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It’s been nearly a month since I’ve been doing the Zone diet. I’ve also started doing some CrossFit. The net result: I’m feeling lighter, slimmer, stronger, and more energetic already.

Benefits realized already:

• Flatter gut. The food baby is on its way out.
• More energy. I’m not falling asleep at my desk after lunch anymore.
• Slimmer waist. I don’t have to wear my fat pants anymore!
• Reduced appetite. I don’t eat nearly as much as I used to. I have a better feel about when I’m satisfied vs. full.
• More $$$ in my wallet. I’m not spending $5—$10 a day on lunch. (But we do spend more per week on groceries)

Benefits I’m looking forward to:

• Strength improvements
• Further reducing weight
• Speed improvements – running and cycling.

We went to see a special screening of The 11th Hour last week, with a Q&A with one of the producers and people interviewed in the movie. The movie is about 90 minutes long, and is mostly in a ‘talking heads’ format featuring environmentalists and scientists concerned with life on Earth, our connection to, and impact on everything else associated with our home.

Parts of it do come off a bit preachy or alarmist, but overall the movie contains quite a bit of interesting information. It is relatively light on data (see An Inconvenient Truth for that), but delves more into the philosophical aspects of environmentalism. Many of the interviewees emphasize that we are not above_ nature, or given dominion over the world; we are a part of nature; we are tied to every other living thing. They talk about the need to ween ourselves off fossil fuels and live in more sustainable way; we have the technology to do so today. Of course there are some accusatory/inflammatory topics and statements – especially as they pertain to politicians and corporations.

Another interesting aspect they go into is the American consumer economy (I’ve posted on this before) – and an interesting factoid – “for every 1 truckload of goods that have lasting value, there are 32 truckloads of waste.”

I recommend you check out the movie. It is very interesting and informative. The best part is that it doesn’t end on a ‘doom and gloom’ note. We can do something about this; we need to take action.

I have just signed up for the Tour de Cure 2008 bike ride to raise money to support the American Diabetes Association. I will be riding a metric century (65 miles). This will be interesting, since I have not yet had a ride of more than 15 miles yet this year.

Here is the ADA Tour de Cure page

And my donation page , if you wish to donate to the cause

Wow. It’s been a whole year since Bhumisha and I got married. It went by pretty quickly, but maybe it is because we managed to squeeze quite a bit into our first year together. We reorganized the house and bought some new furniture; we had a few visitors and did our share of visiting family and friends. We spent time in Chicago, Rolla, New York, New Jersey, Hawaii, as well as several places in California.

We went on several hiking trips by ourselves and with friends. Bhumisha went to the snow for the first time and we both tried snowboarding for the first time. We even got in some snowshoeing. Recently, we found Bhumisha a mountain bike so now we can do some riding as the weather warms up.

Bhumisha got her driver’s license, and is continuing her search for a job in medical rehab.

We’ve already got a few things planned for our next year together – a trip to Yellowstone, another one to Yosemite, as well as Africa.

I weighed in yesterday at just under 160 (159.8), but today I weighed in at 158.4. Granted this is still somewhat in the noise (weight can fluctuate a couple pounds from day to day), but it is great progress from where I was a couple weeks ago (hovering between 163 and 165).

…All this after only 1 week on the zone. Let’s see if I can keep it up and add some more exercise to the daily routine.