Friday, August 30, 2002

welp, it's friday of a 3 day weekend. everyone is gone. after posting this blog, i'm gonna head to the gym and do a total body workout. focus on my lower body, but do some for chest, tri's, bi's, and abs.



had a pot luck today at work. valerie said it was poorly planned, also a lot of people were gone, so the turnout wasn't too hot, but that was a blessing. that meant less food to eat. someone, maybe diem, must have suggested we do a healthy potluck or something. most of the food that showed up wasn't too bad. other than that one piece of chicken i had, everything was pretty much healthy. i appreciate the effort. but i also realized that a lot of people have a misconception of what healthy food really is. before this year, i thought healthy was all carbs, and unsaturated fat. that's not even half true. hopefully this wellness class will really educate the office on proper nutrition.



after working out, there's a birthday dinner at buca di beppo. possibly, there might be something after, if enough of us are interested. always looking for that perfect chillin' spot. why is it so hard? it is that there aren't places to go? or is it that people have different interests? is it a question of time? or is it the question of money? if everyone had endless amount of money, would there be always a perfect spot to go chill, relax, and have fun with a bunch of people?
it's my birthday today!



yesterday was a total slack off day. and that damn steak i ate the night before seriously has done some damage. it feels like i lost all the progress i made the last 2 weeks. from now on, only tenderloins at pampas. no more ribeye or prime rib until i get a six pack.



finally got the S license on GT3. i thought it was gonna be impossible, then bam. i finish with 1.3 seconds to spare. that's quite a bit. for lunch today i went to the local Yakimono for some sashimi with raymond. man, they need to make everything 2x larger. and the rice was a little too sticky.



turns out tommy won't be able to make it to my birthday dinner. oh well, now we're down to 13. i hope no more people cancel. i have a feeling another one from LA might cancel. oh well, we'll have to see. still 12-13 is a lot. this year we have so many cause people have significan't others, and last year i was just gonna do a resnet/netops thing, then i ended up inviting one or two additional people. then some of my friends were a little disappointed to find out they weren't asked to come. so i decided to invite all of them this year to one event.



even though i can't remember a day when i missed the gym cause i felt lazy, it's still hard for me to get out of the house on the days that i stay home. on the weekends and on days off from work, it takes me a few hours of procrastonating, and fighting of bits of laziness. but i always end up making it.



well, since i did absolutely no cleaning on my day off, it'll have to be when i wake up in the morning, and i'll have to do some work before i leave the house tomorrow morning.

Thursday, August 29, 2002

oh man, what a waste of a day. i take the day off to clean, and i just end up slacking off. still a few hours i have to vacuum, and i'll have to do this so i don't vacuum too late. i went running again. just when i think i can slack a little on stretching, it kicks me in the ass. i've been nursing my right calf because it started to cramp after my drive home from the track.



i'm not a big advocate of animal rights, but one thing i will always try to let people know about is the truth about veal. it's cruelty of animals of the worst kind. and if you eat veal, you're only creating demand for more cruelty. i wonder what the hindu think of this. they believe that cow's are sacred or something like that. but here in america, veal calfs are tortured.



imagine from minutes of being born, being confined to a small box without sunlight which prevents you from movement, with a chain around your neck. you stay this way for 4 months after birth until you are killed. only way the stay alive is through injections. remember the movie se7en? how that one guy kept that other guy alive but locked up in his bed for years? there is no difference. and they're doing this to cows every day. don't get me wrong. i enjoy red meat. but veal, i'd rather starve to death. check it out for yourself:



http://veal.googei.com/
i'm get meaner to solicitors by day. to this date, i've hung up on hundreds of solicitors. some, i've told them to hold on, and and left the phone off the hook. or when they are talking, i leave the phone off the hook and walk away. they usually hang up within a minute. or what would be worse is sound interested, have them spend a long time with you and say, "actually, let's not.", and have them try to argue to change your mind. i wish i can emit some kind of ear piercing noise which would make them take off their headsets. hehe. okay, i'm getting too cruel.
man, i'm tired. i'm gonna type like the wind and then shower and hit the sack.



day at work was normal, but went by very slowly. worked out at the gym, on the way home, i stopped by vons, and they had this great deal on one mislabled package on ribeye steaks...and i just couldn't put it down. but damn, that thing was so greasy. didn't enjoy it too much. i've learned from my mistakes. never again. i really think i should put WWTD on my wallet and look at it when I'm debating in the market whether i should buy something unhealthy or not. the steaks probably have set me back a week of progress. after the market, i picked up my 10 boxes of protein plus cereal at travis' house. came home, ate 2 steaks.....i overcooked one. i was doing so well on my strict schedule then bam. all f'd up. oh well, i won't do it next time. you gotta mix it up sometimes so you remember the bad, and not just remember all the good things you're missing. watched american idol. played some GT3. i'm on my final test for the S license. 70.25% complete with the game.



tomorrow i won't be going to work so i can spiff up my apt before guests arrive on friday. i gotta also do laundry, have lunch with ray.



so far i have got 5 of us at netops to do the wellness program with me.

me

diem

claire

erik

chuck



i fear that if i ask too many people, there might not be enough room for the class, but i can potentially get 2 more. tom and parrish. i'll have to talk to the wellness instructor and maybe ask travis how big the classes get. if they can fit 7, i'll try to get them in there.



here are my thoughts about it. well, first off i'm happy they've decided to do the program, but a little overwhelmed. i would like to help some of them through. i know some will be eager, and most have been to the gym before, and yet still do the machines improperly, or not do them efficiently without me guiding them through the first couple of weeks. and if i leave them alone, i won't be doing my job, and they won't be seeing much progress. some will need the help, more than others. but having 3-5 people to think about at once is a bit overwhelming. i hope i didn't bite off more than i can chew. i would like everyone to see progress after 9 weeks. that's a lot of time.

Wednesday, August 28, 2002

unlike yesterday, work today seemed excruciatingly long. i think more did not happen today then things that actually happened. i'm trying to get erik, claire, and chuck into the wellness program. ask them about it, they are a little hesitant. but i know inside they all know it is benefiscial to them. and i try to give some words of encouragement and it looks like they're trying to find an excuse without knowing what they are trying to find an excuse for. still, i don't want to push them too hard into doing it. because they need a good amount of self motivation.



i went to the track today. ran/jogged 9 laps, walked 1 to cool down. it was just me on the track today. came home, ate, played some GT3, ate, watched some TV, ate. turns out that i do get WB on local broadcast on channel 69. funny how they chose that channel number. i guess its easy to remember.



life sesson #134298 and #13499

don't put all your eggs in one basket.

friends that don't respect your time, are not your real friends.

Monday, August 26, 2002

not much went on today. got some serious work done before 1pm, had a meeting which went pretty well, all things considered (shit breaking and stuff like that). then next time i looked at the clock, it was 4pm. that hydroxycut made me pretty damn jittery today. and the fact that i only got 4.5 hours of sleep last night made it much worse. it reminded me of my senior year at my high school. me and my friend would stay up late at his house doing homework....smoke. and one night we decided to take Vivrin. Damn, that got us so damn jittery we couldn't concentrate on anything. The night of homework was disaster. That's what I felt like all day until I hit the gym. I thought I was going to bonk....but it turns out that I had a lot more energy today. Probably due to Hydroxycut. one tablet made a world of a difference today at the gym. imagine what this thing could do when i'm taking the maximum dosage in about 4 weeks might get a little too damn jittery. oh well, hopefully my body will adjust to it. if i remember correctly, after taking formulean for a week, i didn't feel any side effects anymore. but i don't think it had caffiene in it. just gave me dry mouth. I'm pretty excited about the added strength, that I don't want to do cardio tomorrow. just lift. but i'll stay the course. of course, this could all be a placebo effect. the truth is last monday, i had a pretty weak chest and tri workout. so maybe this week my body is fully healed and this explains how i can do more today. i bench pressed 125lbs today (3 reps) with a little assistance on the last rep.



on a side note, when i got to work this morning, it looked as though my computer got hacked into. what happened was that i was doing some virus test this weekend, and i must have accidnetally triggered it. so the morning was a pain.



after work today, i found a plesant surprise in my mailbox. i stopped getting banana republic bills one month, and i thought i had paid it off. but it turns out it was going to the wrong address. finally got that corrected, and voila, i get 3 $15 certificates. totaling $45. i've been thinking of getting a nice leather jacket from BR this year. pricey but i think they are worth it. everyone needs a good leather jacket.



that schedule i posted below is a pretty tight schedule. i think it'll help me eat really clean. i've never made a schedule like that for myself before. i always went to sleep when i felt like it. who knew that a thing like food and supplement intake would be the thing that would finally make me give in to creating a schedule like that? that schedule will be mainly for weekdays. on weekends i would like to eat out if possible.



after working out, i came home, played some GTA3, and watched "meet my folks". man, the parents were stupid. they eliminated the best guy, and then they had to choose between a porn freak (of the worst kind), or a compulsive liar who doesn't seem to like her that much anyway?



diem's back on track with her workouts starting tomorrow. i hope she knows tomorrow is track day. ;) i hope she doesn't give some lame ass excuse like how she's tired from studying or taking the test. hehe. j/k. valid excuse.
my schedule of my food and supplement intake.



7:30am - wake up

Hydroxycut 1-3 capsule (1 1st week, 2 2nd week, 3 3+rd week)

Control 1 capsule



8:30

Glutapro 1 scoop

1/2 pb sandwich

centrum 1 tablet

vitamin c 500mg

glocosamine with chondrotin sulfate 1 tablet

calcium 500mg

fish oil 1 capsule



9:30

creatine 5g (only during loading)



10:30

large banana

1/2 protein bar



11:30

Hydroxycut 3 capsules (starting 4th week of Hydroxycut)



12:30

glutapro 1 scoop

1/2 pb sandwich



1:30

creatine 5g (only during loading)



2:30

large apple

1/2 protein bar



3:30

Hydroxycut 1-3 capsule (1 1st week, 2 2nd week, 3 3+rd week)



4:30

glutapro 1 scoop

1/2 penut butter sandiwch

fish oil 1 capsule



5:00

creatine 5g



7:00

creatine 5g

1/2 pb&j

large banana

Control



9:00

glutapro 1 scoop

1/2 pb sandwich



11:00

bowl of cereal (only if hungry)

vitamin c

glocosamine

calcium

fish oil



12:00 sleep
my birthday is coming up. and some people asked me what i wanted. but from most of my friends, i think the best would be just a nice dinner or a favor and no material gift at all. here is my explanation:





The Art of Gift Giving by Michael Ma (rough draft)



gift giving is more complicated than you think. it depends on 2 elements. giving the best gift possible can be determined by the type of person, and the relationship between the two. i will discuss the problems in some scenarios and suggestions on how to give the best gift possible. sometimes the best gift is no gift at all.



there are 3 types of people in this world.

type 1 - ones who likes getting presents from all their friends and family. more presents the merrier. these people are easy to shop for. harder to disappoint. type 1's are easy to identify. they're the ones who give you gifts during your birthdays, and they give out a lot of presents during christmas.



type 2 - and one who likes getting presents from someone that's willing to put a lot of thought into the gift giving process but only from a person that they wish to see this show of affection from. what the gift receiver is hoping to receive is the thought and care the giver is willing to express.



type 3 - a mixture of type 1 and type 2. likes to receive a lot of gifts, but if the person is special, they'd like to receive or give a gift with a lot of meaning. you can either choose these people to be either type 1 or type 2 depending on what kind of a relationship you have with this person.






type 1 giving to type 1 - (just good friends. nothing special going on between the two) - no problems here. the giver will buy the gift, and the receiver will be happy with it. the giver won't make the mistake of spending too much time.



type 1 giving to type 1 - (giver has special feelings for receiver, but receiver doesn't have mutal feelings for the giver) no problems here. the giver will easily find the perfect gift, and the receiver will be happy getting the gift.



type 1 giving to type 1 - (receiver has special feelings for giver, but giver doesn't have mutal feelings for the receiver). as long as the giver gives the receiver a gift, everyone will be happy.



type 1 giving to type 1 - (they both have mutual special feelings for eachother.) any present would do. more useful the present is the better.






type 2 giving to type 1 (just good friends. nothing special going on between the two) - type 2 is used to shopping for gifts with a lot of meaning. since there is no special feelings the giver would like to express, but looking for a gift with meaning, this is a difficult task. suggestion. just buy them something useful. something they need. even if they don't need it, they'll be happy getting the gift. probably the only reason type 2 is giving the gift to type 1 in the first place is because the giver knows that the receiver likes getting presents, and is only returning the favor of giving a gift back. if the receiver doesn't get a gift, they might take it the wrong way.



type 2 giving to type 1 (giver has special feelings for receiver, but receiver doesn't have mutal feelings for the giver). the giver will spend too much time looking for a perfect gift, when any gift will do. you will never please the receiver as you are hoping to. so just spend less time and don't set yourself up for a disappointment. this is the least rewarding scenario of the gift giving process. lot of money, time, and meaning lost.



type 2 giving to type 1 (receiver has special feelings for giver, but giver doesn't have mutal feelings for the receiver). any present the receiver will be able to interpret as a really good gift. the receiver is very easy to please. the giver knows not to spend too much time. and probably is only buying the receiver a gift because the giver received a gift on his or her last birthday from the receiver.



type 2 giving to type 1 (they both have mutual special feelings for eachother.) suggestion is to not spend too much time on buying the gift. the receiver will be really happy with anything, but the giver will spend too much time anyway. time is lost, but both parties will be mutually happy.






type 1 giving to type 2 (just good friends. nothing special going on between the two). best not to give the receiver a gift. but the giver will give them a gift anyway. and when the giver's birthday comes around, the receiver will feel obligated to give them a gift. suggestion, best gift is no gift at all. buy them a lunch or something.



type 1 giving to type 2 (giver has special feelings for receiver, but receiver doesn't have mutal feelings for the giver). - the giver will always buy the receiver something. can't help it right? there is a waste of money here.



type 1 giving to type 2 (receiver has special feelings for giver, but giver doesn't have mutal feelings for the receiver). the receiver will typically be disappointed with the gift they receive because it usually doesn't have more meaning. it would send the wrong signals to put too much time and meaning into gifts in this scenario, so i don't suggest a change. giving gifts in this scenario is only slightly better, but the receiver will never get what he's hoping to get.



type 1 giving to type 2 (they both have mutual special feelings for eachother.) the receiver is looking for somethign with a lot of meaning. suggestion, spend more time to put more meaning into the






type 2 giving to type 2 (just good friends. nothing special going on between the two). these people usually don't give gifts to eachother. best of both worlds. giver doesn't give anything, the receiver doesn't expect anything, and they're both happy.



type 2 giving to type 2 (giver has special feelings for receiver, but receiver doesn't have mutal feelings for the giver). be careful what you give. if you put too much meaning, which you will, the receiver will be put in an awkward situation.



type 2 giving to type 2 (receiver has special feelings for giver, but giver doesn't have mutal feelings for the receiver). if you give them a gift with meaning, you will be sending the wrong signals. i suggest not giving gifts at all, which is probably what will happen anyway.



type 2 giving to type 2 (they both have mutual special feelings for eachother.)

hardest to shop for and but if you give the right gift, it's the most rewarding scenario of gift giving. most amount of effort, for the most amount of appreciation.






for the record, i am a type 2 for birthdays, and type 3 for christmas. the best example of type 1 is Nguyen. he gives out gifts on birthdays, and receives gifts on his birthday. when he buys me a gift, i'm usually disappointed. the worst gift he got me was 2 years ago when he went to the UCSD bookstore and just bought me some caselogic stuff. on top of it being a waste of money, it had no meaning. i do expect something from him this year, only because i gave him something this year. but i'll be just as happy if i don't get anything from him this year. this means that i won't have to get him anything for his birthday next year.



best example of type 2 is my friend Jeff. he hates buying gifts, and doesn't expect or want anything on his birthday, unless it was from a girl that he liked. he's told me so, and i wish everyone that were type 2's just would tell others.
this weekend sucked. especially today. so bored. so depressing. no one to blame but myself. i got up, went to Nutri-Sport for some Hydroxycut and this thing called Control (helps regulate blood sugars). went to costco for some bare necessities. came home, ate, napped for a good few hours. woke up feeling like crap. played some gta3, went biking for 40 min. that's all i did today.



i've been in a particular fowl mood since mid last week. just depressed i guess.

Sunday, August 25, 2002

didn't win the lottery this weekend. damn. i hope no one won it. with those winnings you still won't be able to buy that $41m dollar house in La Jolla. I went to Vons to get a ticket from their machine, and dayam, there was a line of 25 people. I think it's a lucky machine. I've won the most money back from the machine, and others might have too. Anyways, I stood in line for about 1 minute, and I said screw it, and drove to Albertsons. I got my ticket with about 2 minutes of waiting. Didn't win though so it doesn't matter. Maybe i should have stayed in the line at Vons. I just couldn't bare it because the lady who was trying to use it obviously didn't know what the hell she was doing, or maybe it wasn't taking her nappy bills. any case, people were getting real pissy, and it looked like some yelling was gonna start any minute. even though I would have liked to stay for that, I only had about an hour till the drawing.



today i played tennis with wendy. i think i sucked. or maybe i'm just being too harsh on myself. either case, i better improve or wendy might not want to play tennis anymore on saturdays. not that she played all that great. but i think if i improved it would be more fun.



after tennis, i met up with jeff, loi, his gf, and loi's friend....marvin i think? doesn't sound right. damn, i'm so bad with names. he's an asian guy with a mustang. so far i've met 3 asian guys with mustangs now. all souped up. some more than others. so we went to this chinese restaurant....where Nijiya market is. then i went to tapioca express to chill. i wasn't gonna get any, but damn, i gave in. talked to loi's friend (since i'm not sure of his name) about lifting and stuff. seems like a cool guy. he said he'll make it to rimac when i'm there help me bench. it would be cool if he does. let's see if he shows up. i understand if he doesn't. i wouldn't want to mess with my own routine, and come at a time when rimac is really full.



so after, we were gonna head home....but i asked jeff if he wants to go drive around in the GTR. he said sure. he loves driving that thing so i figured he would. we made a detour at this garage in a big plaza in Balboa. Basically, it resemembled a scene in the movie Fast and the Furious, execept 85% of the cars were American hotrods. lots of mustangs, cameros, one viper, and classics. we walked around for a bit. the guys were really friendly. Loi was friends with one of the guys who drove of '03 Cobra. Supposedly that car will do mid 12s quarter miles stock. Loi said he is one of the best lawyers in San Diego.



so Loi drops me and jeff off at his house, and we take the GTR through the windy and narrow (clean and empty) roads of Rancho Santa Fe. It was really cool. Wasn't scared because the car had unbelieveable amount of grip, and I trusted Jeff with his driving. We must have hit 100+ easily on these windy roads. almost ran over one rabbit and saw a dead coyoto on the way. Then on this straight we hit 115mph (the speed limiter stopped us here). and talking to jeff, he said he's taken his celica even faster on that road...which i can't imagine. i'd be scared shitless in that. and that while driving the GTR he was holding back a lot and driving conservatively. i thought he was going all out. hmmm....man i'm kinda scared to see what the car will do after a few mods. the car is still bone stock, and I don't think it even has the side impact beams put in (they put it in at motorex cause they don't require them in Japan). and the bumer is made of fiberglass. that hasn't been changed yet, but it will when it gets legalized.



didn't make it to the del mar race tracks today. barely made it to tennis. i think i could have played longer, but i just couldn't get my act together after taking a short break.



Loi's friend and I were talking about the supplements we take. He recommended Hydroxycut. And I was all set to buy it, and I got home and looked at it and it has Ephedra in it. I still want to get it, but I'll have to think about it tonight. Combine that with cutting gel or yohimburn and it'll be a express ticket to a six pack.



actually, now that i think of it, i've tried a product very similar to Hydroxycut before called Formulean. I have half a bottle left of formulean....I took it for a little over a month. And at that time I was eating terribly, didn't know jack about metabolism, fitness, etc. and weight wise, it didn't change any bit. i stopped taking it because i thought it wasn't working. now that i have a body fat scale, and i control what i eat, i can really find out if this thing works. so i have made my decision to buy Hydroxycut. now i'm just trying to decide if i should finish the half months supply i have left of Formulean left, or I should get a bottle of Hydroxycut. I think I'll go with Hydroxycut....

Saturday, August 24, 2002

I got an interesting comment ouf of the blue yesterday and I thought I'd share the information: Here was the comment:

hey, Im (basically) an obese person (180 pounds, 5'5) and I was interested in your blog because of your interest in getting fit. I swim competivly (sorry, spelling is not my forte) 10 months of the year, and I HATE running, so dont even suggest it.

What I would like, however, is to change my diet, because thats where my faults lie. Can you suggest some healthier receipes for still good food? (not some tofu stuff or anything, yuech) And maybe some tips on how you were so successful about losing wieght? (I want to lose around 60 pounds, but I know just swimming six hours a week..maybe more..will not do it) Will you please send me an email? I would very greatly appreciate it.

Thank you

bebefly [faerie_princezz@hotmail.com] • 23/08/2002, 20:47 #



My response:

Hey there, you commented on my blog just the other day. I'm glad to help. Back in January, I used to be 180lbs 5'8". With at least 25% body fat. Now I'm 165 with about 17% body fat. Still losing. I hope to one day be below 10% in body fat.



There is so much I want to tell you, but I think I should just make some main points clear.



Before you change your diet, you must understand the basic fundamentals. Most of it is common sense if you just sit down and think about it.



The reason people gain weight.

Say your body burns 2200 calories for all your daily activities, walking, swimming, talking, breathing. When you eat more than 2200 calories a day, your body will store the extra calories you consume, by storing it into fat. This is why your weight goes up. Same thing for weight loss. The reason people lose weight is that they consume less calories than they are burning off that day. Simple right? For future references 3500 fat calories is about a pound of fat. A normal person burns about 2200 calories a day. A person working at a desk job with no physical activities during the day burns about 1800 calories, and a active person burns about 2600 calories a day.



The reason crash diets don't keep weight off.

In my opinion, crash diets are one of the worst things you can do to your bodies. A crash diet consists of eating maybe 500-700 calories a day, while you go on with your normal life. You might that you will lose weight a lot quicker, but your body has a defense mechanism. It will put itself in a survival mode, and you probably will end up only burning a fraction of what your body normally burns because it's trying at the best of it's ability to burn the least amount of calories as possible. This is why you feel weak. So after you're done doing serious damage to your body, you could have lost a lot of weight, but you probably don't look any healthier. Just a slimmer version of you. You probably lost a lot of muscle too. Your body fat is up. Your metabolism is way down. So after you can't take this crash diet any longer, you try to eat normally. Your metabolism being way down, you are still storing just about everything you eat as fat. You start eating 2200 calories a day while your body is burning 1400 calories, you will gain some serious fat really fast. With less muscle than what you initially started with, you are now unhealthier and fatter than ever before. Then after you balloon up, you might do this crash diet again after you feel like you can bare it again, and the cycle repeats itself.



What metabolism means.

So above I described a person with low metabolism. The body is conserving calories. So you don't have much energy doing normal things, and when you ask it to do some manual labor, you'll run out of juice really quickly. A person with high metabolism on the other hand is constantly burning calories, even at rest, because the body is operating efficiently. They will feel energetic, and when you want to do something physical, you have a lot of energy for long periods of time.



How your body burns fat.

There are 2 ways your body burns fat. More muscles you have, more fat you'll burn while you are resting. Doing cardio (running, biking, swimming) will only burn fat while you do it. But it is important that you do cardio effectively. Too low intensity, or too high, you won't be burning fat at all. Just making your self tired. And that's when the cramps set in. For me, if I do cardio below 135bpm or above 168bpm, I won't be burning any fat. You should find your target heart rate for maximum fat burning. It's a little sad to see people who are just getting started at the gym and overly motivated. They take their heart rate up too high. They just put themselves through some excruciating pain for about a month, see no results, and don't come back. Also, when you do cardio, you gotta do it for at least 20 minutes. Within first 12 minutes, you are burning through your carb stores (which need to be burned off first), and it takes this long for you to produce fat burning enzymes. Another thing about cardio is that you should change your cardio routine every 2-3 weeks. You said that you liked to swim. After about 2-3 weeks of intensive swimming, your body adjusts, and your rate of burning fat is almost zero after 2-3 weeks of swimming. Why not try this. Swim for 3 weeks, do the elliptical at the gym for 3 weeks, do the bike for 3 weeks, and then you can rotate with these 3 exercises. One more thing about cardio. You should not do it every day, and not longer for 45 minutes. If you do it too frequently or too much, your body releases cortisol in your bloodstream. This stops your body from burning fat and building muscle. Everyone releases cortisol, but if you release lot of it every day, the gland that secretes cortisol will expand, and you will be releasing cortisol way too much, that you'll never see any fat loss. For the quickest results for fat loss, you should build muscle and do cardio. make sure your body has time to recover. If you are thinking of hitting the gym to do some muscle building, email me back and I'll explain what you need to build muscle or tone what you have. And give you more information on the importance of rest, form, stretching.



Nutrition

So finally what you've been asking for....There are 3 things your body needs. Carbs, protein, fat. Carbs you need for quick energy. Protein you need for building muscle. Fat you need for various health reasons like secretion of hormones, blood circulation, etc. 1g of carbs = 4 calories 1g of protein = 4 calories 1g of fat = 9 calories 1g of alcohol = 3 calories remember I mentioned that you should be eating slightly less than what you are burning? So if you an active person, you should eat 2000 - 2100 calories. You should divide this up to 7 meals. Every 2 hours eat ~300 calories. The calories consisting of 40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat. If at all possible, the fat you consume should be mono unsaturated fat (olive oil, avocados, oils found in nuts). The simpler form of fat that is the easiest to break down and burn. The most complex fat that is the hardest to burn off is saturated fat. There is some evidence that your body can't burn saturated fat at all, and all it does is clog up your arteries. Since it will take you too much time to count calories of all the meals you eat, I suggest you design a good number of 300 calorie meals, and just choose from the list to eat ever 2 hours.



Health

Vitamins - You need vitamins for your body to function properly. That includes things like your brain's ability to think to your body's ability to burn fat. Fiber - a lot of truth to the old phrase "an apple a day, keeps the doctors away". I take a multivitamin (Centrum). They don't have enough calcium in them, so I take calcium separately. I also take Glucosamine Sulfate (so I don't sprain my wrist or joints when I'm working out). Vitamin C will keep your immune system in check, and helps your body released stored fat into the blood stream to be burned off for energy. And I take fish oil (omega-3 fatty acid) which has been proven to help your body's blood circulation.



Tips

Here's a tip I give to everybody. I make it to the gym 5-6 times a week, because I don't plan on going to the gym. It's just a part of my day, like going to work, eating, etc. I go at the same time every day. The mistake of some people is that they plan to go to the gym on a day by day basis. Works when you're motivated, but motivation will only get you started. just set a time to work out every day at the same time, and you plan your schedule around that.



So I guess I just basically talked about everything except what you asked for (recipies). The truth is my meals are very boring. I've been eating like a machine. I have convenience and nutrition facts at a higher priority than taste and how much I enjoy the food. But I'm starting to dread it now, and I am starting to design more creative, tasty meals even though it means my meals take much longer to prepare than a few minutes. And you must have stumbled onto my blog just when I'm getting creative. So keep reading my blog if you want http://lucidmike.blogspot.com. And I'll have recipes there from time to time (I just posted one today, the "almost fried chicken"). Feel free to design your own meals with everything I said in mind. The more you do it, you see the bigger picture of how your body works, and when you understand what your body is doing.



So the way to lose weight and be able to keep it off relies on a few things.

-You should work on losing fat, building muscle, and keeping your metabolism up.

-Making a life style change on how you eat, what you eat and how active you are.



If you're really interested on what I've been eating the past 5 months, here's a list. All of these should be about 300 calorie meals with 40% of the calories being carbs, 30% protein, 30% fat.

Meal 1

Protein shake

1 slice of whole wheat bread

teaspoon of penut butter



meal 2

lots of lettuce

1 small bag of tuna in fresh water

2 servings of wishbone Italian dressing

4 servings of wishbone fat free Italian dressing

1 piece of whole wheat bread or 1 serving of fat free crutons



meal 3

lots of lettuce

1 small bag of tuna in sunflower oil

6 serverings of wishbone fat free Italian dressing

1 piece of whole wheat bread or 1 serving of fat free crutons



meal 4

half a protein bar

banana or a large apple



meal 5

lots of turkey

one slice of whole wheat bread

1 slice of fat free cheese

1 serving of mustard

(optional) lettuce

1 teaspoon of peanut butter

half an medium apple, or a small apple



meal 6

bowl of "protein plus" cereal

1 cup of skim milk (non fat)

1 teaspoon of peanut butter



noting to brag about, but that's what I ate for a few months. But now I'm willing to spend more time in the kitchen for more than 2 minutes because I've become so bored with the stuff I'm used to eating. Good luck and let me know if you have any questions.
after work today, i made my breaded baked chicken. it was pretty good. healthy too. here's the recipie.

lean chicken (almost no fat)

dip in egg wash (egg wash is one egg with 1tsp of water, slightly beaten)

cover in bread crumbs (progresso seasoned breadcrumbs. add a little spice to kick it up a notch)

spray aluminum foil in pam

place chicken in aluminum

lightly brush on some olive oil (mono unsaturated fat) on top



it wasn't kfc, but eating these, you'd never know the difference betwee this chicken, and the deep fried stuff you'd get at the markets. i can also add this to the spagetti i made 2 days ago. added protein and fat, which was what that pasta was lacking. can't eat too much of it though. maybe half a serving of pasta (half a bowl, and 2 piece of chicken)



then met up with nguyen, and we were gonna go watch signs. but we met up with some more people, and we went to go bowl. we got there, and it was $14 per person, so we just got boba. the boba was a little hard. a little old. it gave me heartburn wich is a sign that the boba has been cooked long time ago. then we went to blockbuster to borrow "all about the benjamins". it was okay. i'd give it 6 out of 10.



what's in store for tomorrow.

some tennis. maybe some dell mar race tracks.



at tapioca express, we saw 2 nsx's, a new M3 parked right at front. i thought about calling jeff to come drive by with his GTR, but i it was late, along with other reasons like he doesn't like parking it anywhere, i wasn't gonna be there long, i had my cell in the car, etc.

Friday, August 23, 2002

yesterday.....not much went on yesterday.



i left work early to go run with Wendy, and only ended up running 9 laps (2 warmup laps, stretch, 7 regular laps) and walking one around the course because of a cramp in my stomach. walking on the track, i suddently realized i had not drank much water that day, if at all (only 3 cups in the morning, and the liquid that was in my 2 servings of protein shake i had when i was at work). wendy couldn't run much either. she ran about 2.5 laps total, and walked 2.5 laps. it was a disappointing day.



yesterday, my food intake was all messed up. for lunch, one of my meals was spagetti. probably not enough protein, even though i did put an usual amount of ground beef, but it all seemed to disappear into the sauce. then for dinner, i had a big bowl of spagetti....then i got really hungry for some KFC.......i haven't eaten KFC this year, or much of last, but for some reason, i was craving for some fried foods. so i finally gave in, and on my way out, Nguyen calls me and asks me if i can pick him and michelle up from the airport. so they saved me from a trip to KFC. I don't crave it now. so i get there at 9:30 (they told me they were gonna land at 9:20), so i get there, call them, and they still haven't left yet. turns out he told me when they were departing. what a fucking colossal waste of time. but i decided to keep calm. i gotta see my commitments through. so i drove back to La Jolla, and went to ralphs. too late for KFC. decided to buy some chicken tender spears (almost no fat on them), and some progresso seasonsed bread crumbs. next time i crave fried chicken, i can bake some chicken at home. cover the chicken in egg, cover it some bread crumbs, and dab a little bit of olive oil for some mono unsaturated fat and that little bit of fried feeling, then bake. so i stall long as i could at ralphs, then head back to the airport, and get there at 10:50. finally pick them up at 11:20. hungry as hell, and still craving mass quantities of protein and fat. so at friday's, we got some buffalo wings...closest thing to fried chicken with bone. i had some chicken tortilla soup. then i had a 2 chicken breast filets grilled, covered in sauteed onions and mushrooms. and a baked potato. so yesterday, was a total failure in just about anything related to health. probably still ran, drank, and ate healthier than the average person, but no progress was made yesterday. it got me thinking though.....i'm still eating about 2100-2400 calories a day. and i work out every single day. some days, there is a big defecit, and probably does more harm than good. i guess i'll have to play around for a bit. eat 2400 calories a day for 2 weeks, and see if i put on more pounds and fat. who knows, i might end up reducing my body fat faster, and have more energy at the gym.



the jackpot is up to 115 million. can't win if you don't try.

Wednesday, August 21, 2002

made some awesome spagetti today.



here's the ingredients

extra virgin olive oil

onion

pepper

salt

green and red bell peppers

mushrooms

garlic

lean ground beef 7% fat.

dry white wine (pinot griggio)

fresh basil

fresh tomatoes

bay leaves

prego spagetti sauce.



i think the key to making it great is the order that you put it in. just can't throw everything in together at once. it'll be some expensive slop. so anyway, i have enough pasta for the next 8-12 meals. i over did it a little with the white wine. still, it's great stuff. i'll take it to work tomorrow. freeze some for later.
http://www.turtletransit.com/pfolio/bug4.htm



this day will go down in history as the most boring day ever at work. everyone is gone. the foods i bring to eat at work is driving me a little edgy. doesn't satisfy my taste buds. my roommate is at china for a month. i want to go eat out, but i think what i'm really seeking is just some company. the friends i used to always rely to fill this space have all moved out of SD. i keep askin' people what they're up to. and i even some ask if they want to just hang out, but they seem occupied with something else. they all just don't seem to get the idea. but last thing i need though is a pity vote. i'd rather be lonely a few nights more than get that.



off to the gym.
This just in:

http://news.com.com/2100-1040-954357.html?tag=fd_top



Excerpt:

Handheld maker Palm admitted Monday that its low-end m130 handheld is not capable of displaying as many colors as the company had advertised.



Supposedly, it can display 58,000 colors, not 64,000 colors. Who cares? It displays 58,000 crappy colors anyway.
went back on the track today. jogged 3.25 miles. ran a small portion of it. i didn't realize my heart rate goes up so high when i'm running. i really wanted to run faster, but just ended up jogging because i couldn't get my heartrate below 170 unless i was jogging. after jogging the 3.25 miles, i thought i could jog 3 more. wendy had a hard time keeping up though. i lapped her 3 times, with my jogging. i don't think it's her cardio that's the problem. it's her diet. she needs to increase her metabolism. even after i jogged the 3 miles, i felt like i could sprint at least a lap...maybe lap and a half if i wanted to after that. it shows how much progress i've made with my cardio the last 5 months. just increadible isn't it? before i started working out, probably the most i could do was jog about 2 laps. maybe less. now i feel like i can do endless amount of laps. today, i did 13, and felt like i had the energy to do a few more miles no problem. the 5K is gonna be a snap. i just wish my heart could keep up with me.



well, the internet connection is dead. i'll have to publish tomorrow.

Tuesday, August 20, 2002

i don't know how it's working but i'm managing to get cnn's newspass for free on my home computer. i thought they just offered it for free at night times, but it was just because i was watching the video's at home late in the evenings. what sucks is that i come to work and expect to watch the video's on cnn, and find out that i'll have to wait till i get home.
I’m sitting here with a 30in waist (last time I had a 30 inch waist was in early Jr high), and more in shape than I have ever been in my life, and I’m still a year or two away of where I want to ultimately be. There is quite a bit of disappointment every time I feel my flab, especially when I’m slouching. A horrible image I hope no one ever has to see. And it makes me wonder, are my ultimate goals even possible? But these thoughts are just momentary.



I’ve been exercising consistently for 5 months now, and oh boy have I seen some fantastic results. I cannot imagine what my body was like 5 months ago. Unpleasant to say the least. It is frustrating, and exciting at the same time knowing that I have so much more results that I am going to see in the future, slowly but surely. Seeing myself in the mirror is a mixture of excitement and disappointment. Very excited to see how much progress I’ve made, and how great I look compared to when I started, but disappointed that I have so much more to lose and gain.



But as for the question of it being possible, this is a ridiculous question. Anyone can have a body of their dreams. Anyone. It’s more a test of patience and dedication than how much weight you can lift or how great you look. The guy who has inspired me to work out used to have a gut, and now has a six pack after working out for 2 years. I’m telling myself to continue to do what I’m doing and it will eventually come. And when I have reached my goals, I will have something that I’m truly proud of, and be happy about. Unlike a college degree for me. I’ve basically cruised by college doing the very minimum possible to graduate and get my BS. It was a lot of work, sweat, and tears, but I did hop through a lot of it. But working out is different. I can’t cruise by this and do the minimum I need to accomplish my goals. And you won’t have to even tell people what you did. They’ll be able to see it. 2 years might seem like an eternity, but if you look at it from a different perspective, it is a bargain. 2 years for something you can’t buy no matter how much money you had? I was walking in the garage today and saw a really fat out of shape guy working on his nice corvette. I’m not a big fan of the corvette, but it got me askin’, “what would I rather have? My dream car (Ferrari 360 modena) and be horribly out of shape, or drive my current car and be in great shape?” immediately the answer was that I’d rather have the body than the car. So it is that valuable. So for me, if 2 years is what it takes, it is a bargain of the century.



Monday, August 19, 2002

one thing about editing your posts....if you want to delete, you gotta either republish your archives, or make another post after that one because the archived blogs don't change.
i wanna get back into DDR again. but 2 problems. my current pads suck. i live on the 3rd floor. so i guess i'll have to wait till i live in my own place for metal pads. the mymybox metal pads seem to be a sure thing. they are ~$200 each. maybe in a year or two, if i'm still interested, i'll get those. maybe.
on sunday, i slept most of the day, made it to the gym around 5:30, and worked out till close. came home, showered, went to work at my consulting place, got some burritos on the way home, watched a few simpsons episodes on dvd and passed out. i held out on a carwash for a few weeks until this saturday. then it starts to rain on sunday. but it dried off pretty cleanly. the car looks really nice when it's clean. almost even proud to own it. : )



made it to work a little late today. erik is out until thursday or later because of a passing of a relative. nguyen's out all week cause he's going to SF for the week. i need to give him a ride to the airport, so i'm gonna leave 2:30 today, and probably be back around 4:30. that should give me a nice break from work on a dreadful Monday. so anyway, this should be a boring week. i see myself doing a lot of web surfing, slacking, blogging, and chatting. now if i can only concentrate on being productive.



if you haven't noticed, i've added a commenting feature to my blog. i wanted to some what, but after i saw travis' commenting stuff on there, i figure, why not. so i just went and did it.

Sunday, August 18, 2002

is it the weather, or is it the heat? all i have done so far today is sleep.
just found out that "Amadeus: Director's Cut" DVD will be released 9/24/2002. I have the original "flipper" excuse for a DVD. I have avoided all new releases of the movies I currently own, but it'll be worth it for Amadeus.



They are also re-releasing Singing in the Rain, Pulp Fiction, Resevoir Dogs, and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest. Awesome movies. Not worth it. Maybe if they were flippers.



A couple of others worth mentioning. They are rereleasing Swingers.....finally releasing Saturday Night Fever, ET, Back to the Future, Chris Rock's Bring the Pain
well, what do you know. i actually got to see "Singing in the Rain" tonight. Today, I managed to do all my numerous errands in much less time than anticipated, and then got to do some well deserved r&r.



woke up at 11, ate, slept till about 2pm. got a haircut, went to best buy to buy the "V - The Final Battle" DVD, got my car washed, bought a lottery ticket, and made a deposit to my checking account. Came home and finished the DVD I bought all 4-5 hours of it. Then Nguyen calls me up, wants to get boba and watch a DVD. So i go over to his place, passing an accident. All I thought I saw was a car with a flat tire, but there was a lot of glass on the ground. After I picked up Nguyen, we went to get boba and some burritos. And we pass by the accident again, and the accident was actually on the other side of the road. 2 of the cars were totally smashed. if i remember correctly, the front of the car was smashed so hard, the front of the car was higher than the original height of the car. there was the driver still in his car. didn't want to stare too close, but i don't think he had a shirt on (drunk driving perhaps?). i wasn't in the mood to see any real life pain, so i didn't look after i realized there was someone still in the car. one person was being wheeled on to an ambulance. hope they're all right. if they were driving drunk though, they deserve it. drunk drivers get no sympathy from me. and if they do harm or kill anyone on the road, they should get a sentence for 2nd degree murder. manslaughter is something they should reserve for non drunk idiots who mow people down.



so we went to get boba at Bobalicious. Then as we're heading to Sombreros, I come up to a light and for a second I was contemplating whether I should run it. Nguyen thought I was going to. But I knew better cause I knew there were too many cops in that street alone. I even tell him "nah, too many cops on this street." Then the lights turn green, I start driving like I always do (a little agressive to say the least), and a cop shines his reds and blues. It's the exact same street Jeff told me about. It's the street where Mira Mesa turns into a 35mph zone, and how he got pulled over for doing 70, and how I should really watch out. Anyways, I try to pull over, but I realize it's not the place to pull over, so i turn a corner, and it's still bad to pull over cause there's only one spot for a car, so i turn into this plaza. And this asian cop pulls over. He explains that he realizes that I didn't pull over immediately because I was trying to find a place for him to stop safely as well. And although that was good intentioned, i shouldn't be doing that because it gets their blood pumping, and they start to think if i'm gonna start running or not. anyways, he didn't even look up my info. he just asked for my license, and said be careful. I said thank you, and we were off. seemed like a nice guy. good thing I didn't run that light, or he would definitely have something to give me a ticket about. anyways, if he gave me that ticket, it would have been the 3rd time that i got a ticket for doing ~15mph over, at a road where the limit should be higher, on a non busy night.



so we get out burritos, get to nguyen's place, and watch singing in the rain. i took 4 movies with me. Amelie, Singing in the Rain, Rounders, and Prince of Egypt. All for good reasons too. I took Amelie with me because I think it's a film that everyone can enjoy and gain something from. Singing in the Rain because I wanted to see it earlier today. Rounders because I'm going to Vegas in a month, and I felt like soaking up some Vegas atmosphere. Prince of Egypt because I had some of the songs stuck in my head from this movie the last couple of days. I didn't really want to watch Amelie because I told tommy I was gonna watch that with him when he comes down to SD in 2 weeks. and nguyen wanted to watch a comedy, so we agreed on singing in the rain. we started watching it, and luckily Michelle came home before the story developed into a romantic comedy. i think nguyen got a kick of the tap dancing. i'm not sure if michelle liked the movie too much.



now i'm back home, and i feel totally gross about the food i ate. i don't remember eating this unhealthy in a while. i sure haven't had the feeling of all this excess food in my stomach in a long time. i think above everything, boba is the one that is making me feel nasty. if i had to make a guess, all the sugar in the boba caused an insulin rush in my body, which lead to my body stopping the burning of fat, and lowering how my body processes food at the moment. so it's just sitting there. damn boba. how can i stop? there is no substitute. and it's just one of the things you have to do when you're hanging out with asian friends. like playing pool. or smoking. since my friends don't smoke, or play pool on a regular basis, all we got is boba. damn. what to do. it is a riddle, a puzzle. its a question that's stumpted asian mathematicians and philosophers of the youth generation.



what is this shit about? Chargers, get the fuck out. I know this is the last year we're going to have them, but they should leave sooner. lazy ass football players. i see them at UCSD all the time. driving their golf carts from their rooms to the playing field. lazy bastards. what they need is a leader. i'm sure if Junior Seau was staying in the dorms and walking to practice, he'd set examples. But he's not even staying in the dorms so there goes that idea.

Saturday, August 17, 2002

i always feel like watching a different movie everyday. even though i never get around to it, today, i feel like watching "Singing in the Rain."
just came back from watching triple x(xXx). it is brainless entertainment done right. just totally not even try to make the story believable. just work on cool shots, and one liners. and to top it off, they did some innovative stunts, and shots. good work. i'd give the story about a 3.5, but the action a 9.5. and an extra 2 points for innovation. so the movie was a 7.5. very solid enjoyable movie. probably not going to own it, but then again, if it gets every played on cable, i'd stand around and watch the cool parts.



but what's up with that GTO? it's the same one on Fast and the Furious right? Not an attractive car. He must personally own it and love it. so anyway, today i went to Tadashi with Jeff, got a Bento box, plus an order of tuna and salmon nigiri sushi. and an order of spicy tuna hand rolls.



wendy's out of town, and i don't have anyone to play tennis with, so i guess i'll be hitting the gym again this weekend. i think i'm gonna do bi's and back on saturdays also, along with the cardio. i also gotta start doing different exercises.

here's my schedule:

monday: chest, triceps, shoulders, abs

tuesday: cardio

wednesday: biceps, back, forearms, abs

thursday: cardio, chest, triceps, shoulders

friday: lower body, abs

saturaday or sun: cardio, biceps, back, forearms



this is truly a refined schedule. if i wanted to work out my lower body more, i'd have to restrict the last schedule to saturday only, and add lower body to tuesday. and i'd still have a rest day on sunday. one thing is for sure though. i gotta get more sleep.

Friday, August 16, 2002

man, i'm not thinking right. instead of clicking on "Post" or "Post and Publish" I clicked on the "Posts" button, and lost what I wrote.



anyways, i had 9 hours of sleep last night. good stuff.



everyday when i come in the office it smells like one of the following:

fried chicken

krispy kreme

inn and out

mcdonalds



sure explains the Netops 20.

Thursday, August 15, 2002

my body is really in need of some good sleep. i think i'm gonna sleep early today. maybe in a few minutes. i think my homone level is a little different than normal. oil on my face feels acidic, and i have a bit of acne activity.



diem and wendy didn't join me at the gym today. hope diem got her cardio in after church. wendy on the other hand....she's been a little abusive to her body by not eating right. trying to let her know that what she is doing is bad, and what she could be doing to improve her metabolism.



not much going on today. still am not gonna make it to the consulting place. with my new schedule, i have no time. and i already got 2 jobs. active directory and working out at rimac. will have to do it this weekend.



i went to el cotixan today for lunch with nguyen. the burrito was actually big this time. i only needed one.



no one won the lottery on wednesday so the jackpot is 66 million. (that's nothing compared to what the 9/11 survivors are suing international banks for. 116 trillion dollars? does that money even exist?). did i mention i always had a feeling that i'll win the lottery one day? maybe it will be this saturday. i think i feel lucky. if i won here's what i'd buy:



silver 360 modena spider f1

silver or black black 2003 BMW M3 SMGII

silver porsche 911 turbo

and a skyline gtr vspecii. so it'd have to be white. probably buy the one jeff is selling. don't have time to wait 1 year for one.



a nice place on the gated community of torrey pines across from the muir parking lots. it'll have to overlook the ocean and have at least 4 garage spaces.

i'd buy some kickass components for my existing computer. like the best of everything. scsi raid 5, ati 9700, a few studio displays.



a kickass entertainment system. biggest plasma TV available, or maybe top of the line LCD projector, and make a theater in one of the rooms.



everyday, my job would be:

2 hours at the gym

1 hour learning the guitar or piano

1 hour of martial arts class

1-2 hours of cooking school

1 hour doing something artisitic, like painting, drawing, creating

2 hours planning on what new things i can do to keep me busy, like eat at new places and see



okay. now that i got a rough draft ready, i'm ready to win my millions now.
i guess my blog account is fortunate enough to not have the quirky publish problems some of my friends complain about. out of the last 150-200 entries, unless the server went down, there were no failed posts. the archives were a different story, but i know how to fix that now.



anywhoo....today was just about the same day as yesterday. went to get pho with raymond, and then we got boba afterwards (regretted getting it after). then off to the gym i went. i'm slowly making some progress on my biceps. i think i'm gonna go to the bookstore tomorrow and get a small notepad to carry around at the gym. sure i might look like a dork, but after they see me progress much faster, i'll probably start a trend.



today i found out that the days that we have scheduled to go to vegas are is the only weekend that wendy can't come. really unfortunate. what a bummer. i always have a better time when wendy is around and i know she'll enjoy her time there as well. i was gonna be a little more adventurous and take a thousand bucks to gamble with. i'm asking the group to see if 9/13 would be a better weekend, but to tell you the truth the chances are very slim to nil.



today i came home, wanted to get that damn burrito again, i guess i'm gonna try to get it tomorrow and get it over with. all protein anyway. then i gotta do laundry, then i gotta go to that consulting place. tomorrow is one busy day.



i was supposed to go to that consulting place today, but i got too tired and did some work at my real full time job. 2 hours of overtime. i wonder how i'm supposed to charge that if i'm reporting 6.5 sick hours this week.



wendy mentioned that her, diem, and diem's sister are gonna go to the beach this weekend. but my response was, "i'm not ready yet". which is true. sure, i might have been working out the longest, but i had the most to lose, and it is very likely i'm still more out of shape than anyone in my group. not that i'm ashamed of it in any way. but it might be slightly discouraging to people who haven't seen the progress yet. besides, i'm a perfectionist remember? only time i'm gonna be at the beach without a shirt is if i had a sick pack, and i already had a nice tan. so i guess i won't be going to the beach to get a tan with them any time soon. maybe december.....i guess it would have to be record breaking temperatures for that month, or maybe we'll just have to wait a year. the six pack should be nice enough by then.



talking about six packs, i saw travis' today. and wow, they're so cool. i can't wait to have them. it's gonna be a while, but they will eventually come. weeks pass like days anyways. but it still feels like i've been working out at rimac for 6 months. it's hard to blieve i've only been working out there for 1.5 months. just like when i wished the quarter would be over in a blink of an eye, i wish that i can just wake up 2 years from now and have the body that i would by then. at least i don't have to worry about not passing the course.



my goal for the body fat was 15% by beginning of the quarter (september 23). the scale at it's very lowest has read 15.4. that means realistically i'm at about 16.5-17.0 body fat. so it looks like i'm not really too far ahead. just more on track. the body fat scale should read 13.5-14.0 right out of the shower by september 23. i guess i couldn't be more on track.

Wednesday, August 14, 2002

had a pretty much uneventful day...only cause i made it like that. i got home from the gym at about 7, felt like getting a burrito, so i was gonna run back out after a shower and get that burrito and a lottery ticket. then i hit the big post in my parking spot, and scuff my bumper pretty bad. it looks pretty bad. definitely biggest mark by far on my car. can't buff or touch it up. maybe i was in disbelief or maybe i didn't care, but still very disappoinged. i came in and started chatting with an old friend. ate some beef jerky and didn't feel like getting a burrito anymore, so i've been here ever since. didn't buy a lottery ticket yet. i need to tomorrow. i didn't go to the consulting place either. i gotta go there tomorrow for sure before they decide to not pay me for the 15 hours i haven't charged yet. i guess its a good thing they keep calling back. i just hate working there. absolutely hate it. it's like the midterm i don't want to study for.



oh yeah, forgot to talk about shopping at Structure (aka ExpressForMen). I think ever since the name change, they've been hurting. so they've been heavily pushing coupons. I had a coupon for $30 off $75 plus an additional 10% off, then another $15 off no minimum coupon that I stacked. So I walked out of there with 2 jeans and 2 shorts for ~$52 ($108 value). and the 2 shorts were on sale too. not bad eh?

Monday, August 12, 2002

Went backpacking near this area called Devil's Postpile in Mammoth Lakes with Andrew, Mat, and Ben. Didn't actually go see the postpile, which is a pile of hexagonal colums that have topped over. It is one of the natural wonders of the world. Big positives and negatives about the trip. We really wanted to get there Saturday morning, so we left at 4:30 am…..with absolutely no sleep whatsoever from the night before because they started packing at Friday midnight. So no one could sleep at all because we were worried about the driver falling asleep and plowing us into a semi. So we finally get to the beginning of the trail by 10:30am, dead tired of course, and decide to hike 6-8 miles and 2000 ft up. Fortunately one guy was out of shape so he unintentionally brought us some relief because we only managed to walk 2 miles (still 2000 feet up), then found a nice camp next to a waterfall (completely covered with mosquitos, horse flies, black flies). First thing we all did when we got there was nap for 1-2 hours after we set up our tents. From here it was pleasant minus the bugs. Had a nice dinner and brunch the next day. We took a lot of pita bread because it was a better fit for the bear canisters (lots of bears at mammoth, so we had to put all the food we had in this pretty small canister. Had some tuna and pita sandwiches for lunch, pita and tuna helper for dinner, pita penut butter sandwiches and chicken noodle soup for brunch. We saw a deer around lunch time one the second day, but couldn't get a good shot off with our cameras in time. We hiked up a waterfall and took some nice pictures, then headed out. Good thing we didn’t hike the 6-8 miles. If we did, I don’t think we ever would have caught the shuttle in time, and we’d still be there now. : ) On our way home, we decided to get some steak. So in Bishop, we stopped by this pretty classy looking place (from the inside), we were worried about not getting seated cause we were covered in a lot of dust. But they sat us anyway. One thing odd about the place was the choice of music. Blackstreet boys, ricki Martin, and more outdated teen pop to name a few. Our steaks were pretty good except one guy’s steak was literally at the very most 1/3 of what the other steak was (exact same order too). Our reasoning was that he ordred the “beef” vegetable soup as his side, while we all ordered salads, so the rest of his steak must have been in the soup he had just before the entrée. He didn’t complain, but decided to piss all over the toilet seat instead on the way out. So driving out, 7-12pm the temperature was absolutely ridiculous. It was about 95 degrees for at least half of our commute home. There must have been a forest fire of biblical proportions somewhere near by, because we drove through smoke for a good 2 hours on the way home, which explains the ridiculous temperatures. By no means this was a perfect trip. It could have gone better, but still had a good time.



mosquito bites:

4 on the back of my hands

1 on the arm

1 on the hip

1 on my nose

1 on my head

6 on my neck.



maybe i should have gone for the higher concentration DEET bug repellant lotion. it is really hard to avoid bugs. if you go when the bugs are not there, it's too cold, and when you go away from the bugs you are usually away from water, so you gotta conserve water. if it weren't for the mosquitos the trip would have been a lot better. the bites are fierce. the one I got 2 days ago is still puffy and itches a lot. the other ones are one day old so they are not going away any time soon.



i was gonna just eat my pita and my protein bars, but i ended up not eating any of my protein bars, and straying from my diet this weekend with concentrated foods.



i got home at about 2am this morning, and went to sleep around 3am. was gonna head into work a little late, but then i got woken up by nguyen in the morning about a server that was misbehaving, so i troubleshot half awake, then went to sleep again and woke up at 12:30. i don't think i needed to sleep that late, but it was so hot, i couldn't get up. felt so sluggish. took another nap between 3:30 and 4:30, and then got into rimac at about 5:35. after coming home from the gym, i realized i totally forgot about my abs so i'm gonna hit the gym downstairs in a bit. i bought this thing called "cutting gel". it's a topical gel that you apply to your problem areas (abs for example) and it'll aid in releasing the stored fat in that area to your bloodstream. It sounds like it's a permanent thing, unlike preperation H or any kind of skin dehydrating cream that only lasts for a few days. i should see some results in a week.



just did some research on the cutting gel. it looks like it's good stuff. safe, and effective, and fast results. can't ask for anything more.

http://www.reach4life.com/details.asp?ProdID=4225
15.4 doesn't really feel like it, but the scale doesn't lie.



just got back from backpacking. i have a bit to write...but it's late and i gotta get some z's. not before a bowl of protein plus cereal. so i'll write about it tomorrow. i have 4 mosquito bites at the back of my neck. they are as annoying as they look.

for your amusement, here are the pics.

Friday, August 9, 2002

today was a somewhat boring and unproductive day. i wanted to go to harrah's (casino) grand opening but didn't end up going. after getting home from the gym, i rush out the door by 8 to go to REI and Structure. made it to rei, bought some water bottles, insect repellant, and this bug bite itch relief thing. if i didn't get harassed by that mosquito last night, i would never have remembered to bring these things for a comfortable camping trip. didn't have time to make it to structure, so i guess i'll be going there at lunch time tomorrow. went to the market after, and i decided to spend some time there finding new things to eat. unfortunately, nothing new was revealed to me. i found this soup from wolfgang puck that is the perfect 40-30-30 meal in one can and it was on sale for $1.25. i hope it tastes good. looked okay. i found this other can of chili that was a perfect 40-30-30 300 calorie meal per serving, but 2 servings in a can. half a can is a bit too little on volume, and i would have a hard time waiting 2 hours to finish the other half, so i put it back. other than the soups, i didn't buy anything new. the only tuna they had was in sunflower seed oil. since it has all the fat i would need in one meal, i got all fat free italian dressing this time (instead of mixing between 1 part regular, and 3 part fat free italian dressing for my salads). well, one thing i found was this Jalapeno gold mustard. just tried it and it's pretty damn good. i've gotten really sick of the ham sandwiches, but i think this mustard will help me finish all the ham left in the fridge. i'm getting pretty tired of what i eat everyday. mainly because i find something i can bare for 3 weeks straight, and never want to even go near for 3 months. i just hope i can find enough food to fill the 3 month rotation.



funny thing about mosquitos...if their sting didn't leave a nasty rash or a scar, they'd be more tolerable. it's funny how they haven't adapted into some super stealth bug that steals blood while you sleep. if it didn't itch so damn much, i would just continue on sleeping.

Thursday, August 8, 2002

big boss man set our official work hours from 8:30 to 4:30. I think I'm gonna change it from 9 to 5 instead. That's still not bad considering we are allowed an hour for lunch and 2 15 minute breaks. Unfortunately, I eat at my desk, and don't take 30 minute breaks, but I think I will from now on.



I was gonna get in at 8:30 today....but damn, there was this mosquito from hell in my room....he bit me in 4-5 noticeable locations. Its sting was so fierce that I woke up from the pain. one place I got stung was my pointer finger, and it was so bad that it had puffed up last night. and i'm a little more paranoid than usual cause of that west nile virus that's going around. and one of them was rashes. so the mosquitos wake me up at 4:30 in the morning, and I'm just slapping my face whenever the mosquito flies by my ear. so i finally wake up, and find the damn thing on the wall, try to kill it but i miss, and i try to spray it with some windex and i miss, and i lose it...so i sit at my computer researching mosquito repellants, and watching the latest videos on cnn. was gonna research the west nile virus some more, but i decided i would be dumb to get freak out about it even more. it hasn't hit california yet. so i decide to turn on the halogen lamp in my room and turn it down really low, and that kept me sane from 5:30 till 7:30 this morning...then i do something stupid like turn off the alarm, and instead of hitting the bathroom, i lye in my bed for a few more winks....with the alarm off....i guess i wasn't thinking straight. so i make it late into work at 9:20. early enough for what i had to go through last night.



this just in:

scientists discover the hunger hormone



here are my personal opinions. As one might or might not have noticed, I've changed my eating habits pretty drastically this year. And some people might have also noticed that over the years my weight tends to fluctuate. The fluctuation in weight was because I always wanted to lose some weight, but never really knew the proper way to do it. Whenever I felt motivated enough, I would start a starvation diet and eat less fat and meats. Knowing what I know now, my plan of attack was totally wrong. It caused my metabolism to be shot down, and my most of my consumption would be carbs. This explains why I might drop in weight, then balloon back up after a few months. Having said that, I don't think this discovery will make much of a difference. Just because you feel less hungry or eat less doesn't mean a thing. It might help the extremely fat people might eat less, but they aren't making any diet changes that will help them live any longer. They'll probably die sooner because they think they can eat foods more rich in fat just because they'll be eating less of it. On the outside, they might slim down, but on the inside, the arteries will be more clogged than ever. It's not like the stomach stapling which might help your metabolism because it promotes you to eat less more frequently. With this new suppression of the hunger hormone they'll be eating less, so their metabolism will even be lower than what it is now. So the fat that they have accumulated will not go anywhere because the drug will not make any life changes for them like what they eat and how active they are.

Wednesday, August 7, 2002

one of my other favorite shows of mine is the twilight zone. some day, i will purchase the entire collection in one shot. it's rather pricey, but well worth the money. i'll defintely have to buy a seperate shelf for the 47 Volumes. i have been eating out a little too much...and i've grown a taste for it.....subway monday, boba monday night, pho yesterday, steak last night. that's already 3 meals, and one boba and it's half way through the week. fortunately, i won't have time to eat out today, tomorrow, and i'll be backpacking starting friday. gotta fight the urge....just got asked to go to Flame Broiler, and even though it's not a bad place to eat, I had a hard time turning it down. I should print up a sign that says, "WWTD", and put it on my monitor. : )
unfortunately, no body fat loss to report today.



during lunch, i went to go eat pho and get simpsons season 2 on the way back to work.



after work, i went to rimac, and did cardio....had a hell of a time finding machines though.....too many damn people. i would prefer to not do the stairmaster or the bike. so i did 10 min on the eliptical to warm up, stretched, 10 minutes on the bike, 20 minutes on the eliptical, 5 min on the stairmaster and 10 min on the eliptical with the handle bars. i tried to jump from one machine to next keeping my heart rate up. wendy didn't make it to rimac today. i hope at least she got her cardio in, and plans on joining us tomorrow.



after work, met up with the OG ResNet crowd at Pampas. Had a 12oz tenderloin. It was the best cut of meat that was ever served to me. the restaurant could use some work though. i noticed an odor coming from the table cloth, and the air in the restaurant was pretty stale. also, the restaurant is in a horrible location, and the outside looks more like a pool hall than a argentinian restaurant. if they were anywhere in la jolla, it would be impossible to eat there without reservations, and probably cost twice the price for what they are serving.



came home, and watched the rest of "V - The Original Miniseries". Turns out it's only half of the series I was expecting. The other half, "V - The Final Battle" will have to be purchased seperately. For 1982, and with the budget they had, it's amazing what they were able to do. Still looks pretty descent today.



friday is creeping up really fast. tomorrow i gotta go to rei, return some stuff. gotta do the laundry tomorrow, and then thursday i gotta do the laundry and go to rei to return the sleeping pad, and go to structure to buy some shorts. then come home and pack. then on friday...i might have to leave work early to go work out, then be at irvine by dinner time. here is where i'll be backpacking this weekend. gotta remember to recharge my phone, and my digital camera. damn, this is one busy week.

Tuesday, August 6, 2002

16.5!

so in 4 days since I changed up my cardio, I managed to burn .5% of body fat. not bad. i'm just gonna change up my cardio at rimac until i plateau, not every 2 weeks.



let's see....after dealing with one of our "customers" yesterday, i didn't get a good nights sleep cause i knew she was gonna call in the morning. then all went to hell when another person (more knowledgeable) got the same problem with Exchange SP3. both of them were down when i went to go work out at rimac. worked out, came back, and found out lura got her's working. and andy emails saying he got his working. and then we both find out that they were having problems, only because they kept installing Win2k SP2 instead of Exchange SP2. i kept telling them they don't have it installed, and they kept reassuring me they had it installed. but at least andy was able to even get SP3 to work because of his mix up with SP2. Then I decide to shower, and finally go into my consulting gig (i've been promissing i'll go, but don't end up making it). so i thought i'll go there and get it over with. so getting out of the shower, Jeff calls, and wants to get boba and cruise in his GTR (skyline) cause he just got his oil changed. so as I'm getting the boba (jeff's in his car, being overprotective as usual), he takes one of the workers he's made friends with for a ride. it was a quick one cause i was still waiting for the damn drinks when he came back cause the girl behind the counter had no clue what she was doing. hopefully she's just starting out. so we get the boba, and we roll out of Tapioca Express, being stared by every rice boy in sight. Jeff pointed out that there was a civic with a GTR badge. hehe. I bet he was just an ocean of emotions from embarassment to overjoy of seeing an actual one.



so we head down to downtown La Jolla, and make our way up to Del Mar, then to PB, then back home. Jeff kinda broke in his car. It's at exactly 2k miles right now. He said he raced a WRX on the way to my place, but only took it up to 6000rpms (for the first time tonight). jeff was shifting hard tonight, but was shifting at 5000....damn, i can't imagine how rought hard shifting would be at 8000....probably get whiplash if i'm not ready. it was defintely fast...faster than the NSX.....and it's still stock....damn, actually, I think i'll probably be pretty scared when he gets some mods on it even though he's one of the very few drivers i trust.



so after boba, i come back, and i finally get to the consulting place. almost gave up, but i managed to fix the problem in about 2 hours. not toally fixed though. gotta go back. damn, but not for a while i think. gotta go sleep now.

Monday, August 5, 2002

16.8!

tired....so i'm gonna try to make this short.



i went to sleep at 10:30 yesterday, woke up at 5, so i slept again till 9:30. woke up, and watched "V - The Original Miniseries on DVD, went to rimac, did cardio for 50 min (10 min warm up, stretch, 40 min cardio). Then went to go eat Chop Stix and Boba with jeff, ritchie, sandy, and loy. jeff wasn't gonna take his GTR (too many people anyway), so i just drove seperately. after sunday boba brunch, i went to REI to get backpacking equipment. the REI guy was super knowledgeable (all businesses should take lessons), and recommended me a great backpack, and a great sleeping bag. unfortunately, they didn't have them in stock, so all i bought was a sleeping mat for $80 (kinda high huh?). then i went to costco to get food and the amelie dvd (they were sold out), then i went to sketchers warehouse (parked in a pay parking lot without paying (well i put $1 in, cause i couldn't justtify paying $5 to park there for 5 minutes as i was buying sketchers). found 2 great pairs of shoes one dressy, one for camping for $29.99 each (40% off sale), and off i went to my next destination, EXPRESSFORMEN(aka Structure). They were closed by the time I got there (i had a $35 coupon + 10% off + $15 coupon) so I couldn't rip them off with the 2 shorts I was gonna get for less than $20. so off i went to walmart to look for amelie, simpsons season 2(not released early at this walmart, unlike other walmarts in the country), got a polar target (heart rate monitor $59), and then i decided to look in the camping section. found an internal frame backpack for $60, a sleeping mat for $11, and a sleeping bag for $17. i had to make a decision to either spend <$100 or $400 at REI. as much as i like to treat myself to the best of the best, i think i made a wise decision to go with the walmart brand. there is a $300 quality different you feel, but this is my first backpacking adventure. who knows, maybe i'll end up not going as much as i had hoped for and not getting my money's worth. and even if i decide that i like backpacking and end up buying better stuff, i will have a backup set for maybe friends that want to come along without much notice. i'll have a bag for them. or if my brother wants to borrow it, i could let him borrow the $100 set, and not worry about it. the $100 set is very durable. just not comfortable, that's all. after walmart, i went to ralphs to get everything that i couldn't get, and then lura from ehs calls saying her exchange 2000 server is broken. arg. spent the last 3 hours trying to wonder what the hell happened. we called it quits for today. time to go to sleep.



btw, the heart rate monitor is great. it's an amazing little device. can't wait to start using it. gotta go to REI tomorrow to return the sleeping mat that cost $80.

Saturday, August 3, 2002

went to comic con today. at one of the events, they showed the whole smallville 121 episode. and then we got to ask them about the show. unfortunately, none of the actors made a surprise guest appearance. but....here are all the people who made a unannounced surprise guest appearance on the events i went to today. elijah wood (and his 2 hobbit friends), arnold swartezeneggar, james cameron, ben afflek. i also saw jason lee (mallrats), lucy liu, ang lee, ray park (darth maul), timothy olyphant (drug dealer in Go), and a bunch of other directors and producers. i guess they decided that comic con was a big thing everyone was gonna make a surprise guest on. we got to see never before seen footage of xmen2, polaris, the hulk, daredevil. it was a blast this year. gonna go to the next one for sure. i also got a free shirt that one of the LOTR guys tossed. got a T3 cap, a dream catcher, a harry potter book, a xavier school blue book, and some kind of a daredevil poken in a red pouch, to name a few. only thing i bought was a simpsons coasters. they're cool. comes with a nice tin can too.



then we went to go eat at this place called the Juke Joint Cafe. As usual, great band, "ok" food. man i'm tired. i think i'll go turn on some newsradio, lye on my bed, and await the sandman. tiered tyerd tyered
updating my progress chart. i wish i had data instead of life style changes, but this might show you the gradual changes i made to my life style, that help this change become a permanent one hopefully. i'll have to celebrate 3/17/2003 with something. maybe reward myself with a nice piece of electronics or guitar

First day I played DDR at home: 1/26/2002

First day I went to the gym to bike: 3/17/2002

First day I went to the gym to work out with machines, and dumb bells: 3/22/2002

Day I started to seperate lifting and the cardio exercises completely: 3/29/2002

Day I started to do bike correctly to achieve an efficient cardio workout: 3/31/2002

Started changing my diet gradually: 4/1/2002

First day to plateau for 12 minutes on the bike at my max: 4/4/2002

Changed my diet completely: 4/17/2002

Day I started to work out on mostly freeweights: 4/30/2002

Incorporation of the protein bar into my diet: 5/5/2002

Started drinking protein shakes: 5/8/2002

First day to do level 5 plateau for 12 minutes on the bike: 5/13/2002

Changed from trying to plateau on level 5, to doing 20 minutes on level 4: 5/15/2002

Started taking creatine: 5/27/2002

Started 5 day loading with creatine: 6/2/2002

Got body fat scale: 6/2/2002

Started running: 6/3/2002

Started loading with creatine with non-acidic juice: 6/5/2002

Started doing interval training when running: 6/26/2002

Started working out at RIMAC and taking NatrualOne: 7/1/2002

Changed my workout schedule (lift m w f, cardio tu th sat): 7/4/2002

Started taking Fish Oil: 7/7/2002

Made stretching a higher priority: 7/18/2002

Change up of cardio (inside RIMAC): 7/30/2002

Stopped taking Creatine: 7/31/2002



Not counting DDR, I've been working out consistantly for about 4 monts and 3 weeks now. I took pictures on 6/10. It's been almost 2 months since then. it's defintely time for another picture.



my calves have shrunk, and now they are as big as ever.....i think they look pretty bad, the fact that they are so big. i guess i should get an second opinion from a girl. i guess it's better than having skinny ass twigs for legs...



no atm card yet. damn, i hope its not lost again. gotta go to sleep for the comic con.....damn, 6 hours of sleep left.



a little off topic, but i really like the band collective soul. i'd rate it up there, right behind mozart. it's brilliant. can't describe it any other way. comparing collective soul to everything out there these days, everything is else just crap. just like how i think newsradio is 100, my second and third favorite tv shows being the twilight zone, and the simpsons only get 10 and a 9. 10 and 9 are very high scores. but newsradio just blows them away. unfortunately, i can't seem to rememeber who introduced me to my first collective soul album "collective soul". it could have been a friend from high school. i do remember talking to her about how good the album was. maybe she gave it to me as a gift? i think i'm getting mixed up with with Joe Satriani's "The Extremist" album. Great album by the way. or maybe it was an album i ordered in my freshman year in college, and i have to hank my suitemate brett for it? it could have been that he used to play it all the time, and i eventually got the album for myself. and when i got their previous album after i found the second album being so good, i remember being dissappointed by "hints allegations and things left unsaid" a little weak. the old albums are great, but my favorite album is blender. i also think dosage was an awesome album, and the second album "collective soul" is one of their best. some collective soul fans don't like blender too much, but i found every song in there being my favorite in different times of the year (maybe longer than a year). how many albums do that? whoever it was that introduced me to collective soul, i thank you. as much as i thank FOX for opening my eyes to NewsRadio.



2 albums that are rated just as high, or even higher, "diciplined breakdown" and "hints allegations and things left unsaid", i never liked as much. maybe i'm missing something. i'll have to force feed myself these 2 albums in my car and maybe i'll discover some hidden treasures.
i better blog early so i can get my sleep on. after work today, i went to go work out, then met up with jeff to get some pho, then boba at tapioca express, then watched goldmember. as for getting things done, it couldn't have gone more smoothly. got to the pho restaurant, food came out quick, and was good. got to the boba place, boba came out fast, and got a nice place to sit. got to the movie theater, and found the best parking spot ever just a few steps from the box office. didn't have to wait in line, just went in, found good seats. and comedies are better enjoyed in a crowded theater, and the theater eventually got filled by the time movie started. got home before midnight, and that's perfect cause i gotta wake up by 7:30 tomorrow.



pretty smooth huh? only complaint about tonight was the movie. some hilarious scenes, and some where original, but the story was awful, and there were scenes that just weren't funny at all. these scenes are usually cut, and put into the deleted scenes section on the DVD. but it looked like an unedited version. here are my two theories on why this happened. 1. They gave Mike Powers too much control. or 2, the movie was rushed. If you remember way back when....I think last year, a teaser was released for Goldmember, and the teaser dissappeared for a few months. If you went to the austin powers 3 website, it was there for a very short while and it dissappeared. what happened was the james bond people didn't like how the movie was too much like Goldfinger, and until legal things ($$) was ironed out, they had to put everything on hold. So the website was removed and the teaser was pulled for a few months. Amazon updated their web page, and the word "Goldmember" seemed to be a dream, and it was just being called Austin Powers 3 while it was going on. It could also have been that the movie script was too much like Goldmember, so they had to make big changes as well. And what you see in the theaters now is a rushed script and a rush edit job. If they had more time, they definitely would have edited some of those scenes out. The jokes just didn't work.



I would only recommend this movie to Austin Powers fan who enjoyed Austin Powers up to part 2. I own 1 & 2 on DVD, and I'm definitely not buying this one. The budget was $68 million or something like that. Double what Austin Powers 2 had. And exponentially larger than 1. They had a lot of cameo's. Tom Cruise, Gweneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey, Danny Devito, Britney Spears, and Steven Spielberg. If all the cameo's read the rest of the script, they would have never gone for the cameo role. I guess they thought they were gonna be cool and do a cameo for a cool movie (like.....that one low buge funny movie with big name cameos...ummm...), little do they know, the movie itself is pretty much a joke. Fred Savage had a part. He basically played a spaz. I don't think the script writers liked Fred Savage that much. His part was some awful "I hate Fred Savage" joke, that Fred Savage just didn't get. I guess he's desperate to get some parts.



man, i'm typing with daggers for fingers today. good thing i'm not a professional movie critic. the fred savage secret army might come and get me......gnite.

Friday, August 2, 2002

17.0! damn, i was hoping to move down to 16's today, but oh well, it will come soon. so technically i'm burning 2% body fat a month. setember 1st, i should be down to 15 (3 weeks ahead of my goal). october 13%. november 11%. december 9%. Jan 1, 7%. Since I'm recording the lowest number being read, it'll be realistically 8% give or take 1% that fluctuates during the day. probably that's a little wishful thinking. i'm guessing after i cross my body's level of homeostasis, it will try to regulate my body fat, so 8% by end of this year might not be possible, and could be dangerous. That's up to my body though. Who knows what my body is capable of.



8/01 17.0

7/31 17.3

7/25 17.4

7/21 17.9

7/13 18.2

7/11 18.5

7/10 18.7

7/09 18.8



I wish I had gotten that body fat scale sooner. It would be an interesting chart. I'm going to guess It wouldn't be a straight curve. more of a algebraic equation. because back when i was starting, i had low metabolism, and i didn't have the endurance to do long cardio activities. probably beginning this year, my body fat was high as 25%.



I used to have 45 lbs of fat (25% of 180)

I will have 12.8 lbs of fat (8% of 160) 160 being my projected weight for end of 2002.

32.2 of fat i will have burned

or 112700 fat calories i had to burn off.

12,522g of extra fat stored in my body.

that's exactly a half year supply of all the fat you should eat in 6 months.



damn, what am i doing still up.
i overexcerted myself at the gym today. warmped up on the eliptical with the handlebars for 10 min, stretched, then did the eliptical with the handlebars for 20 min, then did the eliptical for 20 minutes. at the 15th minute of that, i decided i should try going about 160bpm. i got it to about 173, then my heart skipped a beat. it felt like someone punched me in the lungs. scared the shit out of me. i envisioned having a heart attack right there, falling on my ass, looking like a fool. now that i'm more of a guide or a role model to diem and wendy, it wouldn't look good if that happened.



went to get tofu the boba with eric lai, diem and wendy. it was cool. eric did 99% of the talking as usual. seems like nothing really is interesting enough to mention. so i finally i decide to say something, and yes, i mentioned something about computers. it wasn't gonna be long, and yes, it's a topic that you shouldn't bring up amongst people that work with computers, but diem (or it could have been wendy) desides to start another conversation. a blantant distration to my boring topic. i thought that was pretty rude of her, whoever it was. i guess i just wasn't in a playful mood, and maybe i would have taken it differently. oh well. forgive and forget. next topic.



i've decided to buy these follwing dvds.

Beauty and the beast (10/8)

Amelie (now)

Simspons season 2 (now)

Minority report (later)

Star wars 2 (later)

Monster's inc (9/17)



i'll be picking up amelie and simpsons season 2 this weekend. hopefully circuit city will offer beauty and the beast and monster's inc at the lowest price as usual. i just have to get there the morning when they start selling them. buying dvd's online is out. the big stores are now getting in on the action.



i think i'm gonna go hiking and backpacking next weekend. i gotta buy a backpack this sunday at REI. There's a group of friends that get together each year for Vegas. Now we're hoping to add another big event each year, a weekend of hiking at Yosemite. Eric's lai trip to China in September sounds very attractive. It's very short notice for a lot of $$. It's a good price, but I think a better decision is to not go this year. I'll still have to think about it. It is something I'm looking forward to though. Just not sure if this year is the best for it. Cause I have about $800 to spend on my car (registration + extended warranty). And I thought I had that covered with my money from consulting. But not if I take this trip. It'll probably go on my credit card. and the credit card is a rich man's worst enemy. might as well wear a name tag that says "poor man" and bend over.



damn. 1 already. gotta make it to work earlier. gonna try to sleep. gotta focus.