It's not about you - 10 things I think

It wasn't a good weekend sports-wise, but overall it was plenty decent. Got a chance to see Woody Allen's latest motion picture vehicle (Magic in the Moonlight), which was quite pleasant. Lucky, too, because the movie was released in limited theatres and the one we went to just happened to be one out of only 17 in all of the United States. It definitely pays to live in a relatively artsy metropolitan area. 

I've got five weeks until the SF Giants Run event, in which I'll be attempting the 10k. Exciting stuff being that it will be the first time I will be paying to run. Sure it's all for an excellent cause but the reason I took up running as the exercise of choice this year is because it essentially costs me zero dollars (sans any sunk cost for shoes and various sports clothing). All runners in the Giants Run do receive a nifty commemorative bobble-head, which is just about the only reason I'm participating.

Over the past two months or so I've lost almost 20 pounds, coming down from a high of 178 to now a more slender 159. I wasn't overweight, per se; I merely wanted to slim back down because the body-weight lifting and protein-heavy diet these past years has made me bulkier than I far wanted to be. Every time I put on a black t-shirt I'd feel like Johnny Tran looking for Dom Torreto in "The Fast and the Furious".

So I stopped doing body-weight exercises completely, and in conjunction cut my daily protein intake by two-thirds. The only exercise I do now is the five mile run on the weekends. Because I've stopped working-out everyday, I also am eating much less than before. It's quite simple, really: the law of thermodynamics dictates you will lose weight if your daily intake of food energy is lower than your body's daily energy exertion. 

10 THINGS I THINK

1. I'm happy Chipotle just posted a record quarter. I absolutely love the food there, and would be happy to eat it daily for the rest of my life. Just stop raising the prices, please? Okay?

2. The laughably light suspension the NFL levied on Ray Rice for basically knocking a woman unconscious is completely unacceptable. I hope there's enough social pressure on the NFL to change its mind and increase the severity of the punishment.

3. Street festivals should be banned in San Francisco. There's simply not enough real estate to accommodate the throngs of people that flocks to them. Traffic is bad enough as-is! Last week's ramen festival in Japan-town was an utter disaster.

4. Presidential visits should also be banned in San Francisco. Must you add to the already tragic levels of congestion just to raise a few dollars for your party? Thanks, Obama. 

5. I'd love to upgrade to an iPhone 6 when it releases this fall simply because of the larger screen size, but ultimately I cannot justify ditching my still decently capable 5S and pay almost 300 dollars for the privilege to upgrade. 

6. The new Levis Stadium looks spectacular, as one would expect. I'm keen to try the "Peking duck bao" it's offering in its food menus. It'll probably taste nothing like the authentic stuff I've had at Chinese restaurants. 

7. I'm a huge fan of baseball, but the Baseball Hall of Fame means nothing to me. Not only is the selection process highly draconian, some of the best players to ever play game will never get inducted (example: Rose, Pete)

8. Some days I really tire of getting only a scant 18 miles to the gallon in my STI. A car with only four cylinders shouldn't be that inefficient, but it is. Bloody fun to drive, though. Good trade-off. Sometimes.

9. It feels like everybody and their mothers are opening up boba-tea establishments in the Bay Area. Those tea cafes are like coffee shops for Asians. I personally don't get the appeal, though I wouldn't mind having a cup once in a great while.

10. Great words to live by: "You just have to realize it's not about you." Sometimes, not giving a f*ck is the best way forward.  

(Not) Working out

One of my favorite things to poke fun at is the gluttony of the American lifestyle. Just venturing out to the ballpark proves this point with the non stop onslaught of hot dogs, fries, churros, ice cream, hot chocolate, nachos, etc (don't forget copious cups of your favorite alcoholic beverage). And then you sit on your ass for four hours to watch the game. No wonder they call baseball our national pastime - America has an obesity epidemic, so what better activity to represent it than going to a baseball game! Sitting on your ass for hours on end and binge eating!

Those of you who know me well know that I have been on a "healthy" lifestyle for a good 4 years now (started right after I got my freshman 30 - I have pictures to prove). And by now it has become just my normal lifestyle as I don't even think about it (nor is it hard to do - anymore). And it is really basic too - eat right (no sugar, low carb, good fats, fiber, and metric tons of protein), exercise (just MOVE!), water (again, by the metric tons), and good ole slumber, Sure I deviate from the "plan" plenty of times (hard to imagine, but yes it does happen), and to be honest I don't even feel guilty about "cheating" anymore. It is all just par for the course.

What is my point? To be healthy is not really a chore at all once you get used to it. But of course this is America, we want to sit on our ass and eat what ever the fuck we want and still somehow look thin and fit (some of you out there with good genetic makeup and/or super metabolisms notwithstanding). IF only that was true, then heck I would do that too. But obviously that is not how the laws of thermodynamics work (also the saying garbage in garbage out). Energy not spent is energy stored - and we all know where that gets stored in people's bodies. Hey, look at it this way, the American lifestyle has sustained a billion dollar magic weight loss food and exercise equipment industry! As a business major, I can appreciate that. 

Of course you can't have your cake and eat it too (mmm, cake). As with anything, to get the results you want, you need to work (goes with being a glutton also - just that the process to get fat is much more enjoyable, I GUESS). Speaking from my experience I don't see how anybody CAN"T do what I do (being healthy) and still enjoy the best foods out there (I eat out quite often nowadays actually), and sit on your ass all day (I sit 8 hours plus per day EASY). It is all about self control, discipline, and understanding of the bigger goal.

What is the bigger goal? Well, do you want to live long and prosper? (thanks Spock). Or spend your later years frequenting a clinic, full of health problems? Sure medicine advances millions of miles per day (probably working towards that magic weight loss pill), but I don't think for the immediate term it will save anybody from the pains of lifestyle related cardiovascular disease. Even when we bring it down to more of a compress timeline, how about not having a cold every time the season changes? But what am I saying, we ALL understand the tremendous benefits of being healthy - it is the work and sacrifice to get there we don't want to do (America, a reactive, and not a proactive country).

The number one, single best goal/reason to be healthy? VANITY. I would be absolutely lying if I said vanity was not the main reason I started working out and eating right (Freud would be proud). It may not be as crazy as Asia, but I would say vanity and body image is pretty important in America. Who does not want to look their best? (Well, clearly not everybody). Honestly, you don't really need any other reason (the other benefits are just... the icing on the cake). And it is not really about ego, it is about an ethic - one of constantly improving and putting your best self forward. I sure would hire someone who is like that over someone that is well, not (probably discrimination, but whatever). 

Yes, eating a bucket of ice cream (my favorite food!) is a much more promising form of living in terms of the the enjoyment factor compared to exercising. But honestly, if you are not willing to put in work for the most important thing in this world to you (that would be YOU), then what does that say really? Having millions of dollars while crippled on a hospital bed (exaggeration alert) is like not having it at all is it not? As my mothership will say, if you don't have your health, you have nothing.

Plus, I am not at all pleased seeing my tax dollars going to treat people that have diseases that are entirely preventable with the proper lifestyle.