Tuesday, January 10, 2012

GOMAD Experiment [Day 9] & Sauna Experience

So I had a bit of a setback last night. When I was leaving King Spa & Sauna, I decided to get on the electronic scale just to see how much I sweated out that night, since a guy in the sauna told me that he lost 7 lbs after spending 4 hrs at King Spa. I was shocked that in just a few hours, I lost more than 4 lbs! This means that I weighed less than I even did when I started GOMAD!

It was past 11 PM at the time so Sprouts and Whole Foods was closed. The only place I could think of was Wally World. So I went and combed their milk selection but everything was both pasteurized and homogenized, even Promised Land brand milk. So I bought the cheapest, Great Value vitamin D whole milk (with a label that stated their farmers pledge not to use growth hormones). I went home and chugged more than 65% of that gallon--I was committed to get my 4 lbs back! (I regretted it later though, I could smell and taste the difference in the quality of the milk and I felt it later on when I tried to go to bed.)

Anyways, it was worth it though. The sauna more than exceeded my expectations. My favorite rooms were the steam room and the fire sudatorium in the back. The air in these rooms were so super-heated that it felt like my nostrils were on FIRE. It made me sneeze repeatedly. At first I had to put a hand towel over my face just to breathe without sneezing. After awhile, my sinuses got used to it and thanked me for it as it cleared those pipes through and through.

The website describes the fire sudatorium as thus: "King Sauna's Fire Sudatorium is the world's largest and grandest sauna. The unique architectural shape intensifies the heat within the room. The sudatorium is made from rocks as described as living. The intense heat causes the body to secrete toxins and body waste so as to deeply purify the body. Aroma therapy is also used within the sudatorium."

I also liked the 'oxygen room.'  It was airy, cool, and had a nice, crisp, clean scent that wasn't artificial.  It's hard to place the scent but it might have been due to the bags of tea hanging from the ceilings or the smell of the clean wood paneling.  All I know is that I felt relaxed and refreshed in that room



My only complaint was that it was pricey. I'm told by the veterans that the place has increased their prices lately.

"Mind Right, Body Right, Workout Right. In that Order."

I enjoyed this video from Crossfit HQ, which is different from the usual fare because it focuses on mental fortitude and NLP (Neuro-linguistic Programming)/Psychology.

This reminds me of what Dave Masi tells us when we are out of gas during an intense WOD:  "Don't recover, just finish."

 

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Words to Live By


GOMAD Experiment [Day 6]

Has it already been 6 days?  Actually, what am I saying...when is this going to end?

So my Accu-Measure Caliper arrived in the post and the first time I used it without really reading the instructions and thought I had 3.5% bodyfat LOL.  I thought that can't be right, so today I read it word by word carefully and realized that I had to pinch 2 - 3 inches of skinfold (I initially only pinched around 1 inch at the suprailiac region).  So now I'm confident that I have a bodyfat percentage of 8.5%.

That's not too bad after nearly a week of GOMAD!

It's about right since I was told I had around 10.7% bodyfat a few months ago, but I knew it should be less than that because she thought I was shorter than I actually was.

Also, good news!  I'm 170.0 lbs exactly now after 6 days of GOMAD!  That means I've gained 3 lbs over 6 days.  Not bad, I guess, since I'll be committing to this for at least a full month.  At this rate, I should expect to gain around 24 lbs by the end of January.  My goal is 30 lbs though, so I may go 1 - 2 months of GOMAD since I'm not sure I can eat/drink much more than this haha.

OK I have to admit that for the past 3 days I have not done the full GOMAD.  At night, I was sick of drinking that much milk so I left around 2 pints left in the container.  So for the past 3 days, I have only been drinking 2/3 to 3/4 of GOMAD.  I hope to end that today though.  Time to man up and choke that shit down!  All in the name of getting BIG.

I know I said I was going to take photos by around day 5, but it's honestly kind of degrading and I'm not sure I'm going to keep up with it.

GOMAD [Day 6] (1/6/2012) Measurements:
170.0 lbs
Waist:  82.5 cm/ a little more than 32 in
Neck: 15 in
Chest:  39 in
Leg circumference (around right thigh): 22.5 in
Arm circumference (around right bicep, flexed): 14.5 in
Shoulder Span:  18.5 - 19 in


GOMAD [Day 1] (1/2/2012) Measurements:
167.0 lbs
Waist: 32 in/82 cm
Neck:  15 in
Chest: 39 in
Arm Circumf. (around r. bicep, flexed):  14.5 in
Leg Circumf. (around r. thigh):  22.5 in
Shoulder span: 18 in


Results:

So no dramatic changes really.  My shoulder span also increased a tad, depending on how I measured it.  If I let the tape go across my shoulder girdle, it was a solid 19 inches, but if it I took it directly on the very top of my shoulders over my cervical vertebrae then it was around 18.5 inches.  So I had a 1/2 - 1 inch increase in my shoulder span.  I'm still pleased!

My waist also increased a tiny bit but that's to be expected on GOMAD and it was less than 1/2 an inch (let's hope that trend doesn't continue all month though haha).  Everything else seems to have stayed the same.

So with my 3 lbs increase, I also saw an increase in my measurements, which is good news.  I'm hoping that it's mostly muscle mass increase and with an 8.5% bodyfat (if my caliper readings are accurate) then things are going well so far.

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Secret to GOMAD:

This OTC product has made this obscene ritual of chugging a gallon of milk a day that much more bearable!  It's more effective than just lactase enzymes since it also has probiotics in it.  I saw it at Wally World and it was less than $8 dollars for I believe a month's worth, so I gave it a shot and I'm glad I did.

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Paleo Fried "Rice!"

So I'm definitely not a follower of Paleo / Ancestral diet but I've never been a fan of RICE (the only rice I like is wild rice and that's not even legitimately "rice;" it's actually a type of grass, which probably explains why I like it), so I decided to give this cauliflower fried "rice" version a shot!  (Thanks, Nomnompaleo!  I got the idea from her, check out her blog!)

So this was my first time trying this and I don't normally cook, so it might not be that pretty but I must say it turned out well!  Quite tasty, indeed.

Nomnompaleo used a food processor, but I'm ghetto and used a butcher's cleaver haha!  It got the job done anyways.

I also don't ever measure out quantities, so my "recipe" was whatever was available in the fridge and I played it by ear.

Ingredients:

1/2 of a white onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, smashed and diced
1/2 of a ginger root, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 tomato, diced
1/4 head of cabbage, diced
1 cauliflower bunch, diced
3 eggs, beaten
1 chicken breast

Condiments:
Lots of black sesame oil (the cooking oil, probably not 'Paleo' but I like the taste)
Two dashes of rice vinegar
A few splashes of aged soy sauce
Freshly grated black pepper to taste
Some dried parsley leaves for garnish
Lots of green scallions and cilantro for garnish

(Lots of bio-available, high-quality, 'whole' protein too from the chicken and eggs, it's 'Paleo' after all.)

Check out the photos of the cooking process:

Starting Material. (My mom cut up the cauliflower into florets last night; I did all the rest today.)

After dicing the cauliflower using a butcher's cleaver (ghetto style).

Some of the other cooking materials.

I'm Taiwanese after all, so I used a shitload of garlic and ginger!


Still cooking...

Just about done!  Just need to add some aged soy sauce and freshly grated black pepper!

Taken with the flash.

In the serving bowl.


Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Boxing

Ever since I saw "Hajime no Ippo," I've had an interest in boxing and tonight I saw some interesting YouTube videos that have piqued my interest once again. I think I should explore this interest further in real life...

Great speed bag technique video:

A more general, speed bag technique video:

Interesting info. on how a K.O. is the result of "kinetic linking:"