a couple of hours before drifting off again. With a 7:30 PM bedtime, I get plenty of sleep, but I just find the consistency to be curious...and while I have no interest in returning to a 2:30 AM kickoff for workouts, there is an opportunity in there for something.

My Carnivore life has been fantastic! As previously posted, I'm not weighing in until NYE 2020, but I look slimmer. In my combined two meals a day, my hunger signaling has reduced my ground beef eating from 2 lbs to 1.5 a day. I suspect the recent addition of Carolina Pride's Smoked Bacon Ends and Pieces at lunch and its bacon fat on my beef plays a part! I don't eat a mound of bacon—perhaps a <= 5 strip equivalent?

That said, today's 1st meal was a beef roast that spent 10 hours in a crockpot with its broth added.

This is living! I'm losing weight, eating as much as I want, and benefiting from foods with fantastic bioavailability of nutrients.

My energy levels have been great which is why I tore down by hand my outdoor deck then queued and shoved all of its boards into the raging fire inside my (now defunct) storm shelter. It was on my to-do list for a few years.

While it is unlikely that I'll plunge below the 200 lb threshold on NYE, I'll give a good run at beating my lowest weight in the last 15 years, 2019's 208. While at the start of The 17th Expedition on December 3rd, I weighed in at 237, I wouldn't be surprised that by weigh-in on January 14th if I dropped 40 lbs as I did in The 1st, 4th, 7th, and 11th Expeditions (those were in restart sessions). That said, as my keto approach came to a stop in November, this Carnivore Expedition feels like a restart.

More importantly, I just feel good. My body will reflect that soon enough. Will I get down to my 163 lb target in 2021? Why not? I weighed that at 5'9 back when I was 17 as a h.s. wrestler—I'm still that height, so if my body wants to go back there, let's ride that train!

Yesterday was another beautiful, sunny day, pulled right out of spring. I grabbed a claw hammer, pulled out saw horses, and lifted a deck plank atop them. As I worked out each nail from the board, the math overwhelmed me. Instead of more enterprising endeavors, I could spend DAYS doing this one thing!

And while my labor would provide me a bounty of great boards, these riches also had planks that had undergone rot and the sheer stress of my crowbar. As I also had treated wood interspersed amongst the untreated—I get the impression the deck was built in 3-4 phases over the years, whatever I built would have limited application.

And lastly...there is my companion that rides with me through life: "To What End."

I made a fire that any redneck would be proud of, hot enough where chunks of concrete were shooting out of an old tornado shelter!

While I fed the fire, I did what I could to fill in the couple of holes where the groundhogs set up camps. I also dug up the last 4x4 which was next to the house, that while only a foot above ground, it was 30 inches into very dry dirt. During my archaeological dig, I uncovered a Diet Coke can from 1994.

I actually remember this 1994 Diet Coke commercial when I was 16:

YouTube Link

From 11 AM to nightfall, I danced my last session with the deck removal with my partners of a shovel, a crowbar, a sledgehammer and, for just a number or two, a reciprocating saw. And there was lifting. LOTS of lifting. Early on, I began my wood plank pile atop the wooden ramp, not thinking its removal was an immediate concern, and it wasn't—THAT day. Moving a couple of wood piles 10-15 away can feel like a bit of an empty dance, though it was resolved as the training montage from Rocky IV.

Though I have wood in the fire cave and piles queued for departure, like yesterday's post, I remain at a crossroads for 2021. In context, I write from a desk I built out of scrap 2x4's and a quarter sheet or so of premium plywood that is laid inset into the frame. It was something I tinkered on with Sketchup, joinery and all, before bringing it to life a few years ago.

One of the best scents in life can be found walking through the lumber section of a home improvement store. It just feels good to create.

I have no problems with dismissing another man's treasure entirely. If junk has worn its welcome, then it's got to go! However, if I choose the path of the woods, then all of that reclaimed wood is a feast!

But...To What End? Oh how those three words have vexed my life!