Monday, October 20 Heaviosity amidst the light

Post 1294, Day 293 of 2014
- 1,389 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

I'm back from a wonderful vacation in LA.

I hope you all had a wonderful time while I was gone. If not, mine was good enough for both, or all, of us.

A lot to think about after this vacation. It is always the case. I meet new people, go to new places, enjoy new experiences.

I didn't write about it (or take that many pictures) because I wanted to be present when I'm there.

I got a new iPhone 6+ while I was out there - there was a minor glitch in the transaction, and I was without a phone (except for a few things that worked on wi-fi) for about 24 hours.

It turned out to be a pretty neutral event. My phone (new or old) is and was used more for data than telephony, and data works fine with wi-fi, and wi-fi is pretty much everywhere except out on the street.

Of course, out on the street is exactly where you most need the phone, and for a period of time, I was SOL when I needed a phone and I wasn't in range of wi-fi.

Worth mentioning is that I spent more time hatless during my week in LA than the entire year that led up to that week. I think I may be over my hat-always phase.

I also spent time with a few old friends, and found myself out of time to get up with some others. Interestingly, I spent a lot of time discussing philosophy (-ies), something that hasn't happened before in my LA visits.

It started at the beginning of my trip: My first full day in LA I went to a meet-up with Buddhist Boot Camp leader Timber Hawkeye. That was interesting - a dozen people discussing the question of whether there is such a thing as an inviolable principle or ideal, or whether circumstances make the notion moot. The straw man situation proposed was this: You hold life sacred, and would never take another life. But on a camping trip with your son, a bear attacks. Do you kill the bear?

It seems so simple. Yet, if 'not killing' and 'respect for all life' are core principles, your life is not more valuable than the bear's, and there's a dilemma. 

For me, I think the principle is framed incorrectly, and that causes the conflict. "Thou shalt not kill" is a ridiculous commandment, we kill all the time, invisibly, unconsciously. In fact, we are dying all the time, on a cellular level. Limiting the commandment to other humans, we also have the same problem: If you don't believe in killing other humans, you cannot defend your loved ones.

I think the answer is to have, as a principle, a positive: Not what you won't do, but what you will: Preserve life. Then, if you are being threatened by man or beast, you have a choice of how to best preserve life, and there is no conflict.

I see the real problem with having these principles is that they are attempts to keep something constant, when everything changes. You cannot cover all the possible situations that will challenge any belief or ideal. Any thing or idea that you try to hold constant in a Universe where everything changes and nothing is permanent causes suffering.

I found this understanding to be acceptable, but it was very troubling to many others in the group.

That was the first day of vacation. 

Heavy, man!

Food and Diet Section

2014 Daily Weight

Today's Weight:          214.4 lbs

Previous Weight*:        208.4 lbs

Day Net Loss/Gain:       + 6.0 lbs
                        * Thursday, October 9
Diet Comment

I knew this was coming... Vacation eating isn't the same, of course, and, given the way I ate, and all the wonderful - and off-plan (vacation!) - food I ate over the ten vacation days, I think a gain of only six pounds is fantastic.

Today I ate sparingly until dinner, at which time I did myself no good by accepting partial payment for my gig in the form of a great pizza. I still expect to lose weight, given my current highs, and the fact that I have been (by my estimate) coming off my highest weight of the year, which, thankfully, happened while I wasn't weighing myself (vacation weights are "estimated" (guessed at).

Food Log 

Breakfast
Skipped.

Lunch
A cocoa-hemp-kale protein shake (almond-coconut milk, kefir, kale, large organic egg, whey powder (24g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, fermented coconut water, chia gel, celery, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon and stevia-inulin blend.

Dinner
At Ironwood: 

A quarter of a personal pie, with fire-roasted chicken, bacon, prosciutto, basil, caramelized onions, mushrooms, cheese and sauce.

Liquid Intake
   Coffee:  24 oz.   Water: 42+ oz.

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