The Backlog

BMI Report

This is my first Body-Mass Index report. Nothing much to see here, except that I’m borderline obese. Actually I don’t look like I’m obese, just fat. People see me and say I’m fat, but not to the extent of being obese. I have always wondered what’s the difference. Being fat is no different with being obese. An obese man is fat, but a fat man is not obese? Is obese a subset of fat?

My doctor also said that with my body frame, there is no problem for me to exceed 100 kilograms of weight. This is due to my large body frame. However this is not the excuse to hold extra fats in the body! I would rather hold muscles and look muscular instead.

I will calculate my BMI using the metric system. The Imperial BMI formula uses pounds and inches, and I’m not quite used with that. So I’m sticking to kilograms for weight and meters for height.

The BMI formula is roughly as follows:

BMI = Weight (kg) /Height x Height (m x m)

It’s basically Weight in kilograms divided by Height in meters squared. Square meters indicate area, and the formula could just be an estimation of how much weight goes into one unit area of the body.

Right, now we got the basics, it’s time to face the music.

I currently weigh 107 kg and my height is 1.76m. So, my BMI is approximately 34.5. According to the chart, I’m OBESE!

My ideal weight is between 64kg to 77kg, but this would be some long term target. My short term target is to get within the OVERWEIGHT range first, then slowly work my way to the OK range.

I WILL NOT GIVE UP.

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Not So Fit Yet

I have been visiting the gym religiously. It wasn’t easy from the beginning, because my body was still adapting to the exercise routine. My limbs were sore for the whole first week, good thing Jo was around to help apply some medicine or else I would be pinned to bed like Eeyore’s tail… on Eeyore.

After approximately a month of consistent exercise, I feel different. Honest. I used to be tired easily from simple tasks, but now I can go through the day without any signs of fatigue. Probably it’s just the psychological effect, that if you are going to the gym for some kind of workout, you believe you will be able to take any kind of mental and physical stress. Psychological or not, I can actually see the difference here. Less afternoon naps for me from now on.

I don’t know if I’m more agile than usual because I never videotape myself. During badminton games I find myself leaping back and forth the badminton court more than usual. Could it be that the skipping has started to show its effect? I hardly skip, to be honest. I only do skipping after gym sessions, which totals up to only 3 times a week. I never skip more than 200 times, which is a pathetic amount. To be fair I did stress out my legs a lot in the gym. I think I need to reallocate skipping sessions away from gym sessions to maximize the potential (not that I have a lot of it to begin with).

I still fail to eat better. Sometimes I wake up late and miss lunch. This is bad for the body because consumption has to be regular and small. I am lazy enough to whack a lot of food in one seating and go through the day without food. After reading numerous guides online, I think eating small and regular is the key to losing weight. Instead of the 2 (sometimes 3) regular meals a day, I might need to eat up to 6 meals a day. More meals doesn’t mean I can eat more. Maybe a fistful of food each time I eat? Or some light snacks like bread and water? I am still unsure about how I should get around this.

Jo will be the first to point out that I should sleep earlier at nights. Waking up in the middle of the day doesn’t help at all. Plus, I sometimes have classes in the morning that I must attend. I used to read some guide that says that the body burns fat more efficiently during the day than night. Could it be due to the heat during the day as opposed to the coldness at night? If I’m awake for most of the day, then the body will be able to burn effectively longer.

This is just some fitness update. There will be more reports to come, and hopefully I will be able to be more positive next time.

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Weak In The Knees

I visit the gym on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I always start with 15 minutes of cardio and then proceed to the weights. I alternate between leg and arm exercises to give my limbs a chance to rest every 3 repetitions. I would end every gym session with some skipping, though recently it has been hard for me to skip.

Today’s gym session was great, though it lasted only 45 minutes. I totally stressed out my leg muscles. I challenged myself to lift heavier weights than usual. When I was done with all the exercise, my legs turned jelly. I could only skip 30 times! I was so tired my mind went totally blank. I sat in the car for awhile to rest my legs.

From that moment onwards, I have been feeling weak in the knees. Could it be that I have stressed out my legs too much?

At night I even joined Oliver for some badminton, and my legs could hardly move. Most of the time I stood there and pretend to be a huge punchbag. My movements were hazardously slow and it was difficult to reach for shots. If my knees weren’t so weak, I might be able to move around a bit more.

Sigh, never mind. I must persevere. More agility exercises in parallel with strength building routines will shape me up in no time.

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A Good Start

I did them all. Weight-lifting, skipping and crunches. If only I had more energy left, I could do some fitness training as well. Maybe I should do some fitness training tomorrow, while letting my muscles rest for at least a day before stressing them out again.

I have a newfound hobby - skipping! In the past I used to hate skipping, because I didn’t skip the correct way and tend to become tired real quick. Now I can skip to a 100 without much difficulty! Though 100 might not sound like a lot to you, it’s a great achievement for me already. I broke my record today at 102. Hopefully I get reach at least 150 tomorrow. Then there are the one-leg skips as well. Endless fun with a skipping rope, LOL.

When I came home I realized that I never did any stretching. I hope to be able to have some stretching sessions as well. A simple search on the Internet revealed some benefits of stretching to motivate me, and to constantly remind myself that I’m actually doing something that benefits my body in more ways than one.

The benefits of stretching are:

• Reduced muscle tension
• Increased range of movement in the joints
• Enhanced muscular coordination
• Increased circulation of the blood to various parts of the body
• Increased energy levels (resulting from increased circulation)

Anyway I think I started off the right foot. Will be looking to maintain this level of activity until I am truly fit. It’s quite a long shot, but I will try nonetheless. I rather die of old age than heart attack. Must live off pension when I am old!!!!!

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Yet Another Fitness Regime

Whoa, this must be the 242, 521, 326th time of me declaring some motive to be fit. The previous plans never worked, because the spirit is so damned willing but the body is weak. I tend to succumb to pressure and pain, then give up until the next time I feel fat again. I felt another wave of rush again, but this time I’m not going to set high targets. Maybe a bit of improvement is good enough. Besides, I don’t aim to be as fit as Bruce Lee. I just want to stop panting a few minutes into the game (badminton).

I also look forward to do some good stretching. My joints have been underused for so long, it’s time to grease them up and give them a little stretch. I hear stretching can help break up the fats, thus making it easier to burn because of the increased surface area.

I think I’ll open a new category here called Fitness, that records my attempt(s) at getting fit. In fact, this post is the first of its series, and I hope there will be many more posts to come that reports on some kind of improvement.

*Puts on Rocky soundtrack* This time… I’m not going to cave. Wish me luck!

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