WHAT CHANGED?

Many times over the past two years (in fact, tomorrow will be the two year anniversary of this blog) I have reminded what few readers this blog has, that that real reason that I do this every day is because I personally enjoy going back and reading some of these daily entries as time passes. I admit that I try to make this blog somewhat interesting for the few people who have the spare two minutes each day to see what I am pontificating about. For many months, the average number of visitors each day has been somewhere near fifty. Beginning on December 7th, for a reason that completely eludes me, the daily visitors to this blog has 'skyrocketed' to nearly 300. I have no idea why. I always thought that I might be 'discovered' if not for my successful weight loss, then at least for my 'razor sharp' and/or  my twisted political viewpoints. However, before I get too jazzed about my increased readership, here are the stats from 'drudgereport.com' which is a website that I visit numerous times each day. For comparison, my blog has accumulated just over 50,000 hits in two years. 

VISITS DRUDGEREPORT.COM 12/25/2016

020,179,375 PAST 24 HOURS
853,034,180 PAST 31 DAYS
10,675,624,505 PAST YEAR.

It's time for me to do my 'Rain Man' thing.  If the Drudge Report had 20,179,375 visits in the past 24 hours, then it was visited approximately 840,807 times per hour, which translates to 14,013 visits per minute.  In the last four minutes, the Drudge Report has had more visitors to its website than my blog has had in the past 2 years. But we should compare apples to apples, right?  How many minutes has my blog been active?  Two years, is 730 days, which is 17, 520 hours, which further is translated to 1,051,200 minutes.

Now I have a good comparison... My blog needed to be active for over ONE MILLION MINUTES for it to be visited as many times as the DRUDGE REPORT is visited in just 4 minutes.  OK, on second thought, perhaps I should have not reported that my visits to the blog 'skyrocketed' beginning on December 7th. But they did increase. What changed? I do not know. 

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, December 24, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Quaker - Instant Oatmeal- Maple	800	160	10	20	1,300	60
Kirkland - Pre-Cooked Bacon	240	0	18	18	1,050	0
	1,040	160	28	38	2,350	60
L U N C H
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich, 2	760	60	34	18	310	34
	760	60	34	18	310	34
D I N N E R
Home Made - Potato Latkes	852	186	28	34	4,524	15
Black Angus Sirloin Steak	360	0	24	33	0	0
	1,212	186	52	67	4,524	15
S N A C K S
Klondike Vanilla Ice Cream Bar	500	70	34	6	170	56
	500	70	34	6	170	56
Totals	3,512	476	148	129	7,354	165
Your Daily Goal	3,495	437	116	175	2,300	131
Remaining	-17	-39	-32	46	-5,054	-34
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,565 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, December 24, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
ELEVEN MILE URBAN HIKE	166	1,879
Daily Total / Goal	166 / 30	1,879 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	929 / 210	9,885 / 4,130

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During my eleven mile urban hike yesterday, I tried my new headlamp. I know that it looks a bit goofy. I also know that there have been a few times in recent weeks when this would have come in very handy when my hiking extended into darkness, especially where there was very little light to mark the way forward. These days, I always carry a flashlight with me. I also think that this headlamp will be permanently stowed in my backpack for the times that it is necessary. 

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from wikipedia...

Rain Man is a 1988 American road comedy-drama film directed by Barry Levinson and written by Barry Morrow and Ronald Bass. It tells the story of an abrasive and selfish young wheeler-dealer, Charlie Babbitt (Tom Cruise), who discovers that his estranged father has died and bequeathed all of his multimillion-dollar estate to his other son, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), an autistic savant, of whose existence Charlie was unaware. 

Charlie learns more about Raymond, including that he is a mental calculator with the ability to instantly count hundreds of objects at once, far beyond the normal range of human subitizing abilities. 

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subitize

[soo-bi-tahyz]

• Word Origin

verb (used without object), subitized,subitizing. Psychology.

1.

to perceive at a glance the number of items presented, the limit for humans being about seven.

I personally, do not have any subitizing abilities, nor do I have a mental calculator. The reason that I identify with the character of Rain Man is that sometimes I just need to carry out mathematical problems to somewhat absurd exactitude.

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LION'S HEAD TRAIL

I was with my Mom and brother and his wife visiting their home on October 1. My sister-in-law suggested a local favorite hike which we did. Once we finished and headed on in the car, I was dropped off about six miles shy of their home and hiked another six miles.

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Your Food Diary For:

Saturday, October 1, 2016

BREAKFAST	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
Post Great Grains Raisins, Dates and Pecans	420	82	8	8	270	26
	420	82	8	8	270	26
L U N C H
Quinoa - Grain	250	44	5	9	15	0
Generic - Sliced Deli Turkey	100	2	2	20	469	0
Clover Valley - Whole Wheat Bread, 2 slice	120	22	1	8	220	2
	470	68	8	37	704	2
D I N N E R
Home Made - Garden Salad, 1 bowl	100	6	0	4	400	4
Grilled Squid, 8 oz	160	20	5	30	160	4
Grilled Chicken - Grilled Chicken, 9.68 ounces	300	0	10	63	319	0
	560	26	15	97	879	8
S N A C K S
Raw Chocolate	500	76	20	9	5	67
Coconut Almond Granola	300	36	13	7	61	6
	800	112	33	16	66	73
Totals	2,250	288	64	158	1,919	109
Your Daily Goal	3,784	473	126	190	2,300	142
Remaining	1,534	185	62	32	381	33
	Calories kcal	Carbs g	Fat g	Protein g	Sodium mg	Sugar g
	*You've earned 1,854 extra calories from exercise today

If every day were like today...   You'd weigh 193.5 lbs in 5 weeks.


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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Saturday, October 1, 2016

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
LION'S HEAD HIKE	126	703
6 MILE HIKE	80	1,151
Daily Total / Goal	206 / 30	1,854 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1129 / 210	15,044 / 4,130

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DON'T GET A BIG HEAD

Nearly one year ago on December 24th, 2014, I weighed 309 lbs.  These days, when I step on the scale I am under 220 lbs.  I have lost 90+ lbs.  It is true, that the good looking me (better looking me?) that was so successfully hidden for many years has re-emerged.  I do feel good about myself.  I do enjoy wearing nice clothes.  I do enjoy seeing myself in photographs.  I do enjoy my reflection in the mirror.  I do enjoy being able to shop for clothes in any store anywhere.  (Last year I was relegated to shopping at the KING SIZE website) I do enjoy seeing my thinner shadow trailing me when I am outdoors.  I have received many nice compliments from friends, family and customers over the past few months.  I need to remind myself, though, not to get A BIG HEAD.

The expression, 'a big head' refers to cockiness, or big ego. Often 'a big head' occurs when accomplishments achieved and compliments associated with those accomplishments lead a person believe that they are either infallible on a topic and/or can tackle greater challenges for which they are not capable. Often people may be told: "Don't get full of yourself".  Colossal Olmec Heads are something completely different!

Replica of colossal Olmec Head #8.  Head of Veracruz leader, Ignacio Perez Solano
description: STONE: height 7 ft. 3 in., 1700 pounds.
location: Field Museum Lawn, 1400 S Lake Shore Drive, Museum Campus

The ancient Olmec, one of the first complex societies in the Americas, are remembered for their colossal head sculptures, 17 of which have been recovered to date.  Each original head is distinctive and believed to embody the likeness of an individual leader.  Though all of the heads were carved in a sylized manner, Olmec Head #8 is considered the most naturalistic. The State of Veracruz, Mexico donated Ignacia Perez Solano's 1700-pound stone replica to the city of Chicago. (Oct 2003)

A plaque near the replica reads:

This sculpture is a replica of Olmec Head #8 from the site of San Lorenzo. It is one of 17 known colossal heads created by the ancient Olmec people in the states of Veracruz and Tobasco, Mexico. The Olmec flourished in the Gulf Coast region of Mexico from 1300 to 300 BC.  Most scholars believe that Olmec carved these stone heads to commemorate their rulers.

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During this Thanksgiving Holiday shortened week, it has been nearly impossible to secure an appointment to sell buttons or fabrics to anyone.  Most people are getting ready to either host guests or getting ready to travel to be a guest somewhere else.  I do have an appointment today, but yesterday I took full advantage of my 'downtime.'   I had planned on taking my regular 10 mile walk, but since the weather was comfortable (30° F when I started at 8:35AM) I decided to KEEP GOING.  I did not stop until I had walked 20 miles.

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Your Food Diary For:

Monday, November 23, 2015

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
General Mills - Cheerios-peanut Butter Multigrain, 3/4 cup	110	23	2	2	130	9
John McCann Steel Cut - Oat Meal, 1 cup	600	108	0	16	0	0
	710	131	2	18	130	9
L U N C H
WHOLE FOODS - WHOLE CASHEWS (RAW), 52.5 g (approx 1/4 cup)	270	12	21	8	0	3
WHOLE FOODS - JUMBO TURKISH FIGS, 4 figs	130	42	0	1	0	28
WHOLE FOODS 9392 - YOGURT RAISINS, 64.0 g (approx 34 pieces)	272	45	11	2	24	40
WHOLE FOODS 8497 - CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA, 82.5 g (3/4 cup)	360	60	11	8	90	23
Whole Foods 365 Organic - Organic Turkey Jerky, 3 oz	180	18	0	33	810	15
	1,212	177	43	51	924	109
D I N N E R
Roundy's - No Salt Added Sweet Peas - Canned, 1 3/4 cup	210	35	2	14	53	18
Campbells Home Style Soup - Italian Wedding Soup, 2 cup	200	26	5	12	820	8
Hilshire Farms - Beef Polska Kielbasa, 6 oz	540	9	48	21	1,680	3
	950	70	55	47	2,553	29
S N A C K S
Cheerios - Peanut Butter Multigrain Cheerios, 3 cup	330	69	5	6	390	27
	330	69	5	6	390	27
Totals	3,202	447	103	122	3,997	173
Your Daily Goal	5,566	696	185	279	2,300	208
Remaining	2,364	249	81	157	-1,696	34
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 3,636 extra calories from exercise today

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       Your Exercise Diary for:

Monday, November 23, 2015

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking, 4.5 mph, very, very brisk pace	269	3,818
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-182
Daily Total / Goal	270 / 30	3,636 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	270 / 210	3,636 / 4,130

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total calories consumed 3202 calories
total calories burned (20 mile walk) 3818 calories
total net calories 616 calorie deficit
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.......................

fitbit day 82

56219 steps

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ten mile walking streak reached 15 days

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During a 20 mile walk...there is always some time to pause for a few moments and have some fun with the iPhone camera and  the 10 second timer.

No, it's not Michael Jordan....It's me... Marc Jacobs. Although me and 'MJ' share initials...We apparently do not share equivalent 'levitating' abilities.

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Perhaps if I had taken my photo with a basketball in my right hand I could have pulled of the Michael Jordan 'look' a little better..... 

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If I was unconsciously trying to emulate the logo of My Fitness Pal app with my flying leap into the air - I think I didn't exactly get that done either.