In these fitness thrusts of 2018, 2019, and 2020, while I've gained an armload of insight about weightloss, better than an academic setting can provide, I'm glad I cut out all of my past posts leading up to June, as to focus on this adventure alone, a spotlight on what works and this little diary along the way.

It is important to define what works. It's not about sheer weightloss numbers. I've lost greater numbers with a semi-starvation diet of 1000 calorie days. I've lost EVEN better numbers by straight up water fasting for 4+26 days in London+Czech Republic in July 2012.

The drop only matters to the context. Weightloss isn't about willpower; weightloss is about sustainability. It's about applying an approach that lasts far beyond 6 weeks, or in the case of my current diet streak, 175 days. "Dieting" isn't a thing where we plug it in for a stint and think we'll just magically stay at that weight as we shower in a deluge of carbs.

This is nothing new, of course; we all know this on paper. But, do we apply it? I know I didn't in 2018, 2019, and the start of 2020. I kept choosing these low-calorie vehicles for weeks that led me to running away on long binges. I thought, "Lemme do this thing right now to cut the weight and THEN I'll find something more sustainable." That doesn't work. Don't do that.

Find an eating approach that doesn't require an endpoint, i.e. one that doesn't have a weight goal or calendar date for an expiration date. It's pretty simple: if I go back to eating all the sugars, industrial oils, and carbs, I'll get a sugars, industrial oils, and carbs body in return. That doesn't work. Don't do that.

Now for me, I like how I've been able to go beyond my keto diet to forge myself into a carnivore. I've found that tracking macros (or calories for that matter) doesn't make sense. I don't think a tiger pulls up a spreadsheet before a kill. It is better to develop our innate ability to understand what we need by listening to our appetite. More to that: carbs tend to jam the off switch. For me personally, I found in my first week of carnivore that salts and seasonings promote overeating. In my second week, I learned that I didn't need the 6 to 9 eggs a day to go along with the 2 lbs of beef. Now in my third week, I don't feel compelled to clean my plate. When I have meat left and feel satiated, I stop. I have no nutrient quota to hit. I'm not forcing myself through the pain of eating 12 oz of microwaved frozen spinach like I did in 2019. I no longer eat breakfast because I have to. I'm just not hungry in the morning, so I just pick it up around 11 am instead...or again, when I'm hungry. I don't snack, because if I'm hungry, I EAT! But after eating all the fat, I don't want anything until the evening. It doesn't require herculean power to achieve; I can apply my willpower in other areas instead of blowing it up on food.

And lest I forget, thus begins Week 2 of The 17th Expedition: The Carnivore and we're loading up the freezer from another sale of ground beef at $1.59/lb!