Panta Hrei

"All things are in flux," says Heraclitus. All of a sudden I am living in a hermitage. Father Gorman has been assigned as superior in Louisville, Father Jordan has been elected Prior at St Vincent Ferrer in Manhattan, Father Luke, at the age of 94, has been transferred to a skilled nursing facility at Mohum Hall with the Dominican sisters in Columbus. The Prior Provincial has applied for my appointment as administrator of the parish until we can get a new superior chosen in September.

I decided to take drastic action on my weight difficulties. I talked to the cook, put together a program, and went shopping while he cleaned out the pantry. Our starch-heavy, Italian style diet is hereby exiled.

Three days ago, I started the South Beach diet. My weight at the beginning was 334 pounds- not the heaviest I've ever been, but still up there. My legs and back were hurting so much that I could barely stand to give out communion to the people. I have to do something radical to get control of my health again. Part one of the South Beach diet involves knocking out all sugars, starches, and fruit for two weeks or so, to regulate one's insulin levels to more natural numbers than one finds common in the western diet. So far , so good. In 3 days, I am down 8 pounds, to 326. This is only one pound more then my "former" pre-injury maximum weight. I'd like to lose 8 more pounds before I hit phase 2 of the diet plan. My legs and back now feel strained, but not in spasm.

My back feels well enough to begin exercise. I will start checking sugar levels tomorrow. I have a doctor's appointment on June 17. I am looking forward to doing martial arts again in the near future.

So we begin.