Running in the rain~

While doing it, I felt an urge to share my "first experience" with people who are still reading my blog. It was something I had prevented doing at all cost after all, and I did it today. I didn't do it by choice. I was halfway through my jogging when the drops fell, and I thought "Fuck it!" and decided to finish off the other half.

Running in the rain! In dramas, it would be romantic, melodramatic, and scenes of "running through the rain to find the dejected person whom you happen to be in love with". For some slightly realistic and practical people, the rain would serve to "wash off your sweat", the wind "cool you down as you run" and such. The unhygienic would say, "If you are thirsty, raise your head and you have a drink". So yeah, plenty of advantages right? You practically levelled up as a man!

Now let me explain why the hell it sucks.

Running in the rain means that while you are moving at slightly higher than normal velocity, you are going against water. For those who swim, you know that water can be a bitch when  you try walking through it. In other words, although it is on a lesser scale, there is water pressure pushing you, making you lose your stamina and balance. Next, with rain, humidity increases in the air. Oxygen intake is lessened, resulting in further stamina sapping.

Wind is awesome, but not when it's blowing rainwater into your eyes while you run. For those wearing spectacles, it'll be covered in water, and visibility will be near zero. So if you fall down while the floor is also slippery, ouch.

As for the rain cooling you down, it is an unhealthy procedure, and should never be done. Do you all know the purpose of warm-up exercises? It's to help your body feel the activity, and also to strengthen your joints to cope with extra stress incurred. When the rain cools your body down while you run (and warming up is most important in jogging), your body involuntarily cools down, and it might result in joint pains. It is also bad for the heart. I mean, everyone should have learnt from a young age that cooling your body down rapidly after exercise is bad for the heart, and have even killed people.

So yeah, now you know. My shoes are also now wet and I certainly hope that they dry off before my jog tomorrow. Well, I'm never likely to run in the rain anytime sooner.

First checkpoint target

80kg by 9/7/11. 'Nuff said, let the exercising and dieting continue!

Weight loss programmmm

And today, after weighing myself out, I realised that painstakingly, torturingly, 10kg has been lost! I've come a long way, 5 weeks and 3 days. Now 11 more kg to go, and I'll look normal. Hmm, it's a curious factor as to how I would look with that much weight lost...

Now, how the hell did I achieve it?

I guess the deciding factor came in around... 1 month plus ago?

"Dear Mr Lim Zi Hao

Your NS checkup has shown that your blood cholesterol is slightly above acceptable levels. Please consult a Polyclinic or personal physician to monitor your blood cholesterol level for health purposes.

Love,
CMPB"

Or something along those lines.

Anyway, I consulted a Polyclinic. The doctor's instructions were simple. Exercise more, no fast food, no egg yolks, no seafood...

WAIT A MINUTE. I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT SEAFOOD.

So after that, I waged a full out war against my body, watching what I eat, exercising daily. First, to reduce my cholesterol levels to healthy levels. My next checkup will be on July. Hopefully I will be able to touch prawns after that.

But I discovered a new love in apples, which I learnt, are rich in Vitamin C, reduce blood cholesterol, and the peel has the effect of helping in weight loss and healthy digestion. I'll probably be eating more and more apples for the rest of my life.

Another reason I've been torturing myself is that I've been convinced I might actually look good without all the fat.

You can start laughing now.

Anyway, after hearing that, my motivation actually increased. I can be quite vain also, haha.

I've been running 3.2km daily, 150 sit ups daily, and I walk home from work on workdays. And trust me, I hate running. You can never get used to jogging. It tears your lungs apart, makes your entire body warm for a few hours and sometimes makes you want to puke. But I'm going to continue. Because I've got the motivation to go on.

Well, I'll be updating my progress again soon. Like I said before, support me morally!

What I've been up to...

This has been a very busy, but fruitful week for me. Photos might come in later. Let's start with Tuesday, because Monday was an eat/sleep/chores day.

Tuesday was SP Buddy. There were two workshops: the make-up workshop and the photography workshop. I was with Try, Sakinah, Gajesh, Nicholas, Gibson and Zainol. We made a bang, of sorts. And I saw some old faces from previous workshops. Overall, it was sort of fun with the ACER gang, while doing our job.

Wednesday and Thursday! These two days were really fun, really awesome. It was the ACER recruitment days! I was in charge of presenting what ACER is to them, and while doing so, I really relived many pleasant memories. Ren Sen, Cheryn, Zainol, Heng Khit, Garry, Chi Kit and Pearlyn were the awesome people there, with us hanging out while working. Some of the new people look peppy, and awesome, while others are nervous, afraid and frightened. It was fun seeing so many expression in these two days, and we had fun talking and doing "friend friend stuff".

So now, I'm still on my weight loss regime, having hit a minimum of 87kg for now at my lightest. That's 8-9kg lost, folks! I still have quite a long way to go, but support me morally! I'll fit out of my recent clothes soon. My pants are already all feeling really baggy. Size 38 -> Size 34, people!

I'm going to do what I can for now, for my endeavors, and I'm looking forward to more events before NS. Do talk to me when you all are free, the chance won't come after I enter Palau Tekong Holiday Resort with a haircut deal after all.

The difficulties of losing weight

After enduring 3 1/2 weeks of daily jogging, my weight had dropped from 96kg -> 89.5-90kg. The final target is 74kg, where I won't be overweight anymore. It's a long way to go, but I'll get there, eventually.

It's almost been a month, so I thought I'd document the trials and difficulties I encountered...

1) Dragging your ass to the daily exercise regime.
This part is tough no matter how used I get to it. I will always be too lazy to go out for my daily 150 sit-ups + 3.2km jog, and every single day, I'll think about skipping it. It's a good thing I haven't succumbed to temptation though. I've even almost dropped the routine several times due to flu and backaches. However, the routine gave me a new mindset: If I were to skip a jog, I would feel a sense of unfinished business and guilt, so much that it would rob me of my sleep. That's what kept me going.

2) Denying myself the high calorie food
It's no secret that I'm a big eater. All my friends and family know that. Even in weight loss, that's a fact. However, I've been substituting my in-between meal snacks with apples and oranges. As I have a slightly high blood cholesterol, vitamin C in both of the fruits will help lower the blood cholesterol. Furthermore, they are high in dietary fibre, which aids in digestion. Another tip I used is to drink more water instead of soft drinks. It gives me a false sense of being full, and zero calories are input to my body. Besides, it also cleanses my body, as I have read in several websites for tips. Whenever I eat anything remotely high calorie, I would berate myself for the next few hours, sometimes till the next day. Another thing that sometimes takes away my sleep due to conscience.

3) Confidence
This one is a mental problem. You see, after 3 weeks of losing some weight, my mass suddenly became very constant. It doesn't go up, but the bad thing is, it doesn't go down. I've been told by family and friends not to be impatient, as fast weight loss is unhealthy, and results aren't supposed to come fast. Thing is, to me, when there are no results, I feel like my efforts aren't working out, and they affect me, sometimes making me want to give up. It's a good thing I still have my common sense about, telling me that as soon as I dropped all my routines, I'll go back to becoming fatter again.

Above are the problems I faced, and it's a good thing I have solutions right now for them. The encouragement given to me by family and friends were really great. Whenever I hear a "You've lost weight!", it gives me more reasons to run daily and keep to a healthy routine. Thank you, all of you.

Now then, I still have a lot of weight to lose, but I won't give up so easily. Even if there are little or no results, I'm going to go on, no matter what, as health is always important.