jimrin in Texas is doing 43 things including…

get in shape

89 cheers

 

jimrin has written 34 entries about this goal

More than just exercise... 9 months ago

Getting in shape is a combination of a good diet and a good exercise routine… Neither of which I’ve been doing very well. Now, I’m trying to exercise at least 30 minutes every day. Yes, I’ve not succeeded yet, but hopefully I will get there or at least get close.

Next on the diet side, I’ve never been one to believe in self-deprivation. On a recent Japanese TV show, where they often talk about science-related topics (which means they usually thorough research the topic and/or have respected experts providing information), they covered the topic of diet.

The concept is that you do not want your body think it’s being deprived of food. If your body feels like it is being deprived of food, it goes into a self-preservation mode to convert as much to fat. This is a natural reaction for the body in particular after man survived the famine. As an example, if you do not have enough carbs, although your body will start burning fat, your body will also start creating much more fat for the same amount of food you eat. In addition, as part of the self-preservation, your body will actually lower its temperature to reduce the amount of calories you burn.

This corresponds to concepts I’ve heard in the past including losing weight by not eating just results in slowing down of your metabolism so that when you start eating normal again, you’ll actually gain weight… Another article I read recently was about the phenomenon that people who are working out a lot are finding that they are gaining fat. However, after only a quick glance at the article, I was getting the impression from the article that you shouldn’t work out so hard. Hmph.

Anyway, based on the Japanese TV show, You should have the proper proportion and balance of foods to satisfy your body’s needs and to satisfy your hunger. They suggested the following for EACH meal:

  • Two servings of protein
  • An unlimited number of servings of vegetables
  • A serving of carbs
  • A serving of starch/sugars
  • And at most a half tablespoon of oils/fat in preparation for the food
A serving of protein can be:
  • 120 ml of milk or yogurt (approximately 1/2 cup)
  • One slice of cheese
  • One egg
  • 50 g (approximately 2 oz) of meat
  • 1 cut (approximately 3 oz) of fish
  • 1/4 serving of tofu
A serving of carbs can be:
  • A small bowl of rice
  • A half serving of noodles
  • A slice of bread
A serving of starch/sugars can be:
  • A portion of a potato, pumpkin, or similar food (about the size of an egg, so about 1/2 of a baked potato)
  • A half of a fruit

I believe the purpose of the above was to come up with a way to reduce the intake of calories but in a simplified manner. It’s very easy to remember the portions per category. They estimate a meal based on the above is approximately 400 calories.

Anyway, some of the things you’ll notice are:

  • Fruits and vegetables are not treated the same. Unlimited vegetables but only 1/2 fruit.
  • You are allowed to eat unlimited vegetables. Of course, how they are prepared is key, too, but the concept here is that you do not want to feel deprived or hungry. The worst part about feeling hungry is then you snack… and then you start eating things you shouldn’t.
  • The smallness in proportion of some of the other foods… For example, I’ll only be able to have an open face sandwich for lunch (and not a regular sandwich with two slices of bread). I’ll only be able to have a small bowl of rice for dinner. 2 oz of meat is not very much but on the other hand, if you convert that to lunch meat, that’s actually could be more than a couple of slices.
  • They did not suggest eating big breakfasts and small dinners.
  • No doughnuts, cakes, or chocolate!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

According to the show, you should feel your clothes fit differently after 2 weeks. They estimate that a diet like this puts you on pace to lose 1 kg (2.2 pounds) per month.

The above food proportions are for losing weight. Once you get closer to your goal, then you would be able to increase the proportion.

Disclaimer: I am not fluent in Japanese. For anyone who’s up to speed with their Japanese, the web site for this particular episode is here:
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/gatten/archive/2009q1/20090121.html



OK, so far, so bad.. 9 months ago

Last year was a bad year for exercising… I really need to do something about it.

Based on the fact that some people using Wii’s are able to lose weight, the catch is not that you need a Wii, but you need something which will get you exercising every day. I could get a Wii but considering (1) I travel quite a bit and (2) I would rather spend my money on other gadgets, then I need to find something else to do.

So I’ve decided to at least use the stairs in the house for 30 minutes as a form of exercise if I don’t do anything else.


January 2009

SMTWTFS# Times
1 2 J1
4 S 6 SS 9 103
11 12 13 14 15 16J1
18SSJJ 23 244
SSS 28 29SM 314

S = Stairs
SM = Stair machine
J = Jog
B = Bicycle (machine)
TR = Treadmill


February 2009

SMTWTFS# Times
SMSMSM 4 5 6 SM4
SMSMSM 11 12 13 143
S 16SS 19S 214
22 23SSS 27S4

March 2009

SMTWTFS# Times
S 2 3 4 SM 6 SM3
SMSM 10BTR 13 144
15TRTR 18 19 20 212
S 23SM 25SM 27 283
S 30 31 1 2 3 TR2

April 2009

SMTWTFS# Times
TR 6 7 8 9 10 111
S 13 14 15 16 17S2
SS 21 22 23SS4
26S 28 29 30 1 2 1

May 2009

SMTWTFS# Times
SS 5 6 7 8 9 2
SS 12 13 14 15S3
SS 19 20 21 22S3
SS 26 27 28 29S3
S

June 2009

{background:#ddd}. |S_|_M|T_|_W|T_|_F|S_|# Times_|
{background:#ddd}. | | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |
{background:#ddd}. | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10| 11| 12| 13| |
{background:#ddd}. | 14| 15| 16| 17| 18| 19| 20| |
{background:#ddd}. | 21| 22| 23| 24| 25| 26| 27| |
{background:#ddd}. | 29| 30| | | | | | |

Next month

SMTWTFS# Times
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 13 14
15 16 17 18 19 20 21
22 23 24 25 26 27 28


It's not as if I have been completely neglecting this goal... 2 years ago

I keep track of when I run, but I have no overview about my trends. This will be an attempt to get a better overview.

Week# TimesAvg/MonthMedian
11/25/2007-34
11/18/2007
11/11/2007
11/04/2007
10/28/200744
10/21/2007
10/14/2007
10/7/2007
9/30/20072.64
9/23/2007
9/16/2007
9/9/2007
7/29/2007-3.204
7/22/2007
7/15/2007
7/8/2007
7/1/2007
6/24/2007-3.254
6/17/2007
6/10/2007
6/3/2007
5/27/20072.252.5
5/20/2007
5/13/2007
5/6/2007
4/29/2007-1.82
4/22/2007
4/15/2007
4/8/2007-
4/1/2007
3/25/2007-1.752
3/18/2007
3/11/2007
3/4/2007
2/25/2007-0.250.5
2/18/2007
2/11/2007-
2/4/2007-
1/28/200722
1/21/2007
1/14/2007
1/7/2007
12/31/20060.20
12/24/2006-
12/17/2006-
12/10/2006-
12/3/2006-
11/26/20060.250
11/19/2006-
11/12/2006-
11/5/2006-
10/29/20061.61
10/22/2006
10/15/2006
10/8/2006
10/1/2006
9/24/2006-00
9/17/2006-
9/10/2006-
9/3/2006-
8/27/200622.5
8/20/2006-
8/13/2006
8/6/2006
7/30/20062.22
7/23/2006
7/16/2006
7/9/2006
7/2/2006-
6/25/2006-2.753.5
6/18/2006
6/11/2006
6/4/2006
5/28/2006-1.51.5
5/21/2006
5/14/2006
5/7/2006
4/30/20062.42
4/23/2006
4/16/2006
4/9/2006
4/2/2006


This goal has been neglected some more... 2 years ago

But I did jog 4 times last week. Including the 2 times the previous week, I did jog 6 times in a 9-day period. Although progress is slowed from lack of jogging, I did run my 2nd best time during this time period for the loop I run. (It’s not really saying so much considering during the summer, it was difficult for me to run the loop without stopping.)

Unfortunately, now on a business trip with meetings all this week and temperatures may be only in the 30s next week, but I am hopeful I can get some exercise in while on my business trip.



Unfortunately this goal has been neglected... 2 years ago

Not that I stopped exercising completely, but especially after my third trip to Japan for the year, I have jogged only once. Anyway, while in Japan for my vacation (second trip of the year), there was a health show, and this particular show wason running technique. It talked about how in the old days, training emphasized leg muscles… but there is a muscle which connects the lower body and upper body, and proper use of this muscle contributes to the coordination required to run efficiently. The muscle name in Japanese is daiyoukin (Japanese kanji 大腰筋 if 43T would display it properly) and I finally found out that in English, it is the “Psoas major” muscle.

In fact, I was able to set a PR for my training loop around my house after I started to concentrate on technique by using this muscle.



Back to exercising in Dallas (for the most part) 3 years ago

Last week, I jogged twice. It would have been more except we went to Canada for a long weekend. It was hot there, too!

This week, went 3 times… Usually in Dallas, I go when it is about 100F, which is good that I’ve been building up my endurance all this time. I am still not making as much progress as I’d like to see, but I am sure I should if I can continue. Anyway, it’s not as if I can really jog at a much cooler time. I am not a morning person, and even late at night like 10 pm, it is still going to be above 90F here.



Continued to exercise this week... 3 years ago

I also jogged 4 times this week. 3 of the times, I did the longer loop at work which is actually doing the loop approximately twice. However, when I did it on Wednesday, I felt a slight twinge in my right calf… so I had to slow down. On Thursday, I didn’t feel anything in my right calf, but I went much slower. In fact, my time was slower than my time on Wednesday. Anyhoo, the time I did run the short loop, I did set a new personal record by about 10 seconds… Not that I am keeping track.

The highs in Vienna has been around 32-33C the last couple of days (90-91F)... but at least that’s better than Flower Mound. The lowest high temperature of the last 10 days was 100F. The highest temperature during that period was 107F! (almost 42C!) That’s pretty hot!



Finally back on an exercise schedule... 3 years ago

After an approximate 2 1/2 week absence, I did exercise 4 times this week. Did only the short loop in Vienna… The first day, I was approximately 40 seconds from my personal best in Vienna, and by Thursday, I only improved that approximately 25 seconds. A bit disappointing…

On Tuesday, I did manage to forget my running clothes, but fortunately, I had spare running clothes at the office except for socks… So I ran without socks, which reminded me of my high school days where we had a coach who thought running without socks was great, so a lot of us did that. Somehow, I didn’t feel like I was back in high school though. (Perhaps that’s a good thing.)

It was in the mid-80s this week (perhaps around 29C for you metric people out there) but got up to as high as 90F (32C) and humidity was around 50%. Funny, though, that I don’t see that many people running at lunch these days. Perhaps not other offices have shower facilities.



Also ran 4 times this past week... 3 years ago

Only did one short run of the four… and when I did, I set a personal record by 4 seconds… Not that I am keeping track or anything.

But unfortunately, there is an unexpected business trip next week. Arggggh. I was hoping to at least get within 1 pound of my halfway goal for this year.

You may say just go ahead and exercise while on your trip, but it’s not as easy as that. So I guess I’ll take my frustrating out by shopping!

And then after that, I’ll have another trip to Vienna, but at least I am in the habit of exercising there. I hope I don’t find anything odd growing in my gym locker over there since it has been a while since I was last there.



Ran 4 days this week... 3 years ago

Ran the short loop on Tuesday and Wednesday and then the longer loop on Thursday. This time, despite 98F, I was able to complete it without stopping. However, no personal records.

Funny, I don’t seem to see the ice cream truck around anymore…



jimrin has gotten 89 cheers on this goal.

 

I want to:
43 Things Login