#100DaysofHealth

               I think I have a pretty good (if somewhat cynical) grasp of human nature.               My understanding of “how people are” informs my belief that the most of us—a number in the 98 th percentile, I’d guess—will utterly fail when attempting to make big changes to their behavior.               Big changes like, for instance, transforming oneself from a fat slug with a bad attitude about exercise and no positive habits of thought, or of eating, or of relaxation to a positive, energetic, 6 times a week exerciser.               Every time a friend or acquaintance informs me, usually with great gusto, that he or she intends to (fill in this blank with anything from doubling the size of their business to going back to school to get ...

Many times this summer, I’ve had the thought that 2017 has been the best year of my life. It’s not that there’s been any significant life event (other than moving to a more peaceful neighborhood last winter). I’ll make about as much money this year as I did last; I weigh roughly what I did when the year started; I’m with the same guy; the challenges in my business have been the same, or perhaps greater, than in the prior year; there haven’t been any extraordinary events or leaps forward. If I think about it, I can even come up with the usual set of disheartening, frustrating, unfortunate occurrences and moments.

The thought that overabundance of certain resources in our culture is both a blessing and a curse isn’t an original one. In fact, the issue is so pervasive that it’s become a political weapon (“How can we say that the poor in America are poor when their biggest problem is obesity, not starvation!”)

I’ve been thinking today about what a great job the cooking oil industry has done of controlling the conversation about its product. Case-in-point: Which oil do you think is healthiest? Olive, coconut, flaxseed, and avocado are all contenders, right?

I think the Buddhists are onto something. That, or I’m suffering from a serious psychiatric disorder. One of the things I’ve discovered during this whole ‘do things differently and see if something different happens’ experiment is that there is not, in fact, a single “me”.

I’ve always had a weird fascination with the evolutionary, spiritual, and philosophical significance of fasting.

I’ve always been a huge sucker for food festivals. Taste of Cincinnati. The Great Inland Seafood Festival. Bacon, Bourbon, and Barbeque. Bacon, Beer, and Bourbon. Bourbon and Bacon. Cheesefest. The Sausage Festival. The Sauerkraut Festival. The Food Truck Festival. Goettafest. No, not Goettafest.Well, Goettafest once. But I didn't inhale.