Pork: Not Always What You Think.

Just because it says it's pork, does not mean it actually is pork. Apparently. Also, what appears to be a Thai pork burrito is apparently not a burrito, nor is it actually pork. This country confuses me sometimes. On the bright side, I found toilet paper. You'd be surprised at what difference the little things make.

I don't really feel like writing anything right now, but I guess I should say something. I went out last night with some of the other teachers, and I have no idea where—but it's insane. Thousands of twenty-somethings drinking on the street, clubs pumping out ABBA and Queen.. I don't even know how to describe it. I'll try to add some pictures later, I'm having some phone connectivity issues.

Turns out the best type to video chat with family is at around 5AM—right when I'm getting home. Well then. We're going to try to find a better time, I think. I'm a little too busy to post a comprehensive update on Hong Kong, but it's absolutely fantastic. I definitely do not live in the tourist district, so I'm going to have to go on an adventure to find some food. It's okay, I bought plenty of TP, so it'll be okay.

Arrived

Landed safely in Hong Kong. It's 7:20pm here, 4am or something as far as my head is concerned. Fun fact: United will give you a lot of wine for free. I'm waiting for my guitar in the baggage claim, then meeting my recruiter, and then hopefully going straight to my apartment to pass out.

Hong Kong.

Tomorrow I’m moving over 6,000 miles away from home. I’ll be living in Hong Kong, working as a kindergarten teacher, all the while documenting my existential and physical journey. The last eight months have been a journey in itself, this trip bringing the entire adventure to a clean year and half exercise in reawakening and revitalization. The purpose of this blog is primarily as a means of showing my relatives pictures of my new life, since not all of them are on Facebook and/or Instagram (this is for you guys, Walker clan in Albuquerque!), but I’m also going to be talking a lot about fitness and random mental meanderings. Yes, there will probably be pictures of me in varying levels of shirtlessness. I do that sometimes. Deal with it. For a while here it’s going to be just fitness, since I haven’t actually moved to Hong Kong yet—unless you want to read about my packing. It really isn’t very interesting. My mom tried to watch me pack for a little while, but even she got bored. 

A little history on myself here, so the entire purpose of this blog is me: I was in fantastic physical shape all through high school: weight training, soccer, martial arts, plus I didn’t drink yet (and we’re sticking to that story). Then college comes, with buffet-style dorm food, extra-curricular beverage testing, inconsistent sleep, plus the dreaded “boyfriend-body” that comes with the complacency of a long term relationship. Just for comparison, in 2008, I weighed about 170 pounds; by December of 2012 I was up to nearly 210. It’s now mid-September of 2013, and I’ve been around 185 for the last few months.

I cut my caloric intake, all but stopped drinking, and made sure I just about never missed a gym day. I think I’ve formed some very healthy, very sustainable habits and exercises, and think they’re worth sharing. I keep things as simple as I can, and as a result, I never have to force myself to workout, I don’t over-think my exercises, and my diet is exceedingly uncomplicated. That being said, I’m not a health professional, anything and everything I say here, unless otherwise notated, is a personal opinion and/or anecdote. Just because it works for me doesn’t mean it will work for anyone else.

I thought I'd start off with documenting a couple of my workouts from the last week. I don't like doing the exact same workouts week after week, so I do my best to mix things up.

I’ve been keeping my workouts relatively simple in the days leading up to Hong Kong, so they’re definitely less extensive than they normally are.

I've been pretty pressed for time in the last week, with packing, paperwork, and whatever else, so I've been keeping my workouts to 30 minutes or less, usually not counting a run before or after. 

2 mi run

Bench         Dumbell row (one arm)

135x8         65x8

135x8         65x8

185x8         75x8

185x8         75x8                Two sets one exercise, 30 seconds rest in between each, straight to other

225x5         85x5                exercise, two sets with 30 seconds in between, until finished

225x5         85x5

245x3         95x3

275x1         95x3

Rope tricep pull-downs    

120x12

x2

140x12

x2

Strict one arm bicep curls 

30x8

15x16               Follow each 30/35 set immediately with half the weight for twice the reps

35x8

17.5x16

Skull crushers (slowly)

75x8

x2

Tricep pushdown straight bar

120x12

130x12

Hammer curls

50x5

55x5

60x3

65x3

1 mi run

I just realized how long that took to write out a 30 minute workout, so I'll save the other ones for later.

So. Hong Kong tomorrow. Crazy. I'm going to go make ribs and play with my cats.