Do you ever regret not staying on a path? Perhaps you find yourself in a season of a consistent inconsistency. That's common to all of us, isn't it? I have not been me...or at least the "me" that I have visualized myself to become.

See, while in July my intentions were to blaze down the weight scale (not unlike my approach that was kicked off back in 2018, fired up into 2019 and exploded in 2020 through 2021 and 2022), I ignited not a firestorm combating the effects of a carnivore's heavy whipping cream habit, but an implosion! In context to the time, thought, resources and passion poured into its success, this endeavor is the 3rd or 4th largest catastrophe of my life. What happened?

I shake my head as I recall all of those 3-something AM mornings I sweated in my gym, all of the hours devoted to meditation in seeing Future Me, and all of the books read to find the perfect diet and the calculations thereof.

I found success; I know how to win. See, most folks keep doing things, but never reach a place they want to go. I did! I took a clean aim and fired—I created the system and got there...mostly. I didn't achieve that 163 lb target from 1995-1996 (it remains the number to beat), butI did lose 149 lbs by November 2021—I was 182 lbs! I ran through those autumn corridors at Overton Park feeling so ALIVE!

And yet, I FAILED: today, I kick off the 28th Expedition in September 2022 at a chunky callback to an earlier, bloated 274 lbs.

There are reasons I might point to for this failure. As I enter the 5th week of a swollen knee from some undefined injury, I suppose I could lay blame completely on it—makes sense. Who can argue that in seeking comfort from the initial, unbridled, intense pain, I snapped both my carnivore and diet streaks at 637 and 795 days respectively? Yes, I CRASHED into a mountain of carbs. It's so easy to point at an external event and say, "It's YOUR fault!"

And while it might explain the technical details as to how I had my most recent wild uptick on the scale, it fails to answer the ever-so-important why question. And while heavy whipping cream fills the rest of the gaps, it, too, fails to answer why.

I can tell you exactly how this fitness breakdown occurred: I failed to maintain the system. Perhaps, I eased up on the throttle because I was under 20 lbs of reaching my decades-long goal—I do not know of its specific catalyst. Or, it might have occurred from simple inattention.

While it is incredulous for me to see my weight on the scale, instead of shaking my head in disgust, it's a helluva opportunity. It's time to implement the system to win.

The System

This is specifically how I win. This is the way that simply works for MASSIVE weight loss:

#1 The Beef Carnivore With a Thermos of Iced Butter Coffee. Eat all the beef with a 1:1 ratio of coffee to butter tbsp—iced please! Review Kelly Hogan's My Zero Carb Life YT channel.

#2 Continual Development and Testing of the Fitness Regimen. Always seek to improve these three parameters: the mental game, diet and workouts applied to attain specific goals.

#3 Daily Updates of the Fitness Website. Don't live an Instagram life and lose: show your losses and WIN! Running a website is a cheap way to make a public commitment to the system; in 2021, I spent all of $22.22 on my website hosting with NearlyFreeSpeech. The site should provide tables and charts that give specific details as to the status of related metrics. Use a website as a medium to showcase the style of the system. The site is a virtual representation of the inward reality.

#4 Establish and Support Daily Habits. In 2020, I was awashed with zeal to complete my daily habits that contributed to my endgame through my use of Habitica. Through an effectual application of Habitica's tools, I developed, tested and maintained the system.

#5 Early Mornings and Early Nights. It's all about opportunity and scope. There's nothing quite like cutting an evening short that will nip any climb up Carb Mountain, while opening up the early hours of the morning for gains we want.

#6 Remember the Lesson of 2020: Ignore the Zombie Apocalypses and Dystopian Governments. Tim McGraw sang it: Don't Mention Memphis. In this Internet age, we spend entirely too much time responding to things that have nothing to do with our sphere of influence. It tears us down.