Fighting fat: week 13

Starting weight: 176 lbs. (BMI: 26.4 – overweight)
Nov. 20 weigh-in: 164 (BMI: 24.6 – normal)
Days worked out in week 11: four

Ugh. This has not been a good week for exercise.

My right shoulder is slightly tweaked so I've been holding back from doing much with it. It doesn't feel like anything serious and it's almost back to normal, but I'm not taking any chances. I had a rotator cuff injury in August 2006 that put me out of commission for about six months – it was the worst injury I can remember having.

But with Thanksgiving coming up, and a four-day weekend, I'm planning on training like an Olympian.

And get some much needed sleep.

I'm a little surprised that I dropped some weight this week. My upper-body routines haven't been as rigorous with my shoulder.

Nov. 27 weigh-in: 162 (24.3 – normal)
Days worked out in week 12: four

I figured I should go against the flow over Thanksgiving weekend by losing three pounds. That's right, on Monday morning I weighed in at 161 pounds.

I gained a pound back yesterday, but that's a good thing. Three pounds a week at this point is a little much for me.

The extended weekend meant plenty of sleep and time to heal my shoulder. I held back from heavy upper-body routines such as the bench press, and worked on my auxiliary muscles instead.

I also tried yoga for the first time – good stuff, I may try it again sometime.

But with my goal of 160 within reach, I can't let up. I started doing heavier routines again and I'm back on my protein shakes. I know muscle is heavier than fat, but I still have some flab to take off.

Online Escape: I am Iron Man

Does anyone believe that Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man is an inspired casting choice?

(For you non-Comic-book folk, Tony Stark is an alcoholic. Downey Jr. was a drug addict)

Fighting fat: week 11

Starting weight: 176 lbs. (BMI: 26.4 – overweight)
Nov. 13 weigh-in: 165 (BMI:
Days worked out in week 10: four

Whoo! New milestone — I'm down to 16.3 percent body fat, which places me in the “fitness” range. That's down from 18.5 percent in week five and 21.5 percent from week two.

With the holiday season coming up, I should have more time to kick it into intense mode and become a gym hermit. I'm hoping to drop below 13 percent and into the “athletes” range by the end of the year. But this requires a lot of time and discipline.

I'm enjoying that I'm starting to look more balanced. My arms are getting thicker, my back's filling out, my butt's gaining muscle mass. It's pretty sweet.

But my chest is still growing considerably. It's interesting not being able to fit into some of my old shirts because of muscle and not flab.

I'm planning on dropping two pounds in this next week. I need to make up for the weight I wasn't able to lose last week. I'm only planning on taking either Wednesday or Thursday off. The rest of the time, I'll be at the gym.

(And yes, that's the "Mortal Kombat" movie soundtrack playing in the video clip)

Fleeting life

Life is fragile – we just don't notice it until it's gone.

Last Friday my niece's close friend, Jeff, committed suicide. He was 21.

When she text messaged me about it last night, I called her to see how she was doing. She sounded sullen and confused. I could tell that she was still trying to comprehend the situation.

I like to think that I usually give decent uncle-esque advice to my nieces and nephews, but I was at a loss for words. This was something new for me, too.

I've been fortunate in that I have only lost a few people in my life. The closest was my maternal grandfather who died of lung cancer when I was 8 years old, but I was too young to fully understand what was happening at the time. I was sad because I knew he was gone, but it wasn't until years later that I realized how important he was in my life.

But that was a different situation. Although preparing for someone to die lies somewhere between difficult to impossible, we at least knew it was coming.

No one expected the events that transpired Friday.

Everyone described Jeff as a happy, energetic individual who was down-to-earth. There didn't appear to be any warning signs. He was someone who brought a smile to people's faces and enjoyed skiing and talking about his plans for the future – a future that will never be.

On Facebook and MySpace his friends have made online memorials, posting pictures and sharing their favorite memories about him. It's a start to mending the emotional wounds.

Though it's a cliché to say we have to go out and live life to the fullest, it's because of events like this that we realize that it cannot be taken for granted.

Perhaps that's the one good thing that comes out of this horrible mess.

Fighting fat: Week 10

Starting weight: 176 lbs. (BMI: 26.4 – overweight)
Nov. 6 weigh-in: 165 lbs. (BMI: 24.7 – normal)

It took a few weeks, but I finally dropped some more weight.

It was only a pound, but that's a pound less than I was last week. I believe the key ingredient has been more sleep.

The more impressive fact – impressive to me, at least – is that I'm becoming much stronger and agile than I have been in the past. The speed of my lateral twist running speed is increasing. My burst speed is improving somewhat – I haven't been working on that as much yet.

The only thing is – my right arm is noticably larger than my left. I don't think there's that much of strength difference between the two, though I could be wrong. One of my major focuses during the past two weeks has been building my arms and shoulders. Between every shoulder exercise, I do a bicep or tricep exercise.

Needless to say, my arms have been a little fatigued. This asymmetry worries me a little, but I'm going to try and fix it in the coming weeks.

It's been a while since I've checked my body fat percentage. I figure I'll go in either tomorrow or Thursday and check it out.

Meanwhile, my Chipotle diet has been working well. Perhaps I should go offer my story to the company for some free food.

Goal for week 11: Going to try and drop down to 163. If I work at it, 160 by Thanksgiving isn't out of the question.

Online Escape: 'U Really Got a Hold on Me'

This is one of my favorite "Sesame Street" skits of all time.

Missed opportunity

To my Asian-American brothers and sisters:

Where you at?

This past weekend, U.S. Rep. Mike Honda, D-Ca. came to Denver to speak with the community. It was an opportunity for us to discuss issues that concern us with someone on the national level.

Unfortunately, the turnout was less than overwhelming.

Let me put it this way – there was only one person less than the age of 30 at the emerging leaders meeting on Friday: Me.

And at the town meeting on Saturday, there were four of us – two of which were from AsiaXpress.com.

As great as it was to have a solo meeting with Honda and many of our community's experienced leaders, including former Colorado State Senate President Stan Matsunaka, it was disheartening being the lone voice for Asian Americans of my generation.

And as a journalist I'm supposed to observe and record the news, not be the one who's making it.

It's a stereotype that Asian Americans prefer to stay quiet and avoid rocking the boat when it comes to politics. It's another one that many in Generation Y (those born between 1977 and 1994) are apathetic to governmental affairs. Friday did nothing except perpetuate those claims.

The Asian-American voice is small on the national scale. Of the 100 U.S. senators, two are of Asian descent. Of the 535 voting members in congress, there are only six Asian Americans. That's 2 percent and 1.1 percent, respectively – far lower than the 4 percent of us who make up the U.S. population. It doesn't help that only 30.7 percent of Asian Americans who are eligible to vote actually did in the 2004 election.

If we want to have a voice, we have to become involved. Whether it's running for public office, volunteering for someone's campaign or just getting out there and voting, we have to make our presence known. If we don't, we'll forever remain known as the “silent minority.”

Congressman Honda's visit to Denver was a missed opportunity for the community. We can't let that happen again.