Chaosplay

Being skinny, I feel I can give a advice or two based on my experience.

First, let me tell you that everyone is different what works for one may not work for another. Also weight is not solely depended on how much we eat & how active we are. Some factors are beyond our control like genetics or diseases that make you gain weight.

So now here are some of the reasons I think I am skinny:

• Underdeveloped palate – I cannot tell a difference between 20 different flavors of coffee we have in the breakroom. I cannot tell the difference between cheesecake from McDonald’s and from Cheesecake Factory. Sometimes I feel jealous of people who can tell the age of cow by taste of their steak. I noticed people with really well developed palate almost worship food. They talk about food during meal, after meal, before meal, when hungry, when full, when shopping. They watch food shows on TV. And almost all of them are overweight. I do enjoy my food, just not so much that it is highlight of my day or travel.
• Love of outdoors – Even when it is 100F, I rather be outside than inside. I don’t enjoy indoors especially the home. So whenever I have nothing to do, I end up at swimming pool, parks, coffeeshops (prefer to sit outside), or even malls (yes I know it is not outdoors but it is wide open and you have to walk).
• Hate of stupidity - I cannot stand stupid movies, bad acting, boring stories or slow talking newscasters. There is not much I enjoy on the TV. And there are a very few movies that I really enjoyed. This has helped me from being sedentary in front of TV. I will admit video games are my weakness & I have spent countless hours in front of TV. But in video games I am actively involved & using my brain muscles which supposedly burn some calories.
• Never get Stuffed – I hate feeling stuffed or extremely full. It makes me feel lazy. Sometimes I get in competitive mode with my friends, especially when we go to some place with buffet but then I feel the laziness & upset stomach. So I really try not to go to buffets. In Japan, they have the rule which says to stop eating when you are 80% full. There is a similar rule in Islam too. Easy to see why this will keep me skinny.
• Move Daily – Lastly, I like to do something physical activity daily. While same activity can get boring, something different everyday keeps me motivated. This include running, weights, rock climbing, swimming, yoga, mixed martial arts, even those sports that I cannot play like basketball. I don’t follow any set routine or I don’t freak out if I miss a day or two. And if I feel like running at midnight, I run at midnight. I also never force myself to do any activity but I gotten so used to doing something physical daily that I automatically end up doing something. It seems a lot of people setup these rigid programs that are almost impossible to follow unless you got nothing else to do, hence setting themselves up for a failure. I don’t have time to spent 2 hours in a gym. The rule is simple, just move even it is for just 5 minutes.
• Numbers – I love numbers & really love to visualize & analyze them. Sites like Nike+ & applications like DGMT motivates me to keep going and improving. But I don’t like putting in too much effort to track workouts. So as long as it is automatic like Nike+ or DGMT, I will use it. But if recording my workout seems like a chore then I don’t think it is worth it.

Let me just be clear, this is a joke, don’t do it!

In last week, I have lost almost 6 pounds, doing nothing but sitting in front my computer at least 12 hours a day. I haven’t even been to gym which I used to do everyday.

Plan is simple, don’t eat until you have headache due to hunger. And when you do, eat anything you want,  just make sure you can finish it in less than five minutes.

I am pretty sure this is the most unhealthy way to lose weight. I have been working so much that I just keep missing my meals everyday and pretty sad about losing weight.

Some math that I love:

1 week ago

• Weight: 167lb
• Fat %: 13%
• Fat weight: 21.71lb

Now:

• Weight: 161lb
• Fat %: 12.4%
• Fat weight: 19.96

Fat lost: 21.71 – 19.96 = 1.75lb

Muscle/water lost: 6 – 1.75 = 4.25lb

Yep, pretty unhealthy way to lose weight.

I think sun, rotation of earth, evolution, solar system, everything got it wrong. Not all humans need 24 hours day. I remember reading somewhere that if any clue of time is taken away from humans, like lock them in a windowless room, they will stay awake for 24 hours and sleep for 12.

Anyways since I don’t have any obligations to get up at any particular time, I am pretty much living 36 hour days. However, every once in a while I have an appointment when I should be sleeping. And it is really tough to stay awake after 24 hours. So I discovered Melatonin.

Melatonin resets your sleep cycle. I take it well in advance. I can fall sleep when I am not sleepy and be fully alert during appointment or meeting later on. I think it should be prescription only drug, but for now it is available over the counter. What so great about this drug is that you need to take it only once. You will likely get sleepy at same time next night. I am able to change my sleep cycle at will. And I haven’t noticed side effects at all.

Well one of the side effects, is that you will dream vivid dreams. But I love vivid dreams. In fact, lately I am taking Melatonin to experience vivid dreams. Just be careful, don’t take it after watching a scary movie cause nightmares can get really scary too.

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 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.

It’s that time of month again, when I evaluate my monthly goals. May goals were:

• Maintain running at 7mph for 15 minutes.

I have been slacking going to gym. But I was able to run once more at 7mph for 15 minute. Again I had to push myself a lot.

• 3 sets of 10 pull ups.

I completely failed here. I wish I could do pull ups at home. Due to work, I missed gym so many times & yesterday I could not even do as many pull up as last month.

• Finish iGree.nu for launch on June 1st.

Unlikely, this is going to happen. Still working on it but work is sucking all my free time. Also I am using a lot of free evenings to network.

• Convert my old sites to modern standards.

I did clean up & updated almost all of my old sites. Some need more work but I will do that later.

All in all, this month has been as productive as I hoped for. June is about to start. It is amazing to think that half of the year is already over, almost in a blink of an eye. My June goals are:

• Run/swim or bike 3 times a week. I don’t care but stats so much. The weather is getting nicer, I rather run or bike outside now. Also I love to run with Kazadi, Patrick, Anthony or cohabitat crew. So in June, I will just relax do these activities without worrying about how I am running or biking or swimming.
• Do random health/exercise challenges like, 100 pushups or 300 crunches.
• Spanish. It is easier to learn 2 languages at same time, or I guess I just get  bored with one language quickly. But this month, I will focus on Spanish. I will be happy if I finish Level 1 of Rosetta Stone.
• Continue working on iGree.nu. This is not the top priority project anymore.
• Patrick & mine secret project
  • Create corporation
  • Design a website
  • Write a business plan

That’s all!

Previous goals:

• Goals 2009.1
• Goals 2009.2
• Goals 2009.3
• Goals 2009.4
• Goals 2009.5