The Marc Jacobs Weight Loss Journal exposes the secrets of diet and weight loss. I do not want to keep you in a state of suspense. Here is the secret: Eat Less. Exercise is critical to one's health. Exercise is not the critical component of weight loss. This blog will focus on a healthy lifestyle with an emphasis on eating properly. Marvelous mental musings posted daily. I make an effort to be interesting, instructive and inspiring.
YOM KIPPUR is the Jewish Day of Atonement. It is common to see Jews in synagogue who might have been missing in action all year. I admit, I am one of these Jews. Today, Saturday, I will go to synagogue. I did start fasting at sundown on Friday (when the Holiday began) and will not eat or drink again until later today at sundown. Some people have specific rituals for their last meal, I do not. This year, I chose Chinese Food, as I have done in the past. The ritual that I most look forward to - is the meal that breaks the fast. I know what I will be having for dinner today. Two bagels with cream cheese and lox. The other thing that I did to prepare for my fast day was take an urban hike on Friday. This urban hike was completed when I had logged 17 miles.
It is Rosh Hashanah. The Jewish New Year. According to Jewish Law, the holiday began at sundown on Tuesday. Nevertheless, today, Wednesday, is the day that one will find the streets clogged with Jews walking to Shul (temple) in various cities around the world. L'Shanah Tovah - Happy New Year.
My day started yesterday with a trip to the service department at the Honda dealer for an oil change and some new spark plugs. While I was waiting for this job to be completed, I managed to squeeze in an eight mile hike.
'The Bear Champ' is often spotted around Chicago. He is painted by Wicker Park based artist, JC Rivera.
My family celebrated our 20 year wedding anniversary with a trip to BD's Mongolian Grill in Bollingbrook. I believe that I might have overeaten some of the low calorie choices, but I still had quite a bit of food. I have guesstimated that my meal was about 1400 calories. Once we arrived home, I decided to see if I could 'walk off' at least a few of those calories. I squeezed in a second eight mile urban hike.
Wednesday night there was a riot at the University of California - Berkeley. How is this possible? I thought that colleges were places were there was supposed to be diversity. (Diversity on a college campus is a gigantic lie.) I thought colleges were places where there was the free and open exchange of ideas. Here is the truth. Ideas and thoughts on college campuses are tolerated as long as they are leftist. Anti-left ideas are not tolerated. Colleges in America today are inching ever closer to totalitarianism. They are fascist. They professors and administrators are actually raising fascists. The students are not being taught, they are being indoctrinated. The college campus today in America in far too many places is a very sick, twisted, NON-LIBERAL place. Why is Berkeley special? It isn't.
And I have another couple of questions. How is it possible that there were no arrests in the aftermath of these riots perpetrated by these thugs? As long as authorities allow these 'snowflakes' (thugs) to lash out (riot) without any consequences, they will certainly continue to do so. Eventually, it will be not only property that is damaged. Someone will be killed. Where is the 'safe place' for a conservative on campus these days? I know where the 'safe space' should be. A safe space for a conservative (or leftist) should be anywhere within America's borders.
Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos said Wednesday that the riot that canceled his planned speech at the University of California-Berkeley was "heavily ironic and very, I think, self-defeating for the social justice left. Yiannopoulos' planned talk was scrapped after violent protesters hurled smoke bombs, broke windows and started a bonfire outside the student union where he was to appear. "No one’s safety is at risk from different opinions," Yiannopoulos told "Tucker Carlson Tonight" in a phone interivew. "No one’s physical safety is endangered by political ideas from a speaker on campus, but universities have sort of allowed this stuff to happen, and even in some cases encouraged it." The Berkeley appearance was to be the 32-year-old's last stop on a nationwide college tour that has sparked protests and occasional violence. Yiannopoulos told Carlson that he believes the protesters view him as a proxy for President Donald Trump, whom he vocally supports. "I annoy the feminists and the Black Lives Matter guys probably almost as much as Trump does, certainly on college campuses," Yiannopoulos said. "So, they go for the next best thing. They go for the person they think they can scare. Well, they don’t scare me. I will continue to give college talks until the day I drop dead."Yiannopoulos has made remarks in the past that have been criticized as racist, misogynist, and anti-Muslim. Of his opponents, Milo said, "They never want to debate because they’re scared of losing. They don’t have the facts on their side and for 30 years the left has been able to bully people into silence by name-calling and they’ve forgotten how to argue." "UC Berkeley condemns in the strongest possible terms the actions of individuals who invaded the campus, infiltrated a crowd of peaceful students, and used violent tactics to close down the event. We deeply regret that the violence unleashed by this group undermined the First Amendment rights of the speaker as well as those who came to lawfully assemble and protest his presence," university spokesman Dan Mogulof responded.
That was fast. Actually it was not fast. However it was a fast. During the 24 hour period from the end of dinner on Tuesday night until after sundown on Wednesday evening, I was fasting (along with my daughter) for Yom Kippur. Yom Kippur is the Jewish Holiday known as the Day of Atonement. All through the years as my interest and involvement in Judaism has waxed and waned, I have almost always fasted on this day. My daughter and I walked to our synagogue for services, and that walk was nearly 7 miles. It started to sprinkle about two miles shy of our destination, so we did what would have been expected. We continued to walk and got a bit wet. We were 'rescued' after services when my wife offered to come pick us up. It was raining much harder then, the temperature had dropped and now it seemed bone chillingly cold, so that 'rescue ride' was much appreciated. It was 'fun' to fast with my daughter. I am proud of her for fasting with me. Probably the reason that I started fasting was that I chose to join my parents in fasting for this holiday when I was about the age that my daughter is now. This is how traditions transcend the generations.
My daughter and I did not set any speed records walking the 6.7 miles to synagogue for Yom Kippur. In fact, we were walking as slowly as we could as we were both dressed in our best clothes, not dressed for urban hiking. The walk was a bit less enjoyable when it started to sprinkle with nearly two miles to go. We managed. We survived. All we did was get a bit wet.
Yesterday I was out the door at 7:30AM to drive about 100 miles to see a customer for an extremely productive visit. That appointment ended around 1:30PM, and I reversed course and headed back home. I was trying to get back to Chicago in order to keep my 4:00PM Genuis Bar appointment at the Apple Store. There was not much time between my visit to the Apple Store and my dinner which would be the last meal before the 24 hour Yom Kippur Fast. Nevertheless, everything was accomplished, and my walk to the Apple Store was stretched to a five mile walk. There is almost always a way to get certain things accomplished, if there is a will. It is my will to walk at least 10,000 steps per day - which is about the equivalent of five miles.
