After great start, the weight loss hasn't progressed. Has been around 102kg for past couple of days. Which is pretty normal. And as I don't have that hamster (oh when I get him I will post millions of pics and videos!) I have nothing to tell. At least nothing comes to my mind. I want to write, but don't have a subject.
So if you want to read something, just suggest a topic for me. 
Originally posted by Kyyberi
So if you want to read something, just suggest a topic for me.Lowest calorie great tasting hamster basting sauce?
I found it very hard to start exercise again after years and years of just working/eating and not doing much sport. But then when I started doing just a tiny bit of sport/day and then the result started to show a couple of weeks later (yeah weeks and it even takes months for some part of your body to even show a slightest change) then it really motivated me because its not only confidence boosting but also gives you an improved version of yourself (mentally in this case).
You wake up differently, you finally like to do a lot more things and have energy at all times. Not to mention, you also sleep better (I have huge issues with sleeping, so I'm like a zombie half the time) which is important for your body and soul. 
I don't run but I do a lot of walking (if you in the gym you can just set the incline between 9-13 and get speed walking for 30 min) while listen to your fav music or watch a short film on ipad. Then do 20 min weights and you're done. You also get to go outside a bit
Most of my work outs are at home anyway, just after I wake up or late evenings when temperature is low so I can actually do something with out boiling off my own skin. All you need is a yoga mat, a couple of weights (mines are 1kg-3kg) and a cool sound system on full blast to motivate you
sorry for wall of text 
Well I love to train. Biggest problem is usually my limited time for it. I work as a sports coach 4 times a week. Now I have made some arrangements so I can train while coaching 2-3 times a week. I also have an indoor bike that I am going to use when I have the time. I have never had problems with sleeping either.
Originally posted by Kyyberi
I work as a sports coach 4 times a week.
ok so you can forget everything I just said I've had no idea sorry. So you surely have a couple of motivation story for us!
Actually I have one minor thing about motivation. As I have trained and coached taekwondo for over 20 years now, I have been asked a lot what keeps me going to trainings day after another. It's the small pieces of greatness. When I do something exceptionally well in trainings, I really enjoy it. It might be one kick, one drill or one sparring session.
Big problem for some students is that they don't allow themselves to fully enjoy the small pieces of success. Expecially here in Finland, the "standard line" is to train with firm face, do the job, and be quiet about it. And I always try to teach my students that please enjoy when you do something good. You don't have to go crazy, but just celebrate it a little. Small pump of fist and silent "yeah!" to yourself. That also makes you learn better, as with little positive empazis your brain remembers the good performance better. And the key to learn stuff is to know when you perform it well and when not.
Somewhat same goes with poker. As a poker coach, I enjoy the small things. If I make a really good video, it feels damn good. One good coaching session feels good. And as a player, when I make a great play it feels good.
As poker is mental sports (if you can refer it to sports), it's a little different. At least for me. The great kick in trainings feels so much better than any great river call, mainly cos it's physical. In poker I usually try to keep my emotions in held, as too much emotion can ruin the level of play.
So if any of you find some motivational problems with sports, try to enjoy the small achievements more. Small things add up, and you might find a new inspiration in playing/training.
Another thing that came to my mind is "excel yourself" that is often phrased in martial arts. As most people understand that to their own way, here is what I think of it.
For me, the very essence of taekwondo is to excel yourself. Overcome the battle between your will and your body. And the occasions to do it is every time you feel tired and your body says "oh that's enough". Push it and do more. When you realize the power of will, or the trickness of your mind, you can really excel yourself. Here is one common practise I sometimes make for our higher belt students:
I just say "start making pushups". Not a word about repetitions or time. Just make them. Usually everyone is hyped up and starts doing them with good motivation. But then they get tired. It's always interesting to see how people react when they feel the first wave of tireness. Some give up right away, some slow down, and some might even push forward even harder. It tells a lot about their naturall "will to fight". Or the ability to excel themselves. So sooner or later they all tire up. When someone stops and says "I can't do anymore" and they are still in the pushup position, I rush in and say in loud voice "Come on, do one more! You can do it!" Then they make one more. If that looks easy, I might yell even harder "That's the spirit, come on make another! Fight for it!". And they do it. For some, this seems just standard.
But the lesson is that he was giving up, and said he can't do them anymore. And then he made one, two or even more. So instead of being absolutely not capable of doing another one, he felt and believed it. There is a huge difference between not being able, or believing not being able. People can do impressive things, if they truly believe in themselves.
I have said to my students, that if you can look in the mirror after a training session and say to yourself "today I didn't give up at any point" and truly believe that, it's one hell of an achievement. It sounds a lot easier than it is.
Let's get back to this a little later, here is one cool martial arts story:
After a training session teacher gathered the students around him, and asked "what would you do if you find out that you have 24 hours to live?". Firstly students said common things "I would take a big loan and spend it to all fun stuff", "I would get booze, drugs and girls" and the usual stuff. But then as they thought about it, they got little more serious. Some would spend the last day with family, some might call to a cousin they haven't met in years, some would call to his brother whom they hadn't spoken in years after some fight etc.
Then the teacher told them that ancient samurai's knew they could die in battle any given day, at any given moment. They accepted it, and they lived their every day like it was their last. That way, when they died, they wouldn't have any unfinished things haunting them. So if someone would call a cousin, why not call him right away? If you haven't spoke to your brother in years, why not make it up right now?
Of course we are not (at least not the most of us) samurai's, and we don't have to prepare ourself for everyday dying, the story is a nice reminder to us. "Live every day like it's your last" is a good motto, if put into right perspective. It means that if you think "I really should call my mother someday", don't wait. Do it know. Cos bad things can happen. And if something terrible happens to you or her, you would feel bad as you haven't called her for some time. Don't wait, do it now.
So back to exceling yourself in trainings. If you do every repetition like it's the last one. Or the only repetition you will do that day, you are on your way to excellence. If you are supposed to make 10 kicking drills, do you do 5 great ones, 3 good, and last two are little lazy as you got tired? Or do you treat every drill like it's the only drill that day, and you want to make it as good as possible? Later one is the way to go, but it's hard. You can't just decide that "today I am going to excel myself and make every repetition and drill with 100% commitment". If you have our normal 90 minute taekwondo lesson, it helds about 200 kicks/punches, and a shitload of other techniques and stuff. To excell yourself in all of those requires a lot of practise. So start with smaller goals. If you have that 10 drill exercise, try to do that with excellence.
The key to treat every repetition like it's the most important thing in the world is focus. And it takes practise to be able to point your full focus to something quickly. You can't keep 100% focus for 90 minutes, so you need to give it a rest. And it takes practise too. We do exercise it, as it improves the quality of one's technique a lot. Here is the exercise:
Do one kick to pad. But before doing it, put all your focus to that pad and the kick. Shut everything in thos whole universe outside of those two. The only thing that matters to you at this very moment is that pad, and the kick you are going to do. And then execute it. After that, release your focus. Let your mind go free for few seconds, and then start to focus for the next one. And repeat the thing.
Sooner or later you will learn to direct your focus rapidly, and also relax your mind rapidly. I have found that this skill benefits me a lot in my work. It's very stressing work sometimes, and there isn't a possibility to get a break. I am talking about kindergarten. Lot's of noise, lot's of fuzz, lot's of things to be aware of. When I was working in the warehouse, I could always take a short break and just not think about the work for few minutes. But in kindergarten, it's not usually possible. I can't just leave the kids and go to a coffee. Some days are more stressing than others. And when it's very stressing day, I find that I can relax my nerves and mind if I get a small breather. Some of my colleagues aren't capable of this and they can be very stressed out after a day or longer period of time.
Now look that that wall of text! It got a lot bigger than I expected. Wow.
That "cherish every moment" topic game up today as we had a evening meeting in our kindergarten. I talked to the other employees about the importance of those precious, little moments. The thing was that we all needed to pick a postcard that related to us and then explain to others why so. Normal "let's get to know each other and be friends blah blah blah" thing. I picked a card that had a text "Time is so valuable gift, that it's given to us in small portions".
Sometimes the hectic life and daily routines in kindergarten take over the control. The day is full of stress and moving on. Eat breakfast, wash hands, do the "educational exersices", go to bathroom, go to sit in the chair while an adult talks about boring stuff, go to change clothes, go out.
Small break here, as the kids can play with themselves for a while.
Clean up the outdoor toys, get in, change clothes, go to bathroom, go sitting in a chair, have lunch, eat fast, go to bathroom, undress clothes, go to sleeping room, try to be quiet if you don't feel like sleeping, get up, get dressed, sit in chair, eat afternoon snack, go to bathroom, change clother, get out, go home.
Daily routines from the kid's point of view. Constant fuzz about doing something soon. And sometimes the adults work with the same schedule. And then the mind is always on what's coming next. And if you constantly think about the future, it's hard to be REALLY focused to the present.
Think about 4 year old kid, who just lost his first tooth. What an event! He shows it to an adult, with slight confusion what is happening. That adult says "nice, but now eat your soup!". Kinda lame once-in-a-lifetime situation. And it is that; you can lose your first tooth only once in your life. And after that, the moment is gone forever. It's not the same to show it afterwards to mom and dad. That is another moment. And as the adult was so focused to what happens after the lunch, she missed the precious moment.
Kid's life is full of wonderful moments. They learn and realize new stuff every day. If an adult is awake, she/he can enjoy those moments too. And make them more memorable for the kid.
So that's what I talked about. And honestly, I think that in our finnish (at least in public) kindergartens a LOT of emplyees should really think about this. It's making me often sad when I see how little the adults are interested in kid's things. While I think that they are paid to be interested.
After those deep thinkings, it's back to numbers. This morning it showed 101,3kg. So it looks I won't hit 2 digits before the trip, as I leave tomorrow morning. But that is somewhat acceptable, 3kg in less than 2 weeks is a lot! I hope I won't gain a lot in the trip ♦
I have been busy at forums for the last 5 days, as there was some interesting stuff going on in local ice hockey game. Little bit of violence and controversial things, and a HUGE pile of shit in all medias. I have been writing dozens of posts about the subject, but I still have the feeling that most of the people don't have a clue what is going on in an ice hockey game. Sort of mentally exhausted for trying to explain stuff to people whom aren't really interested to hear it. They just rant about things without an understanding.
Average day in the internet, I guess.
Poland and dieting doesn't mix. Today we got in here, and one of the competitors (we are here for the taekwondo tournament) wanted to eat at McDonalds. We were super hungry, and there isn't anything near the hotel. So McDonalds it was. Later today we are going to eat in a restaurant, and as this goes on for the next 3 days I am pretty sure that it's hard to maintain any diet. But what the heck, I am not going to ruin my day with that.
There is one MAJOR bad beat though. My hotelroom doesn't include minibar. And that means that I can't get my beers cold. We visited nearby shop, local Lidl. There were some beers, and as I have no idea what they are I bought a single can of all of them. So next time I know what tastes the best.
I also thought about visiting the local casino today (as we have tomorrow a day-off) but skipped that. Too tired to sit in table for few hours and try to make good decisions.
We have a dope shower in our hotel room! Usually the shower is crappy, but this time it's a massaging steam shower with neon lights and radio. Gotta love it.
In front of it there is a warning sign that says that one shouldn't use it after concuming alcohol, after waking up, or after major physical exercising. I think I have broken at least two of those "rules" so far.
I wish. ♦ Haven't done anything that physical so far. Privileges of being a coach.
Originally posted by Kyyberi
Buah! Retro time! Stumbled to this old song in Youtube, and I just looooove the lyrics. Too bad the modern rap is so far from this. In this song it's all about clever lyrics. No hightech shit with music and wannabe-artistic crap. 2 guys, simple beat and awesome lyrics.
:heart:THIS TUUUNE
Nice blog. I've lost weight recently, I haven't been recording it or even trying hard to do it tbh. I was getting a pretty bad toothache for a couple days (and crapping my pants about dentist) so i stopped eating most sugar. Stopped eating sweets/candy and most important i think stopped drinking coke (used to drink a lot!!)
I was around 105kgs and now after a couple months with basically not trying at all im 96kg i have no more toothache and feel about a million times better from drinking water all the time and not coke.
This is probably not relevant at all to your weight loss i just wanted to share 
Keep the awesome posts coming
Little trip to Poland was baaaaad for my weight. At least it feels so, as I got little. But it's not hopeless, I just stepped to scale and it shows 102kg in the evening. So the overall plan to go 2 digits before the end of the month (and the hamster time!) is still achievable.
Speaking of hamsters (oh have I mentioned a hamster yet?), where can I find info on what kind of stuff I can or can't put to it's cage? I tried to search from internet, but it's all the same basic mambojambo. I want to know what kind of material should a skull be if I put it in the cage? Can I get the cage in black colour? Can the hamster harm itself if I put metal spikes in there?
2 Digits baby!
Went to a scale after I got home today from work: 99,8kg.
I haven't been this skinny since 2006.
