04/21/25

The Only Way You'll Ever Know

Weight: 220 lbs
Height: 5' 8
Time: College

It was the heaviest I had weighed in my entire life, the only personal record I successfully continued to break.

The self lies weren't working any more, I had to face facts:

No, I wasn't big-boned. Yes, I was unhealthy, ashamed, and insecure.

See: miserable.

...

I've never personally met a single individual from my generation who has ever experienced the two following circumstances:

Hunger and war.

My parents once related stories of growing up during the Korean War. Meat was a luxury to be had once a month and there were times when even rice became a rarity.

Rice!

That's when it suddenly clicked, why I witnessed so many Korean people eating (and drinking) like there was no tomorrow. Why they were so eager to plump up the next generation, so that their children and their children would never have to experience scarcity to the level it became a daily horror.

So you were conditioned to have a ravenous appetite, regardless if you weren't hungry. Trained to lick your dish clean and welcomed with second helpings of food even if your stomach's storage system was at capacity (my mother's shtick would be to ask if you wanted more, after she had already heaped a huge, additional portion onto your plate).

The problem is that the cup can indeed floweth over, abundance becoming overabundance.

...

I tried what I could. The low-carb lifestyle, every fad diet imaginable. Time in the gym, desperately trying to burn more calories than I consumed.

Yet the the scale continued to yoyo.

I felt like it would take something extreme, then I found it ...

... fasting.

(Ask and you shall receive.)

The pounds melted away like a miracle. It was a cheat code, just like the first time I used a Game Genie to effortlessly glide through Super Mario Bros. 3.

I slimmed down to 160 lbs (which meant I lost the rough equivalent of 2 very well-fed adult corgis). Not that it stayed off, there were many more trials to come. But today I can say I've successfully tamed my belt line.

...

The reason it worked is one my parents would find preposterous - I was chasing the very scarcity that took them a lifetime to escape.

Lacking certain necessities for basic human existence was what drove my father to America via one very long boat ride. Once here, he scrimped and saved every penny from every odd job he worked at until he had enough to finally start his own business.

Call this drive, something the modern world is so good at depleting by giving you too much of what you want.

This is why fasting is one antidote for contemporary times - a way to temporarily deprive yourself of everything you think is necessary and important.

Once you do, you finally realize how little of it is actually essential.

Remember, happiness lies in the pursuit ...

... not the attainment.

Cheers.

The Only Way You'll Ever Know

Weight: 220 lbsHeight: 5' 8Time: College

It was the heaviest I had weighed in my entire life, the only personal record I successfully continued to break.

The self lies weren't working any more, I had to face facts:

No, I wasn't big-boned. Yes, I was unhealthy, ashamed, and insecure.

See: miserable.

I've never personally met a single individual from my generation who has ever experienced the two following circumstances:

Hunger and war.

My parents once related stories of growing up during the Korean War. Meat was a luxury to be had once a month and there were times when even rice became a rarity.

Rice!

That's when it suddenly clicked, why I witnessed so many Korean people eating (and drinking) like there was no tomorrow. Why they were so eager to plump up the next generation, so that their children and their children would never have to experience scarcity to the level it became a daily horror.

The problem is that the cup can indeed floweth over, abundance becoming overabundance.

I tried what I could. The low-carb lifestyle, every fad diet imaginable. Time in the gym, desperately trying to burn more calories than I consumed.

Yet the the scale continued to yoyo.

I felt like it would take something extreme, then I found it ...

... fasting.

(Ask and you shall receive.)

The pounds melted away like a miracle. It was a cheat code, just like the first time I used a Game Genie to effortlessly glide through Super Mario Bros. 3.

I slimmed down to 160 lbs (which meant I lost the rough equivalent of 2 very well-fed adult corgis). Not that it stayed off, there were many more trials to come. But today I can say I've successfully tamed my belt line.

The reason it worked is one my parents would find preposterous - I was chasing the very scarcity that took them a lifetime to escape.

Lacking certain necessities for basic human existence was what drove my father to America via one very long boat ride. Once here, he scrimped and saved every penny from every odd job he worked at until he had enough to finally start his own business.

Call this drive, something the modern world is so good at depleting by giving you too much of what you want.

This is why fasting is one antidote for contemporary times - a way to temporarily deprive yourself of everything you think is necessary and important.

Once you do, you finally realize how little of it is actually essential.

Remember, happiness lies in the pursuit ...

... not the attainment.

Cheers.

Hold The Line

They're Always Watching

Weight: 220 lbs
Height: 5' 8
Time: College