After 25 Expeditions spanning for a total of 1,446 days, I will be retiring the Expeditionary construct on December 16. From its early missteps as a fasting vehicle through the weeds of a low-calorie, vegan approach (intrinsically doomed to failure) and then making the turn toward winning as it launched with an indomitable spirit fueled by keto that finalized to carnivore, I have achieved a place some 149+ lbs lighter with less than 10 lbs remaining before I hit what BMI folks say is normal weight.

As 2022 is upon us, it is the moment for an end-of-month schema, chiefly as it relates to run times supplanting my focus on the scale. Though I'm throwing it in gear to do it, I don't think I'll hit my target weight of 163 lbs before New Year's Eve—I'll be close! For 2022 will not be about weight loss; it will be about composition and performance, something I've LONGED to reach for YEARS.

Even now, it's a remarkable place I now find myself. Years ago around Christmas 2011, I received a pair of Levi's from my Mom. As it turned out, it would be the last clothes she would ever buy for me. In its time frame, I thought those jeans would serve as motivation to drive down my weight. In fact, these gray jeans are at the same waist size as the single pair of black jeans I wore back in high school for line dancing, the same season as I was a wrestler. Now ten years later, I can just squeeze into those gray jeans, the only time I've EVER worn anything low rise. I'm close to where I once was! Less than 19 lbs away.

And CLEARLY, when I reach where I was, I'm going to blow that guy's fitness out of the water. Tear Down, Build Up: my vision for YEARS.