alli from the Angry Aussie

Oh my sweet goodness, ROFLMAO alli: Miracle diet pill with teeny-tiny side effect « Angry 365 Days a Year that is freaking hilarious … where do I buy some … how do I get it into my enemies latte? Oh wait, no enemies … rats …

Filed under: USA, diet

Coffee Culture

One of the things that those who know me, know altogether too well is that I love coffee. Not that processed bland, McCoffee you get at Starbucks, but real coffee. One of the big differences between NZ and the US is each’s implementation of the espresso or coffee culture. I think this is another example of the classic differences between the two countries.

In NZ, coffee culture is the new bar culture. People go to interact with other people, they write, listen, drink, eat, hang out and generally look for high dollar or premium brands: boutique coffee brands, great atmosphere, exotic shapes built out of espresso foam and milk …

In the US, coffee culture is about drive through Starbucks coffee joints with $5 lattes that might as well have come out of a machine. There is no art, there are no real baristas, there is very much a franchise, a commodity, and a huge market.

Now personnally, I like the NZ approach. The only few places I’ve found like that in Washington, DC are Murky Coffee and Mayorga.  Both of these joints have free wireless (I’m in Murky Coffee right now!), great atmospheres, fantastic coffee, and great music. But even at those joints in the US, people aren’t really interacting, sure they are working … many of them on their cute Apple laptops, but unlike NZ they are sitting alone, working!

Now most Americans sure are obsessed with work, the constant struggle to work hard, to get ahead, to become independently wealthy, to get a bigger, better car than the Joneses. I think the NZ ethic of working hard to play hard, leads to a much more interactive coffee culture, what do you think?

Filed under: NZ, NZ vs USA, USA, ample sufficiency, diet

Exercise?

So my grand exercise experiment is a failure … I have been trying to weave exercise into my regime and have not been able to achieve this! The weekend was the first day where I manage about 20 minutes a day swimming. Boy, am I out of shape but I forgot how much of a whole body exercise swimming is … now to find the time!

Filed under: diet, exercise, happenings

The next phase …

Well, it’s been close to 3 week in the first phase of South Beach. I’ve shed about 15 pounds (210 -> 195lbs, that’d be 7.5kg or 95 -> 88kg for you antipodeans). I really feel better … I survived at least one business trip (just got back from Kansas City, Missouri: ah steak and barbeque) … I’ve survived a couple of team events (beers all around, thank heavens for Michelob Ultra Amber) … and I’m ready to begin moving into the next phase: exercise.

The question is what: running? swimming? biking? elliptical? weights? some combination of all of them? I think I’ll shoot for 2 days weights and 3 days cardio per week. I’ll probably begin with the easy stuff: run or elliptical and weights. I’m lucky enough to have a gym setup in the basement so in theory the barrier to entry should be relatively small. We’ll see I guess …

The real question is can I transfer this into a way of life and not a passing fad? I have started this in probably the most challenging part of my career … so if I can do this now, why not the relatively calm times!

Filed under: Getting Things Done, diet, exercise, personal improvement

Changing things …

So strange person growth moment in my life, I appear to have been successfully able to restart my low-carb lifestyle. The punds are shedding off, m body is over it’s sugar addiction and I fell happier and healthier already. Strange side effects, I sweat less … which in a hot DC summer is a good thing. In the immortal words of Paul van Dyk “DC’s never seen it so hot”.

The big change though is a shift in mindset. I appear to have slipped into a mindset where I understand why eating bad things doesn’t make sense. I noticed a by line ona book about procrastination which read something like: “Discover the small rewards that you give yourself, that contrinute to your self loathing”. I also realized (by watching VH1 no less) that the rail thin clebrities and bulked up muscle men really do train 2 hours a day, watch what they eat, and focus on looks pretty much all the time. What this led to was me thinking about what I was eating, all day, every day. It appears to be a behavioral change.

I have always wondered why most doctors are relatively fit, healthy, normal looking people. I’ve also been reading about Systems THinknig, and I wonder if it is because doctors understand the system of systems that make up the human body. They understand the interactions, and they act on it. Is the secret to beating obesity in education? Not the “if you eat bad food you get fat” kind of education, but the “here’s how it all works, you decide how you want to treat it” kind?

Filed under: Getting Things Done, diet, exercise, personal improvement