Or so I like to tell myself, because I’m embarking on an exercise/food/whatever regimen with a good friend. This ties in appropriately with my resolution to eat healthily this year. I found it very. bloody. difficult. to go a week without McDonalds (having just done so this past week), but I like to think it’s a good start. The lowdown: working on eating right and cardio exercises before we get into strength training (if we do at all), so I can extricate fast food from my diet and concentrate on - wait for it - the five food groups! Hooray. Plus cardio crap to come as it progresses. The fine print (as per a MySpace message back and forth sent a few days ago, negotiated over and over, then send back and forth a few more times):
- Write down everything we eat. Everything. we. eat. I managed it yesterday and I stopped eating so much out of pure shame, so at least I know it works.
- Monday, Wednesday and Friday will be days of 30-minute runs in the pattern of run for 4 minutes, walk for 2, run for 4, walk for 2, etc. Can be replaced with 45 minutes of indoor mild aerobic activity (i.e. treadmill, exercise bike, etc.) in the circumstance of bad weather.
- Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday will be devoted to a routine of core exercises. All of them, yes, but not necessarily in one go. These are okay to not follow through with, but I like to think I’m determined and motivated (despite being on holiday for a third of a freaking year) enough to follow through anyway. Essentially, in listing whatever exercises we’ve done, it’s to ensure we don’t both end up cheating in the long run.
Simple. Straightforward. And doesn’t even require a gym membership (gyms scare the shit out of me anyway). My main motivation for doing all of this: I suddenly felt extremely bloated after reading all of that, the dancing year is starting up on February 4th, and what with doing two long-ass three-hour classes a week and regular competitions, I need to get into shape. Skinny (read: anorexic-looking) does not necessarily equal in-shape, ergo I need to start getting off my ass and doing something constructive and productive for a change.
So. Xuan’s Generic Mantra for … however long this regimen will go for: “I will gain 20 pounds of muscle mass by the time the State Champs roll in.”
And … Xuan’s Actual Mantra For This Regimen: “I’m sick of feeling bloated all the fucking time, so let’s do this already and take it a day at a time. WOO! *bounce*”
Mmm. The smell of productivity. Now I’m off for a run/walk/breakfast.
Posted on January 21st, 2008 | Filed under Food & Beverages, Fun, Life |
Okay, I might have a thing for fluid layouts? And grey. And blue. I figured that I’d fill everyone’s screens up with all of this, just because I could. I still have things to iron out (the header image was clumsily made with a gradient and a picture of sunrise clouds I took last year … not sure if I like it entirely. *blink*). Thanks to Amanda, by the way, for a little PHP help that solved things just short of me ripping my hair out.
It’s two days and fifty minutes into the New Year, I’ve spent 50% of that time sleeping (I feel productive … no really, I do!), and I did this theme because I needed something to occupy time that wasn’t: 1) sleeping; 2) slow-progressing MSN conversations made thrice as slow by alcohol consumption on New Year’s Eve; or 3) repeatedly reading a forum thread about having blonde moments which, in addition to being good for a temporary lol, makes me feel somewhat better about myself.
Although, having said that, if you have any qualms with it, please let me know. IE 6 apparently doesn’t understand the max-width part of my CSS, and so renders this at 100% width anyway - although Firefox and Opera and everything else like me. *pat pat* Otherwise, things seem fine.
New Years Resolutions! You either love ‘em or hate ‘em, and personally I’m a bit of both. I almost never end up carrying through with them (but that isn’t only because I completely forget about them four days into January), but they’re fun to make at the time for the sake of feeling like an empowered individual. In 2008, I will:
- Lead a more balanced life. Despite the fact that uni will probably overwhelm me for the first … semester or so. At this stage, 2008 lifestyle will prospectively consist of uni, dancing, tech-stuff, part-time work, and sleep. Must try and achieve moderation in all five areas, even if it ends up just being a pipe dream.
- Eat healthier. I’ve been making this resolution repeatedly for the past four or so years, and yet I still impulsively rock up to McDonalds several times a week ordering a lovely diversity of artery-clogging shit that’s so. damn. bloody. easy. to eat. Probably why I’m unfit. Must change, damnit! Note: I do count Subway as healthy eating.
- Learn to drive. Properly. And no, my father teaching me to drive does not qualify as proper learning. I’d rather find a decent instructor who doesn’t spend 75% of the time yelling at me because I “indicated a bit too early before turning around that corner”. Not that I’ll be driving that much anyway …
That pretty much covers it. I give myself a maximum of two weeks before at least one of them goes down the drain. But at least they look good written down … really … It’s two days into the New Year and so far I’ve managed to stick to all of them; yes, I’m going by the day here. Dancing classes don’t start up again until the end of January (still unfit here), and uni doesn’t start until the end of February, so until then I’m just going to cruise along until all the demanding stuff hits. Oh, and to answer Belinda and Chien Yee’s questions on my last entry - I do Irish dance. Ergo, my upper body is as weak as a kitten, but my legs and feet are nimble and strong. Cue heightened sense of self-esteem!
So, dear visitors - what did you get up to to ring in the New Year?
Posted on January 3rd, 2008 | Filed under Life, Online & Website |
