I’ve been spending a lot of time in the gym: Like two hours a day (morning and evening). I don’t have much else to do, with Mrs. Stevo being thousands of miles away. Leaving my essence as a puddle on the floor has had a tangible benefit. I have lost weight.
It’s an ago old story… The Stevo was a chubby child. Luckily, from his teenage years into his 20s he was a lean drink of water, lusted after by a bevy of (imaginary) babes. When thirty hit, combined with his predilection for laziness, he ballooned. When he came to China in 2005, he looked like, as his students said, a pig.
I lost weight, 20 pounds my first year. After that it see-sawed. The battle of the bulge was a constant skirmish with no victor. A one month holiday in January usually lead to binge eating. Sitting in front of a computer most of the day doesn’t help. Eating bushels of potatoes isn’t helpful either.
I bought a gym membership in September 2007, half-price with my school discount. I didn’t actually go until May of 2008, my reason being lack of proper shoes, and the laziness which preventing me from buying the proper shoes. (I have claimed to be the laziest man in Shenzhen. A colleague told me he once walked around all day with a rock in his shoe because he was too lazy to take it out. I handed him my crown. The king is dead, long live the king.)
Since acquiring footwear my workout life is one of stops and starts. I go hard for a month and then find myself too busy at work to make it to the gym (except for August, when on holiday. My reason: My gym gear was at school and I was too lazy to walk the half-mile to pick it up). Since I started this half-assed regime it’s been one step forward, half a step back. Progress, of a sort.
The gym I go to (spelled Jim on the door) is a wonderful place. There are few people ever using the weight room. The free exercise machines outside the building have a line up from dawn till dusk. Like most things in China, the gym is a strange experience. You can be running on the elliptical trainer like a man possessed, while a trio watches TV and smokes cigarettes 5 yards away. There is one man that arrives each day with his lunch, and eats it while sitting on a stationary bike, watching the wall-mounted TV. He never rides the bike. I imagine the gym is an escape from domestic responsibilities.
I have been going hard for almost two months now. Weights in the morning, cardio at night (I really need to get a heart rate monitor watch). It’s amazing how changing your diet helps. Not consuming beer as your primary beverage can lead to rapid weight loss.
A Jin is a Chinese pound. Two Jin equal a kilogram. I’ve given up using feet, inches, and pounds. I know my height in centimeters (a common question: How tall are you? Response: 179 centimeters.)
Long story short: Today, a milestone. I broke the 80 kilo barrier I have been good friends with for some time. Now, I weight 79.7 kilograms (175 pounds). Not quite the 160 of my youth, but respectable. Only 3.3 more kilograms and I’ll reach my goal (picked because it was a hair under 170 pounds. Okay, I still use pounds).
Christmas, with a buffet dinner and Jell-o shooters, will hinder my progress. I’ll cross that bridge when I come to it. Or pole vault across with my new muscular physique.
Mrs. Stevo is in for quite a shock. Hehe.
You look fabulous Stevo!
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Congrats Stevo, great job…
I have to embark upon again my regimen come January… It works for me but I wouldn’t suggest it to anyone, as Letterman says, “don’t try this at home kids”:
About 1000 calories a day, at least 4 miles a day of quickly walking a beach(barefoot, it eliminates the footwear issues) and plenty of red wine…oh, and cigs, can’t forget those…and water, lots of water.. and wine, red wine… 😉
R(etc… )
Ron in L.A.´s last blog post..Happy Hanukkah/ Chanukah
Way to go Stevo!
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Wands: Thanks!
Ron: That’s fierce, but I do respect the wine-based diet. I think I’m about 1000 calories a day at the moment. I burn 600 on the elliptical each night.
Truce: Thank you kindly.
Stevo | China´s last blog post..Weights and measure
Congrats!! I think that was just the motivation I needed to get my lazy ass back to the gym. I haven’t been since summer, and although I haven’t gained weight, I have become somewhat more marshmallowy.
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You have the identical expression in both the pictures. It’s kind of scary.
I can relate. Motivation is the biggest obstacle for everyone.
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Yay for Mrs. Stevo!
And I LOVE that the gym is spelled Jim. 🙂
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WOW! There’s hope for me yet! Happy Holidays!
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Very well done, Stevo. 🙂 I noticed you burning up those calories when I logged on to Twitter.
I like Ron’s regimen, but without a beach to walk on here in the Bogs, I’ll have to wear the new running shoes I just invested in.
Robin´s last blog post..Merry Christmas
Way to go !!
But your looks have definitely changed.
Jax: Marshmallow are sweet!
AJ: I’d much rather be behind the lens.
Anna: Staying motivated is another matter. I try but it is sometimes hard.
Julie: Chinglish is wonderful.
QR: There’s hope for everyone, I’m proof.
Robin: Ron should put out a book: The Ron Diet.
Cuckoo: Thank you.
Holy crap! I had to respond to this! I didn’t recognize your 2005 picture! It’s nice to see that all of us have had the same issue! Two kids and a desk job don’t help the slowing metabolism as we all age…but I discovered running a few years back and…well…have never looked back! I try to do a couple 5K races each year. Not the same weight I was in my youth as you say…but not bad. 🙂 Good for you for becoming a gym addict!
Allison: Thanks for stopping by. I run only when being chased. But the elliptical trainer and I are good friends.
Stevo | China Travel´s last blog post..An early New Year’s 2009