nothing special

So I'm finally trying to lose some weight in an attempt to complete goal 'get abs'. The past week has definitely been a hard one but in saying that, this week seems to be over already.

I looked in the mirror just that one time too much before realizing that even though my cholesterol levels are normal, my heart is going strong and that I'm much grateful for genes that grant me immunity to diabetes, despite my sweet tooth; I just didn't feel like a healthy guy. I started searching for the most healthiest and efficient ways to losing weight.

People with gifted ectomorphic metabolisms could probably scoff down whole cakes and chocolates and burn the calories off a few hours later. I found losing weight much harder and could not stand hearing about the amount of cardiovascular exercise you would have to do to burn off certain foods; I sure as shit wasn't going to do it either. Much similar to the endorsements from people claiming a particular fat loss diet worked after trying 'everything' else, I myself was a little skeptical in trying a 'carbohydrate cycling diet' I had stumbled upon.

Instead of testing how deep the water was, I dove right in, cutting my carbohydrate content to no more than 400 grams on the first day. I cut breads, pastas, starchy vegetables, sugar, sugary drinks, sugary fruits; if it had an '-ose' at the end of it, it was gone. I remember my first breakfast where I ate 3 whole eggs scrambled. It was the most dreadful thing I'd ever eaten for breakfast considering brekky was usually my largest meal of the day and it was one that I enjoyed the most.

Today I actually craved for one egg yolk in my 5 egg whites scrambled and in the 7 of so days on the carb cycle diet I've come full circle with my thoughts and am definitely a lot more informed about how my body reacts. My second day on the diet would see me cut this carb content even lower. Instead of the scarce amount of wholegrain bread I was allowed to have with my turkey and cheese sandwich, I was allowed an extra scoop of protein powder. Instead of the extra piece of fruit I was allowed with my protein shake, I was allowed an extra scoop of protein powder. It killed me by day 3 when all I could think of was what I would have for my cheat meal on Sunday.

Powering through it all, I hit the scales early on Saturday night to see if much had changed. When the scale said 116.4, I hopped back down to check if the thing was working right. Even after re-weighing myself, and again after getting Martin to weight himself to see if it was right, I was ecstatic. Not even a week after trying this diet I'd lost 1.4 kilos, down from 117.8kg. This saw me eat hard on Sunday and train even harder. Even the four pieces of KFC didn't do damage to my weight as when Tuesday came around, I dropped another 800 grams, I was now as light as I was at the end of high school, nearly 5 years ago.

I promised Martin that I would see 114 next week although in my mind, the challenge of losing the first kilo is no where near as hard as losing the next, I knew I could do it. So today, 2 days after, and a week and three quarters after my diet started, I'm at 115 flat (114.8 before training).

Check back at this space in few weeks, you'll want to start losing weight too once you find out how easy it gets.

Ly Truong, still that fat man but 2 and a half kilos lighter...

121.8 ---> 116.4

It's getting there slowly.

I've come to accept that everything happens for a reason. Despite this, what still puzzles me is why some happenings only happen to certain people. I don't understand the reasoning behind how luck or fate works but I can confirm that the spinning arrow of chance usually lands on me.

A quick wiki search came up with a list of cognitive biases which may describe my mental behavior but even though my mind might make more connections through coincidences of random life happenings, and it's neglect on the rather 'good' moments in life, I still reckon that classing them as coincidences just doesn't really explain it. Confused? I am.

Let me give you a few examples. As I've blogged about recently, the boat progress has been going on at quick pace. We completed her last Tuesday after I got her registered and finalized a few other little things. Our main run in was scheduled for Sunday that week over at the port of Brisbane but being so excited that we finished the boat ahead of time, we planned a pre-launch the following night.

Martin and Phuc got first dibbs for the first launch which was to take place at 9:30pm after Phuccie had finished work that night. Martin invited Paul to go for a fish as they both finished uni together at 6:30 and would have time to head home, grab a feed and then get ready. Everything was just coming together; we just never realize that tomorrows fate would just make things seem like they were supposed to happen.

Fate got the best out of all parties the next morning when I finished my morning prac early and both Phuccie and Martin and Paul decided that they skip work/ uni that afternoon; I received their phone messages shortly after I had finished my prac class. We did the final checks on the trailer and boat safety gear and we were off to the Brisbane River, the first run of the white beast, it's resurrection after the 5 or so years of us sitting around wishing we had a boat to go fishing in; my dream, our dream.

To be continued....

Most of us started the QUT university year last week however due to my laziness in attending lectures, it started this week when I attended my first tutorial for the year. It's been a pretty hectic year so far, disregarding the fact that I've only got 2 subjects this term, keeping up with uni and juggling the two jobs I've kept since last year as well as my vast amount of interest in pretty much everything has been pretty full on.

It's always the little things which add up that take most of your time away. The hour or so long allocation I give to centrelink every Monday lets me question whether it's actually worth the 60 or so bucks they give me. I hate being there, especially when I know half the people standing in line with me don't actually need it; beggars can't be choosers hey?

I think most of my time is spent traveling to places. The hour or so trip it takes to get to uni in the morning is absolutely terrible, considering it takes only a quarter of the time to get home. There's also work 5 days a week to and from work and the occasional trip to sunnybank for a feed or the gym for a workout.

With time such a restraint this past week, I'm left wondering why I've gotten so much more done with such limited free time. Holidays flew by occupied by work 5 days a week and sleep probably took up a major part of the free time left over. We've hit the gym more than we had during holidays and Phuccie and I worked on the boat for the first time since holidays started; we finished it in 2 half days of work.

I seems like this year is slowly kicking off. Can't wait to see what happens in the next couple of weeks. Hopefully I'll learn to time manage more effectively and tick more of those blooody goals off. Ciao

Uni started for me this week and upon my procrastination to catch up on the lectures that I didn't attend, I was searching through my old hard-drive to find pictures I could photoshop experiment with; it starts early this year don't you reckon?

I was bludging a few days ago looking for supplements until I stumbled on some photoshop tutorials (pretty random hey?) and thought it was something neat to try. Instead of hitting the gym tonight and with my enthusiasm for playing a few hours of games saved only for my lonesome self, I decided to reward myself with a night at home doing absolutely anything I wanted. With my gym buddy Martin coming down with a rather severe cold, the past couple of workouts just haven't been the same without him. Nonetheless gym is gym however you look at it; tonight I just couldn't be arsed.

After doing a few lomo modifications and getting pretty bored with it, I decided to browse the millions of old photos I had on my hard-drive. I also remembered last Friday during work, when the lyrics to Otherside by The Red Hot Chili Peppers were stuck in my head and that I promised myself I would find time to just chill out listening to their album. I did so while clicking through my old high school albums, which brought me back to a time I wished so dearly to relive.

Much like the photos of old birthdays and south bank soccer photos, The Red Hot Chili Pepers brought just as many memories back. I remember Track 6 it was, Californication, which pumped from our cabin (number 2) on a late spring afternoon, sun just about to set while our class of Mr Crowleys grade 7s were fielding in a game of cricket against everyone else. In the middle of the student cabins lie a field of grass which was greener than green and so soft between the toes that you would actually notice it. With the background noises consisting of wave breaks and birds feeding on little insects, and the smell of the preparation of our dinner slowly drifting from the kitchen to the field, this, this is what I compare many of my greatest memories to; none have ever made me feel this good, not yet.

As I listened through the album, I reached the final song, 'Road Trippin' where I remember being young and how much I hated this song. For some reason I just couldn't relate to it interpreting it as a song to get away, away from the beautiful memories I had made. But now, upon listening to it, I am reminded of my more recent past, the memories of NZed which I was coincidentally already viewing. The memories of getting away, away from home to see the world, make new friends and find a home away from home.

I was brought back to reality by Colas little growl sulk, and although I was a little sad of how time passed by so quickly, Jack Johnsons' Do you remember sort of put me in an appreciative mood although not directly through his lyrics. I do have a slight feeling of content knowing how much joy I get reminiscing about the past. I mean, a few years from now, I'd probably think of how much I would give to come back to today.

I promise myself to dust off my old camera and start recording some memories. I swear whenever it's out, priceless happenings usually occur, it must have magical powers......

Sunday the 24^th of January was a day which showed both one of my lowest and highest points in life. After the many stories of the few friends who wondered up the four and a half or so thousand steps of pain that is Mt Warning, we decided to give it a crack last weekend. As confident as I sounded the few Friday nights before talking to Ross about it, I had no idea how much trouble I was getting myself into.

We packed lunch early morning and what we thought a good supply of water and headed up Mt warning around 1030 or so. The drive down to warning was beautiful to say the least. Rolling green hills broken by great hanging cliffs followed the clear rocky rivers, so clear that schools of fish were visible. Happy spirits were presented mostly by myself and turned to silence only 400 meters up. Every step I took was a different one, changing between angles and heights and depths of the rock following. The path circled the mountain base endlessly and upon reaching the half way mark of 2.2 kilometers, it no longer was only physically demanding but mentally, it drained.

But powering on, step after step, lactic acid building with each stride, it wasn’t long after that thoughts of giving up were starting to creep into my head. I hated every person who came down past us. So much hope lost to effortless lies of those whom I trusted when they said we were nearly there.

15 minutes, 5 minutes; it took us nearly half an hour to finally reach what I thought was the end. Breaks in the canopy of endless rainforest showed exactly how high we really were with ribbons of light clouds swirling beneath us and tops of mountains, dark blue lakes and a continual platelet of green shades which coloured in between. No longer is there shade from above of the fanned out leaves of ferns, but now, as the sun beat down on us, what lied ahead was the biggest challenge.

The last leg of the hike was 200 meters up which inclined more than 45 degrees at points. There was a chain to the right to help assist those heading up but I found crawling up on all fours was much more easier. When I finally reached the top, no energy to even walk, let alone take in the sights, I found a shady area under a bush and lied motionless for a few moments. Even the 4 or so ants which bit me everywhere didn’t move me. I stumbled over to where the gang was calling me to find a platform, with a nice up breeze to cool my tooshie I found a place to get some sleep. We took a few photos to prove we had made it and with a little sip of water and a feed on bacon and egg rolls, we headed back down, taking less than half the time it took to get up.

The day ended with a relaxing afternoon at Wooyung and a feed at Yatala pies on the way home. Such an experience it was and I’m glad to have gone through it because now I will never EVER do it again.

Maybe when I’m a little bit more fit, Maybe.

So I was out of internet for a couple of weeks back because of my quota problems but I didn't forget to blog.

27th January, 2010

The past couple of weeks have taught me a few very valuable lessons.

1. Great friends are ones that cannot be distinguished between family. A friend is someone who knows your name and you know theirs. A great friend is one who’s been there at your lowest, and celebrated with you at your highest.

2. Great friends much like family can get pissed at you and you both have to solve it together and let time heal wounds.

3. Nothing is greater than your dreams. Life happenings can make dreams drift and forgotten but nothing is more satisfying than reviving your motivations and striving for your goals.

4. There are always idiots which make your life harder. Just don’t be tempted to become one.

5. It can take years for someone to love you, but an instant for them to hate you.

6. With positive thoughts, there are positive doings.

7. Life goes on.

Back home now from a good nights work which began at the 6er and finished at the gym, I'm feeling a little depressed wondering if there's anything that can make life a little more fulfilling. I think it's more boredom though considering I haven't really done much with myself for a few weeks now. 'Relaxing' on the holidays just doesn't seem to cut it really.

I searched pretty much 'how to make life more fulfilling' and through the many pages that came up, I found the answer summed up in a Nickleback song. I guess its not so much an answer, but it did stir up some brain jigglies. Yes I hear the moans and groans and I still am clueless as to why so many people hate them but who cares what other people think right?

Hope this helps you find new light. It has for me.

So I decided to have a sleep on the opposite side of the bed last night and had one of the worst nightmares I've had in a long time.

There I was standing near a cliff face, and an argument was going on about something between two girls whom had now been surrounded by a group that formed. I ignored most of what was going on and made my way to the bottom of the cliff (very much like kangaroo point) in which suddenly one of the girls in a laundry basket fell, I tried my hardest to direct her and the basket to the side just before she hit the ground to decrease the momentum but it did very little.

Being too afraid to lift up the basket, I stepped back and in doing so, noticed blood dripping from my face and in my hair, her blood. Still very calm, I made my way back up to where the original argument happened and just as I got there, the other girl jumped.

I woke up scared and still am. Still trying to figure out what it all means, I'm pretty superstitious. Lets see how I go tonight.

After only watching half of the Sandlot kids DVD that Bondy had brought over Friday arvo, I decided to finish it before going to bed that night. I must say I enjoyed it just as much as I did in 2nd grade when we rented it out from the now non-existent block buster down the road; old school VHS for a buck (7 weekly's for seven bucks).

I can't believe that even after so many years, I can still remember most of what happen; mind you, I probably watched that movie at least a hundred times. I remember the first baseball glove dad brought home from the flea market a few weeks later after realizing how much I loved baseball. Growing up in Australia didn't give me much of a chance to really get into it considering most of the neighborhood kids grew up with cricket but I still loved it. I loved it so much that when dad finally did bring home that baseball mitt, I begged and pleaded him to bring home a helmet. When he brought a cricket helmet home, I took off the grills on the front and wore it everywhere.

My sister and I would take turns wearing the mitt while throwing tennis balls at each other. It always gave mum grief when she found our pant knees stained green with little holes in them, (usually from slide practice) but I guess she was more relieved that we didn't have knee grazes stained red (she just didn't see them). I always dreamed to be like Benny back then. I loved baseball and even though I had never played a single game in my entire life, I knew I was good at it. It became life, it wasn't just a game anymore.

Every afternoon after getting home from school I would unpack my bag and take my baseball mitt out. Even though I never played with it when I was at school, it always gave me joy to just put it on and feel it for a few seconds, whenever I missed it. The smell of real leather and the weird smell it put on my hands when I took the glove off are ones I'll remember forever. When I put the glove on, I was Benny.

So when I got home, still in my uniform I pulled her out and put her on. No after school supper, no shower, no nintendo, there was just no time. I'd run out to the back yard to find 'the ball', one of many dozens of tennis ball lying around (the bouncy one with plenty of fur on it) to throw as high as I could in the air and attempt to catch it first go. The majority of the time the ball would land dead straight centre inside the glove, I mean, how hard is it to catch a ball that's thrown straight up in the air. But the days where the ball was let go just a little too late and ended up on the roof or an attempted slide missed the ball upon its contact with a surrounding obstacle, or nothing seemed too right, I would make sure I practiced that little bit harder because I knew if I wanted to be as good as Benny, I couldn't miss any catch.

I remember the day when I trialed for my first softball team at school. Even though it was softball and only minor differences were observed compared to baseball, it was as close as I would get to playing baseball. I had been waiting for so long for the chance to show what my practice had transformed me into. I stepped up to the plate, bat in hand and at full swing I hit my first home run. I did the dummy back to third after attempting to run to home which fooled those who hadn't played the game before. After the many years between then and now, I still cannot think of a time were I actually fulfilled the phrase 'step up to the plate' as much as I did that softball trial.

I remember as I grew older, the passion for baseball slowly died and became more and more a game to me. Although I can't pinpoint the exact time I started to lose interest, I think it was when life started to become a little clearer to me. When you start learning more about the world, it starts to disappoint you. I was no longer Benny when I hopped onto the softball ring with bat in hand because at every base there was another Benny, trying to become the best. Even though I hit a hat trick one game against serviceton state school, my dream was swallowed when we got smashed 30 runs to 1 against the murray school which was coincidentally, the first time I was actually scared to bat.

Although I learned of disappointment early, I guess I understand how important it is to try your hardest at everything you do. And if its not meant to be, then it's not meant to be; and you can at least admit that you tried your best.

Man I miss being young. I need to learn from my old self and get back on track.

Come back and teach me 14 year old Ly :|

Another year has past, and another year has begun and even though it's just another day ticking over to another, I do feel a little different.

This year, I spent my early hours of the new year with close friends up on a mountain watching terrible terrible fireworks. They probably wouldn't have been so bad if we had realized that anything seen from 20 or so kilometers away would look pretty small, no matter where you see them from. But none the less, it was an experience needed and one that we will never do again.

As the clock ticked over to twelve and the fireworks filling the minuscule sky viewed from on top of Mt Cootha, we decided that the fireworks weren't worth a half an hour trip down the mountain stuck behind traffic, so we legged it.

Yelling, well more like screaming loud 'Happppppppp-py New Year!!!' to the few we thought would return one, down the mountain brought tears of laughter to my eyes and made me realize that I stressed way way too much over how old I was getting last year.

We had our first maccas for the year and played games at IPM, what a way to start off the New Year hey.....

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Phuccie popped by over in the morning, not even giving me time to get out of bed to get some pants on (mind you, my laptop was right next to me so there was no real 'urgent' need for it anyway') and we talked fishing for a while. We decided to go have a fish to start the new year as well as begin our 'fishing comp' which ends sometime around July.

We finished the night with Phuccie landing 2 flatties, myself a bream and a half, Quangie a bream and phuccies dead flatty which he got disqualified for and bondy with a donut. We ended the start of our new year with a few games of Hon.

What a way to start the new year, one filled with the things we love to do. Hopefully it will be a good year, it's been a decent start so far.

HAPPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

May it be a year full of fun and enjoyment and one filled with many good memories. Good bye 2009, hello twenty-ten.

I finally reached it, 77 posts; more posts than last year.

And yes, this post counts, even though I cheated,

I make the rules....

Man, I love my little rottie so muuuuuccch!!

I couldn't imagine a day without her to be real honest. She's the only thing in the world that makes me happy on the days when life feels more dreadful than usual.

If only everyone could love like a dog loves their master, I reckon the world would be a much much better place.

So I've sorted out the majority of things which needed to be done this year to have any attempt at making this coming year a more pleasant one. One thing I did learn today were that if everyone were as nice to me as the lady at Centrelink was, I'd probably be a lot less miserable.

I've actually never mentioned being on the benefit have I, but if you didn't know by now that I'm a hole in the wallet, poorer than grubby finger nails then you have no idea. I very much appreciate what the government does for the under privileged and I can definitely hear whispers saying that they aren't so much under privileged, just lazy.

I agree and agree to disagree considering my own situation and how much even a couple of bucks a fortnight can help. If it weren't for the benefit, I really doubt we would be anywhere near how fortunate we are now, I mean, that's what gets the bills paid when you can't. But I do very well agree to those who believe that our taxes are used to pay those who have both arms and legs to move them off their lazy arses to find work but refuse to.

I'm not so much angry but I do believe it's unfair to those who work hard and spend little to barely survive even with government assistance. Maybe I should just be a doll bludger, makes life a little easier hey.

Stuff that, I couldn't imagine getting something for nothing. For every dollar I receive from Centrelink, you can be sure that I will return it in the near future when I turn into that successful Pharmacist the country helped create. Don't worry mum, I'll help you too!

Sometimes I hate preparing for the worst.

I'm always dissapointed; in a good way.

Today is the 28th and in a few days it's going to be 20-10. I can't believe that this year has gone by so fast! I mean, I only just remember sitting there by my lonesome self watching the fireworks end 2008 on the tube.

I've always believed that with every new year came new challenges and opportunities but both these came to those who are willing to look for them. I've found that for some reason, every-time the new year came round, it was much easier to forget the little things that bugged me during the year and to hypothetically turn a new leaf, start fresh. But as much as I ponder and linger to think of the new things I'll do differently this year, I'm actually contemplating whether I should even think about them, considering how this year turned out.

Reading last years new year 'resolution' has got me a little disappointed knowing that pretty much all of what I said I'd do differently this year, went the exact same way. Laziness was my number 1 habit to lose however I don't think I've ever been more lazy.

I can definitely attribute most of my 'uncompleted' (failed seems such a harsh word) tasks to laziness. I promised to quit security, reduce the hours at the sixer and find another job in which paid more and was more enjoyable; which never happened. Being lazy probably got me to end the year with the lowest GPA I've ever had with my first 'fail' in a subject. And being lazy has definitely put a toll on my health; I can't even remember the last time I gymed.

I know that sitting here and thinking about all the things I can improve on from last year would probably make this post near endless, but an episode of scrubs reminded me that sometimes you have to give yourself a break (I actually do wish someone would say that to me sometimes though). Yes I was lazy, and yes this year has probably been one where life didn't progress too much forward, but in the end, I guess there is a difference between acknowledgment and changing and being just sad about it.

I really am not sure if I will change this year but I do know for a fact that I will try harder. Lets welcome 20-10 with our arms wide open!!!!!!