The Best Fitness Plan, Ever!

By amer, July 1, 2009 11:55 pm

Let me tell you the greatest & simplest fitness plan without any delay:

  1. Get your body moving on a regular basis; and
  2. Eat a moderate amount of real, whole foods (with occasional indulgences). Eat healthy.

Leo Babauta from Zen Habits came up with it. I know it is so simple and probably a nightmare of all those fitness guru on late night commercials. #2 was slightly too long, I simplified it. :)

Rock Climbing in near Austin TX

Rock Climbing near Austin TX

In past, I tried various fitness plans. You can go on web and find all kind of plans for getting in shape. Some complex plans require keeping detailed journal of exercises you did or real good memory. Other simpler plans are so simple that they are repetitive and get boring. I gave up on any structured plans long time ago.

Earlier this year when I started working out with Karl, I came up with a simpler plan. It was to imitate someone who looks like they know what they are doing. No need to keep journal or anything. It didn’t work out so well. In the morning when we went to gym, there were not many people. And with smaller crowd, it would be too obvious if I was copying someone.

One of the great workout advice, my friend, Brian gave, was to workout until you see stars. That’s how you know you have pushed your limits. Please remember when you are pushing yourself like that you really need to eat right and a lot. I remember when first I started intense working out, I would eat 2 meals at a time. Brian told me that I needed to take several supplements like several different types of protein, and vitamins. It was too complex.

Lately, I had become interested in running mostly, because it is so simple. But I love gadgets and simplicity is sometimes scary. I wanted to buy Garmin Forerunner 305 to keep track of my runs. But again I was making it too complex. I should instead get some nice running shoes and run as far as I can go. Above link is affiliate link, just in case, if you still decide to buy it. For me no gadgets, no journals, no strict routines. I do as I feel.

So I wrote such a long post for such a simple plan. Just wanted to say I have found the perfect fitness plan, thanks to Leo.

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What I did this year, so far?

By amer, June 29, 2009 8:47 pm
  1. Quit smoking
  2. Learned a little Spanish
  3. Learned a little Arabic
  4. Read at least 9 books in six months (all Affiliate links):
    1. Outliers: The Story of Success
    2. The Drunkard’s Walk: How Randomness Rules Our Lives (Vintage)
    3. Head First Ajax
    4. Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide: Business thinking and strategies behind successful Web 2.0 implementations.
    5. PHP and MySQL Web Development (4th Edition) (Developer’s Library)
    6. Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days
    7. Transcending CSS: The Fine Art of Web Design (Voices That Matter)
    8. The Digital Photography Book, Volume 2
    9. The Art of the Start: The Time-Tested, Battle-Hardened Guide for Anyone Starting Anything
  5. Started running and being more active
  6. Updated my old websites
  7. Started new project, iGree.nu
  8. Started new project with Patrick
  9. Started working on a project with Blake

I am ending monthly goals as I haven’t been able to keep up with my goals in May and June. Instead I have just one goal for the rest of year that is to start my business.

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Weekly Twitter Updates for 2009-06-28

By amer, June 28, 2009 9:47 pm
  • Looking at 1 year old code and wondering what was I thinking. I guess I am a better programmer now. #
  • RT @LotaEnterprises: No better way to make urself feel like a FOB than to wear an Express polo to a desi restaurant. They've dwngrd from AX #
  • Noooooo. RT @LevelTen_Colin wow. and the king of pop, michael jackson has died: http://bit.ly/Ejj7E #
  • It's been a while since I got on twitter, there is so much noise on it. It's time to unfollow noise makers. #
  • 7am-ers are friendly than 9am-ers. Everyone says good morning at 7AM. #


Does quantity + learning = quality? | Derek Sivers

Does quantity + learning = quality? | Derek Sivers.

Quantity vs Quality.

I read similar thing somewhere before. Basically, Derek is saying if you want to high quality work, you have to do it a lot. Read above link, it makes more sense.

More than 5 megapixels?

There was a time when camera companies took advantage of consumers’ ingnorance and advertised that more megapixel, better the camera. Then some consumers got smarter and they realized their photos are not better. Now everyone know that having more megapixels doesn’t mean it is a better camera.

But some think they are the only one who know this secret and everyone else is doesn’t. And they will ask you how many megapixels is your new camera and then they will tell you this camera secret and say megapixels more than 5 (or whatever number they read somewhere) don’t matter.

If you want to have some fun, ask them how megapixels don’t matter and then enjoy laughing at their explanation.

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My favorite book on Ajax: Head First Ajax by Rebecca Riordan

By amer, June 27, 2009 7:18 pm

Yup this is my favorite book on Ajax. I love Head First books but this one far exceeded my expectations.
Head First Ajax
Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I am a Java programmer with little bit of experience in web technologies. Before reading this book I had used JavaScript libraries such as Script.aculo.us. So Ajax was not a totally brand new technology for me.

I bought this book because for upcoming project, I wanted a deeper understanding of Ajax. Also sometimes, while using Scriptaculous, debugging was not easy, because I didn’t know what was really going on behind the scenes.

After reading this book, I have better understanding of Ajax. This doesn’t mean I am Ajax expert now and ready to write my own library. I will stick with existing libraries. But I feel this book has given me enough basic concepts of Ajax (and also some general web design concepts) that I can use Ajax libraries without breaking anything unintentionally.

I don’t think I will read another book on Ajax unless I am doing some custom Ajax coding.

Here is Amazon Affiliate link (make me rich (: Head First Ajax

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Is eating at home cheaper, really?

By amer, June 24, 2009 12:10 am

Other day I had an argument with my friend. I said that it is cheaper for single guy to eat out. He said it is cheaper to eat in. So I decided to test this theory now. Looks like my calculation shows that he is right.

Rough estimates for cold cut sandwiches (Only thing I know how to make):

  • Bread with 24 slices: $4.00 -> 12 Sandwiches -> 4/12 -> $0.33 per sandwich
  • Cheese/ 10 Slices: $4.00 -> 10 Sandwiches -> 4/10 -> $0.40 per sandwich
  • Cold cuts (made me 6 sandwiches): $5.00 -> 5/6 ->$0.83 per sandwich
  • Condiments: ???
  • Total per sandwich: $1.56 (approx.)
  • Subway sandwich (not as good as my stuff): $3-4.00
  • Similar quality sandwich at nicer restaurant: $6-7.00

So it is, in fact, cheap to eat at home. I had heard this before but never really believed it until now.

Weekly Twitter Updates for 2009-06-21

By amer, June 21, 2009 9:47 pm

Movies, Video Games & Energy Drinks

I talked about an epiphany in Fulfilled vs Excited post. What epiphany was that partying all night or vacation would leave me feeling empty next day or week. But working on a project or reading a book on a new API makes me feel fulfilled. But I wasn’t so sure what it meant. Tynan posted a great post on his blog about same subject but he makes a lot more sense:

Who’s happier at the end of the day: a guy who spent twelve hours restoring his Mustang or a guy who sat on the couch and watched TV all day?

It’s so true. Movies, video games and other such activities are like energy drinks, a crash follows. But doing what engages you is like a going to gym everyday and getting in better shape. Of course, everyone needs some energy drinks now and then but they should not become your only source of energy to stay awake. Similarly movies or video games or even sky diving are great to give you a high but you need something more engaging to feel fulfilled or happy.

Weekly Twitter Updates for 2009-06-14

By amer, June 14, 2009 9:47 pm
  • '#CNNFail': Twitterverse slams network's Iran absence – http://bit.ly/11X9NR the meta-power of Twitter #CNNFail #twitter (via @twazzup) #
  • yay i got facebook.com/amer.khalid. I love having uncommon spelling of common name! #
  • learning about GIT, it looks pretty good! http://tr.im/olx6 #
  • Test #
  • @1ayah I am having same issues with Wordpress 2.8. Basically whole admin section is full of jQuery errors. in reply to 1ayah #
  • I slept through the whole storm. Wish I could use my spotter training one of these days. #
  • http://twitpic.com/6zc32 – Larry happy birthday! #
  • At work, way too early, but that's how it gonna be for all summer… at least there was no traffic on my way here. #

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