If you are dealing mostly with sandy/rocky soil you've got drainage in abundance. It's possible you have a perched water table with the caliche - but if it's 2 feet of permeable substrate in a desert environment I don't think you are going to be dealing with enough water for it to matter, you'll just get lateral drainage. What you need a way to slow down infiltration, and also stop leaching since the cation exchange capacity of sand is hot garbage. Shade + organic matter is probably going to be your go-to tools. Unfortunately I don't think the free arborist chips solution I did will work for you - might be too arid for them to break down in a reasonable time frame. So it's either import it at cost, or plant and wait. Just boils down to your level of patience vs stomach for paying for "dirt" as it turns out good soil isn't actually "dirt cheap".

Something to consider - most of the no-till / permaculture folks admit that a one time tillage up front isn't that bad. The main issue with tillage is you are disrupting an ecosystem. The fungal networks, the worms, all the little critter infiltration tunnels. But that only matters when you aren't dealing with dead compact degraded soil. Right now there is nothing to disrupt, so if you can combine a one time deep tillage of organic matter, or maybe subsoiling to break up some of the caliche to whatever depth you want - now is the time to do it.

Keep in mind pure organic matter does not a soil make. It's the mix of that organic matter + the inorganic substrate. So I added a bunch of organic matter to turn the dead compacted inorganic substrate (degraded pewamo urban complex series clay subsoil in my case) into good soil. The organic matter + fungi help that heavy clay to stable macro aggregates which let the soil drain. The humus the organic matter turns into help regulate soil moisture in dry conditions and provides the right environment for all the soil microfauna need to do their thing. Essentially I restored the O & A horizons, and over time the B horizon will improve.

Cover cropping is great btw, but you might want to get a soil sample analyzed. We had less than half a percent of organic matter when we moved in. Really you want that up in the 5-8% territory. More towards the higher end if your soil is clay dominant like ours. Cover cropping alone wouldn't have gotten us to that number in my lifetime.

We solved it by dumping around 400 cubic yards of arborist woodchips spread 12-18 inches thick over most of the yard, then top dressed that with composted manure and worm castings. Finally, we planted a bunch of wine cap mushroom spawn (to break down the wood) and clover (to fix nitrogen and feed the fungi) over the whole thing. 3 years later we have rich loamy soil that drains well, is full of earth worms and grows anything we plant it it.

TL;DR: Add tons of carbon and nitrogen into degraded soil and the local fungi, bacteria and worms will turn that into good soil if given sufficient time.

The body has sophisticated signaling pathways that regulate hunger and defend fat stores. In some people, dysregulation in pathways like mTORC1 essentially keeps their "hunger volume" turned up regardless of their actual energy needs, increasing hunger-promoting neuropeptides (NPY, AgRP) while decreasing satiety signals (POMC, CART).

When someone with this dysregulation tries to lose weight, the body deploys additional defenses: reduced non-exercise activity thermogenesis (less fidgeting, less spontaneous movement), increased energy efficiency, and even induced lethargy after intentional exercise to preserve fat stores. This isn't laziness - it's sophisticated biological adaptation.

This creates a crucial matrix that determines weight outcomes:

* High willpower + Low hunger signaling: Naturally fit with minimal effort

* Low willpower + Low hunger signaling: Generally maintains healthy weight without struggle

* High willpower + High hunger signaling: Might maintain weight with constant effort

* Low willpower + High hunger signaling: Almost inevitably leads to obesity

Keep in mind willpower itself has significant genetic and epigenetic components - it's not simply a matter of character. Variations in dopamine and serotonin regulation genes directly affect impulse control and reward processing.

GLP-1/GIP medications work by intervening in these pathways. They activate receptors in the hypothalamus that can override or bypass the defective mTORC1 signaling. They directly inhibit AgRP/NPY neurons while activating POMC neurons, essentially normalizing the hunger signals. They also slow gastric emptying and modulate the brain's reward system to reduce food's hedonic value. In other words, they take willpower out of the equation. If you aren't hungry, you don't have to fight the urge to eat.

I'm not just speaking to the science here - I have direct experience. Despite years of disciplined efforts with trainers, various diets, calorie counting I went from 150lbs in my 20s to 315lbs by my 40s. With Zepbound, I've lost 55 pounds in six months without the constant battle. I will have to take this medication for the rest of my life, but I will probably live much longer as a result, and I'm already reaping the rewards in terms of energy, focus, sleep quality, et cetera.

These medications do have side effects worth considering, but they need to be weighed against the severe health consequences of obesity. Obesity significantly increases risk of heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, sleep apnea, certain cancers, and premature death. For men specifically, obesity increases sex hormone-binding globulin which reduces free testosterone levels, leading to fatigue, reduced muscle mass, decreased libido, and even depression. The most common side effects of GLP-1 medications (nausea, constipation, diarrhea) are typically mild, manageable, and often diminish over time. While there are theoretical concerns about more serious effects like pancreatitis based on animal studies, clinical data in humans hasn't supported these concerns. Regardless, these potential risks must be balanced against the near-certainty of health complications from remaining morbidly obese.

For people with dysregulated hunger signaling, these medications aren't just cosmetic interventions—they're addressing a fundamental biological dysfunction that otherwise creates persistent obstacles to maintaining a healthy weight. The risk-benefit analysis strongly favors treatment for those who need it. They make sustainable lifestyle changes possible by removing the constant neurobiological opposition to weight loss.

Both were marketing/seo plays and long term there was never any incentive for them to keep the brands independent and operating at full cost.

TL;DR if you want your publication to live on well after you sell it, sell it to a publisher business, don't sell it to a product/service business.

https://twitter.com/KrisRoadruck/status/1503738797527343105

Static stretching is essentially worthless, and can actually be detrimental to performance: https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/Fulltext/2014/05000/The_E....

The thing to do for weight lifting is do some light warm up cardio (5-10 minutes on your favorite hamster wheel variant - elliptical, treadmill, bike) to get your core temp up, then do a few warm up sets before big compound movements to improve blood flow to the target muscles and lubricate the joints.

Before doing your working sets on bench/squat/deadlift, do a few sets at a much lower weight. Like this:

Warm-up set 1: Start with the empty bar and warm up for a few reps there.

Warm-Up Set 2: 40-50% of your first set x 5 reps (if the empty bar falls into this percentage- skip this step).

Warm-Up Set 3: 60-65% of your first set x 3-5 reps

Warm-Up Set 4: 70-80% of your first set x 3 reps

Warm-up set 5: 85-90% of your first set x 1-3 reps

Warm-Up Set 6: 90-95% of your first set x 1-3 reps

Now do your working sets.

If you aren't lifting that much weight (bench press for example) you can skip a few of these and start at say 60-65% of your working weight.

-- Accountability Coach

-- Personal trainer

Of the 2, personal trainer is probably better if you are new to the gym (been lifting 0-2 years) because they will also help you nail technique/form so you don't get yourself injured swinging around ego lifts.

You don't have to pay a lot for this either - don't get the $120/hr folks at big 24 hour gyms, find a private gym where one trainer might be working with about 6-8 folks at any one time. They will queue up each set of exercises for you, check your form and then do the same for someone else while you are doing the bulk of the work.

The place I go to charges $45 per 90 minute session for this and it's great. I don't need to figure out my workout, track my weights/reps for progressive overload or anything. They take care of all of that. I just show up, do the work and get on with my day.

Source: Been cooking exclusively on carbon steel, cast iron and stainless for years.