The Number on My Scale

I read 65 pages of Warbreaker this week. Slower than I wanted, and a couple of weeks ago I'd have called that a loss and moved on. This time it left me with a real question instead.

If a book takes me weeks, what does that actually do to the project? It could mean a blog post and a video once or twice a month, which is slower than I pictured. But I'm not sure slower is the same as worse. Maybe the pace just is what it is, and the thing to do is build around it honestly rather than pretend I'll suddenly read faster. I'll read a lot more tonight and tomorrow over Shabbat. Even so, I wanted to sit with the question rather than rush past it.

I also had some genuine wins this week, so let's get into those.

My Scale Shows a Number I Last Saw 10 Years Ago

I have been struggling with my weight ever since I was in my early twenties. I had always been bigger. And while I did try to diet and exercise more, my body seemed to work against me and I'd either gain back everything I lost or just keep climbing.

About 18 months ago, I started working with a personal trainer and have reached heights I never thought I would. That meant looking more muscular for the first time ever in my life. And it also meant working on my diet. There I kept struggling. We tried changing my diet a few times but it didn't seem to help.

Lately, I decided to take matters into my own hands and try just adding more steps into my day. That meant raising my step count to somewhere between 15k and 20k steps everyday.

The way I did this was simple: I'd walk for an hour before work in the morning, and another hour after I finish my workday. That also helped clear my head.

Yesterday morning, after almost two weeks of this, I stepped on the scale and still saw there a 3-digit number, but one I haven't seen for over a decade: 104.8kg

I was struggling to go down from 107 back to a two digit number and it seems I'm on the right track.

And the other positive signs are that I feel it in my clothes. This isn't just a fluke water weight spike. I actually feel it in my fit.

If that's not a win, I don't know what is.

Our #SaveStargate Posts Keep Making Noise

Another win which isn't directly mine to share, but I want to report it anyway is about my #SaveStargate posts. I have been sharing a daily Save Stargate post and those are pushed out to people who like and repost them on X. It's not easy to keep the hope up that Amazon will change their minds, but I'm doing my best.

We have been waiting for stargate for so long. It's just unfair that some pompous executive can cancel the dreams of an entire generation like that. There are so many threads to explore, too! I have been writing about them on X.

I also keep liking and reposting other Save Stargate posts by other people. I love this fandom so much. It feels great to know I'm not fighting this digital fight alone.

I Have Too Many Books

I'm sitting here, writing this letter from the same book-store-turned-library that I told you about last week, and last week I told you about books I bought. Well, this time, I have a plastic bag with the four Eragon books waiting for me to take them home.

I have no idea where I'll put them but I still wanted them. It feels weird to buy something you know you want to own and read, but at the same time not knowing where you'll put that thing in the long-term. I'm reaching that age where I want to own a house and put all my stuff in it. A space to call my own. That's a dream for another day and another newsletter.

I Refuse to Give Up Streaming

I haven't been streaming Mass Effect in the last couple of weeks. On the one hand, I'm annoyed with myself because at this point in Mass Effect 2, each mission could be a 90 minute stream in a similar manner to what I did in Mass Effect 1. Doing so makes it pretty straightforward to finish the game and reach Mass Effect 3.

The problem is I'm finding myself getting ready to stream too late in the evening these days especially because of all the walking. Where I would start a stream in 20:30, now I usually come back from my evening walk by then, needing to eat and take a shower first. So by the time I'm ready to stream it's almost 22:00 which is way too late to start a stream.

I'll have to think about a solution for this. For now I don't have a good one to share.

Thank You For Reading

I'm enjoying writing these letters because I know I'll be able to look back and read them and see where my headspace has been in particular points in my life. I don't share my whole life here, of course, this is not a journal. But hopefully, the bits I do share do resonate with you.

I appreciate you taking the time to read these and invite you to hit reply if you read this in your inbox, or drop a comment below, and tell me what are you reading these days, what's on your mind, and whether you have any wins or losses to share. This is a safe space.

I'll see you in the next one!

Oren