A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

[Scott 2]

Good fortune on access to the x3 kit. So - slow movement, high rep, continuous tension, drop sets. Maxing intensity to minimize time per day. Not off base, but extremely challenging mentally. Given you are adding lower body movements and a higher level of fatigue, positive change is very likely.

For what it's worth, those are techniques that maximize muscle soreness as well. Especially the slow negative. If that gets unbearable, emphasizing the concentric might help with easing in.

You could probably use an overhead band to de-load the split front squat, easing into it as soon as your mobility allows. That's one of my favorite lower body exercises, especially with the rear foot elevated. It is forgiving on asymmetries and helps with common postural imbalances. When I played around with de-loading, I preferred being directly under the anchor point.


I came across this article recommending keto breaks, and it made me think of the changes you made. Rodent study:

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2 ... 164103.htm

[IlliniDave]

Good fortune on access to the x3 kit. So - slow movement, high rep, continuous tension, drop sets. Maxing intensity to minimize time per day. Not off base, but extremely challenging mentally. Given you are adding lower body movements and a higher level of fatigue, positive change is very likely.

...

My cousin got one when he was starting to detect his strength fading (he was a tradesman and it was interfering with his work). Turns out he was soon after diagnosed with MS so all the band stretching in the world won't help him. He can barely stand/walk with a cane now. It's just a set of bands, a steel floor plate to use as an anchor, and a short bar (my other bands have detatchable handles which kind of suck for a lot of things). The bar is really nice I must admit, but for someone like me who is working at the lower end of the range it's arguably overkill. I think someone could piece together a very equivalent system for a lower cost so long as the force loads they would work with aren't too high. In the book he talked about some of the design considerations that to some extend drive X3's cost. Mostly they were safety considerations at high loading forces.

Regarding DOMS, there's good DOMS and bad DOMS. I'll just have to see how it goes and possibly schedule more rest days if the bad DOMS appears. The soreness in my left delt is already almost gone. This morning's workout wasn't too bad, I was still using the lightest band on everything. I blew past 40 reps on deadlift and never did get all the way to true failure (though I could feel it in my glutes while walking uphill earlier). I'll have to graduate up a band next time for that movement. The other stuff the light band was about right.

You're absolutely right about it being an exercise in mental toughness, especially once fighting through partial reps starts. Getting a little mentally tougher when it comes to pushing my physiology is something that will be good for me and is sort of an unanticipated benefit.

I've got a spreadsheet started to track reps and band size, something I never bothered with with my other bands, so I should get a pretty clear gauge of strength gains. Still hoping someone eventually gets a DEXA machine near my home base in Illinois as I'm also interested in tracking body composition, specifically addition of lean mass.

Neat idea on the deloading of the split squat. I also thought about adding walking lunges to my bodyweight routine. The program per his book has you starting on 2-legged front squats for a number of weeks before graduating to split.

For reasons more of age than keto, I have a number of senolytics in my supplement stack, so hopefully that helps with some of the senescence when I'm in extended ketosis. But fundamentally, my belief mirrors the study's findings. The hard part for me is easing out of a ketogenic state in a way that doesn't trigger my residual insulin resistance to do damage. Purple sweet potatoes to the rescue, lol. And as summer comes along I'll be adding berries to my regimen, then later towards the end of summer a little more fruit. As long as I'm careful with the quality of carbs, I feel better when I take a 1-2 week break from ketogenic eating. Thanks for that link.

[IlliniDave]

Here for a mid month check in.

I'm coming up on 3 weeks at the hideout. So far things have gone pretty well. The weather has been favorable for about everything except taking the kayak out. Days that aren't rainy have all been blustery with winds generally from the NW, which is worst-case for smooth kayak paddling and after last year I have no appetite to push my luck. Tomorrow looks like a good day to get it out.

I have some transplanted wild raspberries to which I've added three heirloom nursery strains, and thanks to plentiful rain and moderate temps they are all thriving so far (despite a trimmer mishap that damaged two of the new ones. Looks like I'll even get a dozen or so berries from the "garden".

I'm enjoying the heavy resistance bands, and even after the first 2.5 weeks I sense results. Not so much gains in lean mass and strength, more like autophagy and lipolysis have ticked up, which is interesting because at the same time I've had some trouble maintaining my IF eating window and I'm probably closer to 16-8 than my normal 20-4. Generally, I'm having an extra feeding at night and what's getting sacrificed is my stop eating 3 hours before bed time practice. But despite that my midsection appears a little narrower, and I've had to tighten my new belt one more notch to avoid the plumber look. Possibly a placebo effect, of course. Time will tell.

The "only one set" maxim seems to work as advertised in terms of keeping soreness at bay. I had a little after my first push day and first pull day, but nothing after that. My rep counts are moving up (not monotonically) so there is at least some small physical gains happening.The hardest part is something Scott 2 alluded too, overcoming psychological barriers when I start sensing a high degree of fatigue. I think my insanely high volume crossfit days have left me with a defensive mechanism that associates the extreme DOMS, sometimes chronic, DOMS I used to experience. So I focus on pushing my mind a little farther each time and so far let the reps fall out from that. Invariably I get that "good tired" feeling in whatever muscle groups are being utilized on a given day. It lasts for a few hours then I'm pretty much back to normal for the day.

One big surprise comes from Oura. I anticipated my sleep scores improving in the quieter environment and with more time outdoors. But the opposite has happened, decidedly so. I'm sure the later last meals are contributing, and possibly a metabolic uptick from the new band routine. Apparently the period where the most muscle growth/repair takes place is during sleep, which for me lately has been not long after an infusion of protein. One of the critiques I get from Oura, and something they seem to weight quite a bit in sleep score, and indirectly readiness and resilience (which have allso flagged as sleep seems to be a major contributor), is how far into the night my resting heart rate minimum occurs.

And speaking of Oura, I got my first cardio assessment a couple of days ago. My "cardiac age" is in line with my chronological age (actually 1 year older) and my "cardio capacity" score was high. They have a 6 minute walk test one can do to refine the scores, but it requires walking in a relatively straight path over level ground. I don't know of anywhere up here I can do that, so I'll probably wait until I get home around some flat ground.

This year's round of renovations should start next week if the weather cooperates. Definitely a disruption, but it brings me a little closer to having a place here that's a little more comfortable and relaxing to dwell in.

That's about it. Relatively uninteresting stuff compared to what many others have ongoing here. But it's not a bad life by any stretch.

[IlliniDave]

2024 June Update

No scorecard stuff yet. I'm sure spending is fine, the stash grew a little over a percent in June. I'm throwing a ton of money at renovations for the hideout this season. These are the last of the items I'd worked into my plan some years back. There are a few other things that need doing, but they'll have to come out of my hide, as it were. Not that I don't have plenty of money to cover them, but dipping into funds I've fenced off as the stash comes with a psychological price. And it will get reflected in my quirky bookkeeping since I'll have depleted my "dark money" sinking fund I skimmed off the unexpected profit I made selling my house. Maybe that will push me over the edge to more DIY for the last things, I've learned a lot watching contractors work and speaking with them. At the same time this is my time of year to just be, and to wallow in my happy place. The contractors knock out in 2 weeks more than I could accomplish over an entire season, if I even had the right equipment and tools to do the job.

This will be my third full season at the hideout. The late spring/early summer portion has been much different than the last two. It's been on the cool side and much rainier. Been a lot of flooding, washed out roads, etc. In both 2022 and 2023 we were under fire bans already due to very dry conditions.

The biting insects are having a bonanza, and for some reason My favorite insects of all, dragon flies, have been scarce. And probably 80% of the non-rainy days have come with double digit winds, which helps keep the bugs off you, but also grounds me from the kayak after my misadventure last year (Wednesday will be the anniversary). I've only been out in it three times. Most of the few non-blustery days we've had I've gone into the wilderness area by boat with neighbors to fish. It's looking like I'll be able to get out Thursday though. Fishing has been unusually challenging. The water is higher in the lakes I fish than I'm used to, and that and the generally cool water temps have me off my game guessing (mostly wrongly) where they'll be. It's a fun puzzle to try to solve.

Being grounded from the kayak means my cardio exercise has been spotty. The bugs and unusual wetness mean I haven't done much hiking. My fitness regimen has been mostly my stepped up strength training, yard work of various types, and walking in town when I go before I do my shopping or whatever. It's fairly hilly so at least it's something. So far, so good, on switching to the heavier resistance bands and tweaking the routine to roughly follow the x3 protocol. Can't say I'm bursting with new lean mass, but I have moved in a noth on my new, smaller, belt. I'm eating a lot more protein now.

Just this week someone went missing for several days on the trail network I usually use since I can walk from here to the trailhead. They eventually found him alive, stuck in a bog, via spotter plane, probably barely more than a quarter mile from my door, and less than that from the county highway he's have had to cross to get to my place. He's an older man, in his later 70s. Amazing he survived 3 nights and part of 4 days out there. I guess people don't look at maps anymore before they venture out, or else he'd have known if he kept going west he'd have come to the road. Does give me pause though, considering my penchant for venturing out on my own and not really having anyone that would notice I was missing until after a few days went by.

[mathiverse]

Maybe get an emergency GPS locator device + subscription used by hikers like a Spot or an InReach? That's what I have when I go out hiking alone. It's flip-phone sized device that I hang on my backpack and that has an SOS button that calls wilderness rescue. I can also send limited text messages if I wanted.

[IlliniDave]

Maybe get an emergency GPS locator device + subscription used by hikers like a Spot or an InReach? That's what I have when I go out hiking alone. It's flip-phone sized device that I hang on my backpack and that has an SOS button that calls wilderness rescue. I can also send limited text messages if I wanted.

That seems like a pretty solid idea. Competing with it is the Starlink "direct-to-cell" satellites which I hear are being deployed to cover this region, possibly online later this year under a temporary FCC license or some such. It might mean I have to get a new phone, not sure if mine is "SOS via Satellite" compatible.

In the area in question, where I do about 80% of my hiking around here (although there are some excellent scenic vistas, I hike it more for the exercise than for exploration), there's a lot of high ground where I can get cell reception, but that requires I can get to high ground which might not always be possible if I'm injured or something. In unfamiliar areas that don't have well-marked trails I carry an old Garmin handheld GPS--it helps in the case of getting lost but doesn't help with getting help if/when needed. I'm going to look into those devices you mention. Thanks.

It's a small town up here. Even as a seasonal "resident" I have connections both to the man's family and the guys who hiked in to assist him once he was spotted. Instead of staying on the marked trails he took a spur portage to another nearby lake. It dead ends at that lake and instead of doubling back to the hiking trails he decided to trailblaze. Though that decision is questionable, once he was at the ragged end of his endurance he had the sense to climb up on a beaver dam in a relatively open area and wait it out there. It turns out he was only out for 30-some hours rather than the 72+. He apparently delayed the attempted fishing trip a couple days from the original plans he communicated to his daughter. Still had to be a miserable experience for him.

[ffj]

If you don't need physical assistance, that GPS, even an older model is priceless. Assuming you ALWAYS mark your starting point before taking off and the batteries are charged.

I love mine as I can plan distances, hiking pace, and goal-set for the day. When I hiked part of the AT I always knew what I had to accomplish to procure water or shelter. Match that device with a physical map and you can't get lost.

[theanimal]

I have a Garmin InReach SE and find it very useful. It works as a standalone device offering both traditional GPS functions as well as 2 way communication. The battery life is excellent and I've had it on continuously for over a week on a single charge while out backpacking. I've had to use the SOS button before and while it communicates with emergency services, it's not exactly a rapid response. The SOS message goes to Garmin's emergency dispatch in Texas who tries to figure out your issue and calls your emergency contacts, they then call local emergency personnel/search and rescue and relay any information they've gathered. Depending on how far out you are, this can take a while. Also, typing on the devices themselves takes forever. If you go this route, it's worth downloading their earthmate app that allows you to type on your phone. There's not much more frustrating than having a life or death emergency and being limited by satellites and how fast you can move the arrow keys over the keyboard.

However, if you are going far out, they are hard to beat. Satellite phone is likely superior in terms of communication as you can clearly communicate what is happening, but plans are far more expensive and they do not offer as much utility beyond that specific purpose.

Garmin owns Iridium and uses their satellites which are far more widespread than those that Spot uses. If you decide to use Spot, it's worth checking first to see if there is adequate coverage in your area. They offer minimal coverage in Alaska and northern regions (but do not advertise this as far as I know) and people have experienced serious issues with device functionality, including me.

All that said, if you are just doing trips as you have been doing, you may find the direct cell to satellite devices more useful as they connect you with local emergency response. The newer iphones already offer this feature. I think this would work really well for areas relatively close to roads and services. I think it could also work well for more remote locales, but then you'd be better off having the relevant emergency response numbers (search and rescue, state troopers, govt agency etc).

[IlliniDave]

If you don't need physical assistance, that GPS, even an older model is priceless. Assuming you ALWAYS mark your starting point before taking off and the batteries are charged.

I love mine as I can plan distances, hiking pace, and goal-set for the day. When I hiked part of the AT I always knew what I had to accomplish to procure water or shelter. Match that device with a physical map and you can't get lost.

Yeah, although I've never needed it, it's been a faithful companion since 2004. I even used it as a poor man's nav system on road trips for a while. I haven't made it back to those trails yet but when I do I'm going to test it head-to-head with my phone's GPS (last November I finally capitulated and retired my old flip phone for a smart one). The phone seems to have crude maps built in so even when I'm out of coverage on a road trip navigating with Google maps or whatever seems to work well.

[IlliniDave]

...

Thanks, theanimal. You seem to be more up on that stuff than I am. I've got a couple Garmin devices that have served me very well which makes me biased towards giving the InReach a serious look. I am not as far north but it's a low population density area so probably not an area that's a high priority to cover with satellites (as is the case with cell coverage, etc.). Musk seems to be a little different in that he seems to genuinely want to provide a service with maybe somewhat less emphasis on it being high margin when compared to companies focused on a presence in customer-dense areas.

Since my area includes the BWCA which gets a lot of visitors annually, the emergency services for the remote areas are pretty well evolved between the USFS, Minnesota DNR, county responders, and volunteers, so that might wind up being the ultimate long-term choice.

[IlliniDave]

Well, I'm a couple days early for a July summary, but I'm back down on the full grid in Illinois taking my midsummer home station visit so it seems like a good time to check in.

The 2024 hideout repairs and renovations are nearly complete and I'm happy with them. The cost came in lower than anticipated for all the major items, which is unusual. It feels good to have the last of the substantial structural repairs complete, and some of the low-fruit inside upgrades checked off.

Still having a difficult time with fishing, both opportunities to get on the water, and results when I do.

Lack of kayak time and the unusually severe bugginess this far into the season has seriously curbed my "cardio" activity.

I've been very steady with my strength training activity, and the combination of the heavier bands and refinement of my understanding of "one set to failure" have made a big difference. I did gain some weight up there, and I think it's safe to say a good portion of it is lean. What's most surprising to me is the degree of visible vasculature, something I've never had much of. I paused to spot check my BP which read 109/66, so pretty much in line with where I was before the hideout and apparently not the cause of more visible blood vessels. My body wouldn't invest resources into increasing blood flow to skeletal muscle without some combination of increased demand/increased tissue to support.

Despite not being consistent with cardio style workouts, per Oura's assessment, my cardiovascular age has declined over the last 6 weeks. I don't put much stock in that assessment in an absolute sense, but I'm hopeful that the improving trend reflects reality.

Otherwise my Oura numbers have been pretty abysmal. I think it's due to the increased intensity of strength training, but my nighttime resting heart rate has increased by 3-5 bpm (usually 50-52 now versus mid-upper 40s prior). My sleep scores have fallen way off too. Just getting back here to a better mattress has caused them to jump up, but not all the way to where they were before I left. With the erosion of the sleep score my resilience score plummeted and spent some time in the lowest range ("Limited"). Despite that, I never felt adverse effects and simply went on with life.

My dad seems to be doing really well. On several returns from the hideout I could detect declines, but not this time. His IHHC provider agreed with that assessment. And I'm enjoying the time with him.

[IlliniDave]

August Update

For the most part things are going well. I haven't been tracking financials with the same fervor I once did, but overall things are pretty good. Still keeping ordinary living expenses safely under annuity income. If I convert the numbers to an equivalent withdrawal rate the numbers from 2024 range between 1.6% and 2.5% (the 2.5% being a bit of an outlier) and an eyeball average is a little under 2%. Stash is up 9.4% YTD and 10.7% since retirement. My actual stash withdrawal rate is still 0.0%.

Health/fitness-wise I'm more happy than unhappy. At the end of last week I completed an initial 12-week protocol with the x3 bands/bar styled after the program's 12-week protocol. I'm going to continue with the same routine through September and October, then look into expanding it in November and onward. I'm not ripped or anything, but definitely stronger. I'm 10-15 lbs heavier than I was back in early May, and though I don't have data to support it, I believe a respectable fraction of it is lean. It's getting to be the time of year I start relaxing my nutrition regimen and I initially started down that path, but have decided to rein it back in and do less damage to myself over the last 2-3 months of the year and try to restrict "enjoying myself" with food to the window between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day. We'll see how I do with that, lol.

The July/August transition marked the 3-year anniversary since turning in my salaryman badge. At one time my intent was to reevaluate retirement every three years. It was something I put in place to acknowledge the occasional misgivings about what I'd put together as the skeleton of an intended lifestyle of freedom. I'll probably dive into that more once hideout season is over, but I'll put some preliminary thoughts below.

Bottom line is I am quite content while not having maxed out contentedness. In other words, no real complaints but I have a sense there is room for improvement. Increasingly while observing my contemporaries I'm hit with a sense of how quickly decline can set in and drive a person's lifestyle. I'm tempted to be drawn into hubris since I've had some success staving off and in some senses reversing the unrelenting march of time. My heart goes out to friends and same-generation relatives being sucked down the well of Medicine 2.0 while at the same time I have to work consciously to suppress feelings of condescension that would greet peoples' woes with thoughts of "you should wise up and take matters into your own hands--it's not that hard." And I'm prone to a measure of guilt for having at least the appearance of thriving myself. Is it really due to my efforts/discipline, or am I just a genetic outlier of some sort? Regardless, I'm certain a big part of my intentions going into years 4-6 will be expanding on the stewardship of my well being. Of course I'll continue to curate the best nutrition and physical activity regimens I can decipher for myself. But I also want to start looking into other factors that seem to contribute to well being in one's out years. Things like having more clarity of purpose, a broader sense of community, and trying to optimize mental/emotional well being.

Still, I have to conclude when just looking at myself that most of my decisions leading up to retiring and through the initial few years were good decisions for me.

That's all for today. Hope everyone is well.

[delay]

It's getting to be the time of year I start relaxing my nutrition regimen and I initially started down that path, but have decided to rein it back in and do less damage to myself over the last 2-3 months of the year and try to restrict "enjoying myself" with food to the window between Christmas Eve and New Year's Day. We'll see how I do with that, lol.

Thanks for your blog update and good to read you are doing well! It feels natural to eat more in the autumn. The harvest provides ample food and the body wants to fatten up to have a buffer for winter. The body doesn't want to give up weight easily until spring when new food becomes available. In my experience losing weight in May is natural, while losing weight in October takes a ton of willpower.

[IlliniDave]

Thanks for your blog update and good to read you are doing well! It feels natural to eat more in the autumn. The harvest provides ample food and the body wants to fatten up to have a buffer for winter. The body doesn't want to give up weight easily until spring when new food becomes available. In my experience losing weight in May is natural, while losing weight in October takes a ton of willpower.

Thanks, delay. My pattern when I was approaching nutrition especially without much intention is that my weight would balloon during the late summer and autumn, then begin to fall off once winter (post-holidays) came around. Now that I think about it, weight loss tended to peak in late spring. Now that I'm more conscious on an ongoing basis, I'm more aware of the seasonal nature of the diet humans evolved around, especially when it comes to the availability of certain carbohydrates. I use that as a justification to add back some of the things that are all to easy to overeat (we're wired to exploit opportunity after all). Maybe it's just excuse making to succumb to some of my weaknesses, but it's a means of finding balance.

That's an interesting point about the body wanting to make stored energy last, but at the same time it would (should?) be primed to operate in that mode of the Randle cycle (i.e., fat metabolism mode). I suspect one of the reasons year round carb availability can be so detrimental to humans is that we're wired to exploit "excess" dietary carbs for the purpose of building reserve energy stores for lean parts of the annual cycle. It's probably a good evolutionary strategy to wolf down carbs for the 2-3 months nature provides them and store as much as possible for the other 9-10 months. But that wiring, at least for people with my genetic makeup, leads to problems when 2-3 months of availability becomes 12.

[IlliniDave]

2024 September Update

I vacated the hideout yesterday and as of yesterday evening am now back in the so-called real world for 7-8 months.

I don't have my September spending tallied but I'm sure it will be relatively low in the context of my normal range. My equivalent withdrawal rate for the year is hovering around 2%, maybe slightly below.

My actual withdrawal rate from the stash remains 0% for the 3 years and 2 months since I pulled the plug.

The stash was up again in September. My total net worth using a textbook computation grew above another semi-round number, and the stash (my invested assets) are on the cusp of crossing a major round number. In nominal dollars it's up about 13% since I retired.

I did make some large upgrade investments in the hideout this season that I'm not counting in my spending. I had set aside some of the larger than anticipated proceeds from selling my house in Alabama in a "black budget" of sorts that I've been using for that purpose. I have one item remaining that will hopefully complete this fall, which will pretty much deplete those funds. I'm very pleased with the upgrades/improvements. They'll help me when it's time to sell and make the space much more enjoyable to dwell in.

I did do one ere thing recently. I stopped at a "free stuff" sign on the side of the road out near my place. I picked up a small old desk. The exterior is pretty beat up but it's a solid piece of furniture. So my ere project for next summer will be to sand it down and refinish it. It's also got that old musty wood smell that I'll have to do something about (any suggestions there would be appreciated). I took all the drawers out to air, and I'm hopeful the cold, dry winter air in my garage will help with that. I also plan to get it exposed to some sunlight next June when I return. Dunno if any of that will help. If I can't do anything about that smell, I won't bother refinishing it, I'll just get rid of it. It's not that the smell is awful/overpowering, I'm just sensitive to it as someone with a history of mold allergies. My neighbor who helped me load/transport it said he didn't smell anything.

I haven't had a lot of time to reflect on the season. I was more focused on the structure than in past years, so there was a little less of the happy solitude/contentedness than I would like. But being a little productive has its own satisfaction. The fishing this season was considerably more difficult. To me that's a good thing because it gave me a difficult puzzle to wrestle with through the season, and since I only got it partly figured out, something to ponder and research over the winter.

I saw and heard more wolves this year than ever before. There was a smallish fire near a small nearby Boundary waters lake that seems to have displaced a pack which probably explains all the yipping and yowling I heard on several nights. The sightings were all lone wolves on roadsides and separate events. Supposedly roadsides are a popular niche for individuals who for whatever reason are not part of a pack. We had one essentially roaming the fringes of the neighborhood that had a tracking collar.

My neighbors frequently see bears, but I didn't see one all season.

For the first time we had an otter along our collective waterfront. It (thankfully) displaced the neighborhood beaver who was the bane of all of us who have been trying to plant new trees after a major blown we had 6 or so years ago.

I'll wade back into my old role looking after my dad today. Things went pretty smoothly while I was gone. My one sister who also shoulders a lot of that responsibility had a hip replacement last week making my return timely as she'll be unable to drive for some weeks.

I'm going to take a full week off my strength training routine with the bands and focus on walking/hiking, both of which were realtively neglected over the summer. I've for some inflammation in my left shoulder that started when a neighbor and I ripped out a built-in bunk bed in my bedroom, then got worse from putting a new coat of stain on the exterior. I'll also focus on returning to the straight and narrow nutrition wise. As usual, I loosened up quite a bit during the final few weeks up there.

On balance I am still quite pleased about having retired, the decisions I made leading up to and regarding it, and what I've done with my time to date. Still room for improvement, but I'm doing pretty good.

[IlliniDave]

Near Year-End 2024 Update.

It's been a minute since I dropped into this thread. I thought I'd do a backward-looking update on 2024 and then a forward-looking one in about 10 days as 2025 approaches.

Traditionally I've reported an evolving set of financial metrics here since very early on. I don't think that benefits anyone, including myself any longer. I'm in good shape and quite a lot is either ingrained as habit at this point and/or on autopilot. I still keep data and even doing a back-of-the-envelope estimate to factor in inflation I'm no worse off than when I pulled the plug 3.5 years ago, probably somewhat better tbh. I've gradually relaxed some of my frugal clenchiness with the old wallet, but I'm still discerning with discretionary spending in the sense it has to be in alignment with my goals and values. I will probably make some year end observations when the last of the numbers are in but will likely drop the subject save for a qualitative year end statement in the future. I'll see how I feel when I do my 2025 look ahead.

Healthspan and healthy aging still occupy an outsized role in my day-to-day business. Starting in June I put a big emphasis on strength and muscle mass, both of which correlate with healthspan and my general desire to be an older dude who still gets out and does things. I borrowed then ultimately invested in some fancy-pants heavy resistance bands and companion equipment. I feel it's been quite successful. If I use the metric of how much cumulative force it takes me to reach complete muscle fatigue in a single set-to-failure I've doubled (or better) my strength in most movements. Overhead press and split squat have been a little slower but I have some ideas for how to catch those up.

At the moment I'm in a 2-week rest period. It is a planned thing although I'd probably be cheating on it if not for a shoulder injury/issue I developed during hideout season, while fishing of all things. I bought a new, larger minnow bucket and the first day with it happened to be an extra good day and I hoisted it up out of the water probably 75 times. That's one of those muscle memory things and I didn't make any allowance for the fact that the weight would be > 2x what I was used to so I wound up wrenching something. In the intervening 2.5 months is hasn't got any worse, but hasn't get any better. This week I finally went to see my sister who is licensed in two types of myofascial therapy, massage therapy, and general physical therapy. She's got long years of experience both with the elderly and with sports injury rehab. She's going to work on it over the next couple weeks during my rest period. She noted my left scapula is pushed off to the side and I have quite a lot of chronic muscle tension in the area (a lifelong thing with me). So that's the focus. She did have a couple encouraging observations. She said I have low risk of rotator cuff injury because I have excellent muscle development all around the shoulder--not that I'm built like a linebacker, but that what development I have is balanced. She could actually see the individual muscles in my upper back and shoulders, which is apparently unusual for my age demographic in her experience (it's where the first signs of sarcopenia often appear). The other thing she observed is "you've got abs!". IMO, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm atypical for my demographic. She said she wishes all her older patients would take strength work so seriously, as apparently weak muscles are part of most of the problems she treats. She also noted my shoulder mobility is really good (something I've worked a lot on). She's treated my brother and other sister, and my dad informally, and including her I'm the only one in our little genetic tidal pool who doesn't have quite a lot of limitation in that regard.

I've gained about 20 lbs since early May. Some of that is my annual fattening for winter, but some is also increased lean mass. I don't have any good body composition data to quantify it further. I'm about 6-2 185 at the moment, but my waist has only changed less than an inch from 20 lbs ago.

I had my 6-month follow up with lab tests ordered through Function Health. Since the baseline test in April I made two pretty significant changes to my regimen. I substantially upped my protein intake, and dialed back my supplement stack. In addition, since Thanksgiving I've relaxed by carb restrictions to include a moderate amount of grains, starches, and even some sweet treats. As far as protein I'm targeting 0.7-1g/lb of body weight. I'm using an essential amino acid supplement for about half of that and animal-sourced protein for the rest. I get some incidental plant-based protein but don't count it. That's 3-4x my prior protein intake level (sorry, Dr Gundry, lol). I'm also picky about most of the grain intake--for example with pasta it's either cassava pasta, or pasta imported from Italy made from Italian-grown wheat. I'm also being very careful to severely limit or eliminate all the seed oils that have inundated the US foot supply (soybean, corn, canola, peanut, sunflower, etc.). The only plant-based oils I allow are EVOO and avocado oil. Overall the test results were good. My cholesterol numbers showed a good improvement (though Medicine 2.0 would still fill me with statins), my liver numbers were great, and my biological age estimate is still on the order of 10 years younger than my calendar age. Also, the cluster of numbers that would point to insulin resistance/metabolic syndrome/type II diabetes were all Medicine 3.0 optimal or in one case, extremely close to it. All were easily within standard Medicine 2.0 reference ranges. Some were slightly worse than they were in April, but I'm pretty happy that I could add back moderate amounts of grains, starches, and even some occasional sweets without blowing those numbers up. I take it as having regained some insulin sensitivity. I won't go into all the details regarding supplements (happy to address questions), it's just too tedious. There isn't any one or two that are magic bullets. The ones I still take are focused on muscle and joint health, metabolic health, and liver support, and even within those categories I've done a lot of streamlining.

IN the realm of new agey stuff, I've started drinking kava. Initially that was an attempt to find an alcohol substitute while partaking in holiday festivities. There's certainly something to the stuff. It gives a pleasant energy and makes socializing for an introvert a little easier, but without any mental or physical impairment, or hangovers. My favorite thing about it is that it pairs wonderfully with playing guitar. The best way to describe it is that it eliminates almost all self awareness while playing, something that usually gets in the way when learning new things or working on things that push my abilities. In hindsight that's not a surprise as I'd heard while researching it that it's gaining popularity with people who do a lot of public speaking for a living to alleviate stage fright and the like. The knock on it is that there are claims it is hard on the liver, but it appears most of that is based on observations from substandard preparations in the western world taken by people who either had preexisting serious liver disease or who were heavy alcohol drinkers (the two don't mix). My liver numbers from early this week showed no issues (they were actually quite good by my historic standards) and I've been drinking it several times a week since before Thanksgiving, so a good month. I buy it as a prepared drink, which is spendy. I'd like to learn to do the traditional preparation myself to save $. As far as I can tell it's a lot like making tea except an added step of straining the liquid through a cloth prior to drinking. It's been part of Pacific Island culture for millennia and as long as you stick to the "everyday use" varieties and don't get something using parts of the plant other than the rhizomes, it's supposed to be quite safe. But I'll be keeping an eye on it.

Things with my dad have been going fairly well. I mean, he's not getting better, but the decline is graceful and we've put together a pretty good support plan that keeps him well cared for and in decent social contact, which is supposed to be helpful.

No love life to speak of (big shocker there, huh?). But it's hard to see getting down that road at the present time without disrupting other things that are high on my priority list.

Got a lot of upgrading and renovation accomplished at the hideout over the season this year. It was more costly than expected due to still high material prices, and for adding a couple unplanned items into the mix. There are no more major projects on the list, but I will be looking into some things to make it more comfortable and homey as a place to dwell for 4 months a year, mostly a study on how to make the best use of very limited space. More on that in a couple weeks.

Hope all who celebrate holidays this time of year find them happy and peaceful. Same for the coming days of those who don't celebrate anything.

[ertyu]

A quick note to say, I read this and was glad to find you well. Happy/paceful holidays back, iD!

[suomalainen]

The other thing she observed is "you've got abs!". IMO, that's a bit of an exaggeration, but I'm atypical for my demographic.

I mean, COME ON, @7!!!

No offense to iDave, but it is too difficult for me to intuit his adult masculine spirit animal from interaction on this forum, and I was imagining a mature male energy partner rather along these lines:





Goddess, grant me this one last wish...

...and I will not even whine if there is no pudding served in my final resting place.

[IlliniDave]

A quick note to say, I read this and was glad to find you well. Happy/paceful holidays back, iD!

Thanks ertyu! Good to hear from you.

[IlliniDave]

I mean, COME ON, @7!!!

LOL, suo. I don't have anywhere near the threshold testosterone level oozing from my pores to swim in that end of the pool.