Weight: 192
BMI: 29.2
Number of gym sessions: 1
Number of miles run: 2
This week was really bad. I spent almost all my time searching for a home. It is a really good time to buy a house: the interest rates are so low and sellers are lowering prices, something that would have been hard to imagine a year back in the Bay Area.
However I think that we might not be ready to buy a house just yet. There are a number of reasons why. On Saturday we found out that we are expecting another child. It would be very stressful for Moni to commute from the new house to her college. Our current apartment is very conveniently located. Since it is close to work, I can always drive down and pick up Siddharth in case she is running late. The rent is not too high and we have plenty of space, although lately I have had the feeling that the walls are closing in.
Anyhow, now that I have sort of suspended the search for a house, I will get back to the gym and my weight loss campaign. The treadmill has arrived and I shall start using it this week. Also, I will visit the office gym this week.
My target weight for 02/11/2008 is 190lbs.
Monday, January 28, 2008
Friday, January 25, 2008
Book of the month: January - The Stranger
I finished reading The Stranger by Albert Camus yesterday. Since I had already read a lot of reviews about this book on Amazon, I decided to read both the introduction and the translator's note for this. And I am sure that reading these made a difference in my understanding of this book.
The story is very simple. Yet when you start thinking about it, it is very complex and upsetting. A young man named Meursault. Here is the main story, picked up from Wikipedia:
"At the start of the novel, Meursault attends his mother's funeral, where he does not express any usual emotions that such an event often induces. He is asked to see the body of his mother but refuses to do so. The novel goes on to document the next few days of his life through the first person point-of-view. He then befriends one of his neighbors, Raymond Sintès, whom Meursault aids in dismissing his Arab girlfriend because Raymond suspects her of infidelity. Later, Raymond and Meursault encounter her brothers on a beach. Raymond gets cut in a resulting knife fight. After retreating, Meursault returns to the beach and shoots one of them in response to the glare of the sun. Consequently, "The Arab" is killed. Meursault then fires four more times into the dead body.
At the trial, the prosecuting attorneys seem more interested in the inability or unwillingness of Meursault to cry at his mother's funeral than the murder of The Arab, because they don't believe him capable of remorse. The argument follows that if Meursault is incapable of remorse, he should be considered a dangerous misanthrope who should be executed in order to set an example for others who consider murder."
As I read this book I became more and more troubled by Meursault's personality. He seems to belong to a world where satisfying immediate physical needs is all that matters. He is emotionally detached from everything else and is able to "reason" and explain his detachment. Throughout this book Camus uses the phrase: "It doesn't really matter."
What disturbed me most about this book was the fact that I could see shades of myself in Meursault's character. Often I am doing things, knowing well that I am doing the wrong thing, but I do not stop myself. It is like "It doesn't really matter." Often I have done things just to risk the backlash, which brings some excitement to my life. This thought is disturbing in itself. But I think its not as bad as it seems. For someone with a simple life as mine, an occasional risk seems to indicate a very mundane and lifeless existence. However I am sure that people who live a more active life in fact take more of such risks because they are hooked on to it.
Anyway, I saw in Meursault shades of many people I know. But his emotional emptiness disturbed me. From the beginning he seemed to be an accident about to happen. And the worst does happen. For Meursault, dying now or twenty years from now is the same thing. Not for me. I feel that it makes sense to be prudent.
This was a very good to have read. I am picking up Jack Kerouak's On the Road next.
The story is very simple. Yet when you start thinking about it, it is very complex and upsetting. A young man named Meursault. Here is the main story, picked up from Wikipedia:
"At the start of the novel, Meursault attends his mother's funeral, where he does not express any usual emotions that such an event often induces. He is asked to see the body of his mother but refuses to do so. The novel goes on to document the next few days of his life through the first person point-of-view. He then befriends one of his neighbors, Raymond Sintès, whom Meursault aids in dismissing his Arab girlfriend because Raymond suspects her of infidelity. Later, Raymond and Meursault encounter her brothers on a beach. Raymond gets cut in a resulting knife fight. After retreating, Meursault returns to the beach and shoots one of them in response to the glare of the sun. Consequently, "The Arab" is killed. Meursault then fires four more times into the dead body.
At the trial, the prosecuting attorneys seem more interested in the inability or unwillingness of Meursault to cry at his mother's funeral than the murder of The Arab, because they don't believe him capable of remorse. The argument follows that if Meursault is incapable of remorse, he should be considered a dangerous misanthrope who should be executed in order to set an example for others who consider murder."
As I read this book I became more and more troubled by Meursault's personality. He seems to belong to a world where satisfying immediate physical needs is all that matters. He is emotionally detached from everything else and is able to "reason" and explain his detachment. Throughout this book Camus uses the phrase: "It doesn't really matter."
What disturbed me most about this book was the fact that I could see shades of myself in Meursault's character. Often I am doing things, knowing well that I am doing the wrong thing, but I do not stop myself. It is like "It doesn't really matter." Often I have done things just to risk the backlash, which brings some excitement to my life. This thought is disturbing in itself. But I think its not as bad as it seems. For someone with a simple life as mine, an occasional risk seems to indicate a very mundane and lifeless existence. However I am sure that people who live a more active life in fact take more of such risks because they are hooked on to it.
Anyway, I saw in Meursault shades of many people I know. But his emotional emptiness disturbed me. From the beginning he seemed to be an accident about to happen. And the worst does happen. For Meursault, dying now or twenty years from now is the same thing. Not for me. I feel that it makes sense to be prudent.
This was a very good to have read. I am picking up Jack Kerouak's On the Road next.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Update: Week 1
Weight: 192lbs
BMI: 29.2
Number of gym sessions: 4
Number of miles run: 8
I haven't received the treadmill yet. However I am doing a lot of things to make this happen.
1. Very carefully watching my calorie intake.
2. Weight training in the gym.
3. Healthy food options like brown rice, yogurt and fruits.
4. No food after 8pm in the night.
BMI: 29.2
Number of gym sessions: 4
Number of miles run: 8
I haven't received the treadmill yet. However I am doing a lot of things to make this happen.
1. Very carefully watching my calorie intake.
2. Weight training in the gym.
3. Healthy food options like brown rice, yogurt and fruits.
4. No food after 8pm in the night.
Sunday, January 20, 2008
My quest
Today I ordered the Sole F85 treadmill. I had to take this step. With my life and routine, it is very hard for me to find the time to go to the gym for a run. The effort required to manage the gym bag is an extra hindrance. Now I will have this machine in my house. And I promise myself that I will not let it go waste.
Right now with my height of 5'8" and a weight of 195lb my BMI is 29.64, which is bordering on obesity. My goal by the end of the year is to get my weight to 175lb. This will give me a BMI of 26.6. I will still be in the overweight category but much better than what I am now.
Next year I will run a full marathon. By the time I run the marathon I will be 165lb, which is a BMI of 25.08, a tad above the 18.5 - 24.9 range recommended for my height.
I will start with a routine of 30 minute runs and try to do 2 - 2.5 miles for the first month. I will run everyday. Once I register a weight of less than 190lb at home I will move to 3 mile runs. Also I will go to the gym 2-3 times a week for weight training.
I cannot fail. I will not fail.
Right now with my height of 5'8" and a weight of 195lb my BMI is 29.64, which is bordering on obesity. My goal by the end of the year is to get my weight to 175lb. This will give me a BMI of 26.6. I will still be in the overweight category but much better than what I am now.
Next year I will run a full marathon. By the time I run the marathon I will be 165lb, which is a BMI of 25.08, a tad above the 18.5 - 24.9 range recommended for my height.
I will start with a routine of 30 minute runs and try to do 2 - 2.5 miles for the first month. I will run everyday. Once I register a weight of less than 190lb at home I will move to 3 mile runs. Also I will go to the gym 2-3 times a week for weight training.
I cannot fail. I will not fail.
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
Keeping spirits high
What a difference a few years can make.
A few short years back I was so different that it feels that I have been reborn. Is it too early for a mid-life crisis? Well, its not really a crisis. But I have morphed into a new entity and I have to rediscover my new self. Who am I? What am I about? Where am I headed?
I spent 2007 wandering about aimlessly. Will 2008 be any different? I guess its up to me to bring about the change. The first challenge is obviously to find a set goals that I believe in. But a bigger challenge is to keep myself motivated in the face of changing priorities, stress at work and lethargy in general.
This weekend I saw the movie Peaceful Warrior. Did Socrates find Dan or did Dan find Socrates. I think it was the latter. How lucky are those who find a teacher to guide them through the maze of life. I remember the time that Prof. Khastgir was my guide. I learned so much from him. But he is no more and I am half a world away from where I was then. So I have to be my own guide and keep myself focused on my goals.
If the goal is a worthy one and the effort sincere then the experience is bound to be happy and fulfilling. Its not the destination, its the journey.
A few short years back I was so different that it feels that I have been reborn. Is it too early for a mid-life crisis? Well, its not really a crisis. But I have morphed into a new entity and I have to rediscover my new self. Who am I? What am I about? Where am I headed?
I spent 2007 wandering about aimlessly. Will 2008 be any different? I guess its up to me to bring about the change. The first challenge is obviously to find a set goals that I believe in. But a bigger challenge is to keep myself motivated in the face of changing priorities, stress at work and lethargy in general.
This weekend I saw the movie Peaceful Warrior. Did Socrates find Dan or did Dan find Socrates. I think it was the latter. How lucky are those who find a teacher to guide them through the maze of life. I remember the time that Prof. Khastgir was my guide. I learned so much from him. But he is no more and I am half a world away from where I was then. So I have to be my own guide and keep myself focused on my goals.
If the goal is a worthy one and the effort sincere then the experience is bound to be happy and fulfilling. Its not the destination, its the journey.
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