Weekend Routine

My weekday routine doesn’t leave much room for extracurricular activities.  I’m out of bed by 7am, out of the house at 7:20am.  On the bus at 7:40am, and at work by 9:15am.  I leave work at 6:15pm, take the 6:22pm bus, and get home at about 8pm.  I do my workout until 9:30pm, and after a small meal and a quick shower, I’m in bed a little after 10pm.  From this point on, if I’m a good boy, I’ll go to sleep right away and hope for an early start the next day.  If I’m a bad boy, I will surf the Internet until midnight, killing valuable time.

Weekends, like most people, are less structured.  During weekdays, I long for the weekend’s arrival to get a lot of other things done.  But once the weekend comes, I waste so much time that I don’t get nearly as much as I want done.  I guess some of us need structure to get things done, and I certainly am one of them.

One of the structured things in my life is this blog, which I update on the bus during the morning commute.  It’s like clockwork – I get on the bus, grab a seat, and start typing with my thumbs on a small Droid keyboard.  Weekends, I can pick any time of day I want to start writing a blog.  So… twice now, I’ve delayed writing a post until I fell asleep and/or forgot about it.  Yesterday was one of those days.  I really do try to write every day, but I guess part of that motivation is gone after missing one day.  Going to keep trying, though.

One thing I learned from this is that maybe smoking will be like that, too.  After today, I would have completed 30 days without smoking.  But if I have just one, that 30 days will be reset, and I won’t be as motivated to not smoke.  Enough about smoking.

P90X update:  I decided to skip 2 days and move straight on to Week 5 routine.  I didn’t skip much, just one Kenpo session and one Yoga session.  Oh, and I also doubled up on Friday, doing Kenpo and Strech back-t0-back.  Wasn’t that hard, since Stretch is exactly that, stretching.  Back to doing 50 different variations of push ups.  Funny, someone got to my site by searching “Does P93X work?”  Umm… there’s no such thing, but it is interesting that my site is #1 on Google if you type that in.  I wonder how that happened…

Waste of a Waist

One day about 4 years ago, I woke up to go to work.  But I could not get out of bed.  My back hurt whenever I tried to get up.  I was stuck.  I was still sleepy so I ended up falling back asleep.  I woke up 3 hours later, crawled out of bed, and went to work.  But I could not walk straight.  I was waddling everywhere.  This was repeated for the next 2 mornings.  (Luckily, my manager understood and I didn’t have to make up those hours.)

I don’t remember if that was the beginning of my back pains, but it was definitely the worst.  It might have been caused by bad posture.  It might have been caused by 2 years of living on absolutely crappy mattress.  But since then, I’ve had backache.  It’s not painful enough to get in the way of my daily routine, and I have no problem walking, jumping, or running.  But I do feel it, especially when getting up from a sitting or a lying position.

As I wrote before, I hoped P90X workouts would strengthen my back.  But after 10 days, I’m just hoping I don’t make it worse.  I definitely cannot do squats with heavy weights, and I am worried whenever I do sit ups or anything from a bent over position.  But I will continue to do the exercises, as long as I don’t feel too uncomfortable or too much pain.  Maybe a stronger core is all I need.

But I am considering seeing a doctor.  Not a chiropractor, but a doctor who will see if something is off with my spine, or any other cause.  It’s not really that bad, but I am too young to be living with constant aches.  Hopefully, something can be done.

Funny Thing About Body Weight

This weekend brought my first switch-up of the P90X schedule.  As I mentioned yesterday, I switched Day 7 with Day 8.  Day 7 is X Stretch and Day 8 is Chest & Back.  Day 8 is actually the same as Day 1 because the schedule repeats for the first 3 weeks.  So I’m supposed to do Chest & Back on the same day for the first 3 days, but I did not.  I considered moving everything up by one day by skipping Day 7’s or X Stretch, but that did not happen.  Due to time constraints, Saturday became the first day of 2011 that I did not work out.  It was a good thing I moved up that day’s workout to Friday, so that I’m still on track.

Today was Plyometrics X, which is basically one hour of bending and jumping.  It is not easy, but I gave it my all.  That is, I tried to give it my all.  I’ve noticed that my legs are weaker than my lungs or heart because most of the time, the reason I stop early on exercises is because my legs get tired.  Well, I guess I will get better at this as I get more fit.  It’s Week 2 now, so I gotta push myself more and more.

But the weight loss thing has not quite been happening.  My normal weight recently has been in the 178-183 range.  But during the month of December, I did not really weigh myself, and on January 1 (my “before” weight), I was about 186.  186!  It is my highest weight on record.  During the first few days, I went down to 182.  But then on Friday, I went back up to 185, although I continued to eat well and exercise.  Well, on Saturday, I had Korean BBQ for lunch, then a cake for dessert, Indian kati rolls for dinner, and about 4 beers.  Result?  Weight down to 182 point something.  What the heck?  Should that be my diet?  I wouldn’t mind that at all.  I guess that’s the funny thing about body weight.  I just gotta keep doing what I’m doing and hopefully, the weight will go down.  My first target is 170.

P90X

Yes, the item that Shamus let me borrow from him is P90X.  It is a 12-DVD workout program that requires at least one hour per day dedicated to exercise for 6 days a week and 3 months.  Workout plan actually has a plan for all 7 days, but every 7th day is for either resting or the “X Stretch” DVD.  I started it yesterday and so far, I haven’t missed a day (all of 2 days).

So why am I doing this?  Well, I have numerous reasons, so I’m going to try to list 90 reasons for doing P90X.  I apologize in advance for redundancy.

1. Beer Gut: I’ve had a slowly growing beer gut for years, and it is about time I do something about it.  I’m sick of sucking my gut in.

2. Love Handles: I guess Beer Gut’s partner in forming my spare tire are my love handles, which I’ve had for a while but is now significantly noticeable when I’m shirtless.

3. Photographs: It has been getting harder and harder to take good pictures of myself.  Some shots, I look okay, others I look downright fat.  And I’ve never been a fat guy.

4. Brother’s Wedding Photos: My brother’s getting married in 2 1/2 months, and I’m going to be one of the groomsmen.  And that means lots and lots of photos.  I gotta look good in these photos that my brother and his new wife will be keeping forever.

5. Brother’s Wedding: The bride has some friends who know me from my college days, and I certainly have gained weight since then.  Although I doubt there is a way for me to get back to my college weight, I would like to look my best when seeing old friends.

6. Parents’ Visit: My parents will be visiting for the wedding and it will be my first time seeing them since my own wedding, almost 2 years ago.  I certainly do not want to hear them nagging me to lose weight.

7. Double Chin: Behind my regular chin, a second chin has been growing.  Although much preferable to its cousin, the side-by-side double chin, the front-and-back double chin still is not desirable, and I hope to be rid of it.

8. Back Ache: I’ve had back pain for a few years now.  It’s just a slight discomfort but I would rather not have it.  I think getting rid of beer gut, as well as exercise, may help.

9. Bad Posture: This may also be a cause of my back ache but I think I’ve developed an habit of slouching to hide my gut.  I hope to rid of my gut and straighten my posture.

10. Roller Blading: I’ve always enjoyed roller blading but have done done so in a decade or so because a nice pair of blades costs over $100 and it’s hard to find a place with smooth surface to rollerblade on.  Well, after I got my current job 2 1/2 years ago, I rewarded myself with a pair of blades but haven’t used it much since then due to lack of time and also physical reasons.  What physical reasons?  Well my cardio sucks, and back ache does come into play a little here also.

11. Skiing: I haven’t skied in over 10 years.  I went skiing last year with my family but did not ski.  Well, I have 3 weeks until my next ski trip, and I hope to feel good enough about my body to give it a go.

12. Cardio: I would just like to have better cardio in general.

13. Cholesterol: This may actually have to be the #1 reason for the exercise program, but I guess I’m too vain.  But I have high cholesterol.  I’ve always had high cholesterol.  My father had high cholesterol (before he started exercising).  This is something that runs in my family, and I must really start exercising to lower my cholesterol.

14. Potential: I think I do have a nice frame to build muscles.  My parents have told me so, and when I was in 7th grade, a kid even asked me why I was wearing shoulder pads.  I think my broad shoulders is why even though I’ve been skinny for most of my life, I never looked scrawny, at least not when I was covering my scrawny arms.  Well, it’s about time I fulfill my potential.

15. Muscles: To do #14, I need muscles.

16. Hecklers: It doesn’t matter right now, but I thought if my comedy career went anywhere, I would have to stand up to hecklers, and that is a heck of a lot easier to do when I have some strength to go with my words.

17. Other Comics: This also doesn’t matter right now, but as a loner in the comedy world, I thought I would have to stand up for myself at some point.

You know what, I thought I could randomly make up a decent list and get close to 90 but, I’m already out after 17 reasons.  So I’ll have to stick with 17.  Resolutions of 2011 have been going well so far, with 2 days of exercise and 0 days of smoking.  My body is sore from all the push ups and pull ups.  Tomorrow’s workout is shoulders and arms – I hope my body can take it.  I hope I can take it.

First Day of the Year

Welcome to 2011, ladies and gentlemen.  Every new year since 2000 has sounded so futuristic, yet cars still roll on the ground and we still don’t have to automatic-fitting jacket and auto-lacing shoes.  It is officially a start to another decade, the 10’s.  A few more of these moments, and I’ll be an old man.  I know I’m getting there because for the first time since at least I was of the legal drinking age, I did not go out to party.  New Years Eve was the one holiday I actually cared about, had to make plans, had to be at the right place at the right time, with the right time being midnight.  Last year, my wife and I spent it at our in-laws house, but I still managed to get pretty trashed.  But this year?  Circumstances prevented me from going anywhere, as my wife came home 3 minutes before 2010 expired.  And we only shared a couple of glasses of champagne and beer.  And you know what?  I was perfectly fine with that.  Even if she did not have to work, I think we would still have spent it at home.  I think we’re becoming boring homebodies.  But as long as we love each other and enjoy ourselves, there’s nothing wrong with that, right?

Now, as I promised, my resolutions.  I did not mean to make these coincide with the new year, but it just happened this way.  And I hope starting things on January 1 gives more motivation of some sort.  On a side note, I think this is yet another sign of getting older.  I never cared about new year’s resolutions.  I was young, healthy, and happy.  All I cared about was working and studying.  Well, those two things are still important to me now, but with age comes health issues.  And health issues are the two dominant resolutions for me.

Resolution #1: Get in better physical shape.  I’m 31, will turn 32 this year.  My metabolism is slowing down, and I am not getting any exercise.  It’s time I start exercising regularly.  Details about this resolution will be posted on a later date.

Resolution #2: Quit smoking.  Yes, I did smoke since my last smoking update, but this is it.  This is for real.  I even told my health insurance provider that I do not smoke to get a 10% premium discount.  So I must quit now.

Resolution #3: Get up at or before 6am f0r work.  Yeah, you know what?  After the first two resolutions, I think my motivation is all tapped out.  So I can write more resolutions like this one but I gotta tell ya, it probably won’t happen.  I mean I will try, but it won’t be at the level befitting of a new year’s resolution.  So I’m going to stop here.

Yes, yes, in the new year, I promise to be a better husband, study harder, pass more exams, blah, blah.  But I am serious about the first two resolutions.  Okay, my final resolution is that my next year’s resolution is to stop working out so much and eat some junk food once in a while.

But there is one thing that I’ve been forgetting about, and that is comedy.  If comedy was a guaranteed road, I would give up everything for it, but it is pretty far from guaranteed.  Even “likely” and “possible”‘ seem a long way off.  And work has been taking up a lot of my time, as will my new dedication to health.  So once again, comedy loses out in my life – this time, not to studying.

Die with a T

So my “diet” has not been going all that well.  Maybe that is because I really haven’t done anything different.  A co-worker brought in donuts, and I ate some.  Went out for dinner with my wife and I had fried calamari, steak, and sweet potato fries.  I haven’t made drastic changes to my diet, but maybe I should if I want drastic changes.

I did eat a lot of green peppers and carrots yesterday.  And I spent about 45 miutes on the elliptical machine on Tuesday and Thursday.  Today, I’m only going to eat cereal, oatmeal, and veggies until dinner.  My strategy is to have low-calorie foods around so that if I eat a lot, it still won’t be that bad.  Good thing is, I really do like raw veggies.  Bad thing is that although I thought I could eat nothing but veggies all day, they’re a bit unsatisfying when eaten in place of meals.

I will continue my mild workout regimen.  Since my weight has been steady for a while, adding a bit of exercise and more veggies should theoretically lead to weight loss.  I am at 181 pounds right now.  I hope it goes down below 180 very soon.