Greetings from Atlas Charles

Greetings.

I was riding my bike in the morning cold, huffing a bit and cursing the chill, when it hit me: I am getting fat and lazy.

I eat pretty well, but too much and not carefully and mindfully enough. I exercise, but fitfully and almost grudgingly. I am reasonably healthy, but have a tough time shaking colds and haven’t had a health workup for years.

Of course, all of this is stuff that I have thought about time and again. But this time, I have decided to act upon it.

So here is the question: Can an American male who certainly qualifies as middle-aged somehow find, in the midst of holiday indulgences and excesses, a pathway not only to not gaining weight, but to becoming, in the New Year, healthier and skinnier than he has been in decades? Can I make it into and through the holidays not only maintaining my weight and mien but actually losing weight and getting healthier—and maybe even happier?

I believe it is possible. In fact, I am willing to lace up my boots and proclaim so here, in public, for all and sundry to see.

Over the next month or three, expect to see postings from yours truly as I work on detoxing my body of processed ingredients and general free radicals, finding out the specific picture of my overall health with the help of a doctor and nutritional advice, lowering my resting heart rate, getting more exercise, and getting my weight below 200 pounds for the first time in over a decade.

Can it be done? You bet it can.

Until then, here’s something to ponder: What do a galaxy, a pinecone, and sugar molecules have in common?