VexVox

When I first started on my exercise regimen back in late August, I pined for the day I would actually notice the results of all that work. It's half a year later, and I'm not the only one noticing the results of all that work.

I've gotten past the plateau that plagued me in December, but ever since then, my rate of loss has slowed dramatically. I got too accustomed to losing two pounds a week that now one pound a week feels glacial. I could probably afford to cut a few more calories, but … I want to live a little, you know?

Still, a 30-pound drop is not an achievement to dismiss. I'm almost at the point where I need to tighten the belt one more notch. The loss is noticeable to people who don't see me day-to-day.

Back in December, I changed my daily 40-minute treadmill walk to a full-hour session with weightlifting and cardio, four times a week. My first goal when I started was to shed a few pounds, although I did want to build some muskell (ne: muscle). But I didn't want to muddy my focus, so I decided to wait till I reached a plateau to add the weightlifting. I'm starting to see more results there, but I'm going to wait a few more weeks before I declare a change has really happened.

Unfortunately, I had a bit of a setback two weeks ago. I ate something one night that didn't agree with my gall bladder-less body, and the next morning, I had to use the bathroom really badly. I ended up fainting and managed to strain some muscles in my back and neck. A few days after, I did my usual weightlifting routine, and that didn't really improve matters. So I'm taking some muscle relaxants and staying away from the weights till I feel no more tension in my back.

I used to joke that I need to eat out because my own cooking makes me sick. But like any joke, it's based on the truth — I knew very little about cooking that I would usually undercook something, while managing to burn it at the same time.

Then I started watching Good Eats, mainly because guys with glasses are so my type, and Alton Brown? Definitely my type. But it also helped that Good Eats uses humor to demonstrate the ins and outs of the cooking process. Brown doesn't just tell you to put stuff in a bowl and stir — he tells you why you need to put them in and what happens when they mingle together.

I've been watching the show since 2002, and it's because of Good Eats that I finally invested in more equipment, the most important being a thermometer. Since acquiring the thermometer, the incidences of sickness from my own cooking have essentially been eliminated. 160 degrees is such a magical figure.

I broil regularly. I make sure my oil is at least 375 degrees before pan frying anything. I'm not afraid to use butter. And on the few occasions I bake, wet ingredients go on top of dry.

These days, I find myself getting even bolder.

I usually pan-fry my steaks, seasoned with nothing but garlic salt, which I picked up not from AB but from mom. But one night, I experimented with broiling, and while I didn't follow Alton's instructions thoroughly, the resulting steak was still tasty. Another night, I supplemented the garlic salt with other herbs in my pantry, specifically Italian seasoning. I surprised even myself.

I bought the Italian seasoning for a recipe my mom used to cook. I could only find a big bottle of the stuff, so I've been putting it on everything. Tonight, I supercharged a chicken recipe. It's really simple.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Coat chicken in mayonnaise. Roll coated chicken in bread crumbs. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

That recipe alone is quite tasty. I altered it thusly …

Season chicken with salt, pepper and Italian season. Coat chicken in mayonnaise. Roll coated chicken in a mixture of bread crumbs and panko. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

I don't know how much difference the panko made with the bread crumbs, but the Italian seasoning certainly played well with the other ingredients.

But as I was experimenting, I remembered a number of things from Good Eats. Spices burn, so I didn't mix the spices with the breading. Instead, the spices went on the chicken pieces themselves, with the mayonnaise coating to seal them in. I also remembered to let the chicken rest for a few minutes before serving, letting carry-over heat take over.

I wouldn't have been able to articulate that before.

The title of this entry is the phonetic way of saying, "二千七年", or 2007 in Japanese. I read a number of year-in-review entries by friends, and I figure I may as well jump on the bandwagon.

The big events of 2007:

• March 2007, Laptop purchase: With the release of Windows Vista, I had a sense that if I wanted a laptop with XP, I would need to get it now. By the time I hit the stores, Vista laptops were pretty much the only ones available. My office, however, has an employee discount with Dell, and a laptop with XP was one of the offerings. Thing was, I didn't have much cash on hand, and I wasn't about to put it on my credit card. So I went to my credit union to see if I could take out a loan, which I could. The credit union put the cash for the loan in my savings account, which I could then use to pay for the laptop. So I paid with my credit card, then transferred funds to my credit card to cover the purchase. One hitch: I drew from the wrong account, and I managed to put my checking account into a $900 deficit. On the weekend of SXSW. Yeah, suck. Everything got straightened out on Monday, but it was kind of harrowing to go through an entire weekend without cash. Totally not related, but I also finally took the iPod plunge and got a 2GB Nano.
• April 2007, Trip to Maui: I had lived in Hawai`i for a quarter of my life, and never once did I visit Maui. For my 35th birthday, I wanted to take a trip, and I hadn't been back to Hawai`i since 2003. So I booked a two-day trip to Maui as a birthday gift to myself. Man was I missing out. I think I actually like Maui a lot more than Honolulu. It's urbanized, but only just so. And the attractions are a lot more impressive. What on Oahu can match the drive up Haleakala? I should've gone for three days to squeeze in the drive to Hana. Maybe next time.
• May 2007, Move to a two-bedroom apartment: After getting back from my trip, I was greeted with somewhat unpleasant news: my rent would be raised about $70. For the amount of space I lived in, that felt like a rip-off to me. But a quick survey of Craigslist offerings revealed that the raise in rent would still be cheaper than moving to an entirely new complex. So I went down to the leasing office to see if what's available with larger square footage. For $13 more, I was able to increase my square footage from 590 sq. ft to 813 sq. ft. Oh, luxurious! Of course, the accompanying raise in utilities insured I was broke from May till my raise in October.
• June 2007, Writing of 「健忘症」: With the vacation over and the move completed, I decided to take my laptop for a spin. Lyrics have always been where I drag my heels in the songwriting process, so I decided for my next project to begin with writing lyrics, then writing the music later. I spent the first half of June 2007 going to various coffeeshops to jot down lyrics. When I had about 15, I started to write music. For a gimmick, I titled all my songs in Japanese, just like how some Japanese artists use English for their song titles. After I started writing music for these lyrics, they ended up sounding like … country. Sure, I'll go with that.
• July 2007, Recording of 「学生」 and In C: While recording 「健忘症」, I started using solo violin and cello samples in Reason. I liked it so much, I unearthed some old student works from college and recorded them as well. I also bought Ableton Live for a class I was taking back in the spring, and I wanted to experiment with the Studio View to see if a solo performance of Terry Riley's In C was possible. I thought writing and recording new material would be enough, but I ended up with a lot more.
• August 2007, Recording of Original Confidence: In late July, my friend OmarG asked whether he could use my home studio to record a song to use in his comedy troupe's next show. I told him I didn't have much experience recording vocals, but I'd give it a shot. That one night of work opened my eyes to how I should approach my own stuff, and in early August, I started recording some select songs from each of my "albums". That compilation would eventually be my 2007 Christmas card, Original Confidence.
• Sept. 2007-now, Weight loss: I forget exactly what spurred me to step on the scale, but a miscalibration of the zero mark indicated my 10-year-old scale may not have been telling me the truth for a number of years. So I bought a new one and discovered I was actually 10 pounds heavier than I was led to believe. Sufficiently inspired, I vowed to hit the workout room of my apartment every night for at least half an hour. Three months later, I managed to lose 25 pounds. Unfortuantely, I've hit the dreaded weight loss plateau, and I haven't been able to budge lower than 189. My personal goal is 150 or 160. I was 215.

Yeah, I guess 2007 was a pretty eventful year. At first, I was inclined to think nothing much happened, till I actually started listing everything out. I've been busy.

I had some follow-up lab work done from my previous visit, and here are the results:

• Total cholesterol: 185 (normal range 140-200, down -11 from 196)
• Triglycerides: 108 (normal range 35-160, down -8 from 116)
• HDL (good cholesterol): 37 (min. 40, up +2 from 35)
• LDL (bad cholesterol): 127 (normal range, 80-130, down -11 from 138, hypertension range 80-100)

The total cholesterol looks better, but the HDL and LDL numbers still aren't quite what they should be. The LDL number was previously out of range for a person in normal health, but since I have hypertension, that number ought to be lower. The HDL number went up but not high enough. So in addition to the aspirin, my doctor is prescribing another medicine. And yes, the exercise regimen will continue (not that I was going to stop.)

I'll go in for another check in another three months.

I've gotten as low as 188, but I end up bouncing as high as 192. Average everything out, and it's still a plateau. After three months, my body has gotten used to this notion of daily exercise. It's reach an equilibrium. It likes where it is, and it's still 40 pounds more than I'd like it to be.

I added weight training Thanksgiving weekend — nearly three weeks ago — but I know I won't start noticing a physical change for another few weeks. The last time I did weight training, it took about two months before I even started feeling a bump in my biceps. Perhaps then some of that muscle will burn the fat.

I could probably afford to eat a smaller dinner or smaller portions on the weekend. But for the love of deity, I do not want to drink Slim Fast shakes twice a day. I'm already guzzling that crap for breakfast during the week. It makes me appreciate breakfast tacos on the weekends all that much more. No, I'm not giving that up either.

Zigzagging calories is dangerous for me. That requires a level of attention that I'd rather apply elsewhere.

I've changed the program I'm using on the treadmill. I tried a light jog instead of a brisk walk when the program sped up, but my knees don't like that. I also tried the cycle over the weekend, but it didn't get my heart rate up to where I wanted it. I'm not sure what else I can change with the cardio part of my regimen.

I think maybe it's time to consider actually taking a day off more than once a month. Perhaps — gasp! — once or twice a week. I pushed myself to do the daily thing because I didn't want to give myself any room to slack off. Now that it's part of my routine, I would feel odd giving myself that break. At the same time, brute force can backfire.

Here's a lousy analogy — when I'm on a roll with coding at work, I tend to smoke more. Sure, I could find other ways to step away from my desk than lighting up a cigarette, but there have been many a time where a smoke break afforded me enough distance to find the solution to a problem easily.

It's time I consider an analogous — not literal — smoke break from the daily exercise. Would I really spiral to slackerdom if I gave myself a day off here and there? That's the real test, actually. The routine thing is as much of a crutch as not doing anything at all.

I finally hit it — the plateau.

A little more than two weeks ago, I hit 191.6, and I couldn't budge from that number. Thanksgiving didn't help matters either, spiking the reading on the scale to around 194. Last week, I thought I nudged the plateau lower by staying at 189.6, but this past weekend, 191.6 reared its head again.

I've added weightlifting on the weekends, and I changed the program I'm using on the treadmill. I'm supposed to be trying out a zig-zagged calorie intake, but I think that's failing for the simple fact I'm not keeping great track of which days I'm taking in more calories than others. In essence, I'm probably eating more.

Now comes the part that requires something of which I don't have much: patience.

I think I can now use the fourth notch on my belt loop. I don't know what that means in terms of a waist size, since I haven't actually measured myself with a tape measure. (Must remember to get one from the Target.) I do know that if I don't use a belt, my pants will fall off my waist. Back in August, my size 38 jeans were feeling a bit too snug. Now on this last day of October, my jeans don't fit but for the opposite reason.

That's progress, right?

Despite the obvious need for a fitting pair of pants, I refuse to get new ones. I bought new jeans back in August — when I thought the old ones shrunk instead of my just getting fatter — and I'm not going to waste them. If I continue to lose weight, I don't want to buy a pair of jeans that fit now, only to find they too fall off my waist a few months later. (A friend of mine suggested shopping at Goodwill.)

No. I need to save my pennies for other things, like software upgrades and the Waterloo Records storewide sale.

This past week and a half, I've been concerned about hitting a plateau. I've read about the phenomenon where people losing weight hit a wall and can't make the scale budge further down. I'm accustomed to readings which bounce erratically, but from last week Tuesday till this week Tuesday, I registered the exact weight from day to day. It edge slightly up when I overate one evening, but the number was pretty much that same: 197.

I also noticed other changes. After my workouts, I no longer feel dead tired. When I first started out, I got some really good nights' sleep because the workout left me exhausted. My body is accustomed to the physical activity now, so I can actually do things after the workout. When I would check my heart rate during my treadmill session, I noticed the rate was relatively lower. It used to be 3 mph got my heart rate up to 130 bpm and beyond. But recently, I'd be lucky if I broke 120.

Between the plateau concerns and the workout feeling, well, easier, I made some adjustments. I increased the workout from 35 minutes to 40, and I use a program with steeper inclines. Today, I pushed my heart rate to 151, which is on the high end of my target range. I'm hoping these changes will shock my system back into shedding pounds.

When I stepped on the scale this morning, I registered 195.4. I ate a big dinner at a Mexican restaurant tonight, so I'm pretty sure I'll be hovering at 197 for the next few days again.

Still, it's nice to realize the exercise is changing the way my body runs. I'm no longer hungry after workouts, and I'm eating less because my appetite has been curbed.

Maybe next week, approximately two months after I began this regimen, I can say I lost 20 pounds. If I round down, I can say it now.

Last week, I dismissed the results of an experiment where I used Slim Fast for a week. Almost immediately after I abandoned the experiment, I registered a three-pound loss, and for the week after, I've stalled at the same weight for a number of days. I wonder, then, if that week on Slim Fast really did work.

The drop is the probably the steepest I've had since I started tracking. My last significant drop was right before my eating and workout schedule went to hell with aGLIFF. This past week, I've been watching my portions again, actually bringing leftovers to work for lunch.

I know weight loss has certain plateaus, and it looks like I'm in the middle of one right now. At the same time, the week on Slim Fast felt like an eternity. The lack of variety in flavor drove me to eat big, unhealthy dinners, and in that way, the shakes-only diet doesn't work.

So for this week's experiment, I'm going to use the shakes for breakfast only, and I'll continue to bring leftovers for lunch. The unintended effect of these experiments, though, is fewer trips to the ATM — I'm spending less on food at the cafeteria.

I learned what my raise would be this year, and if the first deposit with the new adjustment is any indication, it adds another $140/month to the coffers. But that still wouldn't really dent my month-to-month expenses. A profit-sharing check gets distributed next month, and I'm already fantasizing about all the things I'd love to do with it.

Cakewalk announced the release of a new version of SONAR, the software I use to record my demos. I didn't upgrade last year, and the version I have can get unstable. I would like to upgrade, but that would be $229. Just about every piece of software in my studio has an upgrade available: Sound Forge 9, Sibelius 5, Reason 4, Ableton Live 7. SONAR is the linchpin of my studio, so that gets priority. (Honestly, I haven't done much with Sibelius 4.)

I bought my laptop with an 18-month loan, and if I could just make a big enough payment, I can probably shave six months off that term.

I've got some band scores saved on my Amazon Japan wish list, and I would still like to indulge in some purchases from Sheetmusicplus.com. And SXSW? Please may I have a music badge?

But my savings accounts aren't as padded as I'd like, and I'm not putting a dent in the credit card debt.

The easiest solution would be to find a new job that doesn't lowball me by the tune of (redacted.) But I'm convinced there's a recession looming in the distance, and the last time I had that sense of lousy timing … well, it got me where I am today.

Slow and steady wins the race. Wish I were that patient.