Phedippidations

“Good food and good eating are about risk. Every once in a while an oyster, for instance, will make you sick to your stomach. Does this mean you should stop eating oysters? No way.”― Anthony Bourdain

Our bodies have to work to eliminate alcohol from our bodies as quickly as possible, and it doesn’t help us build strong muscles or support healthy bones.  One might say (and many do) that alcohol is filled with “selfish calories”…because it forces our bodies to ignore life-sustaining nutrients so that it can focus on metabolizing…or, burning, alcohol. While I admit that there is, to some, a pleasant side effect of alcohol…the fact is that this toxin is a burden on our bodies.  Them’s just the facts of SCIENCE.

As a goofy little podcaster who has brought you with me through many long runs, road races and marathons, I have been less than proud to admit to you that I weigh 76 in excess of 174 pounds (the weight I should weigh for a healthy body mass index).  Although sharing the truth of my progress in Burning 60 is self-deprecating, I’m willing to put myself out there, or, to paraphrase the thoughts of a well loved traveler: “I’m not afraid to look like an idiot.” - AB

If there’s one thing I know about health and the wonders of metabolism it is that we need air to live just as fire needs air to burn. And when you have nothing left to burn you have to set yourself on fire.

One day we’ll come to realize that our effort at becoming healthy doesn’t end when we finally burn 60 or, to paraphrase the thoughts of a well-loved traveler: "There will be no moment of smug clarity as we realize how small we are, how little we know, and how far we have to go".

Pain is a signal that something is wrong with your body…and yes, I know, I’ve run 22 marathons, I’ve experienced lactic acid buildup in my muscles and savored the joy of THAT feeling…and I’m sure there are some who enjoy a bit of pain for more discrete reasons…but those are rare exceptions to the rule that Pain is the body’s way of screaming at you to stop it.

“That Feeling” is something that I would best describe as “satisfaction, relief, accomplishment and release”…it’s that feeling you get the moment you stop running at that moment when the running stops. It doesn’t last very long, that feeling…but it’s noticeable and enjoyable. 

One day in a life is an opportunity to embrace a routine to improve the quality of your experience in the universe.

Carl Sagan once said that “Extraordinary Claims require Extraordinary Evidence”. That’s probably true even for ordinary claims, such as not eating food will lead to weight loss. It may be that by tracking my food intake, keeping my daily caloric consumption down around to about 1,500 a day and limiting when I eat through intermittent fasting are contributing to my burning 60 weight loss. Or, it could be a magical tapeworm that has infested my trunk. Whatever the reason, intermittent fasting is not some spiritual malarkey that will lead to great things…although it might help you to lose a few pounds or 60. Check with your doctor before you start following such a plan.  In a universe where mammals are not much more than ugly meat bags of mostly water, what we use to fuel our furnace comes not only from consumed molecules but from our own bodies through fasting. Because, when there’s nothing left to burn, you have to set yourself on fire.

We are always burning, it’s what we do…and we have to do more than just accept that, we have to embrace it, we have to lean into it hard. Because one day, all that that burning we do will come to an end and the metabolic processes we hold so dear will cease to function.   When that happens, and I promise you it will: we will be transformed from being mammals living with the illusion of free will into ugly meat bags of mostly water. But not today.  Not while we burn. Not while we lean into life.

“The human capacity to ignore inconvenient facts and avoid unpleasantness is immense.  Success in any endeavor requires coming to terms with the true nature of the task at hand and, if the goal is worth the effort, getting on with it.“ John Walker, the Hackers Diet

Burning 60 isn’t magic…it’s science. It’s applying well-documented and understood practices to a problem and observing the results. Burning 60 isn’t difficult, it just takes a willingness to follow the rules dictated by the well-documented and understood practice of science. All I’m doing is subtracting the active and resting energy I burn each day from the 1,534 calorie budget that I’m sticking to based on my goal of losing about 2 pounds per week considering my height, weight, and age. And now, at the age of 60 years, I’ve come to understand that it’s not the magnitude of that number that is important in my life, it’s the life that’s always been most important in my years.  Life is short, but it should be long enough.  We put life in our years when we live our lives in the very best way we can…one might even say “to the top”. 

In systems theory, I learned that “Input is something put into a system or expended in its operation to achieve an output or result.” Here are the data inputs that I am using to achieve the results I am looking to achieve.

I’m going to try something different here…at least something different for me. I’m going to use both science and psychology to achieve an important goal of mine and I’m going to bring you along for the run.

Here's wishing you a very happy 2022