I want a simple life, the kind of life beyond the suburbs. Some place not here, a spot where "I hear nothing, not even a sound on the streets...Just the beat of my own heart."

I long for the rhythm of leaves rustling. I want to feel the grass between my toes and glide through a mountain's mist.

I want to be more than virtually disconnected from everything I know. I don't want to grow old with tech.

Do I even want muncipal electricity? Water?

I want to learn to live with these two hands. I want to shower in a thunderstorm. I want to be me, not another fine product off the conveyor belt.

I don't belong in the city.

The traffic roars
The sirens scream
You look at the faces
It's just like a dream
Nobody knows where you're going
Nobody cares where you've been
...
When you said goodbye
You were on the run
Trying to get away
From the things you've done
Now you're back again
And you're feeling strange
So much has happened
But nothing has changed
You still don't know
Where you're going

-Glenn Frey

A delightful meal for today: a couple of eggs and burger patties with a mass of bacon lining things up to be a 232 / 77 / 1 day.

This diet is defined as "diet" in its broad sense. And maybe that is the key: there is no willpower needed to do something extraordinary. You just need a good food journal (and there is an argument I could just keep this thing in a spiral-bound notebook).

Most importantly, the 30,000-foot view post-weightloss plan is in place. I have a vision of the future. Yes, in a mere twelve weeks, I once cut weight like nobody's business on a low-calorie, (1000-1240 / daily) semi-starving approach—explodes carnivore out of the water! You see, I dug deep and lost 70 lbs on THREE occasions on that way! But what always gnawed in the back of my mind was what I would do in the After. I simply was not gonna eat dehydrated broccoli, spinach, and flaxseed forever!

On the other hand, could I eat this morning's break-fast forever? You can bet your bottom dollar! And that is why I can see my future and look forward to stepping into what I once only dreamt.

Weightloss solved.

And this is the last post I will write on my diet until I hit goal weight, as I raise the Bolton High c/o '96 banner again.

Befitting words call back to me as a 24-year-old in December 2002 speaks to this 45-year-old guy in Change.

I am beyond another Fat Focus Sunday and leap into a Fish Monday! At the 4 AM hour, I feasted:

1. Two ALDI fillets of wild salmon (6.3 oz);
2. A half package of burnt-by-distraction bacon (2 oz);
3. Two Walmart 100% Pure Beef Burgers (4.2 oz);
4. A stick of butter with 16 oz. of coffee poured over ice. (followed by ½ stick with 16 at 5-6 AM)

And that'll be it for the day! (I'm stuffed!)

Some bland facts:

• Today's fat kcal percentage (82%) does not match my target of 87%+ but after today, I am 89.6% for The 38th Expedition.

• Today's protein (98 grams) contributes to getting the average into the target range (65-75). Currently: 60.3 grams.

I say all of that to show that I am not all willy-nilly goin' around with a flippant approach! The targets I have chosen, namely fat %, tend to suggest their efficacy toward weightloss.

For all nine HFC Expeditions (54 weeks), there is a correlation of greater weightloss at 220 grams of fat than for 200 grams. (Yes, I lose even more weight by eating more fat on a high-fat diet!) An upper 60's protein / 230 fat approach may be best, though I have nothing of the upper end. This Expedition, I put the target for a daily 235. But there is a lot of variability regarding workouts and the impact of my FF days.

I do not have a gameplan for weight maintenance. Yes, I am nowhere near that point, some 50 lbs away. This underscores my approach: I am already there—at least with my mind, the part that matters!

But there is a joy felt in experiencing those scale slides, a wave of estatic upwelling that washes over me when the number dives below that 200 lb floor, as what happened in '21 on the Holiday of Bill: 23: The (One)90s Are Back!

And I am coming upon the month when for only the second time in 19 years, I just may experience that feeling again on a May 26.

Since I am dropping weight and gotta think about that New Year's Resolution, last night, I bought a 2-pack more of those Hanes 100% long-sleeved, black, polyester shirts and two pairs of black, slim-fit, golf pants from Amazon.

The pants were $12.20 each, but today they bumped the price to $38.90. HOWEVER, the next size down is $12.20 (wasn't last night) so I picked up a couple more in 36" since I can technically fit in that now, though a slim fit remains out of reach! I also bought the next size down for Hanes, a large.

So my wardrobe is conforming to the aesthetic of black polyester—no collar for casual, collar for It's a Saturday Night. Not including my fantastic, 25% cotton Black Rifle Coffee Company t-shirt, I have been removing cotton fabric out from my closet. Cotton fades as soon as you stash it in your closet!