I'm somewhere between ...Never Go Back and the Edge of Tomorrow. On the one hand, I'm not returning to my old lifestyle of food gorging. It's actually a little difficult to condition myself to that lifestyle. It wasn't something that was done overnight, but the result of bygone calendars. I no longer have the interest to do that. Sure, once I get off this strict regimen and its subsequent transition, there will be the occasional beer and slice of pizza and I wouldn't mind taking up grilling outside, but its no longer a driver for me. Everything would have to fit into the larger picture of physical fitness.

Now, on the other hand, indeed, I am on the edge of tomorrow. While I envision aspects of future, I am not quite there...nevertheless, I'm excited at what lies ahead...

Indeed, it has been a night and day difference between what I was doing back at the turn of the year, pressing hard to lift a sustainable fast off the ground into late March to this day in May. The thing is: fasts aren't sustainable. Even the ones I took to 29 days...end. In essence, it's like a rolling boulder: its initial inertia is great, but despite all of its past roaring, it rolls to a stop—a new home for moss. And it's hard to get a boulder to roll.

By comparison with what I'm doing now, this regimented nutritional program and these 4AM workouts, is by far easier. And curiously, like fasting, it transforms my spirit.

One aspect of this which I find appealing can be summarized by the song title Destination Unknown, incidentally a song from another Tom Cruise movie. As I begun this program, even in the planning stages finding optimal foods, I didn't know how it would shape. Even when I began through that Jumanji workout, I didn't know what exercises I would integrate, styles, methodologies—flirted a bit with martial arts, and here I am today: all-cardio with a quality elliptical of all things. I look to the future and I am curious to what lies in the months ahead. I'd reasonably expect that there will be further changes for the better and I'm excited to see them. I wish I could integrate them now, just like I wish I could have told past me to do what I'm doing now.

But sometimes, I need the time it takes for the preparation to reach where I am.

Befittingly on the last movie in my move through the Mission: Impossible series—until July 27 anyway, I added a machine to my gym that should minimize the foot problems that I've been working to avoid injuring further. For $40 at Goodwill, my wife found an elliptical that retailed at $1500+. Boom! It's solid as a rock; I've already spent 100 minutes on it. It's a fantastic addition to my cardio stable with the treadmill and the recumbent bike. Losing this excess fat and becoming lean is feeling more and more like becoming a reality. There's a very good possibility that I'm going to blow the doors off the 40 ½ lbs that I lost in the First Expedition.

She also surprised me by picking up the spray bottles and microfiber towels I needed to clean off the equipment after I'm done, along with some new workout clothes since I'm obviously smaller. I also wanted a lawn chair I can layout above the deck as I sunbathe and BAM she got that.

My additional approach for this Week 2 of the Second Expedition is to finalize adding 30-min midday cardio and 30-min endday cardio. I remain tempted to bring back my resistance regimen, yet if I have the time for a 45-60 minute session, why wouldn't I just do cardio instead to maximize the fat loss since that's the chief goal? However, now that I think my intercostal injury is over, I might sneak in some ab work during the day.