lawrenceonline's Xanga

More Food and Less Exercise.

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 13:55:11 GMT

I really like food a lot. It's almost hedonistic for me. I love all types of food, my favorites being Korean and Mexican. Lately, however, I've been having fast food cravings and indulgences. I'm not sure why. Perhaps it's because I hadn't eaten any greasy foods in the past few months, and I'm getting tired of eating healthy foods. Healthy foods are great, don't get me wrong. I actually feel so much better physically and mentally if I eat a club sandwich, as opposed to a grilled cheese. However, a chicken club is nowhere near as tasty as a grilled cheese with some steak fries, for me at least.

Trying to eat healthy has somewhat been a goal of mine. It certainly helps that Mike is a health freak about food. Crunching numbers and looking at the nutrition facts at the grocery store, or avoiding Chipotle and anything fried or stir-fried. I've definitely become more fat and sodium conscious. However, it certainly does not help that almost every fast food restaurant you can think of is literally within three miles of my house. McD, BK, Jack, In N Out, Wendys, Wings N Things, and Arbys are just some of the many many evil places near me. Last week I had Carls Jr, Burger King, In N Out, and some Mexican food ... and I wasn't even drunk or blazed, things which I've also cut down on lately. And last night, I went to Burger King again ... four tacos, a fry, and a chicken sandwich *sigh*.

Maybe I'm craving fast foods because I'm not eating enough. My family came down last weekend for my graduation ceremony, and they kept telling me I was too skinny, that I looked better when I was a bit fatter. I just figured every Asian family has that mentality: fat is good, skinny is bad. They kept saying I need to eat more, which is strange because most of my friends would say I eat a lot. I have breakfast and several lunches and dinners every day, except for weekends, something about having Mike at home messes up my eating schedule since we tend to eat our meals together. Anyway, my weekday meal schedule also does not include smoothies, protein shakes, bars, or any other snacks I might have during the day. I definitely consume more than 2500 calories a day, at least 3000. Sometimes I think I burn more than I eat in a day, especially when I was doing triathlon training, but lately that has not been happening. Mike suggested I cut down on the cardio so I'll stop looking so skinny and losing weight; I was around 145 a month ago, and now I'm just under 140. However, I'm not doing cardio to lose weight. I spin and run and swim cus I actually like doing those activities, and I love the euphoric feeling afterwards when your brain is just loaded with all those endorphins. I'm not sure what to do about that. Maybe I could take up another cardio exercise that burns less fat than those three? I can't think of any at the moment. One of my friends suggested hot yoga, doing yoga in a sauna basically. She said it was a fun and good workout. I can't even sit in a sauna for more than ten minutes let alone do stretches in 100+ temperature. No thanks. Being in a 100+ degree room full of 30 something people sweating is not my cup of tea. I also don't think I'm gonna cut down on exercising. That doesn't sound right to me. It's not like I'm exercising a strenuous amount and injuring myself.

I suppose I could also eat more, but like I said I already eat a lot. There was a special in Men's Health the other day where they listed the top 25 fittest guys. I read an article that showcased a triathlete, Ed or Don something. His exercise regiment sounded ridiculous, but was probably normal for any pro triathlete; woke up at 4, ran like 20 something miles, biked 60, etc. He eats five turkey burgers and has three big servings of vegetables a day. I don't think that *that* big of a daily meal ... The article also said he consumes around 5000 calories a day. The math does not seem to add up to me, unless those are huge turkey burgers, or there are omissions. Anyway, the point in mentioning the article was that I probably should be eating somewhere near like that, which I already kinda do. The thing for me is that I don't think I could possibly eat more in a day without feeling sick. I don't want to feel Thanksgiving-stuffed after every meal. End rant.

I've also been craving and eating a lot of sushi lately. At least it's healthier, but that's for next time.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 13:06:29 GMT

Decisions, Decisions

Fri, 09 May 2008 19:10:26 GMT

A friend of mine once said, quite crudely during a conversation about the gym and working out:

"Think how much better you'd look if you didn't drink or smoke weed"

I've never really noticed how many calories alcohol contains until Mike told me. Even worse is when you consume alcohol at night cus then you don't have a whole day to burn it off. Dancing franticly at the clubs doesn't work for me when I'm drunk. It usually ends in a messy night or crappy morning. So for the past ten days or so, I've been making it my goal to not have any alcohol and so far I've been sticking to the plan. We'll see how long that lasts, but at least for now, I don't have to spend as much time in the gym.

Right now I'm writing a midterm essay due tomorrow at 5 PM for my Apocalyptic Compulsion class (I won't bore or ramble with details since I could talk on and on about the subject). It's not a very hard essay to write, which tends to be a problem for me. I find myself much more motivated and attentive when essays and research papers in general are challenging. I love learning new things and a challenging assignment tends to teach me new things by forcing me to think more critically or do more research. On the other hand, a relatively easy prompt to me means I can slack off and always write it later since it's so easy. Mike always responds, "if it's so easy, then just write it." I don't think he's ever procrastinated academically in his life so he just doesn't get it. The feeling of getting the assignment out of the way is great, but at the same time, I'd rather feel laid-back, than rushed. I also find that the longer I procrastinate on writing, the more time I have to think and thus provide more analysis in the paper. End rant here.

I came across this card. I'm not sure I'd agree with it given my current mood and academic responsibilities:

Religion Can Be Fun

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 00:01:18 GMT

Professor who shall remain anonymous:

"Alright we're done talking about the Gospels. Now let's move onto Paul and his epistles.

*Looks at clock*

We've only got around 20 minutes left until class is over.

Ok, let's see if we can do Paul in 20 minutes.

[pause]

Don't take that out of context."

Brian Keeps Hassling Me

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:49:57 GMT

    First off, it's been so long since I've written an entry on here that I couldn't find the link to post a new entry. I used to click "lawrenceonline" in the upper right corner to display a "post new entry" link on the left column of the page. Apparently, that feature has disappeared.
    Anywho, much has happened since I last posted. Winter quarter has ended and spring quarter has begun, which means I'm closer to graduation. As great as it sounds, I still have at least another three years of graduate school. Arg. Classes right now are going well. I originally enrolled in four, but dropped one, a class on Futurism, since I felt I had learned all there is to Futurism within the first two weeks of class. The class's emphasis is also on the literary and artistic expressions of the movement, aspects of which I have no interest. Anyway, as you guys can imagine, my academic life has been much easier with one class every day (except for Mondays). Don't hate.
    Spring break was fun. Mike and I went to Oahu for about a week. We did just about everything on the island except for snorkeling. After renting a convertible and driving throughout the island, I definitely found the north shores a bit better than the touristy Honolulu. The scenery was so picture-perfect and surreal, yet relaxing at the same time. Anyway, here are some pictures of the trip:

This was probably the best mochi I've ever had. There you go Brian.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Wed, 16 Jan 2008 19:39:40 GMT

Lesson Learned Yesterday:

Never drink four pints of beer and then take the bus home because you might doze off, only to wake up and discover you've missed your stop by around a mile. Walking back is a bitch when it's dark.

Btw, the beers were Arrogant Bastard, O'Briens, Pizza Port Stout, and uhh I don't remember the fourth one. Heh. But at least I didn't drive home?

Thursday, January 03, 2008

Thu, 03 Jan 2008 21:35:20 GMT

PERSONAL STATEMENTS ARE EVIL!!!!

ARG!!!!!

Time Spent at Home

Fri, 28 Dec 2007 04:04:30 GMT

Things I've done thus far while back home:

1. Academy of Sciences last Thursday with some friends. They have a special $5 admission and cocktail hour every third Thursday. Mostly aquarium stuff, which I liked. I wasn't very impressed with the cocktails they had. Hardly even "cocktails." Just bad American beer and half glasses of (probably crappy) wine. Also overpriced.

2. Jet with Brian and friends. It was empty when we entered, but got crowded very quickly. The night was pretty good. Lost count of how many drinks I had, which usually ensures a good night. However, the ride to Alan's house wasn't pretty. I won't go into details, but let's just say I'll be dry-cleaning my sweater when I fly back to SD. And no, it wasn't my fault my sweater got "messy."

3. Brunch with Faustine at the Crepevine on Irving and I want to say 7th, but unsure. I think they have another location on the corner of Post and Taylor right across from Walgreens. The dishes are huge so I didn't eat it all. Bought a present for the elephant party, which I ended up not attending. Lol. However, I couldn't return the gift for cash, only store credit. Damn those small independent stores. Oh well, another present for Michael.

4. Visited aunt and uncle where we talked about law school and racial stereotypes (weird huh). He ntroduced me to crunchyroll.com. I think I've found an alternative to youtube now.

5. Dinner at Joy Sushi with Brian. He has video of me eating the gigantic rolls. Why did you time me again? Damn you anyway, Brian. Then I tried some of his soju, which inspired me to make my own once I'm back in SD. Nice apt btw .

6. Christmas Day dim sum with grandma, aunts, and uncles. I used to think the dim sum in SF was so superior to the dim sum in SD. However, after that meal, I really couldn't decide which was better. Maybe it was where we ate (the place next to Ton Kiang on Geary and 23rd). Afterwards, we went back to my grandma's house to mock and laugh at my mum, sister, and aunt for purchasing ridiculously priced purses and handbags. My aunt even has the LV catalog. We added up the total value of all her purses. She could've bought a Honda Civic.

7. Cooked dinner at Jessica's for friends. I think we were very optimistic about it, but the food (burritoes, meatball soup, pasta, margaritas) ended up being ok. Made too much food actually, but it was fun. It was good seeing everyone again. One of our friends, Sandy, kept wanting to play King's Cup, but we kept telling her we ran out of Tequila and had no playing cards. I think she just wanted to drink. Played Taboo, which was fun. Somehow, I got home at 3 AM. Time flies.

8. Downtown shopping with Joanie for presents for Michael's mum and sister, who are visiting SD. We found some pretty gifts and went into Barney's for the first time. I thought it'd be like Bloomingdale's, but it really isn't. It was smaller and the inside looked like a museum. Not many items you can touch and everything was in a glass casing or counter. Downstairs, they have mini, two-feet-tall, Christmas trees made out of candy. Price tag: $200-$300. We laughed and Joanie said she could probably make one for me for $5 max. I agree. And it would be made with love. LOL.

And now I have to wake up in approximately eight hours to meet my roommate, Eric, who has flown up to SF for the weekend. Will probably walk around downtown and Castro. Then will be going to Dragon with Brian, meeting Eric and our friend Richard there. Hopefully, it'll be fun. I probably won't get trashed since I have to wake up early the next morning, but then again when has that ever stopped me. All in all, coming back home and experiencing SF again has exhausted me, and I'm ready to fly back south.

Oh my goodness ...

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 01:54:23 GMT

M: "Uhh ... if you got the munchies, you probably shouldn't eat a brownie."

Just Waiting for the Call

Mon, 22 Oct 2007 23:08:58 GMT

I go outside to check on the neighbors' lights.
Maybe if they're off, it's a good indication I should leave too.
As I open the door, a whiff of air blows into my face.
It smells as if someone just blew a shitload of cigarette smoke in my face.
Gross.
However, this is not:

Grilled cheese sandwich.
Tomato soup.
Bottle of red wine.

The neighbors' lights are still on.
Yep. Eating now.
Just waiting for the call to evacuate.