Update

It's been almost 3 weeks since my last update. Even though I've been a bad blogger I have continued to train with Troy regularly. Each session has been more and more intense, but at the same time it's been easier. As Troy told me at the beginning, "it would get easier and at the same time harder". We've stepped up the difficulty of the various exercises but I'm getting in better shape so I can do them with less effort. But as soon as it gets too easy Troy recognizes it and takes it up a notch.

The best thing about it is that even though after each session I'm practically dead, I don't experience the dizzy spells and exhaustion I experienced at the beginning. My body seems to recover a lot more quickly. I climbed the stairs again carrying 20 lbs and I could do it without stopping. Last thursday Troy kicked it up a notch and made me carry 50lbs up the stairs and I still managed to make it up to the 14th floor without passing out. I had to stop for a short breather half way up, but it's a huge improvement over the first time when I had to stop a couple of times due to almost passing out. 

I notice the difference in my daily life too. At my weekly yoga session I feel my core has strengthened and I can get into poses easier and hold them for a longer time. At home it's easier to lift Noel, who's only getting bigger. I also noticed it was easier to take out the garbage cans to the curb. Previously I'd have to rely on carrying a can with my whole body, supporting it partially on my legs as I carried it. The last time I was surprised that I could basically pick it up using just my arms and carry it to the curb without any trouble. My energy level has continued to improve, and I've been more alert at work, which I'm sure is also partly due to the better diet.

On the subject of diet, I've been cheating a bit once in a while. Bogna and I have gone out a couple of times in the past couple of weeks and on those days it's harder to eat as nutritiously. We also got some extra calories from alcoholic drinks. While our dinners at home have been mostly on track we did have some carbs a few times which we are once again limiting. Breakfast has generally been consistently good, consisting of a sandwich and a couple of soft boiled eggs. The biggest change I think has been the number of times I've snacked after dinner while watching TV. And it hasn't been a case of snacking on bad things. It's mostly been just almonds, or fruits, so I don't feel as guilty, but still the extra calories do add up, and I have to be mindful of that.

I haven't been on a scale in a while. The last time I weighed myself (when the below photos were taken 2 weeks ago), I gained some weight back. Not a whole lot. Maybe a couple pounds. But it was a bit of a downer I must say. But Troy encouraged me that I shouldn't really pay too much attention to the scale right now because I'm building muscle and muscle is twice as dense as fat. I should judge by how my body feels and how my clothes are fitting. I must say that my jeans are fitting looser and Bogna keeps complimenting me on my improved physique. It feels great :)

This past week I've been feeling sick, but I continued to train. I probably should have taken some time off as it's gotten worse over the weekend. I'm typing this from my bed, and I've cancelled tomorrow's training. Strangely I feel bad about it. I'm starting to crave the workouts. :)

End of Week 1

Yesterday was the second workout of the week and 8 days since I started working out and eating healthier.

It seems to be working and I'm seeing results rather quickly. It could just be a blip since it's only been a week but I do feel leaner and the scale says I lost 1.8kg (4lb) this first week. I don't expect such results each and every week, however, since 2lb is probably a more realistic goal.

In this first week I also learned that it's extremely hard to keep up with counting calories. The MyFitnessPsl app is great for foods that are pre made. It's easy to create your own recipes out of ingredients to count up the calories in a meal, but it's very time consuming to keep track of how much you're putting into various recipes. And once you fall behind in entering information it's hard to catch up. So while we are still eating healthy and making wise choices for theist part, I'm no longer as concerned with knowing exactly how many calories I'm eating each day.

The important lesson for me is to eat smaller portions, more often, chew slower and longer, and cut down on carbs. It's been working so far. If I notice that I'm starting to gain or not lose enough I may start counting again.

Today will be a test. I will be 'cheating' more than I should since it's 'beer bash Friday' at work. We have these once a month to mingle with our peers that we may not normally interact with on a daily basis. So there will be beer and appetizers. Normally this would be my dinner, and I'd pig out until I can barely move. Now I will have to control myself. To make matters worse, we are also meeting friends for dinner in the evening so I'll have even more opportunities to over indulge. I plan to get on the bike this weekend and try to burn off some of those extra calories.

So week 1 is done and here is a status photo.

Day 0

Today I officially started my journey.

Close your eyes and close your browser if you don't want to see a topless fat dude. Sorry... In order to keep myself motivated I decided I'm going to keep these progress reports raw.

My starting weight is 86.6kg (though yesterday morning I was 85 on the dot so these things seem to fluctuate based on a few different factors, and time of day seems to be one of them).

4 hours ago I had my first fitness test and assessment with my new trainer. First he took a few measurements and asked me questions about my routine, diet, and health and activity history.

Then he put me on a treadmill and I began walking, while he gradually increased the speed and incline. Each time he asked me to tell him how I felt on a scale from 1 to 10 where 10 means I can't go any longer. The goal was to get my baseline fitness level including my max heart rate. Turns out that I'm in pretty good shape, or the machine is not working properly. He was surprised by my # of about 120bpm. He said we'll have to redo the test another time. I was tired and out of breath after about 20 minutes but felt pretty strong.

Next he asked me to do some pushups which I was able to do with proper technique. Then we moved onto some squats with a 20lb weight. Did OK but I started to feel more tired and a bit woozy. We moved onto some pull downs. After a few reps I started to feel 'cotton mouth' and a bit more weak. Everything started to add up.

Since it was now coming to the end of our session he said that it's probably a good point to stop and move into some stretching exercises. Good thing because I don't think I would last much longer. After doing a few yoga-like stretches we ended our session and I hit the locker.

At this point things got weird. I expected to continue winding down and regaining strength but I only got more dizzy and nauseous. I sat there doing breathing exercises hoping it would go away. It didn't. But I had to get dressed and the bus was in ta few minutes so had to get out if there. Somehow I dragged myself to the bus stop, boarded the bus, and for the entire 40 minute ride closed my eyes and breathed, hoping to not pass out.

Incredibly I felt this faint for at least 2 hours after. Is it because I'm so out of shape? Was my blood sugar to low? Maybe a bit of both. I started feeling better after I ate dinner. But maybe it was just the time.

But I survived, and tomorrow is another day and another session. Wonder if I will feel the same way? Need to ask my trainer what he thinks about this. Is that normal?

Scotch Night 2

I just realized I haven't posted to my blog since the last Scotch Night, so what better way to post again than to do it after the second Scotch Night which was a couple weeks ago. This time there was only 6 of us and only 5 bottles, but this time we also had a BBQ so it was nice to taste the scotches on their own and with some great grilled food. I brought the Talisker 10yo, but it wasn't my favourite... to peaty for my taste (yes I'm a wimp). Everyone's favourite was the Aberlour a'bunadh. Never heard of it before, and this thing is potent (over 50% alcohol), but SOOO smooth and complex. Very very nice. Will have to pick up a bottle.

I get it now

The Selection
Originally uploaded by Proggie.
I was never really into the fancy whiskys before. Crown and Coke was my drink for a while, but never drank Crown by itself. Well, after tasting some fine single malts yesterday I finally get the appeal. I think it's a great drink especially on a cold winter night. They're probably too expensive to get drunk on, but the buzz is very nice and consistent, and the best part is that even after drinking my fair share I felt pretty good the next morning.

Thanks Adrian for the Highland Park suggestion. I think it was my favourite (but after 3 or 4 it was hard to keep track of). :)

Summer

Layers
Originally uploaded by Proggie.
Gotta love how the summer has begun. Amazingly no rain during the long weekend. :)

Moving up the charts

Samba Dancer
Originally uploaded by Proggie.
So my most viewed photo on Flickr has 799 views in over 9 months. Today I posted this one, along with others I took after Brazil's victory over Australia on sunday, and it's already got 299 views.

Gee, I wonder why :D

#1 rule of photography...

...I think probably is (or should be) to "bring your camera everywhere". I tend to follow this rule most of the time. I take it with me to work, when visiting friends and family, and when just going on random walks.

A couple of nights ago I went down to Seattle to catch the Spock's Beard concert, and I was debating whether or not I should bring my camera. I've only been able to bring it into one previous concert, which was Marillion (you can see the photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/tym/sets/966031 ), and that time I didn't have my new lenses.

This time if I brought the gear I'd be able to take better photos because the lenses are a lot faster, and have a better range, but I was worried that I wouldn't be able to take it with me, and would have to leave it in the car (since the gear is not insured yet). Also I was worried about getting hassled by border guards on the way back, who may think I bought some of the gear while down there. So I ended up leaving it all at home.

As luck would have it, the place was a dive, with no security, and the band was very friendly and approachable, and I would have had no problems taking photos. I was right against the stage, inches away from the band, and had I brought my camera I would have taken some killer shots. I'm such an idiot for not bringing it.

On the positive side, the drive down and back up was awesome (fortunately one of the cops must have been sleeping as I passed him at a speed a little higher than the limit ;) ), since it was such a nice day. Also on the way there I stopped at Bottleworks, a little beer store in northern Seattle, and picked up 6 750ml bottles of belgian ale (yum yum) including 3 bottles of Gulden Draak, the "best beer in the world" according to Stella's restaurant on Commercial Dr. The guy at the store was very knowledgeable, and even threw in a very nice Gulden Draak glass (an $8 value) :) Will have to hit that store every time I go to Seattle from now on (unless I can find a store in vancouver that carries the golden dragon).

Flying Goose

Flying Goose
Originally uploaded by Proggie.
Man those buggers are fast zooming underneath the Burrard St bridge. I was standing there for an hour trying to catch them, and this is the best I could do. Didn't help that it was windy and cold. Will come better prepared next time knowing that it's not as easy as it looks in magazines.

How far we've come

Over The Edge
Originally uploaded by Proggie.
This was taken with an Apple QuickTake 200 ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_QuickTake ) digital camera in the summer of 1997 when I moved to Squamish to work for a company that made cutting edge software based around Apple's QuickTime VR technology.

At the time we needed digital cameras to be able to stitch together panoramas from multiple overlapping images into 360 degree QTVR scenes. It would have been a pain to have to scan multiple images from a film camera, so a digital one really helped. The QuickTake was one of the very first consumer digitals. It's resolution was 640x480, and there weren't many other applications for it beside taking grainy snapshots such as this.

Later on, in late 1999 we got one of the very first megapixel digicams, an Olympus D-620L. What a beauty that was. It took great photos, that could actually produce a decent print. Consumer digital photography was still in its infancy but we all knew it would be just a matter of time before the technology would get better, and everyone (well almost) would accept it. Now even a lot of pros, who may have shunned digital photography earlier on, have converted to digital, and more and more of the big film companies are either going out of business or are dropping their film products.

Winging it

Winging it
Originally uploaded by Proggie.
Had some time on the weekend to test out the 70-200 zoom. I'm pretty happy with the sharpness. My old tamron 28-300 definitely wouldn't be this sharp (especially wide open). At first I was disappointed because I was judging sharpness only in my XT's LCD by zooming in all the way. Turns out that that it definitely doesn't represent the sharpness of the actual image. It must only be showing the JPG preview which is obviously not very detailed.

Lens test 2

Don't Turn Away
Originally uploaded by Proggie.
This one is with the 24-70mm. It's not as sharp as can be, because it was taken a t 1/13, but I like the colour saturation of this lens.

Lens test 1

Couple
Originally uploaded by Proggie.
So I got a couple of new lenses. This was taken with my new 70-200mm. Unfortunately I probably need a 400 to capture these guys closer. But the image stabilization worked pretty well.