Eh, not good. It’s been 5 days. I have been stuck on this.

I just signed up for a half marathon for middle of March. WTF. Am I ready for it?

On one dimension, this is stupid and of course I will not be able to actually run that whole distance.

On the other dimension, I just want to feel it. I can walk big chunks of it. No judgement.

I am hoping to get it out of the way and normalize it. Get an idea of what it means. I have the same feeling that I had for the 10k. I was so apprehensive.

To test it out though, I have to do a full loop of central park plus a bit more. I need to see if my body can at least do that.

I am on a diet.

I am in a cutting phase.

I know that people say that “don’t be on a diet, have deeper life style changes” etc etc. Well, for me, I like to think that I am on a diet. And I like to think that I am in a cut.

It helps me to think like a bodybuilder who is in a temporary “cutting phase”. That’s how I am going to view this.

I have a longer list of food but generally, these have been my regular items lately:

• Chicken, chicken, chicken
• Some fish
• Salad
• Fiber stuff
• Low calorie sauces, JELLO, etc.
• DIET COKE
• Chewing gum
• NO ALCOHOL
• The low cal rice / noodles stuff
• Tuna

Interesting stuff. Basically, he did what I am doing:

• High protein
• Calorie deficit
• Running and workouts
• Morning stuff

I think this is it. Don’t need to be keto. I am super sure right now.

I am doing daily scrutiny of the weight. It is helping.

I definitely am losing weight. I am resnapping my hopeful projection. I don’t want to make the mistake of projecting too far out. I want to get out of the 280s quickly now. I want to spend March in 270s.

We are on a Formula 1 race!

Let’s review the GP system. What works well, what doesn’t, etc.

[G] Goals

• The quarterly goal is awesome. I should keep that.
• I need more sub-goals. This will help me gamify stuff. Kind of like a monthly or weekly cadence.
• Goals need to be quantifiable.
• Some goals should be easy, some hard.
• Also, feel free to use Strava etc to figure out the goals.
• Maybe also add weight lifting goals.

[P] Plan

• This part seems fine.
• Dials for calories, miles, etc.
• DAILY WEIGHT LOGGING SCRUTINY

[T] Try

• Eh, this is more like a extra credit thing? Not sure if this is needed.

[W] Weekly Updates

• Yea, this is critical.
• Need DAILY WEIGHT SCRUTINY
• The weekly updates need to happen here.
• Expect to have 12 updates.

You have a function f(x) which represents “healthy living”. You can’t just invoke it once in a while. It, instead, needs to be called regularly. It needs to be integrated over time.

Initially, calling f(x) consistency is hard. Your body and your habits will make you not want to do f(x), at least initially. But, you have to choose.

Sacrifice

To be consistently healthy, at least in the first few years of a healthy life, you have to be willing to sacrifice. You will have to give up on the old habits and behavior patterns. The new habits and behavior patterns will solidify themselves. And you will be able to see it directly:

• I was able to eat 5 to 6 slices in the past. I can barely eat 2 now.
• I feel the urge to go running often now
• I hate the feeling of drunkenness. I live sobriety.
• My body is also adjusted: Sleep is better, resting heart rate is changing (-12%), VO2 max is changing.

20 pounds lost over 1 year. That’s okay. I can double it this year.

Motivation

Initially, the motivation has to be forced. Kind of like confidence. But eventually, the motivation becomes implicit. Endogenous. When that happens, excuses vanish.

• Sickness is no longer an excuse.
• Cold, bad weather, etc is no longer an excuse.
• Mood is not an excuse. In fact, the mood elevates when doing stuff. It really is a good feeling to have.
• Other people’s schedules and desires have no influence. They are no excuse.

Help yourself to be consistent

• Surround yourself with diet foods.
• Keep your workout gear ready so that you can go for a run whenever
• Keep the morning biking schedule. Just 10 mins.
• Manage social expectations. Stay clean and sleep early. After a few years, it becomes the new default.

I had a few sips of a cocktail today. It is valentines day so took something on the date. But I hated the taste. So done with alcohol for now. It’s been 25 days.

I am insanely motivated right now. I am seeing results. I have the confidence that I can get this done. And the body is in the right mode.

A lot of the sub processes and things (like calorie control, exercise, sleep, lack of alcohol, etc) are flowing together. It’s like this euphoric combination of everything. It was HARD to get it rolling. But I am there now.

Man, I am scared about losing this motivation and having to restart.

you know what people say? It’s easier to keep going rather than start again

In quantitative finance, alpha is a complicated thing. It’s a collection of a lot of smaller signals which combine together to produce something that is bigger than the whole. Things have to work together to make an effective alpha.

Similar to that, weight loss seems to be a collection of things that have to come together to transition the body into a fat burning mode. I have written about this before, but yea. I think that is something.

Also, remember the hidden calories. Diet soda vs. normal soda. It’s amazing. Simple changes can change everything.

There is no silver bullet. There is just a collection of stuff that works together.

Aggression

Obesity is a disease. So, you want to get rid of it as soon as possible, no? Shock the body and lose the fat quickly. Be aggressive.

Aggression with high scrutiny.