Drained

This week has gone past very quickly indeed. I feel like I've not had much down time to chill out and just totally relax.

Monday was work then met with Ann for AA trainingTuesday was work then went to the gym (my only visit this week!!)Wednesday was work then met with Ann for AA trainingThursday was work them met with Ann for AA trainingAnd today - guess what I'll be doing? Meet Ann for AA training again!

Our training sessions have been productive and has helped us develop a stronger awareness of the areas that we need to work on, and via constructive criticism we can correct each other and learn from the other person's mistakes as well. However, it is not as easy as sitting in someone's car watching them drive. No. What we do is, we meet for two hours at a time, doing role playing. The first hour we spend in my car: I drive, she teaches. The hour is split into two 30mins parts according to the preset tests which we will get on the day of our final test. The first half hour we teach a subject from scratch, e.g. Turn In The Road manoeuvre and treat the pupil as a pure learner, watching and dictating every move they make and catching out any faults they do, explaining the dangers of their faults and correcting them. The second half hour the role of the examiner changes to someone who is at test ready standard or who already holds a full license. This time, we go through a topic with a different approach. Instead of teaching them everything from scratch, you just use questioning and answering to help determine what they need help with. You let them drive on and watch their every move again, picking up any areas that they might need advice on. We have to be careful not to over instruct here as we are not required to teach anything from scratch, the driver should already know how to do it. But if they do commit a fault, esp a potentially dangerous one like coasting around a corner, we have to pull them up and teach them then. This is done in an hour and then we swap cars and swap roles for another hour.

So that might sound fun, but it is mentally draining. When we do our practicing, the 'instructor' has to watch every move the 'pupil' makes. The 'pupil' has to remember exactly what faults they have commited and keep doing them until they are identified by the 'instructor' and listen to their analysis and how to correct it. Once the fault is corrected the 'pupil' cannot commit the fault again within that half-hour. Although we meet at 6:30pm at weekday evening, we don't ever finish 8:30pm sharp. We average between 8:45pm-9pm due to traffic on the way back or getting sidetracked as we discuss various aspects of the test and note down any questions we may have in order to ask our trainer Ronnie. Starting last night though, we have begun to use my phone's timer to countdown the 30mins we have for each phase. So once time is up we have to summarise and end there, then move onto the next phase. That way we have to perform under time pressure, which will give us a feel of what the final test will be like. It's not gonna be easy I tell you.

Life right now is all about work - drive - sleep. Work - drive - sleep. I don't even have time to read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I don't even have time for Playstation 3. And the worse thing is I don't even have time for the gym!! I've shifted my ideal 3-visits-a-week to 2 visits at best, or like last time, one visit in eight days!! That's horrible!! Really! I'm thinking to myself, it's only for a short time. And as Elaam encourged me, this is like the final lap in a long race. That it will be tough, but I've to press on. =) I will press on, aye. Though it's quite mundane right now, I know I am going through it for the greater good. That each time I finish meeting, I come a step closer to qualifying as a driving instructor. Once I am fully qualified, I will not have to sit these sort of tests again. Qualified instructors do get inspected every so often, but that is during a lesson so there is less time pressure and by then I will have developed much better teaching skills as well.

I am looking forward to this weekend. I'm not gonna touch any driving stuff in those two days. Instead, tomorrow I'm going to go to the gym for a long session, maybe finish off in the steam room and sauna. Then watch a movie after lunch. Possibly, "Year One". I hope to finish off my Sunday School lesson tonight, but if I can't do it tonight, then that will be on my Saturday night agenda. Sheesh... can't even fully relax I tell ya. But if I can force myself to finish the Sunday School lesson tonight before sleeping, then I could go to a sister's place for dinner. I've declined for now due to Sunday School, but will try and go cos it would be nice to chillax with my maties. On Sunday I may go to the gym again before church, then help out in Sunday School and teach the middle class. Then after that I think I'll watch "Blood: the Last Vampire" in the evening. We'll see about that. Nothing's confirmed yet, besides Sunday School of course...and ironing!!

God bless! :)

(3654)

Losing it!

I'm losing it! My weight of course! Not my mind! Contrary to my desire of putting on some weight to achieve my 200lbs, I have actually become lighter in the past three days.

In fact, it was last Saturday when I posted about Transformation and how I want to start a new regime again. Since then I avoided any snacks (popcorn at the cinema, lemon cake at home, pub food etc) and just ate my three meals a day. I had a cereal bar at tea break at work, and left out the one-spoon sugar in my tea too. From Monday I got up at 7am, had my morning pee, then weighed myself. Recorded the weight in Pounds and Kilograms, then did some push up and Planks after I made my lunch. My electronic scales can give readings in Pounds, Kilograms and Stone-Pounds. I noticed the readings were not converted accurately 2.2lbs per kilo, so I took two readings each time. Here's what it looks like up to this morning:

Monday 22nd June: Weight: 198.6lbs (90.27kg)
Press Ups: 26 normal push ups, 10 close-grip push ups
Plank: 60 secs

Tuesday 23rd June: Weight: 198.2lbs (89.71kg)
Press Ups: 28 normal push ups, 12 diamond push ups
Plank: 60 secs

Wednesday 24th June: Weight: 196.0lbs (89.1)
Press Ups: 24 normal push ups, 12 diamond grips
Side Planks: 30 secs each

So despite going to the gym yesterday, running 30mins, doing about 30mins of abs and then over an hour of arms and shoulders, I have actually lost weight. Having a think about this it actually makes sense. I am "losing weight" every day, but only "putting on weight" two or three days a week. Of course, the shedding of weight is going to win. However, as long as I do not lose muscle it will be ok. Given the choice I'd really go back to visiting the gym thrice a week. But due to investing more time into my AA training, I can afford two days a week at best.

I don't actually mind losing some weight if it is mainly body fat. And I will be able to gauge the amount body fat that I lose by looking at my abdominal area. The more those precious muscles appear the less fat I have. I have changed my abdominal workouts to include more exercises for the obliques like the Plank, Side planks, and L/R crunches with bicycle of legs etc. If the bodyfat goes around there, then I know overall body fat has gone down as it accumulates there the most. Even when I do the Plank exercise, I can see some overhang from the top of my shorts. Far from muffin tops that girls have, but hey, can still be removed. :)

I will continue doing my press ups and Planks in the morning and chart everything until next Monday. Will see what happens then.

For now I know omitting sugar in tea, chocolate, sweets, crisps, popcorn, fizzy drinks and other snacks really does make a difference in ones weight!

(3618)

Transformation

My day today...

Woke up 08:40am, just moments before my alarm went off at 08:45am. Checked and replied to my Facebook messages (all from my Elaam!! :D). Had breakfast - two slices of Warburton's thick white bread, toasted and spread with peanut butter, and 500ml of my protein shake. Breakfast couldn't be filling as I had the gym after an hour or so. As soon as I finished breakfast I started packing my gym stuff. Took my time with it as I wanted to let the breakfast digest. I left the house at 09:45am and drove to Cineworld to get two tickets for 'Transformers 2'. I parked outside the cinema on the single yellow line with my hazard lights on. Being 10am the queue wasn't very long, only had 4 people in front of me, served by 2 open counters. I got an Unlimited ticket and an adult ticket for Alan. An adult ticket at the weekends is now £7!! £7!! That's crazy!! Watch any two movies in the same month and you would have exceeded the monthly fee for the Unlimited card! Lol! Then I drove to the gym, knowing our tickets for 4:10pm showing was secured and there was no need to queue later in the afternoon.

At the gym I ran for 45mins walked for 5mins. In the 50mins I covered 7.72km on 0.5 degree incline and burning 717kcals. Immense!! Felt so good after it! Then I did stretching and worked on my abs, ending with the plank and side planks. I'll need to look further into the plank exercises, cos the ones I did today tired out my arms and shoulders more than my midriff. Haha! Then I went through to the weights room and tried out the new regime I mentioned in my previous post.

Wide-grip pull up: x8
Behind-neck pull up: x5

Dumbbell press: One set with 27.5kg, Two sets with 30kg
Dumbbell flyers: One set with 20kg, then Two sets with 22.5kg (could only manage 5 reps in last set)

Seated compound row: One set 200lbs, Two sets 215lbs

Arnold press + Front deltoid raise + Side deltoid raise + Rear deltoid raise: All at 8 reps with 12.5kg dumbbells

Dumbbell curls: One set at 17.5kg, then two sets at 20kg

Weighted side exercise: Two x 10 reps with 25kg disk

Reverse barbell curls: One set 15kg, Two sets 17.5kg
Tricep dips: Two sets of 12 dips
Seated tricep extensions: One set at 35kg

To relax at the end of my workout I went down to the steam room and sauna and spent about half an hour there chilling out before going back up for a shower. Skin felt really nice, and still does! :)

I went home to have lunch: a 'zhong' (rice parcel) with some pork char siu and some vegetables, then drove out to meet Alan at Chinatown carpark and we walked to Cineworld to meet William for 'Transformers 2'. The 4:10pm showing was in Screen 3 and it was near full in this busy Saturday. The movie was good. The sound effects in the screen was very good. However, there seemed to be an issue with the audio in the film. Whenever there was dialogue, sound would only come out from the front so we had to strain out ears sometimes to make out what they were saying. After the movie we discussed it and thought maybe the audio was fine, but the special effects was on louder than normal, which could have made audio sound weird. Overall a good movie, although I dozed off in the middle as I was tired from the gym, but also cos it was a little bit long. :P

I came home to have dinner: 1.5 bowls of rice, some pieces of smoked haddock, a few mini chicken kievs and the main dish of beef with baby corn and sugar snaps. Lots of protein from the beef and vitamins and minerals from the veg. Rice provided carbs as well. Mini chicken kievs I tried to avoid because it was oven food and had cheese filling, but had some for the chicken. Smoked haddock is good as it has protein and fish oils :)

(3508)

Saying 'No' to junk

Starting from next Monday I am going to revert back to my "no junk food" healty eating regime. Have been letting myself loose in recent weeks eating stuff like popcorn, chocolate, cakes, ice cream etc, and yesterday, fish and chips. Though it has not made any effects on my body, none that I can see anyway, it certainly is not doing anything positive for my 'low body fat - more muscle' desire. And since I have been out practicing for my AA training a few times a week, needless to say, I have spent more time in the car than in the gym. I've just been going to the gym on average twice a week (if that!) instead of my usual thrice. Something's gotta give eh? I'll revert back to no crisps, chocolate and sweets - something which has been easy for me, especially crisps. I have gone without crisps since March 2008!! =D I will not snack in between meals, but when hunger does strike I will have oat cakes or snack on fruit and nuts or cereal bars etc. I will cut out fizzy drinks and cut out my one-sugar in my tea.

Right now, I am about 89kg, convert that to pounds and I get 195.8lbs. I would like to bring my weight up to 200lbs, but it's not going to be easy because I want that extra weight to come through as muscle weight. Cutting out in snacks and junks might result in good weight loss but will widen the gap from my target 200lbs. When starting from tomorrow at the gym I'm gonna increase the weight I lift and press to the next step up and just do three sets for each exercise. A set in my normal weight and two sets in the new heavier weight - e.g. a set of 8 in 17.5kg dumbbell curls and two sets of 20kg dumbbell curls. I might not manage a full second set, but will work till failure and build from there. Muscle burns fat, so to have bigger healthier muscles will indeed help with the burning of the unwanted thickness under my skins. And of course, not to forget to the abs as well. Having recently "rediscovered" the importance of working oblique muscles during abdominal workouts, I have researched into different exercises that work those side muscles and gives the six-pack that complete look. =) I guess I'll do doing more core exercises like The Plank to build up the strength of the midriff.

So the training is gonna be hardcore, but is not be limited to the gym. At home each morning I'm gonna do press ups and planks before my shower and will record my weight as well, first thing in the morning. We'll see how it goes after week. Needless to say, I will need to sleep early in order to get up early. So... back to 11pm bedtime from Sunday night :)


Above picture taken yesterday - family dinner at China Blue restaurant. :)

(3488)

Vicious circle

For the Bible says in Matthew 17:20

"He replied, "Because you have so little faith. I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you."

So what happens for you pray for someone to change, but they don't seem to? I mean, yes I have faith in God to move people, to move mountains. But what if I don't have faith in that person to change? What if that person is so stubborn that you don't see them changing? Yes, God can change people, but then again, God gives people free will to choose and if this person sticks to their own viewpoints it's going to be difficult. Nothing is impossible for God, but then Man can harden their hearts and not let God in, like the King of Egypt in Exodus.

So my question is, where do you draw the line between praying for someone to change their ways and actively saying/ doing something about it? Do we just sit on our ass and pray pray pray? Or can we pray and do something about it? If we pray and do something about it, is that us showing we are not trusting in God enough? Cos the Bible also says if we pray we should believe (James 1:7).

To sum up - I do believe that God can change things, but I don't believe that person will change. God can change people, but God also allows Free Will. Oh it's a vicious circle!

Sigh...

(3459)

"Star Trek"

I'm am on annual leave from work today, tomorrow and Thursday. Thought I'd take some time off to coincide with mum's few days off as well so we can spend some time together and also help her with job-hunting.

So this morning I woke up at the slightly later than workday time of 7:30am, but felt too tired to get up, so slept in for fifteen mins. Had breakfast and packed for the gym. I didn't get into the gym till just after 9am because all the free parking spaces close to the gym were taken so I ended up parking at Athole Gardens and walking over the mighty incline of Great George Street.

Treadmill 20mins
Rowing machine 10mins
Abs x240 reps between 7 different exercises
Standard pull ups x8
Behind the neck pull ups x5
Incline dumbbell press 25kg 3x8
Decline dumbbell press 20kg 2x8
Reverse barbell curls 5kg x10

Bit rushed for time so I just left it at that.

Showered and went home for quick lunch before going out to meet Ann. We practiced Pedestrian Crossing with Use of Signals. I was more confident with it today and managed to control the lesson quite well as well as managing to identify the faults she intentionally made. After the practice I went to my local library to prepare for my next practice session, but unfortunately the study room was closed for a meeting, so I just drove home to do some work, but ended up eating fruits, drinking tea and eating Malay cake. Then mum came home with more cakes and I ended up eating half of a taro bun which mum bought from the Chinese bakery near Matthew's Cash & Carry. At 4:30pm I knew I could not finish my preparation so I got ready for going out to watch "Star Trek" at Cineworld.

"Star Trek", first released in UK on 8th May but I had not watched it as I was never a "Star Trek" fan on the tv. However, today I had a choice of this or "Angels & Demons", "The Hangover" and "Finding Eric" and decided to give "Star Trek" a chance since it was a Recommended film in Cineworld. The film was good, but I don't think as great as some reviews have. I think it would mean a lot more to the 'Trekkies' who have been fans since the television days, as it plays as a prequel to the very start introducing the characters like Captain Kirk, Spock and Montgomery Scott, whom I finally understand who the phrase "Beam me up, Scotty!" is directed to. The film is a sci-fi, but does not 'hit the spot' for me as the "Star Wars" films do. Maybe because it has less battle scenes and more dialogue. It is not short of special effects or course, and is one film I will expect to look and sound amazing on blu-ray. But...nah... I'd rather watch a Star Wars film again any day :)

I came home after the film to have dinner with mum and then after I washed up, went online to blog. I am going to re-read the "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" book after I publish this, because the film is coming out in UK on 15th July and I wanna refresh myself of the storyline before I catch this long-awaited instalment into the wonderful collection :D

Lousy but not a loser

I'm glad that Monday has come today. The weekend has passed and I am back at work today with three days of annual leave to look forward to! Whoo-hoo! Looking forward to a two-day week this week. That's not the only reason why I am glad today is Monday. It was because I was quite down on Saturday. Aye, I had worship practice in the morning at 11am. What usually is complete around 2hrs actually lasted till 2:15pm. And the reason for the length of the practice was because of me. I hadn't played guitar for a while. I think it was almost two months ago since I last picked up my guitar when playing for B's worship set. This time I was playing for K's worship set along with D. Man, I sucked big time! The main concerns were with my plucking, and not being able to change chords smoothly in order to pluck in sync with the the other guitar. Stopped so often cos I was unable to pluck a crisp clear note or failing to remember finger positions for a new chord. Man, what an embarrassment. :S I was determined not to let pride get in the way. I am always willing to learn new stuff and find I can pick things up quite easily, especially if I can see it. However, that did not stop the sweat beads accumulating on my forehead, exposed by my new short hairline. Felt quite lousy at the end of the practice sesh. Inside I was poised and ready to say, "Yeah ok!" if any one suggested that I could sit this session out. But of course, that was not gonna happen. Yep, keep trying. Keep working hard.

Part of me was reminded of how crap I can be at guitar, esp compared to D. In recent weeks I had not spent any time playing guitar except the occasional turn at Sunday School worship, but no plucking was involved, nothing taxing. Whilst I sucked at guitar, I reminded myself that I am good at driving instruction, I am good at the gym and working out. It shows that no-one can really "have it all", nobody is perfect. Though these are my strong points, they may not be others' strong points, so I shouldn't compare like that and shouldn't be too down with myself. :) I hadn't felt such negative feelings for a long time. A while ago I felt a bit down when I realised my driving instruction course was not really going anywhere, but after looking at ways of improving myself with buddying and extra practice etc, I have become more determined and positive about completion in the near future. However, Saturday really left me beat. I was frustrated with myself once again and really needed to let off somewhere or at something.

So off to the gym I went and started running about 2:45pm for 40mins including another 5mins cool down. I had a minute left of my 30mins run when I decided to add another 10mins just to prove to myself "I can do it!" that I can endure the toughness of these physical challenges despite being crap at something else. I worked my abs, hard. I worked on chest and back muscles, hard. C'mon! I'll prove to y'all there's stuff I can do that others can't! That I can do stuff well too!!

I felt much better after the gym session, where I was able to battle it out with myself. I went home to dinner and practiced on the guitar. Yes, it was not over yet. The important day was still to come. So practiced and recalled new things I was taught and then went to bed. Sleeping wasn't great. I wouldn't be able to fully relax until mid-afternoon Sunday.

Sunday came. Worship practice was better than Saturday and the practice and prayers had definitely paid off. To be out of the limelight, away from attention I opted to play seated at the rear for the service. I gave it my best shot and praise God it went ok. Don't think I made as much mistakes as I had anticipated and being seated meant I could see my strings clearer for plucking etc. :)

Yeah, this post seems pointless now as I don't feel as lousy as Saturday, however I still wanted to put this down cos it's a reminder that we don't have to be great at everything. I know that I am not great at everything, or need to be good at a lot of things. Just need one or two things that you're really good at, that you can "specialise" in and it would be good. For me, it would definitely be my career and my health. The rest I can just overlook and not be so uptight about. :)

(3437)

Dialaround

Having been doing any money-saving blog posts as I have been busy, but also have not been out discovering new things. So this will be a short post about an old thing that is still valid today.

It's the company Dialaround. I think I discovered this company a few years back when mum used to call Hong Kong more often. At that time I searched online for cheap calls to Hong Kong / Singapore/ Malaysia etc and one of the best Google returns I received was Dialaround. This company allows you to call Hong Kong from a UK landline for 0.5p per minute. It is fab. I had previously not been fond of using the landline to call abroad cos I didn't want to be confined within my home when I make international call. However, I later realised that even the then best option of NOMI Call calling card I was not really saving that much money. The charge was 2p per minute at best, AND I had to use my mobile minutes to connect to a landline number.

This time round, whenever I want to call Elaam in HK, all I need to do it pick up my home phone and dial 0844 200 5050 to get connected to the Dialaround robot. I hear the announcement to remind me that calls through this number are charged at half-pence per minute, and then I get to type in the Hong Kong number starting 00 852- etc etc. It's fab. Mum called Hong Kong for 4o minutes last summer, noted it down for records and the call did come through on the next TalkTalk bill as 20p!! Ain't that fab!! =D

Now, a lot of people call abroad. This company does not only give cheaper calls to Hong Kong but to many other countries which are listed on the website. Examples include: Argentina, Denmark, France. Not all rates are 0.5p, some differ between calling their landlines or calling mobiles. So do check before you make that call. Fortunately I can call Elaam's landline or mobile at the same rate, however, Hong Kong mobiles pay to receive calls, which in my opinion is a farce, so I call the landline more often. :)

The website for Dialaround is - http://www.dialaround.co.uk/index2.php

The number for connecting to Hong Kong calls is - 0844 200 5050

Happy dialling! And remember to and get billpayer's permission before you dial!

Current bondage

So that is £300 for my car insurance renewal this month. Held a license since 2002 with 5 years of no claims with Elephant.co.uk and still have to pay £300 for insurance! It's terrible! In the middle of May I had engine problems which resulted in a three-figure sum to fix along with a Service. Last Saturday I picked up another parking ticket. £30 down the drain!! And next month my MOT is due as well which I expect can cost around another £30, if no repairs are required that is. So as you can see the car has taken up a lot of my money in the past couple of weeks. These are the negatives of owning a car that not many people talk about. Most people things owning a car is quite cool, quite glam, especially those who pimp up their cars with new alloys, spoilers, a really noisy exhaust etc etc. What's the point? It's just a waste of money. Hard-earned money. But then again, most of the people who pimp cars are young and probably don't work cos they live off their parents. Aye, a lot of Chinese youths drive around in flash cars, but the cars aren't even paid for by them. Parent-funded cars which they use to show off to friends and to pick up girls etc. What's the point? My word of advice for them is, wait till you earn your own money one day. Then you'll appreciate the value of money and how it should be spent! :)

Yes, I bet I sound 'old' here, talking about the value of money etc. But boy do I know it. I mean, money. You can't live without it. It's a fact. I mean, it is a real shame, but everything costs money. I don't love money. As the Bible says, "The love of money, is the root of all evil." I don't like relying on money. But I can't help but see how difficult life can get if you are really tight. Like some people I know whose wage is 'spent' almost instantly each month on bills alone - rent, council tax, the car, utility bills and food. They have to budget hard in order to get by. It's sad, it really is. I mean, I'm not that bad, but I find it really tough to be able to set aside for my future property each month as well as leave money for socialising, and for crazy-ass unexpected costs. Man, I can't wait till I get qualified as an instructor, where I will get a brand new Ford Focus 1.6 every six months. And my expenditure for that will just be my weekly franchise fee and my petrol costs. My road tax, breakdown recovery, insurance, 24hr replacement car and everything else will be covered within that franchise fee. Complete piece of mind. I'll be selling my current Ford Focus once I get that new car and so that money will also go towards my future property.

Until that day, I will live humbly. No extravagant living (not that I have had before), but definitely need to think twice for where I park my car, think twice before going out socialising as more times than not it will involve money. And always think of the cheaper option for things. For now I will spend money on petrol as I need it for my practice sessions and for getting me to the gym and cinema - both of which have already been pre-paid each month. But besides that I will hope to save my money to pay stuff off. In order to achieve my goals, I am willing to make sacrifices. Saving money might mean not going out to play, but if I use that time for my AA stuff, then it's a win-win situation. I will also need money for my final exam as well. Aye, imagine having to PAY for exams! Lol! I just want to qualify as soon as possible. I am sure this will help me break free from this financial bondage.

(3355)