Good morning and welcome back to First Principles, our Sunday stream of collective consciousness (and sometimes, subconsciousness!).

So many of you wrote back expressing your concern, sorrow, and desire to help those who suffered from the Wayanad landslide. Thank you! If you missed First Principles last week, here’s the link where you can donate to the Kerala CM’s Disaster Relief Fund.  

It has been raining almost every day in Bengaluru for the past few weeks. Karnataka’s dams and rivers are full. Hopefully, our stressed water tables are getting recharged too. The mango tree we’d planted a few years ago in our backyard started flowering uncharacteristically out of season, briefly surprising us, before shedding all its blossoms. We’re hoping it will fruit this coming year.

I’ve heard that rains usually clear up leaf infections and pests from fruiting trees, but no one seems to have sent that memo to the thousands of fire ants that have stitched up many of the mango tree’s leaves, turning them into their homes. If you know of a safe and organic way to get rid of fire ants or sooty mould, please email me!

If you’ve been part of the FP community for a while, you know I am a huge fan of feedback loops. Well, a few weeks ago I got a full body musculoskeletal assessment done from Elevate Performance. I went there on the recommendation of Dharmendra D, a running coach who I got introduced to via the FP community and our Fitness Quest. Dharmendra and I hit it off like long lost friends when we met. (Yes, we’re all intricately connected, influencing each other’s lives in ways we don’t even recognise).

Long story short, the assessment (which I heartily recommend as sort of a “baseline” test for anyone who actively pursues fitness and has had to deal with injuries) made me aware of a bunch of my own imbalances and weaknesses that I never took seriously enough. Why? Because the lab takes photos and videos of you through various tests, and then shares them with you later.

Seeing yourself in photos and videos establishes a feedback loop that is hard to deny.

So, I’m now on a calorie deficit diet reinforced with calorie tracking, to lose weight; a new strength training program I am cooking up after reading 7–8 different books, to build muscle; and a wonderful shoulder rehab and mobility program from The PT Initiative.