Phase 3, Week 3, Day 3 -- Recovery

Well, the past few weeks have been a little rough! I did something to my right knee that I can't quite trace down. For the past two plus weeks it has been very sore, especially when I walk stairs. Then, a little over a week ago I slipped and almost fell down some stairs while attending the Primetime Emmy Awards. I caught myself on a metal railing, which drilled right into my rib cage and this has caused me some real pain. Additionally, I twisted my left knee and hit my Achilles tendon. Needless to say, and going back to the first sentence of this paragraph, the past few weeks have been a little rough!

After a week of trying to work through the pain in both legs and my ribs, I decided to take the day off from cardio this past Saturday and rested Sunday as well.

We were really busy this past weekend. On Friday night we went to see Muse at the Verizon Amp in Irvine. On Saturday night we went to Oktoberfest at Alpine Village in Torrance. And, Sunday night we went to see Wicked at the Pantages in Hollywood. PHEW! Busy, busy, busy.

Peace out... :)

JH

America is a Gum Chucking Nation (AKA The Saga of the Gum)

It is true I love to chew gum. Something about that wonderful explosion of flavor -- and the fact I've been trying to beat my addiction to nicotine gum for years. But, my issue is not with those who enjoy chewing gum -- it is what happens to the wads when people are done with them.

Fact is: America is a Gum Chucking Nation. People throw their gum, spit their gum, and most disgustingly, put their gum under tables or chairs. I mean, there is nothing more disgusting to me than going to pull your chair in only to place your hands on someones freshly pressed, still soft chewed gum. Parking lots and roads are spotted with smashed pieces of spit out gum - now black little discs made up of someones saliva. Gross.

One big joke in America is how strict Singapore is. We tend to make fun of their silly little laws and excessive fines. But one law I love is NO GUM! There, you can be fined or worse for just chewing gum because this activity, and product, is banned in Singapore under the "Regulation of Imports and Exports (Chewing Gum) Regulations." Except for chewing gum of therapeutic value, the "importing" of chewing gum into Singapore was absolutely banned.

In 2003, there were closed door meetings between George W. and the leaders of Singapore. The issues on the table were the War in Iraq and, you guessed it, chewing gum. Of course, Wrigleys sent their lobbyists to the then-chairman of the U.S. House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade, to get chewing gum on the agenda of the United States-Singapore Free Trade Agreement (because of course the gum consumption of some extremely tiny Asian island nation is so important to them). Ridiculous.

But, back to America and my personal gum rules. Many years ago when someone asked for a piece of my gum I usually have a brief moment of apprehension. This wasn't because I was being sellfish --well, allow me to explain.

The gum I chew is either Eclipse or Dentyne Ice. The reason I choose to chew these brands of gum is because they are packaged in blister packs and it is very easy to put my already been chewed (ABC) gum pack into the pack. Although I keep the streets cleaner, I'm viewed as strange for disposing of my gum in this nature. And, even more strange when I refuse to just hand over my pack of gum to someone. I simply don't want the individual to begin to dig into one of my ABC blister pack sections -- because that would be awful -- and I don't want to have to explain my gum disposal methods.

My solution? I just carry a lot of gum. An example: While still seated at lunch, I tend to slam a 'clean' pack down on the table and while people reach for it I steal a piece from MY pack. Quite sneaky I know -- but no worries about people touching my pack. And, the streets remain just a little cleaner and my mind remains a little clearer.

And, I think this whole blister pack gum disposal method should be law in America -- but that won't happen because America is a Gum Chucking Nation.

Phase 3, Week 1, Day 2!!! New Phase, Old Ways!

Well, phase 2 was a learning experience for me. I've undergone my transformation at blocks of 12 weeks at a time... each one representing a phase. In phase 2, I changed my habits a bit and my results were not as good as Phase 1. So, guess what? For Phase 3 I am going back to the Phase 1 routine. Makes perfect sense!!

To date I have lost 21% of my Phase 1, Day 2 body weight. Moreover, I have dramatically increased my strength, endurance, and overall health. Although I expected to be further along by now, I'm extremely pleased with the results thus far.

Here are the top 5 highlights to date:

1. My waist size is down over 6 inches and I was able to buy very sexy jeans and look awesome in them. (Now, these even fall down on me unless I'm wearing a belt)

2. I've been through 2 belts thus far. And, I'm on the last hole of my current belt so that number will grow to 3 soon!

3. I have yet to cheat on my diet. Granted I drink my coffee with cream now, but I don't eat any sweets, fast food, or anything that can be categorized as 'bad for me'. (However, the 1/4 teaspoon of half and half does bring me more pleasure than I care to admit!)

4. I stopped my Starbucks Venti Mocha addiction in its tracks. I now drink a zero calorie Americano from time to time. (Remember, I was so obsessed with the Venti Mocha I named my company after it -- lol)

5. I can run now. I like to run and I'm getting better at it every time.

People now come to me for fitness advice, which kind of makes me laugh. All I tell them is what should be obvious to everyone: eat less, exercise more. Not pioneering anything here. But, I'm also not discounting what I've either because I've worked my butt off for the past 6 months!

Esby and I look at pictures of me from the UK -- I was kind of skinny when I got there but I just kept expanding. I remember how we ate over there and it makes me sick today. Junk food, excessive beer/booze drinking, and 2 AM trips to the Kebab stand. Add this to nearly no exercise and you have the perfect recipe for life changing body degradation!!

So, as I move along in this journey, I'm going to try to remember to blog every week like I used to. Even though almost nobody reads this, I credit a lot of my success to this blog and I really need to ease off on the Facebooking -- at least long enough to scribe some mindless rantings on a regular basis.

Sunday we go to the Primetime Emmy Awards -- and I'm going to look a lot better than last year!! Well, at least thinner anyway!

Peace out! :D

JH