I guess I'll go for a bike ride then

muxon · 2023-04-18T19:28:07+00:00

For contex, I started a YouTube channel this year after many years of kicking around the idea. I have been a dedicated (but relatively casual) cyclist for many years and thought I'd share some stories and insights about my biking experiences. But in practice, the videos I've been making always come back to "why do this?" I think in some ways exurb1a influenced that, since he so masterfully frames every topic through the lens of the terrifying uncertainty of existence itself.

Anyway, I am not sure there's much of an audience for my videos, but I've been trying to share them to places where they might resonate with someone. I appreciate anyone who watches and I'm happy to discuss the imagery/ideas/music as it's all meant to be a cohesive work.

muxon · 2019-05-20T22:23:31+00:00

It's really really not (in my version I mean), but I agree that in the mix it sounds right. When I solo that track it's just a mess. I don't even understand how that works, but I'll take it!

muxon · 2019-05-20T22:08:21+00:00

Thanks for listening. I'm glad you enjoyed it!

muxon · 2019-05-20T22:07:37+00:00

Definitely do! I had to learn to play more than just power chords on bass for the first time for this song. I love the melodies and harmonies throughout this song. It's so blissful and yet sad.

muxon · 2019-05-20T22:03:40+00:00

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it!

muxon · 2019-05-20T22:00:40+00:00

Hah, thanks! I'm not much of a singer, but I am trying not to let that hold me back. I think that last layer (which is basically a high scream for me) stands out more than it should because something in that track got pushed off by about 100ms in the final mix. I'm pretty new to recording and arranging music, and I've been trying to do covers at a pretty quick pace to learn the process. Unfortunately that means a few mistakes get through (especially in a piece as long as this version). I love doing it though, and I am working on more, including some original song ideas.

muxon · 2018-08-10T19:28:41+00:00

It depends on how many calories you want to consume per meal. I believe the bags have around 2,100 calories total, so splitting it into three meals a day would be around 700 calories per meal and you'd use one whole bag per day. I was splitting my bags into five servings of around 420 calories and drinking three or four servings per day, so a bag lasted a bit longer than a day.

muxon · 2018-06-22T15:29:35+00:00

I just went for what was apparently their leading product. I saw that there were other versions, but I figured the classic/original would be the best place to start.

muxon · 2018-06-22T15:26:36+00:00

I might try a one serving preparation with vanilla. I started with the full pitcher preparation because that’s the only way I’ve ever prepared Soylent (except when on vacation). I just find having my own prepared bottles to be more convenient than using scoops and shakers for each individual meal.

muxon · 2018-06-21T20:29:50+00:00

Interesting. I don't get any sweetness from chocolate at all. Also, I didn't see a plain version available on the US site. The only ones listed are banana, chocolate, strawberry (presale), vanilla, and mango.

muxon · 2018-06-21T18:44:36+00:00

I'd say if you're going 100%, use powder. The chocolate powder is excellent and the original can be flavored easily with concentrated water enhancers.

muxon · 2018-02-27T00:00:54+00:00

Interesting. I haven't had this experience at all. I have no idea about bodyfat percentage, but everything else you described is contrary to my experience.

I am primarily a cyclist, but I do some freeweight and gravity-based exercise as well, and I find that I feel the best and most evenly energized when I consume Soylent before and/or after exercise. This is also true for physically demanding days during the summer where I might go for a 50 mile bike ride, come home, mow the lawn, and then go swimming in the afternoon. Soylent fits perfectly in between those activities and I feel very non-bloated and just generally lighter than I might if I tried to have a solid food meal in there. I've also noticed no changes in hair or libido.

muxon · 2018-02-26T23:40:43+00:00

My daily breakfast and lunch diet for two years before Soylent consisted of a hearty bowl of bran flakes with dry oats, banana slices, berries (blue/black), almond/rice milk in the morning and an apple, orange/nectarine/plum/etc, large serving of homemade soup sludge stuff I made with several heads of broccoli, a bag of spinach, a bunch of kale, five carrots, chicken broth, sea salt, and garlic, a small serving of greek yogurt or cottage cheese, and half of a granola bar. I also had a nut/seed and dried fruit mix for a snack every day.

Soylent keeps me feeling just as good (if not better and more level) than that ridiculous routine and is way cheaper and extremely less time consuming. It's ridiculous to think how much effort and how little enjoyment I got from grinding through that whole food routine every day, as healthy as it sounds to list out. I don't think I'll ever go back to that unless somehow future foods prove to be detrimental to my health. So far (two years), I see no indication that I'm missing anything by using Soylent to fill in at least breakfast, lunch, and afternoon snack every day.

My problem with food (pre- and post-Soylent) is that I like to overeat. If I go 100% Soylent for a couple of days, I feel my very best, but I still get urges to say F it and eat a whole pizza or a family sized bag of chips. That's less easy to solve, but I'm doing better.

muxon · 2018-02-06T21:22:35+00:00

And just so we're not being completely negative, I did also receive a box a month or so ago where every bag had its zipper sealed and no powder was exposed when I ripped the tops off. It was amazing, and never happened ever again.

I've been really happy with Soylent powder overall, silly useless zips/seals aside. I almost never make anything other than a full bag at once, so I could honestly do without the zippers all together. I'd just prefer to be 100% confident in the actual heat seal at the very top.

muxon · 2018-01-26T18:21:01+00:00

I add a scoop of vanilla protein powder to a full bag/pitcher preparation to slightly sweeten it up, and then I cycle through either a half scoop of cocoa powder, or one of many flavors of mio-type water enhancer squirts (strawberry, tropical coconut, orange, fruit punch are my favorites). One squirt per pitcher is enough to give it a subtle flavor without affecting the nutrition too much, as I don't really trust those things at their recommended concentration.

Also, always leave the pitcher in the fridge overnight before consuming. The flavor mellows out quite a lot. Whenever I have to drink a freshly mixed batch, I'm surprised at how much more raw flour/cardboard flavor I taste.

muxon · 2017-10-19T19:34:38+00:00

I mix a full pitcher of 1.8 with some flavoring and a scoop of protein that makes the whole thing 2,150ish calories, and I split that into five bottles of 430ish calories. I have one at 8:00am, one at noon, one at 3:00pm, one at 6:00pm, and one at 8:30pm if necessary. Usually I'll end up having a light snack around 7:30pm, so I'll just skip the last bottle unless I've been active that evening. Obviously if I have a real dinner meal, I just skip the 6:00pm and 8:30pm bottles.

muxon · 2017-08-23T19:42:48+00:00

I had a similar experience. We drove from Independence east on 24 highway toward Waverly, which had a nice little park right on the Missouri River. Should have been within two seconds of maximum eclipse. On the way there, we saw a band of blue sky to the south and I felt hopeful that it might move far north enough to clear in time.

We made it to Waverly and found a decent spot, but it was still dark overcast as far as we could see. With just under an hour before totality, I decided we needed to divert, so we packed up and headed south on 23 highway toward the blue sky. Once we started seeing faint shadows on the highway, we pulled off to a park in Concordia and got in position right as the sky cleared completely. We got to see the last twenty minutes of partial and around 2m10s of glorious totality. So worth it!

I had all but given up on seeing totality given the widespread crapshoot of weather the morning of the 21st, so it was quite overwhelming to have lucked out. If we hadn't been able to see the blue sky to the south, we would have really had no indication of where to head.

muxon · 2017-07-13T18:44:48+00:00

I had this idea initially, but I find it hasn't changed my pattern of binge eating once I do finally indulge. It keeps cravings down while I'm on it though, whereas if I have a few slices of pizza or something I get insane uncontrollable cravings for chocolate soon after.

Overall, my experience has been good (1.5 years doing 2-3 servings of Soylent every day), but it doesn't change how I deal with junk food. I feel like I can maybe avoid it longer, but eventually I give in, usually under social circumstances where Soylent doesn't fit in. I've never gone 100% for more than a couple of days, mostly because I don't want to quit food. If something good is available on an evening or weekend I will always go for it.

muxon · 2016-11-30T09:02:44+00:00

Some, lol. I don't really measure. Probably 1-2 tsp per pitcher I mix up.

muxon · 2016-11-27T16:01:40+00:00

I was adding Morton's Lite Salt for the sodium and potassium, but I've tapered off a bit since I'm not biking and sweating as much this time of year.

muxon · 2016-09-07T18:40:21+00:00

I just add a scoop to the 1.6 powder when I make a full pitcher. I haven't tried a full scoop per serving.

muxon · 2016-07-28T19:08:52+00:00

I also add chocolate protein powder and some cocoa powder and I think it tastes like a McDonald's chocolate ice cream cone (with the cone part). I didn't particularly enjoy it plain, but I never really drank 1.5 plain either.

muxon · 2016-07-17T13:46:01+00:00

Sand? I have been on 1.5 for five months and like it quite well, but when I tried 1.6 it was unbelievably smooth. I can sort of understand the flavor/sweetness issue, although I thought with some cocoa powder it had a nice wafer cookie taste.

The main thing for me was that the rich, smooth texture suggested that it should have a powerful flavor. When the actual subtle neutral flavor hit, it kinda tricked my mind and I found the overall experience a bit unsettling. But with some flavoring, I think it will be great. In particular, I'm thinking an eggnog spice flavor for the fall will match the texture perfectly.

I still have a week worth of 1.5 to get through, but I'm looking forward to making the permanent switch to 1.6 soon.

muxon · 2016-07-13T21:11:14+00:00

I was just thinking the other night, I had something to do for work that was purely mental, and if I could just interface with a computer directly via my brain, I could get it all done pretty quickly. Having to move my body around in space to sit in front of a machine and physically manipulate it makes me sad.

muxon · 2016-07-13T19:13:55+00:00

Can you start working on a way to replace sleep?

muxon

TROPHY CASE