Diary: No Loitering

Twin Falls, Idaho

Idaho is a pretty area with big sweeping skies, gorges, and flat-top mountains. I'd live here in the summer, but I concluded there are better places to spend a winter.

Idaho: Good 'Nuf

Idaho has been 'good nuf' for a while. And now it's time to move on.

I'm cold. There was a snow in Boise two days ago, and that's when I made the decision to drive south. I'm heading to Phoenix, Arizona. It was a balmy 60F in Phoenix last I checked. Here it's been 18F.

I realized I have no reason to eke out another cold winter and I've got nothing to prove. Last year, I stayed in Colorado Springs, Colorado through the winter months because I wanted to acquaint myself with the area and to see if I could survive the cold. This year, my goal is to exercise and study. A warmer environment just makes more sense.

An important difference between Idaho and Colorado is sunshine. Even when it snowed in Colorado, the frost melted at sunrise and every day was bright and warm. I could spend weekends outdoors hiking, running, playing music. Idaho has time and again been overcast and cold, and on those days I can do nothing but hunker in my car.

Haircut

I'm happy with my weight-gaining progress at 165 lbs. Most of my life, I've been a skinny 140 lbs so for me that's a significant improvement. I want to reach 180 lbs with gains in my upper body.

For the past year, budget restrictions restrict me to $10 per day, so I only eat at buffets during lunch. It's been a challenge to put on weight, eating only one meal a day. I force myself to eat as much as I can every meal, in order to grow my gut and accommodate an increasing intake of food.

Lately, the restaurant quality in this area has been sub-par, so I needed a low cost strategy to maintain my calories. I continue to gorge at lunch buffets, and in addition, I'm starting to supplement with bananas and bread in the evening. 

Gaining weight has not just about stuffing my face with food. I have to maximize volume as well as content. Carbohydrates, proteins, fats, calcium and other vitamins - the thought process goes into every meal. I have to limit greasy and salty entrees, so I don't lose my appetite before I am full. I have to choose spinach, dairy, and an assortment of colors at the salad bar to get the most nutritional content. I have to be vigilant to avoid processed sugars and acidic foods that threaten to strip me of my cavity riddled teeth.

A black Santa