I got a new bike back in June. A 2007 Triumph Daytona 675 triple in tornado red, which I picked up with only 1350km on the clocks. I then proceeded to crash it not even a month later at Zwartkops in turn 2 when I washed out my front tyre.

I went for a few months wondering why the bike was riding so badly. I eventually got annoyed enough to take it to a bunch of track specialists and drop R1600 on having my front suspension rebuilt. As it turns out my one fork had way too much oil in it and was causing hydraulic lock when under compression which results in no damping… so I may as well have not had suspension at all it was so bad. Quite likely this is what caused my washout with the front.

Next up: I bought a bow back in February and have been shooting on and off when I get some time. It’s a 2008 Diamond Marquis single-cam bow. It’s a superb hunting bow and can be cranked up to 70lb draw strength; I’m currently only running 60lb because I fatigue far too quickly with the thing. I’ve only got a basic sight and stabiliser, but the bow is more than capable of dropping a Kudu bull provided I use the correct arrows.

Also I decided to take up climbing. For now I’m only doing wall climbing out in Kya Sands once a week really, but I’m quite keen to get going with some outdoor rock climbing. Even so, I’m thoroughly enjoying the indoor wall climbing and as a result I decided to start purchasing some kit for myself a few weeks back. The first thing I started with was obviously a chalk bag and some chalk; the difference this makes is astounding. The next purchase was proper rock shoes, and compared to the rentals, the difference is like night and day.

Well, that’s it for the expensive hobbies of which there are quite a few it seems.

In other news; I’m still at the same company who is actually sending me for a bunch of training next week. I intend to go for as much training as I can over the next few months courtesy of my company. The handy thing is as part of our Enterprise Agreement with MS, we get training vouchers, which I plan to use and abuse as I’m aiming for all my certs. For now I’m going after my MSSQL2008 MCITP in DBA. Afterwards I would like to go after the developer and business intelligence ones as well. Unfortunately we have a ton of really high profile and urgent projects going on at the moment and a few extras coming very soon, so time constraints are going to be a limiting factor as always.

Not much has changed with regards to the work situation. I work in a team of 3 supporting a massive host of systems, and given the one guy is very very new we’re generally stretched thin. Good times; at least it’s better than being twiddling your thumbs and being bored all day at work.

I inject heroin into my eyeball.

This entry has kindly been sponsored by the Conqueror of Ignorance.

I have in the past had nosebleeds while asleep (waking up in a pool of blood is never fun) but upon inspection it appeared this was not the case. I’m not a hypochondriac at all and normally I’ll ignore medical problems in the hope that my body will sort itself out and I won’t have to fork out my hard earned funds to some guy that studied more than I did :/. This wasn’t one of times though as I hadn’t been feeling all that great lately; fatigue, nausea, etc. So a few hours later I carted myself off to the doctor, for the third time in a month. As it turns out he was slightly less clueless than me. So a vial of blood was drawn and sent off to some lab to determine what possibly ails me. A costly affair, though I’d been meaning to get a blood test for quite a while now, so not all bad.

Expecting a longer delay, imagine my surprise when I got a call yesterday informing me my results were back already. Fast service in this country? I didn’t even know it was possible to run all of those tests so quickly, I guess that shows my lack of knowledge about the medical field. I suppose private health care makes a difference, you really pay for it. The kindly receptionist proceeds to pencil me in for an appointment later in the day and a few hours later off I go… again.

Arriving at their doctor’s office I walk in with a fair amount of trepidation, wait 10 minutes and proceed to the consulting room. The doctor walks in with a rather dour look on his face and thick file in his hand; very reassuring. Expecting some bad news and a cocktail of really expensive medication I was pleasantly surprised to discover that there is nothing wrong with me, I am in fact Gordon Freeman.

For the first time in my life I can actually track what I eat and do it properly, not having to work to the timetables of others. This has had quite an effect and the progress I’ve made in the last 4 months far outstrips anything that I managed in the past. Ironically I train less than I used to; I now do a 3-day full body routine as opposed to the 5-day split routine I used to.

My first few months left me feeling somewhat useless and overwhelmed as I had to play a major catch-up game both in learning the company, their ways, their goals, and the actual position itself. Moving into a completely different job — one that is essentially a mid-level skilled position — with absolutely no experience and having to meet the expectations thrust upon me was quite a daunting task. Fortunately my coworkers have been great and in general very helpful and understanding with my lack of expertise. Though there’s quite a few things I’ve noticed while working in the corporate machine; this will of course be the basis of my next entry.

Moving into my new place presented me with quite a few problems. Time, money and space. Together they really did give me a lot of headaches, somehow though I managed. With the amount of work I was doing, finding the time to move my stuff as well as buy furniture and appliances, unpack and organise everything, and do everything else life demanded of me. I managed somehow, working through the night on occassion just to get everything sorted. For the first week I barely had a thing to eat seeing as my fridge was still in its box and I had no place to put it while I was still unpacking.

This of course brings me to money. After I’d blown what little savings I had on the move to JHB, buying large appliances (and everything else) required some funding… so I took out another loan. How I love debt. It’s just one of those things; buying a bed, fridge, washing machine and microwave in one shot leaves one feeling rather bleak, especially when you get the bank statement at the end of the month. Hopefully I won’t have to do that again any time soon.

Lastly, space. I’ve managed to unpack and pack away about 90% of my stuff by now, but the place is still a bit of a mess, and I haven’t got around to cleaning it completely. I did buy a vacuum today, so I guess I had better do something about it.

Along with the move come the new roads and new areas to learn. My new trip to work is around 9km, but still takes me 20 minutes or so at the time I leave (06h40). Incidentally there are 22 robots on my way to the office. They’re mostly green since I’m travelling along the main road for 90% of my route, however there’s this one damn robot that is blinking red more often than not.

Brightwater Commons is my closest “shopping centre” being around 2km away and very easy to get to. That place is more like a playground that a real mall, which makes things rather annoying since now I have to go elsewhere to do my shopping, and there’s nothing that close by. There is however one nice thing about BWC. It has a skatepark, now I don’t skate myself, but at least I get to watch kids getting very closely acquianted with concrete pavements.

Cycling is really great. I live halfway down a valley (and for those of you who don’t know JHB, this place has some really mean hills) so this affords me the opportunity to do some serious hill training whichever direction I head. The first 2 days back on the bicycle were absolute torture as I struggled my way up those hills. What surprised me though is that I managed to obtain my previous level of cardio fitness within a week of getting back on after what was almost a 4 month hiatus. Gym however is slightly more difficult, I lost a fair amount of weight and muscle in the journey to get my life organised into some semblance of routine that allowed me to eat properly. Even so, gym will mostly get neglected for now as I do cycle training since I want to enter the 94.7 which is only 3 months away. I usually do 20-25km per run, so working my way up to 100km is going to be tough in the short time I’ve given myself.

Don’t suppose anyone has a workshop that I can borrow for a day?

Editing sponsored by Kenny.

Tuesday — Legs

• 4×8 parallel squat
• 2×8 45° leg press (sometimes)
• 3×8 Romanian deadlift
• 2×8 walking lunge
• 2×12 single-leg lying leg curl
• 3×12 seated calf raise
• 3×12 standing calf raise

This workout is pretty tough for me. I don’t always unfortunately get to the leg press as my quads are often finished after 4 sets of squats. The lunges though mainly for hams can also hit my quads pretty hard if done properly, which is why I’ll often leave the leg press out.

Wednesday — Back / Triceps

• 8×2 bodyweight pullups — iso-hold at the top of last rep with slow negative
• 2×2 bodyweight chinup — iso-hold at the top of last rep with slow negative
• 3×8 bentover BB row — iso-hold at the top of last rep
• 2×8 reverse pushup
• 2×8 hypers
• 3×8 triceps cable pushdown
• 3×8 close-grip benchpress
• 3×8 skull-crusher

No, that’s not a typo, I currently do 8 sets of 2 reps for bodyweight pullups. I do full ROM (range of movement), which is basically all the way up so chin is above the bar and all the way down so arms are fully stretched. Most people cheat this movement and only go halfway down… this is an ego thing really as you can get a lot more reps doing that. Currently I can only manage 4 reps in a single set on fresh muscles. I’ll be upping that eventually to 8 sets of 4 reps and eventually switch it around to 4 sets of 8; my pullup is something I really need to work on.

Thursday — Shoulders / Forearms

• 3×8 standing military press
• 2×8 lateral raise
• 2×8 db front raise
• 3×8 bentover rear raise
• 3×8 shrug (inside benchpress machine)
• 3×8 seated EZ curl
• 3×8 reverse wrist EZ curl
• 1×12 db wrist twist

Not much has changed here, the main change being the standing military press. They’re significantly more difficult than seated press and I’m finding them to be a great compound exercise.

Friday — Chest / Biceps

• 3×8 flat bb benchpress
• 3×8 incline db benchpress
• 3×8 chest dip
• 3×8 hammer curl
• 3×10 EZ curl
• 3×10 flat cable curl

This absolutely kills my biceps and I love it. I do the EZ bb curl with my back against a wall and use very strict form, once I can’t do any more reps I move away and loosen up my form a bit. This absolutely obliterates my biceps.

This is the classic back/triceps, chest/biceps split. At one stage I did the back/biceps, chest/triceps split but that absolutely sucked for me. As my arms would generally be finished before I even get to them due to the heavy requirement of biceps/triceps in back/chest exercises. So I combined the push/pull muscle groups and made this routine; it seems to be going pretty well for me. Also shoulders really deserve their own day, and I don’t really have time to add it to my chest or back day as many people do. I don’t like to be in the gym for longer than an hour; very rarely do I even go longer than 50 minutes.

One thing to note is that I don’t work my abs. I’ll eventually put them back in as I continue to change out exercises, but I’ve never been doing this to attain washboard abs. To do that I’d need to drop to around 10% bodyfat anyways, I’m still quite a ways off that target (though I am getting there). Besides my abs get plenty of work in the heavy compound exercises (squats, pullups, military press, rows, etc.). Also I’m definitely going to include conventional deadlifts, and Bulgarian split squats and maybe even hack squats at some point. I would have put conventional deadlifts on my back day now, but that’s just too much work after doing heavy squats on Tuesdays.

Before I forget I think I need to add that I rest approximately 60 seconds between sets. Usually 45 between warmup sets and only up to 90 on heavy sets such as benchpress. Even squats I try keep to 60, this helps me overload and get a good cardio workout too.

Before I get to the foods there’s a few things that need to be mentioned. First off the calorie intake numbers calculated (whatever formulas you use) should be used merely as a baseline and not an absolute. It’s almost impossible with current household technology (the food scale and box labels) to determine what you’re eating anyways. Food labels can be off by anywhere between 10 and 20% so don’t take them as gospel, but yet another guideline. Also there are sites such as FitDay and CalorieKing that can be used to track the details and help determine how much is in what foods.

Next, the bathroom weight scale is not an accurate measurement. Bear in mind that muscle uses a significant amount more energy than fat. So it’s quite possible that the scale may show the same number but your calorie requirements have actually increased/decreased.

Finally eating healthy is pretty much a lifestyle change, if it’s only something you can do for a few weeks, there’s really no point. Everything will just revert to how it was prior to the adjustment. The human body has an amazing capacity for adaption.

Now for a list of foods:

• eggs & egg whites
• skinless boneless chicken breasts
• vegetables (especially broccoli)
• peanuts & peanut butter (natural) + some other types of nuts (almonds, etc.)
• fruits
• cottage cheese (fat free or low fat)
• fish oil (including caps), olive oil & flax seed oil
• tuna in water
• brown rice
• rolled oats
• sweet potatoes
• turkey
• salmon
• lean beef (I believe the sirloin cut has the least fat)

There’s a few other important things that bear mentioning. Stay away from mayonaise, it’s the devil (assuming you want to lose fat that is) as it’s loaded with saturated fats, rather stick to fat-free or low fat mayo substitutes (miracle whip, etc.). Avoid sugar (all sweets & chocolates basically) as it’s highly processed, spikes your GI and gets converted right into fat as it’s pretty much unusable. This also goes for white sugar, a far better alternative would be to use sugar free sweeteners or brown sugar. Whole-grains are your friend (bread, etc.) high in fiber, low GI and decent source of carbs. Brown rice is far superior to white rice in pretty much every nutritional aspect. Fat free sources are also good. Spices are good, but it’s best to find ones low in sodium/salt especially if you have heart problems or a family history of heart problems (tons of heart problems in my family… joy). Be careful of dried fruit, it’s essentially dense carbs which is practically sugar.

Ultimately it all comes down to portion size and meal timing. A general rule is to never eat until you’re full, merely satiated. Even better if you calculate your exact portion sizes. Regarding meal timing it’s a good idea to eat every 2 and a half to 3 hours for about 5-6 meals a day. I currently do 7 “meals” a day with 2-4 hour intervals. This obviously has to fit into your schedule, but most people can find a way to make it work.

• Men: h = 66.4730 + (13.7516 x w) + (5.0033 x s) – (6.7550 x a)
• Women: h = 655.0955 + (9.5634 x w) + (1.8496 x s) – (4.6756 x a)

where h = total heat production per 24 hours at complete rest in kcals, w = weight in kilograms, s = stature (height) in centimeters, and a = age in years.

Obviously noone is totally at rest for 24 hours a day (except maybe a coma patient) so the resultant number then has to be multiplied by an activity factor.

• If you are sedentary (little or no exercise) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.2
• If you are lightly active (light exercise/sports 1-3 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.375
• If you are moderatetely active (moderate exercise/sports 3-5 days/week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.55
• If you are very active (hard exercise/sports 6-7 days a week) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.725
• If you are extra active (very hard exercise/sports & physical job or 2x training) : Calorie-Calculation = BMR x 1.9

Okay, so now for a bit of maths, I used the following stats to calulate: weight: 76kg, height: 190cm, age: 23. Plugging these numbers into the formula above results in the following; h = 66 + (13.75 x 76) + (5 x 190) – (6.75 x 23); this gives me a result of 1906. Now for my activity factor, I picked 1.7 as I lift hard 4 days a week (Tue – Fri) and then I also cycle hard on the weekend. I lowered the number slightly because I only do exercise 6 days a week and I sometimes go pretty easy on my cycling. So, 1906 x 1.7 = 3240, and like I’ve already been doing throughout I round it off, thus I get 3250 rounded to the nearest 50.

For those wondering, yes I am still pretty thin even with all of the training and eating I do, 76kg at 190cm (6′3″) puts me in a healthy weight range, but it also means I have hardly any muscle bulk. For those interested I peaked at around 86kg a few months ago. I’m still in the process of determining how my body reacts to what I give it, so yes, I am purposefully losing weight right now. I did originally screw up for the first year or so as I didn’t quite educate myself properly, I’ve slowly rectified that in the last few months and changed my diet entirely.

Getting fit, looking good, having strength, etc. is basically about 90% nutrition and 10% training. Genetics also play a huge role and can make things a lot easier or difficult depending on your heritage. I unfortunately inherited the “more difficult” genetics.

diet
–noun
1. food and drink considered in terms of its qualities, composition, and its effects on health: Milk is a wholesome article of diet.
2. a particular selection of food, esp. as designed or prescribed to improve a person’s physical condition or to prevent or treat a disease: a diet low in sugar.
3. such a selection or a limitation on the amount a person eats for reducing weight: No pie for me, I’m on a diet.
4. the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group: The native diet consists of fish and fruit.
5. food or feed habitually eaten or provided: The rabbits were fed a diet of carrots and lettuce.
6. anything that is habitually provided or partaken of: Television has given us a steady diet of game shows and soap operas.
–verb (used with object)
7. to regulate the food of, esp. in order to improve the physical condition.
8. to feed.
–verb (used without object)
9. to select or limit the food one eats to improve one’s physical condition or to lose weight: I’ve dieted all month and lost only one pound.
10. to eat or feed according to the requirements of a diet.
–adjective
11. suitable for consumption with a weight-reduction diet; dietetic: diet soft drinks.

Telling people you’re on a diet to maintain your current weight, or even gain weight, generally gets you a few rather odd looks and many rather curious (snide? dubious? derisive?) comments. It’s quite hard to understand really. Many people seem to believe that the only time you “diet” is when you’re trying to lose weight, it’s these same people that end up using crap and unhealthy diets like the Atkins (sorry Dr Atkins you’ve been deluding house wives for almost 40 years now; many of your principles are valid, however your implementation is not) diet for fast results and end up yoyoing up and down on these things.

Losing weight is easy, losing fat is not. There is no quick solution so I don’t know how people get it into their heads that they’re able to lose in excess of 5kg / week or something equally ridiculous. The only people who can even approach numbers like that are the morbidly obese. Marketing is a wonderful thing… those people you always see in TV ads, many of them start out ripped and then gain a bunch of fat for the before and after pics.

Just as an aside, a can of coke contains roughly 140 calories of carbs. In this form it’s basically pure simple sugar, so it gets metabolised very quickly and isn’t really used for much. Also something to note is that the average person who doesn’t do any physical activities probably doesn’t even hit 2000 calories a day for maintenance requirements. Anyone doing the maths yet? Here’s some more numbers, there are roughly 4 calories in a gram of carbohydrate, 4 calories in a gram of protein, 9 calories in a gram of fat, and for all you drinkers out there 9 calories in a gram of alcohol. The first 3 have nutritional value, alcohol however does not, hence the term “empty calorie” often gets bandied about. Empty calories tend to get converted straight into fat and are present in many popular “foods” — anything with sugar basically, as well as dense saturated fats. To lose weight, it’s quite simple, your body needs to burn more calories than it consumes.

Anyways, this post got sidetracked quite a bit so I’ll probably follow up with a proper one where I explain things a bit better. I’m sure many people aren’t even remotely interested, this is just something that has quite a life changing impact on me.