I’m Still Fat

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Cookies!

OMG Cookies!

Alright, I’m pretty bummed to let you all know that I haven’t been as active or as healthy as I’ve wanted to be. However, I’m not as heavy as I was when I first started working out. Today I am 254 pounds which is 6 pounds lighter than when I first started. That is not anywhere near my goal, but I’m planning to get back on the saddle this week. I’m also pretty stoked I didn’t gain all the weight that I had lost back. However, this also means that I never lost that much weight to begin with and therefore lost my one hundred dollar challenge against my former co-workers over at Sí TV.

Being Healthy is good, I swear!

This last weekend I got to play some basketball with my cousin 1 on 1 and also some volleyball afterwards with a big group of people. While I was huffing and puffing like a smoker in a spinning class, I felt pretty amazing after the fact. I’m convinced that being healthy is a lot better than not being so. Which (believe it or not) is something I’ve always had a hard time accepting. My problem is that I’ve been comfortable being unhealthy for years now. It’s easy to be unhealthy. It’s the only way I’ve known to be for the 8 years. That’s a long time for bad habits to build.

Healthy me = Music for you

So, once again I’ve decided to get back to the into the gym and eat healthier, well portioned foods starting today. Except this time, I want to incorporate some sort of system to keep me more accountable. I’m not quite sure what that will be, but I’m open to suggestions. If you got one to make use the comments section on my website. To show my appreciation to you who rooted for me while I was going to the gym (or if you just read the updates), I’ve decided to add a little bonus: If your suggestion get’s picked I’ll buy you an album of your choice on iTunes for up to 20 bucks.

BAM!

SNAKE!!

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Meta Gear Solid

Rock out with Solid Snake

At the expense of revealing how much of a nerd I actually am, I have decided to share something with you today. Working to Metal Gear Solid tunes really makes me focus. Maybe it’s because it reminds me that if I don’t get something done in time the world as we know it would END!

Okay… maybe it’s not that bad.

In any case, here’s a playlist I’ve been dorkin’ out with all day…

Solid Snake is Back!

Fitness Update – Week 4

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If it keeps going the way it's going...

Oookay, not as strong as I had hoped, but a much better then last week.

This is going to be a pretty short update due to the fact that I am really, really busy with a lot of changes in my life at the moment. I’ll be writing about some of these changes soon, but it mostly involves a lot of work related topics. Namely, leaving my full time gig to pursue bigger and better things. More on that later.

This week, I went to the gym 3 times, I didn’t loose any weight, but I didn’t gain either. So not exactly the best situation, but definitely better than the alternative; gaining weight is not allowed! Additionally, lack of sleep is catching up and is probably not smart to sleep walk to the gym, right? I keep hearing how sleeping good is a great help in loosing weight, but I keep staying up late anyways. I’ll be working on this next. More sleep would definitely be nice.

Next week I’ll be trying new things at the gym. I decided to take a “Turbo Kick-boxing” class. Although I imagine it’s going to be me getting my ass kicked.

So I’m trying failing to consume less salt. Salt you see, makes you retain water. Totally not cool! I really like salt.

That is all…

Fitness Update – Week 3

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food

Food like this makes my life difficult...

Oh boy, where do I begin? The first 2 weeks were pretty awesome. I had been going to the gym and kicking ass. I felt great about going too. Sure I was tired and sore, but I felt great. This week was no good though. I want to go as far as saying it was bad. Here’s a simple recap:

I went to the gym 2 times this week. I ate at a Brazilian place (the kind of place that bring you tons meat to you). I did not discipline my self enough and am declaring last week a loss. Given, I was extremely busy doing some freelance work for a couple of clients that will continue over to this week (more info on this soon), but I can’t allow that to get in the way of the healthy habit I’ve been trying to build. Since I didn’t go to the gym on my weigh in day, I have no idea if I gained or lost any weight. I feel like it could have gone in any direction.

This week I’ve learned that finding excuses to get your self out of a work out is super easy. I’ve got too much work…I want to relax… blah blah blah. They’re all excuses. I’ve come to realize that nothing is more important than being healthy for me and my family. Yet I continue to trade what I want to do with doing what makes me hate myself at times.

Eat, work, eat, sit, eat, sleep – repeat.

This week will be different. No more slacking off. At least that’s the goal. Failing scares me, yet the idea of failing motivates me to keep working hard. I want to make this work… really bad.

Fitness Update – Week 2

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Spinning Death Machine

Spinning Death Machine

Well, I made it past my first week. Things I’ve learned have included:

  1. I really don’t need to eat as much as I have been used to
  2. The harest part is putting on your gym clothes
  3. ALWAYS stretch before exercise
  4. Drink more water
  5. More people go commando than I cared to know about…

It’s been a lot of fun getting used to working out again. It’s been hard going to the gym when I’m sore and tired, but I realize that once I get going I start feeling great. I spent 6 days at the gym last week with spinning taking up half my time and resistance taking the other. I have more energy, I feel happier, and I’ve lost 4 pounds in my first week. How much of that was water weight is still to be determined, but it felt great getting on that scale and seeing a number drop a bit. I can’t wait to see how much I can loose next week!

This update is going to be shorter than I originally wanted because of some projects I’m working on, but I wanted to make sure I kept my weekly update promise from last week’s post.

Okay, hope you guys have a good week. Anyone else hitting the gym or getting themselves healthier in some way? Let me know in the comments below, I’d love to hear how you’re doing.

I’m a fatty…

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No McDonalds

No, I'm not lovin' it...

I’m unhealthy. I haven’t been eating right and I’ve gained more weight than I ever thought I would have gained. I’ve decided that it’s time to whip myself back into shape. I signed myself up to a 24 Hour Fitness and started a challenge with a few guys from work. So, over the next 2 months I have to loose the most weight that I can.

I’ve decided to keep a weekly log about the experience. Nothing fancy, just a way for me to keep track of my progress. I’ve also decided to share some stats here as a way to keep me accountable. Not sure how good of an idea that is, but I figure it might help to keep me going.

These stats make me sad and remind me of how much I miss being fit and healthy. When I was 18 I weighed 200 pounds and had 17% body fat and could run 5 miles straight with no problem. I weighed in on Monday, January 24th 2011 and I weighed 260 pounds with 27% body fat. Yikes!

These are stats I need to change if I am to be successful. Let’s see what happens.

Machete – Epic in Every Way

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So this movie was pretty bad ass. I had my doubts going into it as I thought that it would have been as terrible as Grindhouse (which I heard I was supposed to be bad, but who knows?). I was totally stoked by the end of Machete. Especially now that I know it’s going to be a trilogy.

There are some spoilers below, but nothing too compromising.

The story is all about Machete, an ex-federale who has his family murdered. He seeks revenge on the man who killed his loved ones. From there, he ends up in the States where he’s asked to off a Governor for a large sum of money. Turns out it was just a ploy to fram him, kinda obvious. Little did they know that this guy was a trained killer!

This movie does touch on the political issued of immigration. I really enjoyed this part and think everyone should pay attention to it. It was interesting to see Jessica Alba *cough* my ex *cough* as an INS agent going after her very people.

It’s definitely not for someone with a weak stomach. It’s not terribly gory, but there were parts that will make some cringe. Overall I thought the movie was fun. Go watch it if you ever want to find out what will happen if you F*ck with the wrong Mexican.

Hulu Plus – Hit or Miss?

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I recently got my Hulu Plus invite and have had some time to play around with it. My initial reaction was, “Sweet, now i can watch tons of hulu videos on my mobile devices!” — and yes, that’s exactly how I said it. I log in and sign up for the service. Then it hits me, I have to pay for the service. I figured, sure why not? I will be getting tons of new content that I can watch anywhere. So many episodes of shows from past seasons. So decided to pony up. I became an official Hulu Plus member.

I start by looking for one of my all time favorite shows, Arrested Development. When I find it I’m stoked to see that all the seasons are there. I click on an episode to start watching and there it is, a commercial. Why the hell did I just pay 10 bucks for a service that is still going to bug me with ads? Disappointed to say the least.

Something else that really irritates me is the fact that I don’t have access to watch all the free content on Hulu that’s available to everyone on their main site. So I’m paying for a service that doesn’t give me what’s already available.

However, I did find complete seasons of some of my favorite shows. The convenience of being able to watch some TV shows or movies from pretty much anywhere is pretty sweet. If I’m bored somewhere I can pop out my phone and watch some family guy. I can pick up from where I left off if I’m interrupted too.

Another thing to note is that the user interface is pretty sweet. On both the iPhone and the iPad I have had no bad experience, like getting lost in the menus or videos taking to long to load . I wish my Netflix app had such a nice experience. I think once they get more selections of movies and TV shows, the app will (and service for that matter) will be much, much better.

Overall I think Hulu Plus is a good thing to have around. It’s only 10 bucks per month, and the convenience of being able to watch from anywhere is pretty sweet. Using the apps is a breeze too, getting to the provided shows is easy. Sure there are some commercials, but I guess the reasoning behind is that you’re paying for your TV service too, commercials and all.

Try it out if you get an invite. Worst comes to worst, you loose 10 bucks. You can always cancel at any time.

Totally Kick-Ass!

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Oh Wow! How in the world did I miss this little gem? Probably one of the coolest comics I’ve read in a while. Kick-Ass – by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. – is a comic made movie that has an interesting protagonist, a strong story, and one of the coolest characters around: Hit-Girl!

Without giving too much away: the story starts off simple enough, there’s a kid who’s tired of his mediocre life. He wonders why no one has tried being a real life super hero and decided that he would be the first. He buys his costume from eBay and starts patrolling the streets. Needless to say, things don’t go as planned. He winds up in the hospital where he spends months recovering. One thing Mark Millar does really well is bring the comic into a realistic world, our world. I’m curious to see what would really happen if someone decided to dress up and start keeping our streets safe; I imagine something similar would take place.

I must confess that I did this backwards. I saw the movie before I read the comic. As you might suspect, the comic is way better than the movie. I thought somethings were explained a lot better, while others really caught me off guard (Big Daddy’s backstory). There are somethings that are COMPLETELY different in the comic than the movie. I’ll just say that there doesn’t seem to be such a happy ending for Dave, our main character. I didn’t expect the movie be just like the book, but there are parts that are completely different. It’s a lot darker than you’d think.

If you dig comics then do your self a favor and get a copy of Kick-Ass, you won’t regret it! If you haven’t watched the movie, read the books first. I honestly can’t wait for the sequel that’s supposed to start rolling out next month!

I’m not calling this a review by any means, I just wanted to write down some thoughts without giving anything away. I hate spoilers.

Not in the Mood

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So I’ve been working pretty hard over the last few months. Doing so much in such a small period of time is not something I like to make a habit of. However, over the last few months I have looked for a place live, moved to said place, worked on freelance projects after regular work, and had a wisdom tooth pulled. All while negotiating at work for a fulltime position and searching the market for other leads.

Things are going that make me describe what I do at work. This always seems awkward to me. First of all, you have to describe your job to someone in specifics. Second, you have to tell them that you’re really good and experienced at what you do. Lastly, you have to tell them why you deserve more money for what you’re already doing. Feels a bit arrogant.

One of the reasons I haven’t updated any of my blogs – besides the fact that I’ve been super busy – is because I’m simply not in the mood to be in front of the computer anymore than I already have to be. I spend all day and night working (or playing) in front of a screen and I’m getting sick of it to be quite honest. I feel like I need an out doors kind of vacation. A camping trip, a beach trip or any thing to get me away from technology for a couple of days.

Someone told me that I’d get tired and bored with work once I’ve been doing it for a while. I don’t want this to happen. I need to keep growing and learning as a developer, as I don’t want my passion to become work. This is the main reason why I gotta keep myself learning and working on personal projects. So I don’t loose sight of “the fun part” of my job.

I didn’t mean like sounding like such a Debbie Downer today. Sorry about that. I see the light at the end of the tunnel and I’ll be cheery as soon as I’m on the other side of this debacle.