In a little under a month I'll be celebrating my 63rd birthday, which pretty much puts me squarely in the "old" category. Not old enough to retire, but that eventuality is within sight. Over the last few years I've been posting about my aging, physicality, and sexuality, and how each of them impacts the others. It's been a journey, along which I seem to have touched at least a handful of people along the way. According to the blog stats my little essays have received more than 110,000 hits. Whether that means a hundred thousand people have read each and every one of the essays is debatable, as I'm sure there are more than a few who come for the pictures. "I see. And how long have you felt like this?" But for me it's been rewarding because, as I've noted a few times, this has proven to be good therapy for me. And it costs a heckuva lot less than paying an analyst for help. (Though I'll grant you, I probably would've gotten a lot more u...

I haven't done this before, but I'm gonna post my more private New Year's resolutions here. Give myself a benchmark to measure how I do throughout 2023 versus 2022. First, background: The first half of 2022 was spectacular. I dropped 30 pounds, exercised regularly and felt tremendous. Then I went on vacation and was very self-indulgent. But in those three weeks I only gained 4 pounds, and still felt great physically. "I see thin people." The last three months of 2022 were a physical mess. I ate, drank and dropped my regular workouts. Purely self-indulgent and I own that. So, for 2023: -   Back to Ketogenic eating. Exceptionally low carb, with an emphasis on green veggies and healthy fat  consumption. (Avocados here I come!) - Intermittent fasting. 16 hours a day. The jury is out medically on this, but I found it improved my sense of health and well-being. I didn't walk through the day like a zombie after eating (carbs are also largely responsible for this). - ...

 So my weight keeps fluctuating, and the holiday season - starting with Halloween - is making it harder to maintain let alone lose weight. I'm up a few pounds against my lowest last June, and struggling to get back on program. One of the positive factors is that I am exercising regularly, which ought to change the course of the weight I'm gaining. (This is purely a willpower thing, kids. I know that.)  My morning workout routine is going quite well, and I'm up to a half hour of high activity most mornings. And I can readily feel the improvement in my musculature. My ass and abs in particular, though my abs are still embedded in a stubborn layer of fat and my ass - which itself is resuming its "bubble butt" appearance from my college days - rests below a similarly stubborn pocket of back fat clinging to my lower back and oblique muscles.  Not me...yet Much of all this, of course, is psychological. Mental. And I've noticed a shift lately in my self-perception th...

Since January1st I am down nearly 25 pounds using the ketogenic diet, exercise and intermittent fasting. I've lost a lot of body fat and am at my healthiest - and lowest weight - in the last thirty years. But my regular readers already know that. Let me talk a little about specific physiological changes I've noticed. First, whether it's because the workouts are intensifying, or my physiology is simply working better, I sweat a lot more in my morning workout. It gives me the sense that I'm actually accomplishing something. And as of early April my fat layer has receded considerably, though I have a ways to go until I'm completely satisfied. Around 25 pounds. My arms are pretty lean at this point, and muscular. I've been working out with weights. The veins in my forearms have returned to prominence, as have those on the back of my hands. I've got to do some extra work to get my deltoids a bit more developed. My chest is doing pretty well. Most of the fat seems...

I've blogged a lot lately about my current drive for fitness. Not just weight loss, but fitness. It's a little bit of an obsession as a friend rightly pointed out. (I reminded her she's only getting that impression from the blog, that in real life I have a LOT of other interests.)  Be warned, this is gonna be another one of those fitness entries with the added offense of personal pictures of a somewhat revealing nature. (I warned my regular readers a while ago that at some point I was likely to post nude photos - which I have in the past but not this many at one time or of more than just some shots of scar tissue in my groin.) What I haven't really discussed are the specifics of how this weight loss is affecting me. Yes, I've mentioned keto, intermittent fasting (eating in a six hour window each day, fasting for the other 18) and exercise, but haven't shared the impact those things have had on my physiology other than weight loss. So, for the faint of heart, if...

            (The title of this column refers to the very funny line in BACK TO THE FUTURE, as spoken by the main character's rather befuddled father. I'm not befuddled...much...but density is the focus of this entry.) Denser pubes and a leaner tummy As my regular readers are aware, and as I discussed on my last column, I am going through a period of losing significant weight and putting on some serious muscle. I have a long way to go on both counts, but am over some pretty big (pardon the pun) hurdles already. I'm down 55 pounds from my all-time high five years ago, with only around 35 to go to my current target - I'll re-evaluate if I want to go beyond that point once I get much closer to the original goal. I'm feeling healthier and getting two thumbs up from my cardiologist. Sexually my erections are much firmer than they were, and - unfortunately - my sex drive is higher than any time in the last couple of decades. I say unfortunately because my wife is ...