Fitness

Sponsor my second annual fundraising ride, helping create a bike path from Maine to Florida

Fitness / Nature

Sponsor my second annual fundraising ride, helping create a bike path from Maine to Florida

Imagine a Green I-95 Imagine you could ride a bike the length of the United States east coast. Would it fix all the worlds problems? Not by itself, but it would open possibilities to travel enjoying nature instead of polluting it. How many people might ride and camp instead of drive? What signal might it send to increase biking in the U.S.? Following last year's wonderful ride, I am riding in the East Coast Greenway Alliance's second New York City-to-Philadelphia Greenway Ride, a 2-day, 130-mile fundraising ride Saturday and Sunday, May 14-15, 2022. My ride supports creating a green bike route between New York City and Philadelphia. Roughly 1,000 miles of the Maine to Florida route is on protected greenways, and the East Coast Greenway…

March 1, 2022

Four reasons the explanation why we crave sugar and fat and store fat seems wrong

Enjoy Coca-cola!

Fitness / Models / Nature

Four reasons the explanation why we crave sugar and fat and store fat seems wrong

You've probably read things like Until the last century, people were at more risk from malnutrition or starvation than they were from obesity. This lopsided pressure may have shaped humans to be more prone to store fat than to lose it. The ability to store extra calories as fat during times of plenty could help someone stay healthy and fertile when food was scarce. I'm no anthropologist, but I've concluded the reasoning must be wrong, for several reasons. If any seem wrong, I'm happy to change my view back. So far, the mainstream view I believed for a long time seems wrong. First, if our ancestors lived like hunter-gatherers today, they ate more predictably and healthily than we do, not less. The Hadza and San…

January 19, 2022

The uncomfortable but desired result of the 70-pound (31.8 kg) kettlebell

The uncomfortable but desired result of the 70-pound (31.8 kg) kettlebell

In September, I wrote "Normally I avoid quick and dirty posts, but I'm tired from carrying home a used 70-pound kettlebell I bought from Queens by subway. That's many blocks of farmer's walks and carrying that thing down stairs into the subway, back up to the surface, and up the stairs to my apartment. Maybe half a mile walking plus six or seven flights of stairs. It's almost midnight and I want to post and go to bed soon." Well, here's another quick and dirty post to end the year on a bang. Want to know the result of that heavier kettlebell? My jeans don't fit; from doing squats, deadlifts, swings, and hip thrusts. The thighs got tight enough that I'm researching how to stretch…

December 31, 2021

Decade two, day 1: I reached the ground with my heels on downward dog for the first time in my life.

Exercises / Fitness / Habits

Decade two, day 1: I reached the ground with my heels on downward dog for the first time in my life.

An auspicious beginning to my second decade of my calisthenics sidcha: my heels reached the ground in one of my stretches, the downward dog. I did yoga regularly for a few years before starting burpees. Yoga means a lot of downward dogs. In all those years, my heels never touched the ground while doing them. At best I reached something like this: This morning my heels reached the ground. I think limberness decreases with age, so doing it at fifteen years older feels extra satisfying. So far, my heels barely brushed the floor. I'll keep going until I can do this: I only started stretching recently and my goal was originally to do a third-world squat (becoming known as the deep bodyweight squat, though in…

December 22, 2021

Ten years (3,652 consecutive days)

Awareness / Choosing/Decision-Making / Fitness / Freedom / Habits / SIDCHAs

Ten years (3,652 consecutive days)

I just finished my second set today of twice-daily burpee-based calisthenics. Normally, I do my second set in the evening, but since I started the habit on December 22, 2011 and today is December 21, 2021, today completes my first decade. I already finished my first decade of publishing blog posts, nearing 5,000. Here are all of them. 20 percent of the time has been on a single load of garbage. A third of that time I haven't flown. More than that fraction I've gotten up, made my bed, crossed the room, and turned off my alarm in under 60 seconds. Various other sidchas, though the burpee-based calisthenics is the most physically active and vigorous. Past Reflections What can I reflect? On past milestones I've…

December 21, 2021

Graduated to a new kettlebell: 70 pounds (31.8kg)

Graduated to a new kettlebell: 70 pounds (31.8kg)

Normally I avoid quick and dirty posts, but I'm tired from carrying home a used 70-pound kettlebell I bought from Queens by subway. That's many blocks of farmer's walks and carrying that thing down stairs into the subway, back up to the surface, and up the stairs to my apartment. Maybe half a mile walking plus six or seven flights of stairs. It's almost midnight and I want to post and go to bed soon. I avoid buying things new, so I checked Craigslist for months. I won't lie that I feel pride at how many kettlebells people are selling up to 28 kilograms (63 pounds) and less and how rarely heavier ones appear. Years ago, I bought a 24 kilogram kettlebell that I walked…

September 8, 2021

Notes from biking from New York City to Philadelphia over the weekend

Fitness / Nature

Notes from biking from New York City to Philadelphia over the weekend

Saturday and Sunday I rode over 100 miles from New York to Philadelphia, sleeping overnight in Princeton as a fundraiser for an organization creating a bike route from Maine to Florida called the East Coast Greenway. Technically we started in Jersey City, just across the Hudson River. I took the subway instead of swimming. Saturday we rode about 65 to 70 miles, Sunday 40. I rode an extra 10 or 15 to my dad's house in Philadelphia, where I stayed overnight before taking the train home. Actually, I rode from his house to the Philadelphia train station and from the New York train station to my home. Reflections I liked Several hours of the ride went along an unused canal that was stunningly beautiful. At…

September 1, 2021

They’re creating a bike route from Maine to Florida. Sponsor me in a fundraising ride!

Fitness / Nature

They’re creating a bike route from Maine to Florida. Sponsor me in a fundraising ride!

Imagine a Green I-95 Imagine you could ride a bike the length of the United States east coast. Would it fix all the worlds problems? Not by itself, but it would open possibilities to travel enjoying nature instead of polluting it. How many people might ride and camp instead of drive? What signal might it send to increase biking in the U.S.? I am riding in the East Coast Greenway Alliance's inaugural New York City-to-Philadelphia Greenway Ride, a 2-day, 130-mile fundraising ride Saturday and Sunday, August 28-29, 2021---next weekend. My ride supports creating a green bike route between New York City and Philadelphia. Roughly 1,000 miles of the Maine to Florida route is on protected greenways, and the East Coast Greenway Alliance is working to…

August 20, 2021

Inspired to my first run in almost a year: 9 miles. Still plogging.

Fitness / Habits / SIDCHAs / Stories

Inspired to my first run in almost a year: 9 miles. Still plogging.

I finished six marathons and my exercise habit began by joining the cross country team in high school in 1986. Ultimate had a lot of running in it. Practice led me to love running. I didn't at first, when I struggled. I've had my share of running injuries. Last year I started running barefoot, inspired by podcast guest Nir Eyal. Over the winter I tend to row inside on the rowing machine more since it's cold outside. This spring I didn't start running how I normally do. Why not? I got a plantar's wart---that is, a wart on the sole of my foot. For some reason, I felt ashamed to mention it, which was counterproductive because when I told another runner, he told me he's…

August 18, 2021

How to transform my famous no-packaging vegan stew into restaurant food

Fitness / Humor

How to transform my famous no-packaging vegan stew into restaurant food

Do you love restaurant food? I figured out how to make restaurant-quality food based on mine. It's easy and works every time. Start by making my famous no-packaging vegan stew, which I describe in How to make my famous no-packaging vegetable stew and showed on video in Vegan Seitan Stew, 4 minutes prep time (video). Then follow these four easy steps. How to make my stew restaurant quality in four easy steps Step1: Add a stick of butter. Step 2: Make four times as much rice as stew. Step 3: Add salt. Step 4: Add a $7 bottle of wine and charge $50 for it. There, that's it. Add the butter and salt to the stew. Put a small amount of stew over a bed…

August 11, 2021

Food poisoning and burpees nearly as hard as after a marathon

Fitness / Habits / SIDCHAs

Food poisoning and burpees nearly as hard as after a marathon

Meeting myself as I did yesterday and today happens once every couple of years. It turns out the wild blueberries I thought I was picking were black nightshade. Black nightshade apparently comes in edible and toxic varieties and I seem to have eaten the toxic kind. First things first. If you see these adorable looking berries, I recommend thinking twice. It was hard for me to type the word adorable to describe them because of what they did to my gastrointestinal tract over the past twenty-four hours. That's even considering that this picture came from a page showing the edible kind, which I can't distinguish from the toxic kind. I'm sure we've all had the experience of our GI tract not working, not processing food…

August 5, 2021

Olympic devastation that could be local fun instead

Olympic devastation that could be local fun instead

I love sports and believe they bring people together. They can help bridge cultural divides. Having played ultimate in North Korea, I've seen it in action. Here's Jordan Harbinger with a kid throwing a Frisbee we brought to the first International tournament in Pyongyang, North Korea. Sports also help us find our potentials and reach them. They help keep us healthy by promoting fitness. I read that the Olympics involves over 10,000 athletes, many flying from all over the world. I couldn't find how many support staff and fans fly in and from how far. They look like they fill stadiums. Plus all the construction and planning before the games start. I think it's fair to estimate at least 100,000 people flying per Olympic games,…

July 23, 2021

175,000 burpees

Fitness / Freedom / Habits / SIDCHAs

175,000 burpees

My spreadsheet said I hit 175,000 burpees yesterday. I don't record each one. I programmed in how many I do each day. I update the date and it tells me how many I've done. So I've done more, since occasionally I do extra without telling the spreadsheet. A decade ago, I'd record what felt like big milestones like my first six months of doing them daily or the first ten thousand. Now milestones come less often. I hit 150,000 over a year ago, so my next round number, 200,000, will come around fall 2022. I'll finish ten years this December. Not much to say. It's just part of what I do. If you want to know what it brings my life, this collection of past…

July 19, 2021

I don’t pick up litter because I care about the environment. I care about the environment because I pick up litter.

Two arrows cycle business plan infographic design diagram EPS 10 vector illustration isolated on white background.

Fitness / SIDCHAs / Tips

I don’t pick up litter because I care about the environment. I care about the environment because I pick up litter.

Today, picking up litter, it occurred to me that the more I act, the more I care about what I do. The less I act, the more indifferent, apathetic, and complacent I become. It could apply to picking up litter, avoiding packaged food, or many things I learned to do after childhood. I care (second) because I act (first). If you want to get technical, caring and acting are parts of a system and drive each other. But I think the action is more likely to start the cycle. Like love, you have to spend time together and do things for each other before falling in love, at least in my experience. It's like thinking Arnold Schwarzenegger went to the gym because he was strong…

July 14, 2021

Eating something healthy doesn’t offset something unhealthy

Fitness / Visualization

Eating something healthy doesn’t offset something unhealthy

People dream that if they eat unhealthy things, they can eat something healthy to average it out, as if broccoli had negative unhealthiness that averaged with ice cream's unhealthiness to zero unhealthiness. Broccoli isn't negative unhealthy. It's normal. There is no negative unhealthiness. You can't undo eating something unhealthy. If you're just worried about empty calories, you can exercise, but it won't undo all the unhealthiness of the ice cream. I made a graphic to illustrate and clarify:

July 10, 2021

“Olympic Swimmer Caeleb Dressel Says the Key to Success Is Making Your Bed”

Fitness / Habits / SIDCHAs / Tips

“Olympic Swimmer Caeleb Dressel Says the Key to Success Is Making Your Bed”

Everyone who knows me knows every morning I make my bed, cross the room, and turn off the alarm before it turns off, meaning within sixty seconds. I have other sidchas, like picking up litter daily, which I've done without fail since 2017. People ask why, which seems obvious. Doing something with a measure of quality and a time limit gives a sense of purpose. For a cash cost of zero, I start every day with purpose, and a time gain of over thirty minutes compared to how long I took to get out of bed before starting this habit five years ago or so. If you don't do it, I recommend it. I couldn't imagine doing it before. I lacked discipline. It helped develop…

July 6, 2021

Clawing back: 4,951 meters in 20 minutes. 49 to go.

Awareness / Fitness / Habits / Stories

Clawing back: 4,951 meters in 20 minutes. 49 to go.

I exercise on a five-day rotation between lifting, resting, and cardio so months with 31 days give me an extra rest day to experiment. This time I decided to try to recapture my nearly five-year-old achievement of 5,000 meters in 20 minutes on the rowing machine, which means averaging 2:00/500m for 20 minutes. A well-trained man in his 20s or 30s could do it easily. A serious competitor might not count it as a warm-up. My turning 50 next month makes it a more serious goal, though many men older than me could do it easily. Still, a meaningful achievement. Before starting, I ate a light breakfast, went to the bathroom (several times, as a function of the fiber in my diet and my nerves),…

June 5, 2021

Memorial Day Glory in Greenwich Village

Fitness / Stories

Memorial Day Glory in Greenwich Village

Yesterday, walking south along the Hudson River, I saw a guy running sprints on a pier. The temperature hovered around 50F (10C). It had rained on and off all day and was raining then. He was alone, running sprints in the rain. I call that commitment where no one would know if you didn't glorious. I was out on my daily walk to pick up litter. I was taking a long walk despite, or partly because, of the cold spring rain. I guessed, correctly, that few people would visit my neighborhood's newest attraction, The Little Island. I also wanted to wear a pair of jeans wet that needed some stretching, coincidentally because my thighs are bigger from lifting. Few people were out for a holiday…

May 31, 2021

Exercise: Imagine a Day Without Doof

Exercises / Fitness

Exercise: Imagine a Day Without Doof

Here's an exercise, just to imagine something: Imagine 24 hours without ingesting any doof---that is, without putting anything in your mouth whose primary pleasure comes from added salt, added sugar, added fat, or convenience. Nothing packaged. You know you can do it. That is, you know you possess the ability to do it. You know humans lived that way for almost all of human history. I'm not saying doof is good, bad, right, or wrong. I'm not asking where it came from or how green or sustainable it is. I'm not even suggesting you try avoiding doof for 24 hours, just to think about it. But not just a cursory, "hmmâ€¦ sounds hard. I could probably do it but wouldn't want to." Seriously reflect on…

May 17, 2021

Pollution:Earth :: Obesity:Body

Enjoy Coca-cola!

Fitness / Freedom / Habits / Nature / Tips / Visualization

Pollution:Earth :: Obesity:Body

This headline, Goodwill Doesn't Want Your Broken Toaster, reminding me of my recent post that lines to dump worthless junk on Goodwill are often longer than the lines to buy it prompted me to post an idea I've had for a long time but for some reason haven't posted. Pollution on the Earth is obesity on our bodies, manifesting our values and behaviors in different places. This: is this: The pileup at Goodwill is fatty liver disease. Addictions to opioids are like diabetes, where we've lost our sense of value in material things so we seek reward elsewhere. What Value in the Analogy? We aren't facing many problems in the world today. It may look like many, between climate, plastic, mercury, deforestation, political polarization, and…

May 8, 2021

I Saw A Guy Eating Ice Cream With Zero Joy

Fitness / Habits / Nonjudgment

I Saw A Guy Eating Ice Cream With Zero Joy

Over the weekend I went to Washington Square Park to read, so I was there for a couple hours. It was a beautiful, sunny day. Bright and just hot enough that you'd want to avoid the sun but not so hot that you couldn't stand it. A guy sat on a bench diagonally across from me with a cup of ice cream from a nearby store. Besides him, I would guess at least three-quarters of the people there brought something disposable. Litter blew everywhere in the breeze, but everyone's collective behavior isn't my point. He stuck the plastic disposable spoon into the ice cream and scooped out all the spoon could hold---a dollop close to the size of a ping pong ball. He put the…

May 5, 2021

At a loss for words at people playing with their fat

Fitness / Nonjudgment / Visualization

At a loss for words at people playing with their fat

I'm no Shakespeare, but I think I express myself well with words. Despite everyone telling me to use it more, I don't use social media that much. Someone shared the video below. I tried to describe it to someone. I said, "These two women were showing off their fat and it looked like. . ." And I found myself unable to find anything else in nature or my experience that their fat falling on the table resembled. As far as I can tell, they seem happy. If they're happy and posting videos of their happiness, I support them sharing what they choose to share. I fear I'm losing touch with American culture, though. @chubbyrosehips ##stitch with @jess.subject22 lmfao XD I'm down 70 lbs and 1…

May 4, 2021

The Benefits of Staying Local

Sailing Across the Atlantic

Fitness / Nature / Stories

The Benefits of Staying Local

I would have viewed avoiding flying as missing out until I experienced what happens when I don't fly. I don't sit in the corner crying, feeling sorry for myself. I develop the skills to create what I used to pay for. I'll give a few examples how avoiding flying, or as I put it now, staying local, enriched my life. Wondering how I'd get off North America, I took sailing lessons, itself a wonderful experience. Sailing in New York harbor, a few miles from home, takes me to another world, living at a different pace, connecting to the rhythms and patterns of nature. But I learned to sail not just for pleasure or to take short vacations much cheaper and less polluting than flying. I…

April 23, 2021

Month 6, Day 1: Fridge still off (Happy Earth Day)

Creativity / Fitness / Freedom / Nature / Tips

Month 6, Day 1: Fridge still off (Happy Earth Day)

Today marks the first day of my sixth month with my fridge unplugged. My past two months' electrical charges from Con Ed were $1.70. I used about two percent the average American's power use. I'm still avoiding packaging, so no cans or other sealed stuff. On the contrary, I'm finding fresh vegetables and fruit stay a long time without refrigeration. Here's my podcast episode describing my motivation. It's not about one person's emissions. It's about a culture's resilience. It's about values. How to live without a fridge in two steps There's no way before trying I could have imagined living without a fridge for a day or two. When I unplugged it the first time in December 2019, I could only think of what would…

April 22, 2021

3 minor fitness successes

Fitness / Habits

3 minor fitness successes

1. My heaviest kettlebell is 28 kilograms or 63 pounds. Now, exercises I couldn't do at that weight I can do several sets of. It feels great to be able to do something easily that I used to be unable to do. I thought about getting a 32 kilogram (70 pound) on. Now I've decided to get one. Nothing special about moving up a weight. What feels rewarding is that on Craigslist, there are many listings for kettlebells from ten pound to 30 or 40, a few for 50 up to about 60, but nearly none for 32 kilograms. I interpret the dearth to mean I'm stronger than most people. Part of the reason I started lifting was physical weakness. 2. I mentioned I got…

April 17, 2021

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