Purely Thoughts

  • Uber Disruption

    I like Uber. As a customer, it makes my business trips easier. I get from A to B in a timely fashion and even have pleasant conversations with the driver from time to time. I don’t have to worry about whether the driver takes credit cards and there is no tipping.

    jp03Ride2-articleLargeBut I also like Uber as a business, despite recent blunders by their management. I like them because they are disruptive. For too long has the taxi industry (if one can call it that) been somewhat of a monopoly and there were no other choices to get to, for example, the airport (assuming limos are too expensive and shuttles too inconvenient). Uber has managed to disrupt this old business model and challenged a number of key aspects: the cars are in much better shape, the drivers more professional and courteous, integration of state-of-the-art technology and no tipping or exchange of cash. Uber is now forcing the taxi industry to wae up, rethink their model and compete for the first time. And we all know that competition is good.

    Of course, the critics say that Uber drivers (Uber X folks that use their personal vehicle) aren’t properly licensed and safety and insurance are an issue. But I have to ask: if licensing is supposed to make things safer, how come taxis are usually in terrible shape, with worn out, under-inflated tires, creaky ride and drivers often don’t even care to wear their seat belts, are over-tired and usually grumpy? Do I feel safer in a cab? Absolutely not, just the opposite! More often than not, I wonder how my cabby manages NOT to have an accident considering the way he drives.

    I hope Uber management gets their stuff together and gets rid of some bad apples. Hopefully all the lawsuits result in more reasonable laws instead of putting disrupters like Uber out of business. I just enjoy too much the convenience of this great model and how they kick the cabbies’ asses! At the end of the day, the better and most cost-efficient experience should win and with that the customer. Right now that means bye-bye taxies!

  • The Scale of the 21st Century

    As you might know from previous posts, I’ve been religious about weighing myself to track progress. That’s probably why my scale died. Consequently I was looking for worthy replacements. I recalled seeing the Withings Smart Body Analyzer in the Apple store and ended up ordering it from Amazon.

    Remember when the iPhone forced you to rethink what you knew about what a phone was and does? That’s close to how this little miracle device made me rethink what a scale is supposed to do. This thing measures

    • WithingsscaleWeight (duh!) –  in 0.1 lbs increments
    • Body fat % (through induction – at lease directional, but probably not super precise)
    • Heart rate
    • Room temperature and CO2 in 1-hour increments.

    After you’re done with measurements, it transmits the info via your WiFi network to a web service whose data you can access via the Withings Healthmate web site or an iPhone app. The latter integrates with Apple’s health app as well as MyFitnessPal. Suffice it to say these services provide you with all the tracking and graphics you could ever hope for – and more. Did I mention the scale automatically recognizes all your family members who can have their own accounts?

    This sleep device has worked seamlessly so far and not only made my life easier (no more manual logging of weight etc.), it has also provided additional data and made tracking all this information extremely convenient.

    Overall, I’m quite impressed so far. This is what a scale of the 21st century is supposed to do. This makes me curious to see what other companies will come up with disruptive ways to rethink what the electronics and machines around us should really be and do…

     

  • I’m Mixing It Up

    I’m mixing it up, starting Monday. After several weeks of careful consideration, I’ve decided take on a new role in my current organization, but in a different department/business unit, with different organizational scope, different subject matter and responsibilities. I’ll be building out a new function and I’ll be the first guy on the ground. The function itself is new and only time will tell if it’ll “stick”. I’ll be traveling more. And instead of spending most of my time with people on site, face-to-face and only some time on the phone, it’ll be the opposite. Not everyone “here” will understand or like my move. The word “risk” definitively crossed my mind. But then my more rational side took over. I’ve been in the same department for 7 years although with increasing responsibilities and titles in an ever-changing and dynamic organization. Still, it’s in essence my comfort zone. How much do we, as professionals, really grow if we don’t expose ourselves to new stuff, challenge ourselves with new things that are beyond our comfort zone? Sure, I could “stick around” and still learn and grow, to some extend. But when I look back at it 2 years from now, what will I really have to show for the extra time spent? What will people reading my resume think? Are things getting a little stale and I’m just not that aware of it? When it comes down to it, the comfort zone is seductively smooth and “easy”. Maybe it’s a false sense of security it creates. When I speak to and read about other successful leaders, I usually see more “movement” in the course of their careers, not slow, linear progression.
    As described in the book The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business, we all build certain routines and habits. Once established and refined, our brain is able to follow these routines with little incremental effort. Been there – done that. Run a certain meeting – check. Present to certain group of people – check. Solve an issue in a given area – check. We’re able to maneuver the day by flowing from one established habit to another without pushing our brain much.
    That’s what I’m mixing up: I’m forcing myself to do new things, learn new skills, build new relationships, challenge myself and make my brain hurt again. I know it’ll be rough at first, but that’s the price one has to pay for stretching oneself beyond the comfort zone. I’m sure there’ll be days, where I’ll regret this. But then – I’m hoping – in the long-run it’ll help me grow and expand as an individual and professional. And according to this great article (If You Do These 20 Things Every Day, You’ll Become Smarter), I’ll even end up being smarter because of it… 🙂
    Just the other day, I saw this image and the words resonated with me:
     nottakingrisks

  • Weight Loss for Creatures of Habit

    I’ve never seriously considered losing weight, even though over the years my weight slowly increased by a pound a year and my waist size was up 2 inches from where it used to be. At 5’10” with 213 lbs at age 42, I thought I was okay. Hey, I exercised 5 days a week (including intense martial arts, running and tennis), ate decently and was overall pretty healthy. So my weight was probably due to muscles, right?

    Beginning the Journey

    Whatever it was, in January of 2013 I read something about fitness apps and tracking exercise and calories. On a whim, I downloaded MyFitnessPal and put in my data. I set my target for 200 lbs, which resulted in a daily calorie limit of about 1,800 calories or so. Then I started tracking everything I ate as well as my exercise. Being anal and a little OCD, I quickly became obsessed with making sure all my information was entered properly at all times, including a daily weigh-in. It didn’t take long to realize that 1,800 calories a day isn’t a whole lot. I figured out a number of changes I had to make as far as my diet:

     

    • Cut out the morning OJ to reduce sugar/carbs.
    • No more Gatorade after my workouts – I found a sugar-free substitute (Sqwincher Qik Stiks).
    • Generally reduce the carbs, even whole wheat variants
    • Watch portion size even more than I already had.
    • Switch to a uber-healthy and low-calorie 9 PM snacks

     

    When I worked out hard, it gave me “calorie credit”, which allowed me to eat a little bit more. So as an admitted creature of habit, I decided to bump up my routine and exercise 7 days a week, even if that meant getting up at 5:30 on Fridays to go running before work (I usually work out at night). 7 days a week sounds harder than it is and with the right routine is quite doable. I thought my body needed rest days, but it adjusted quite well to working out every day. Tracking everything with MyFitnessPal was immensely helpful and educational. It helped me fine-tune what I was doing and identify little mistakes and areas of improvement. With this app-induced awareness, I was able to start dropping pounds quite consistently.

    Getting on Auto-Pilot

    Routine – in my case – is the key. I tend to follow the same routines and patterns and they become second nature. In order to really be effective and put my diet on auto pilot, I came to the realization that if I just changed my old routine and established a new one, I could get into a mode of sustained weight loss without having to fight too hard for it. Sticking with it is easiest for me if I don’t have to think about it too much, just follow the established routine.
    Example: I used to eat at Quizno’s most weekdays. Even their turkey bacon guacamole sandwich had 700-800 calories. This seemed to be okay before, but thanks for MyFitnessPal, I learned that this wasn’t all that great, I So I changed my routine and started going to Subway almost every day, where a ham sandwich with healthy ingredients and no mayo was in the 400-calorie range. I had read the book Change Everything earlier and two key elements helped me:
    • Identify critical moments where I am most likely to go off track and figure out how to avoid falling off the wagon. In my case that was free food catered for meetings at work. So I learned to either walk away (not always easy, especially with free pizza in the lunch room) or reduce the portion size and fill up mostly with salad and just have a little bit of the “bad stuff”.
    • Visit your “default future”, which means envisioning myself and what I would look and feel like if I didn’t do anything about my weight. Not always a pleasant thought. Reversely, I started liking to envision myself “ripped” and with a noticeable 6-pack.

     

    After about 2 months I had fine-tuned my understanding of the foods I ate and the exercise I did on my calorie budget. With my new habits, I stopped tracking food and exercise, but still held on to the daily weigh-in. Due to the heightened overall awareness and knowledge I had built, this didn’t negatively affect my weight trajectory.
    As the months were coming and going and my weight was consistently dropping, I kept reaching and surpassing my goals. 213 lbs became 200, my original target. I kept going and reached 190. Nice! How does 185 sound? Doable. But at 185, I figured 180 is a nice round number. At 180 I was stoked. I recalled being at 175 lbs when I was in my late 20’s with a 32” waist. So I kept going and made it to 175! And I still kept going. Since everything happened so automatically and without much effort, it was almost easiest to stick to my routing and the weight would drop by itself.
    At this time it’s pretty easy to just keep going and I’ve managed to drop to 173 lbs, which means I dropped 40 lbs (19% of my original weight) in about 18 months, which far exceeds all goals I’ve ever set. I am happy to now have the six-pack and noticeable muscle definition in my core I always wanted. And my waist is down to 31”, even less than in my 20’s.
    It’s annoying to have to buy new pants and smaller shirts, but it is rewarding when people come and ask whether I lost weight or comment that I look good or thin.
    How long will I keep going? I haven’t figured it out yet, but in the mean-time it’s easiest doing what I’ve been doing and seeing where these new habits lead me.

    MFP-screenshot-cropped​My weight over time

    Fine-Tuning

    There are a number of things I’ve been tweaking and experimenting with throughout my journey and I’m still tinkering with them.
    Here are some of the changes and learnings:
    • Fill up with low-calorie vegetables and salads with vinaigrette dressing before hitting the main course. It’s easier to control portion size of “dangerous” items when you almost feel full already.
    • I try to “skip” one meal a day by replacing it with a liquid meal (e.g. avocado/soy milk shake or Glucerna drink) augmented with carrots, hummus etc. for extra volume and satiation. Something in these nutritional / meal-replacement drinks miraculously keeps you full longer too.
    • Not having a steaming meal waiting for me when I come home from work helps. An empty table is far less tempting and helps just reach for a shake and carrots/fruits.
    • Fruits are good, but know they do contain a decent amount of sugar, so don’t overdo it.
    • I don’t skip breakfast and usually have a light lunch. Instead I tend to “skip” dinner and go with a very light 9 PM snack. The body burns calories earlier in the day and not having much for dinner prevents calories turning into fat over-night. On the contrary, going to bed slightly hungry isn’t fun, but you don’t know you’re hungry when you’re sleeping.
    • After a light breakfast, I found out that mixing some whey protein powder into a glass of soy milk keeps me feeling full longer.
    • I snack on unsalted peanuts during the day. I eat way less if they’re unsalted and don’t have to drink as much. I also like Corazonas bars. Snacking on good stuff helps me not feel hungry throughout the day.
    • If you fill up with plenty of liquids, including water, you will feel less hungry.
    • Eating protein in the morning, e.g. egg whites, keep you full longer than carbs or insoluble fiber.
    • My family and I eat out on Friday and Saturday night and I drink lots of Diet Pepsi. I learned that it’s okay if my weight seems to go up over the weekend. Come Monday, I’ll be okay again and continue my slide down.
    • Since we go out for dinner Friday and Saturday night, I switch things on these days and try to skip lunch on those days (read shake). A grande, unsweetened Starbucks iced coffee with soy milk will help me feel full after lunch (and it’s a little reward).
    • I weigh myself at the same time every day to compare “apples to apples”, i.e. right before going to bed.
    • If you want to skip lunch, leave the office and go somewhere, walk around etc. It’ll distract you from the fact that you’re not eating.
    • Nuts and seats are your friend. As a matter of fact, you can turn chia seeds with a few oat flakes, raisins and soy milk into a cereal/snack.
    • Cheese sticks and turkey jerky make good filler snacks. Did I mention carrots yet?
    • Hummus is full of good stuff and low in calories.
    • (Greek) yoghurt is good for you, but watch the sugar.
    • Skip the rice, pasta and other starchy sides and just go for lean meat and vegetables.
    • Watch for rich sauces and dressings or mayo.
    • A little dark chocolate is good for you.
    • When watching TV, I started doing push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, planks, leg lifts, etc. Your body weight is sufficient to build strengths for most of your body – no fancy equipment is needed. (Only exception: biceps. Haven’t figured that part out yet.)
    • I just got a set of resistant bands and am experimenting with different arm and shoulder exercises – also while watching TV. A massage roller can also be a good way to change things up.
    • The more weight I lost, the easier the strength training goes and the longer I can run, which in turn helps burn more calories. This is a self-enforcing cycle in a way.
    • Running in the morning right after getting out of bed is tough on your body. Have a shake or yoghurt before you head out and start slow. My joints tend to ache a little until I stop to stretch 5 minutes into the run. After I start to feel better and my body has finally figured out that the warm bed is now history.
    • I’ve always had knee issues since I was a teenager, but switching to a mid-foot strike instead of heel strike running style paired with light, more minimalist shoes (<= 4 mm heel-to-toe drop, e.g. Brooks PureConnect or Altra “The One”) have helped me run longer and pretty much eliminated my knee issues.
    • Do different workouts and mix it up, so no one part of your body get consistently fatigued. While one part is recovering/rebuilding, the other is getting a workout. I do martials arts, run and play tennis every week. Where possible, I add hiking and swimming. Don’t slack off when you’re traveling.
    • I’d love to use a fitness tracker (Nike FuelBand, Jawbone Up, etc.), but since I can’t wear it during Tae Kwon Do, I’d always be missing out on my main workouts. For running, I like my iPod nano since running with music is more fun and it tracks time and distance. (I tried a heart rate monitor too, but hated the chest strap.)
    • Your weight will fluctuate based on meals, times of eating, how much liquid you’ve had post workout, and other factors. Expect little ups and downs of up to 1 lbs a day even if you “do everything right”. Week over week is a better for comparison purposes and gauging success than day over day.
    • This isn’t a sprint (despite early successes). This is a lifestyle change.
    • Read about working out and nutrition.
    • Get rid of clothes that are now too loose and baggy. It can be fun to get a new wardrobe and you’ll never need those big clothes again, right? If you toss them, you’ve mentally eliminating the “way back”. This should be a one-way street.
    These are just my learnings. Your mileage will vary. Key is to figure out what works for you and stick with it. Be open to try new stuff.

    Net/Net

    Admittedly not everyone is like me. But in my case, building self awareness and creating new habits that become second nature were key to my success. Other people may not be as routine-oriented, but nonetheless, a lot of the things I’ve learned will be transferrable. I feel good (and hopefully look better), am healthy, have good energy, and am happy with the new me. I plan on keeping at it. After all, it’s hard to break with my habits.
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