Gregory Paul Johnson > Journal
About the Personal Update. For about seven years, the first and most important communication I would send out each month would be a personal update covering seven areas of life described on the Map Page of the Resources for Life.com website. I reference this monthly practice in my Schedule for Life. Over the years, my personal updates went out each month to about 10 family members and friends who I consider to be my “advisory board.” As well as looking for feedback and guidance, I also saw these updates as a way of making a regular personal life assessment. As of September 2007, I began putting these monthly updates online in my online Journal. The seven areas of my personal life have solidified in recent years, so there’s not much “news” to report, but as there is, I’ll report it here in these updates. Additional writings are available through my online journal and other writings.
Summary. May was a busy month. My greatest challenge over the past six months has been with weight gain and accelerated aging. In six months of living the average American lifestyle, I’ve gained about 40 pounds and aged about 30 years (my metabolic age). This is described in more detail below. Photos from the recent trip to Chicago are now online.
- Lifeways. My philosophy and “religious practice” continues to be defined as Adonaikido. My daily practice begins with yoga (stretching), a quiet meditation, exercise, and then expanding in the other areas of life described below. Following the Schedule for Life is at the core of my belief system and practice.
- Health. Every day, I use a Tanita InnerScan Body Composition scale to check my percent body fat, bone density, and other measurements. The scale will calculate metabolic age. It is very accurate and can usually “guess” a person’s age fairly accurately based on their body composition. Over the past few years, I was able to get my age down from the mid 30s to about 20 years old using the powerful age reversing capabilities of the Schedule for Life, the Holistic Living System, and the Everything Diet. After maintaining my age at about 20 years old for several years, it began to climb this year in January as a result of not sticking diligently to my age reversal system. Instead, for about 6 months, I’ve been living like an average American with regard to my food, beverages, housing, exercise, transportation, and other areas of life. As a result, last month my weight was about 92 kilograms (202 pounds) and my body fat was at about 19%. These are up from 81 kg (180 pounds) and 15% body fat in previous months. My metabolic age has gone from 20 years old to 44 years old (peaking at 50 years old). Currently my weight has been hovering around 97 kilograms (213 pounds), my body fat has been around 22%, and my metabolic age has been around 44 years old. My goal is to get back down to the level of fitness and wellness I had maintained over the past few years: 20 years old, 81.18 kilograms (180 pounds), and about 14% body fat. It will take a lot of work, and I’ll need to stay committed to my Schedule for Life and the holistic wellness lifestyle. I’m planning to return to my age reversing lifestyle in mid June. This will be the first time I’ve put the complete system to a full test. Losing the excess 30 pounds of body weight will be a good test of the system.
- Career. I’m thankful that my work at the University of Iowa is going well and my consulting business continues to be busy. After years of work, my book, Put Your Life on a Diet, is ready to go on sale and be promoted in the U.S. as of June 1.
- Finance. My financial situation is stable right now. I continue to look for ways to decrease my regular expenses and increase my income.
- Relationships. Makur will be returning to India on June 12 and will stay there for 2 years. We plan to be in touch regularly through e-mail and video calls. My hope is to visit her in India as I’m able. So I’ll be working hard to save up money for travel. I continue to be grateful for the relationships I have with family, friends, colleagues, and clients.
- Activism. My new book, Put Your Life on a Diet, is scheduled to be in bookstores by June, so I’m excited about the impact it can have. I’ve been investing considerable time in upgrading the Resources for Life.com website which is reaching hundreds of people from all over the world every day. In the future, other than consulting, I see my greatest positive impact and most effective use of my time being through the website.
- Effective Living. I’ve been deepening my understanding and practice of effectiveness principles, tools, and techniques. The website conversion is part of this effort. My renewed commitment to the Schedule for Life is also an effort to maintain maximum effectiveness and efficiency.
Many thanks to all of you who are continuing to keep me in your thoughts, prayers, and meditation time.
~ Gregory