I try not to get to worked by politicians - hype and hysteria just come naturally to them -- but last night, I heard politicians criticize Barack Obama for his work as a community organizer and that hurt. You see, I did that too. When Governor Sarah Palin and former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani disparaged community organizing efforts, they belittled my efforts and those of countless others too.

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If an apple a day keps the doctor away, what is the economic value to Northeast Ohio of bringing fresh, local fruits and vegetables to poor, unhealthy, underserved inner city places like The Star Neig

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According to new data released by the New York City health department on Wednesday, residents of the city are contracting the virus that causes AIDS at three times the national rate. In 2006 nearly 4,800 New Yorkers were infected with HIV, which represents 72 in every 100,000 residents. The national rate is 23 per 100,000.

These new figures are the first that pinpoint when people became infected with HIV, not just when they were diagnosed. New and better blood tests helped to make that advance possible.

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The exercise bike in my basement was leading up to this, but I didn't like the idea of spending $400 for a new entry-level road bike. Craigslist came to the rescue. Someone had one they'd paid $450 for but weren't using. The frame fit me. It was in good repair and even looked halfway decent. They wanted $170 but the tires were shot, so I offered $150 and they accepted. Ta-daa!

Then came replacing my ancient helmet, spandex shorts, gloves, etc. After all that plus the tires, I was set back another $100. But I expected that. I even got out my old Thule trunk-mount bike rack. I'd lost the manual, and the thing was so old the manual wasn't online, but after a couple days I figured out how to mount it, so now my wife and I can ride together.

So on Sunday we drove to the northernmost point of the Tow Path along the Cuyahoga, and began riding south. After a half mile or so I noticed an odd bumping. After a mile I realized it was my valve stem hitting the road - my tire was flat. Serves me right for replacing the tires but not the inner tubes. We walked back to the car.

I got some replacement inner tubes. I dug out my old Zefal frame pump. I'm gonna toss my bike in the back of my car and go to that trailhead after work. You'll see.

I missed my workout this morning, my daily cardio on the bike trainer in the basement. I was too busy fucking. My wife pulled me to her shortly after my alarm went off, an after a piss and a long drink of water I shook the cobwebs out of my head and went to her. I've been biking in the basement four or five mornings a week for the last month or so. She asked me to start doing it - my job isn't terribly active and I was getting creaky and I'm physically not very strong. I'm only 38 but I'd better start taking care of myself. I'm not sure how to take care of myself. In the broadest physical terms, I do, like how not to get hit by a bus, but the subtler aspects elude me. Like how to have a good life.

Certain things have been unfolding in my mind recently. I don't know where they'll lead.

Yet another reason to push for 'more green' - it can lead to 'more clean' air. Something that both urban areas and their schools need to address. (Not that suburbia is immune to pollution. Dirty air is everywhere)

Michael Pollan speaks at Oberlin this fall!

The Coit Road Farmers Market is one of the most endearing places in real NEO. Hidden away in a near-dead industrial graveyard of East Cleveland, with the curb-appeal of a brownfield, it is not a place one goes without intent. So it amazes me that just about every time I go there I see someone I know. I guess I know some pretty smart people.

My kind of party:
On September 27 & 28, the Black Swamp Bird Observatory and the Ohio
Ornithological Society are hosting the Lake Erie Raptor Symposium,
based at
the beautiful Maumee Bay State Park lodge. This area is one of the

Bioneers Conference 2008 Bioneers, now in its 19th year is an acclaimed leading-edge forum that features a solutions-based approach, connecting environment, social justice, health and spiritual networks.  For the second year, Great Lakes Bioneers—Cleveland will bring to Northeast Ohio the excitement and energy of the inspiring social and scientific innovators speaking at the national conference and a wide-ranging line-up of regional and local speakers, workshops and tours to communicate and celebrate the trailblazing work taking place in our region.  This year’s conference will emphasize water and the important and diverse role that it plays in the social, economic, and natural environment of the Great Lakes Region.   

What's your vision for Cleveland?

Enter to Win $1,000

10,000 Visions of Cleveland Event

Date: September 6, 2008

We've all heard the saying at one point or another - that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Most scientific and nutritional research has backed that up, but now a new study suggests that not only will skipping breakfast making adolescents and young adults less attentive in school, but it might also have different affects in boys and girls.

In the report published in the medical journal "Pediatrics", Dr. Katharina Widenhorn-Mueller and her colleagues at Ulm University reported males being in a worse mood when missing breakfast, and that their visuospatial memory was also negatively affected. However, the same effects were not found in girls.

Researchers examined the effects of eating breakfast by looking at 104 boarding school students between the ages of 13 and 20. Half consumed a standardized breakfast on the first day of the study, and half did not. After this they completed a questionnaire designed to gauge their mood, and several tests of cognitive function. A week later the two groups swapped places - the breakfast group fasted, while the non-breakfast eaters got to eat.

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Today 8/3/2008, Chris Ronayne gets a front page editorial on the Forum page of the Plain Dealer.  Chris lives in Cleveland and drives to work every day.  I know his commute, because I made a similar commute when I worked at Metrohealth Hospital in the eighties.*  My drive time?  Ten minutes from University Circle to Metrohealth Hospital. Sure, sometimes, it was 15-20 minutes, if traffic held me up, or, if it took forever to get out of the parking lot, but I literally made the commute every day with my eyes closed.  It scared me so much to realize that I was driving in a trance, that I committed myself to public transportation. 

It’s going to be a dark and snowy weekend here in Ohio, but that never stops us. We’re still partying hard all weekend! If you’re stuck inside though (and even if you’re not), here are some links of stuff from the interblags to keep you entertained.

Create Digital Music (alongside many other blogs this week) talks about Trent Reznor’s new music release under the pay-what-you-want scheme. This is certainly becoming popular among already famous musicians, and from reports coming in he’s already made a handy profit and some of the physical stock is already sold out. More and more already famous musicians I’m sure will be trying this route. I doubt it works quite as well for the yet-to-be famous musicians, though.

Kevin over at the Scotch Blog rounds up a bunch of answers about the oxidation of whisky once the bottle’s been opened. There are some good answers in there. A nice little reminder that you shouldn’t hold on to the open bottles of scotch all that long.

David McDuff posts the roundup of the first edition of the Wine Book Club. There were many great entries there and a lot of fun takes on the book. I certainly had fun participating, and I look forward to the next round.

Which is being hosted by Winecast this time. Due on April 29th is a review of William Echikson’s Noble Rot. I’ve already place a hold on this book at my friendly neighborhood Cleveland Public Library branch and look forward to getting into this book over the next several weeks. Expect more participation from me in the Wine Book Blogging Bimonthly.

It looks like there’s finally some serious efforts to roll back the ridiculous drinking age of 21 in this country. Anything Wine reports on Vermont’s efforts to allow 18-20 year olds to purchase alcoholic beverages under certain circumstances. Remember, that the drinking age of 21 doesn’t really keep those underage from drinking booze, but it may actually prevent them from drinking booze responsibly and learning about responsible consumption.

Demand for scotch whisky is at an all time high and keeps on rising. Best of Whisky reports that The Macallan has seen sales double in five years and that they’re planning a massive expansion of their distillery. There may be a short supply for a while given that there’s at least a three-year lead time (and often 12, 15, 18 or more years lead time) on scotch whisky production.

Similar to the study that showed expensive wine just tastes better if you know it’s expensive, Science Daily is reporting a study that shows expensive placebos work better than cheap ones. Maybe that’s the real secret of homeopathic medicine. Expensive water might just do the trick.

Resident Advisor gets into what’s coming up with Booka Shade’s upcoming third album (out in May). There’s a nice video interview there that’s worth a watch.

Have a great weekend! I’ll catch you again once I unbury myself from this snow!

California became the first state to ban trans fat from restaurant food on Friday, as Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed legislation banning restaurants and other retail food establishments from using margarine, oil, and shortening that contains trans fat.

"Today we are taking a strong step toward creating a healthier future for California," said Schwarzenegger, who also noted that consuming trans fat is linked to coronary heart disease.

Violations of the trans fat ban could result in fines of $25 to $1000. Exemptions from the ban include food items sold in manufacturers' sealed packaging.

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Sang to the tune of R.E.M.’s “Losing My Religion”

Oh, I am bigger
I’m bigger than you
And I’m growing
The lengths that I will go to
To eat some moon pies
Oh no, I’ve said too much
I ate it up

That’s me at McDonalds
That’s me in the fridge, I’m
Losing motivation
Trying to lose all my weight
And I don’t know if I can do it
Oh no, I’ve said too much
I haven’t worked out in weeks
I thought that I was stronger
I thought that I could cheat
I think I thought I could eat that fry…..

As you have probably noticed, I haven’t been posting much here or in any forums.  This blog is a funny thing.  It’s been an amazing tool in my weight loss journey and has connected me to fantastic people throughout the world.  It kept me going when I wanted to quit before and picked me up when I stumbled.

But this time I didn’t just stumble, I completely fell off the wagon and gave in to all my bad habits.  And as I spiraled down into a deep abyss of self destruction (it really hasn’t been that bad, I’m just taking some creative license for dramatic effect) I turned away from the support that NMFD has offered, forsaking it for moon pies, M&Ms, ice cream, fast food and soda.

As I mentioned in my last post (has it really been almost 2 weeks since I stopped posting regularly?), I think completing the SEAL Fitness Challenge was a catalyst for my fall.  I had worked so hard for 5 months to prepare for the challenge and when it was over I didn’t have a new goal to reach for that would keep me on track.

Sure there’s the triathlon coming up in July, but I just did the friggin Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge, a triathlon will be easy!  That’s what I’ve been telling myself when I’m sure nothing could be further from the truth.

I’ve had plenty of reasons to make excuses for not eating right and not exercising but I’ve finally come to a point where I know that if I continue down this path, I will be right back where I started in January.  Undoing all the fantastic things I’ve done so far.

When I took that first stop off the wagon I was at 178 pounds.  That was just 8 pounds away from my target weight of 170.  The last time I weighed myself (last Monday), I was up to 180 pounds.  I actually avoided the scale yesterday because I didn’t want to see me go over 180.  I’m actually surprised I’m not heavier because when I do something I go all out.  I’ve eaten a lot of crap food, drank my first sodas and hit fast food joints for the first time this year.  For me, it’s all or nothing.

I’ve worked out sporadically during the last two weeks and had a camping trip that I hiked up and down hills for two entire days but I haven’t kept a regular schedule and I haven’t done any kick-butt workouts since the 14th.

Today, with this post, I’m officially picking myself up off the ground, dusting myself off and jumping back up on that wagon and getting back on track.

I still have a triathlon to prepare for and a transformation contest to win.  I’ve wallowed in self-pity for the past few days and it’s time to get over all that and move on.

That’s the difference between the new me and the old me.  I know how to move on and not kill myself over mistakes and I know exactly what I need to do to reach my goals.  That knowledge is very empowering.  In the past, I really had no clue how to get in shape and undo all the bad I’d done.  But now I do know and I’ll put all that knowledge to use to reach my goal of 170 pounds and winning the transformation contest.

A month ago, I wrote a post about seeing fat people everywhere, and in large numbers.  Originally, I was just making an observation about how large our population was and how I really had never noticed until now because I was one of the overweight masses.

As I  composed that post though, my view point changed and I went from just making an observation to wanting to take an active role in helping those who struggle with their weight.  And the people I feel need the most help, because they have the most opportunity to change, are the overweight children in our society.

To that end, and after much thought and consideration, I have decided to donate 25% of all the money (not that it’s a lot) I make from the No More Fat Dad website to the HealthCorps non-profit organization.

I decided to donate to the HealthCorps because of their holistic approach to teaching kids about nutrition, exercise, weight loss and the emotional aspects of good health.  Even though there are no HealthCorp programs here in Ohio, I’m hoping that one day they will come to my community.  But in the mean time, I know I’ll be helping out kids somewhere who will get a great education about living a healthy lifestyle.

Here’s an excerpt from their website describing what they do…

“HealthCorps® educates American youth about the workings and wonders of their bodies through in school seminars on diet, nutrition, and exercise. HealthCorps empowers children to become educated consumers and to make shifts in behavior that can be measured by changes in rates of obesity and physical fitness as well as mental resilience and self esteem.”

Now, what can you do to help me help the kids?  On June 1st, I will be launching a brand new No More Fat Dad website.  In preparation for this new site, I’ve been lining up some new partnerships for an expanded NMFD Store.  Every time you buy something from the NMFD Store, 25% will go towards a donation that I will make to the HealthCorps at the end of each month.

So, when you need to buy whey protein mix or a new treadmill or a new workout program, please come check out the new NMFD Store and help support a very worthwhile cause.

Stay tuned & thank you!

“PASS HIM, BEAT HIM, DON’T LET HIM BEAT YOU!!!”

That’s what I heard as I slapped the wall of the pool and started my last lap. The guy I was sharing a lane with, who started 15 seconds ahead of me, was only 2 or 3 lengths ahead of me and the SEAL standing over our lane yelled at me, encouraging me to dig deep and give everything I had. Even though I’d easily completed this swim during practice sessions, when it came time for the real thing, I didn’t think I had much left to give.

After just 3 laps, with 7 left to go, I was already drained and fighting a mental battle in my head. I think I let the thrill of starting the competition take me out of my game. Instead of focusing on form and pace I was sprinting right from the start and that wasn’t how I wanted to start. After the 4th or 5th lap I re-discovered my form and was able to fight my way through until that last lap. Then, with a SEAL yelling at me to win, I dug deep and swam as fast as I could and beat the guy by a second. That was a small victory for me because my lane partner was in awesome shape and probably about 10-15 years younger than me. On top of that, I wasn’t the last one to finish the swim, there were quite a few other’s still slogging through their swim which gave me some extra time to rest before the push-ups.

After everyone had completed the swim and we had our 10 minute rest, our group, the Purple Team, headed outside for the rest of the challenge. It was a perfect day for the challenge. The temperature was somewhere around 70 degrees and not a cloud was in the sky.

The next test was push-ups. My swimming lane partner and I teamed up for this as well. He went first and knocked out 83 which was pretty impressive. Then came my turn and when they said “Push ‘em out” I started fast and furious. The first 30-35 were pretty easy to get through and all I was trying to do was to get to 42 (the minimum requirements for a brown shirt) as quick as I could. I got to 40 easily enough when my partner said “now it’s just sets man, just do sets” so I pushed out sets of 5 before I’d take a rest (in the up position). SEALs were walking among the participants giving encouragement and advice, helping motivate us to do our best. My body finally gave out mid-push-up with about 15 seconds to go in the 2 minutes. After the swim, those push-ups were hard.

We immediately jumped into the sit-up phase, with my partner going first again. He had a good steady pace going and friends of his watching on, shouting support as he cranked out 80+ sit-ups in the 2 minutes.

As I laid down on my back getting ready, I was feeling pretty good. So far I had reached my goals for the swim and the push-ups and sit-ups hadn’t been a problem for me in the past, 50 would be achievable. I don’t know what happened but by the time I reached 30 sit-ups, my mid section was done. I had to fight with everything I had to keep going and I’m proud to say I never quit, I did as much as I could in 2 minutes without giving in.

On my last 2 or 3 reps there were SEALS standing & kneeling around me yelling “PUSH, DON’T QUIT, YOU CAN DO IT” trying to encourage me. And even as I was struggling, these warriors shouting for me to give it everything I had to laugh inside. All I could think about was how 20 years ago when my boot camp company commander and drill instructors would yell the same things, I thought they hated me or they were making fun of me or how much PT sucked. Now I know my Company Commander and his crew were encouraging me as much as these SEALs were, but just the fact that I was doing this because I wanted to (as much as I wanted to join the Navy, nobody really wants to go through boot camp) made for a completely different reaction.

Unfortunately, I didn’t reach the minimum target to get a brown shirt which bummed me out a bit as I got up off the ground. But that dejection didn’t last long because I was determined to continue to give it my best as I finished off the challenge with pull-ups and the 1.5 mile run.

Going into the challenge, I knew pull-ups were going to be my weakest event. Even though I’ve been working on them for 5 months, it’s only recently that I’ve really progressed. I had yet to try any unassisted, always using the weight assisted machine at the gym.

Dangling there in front of your entire team and a few SEALs, I felt vulnerable and exposed, there really isn’t a place to hide when you’re 1 of 6 people hanging up in the air. Still, as I’d seen in the previous events, everyone was there to encourage the participants. So, even as I flailed about in the air trying to do a few meager pull-ups, there were people supporting me, talking me through the pain and motivating me as I dropped to the ground.

Again, I didn’t reach the target for a brown shirt, but I didn’t feel bad about it by now. I knew I had been giving it my all through all 4 of the event’s I had completed so far and there is no shame in that. And I also knew that every SEAL crew member that was there didn’t judge me by my numbers. Each guy judged me on the fact that I was there on a gorgeous day putting myself through this tough physical challenge when I could have just as easily sat around my house and not participated at all.

The final event was the 1.5 mile run. The track we were on was longer than a standard track, it was only going to take 4 laps to complete the run. I actually liked that, because running around the same track doing lap after lap would have been boring as hell for me.

When the group started off, I quickly dropped to the back of the pack, the proverbial tortoise racing the hares. But I had learned from my swim, don’t let the competition take me out of my game. So I kept my pace and just chugged along the best I could. I finished my first lap in a little under 3 minutes and settled in to a good steady pace. As each lap went by, my pace actually increased, I knocked about 10 seconds off with each lap. On the final lap I actually started to pass some of the guys who raced off ahead of me in the beginning. As I rounded the last corner I started to run as fast as I could but I was fighting a cramp that started around the beginning of the last lap. Cramp and all, I finished strong and beat a few guys so I was happy. I wanted to through up or pass out, but I was happy.

All and all, I was very happy with how I performed. While I didn’t get the brown shirt I wanted, I was close and I’ll get it next year. In our group of 15-20 guys, I was probably the 2nd oldest there with most of the kids being high-school or college aged. We had 1 guy (a guy who runs track for Notre Dame, he lapped my on the run) earn the blue shirt and two guys walked away wearing the brown shirts.

Here are my results, the final scores will be posted on the Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge web site in the next few days. When they do come out, I’ll link to them as well.

• Swim - 11:53
• Push-ups - 63 in 2 minutes
• Sit-ups - 39 in 2 minutes
• Pull-ups - 4
• 1.5 mile run - 11:36 (a 7:44 mile pace)

The Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge was a great event and I’m glad I participated. When I first decided to do this back in January even the idea of me doing all the events made me tired. But over the last 5 months I’ve trained and got myself into a lot better physical condition than I’ve been in for years. I was confident heading into the challenge and while I didn’t reach my goal of attaining a brown shirt, I can still hold my head high knowing that I gave everything I could.

Being in that environment, around hundreds of other men and women who pushed themselves just as hard, was exhilarating. Having never taken part in even a 5K, I felt like an intruder when I walked through the doors that morning. But when I had finished, I knew I belonged and that challenging myself with events such as this was something I wanted to do a lot more of.

And, even though it may sound cheesy, putting on that Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge t-shirt, with the Navy SEAL Trident really meant a lot to me and I’m proud to wear it and display the Fitness Challenge decal on my car. I know there aren’t too many people who would attempt this and I want everyone to know I am one of those people.

The clock is slowly ticking and in a little over 48 hours I will take part in the first physical challenge I set as a goal for myself when I started my weight loss journey back in January. The Navy SEAL Fitness Challenge is this Saturday, and my time slot is at high noon.

I chose the SEAL Fitness Challenge because it seemed so unattainable to me 5 months ago. I couldn’t run a half-mile at a slow pace, let alone run 1.5 miles at an 8 MPH pace. Heck, the first intervals I did were at a running speed of 7 MPH and I could barely keep that up for 30 seconds before I was gasping for air.

When I attempted my first swim I made it all of 2 laps (100 yards) before I had to stop. My arms were not going to move anymore and my lungs were about to burst. The thought of me getting through 11 laps was inconceivable.

Don’t even ask about how many (or few) push-ups I could do when I started the Men’s Health Belly Off program. I had to start with modified push-ups (on your knees type).

Pull-ups? HA, I couldn’t even hoist my 208 pound body up to that bar even 1 time, in fact I don’t think I even budged when I tried my first one.

After 5 months of hard work and dedication, I am a completely different person physically. I still have bigger goals to reach but the SEAL Fitness Challenge doesn’t seem as daunting of a task and I’m confident I will come away with a brown shirt at least (white shirt for just attending, brown shirt for passing the minimum standards, blue shirt for passing the competitive standards).

I am now running intervals at a 12 MPH pace and was able to run the 1.5 miles at a 7.5 MPH pace without a problem last week. I need to step that up to an 8 MPH pace to meet the 11 minute target (thanks for catching that Kirsty) which I’m confident I will do.

Just this morning I completed the 500 meter swim without stopping and came in with a time of 12:15, which is 15 seconds better than the target time. If it wasn’t for me swallowing a mouthful of water on my second to last lap, I would have had an even better time. I’ll be sure not to do that on Saturday.

Push-ups will be no problem, I have two minutes to pump out 42 of them. The last time I tried (a few weeks ago), I was able to knock out 40 in that time and I know I’ve improved my upper-body strength even more since then.

Sit-ups are not a concern either. I have 2 minutes to whip through 50 and I was able to do that 2 months ago. I think sitting on a ball all day long has something to do with already having a strong core.

The only part of the test I’m concerned with is the pull-ups. I haven’t progressed as quickly with them as I would have liked. I’m still using the assisted pull-up machine at the gym, but am down to only 10 pounds of offset weight. I can take solace in the fact that I’m usually pulling my own weight up before the little weight sled catches up to my knees. For the test, I have to get through 6 with no time limit. I’m reasonably confident I will make it through, I’m sure the adrenaline will help.

It really is amazing to look at the progress I have made since I first set this goal for myself. I’ve gone from an out of shape, fat dad to a reasonably fit dad who will pass a strenuous physical test that some guys who are 10-20 years younger than me will struggle with. I’ve accomplished all of this in the span of 5 short months.

I’ll be sure to post my results when I get back on Saturday & I’m hoping to have some pictures too.

Last week was pretty challenging for me. Between preparing for Zach’s 1st Communion (house work, honey-do list, yard work, etc…) and studying for my Juniper tests, I didn’t have much time to workout. I still ate pretty well, though I did stuff myself a bit too much at Zach’s party. That said, I still ate a lot less and a lot better than the old me would have at the same party.

The danger I’m running into now is putting everything on cruise control and just coasting.  Everything I’ve been doing since January 7th has become habit.  I don’t forget to pack my snacks for work anymore, I have my gym bag packed and ready to go every morning, I eat good foods, all the stuff that was a struggle not so long ago is second nature.

The problem is now that these tasks are all routine, it can be very easy to slip out of the good habits I’ve developed over time.  I know I’ve talked about this before, it seems to come up every month or so for me.  I find myself losing the laser sharp focus that got me to where I am and I end up having a week that I’m lucky to have lost anything, if not gained.

The good news is, I am able to spot this when it happens and re-dedicate myself to staying fit and healthy.  One of the biggest reasons I’m able to spot this trend before it’s too late is this blog.  Having to recount each week, look at the numbers and think about what worked and what didn’t has been a huge help in keeping me on task.  That, along with all the support and comments I receive, are a major reason for my success.  Thank you everyone!

OK, so how bad did I do this week?  Actually, not as bad as I had thought I would.  Preparing to step on the scale yesterday morning, I kept telling myself I would be happy with just maintaining my weight of 179 but I was preparing to see my first weight gain.  After stepping on and off the scale 3 times to triple check, I was happy to see I’d actually lost another pound.

After a week where I only worked out one time, ran intervals twice and ate too much at a party on Saturday, I was extremely pleased with the results.

There are two things I did last week that I think helped me when I thought there was no hope.

First, I did about 3 to 4 hours of heavy yard work on Sunday.  A lot of digging, raking, mowing, stooping, bending, pulling, lifting, etc…  That was a workout in and of itself.

Second, I tried my first intermittent fast.  I got a copy of Brad Pilon’s “Eat Stop Eat” program and read through it earlier in the week.  After finishing the book, the idea of a 24 hour fast  made a lot of sense so I decided to try it out.  I started my fast on Saturday at 5:00 (after eating the party goodies) and ended on Sunday at dinner (5:30).  I’ll put together a more in-depth review, but suffice to say, I don’t think felt hungry the entire time. In the end, I think following Brad’s “Eat Stop Eat” program is what saved me from any weight gain and helped knock almost an inch off my waist.

Even with the reduced workouts and indulging in cake, ice cream and other party treats, my weekly results are pretty decent.  Here’s the stats for this past week.

• Weight - 178 pounds / 80.91 kg (179/81.36)
• Chest - 38″ / 96.52 cm (98.25/97.16)
• Waist - 36″ / 91.44 cm (37/93.98)
• Bicep - 11.5″ / 29.21 cm (11.5/29.21)
• Thigh - 21.75″ / 55.25 cm (22.75/57.79)
• Calf - 14″ / 35.56 cm (14.25/36.20)

And here are the progress pics from this week…

What's your idea for reusing vacant land in Cleveland?

Neighborhood Progress, Inc. is working with the Urban Design Center of Northeast Ohio on strategies to put vacant land in Cleveland back into productive use. They held a charrette in May where planners pinpointed ideas—from test plots of plants that remove Lead from soil, an urban tree nursery, or growing food—for further exploration.

Read the summary of ideas from the Cleveland Land Lab charrette here.