‘Water, water everywhere – not a drop to drink’

My apologies for not posting an update last week. The last two weeks have been a wild ride, from major floods in Jakarta to a medivac to Singapore. And, as me writing this update would indicate, I made it through both events.

Jakarta floods

My uncanny ability to find my way into disaster zones continues. From the New Orleans (’05) to the Yogyakarta earthquake (’06) to the Jakarta flooding of last week, my track record for the past few years indicates that if I move into your neighborhood, you might want to think about moving. The flood waters resulted in dozens of deaths and have left hundreds of thousands homeless, as well as struggling to find food and potable water. Heartbreaking and tragic, I was blessed again in not being personally impacted in any serious way.

Trip to Singapore

A few weeks ago, I started having problems with the dilation of my left pupil. A strange problem to have and one that puzzled all the local doctors. Concerns that it might be an indication of some major problem, I was sent to Singapore to consult with a neurologist and have an MRI. The most important results were that the MRI showed I do have a brain and that there aren’t any bubbles which could be life-threatening, at other than the schemes I cook up for myself. The real cause of problem remains largely mysterious. The diagnosis essentially concluded that the cause is unknown but the dangerous things like aneurisms have been ruled out, but there appears there may be a connection to my migraine headaches, which I have had problems with for a few years now. Similarly, the triggers can include the same kinds of things – caffeine, booze, and stress – some of my favorite things. For now, it seems I can add freaky eye to my long list of party tricks.

Though not fundamentally related to my weight-loss journey, I feel compelled to comment about my hotel in Singapore. I walked into the room to find of those mega-massage chairs, which was awesome until I returned to Jakarta and, upon recount of the experience, had the image of hundreds of bare bums breaking in the leather before my arrival by my friend – paradise lost. Apparently to make up for the expenditure on the chair, the hotel scrimped on toilet maintenance and beds. The toilet handle had a motion like a kick-start Yamaha dirt bike and a noise to match. I will resist the temptation of any jokes drawing comparison to my own bathroom noises. And the bed felt like they outfitted leftover hardwood from the Garden not as baseboards, but as the mattress.

Time to hit the gym. Next week, I will be back in Papua and hope to get some photos of the mountain hike that I promised a while back.

Down 10 kilos in 5 weeks!

Above - Body Mass Analysis from Feb. 5th
While in Singapore waiting for my medical appointments and MRI, I was able to get a full body mass analysis at California Fitness. They performed the test for free - so I feel some duty to pitch the gym: if you find yourself in Singapore, I would highly recommend this gym. The best news was that I have lost 10 kilos (22 lbs) in the 5 weeks since my start. That's a great start and I am happy about those results, especially given that I did not get good workouts for the latter half of January because of work issues. One week in, February has been good, so I hope to keep up the positive momentum.

The analysis provided lots of useful and interesting information – and will be a great baseline. While I was thrilled to be down 10 kilos, the test showed I still have another 50 kilos (110 lbs) of fat on my frame. That’s a lot of extra weight to be lugging around, and I know my body will breathe a huge sigh of relief when I drop it. As further motivation, the test showed muscle mass of 99 kilos and bones of 6 kilos – which means I will be one buff dude if I reach my target of 100 kilos while maintaining most of my muscle mass. I have always maintained I have an awesome six-pack in there somewhere, I just need to find it!

My buddy Sam posed the challenge to me of running the NYC marathon with him in November. My initial response to him was that I get fatigued after driving 26 miles, no way I am going to run that far. In seriousness, I have given serious consideration to the idea. For right now, I plan to stay focused on just getting the weight down enough to even consider it. I would, however, consider that the ultimate accomplishment as part of all this – but for now, I want to stay focused on the first set of goals rather than set the bar too high, too early.

For now, the road I face is hundreds of more hours of cardio on elliptical machines, bikes, and swimming to minimize the impact on my joints – especially my knees are in bad shape after years of football. However, aspirations of crossing that finish line in the Big Apple and breaking the rules to have a celebratory beer with Sam and Mike Blood in a NYC pub will help keep me going.