SUPERMOON TRILOGY: ACT I

Last night our planet was illuminated at night under the only Supermoon of the year.  We will have two more supermoons in January next month. So this is the beginning of a supermoon trilogy. Last night was simply Act I. A supermoon occurs when a full moon is closer to Earth than normal due to its elliptical orbit. Although my iPhone camera is incapable of properly capturing this astronomical event, at least with me behind the lens making the attempt, I am sharing a couple of photos I took as the moon rose over Lake Michigan in Chicago shortly after moonrise.

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Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, December 3, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Grits	400	88	6	8	1,240	4
Corn Bread Muffin	300	48	8	4	599	12
	700	136	14	12	1,839	16
L U N C H
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich	700	55	31	17	286	31
Campbell's Chunky Manhattan Clam Chowder	240	36	6	10	1,600	6
	940	91	37	27	1,886	37
D I N N E R
Sushi - Tuna Roll Maki w/Avocado	400	51	9	31	0	0
	400	51	9	31	0	0
S N A C K S
Fudge bar	300	51	6	9	0	0
Oreo Cookies	320	50	14	2	280	28
	620	101	20	11	280	28
Totals	2,660	379	80	81	4,005	81
Your Daily Goal	3,374	422	112	169	2,300	126
Remaining	714	43	32	88	-1,705	45
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,444 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 220.3 lbs in 5 weeks     

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from forbes.com posted last night:


DEC 3, 2017 @ 06:26 PM 38,609 
The Little Black Book of Billionaire Secrets

Don't Miss Tonight's Supermoon: The Biggest Full Moon Of 2017

Trevor Nace , CONTRIBUTOR

Tonight (December 3), skywatchers will be treated to the only supermoon (scientific name: perigee syzygy) in 2017. If you step outside you'll notice the Moon is especially large and bright, which is because the moon is at its closest distance to Earth.

The perigee moon (prerequisite for a supermoon) exists because as the moon orbits the Earth it does so in an oval or elliptical shape, meaning sometimes the moon is closer to the Earth and other times it's farther. For a supermoon to exist, there must both be a full moon as well as a perigee moon, hence why the moon tonight will look especially close, full, and bright.

This is your opportunity in 2017 to see a supermoon. The most recent supermoon was around a year ago on November 14, 2016. However, 2018 will delight skywatchers with two supermoons, one on January 2nd and another just a few weeks later on January 31st. The supermoon on January 31st will also be a blue moon as it is the second full moon in the same month. NASA has tokened this the supermoon trilogy, with three supermoons occurring in just a few month timespan.

When stepping outside tonight, the moon will be 7% larger and 15% brighter than normal, which may be hard to discern without a direct comparison of a normal moon beside it. The moon will be brightest around midnight when it is highest above the horizon, but that, of course, will depend on local cloudiness and weather.

While the difference between a normal moon and a supermoon isn't as large as people make it out to be, sometimes optical illusions can create the appearance of a bigger moon. For instance, if the moon is on the horizon our brains are tricked into viewing the moon larger and brighter than it really is. This is called a "moon illusion" and results because your brain compares the moon's size with adjacent objects such as buildings or trees and interprets the moon to be much larger than it actually is.

The 2016 supermoon on November 14, 2016, was the closest the moon got to the Earth since 1948, which won't happen again until November of 2034, 17 years from now.

Tonight's supermoon will be 222,761 miles from Earth, 16,139 miles closer than the average distance of 238,900 miles from the moon to the Earth. If you do go outside be sure to dress warm and try to drive to a location away from light pollution so you'll be able to see the moon better.

OUT OF THIS WORLD

Each time I take a walk or hike anywhere, I am always searching for something new that I have never seen or noticed before. During an afternoon hike in Chicago on Tuesday, I discovered this long mural overlooking an empty lot that was out of this world (at least part of it)

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I used my 'panorama' option on my iphone to try to capture the entire mural in one photograph.

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Your Food Diary For:

Tuesday, October 31, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Lewis bakery - Hawaiian special recipe bread	80	14	1	3	95	4
Eggs - Poached	300	2	20	26	600	2
Cheerios	400	80	8	12	640	4
	780	96	29	41	1,335	10
L U N C H
Hawaiian special recipe bread, 2 slice	160	28	2	6	190	8
Egg Salad	100	1	10	3	0	0
Chunky New England Clam Chowder	360	36	20	10	1,780	2
	620	65	32	19	1,970	10
D I N N E R
Home Made - Garden Salad	100	6	0	4	400	4
Johnsonville - Polish Kielbasa, 2 link	440	6	40	18	1,020	1
Seeds of Change - Seven Grains	240	47	3	6	340	1
Oreo - Thins, 12 cookies	420	63	18	3	285	36
	1,200	122	61	31	2,045	42
S N A C K S
Zico - Pure Coconut Water	280	52	0	0	640	48
UNREAL - Crispy dark chocolate	200	20	14	3	86	14
	480	72	14	3	726	62
Totals	3,080	355	136	94	6,076	124
Your Daily Goal	4,040	505	134	203	2,300	151
Remaining	960	150	-2	109	-3,776	27
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 2,110 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 215.6 lbs in 5 weeks 

THIS IS IT

Well, this may not be IT.
But it is me, standing in front of a wall mural advertising the new Stephen King flick, IT.
I just downloaded iOS 11 last night, and Apple has upgraded the efficiency of the iphone camera.
Perhaps it is my imagination, but I do think that colors captured by this photograph are more vivid.
Whatever. It is what it is. Obviously.

As I set out for my urban hike right around 3:00PM, it can be said that yesterday's twelve mile jaunt was the first  of the new fall season. Ironically, it felt more like one of the hottest days of the summer.

Since the universe tends to run like 'clockwork' it is easy to make certain predictions. It is easy to predict when the seasons change, and it is easy to predict phases of the moon, and for that matter, it is easy to predict solar eclipses...years, decades or even centuries into the future. As predicted, Summer gave way to Autumn yesterday afternoon in Chicago at 3:02PM. Apparently someone forgot to tell the weather forecasters, because they correctly predicted that the temperatures would approach 90°F in the late afternoon. Still seemed like summer to me.

Your Food Diary For:

Friday, September 22, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Scrambled Eggs	325	3	22	28	317	2
Nova Lox Haven - Smoked Salmon	100	0	6	12	650	0
Kraft  Ham and American Cheese	340	37	16	11	620	17
	765	40	44	51	1,587	19
L U N C H
Jimmy John's - Bootlegger Unwich	320	3	22	28	1,120	0
	320	3	22	28	1,120	0
D I N N E R
Bagel With Cream Cheese	400	58	12	13	780	4
	400	58	12	13	780	4
S N A C K S
Chewy Oat & Honey Cranola Bar	400	76	8	8	220	28
	400	76	8	8	220	28
Totals	1,885	177	86	100	3,707	51
Your Daily Goal	3,649	456	121	183	2,300	136
Remaining	1,764	279	35	83	-1,407	85
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,719 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 222.8 lbs in 5 weeks     

SATURDAY...TIME TO WEIGH IN

This morning I weighed 250.2 lbs. 
I lost an additional 3.1 lbs this past week.

On August 26, just one month ago my weight has crested at 263.3 lbs.
I WAS depressed.
I was NOT walking.
I was NOT eating well.
I was NOT blogging.

Fast forward one month.
I am NOT depressed.
I AM walking.
I AM eating well (OK, technically not well, but certainly better)
I AM blogging.

THIS IS IT.
It appears to me that I have recaptured the will to succeed that had evaded me for way too long.

ECLIPSE

Totality. My family needed to be 350 miles away from Chicago to see totality. We bucked the traffic trend from northern Illinois and drove northeast to St Clair, Missouri after spending a couple of days in Branson. The difference between seeing a 99% eclipse and totality is huge. While the slimmest sliver of the sun is showing, you need your protective goggles. When totality begins, you enjoy the show with your naked eye. I didn't remember to experience everything. I was unaware of the sounds of cicadas ratcheting up. The temperature did drop in the last moments before the sun disappeared altogether. The bright sunshine of the day made it feel like the light of the last few moments of a day before the sun hides under the horizon. It took a lot of effort to get this experience and it was well worth it. The weather forecast was depressing with 24 hours to go, but miraculously, on the dot on the map that my family selected to experience this, the sun was shining brightly when it counted. This photo is not mine. It was the closest photo that I could find online so that I could remember what I did see with my naked eyes. My next eclipse posting will be April 8, 2024. I will likely recount my adventures from somewhere in Ohio. One thing I might do differently next time? Find a hotel room to stay over wherever I am after the event. That 350 mile trip home from St Clair, Missouri to Chicago took about 11 hours.
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This blog that I did everyday for nearly two years was a good idea. It was a very bad idea to cease blogging. The blog kept me in check. My weight this morning is 261 lbs. Oh yeah, I started at 309 llbs a long time ago. So technically I could say that I lost 47 lbs. The problem is, my low weight was under 220 lbs. So really, I have recently gained 40 lbs. Within a day, a week or sometime soon... I am going to rededicate myself to a eating healthy and exercising. Why this blog was so important to keeping my focused? I don't know... I just was. I will be back.

SPRING

Today, March 20, 2017 is the first day of spring. (for us earthlings in the northern hemisphere)  Although it is true that every day is a good day to make changes in one's life, some days are seemingly just perfect. The first day of spring appears to be one such day.  I have a bunch of changes to make in my culinary habits. Today, like everyday, is a good day to start. 

Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, March 19, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Essential Everyday - Butter Flavored Grits	500	105	5	10	1,700	5
	500	105	5	10	1,700	5
L U N C H
Omelette - 3-egg Omelette With Cheese	425	0	21	28	650	2
Johnsonville 170 - Polish Kielbasa Sausage	170	2	15	7	570	1
Trader Joes - Hash Brown Patty, 1 patty	130	14	8	1	250	0
	725	16	44	36	1,470	3
D I N N E R
Kirkland Signature Pizza	760	83	31	35	1,956	6
	760	83	31	35	1,956	6
Totals	1,985	204	80	81	5,126	14
Your Daily Goal	2,796	349	93	140	2,300	104
Remaining	811	145	13	59	-2,826	90
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Sunday, March 19, 2017

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	71	798
Daily Total / Goal	71 / 30	798 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	313 / 210	4,052 / 4,130

TOKYO

It is not often that I plug in my fitbit 'dongle' into the mac to view my dashboard. I did last night, as I was curious how many steps and miles I have 'traveled' since I became a 'fitbitter' on September 3, 2015. Now I know. I have logged over 13 million steps and traveled nearly 7000 miles. To be precise, my mileage is 6957.51 miles.  What this means is basically nothing. I was simply curious. Apparently my last lifetime badge is still nearly 1000 miles away. This badge, once earned, is the 'Earth' badge. This is the equivalent distance to the center of the earth. (This would be a very impractical hike.) And that's it... no more fitbit lifetime badges to look forward to after that. Perhaps this will change in the future, surely there are more than a few folks out there that have logged more than 7900 miles and need to be recognized with imaginary badges too. I still have some time to contemplate this as I am still 1000 miles away from this 'achievement.'

The route to Japan shown below which is better suited for airplane travel and would be difficult to duplicate on foot.  Nevertheless, since I started logging fitbit steps on September 3, 2015 - I have logged enough mile to 'walk' to Tokyo, Japan.

Distance from Chicago to Tokyo

Distance is 10161 kilometers or 6314 miles or 5486 nautical miles

The distance is the theoretical air distance (great circle distance). Flying between the two locations' airports can be a different distance, depending on airport location and actual route chosen.

Map – Shortest path between Chicago and Tokyo

Your Food Diary For:

Sunday, March 12, 2017

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Essential Everyday - Butter Flavored Grits	500	105	5	10	1,700	5
Sourdough Round French Bread	300	60	2	10	600	4
Scrambled Eggs	200	2	15	18	202	1
	1,000	167	22	38	2,502	10
L U N C H
Real Foods - Corn Thins	575	100	5	15	388	0
	575	100	5	15	388	0
D I N N E R
Homemade - Breakfast Burrito	600	52	40	24	1,580	4
	600	52	40	24	1,580	4
S N A C K S
Dean's - Mini Ice Cream Sandwich	180	30	6	2	110	14
	180	30	6	2	110	14
Totals	2,355	349	73	79	4,580	28
Your Daily Goal	2,687	336	89	135	2,300	100
Remaining	332	-13	16	56	-2,280	72
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g

       Your Exercise Diary for:

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
MATRIX TREADMILL	60	757
Daily Total / Goal	60 / 30	757 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	444 / 210	5,797 / 4,130

Treadmill: 60 minutes, 4.2mph, 757 calories

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