We planned to hike to the bird sanctuary from North Shore on Friday, but I caught a really nasty cold, so we'll delay going until next Friday. Despite my cold, I continued with my beach walk, weightlifting, squats, Zumba, and water walking. Steve and I are still enjoying Waianae. We have beautiful views from our lanai while luxuriating in breezes from the mountains in front of our house.  We still go to the marina every day. I hang out and watch the sea life while Steve fishes with his friends. This past week, a production crew was making another film. When this occurs, it is quite harried, filling the marina with people and equipment. The last time they filmed part of a movie called Aquaman. This time, they're working on some rescue show. I recognized one of the actors, but no one else.  They transport everything they need out into the ocean, including a porta-potty, which resides on a pontoon-style boat.  Jet skis haul people in and out of the bay from the dock.  The water was calm for several days so they could continue their filming. However, these past few days were rough again, so I think they will have to wait a while before they go out again. We're still hanging in with our diet, and Steve and I continue losing weight. Also, I'm doing much more research on how to use keto to continue counteracting insulin resistance. As I said before, GLP-1 is central to glucose metabolism, satiety, and weight loss.  As it turns out, the keto diet is similarly effective but through a different mechanism. When replacing carbohydrates with fat, GLP-1 secretion is no longer needed to metabolize glucose, so the Keto diet bypasses the problem of impaired GLP-1 secretion, leading to insulin resistance. Therefore, my Weight loss is maintainable with my keto diet because, unlike a low-calorie diet, in ketosis, the brain receives plenty of energy in the form of ketones and does not shift into an energy conservation mode.  Replacing glucose with fat to become the primary energy source is a good solution for weight loss. So, although keto might not promote dropping more weight, it will allow me to maintain it.  We'll find out in a few months!​

  ​   We had another fantastic week, beginning with a beautiful hike at Ka'ena Point. This hike terminates in a sanctuary. Off the coast, you can sometimes see the Humpback whales that migrate between October and April. However, here's the rest of the story. The trail into the sanctuary was washed out from the waves that hammered the coast over the past three weeks. There was a very narrow, rocky, and steep route leading up to the sanctuary, but Steve and I decided not to attempt it, remembering we're both in our seventies now. Therefore, we didn't see the nesting seabirds or anything else. Next Friday, we plan to approach the sanctuary from North Shore. That path is very moderate and easy to navigate. It doesn't follow the coast so it will lack the beautiful views, but we will be able to get to the sanctuary, which is one of our main goals. We also deposited one of our blessings at a beautiful lookout. Two days later, a lady reported finding it, which makes this activity so much fun. On the negative side, the high waves that reached the walkway impaired my bay walk. Several inches of sand cover everything, including the sidewalk. Waves rose high enough to carry sand over a six-foot wall. People are out working on it, but the cleanup is a daunting job. I'm trying to stay out of their way, so this limits my walk. I'll survive. Steve and I binged on Huevos Rancheros several mornings this past week, slowing my weight loss, so that's over. Still, the weight is going down, down, down. I'll stick with the hormone support until I reach my goal weight and forgive myself for lapses.

   We've had a really good week. It's cooled off here significantly, with temperatures between 70 and 75 every day. It's made it nice, and we managed entirely without our air conditioning. Everything is going well with my diet, too. I keep losing weight consistently, and I'm feeling very optimistic. We've planned a hike for today, so I'll report back in next week's blog. While we're there we'll drop one of our "blessings." I don't know if I have mentioned our joint activity.  Steve and I have a lot of fun with this. He carves driftwood for me in four motifs, including fishhooks, arrowheads, clovers, and fish. The backside has a carved space for a tiny little bottle in which I put a blessing that matches the motif. The fishhook carving contains a Hawaiian blessing, the Arrowhead, a Native American blessing, the clover, an Irish blessing, and the fish, a fisherman's blessing. We place these on hiking trails that we visit together. I set up a website so people can report their find, and sometimes they even send pictures.  You can see some of them at the following website:  www.blessingsinbottles.com.  We are thrilled when we receive a report of a find.  We've received reports from several states and even in some areas worldwide. So, on our hike today, we plan to leave a fishhook blessing for somebody to find. Along with this activity, I'm continuing to write. I'm currently putting together a collection of constitutional issues and connecting them with those serving sentences for their participation in the January 6th Insurrection. Their stories demonstrate a cultlike decision to take illegal actions to demonstrate loyalty to their misguided leader, Trump.  They completely disregarded laws and placed themselves in legal and financial jeopardy.  The outcome for most of these people is tragic, but it's hard to empathize given the nature of their crimes and the damage done to our country.  Clearly, I'm looking forward to finishing this writing because it is so depressing. The next thing I plan to do is finish a memoir. It might be equally depressing.  I don't want to remember some things, but it might do me good to face my life, both the good and the bad.  On the diet front, I'm still focusing on getting to a healthy weight and maintaining it. That depends in part on countering insulin resistance with a healthy diet. As I've explained in earlier blogs, insulin is a hormone that facilitates the transport of glucose from blood into cells, causing a reduction in blood sugar. There are many causes of insulin resistance, and the underlying process is still not completely understood.  However, it can be improved or reversed with exercise, and some studies show that the keto diet is especially effective for people with insulin resistance, so it should serve me well when I discontinue semaglutide support. We'll see.

     I was feeling crummy for several weeks and couldn't figure it out. I went to the doctor before we headed to Hawaii, and he didn't find anything wrong. However, I still felt terrible, and finally, this past week, I went to a walk-in clinic to get checked out. They discovered I had an infection and gave me some antibiotics, which are already working. I'm feeling so much better, and I'm grateful for it.  Despite this, we continued our regular weekly routine without much of a diversion. However, Steve and I are planning a weekly hike, so I'm looking forward to that. Our first hike is a trail beginning at Ka'ena Point State Park on the Northwest end of Oahu, just past our house.  It is considered a moderately challenging route and takes a little over two hours to hike.  The trail is always open and is beautiful to hike year-round. We tried this hike before but never found the trailhead. We've decided to commit to discovering the trail this coming week, so we're both looking forward to it. We'll leave early in the morning to return home before it gets too warm.  In the meantime, I'm already thinking about stopping semaglutide, so I'm researching it, and the news is mixed. According to studies, weight gain is a likely outcome.  The average weight gain was approximately 12 percent.  Studies attribute it to the loss of GLP-1 levels, which promotes hunger, thus increasing food intake. However, my keto diet satiates and prevents my overeating, so that doesn't impact me. The diet's quality also matters, and I have a good handle on that. I don't eat processed foods and thus do not ingest hidden calories.  My situation is slightly different because I'm committed to a lifestyle conducive to moderate weight loss without semaglutide and maintained it over the last few years.  I plan to continue my healthy lifestyle forever. It is comfortable, and I enjoy my exercise program as well.  I religiously follow my exercise regime, and I occasionally add activities that improve the quality of my exercise program. I do not live a sedentary lifestyle, which contributes to obesity. Ultimately, the foundational habits I've developed over the past few years will help keep the weight off.  It will be exciting to see how everything shakes out. Also, my emotional health is good, so that is not a contributor. Ultimately, avoiding overeating, maintaining a healthy diet, exercising, and nurturing good emotional health go a long way toward keeping weight off. Some people intend to remain on semaglutide for life, but I don't plan to do that. We'll see how it all works out.

     Steve and I were alone this New Year's Eve. We treated each other to a lovely brunch at the little restaurant behind our house. It has a beautiful view of Pokai Bay and delicious food due to a great chef. We try not to go there too often, which keeps it fresh.  Otherwise, we just stayed in and watched fireworks all around us.  The night was noisy but fun. Of course, Steve spent his usual few evening hours at the marina, and I always enjoy going along with him for the fresh air and the sites.  Generally, our week was very uneventful. Jake spent the week in Washington State skiing and snowboarding, so it was quiet here. We'll pick him up from the airport this evening. I'm doing my usual bay walks, Zumba, and weightlifting. The only difference between what I do here and in Washington is that I spend time in and beside the pool. It's very refreshing. My menu has remained the same. I'm not making any new recipes, but my old standbys are serving me well so far. I've also spent some time looking for natural sources of semaglutide. There's very little available, and for the most part, it's ineffective compared to the prescription. That's too bad.  It appears that when one becomes insulin resistant, there's no quick fix, and in fact, it seems to be irreversible.  Also, according to studies, most people regain weight once they get off the semaglutide. I do not want to stay on this forever, so I will see how to avoid it. Since there's no natural way to accommodate this, the next step is to see what I can do to keep from gaining weight once I stop using a semaglutide. My experience over the past few years tells me that I can maintain my weight loss if I continue the keto and exercise, which I definitely intend to do.  That's my next course of study. In the meantime, I hope everyone has the happiest of New Year!