Smooth
Sat, May 30th, 2009, 10:37 AM
Hey everybody.
For the TL:DR version, please skip down to the bottom. But I really need to get this out, so here's my background for those who are interested.
Several years ago I was a regular JSF forum member. I was a university student who aspired to achieve a beach body physique, and at the end of my five year stint I more or less did.
Then I entered the workforce. Gosh, you have no idea how stressed I was; I had grown so used to university life that taking the next step was more like an unknown leap. During my first 6 months I took it hard: little to no exercise; daily salt and fat laden eat-out dinners; lots of stress and insufficient sleep. Suffice to say, I ballooned like crazy.
However, an interesting turn of events led to my salvation, and I slowly dumped the bad habits and junk, eventually getting myself back into a healthy state of body and mind. Nowhere near my peak, mind you, but I had gotten over trying to appear perfect so it didn't matter. What mattered is that I felt happy.
Come 2009 and I've fallen into a rut, again. It all started with a broken relationship, and in my moment of weakness, a desire to start another one with someone who I thought could be something special. However, things weren't going smoothly after some time and I fell back on food-lots of food-to appease myself. (Note: there were several other things burdening me, but I believe this was the catalyst.)
You know how some celebrities (Renee Zellweger; Robert DeNiro) ate a motherload of food in preparation for some oversized roles? Well, in the last 2 months I've been doing exactly just that. And without doing it properly; I've been eating refined carbs, sugars, fats and oils up the wazoo. Sometimes I'd even do a crazy cheat, like 2-3 packets of chocolate biscuits, the same number of chips/crisps, 1/2 a loaf of bread all smothered with butter or peanut butter or lemon honey, etc. etc. This kind of cheating initially made me feel sick, but, just like in the documentary, Supersize Me, your body eventually gets used to it, and so, too, does your stomach capacity.
It's scary just thinking about it. On average I've been consuming about 15000-30000kJ daily. Just an estimate, but I like to think I'm pretty good with estimating this kind of stuff due to my history.
I know I've probably harmed my liver a great deal my failure to control myself. The overeating led to sleeping late nights and, hence, insufficient sleep since I'm now working full time. This is turn led to a high amount of stress on top of stress. The funny thing is, the start of 2009 was awesome. I was more sociable, more relaxed (and confident/competent) with my job, and upon joining several clubs and societies, expanded my circle of friends. I pretty much had everything I could have hoped for. And what did I say to myself? Everything happens for a reason. And I gave thanks.
How ironic then that I've fallen in such a way.
Well, I'm here to change that, and after 3-4 failed attempts already, I've decided that I need to chronicle my journey in order for my next attempt to actually work. Due to work commitments, the frigid weather and such, I won't be able to exercise as regularly as I used to. But the diet is the FIRST thing that needs to get back on track. My stomach feels like it is full, yet I still crave food. That just scares the heck out of me. I tried doing some pull-ups on our staircase today; doing TWO felt HARD! WTF!? Just 2 months ago I was able to do 15 no problem. It's amazing how fast one can deterioate given the worst possible conditions (I have barely done 15 minutes of light exercise daily...).
But enough rambling. Here's a pic of me from 2007 and one from yesterday. In the former I weighed about 61kg; right now I weigh about 71kg. I know, crazy *sigh*
P.S. I'll keep all the lengthy write-ups confined to my blog from now on. Wish me luck. Cheers =)
For the TL:DR version, please skip down to the bottom. But I really need to get this out, so here's my background for those who are interested.
Several years ago I was a regular JSF forum member. I was a university student who aspired to achieve a beach body physique, and at the end of my five year stint I more or less did.
Then I entered the workforce. Gosh, you have no idea how stressed I was; I had grown so used to university life that taking the next step was more like an unknown leap. During my first 6 months I took it hard: little to no exercise; daily salt and fat laden eat-out dinners; lots of stress and insufficient sleep. Suffice to say, I ballooned like crazy.
However, an interesting turn of events led to my salvation, and I slowly dumped the bad habits and junk, eventually getting myself back into a healthy state of body and mind. Nowhere near my peak, mind you, but I had gotten over trying to appear perfect so it didn't matter. What mattered is that I felt happy.
Come 2009 and I've fallen into a rut, again. It all started with a broken relationship, and in my moment of weakness, a desire to start another one with someone who I thought could be something special. However, things weren't going smoothly after some time and I fell back on food-lots of food-to appease myself. (Note: there were several other things burdening me, but I believe this was the catalyst.)
You know how some celebrities (Renee Zellweger; Robert DeNiro) ate a motherload of food in preparation for some oversized roles? Well, in the last 2 months I've been doing exactly just that. And without doing it properly; I've been eating refined carbs, sugars, fats and oils up the wazoo. Sometimes I'd even do a crazy cheat, like 2-3 packets of chocolate biscuits, the same number of chips/crisps, 1/2 a loaf of bread all smothered with butter or peanut butter or lemon honey, etc. etc. This kind of cheating initially made me feel sick, but, just like in the documentary, Supersize Me, your body eventually gets used to it, and so, too, does your stomach capacity.
It's scary just thinking about it. On average I've been consuming about 15000-30000kJ daily. Just an estimate, but I like to think I'm pretty good with estimating this kind of stuff due to my history.
I know I've probably harmed my liver a great deal my failure to control myself. The overeating led to sleeping late nights and, hence, insufficient sleep since I'm now working full time. This is turn led to a high amount of stress on top of stress. The funny thing is, the start of 2009 was awesome. I was more sociable, more relaxed (and confident/competent) with my job, and upon joining several clubs and societies, expanded my circle of friends. I pretty much had everything I could have hoped for. And what did I say to myself? Everything happens for a reason. And I gave thanks.
How ironic then that I've fallen in such a way.
Well, I'm here to change that, and after 3-4 failed attempts already, I've decided that I need to chronicle my journey in order for my next attempt to actually work. Due to work commitments, the frigid weather and such, I won't be able to exercise as regularly as I used to. But the diet is the FIRST thing that needs to get back on track. My stomach feels like it is full, yet I still crave food. That just scares the heck out of me. I tried doing some pull-ups on our staircase today; doing TWO felt HARD! WTF!? Just 2 months ago I was able to do 15 no problem. It's amazing how fast one can deterioate given the worst possible conditions (I have barely done 15 minutes of light exercise daily...).
But enough rambling. Here's a pic of me from 2007 and one from yesterday. In the former I weighed about 61kg; right now I weigh about 71kg. I know, crazy *sigh*
P.S. I'll keep all the lengthy write-ups confined to my blog from now on. Wish me luck. Cheers =)