I am starting today, 11/15/2019, at 224 pounds. My goal is to get back below 200 pounds by New Years Day, and then to stay there until day 100, when I will be running the 12 mile event at the Spider Mountain Trail Run in Burnet, Texas. The are offering several races, from 4 miles up to 12 hours. At this point you should be saying, "That all sounds great hedgeless, but how the f*ck are you going to lose more than 20 pounds in a little over 6 weeks, and finish a 12 mile trail run 100 days from today?" The simple answer is exercise, diet, fasting, yoga, and shame.
So, at least four out of every five weekdays, I will go running for a minimum of 30 minutes. On weekends, I will do a longer run, starting this weekend with 45 minutes, and adding to it about 10 minutes each weekend, until I am up to two hours, or about 11 miles at my standard fat-adapted pace of about 11 minute miles. What is fat adapted? It essentially means that I am running slowly enough that my body is burning more fat using the aerobic cycle, versus more sugar using the anaerobic cycle, as long as I have not eaten for several hours beforehand, and drink only water during the run. I know I am doing it right when I feel like crap for 5 minutes about 20 minutes into my run (bonking), then I get my "second wind" after my body switches from burning sugar to fat, and I then feel great the remainder of the run and in fact the rest of the day. I always feel GREAT after a trail run, but never before one. I often need to remind myself of this fact.
I know that my pace is good, when I am able to hold my own in a long-winded conversation with mrs_horseman. If she starts to lose an argument with me, she simply speeds up the pace so that I cannot talk. Many people that come run with us comment that we are going very slowly, at the start, but I cannot recall anyone mentioning this it at the end. The huaraches really help keep us from heel striking, thus protecting our knees and hips from injury, even when we run slowly in them, as we naturally shorten our strides. We do not need any Brawndo, power gels, or food during runs less than several hours, as we all literally have enough fat on us to run for days on end; truly amazing when you think about it.
Most importantly, we try to run on dirt trails. Yes, it is better for us physically, but it is also much, much, much better for us mentally and spiritually.
SHAME
It is interesting to consider that shame can be healthy, unhealthy, or neutral, depending on the circumstances. For example, by committing to show up in Burnet, Texas, 100 days from now, and running any of the races, you could join me in using the fear of self-shame to self-motivate and to achieve a fitness goal. I promise, if you do show up, I am not going to, "shake my head and look you in the eye with a brutally honest look of pure and complete disgust," simply because you would not be making poor consumer choices that affect me. You would be making very good choices that affect you, choices deserving of congratulations, which is what you can expect to receive if you do come and run. Also, as I mentioned, the race is at night, so nobody is going to be able to see what we look like in our spandex running gear. See, I ain't so stupid.
https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-11-14/one-problems-our-society-there-no-longer-any-shame