May 2024

Continuing to feel good.

I recently set a target weight for myself. It’s less about the weight and more about how I feel and look at myself (the rest of the world will continue being the rest of the world on that score). Setting a target weight gives me two things:

1. A metric for the MacroFactor app to adjust my diet.
2. Let me observe how stable that weight is.

A while back, I stopped doing many of the fitness-related things I was doing, including my physical therapy movements. Part of that was because I was really focused on working on the Time: Mastering the Mundane book. The part that made me decide to keep doing it (or not doing it, as the case may be) was to get into a nice baseline.

Initially, that baseline was around 220 pounds. Then, I set the target to 210 pounds. I’m starting to stabilize there, and I’ve set the app to 200 pounds. I’m also beginning to integrate the fitness-related things back into my schedule.

When I say stabilize, I mean that the weight on my scale has consistently shown as the same amount for more than a solid week or two.

Data like these are less about accuracy than consistency. The scale at my doctor’s office showed 220 pounds, despite the scale at my house showing 210. Even if my scale is off, it only becomes a problem if it’s off by a different amount each time I weigh in.

So, that’s where we’re at. I’m bringing the fitness movements back into my life and changed the MacroFactor goal to 200 pounds, according to MacroFactor.

I’m also thinking of changing some other things related more to mental and emotional health. But I’m not sure what I’m committing to at the moment. Well, that’s not true. Right now, I’m working on reducing how much I smoke tobacco and eat at restaurants. The reason this is related to mental and emotional health for me, instead of physical, is because both are having a greater impact on my financial situation than I’d like (prices went up on cigarettes again, and I started cutting back on dining out last year if memory serves). I want to cut back on both of those to see if I can break the gravitational pull of working at an office and launch into a more nomadic lifestyle, which I’ve wanted for a very long time.

Physically, I’m doing pretty well. No pain. I did experience some bleeding from my belly button. This sort of thing happens every few years, actually. I’m unsure what it is, and I never brought it up to a medical professional until now.

My primary care was excellent. He listed off a bunch of things it could be, including a couple of things that are so rare that only a few reported cases exist. By “a few,” I mean less than 20. I did a CT scan to rule out most of them. So, we’re thinking it’s a cyst or similar that popped. He told me to apply an over-the-counter antibiotic cream using a cotton swab.

It’s better now.

Mentally, I’m doing pretty well. Taking this time to decompress, de-pickle, and work on some of the independent projects that were on hold while working full-time gigs is helpful. Granted, I still have days where the brain gremlins creep in and tell me no one will but the products and services I’m putting out there. But I’m giving it a shot.

Emotionally, I’m doing fantastic. I practice polyamory and recently met my second romantic partner; it’s been about 7 years since I had more than one. I’ve also been building community through The Rotation, which has been going very well. Part of that is due to the acceptance folks have had regarding the news (to them) that I’m ethically non-monogamous.

Right now, there are about 40 people listed on The Rotation. Some folks are being pushed to longer periods between catch-up calls, while others are getting shorter. I’m thinking about scaling some folks back to text messages just because they don’t seem interested in calling, but appreciate text-based conversations on occasion.