picked up a GoWearFit to try out. mainly, i just wanted to get another calorie estimate. initially, it estimates the calories i needed based on age, weight, activity, weight trend. this initial estimate was 3000 calories. based on counting calories for over a year, i knew this was a high estimate.

now having worn the device for 2 days, its averaging that i'm burning over 3200 calories each day. i also think this is a high estimate. because i generally eat about 2000 calories. if i was really burning over calories 3000 calories a day, then i would be losing 2 lbs each week. the problem is my weight has been mostly constant lately, and i generally only lost 1 lb a week when i was losing. when i was heavier, i did need 3000 calories; but as i lost the weight, it dropped to 2500 calories, and then 2000. at one point, i was only eating about 1500-1750 calories a day to keep losing. anyway, i'm assuming its caloric expenditure estimate is high because it initially estimated by caloric needs were so high.

so i ran its nutrition estimator by providing 3 days of my food log. that dropped my estimated caloric needs down to 2000 calories a day (thats with a 10% underestimation). so i'm assuming the GoWearFit device will have more conservative measurements over the next couple days.

as i lose more weight, it becomes harder for me to keep losing. i think part of the problem is my body is too efficient. so the plan is to keep it guessing. i already do this when it comes to weight training, but haven't really tried it with nutrition. for nutrition, i've mostly kept moving calories lower, and that works to an extent; until your body starts shutting down. the plan is to cycle between what would be a pre-contest bodybuilder diet and then a weight gain diet. i'm thinking 4 weeks pre-contest and then 2 weeks weight gain to start off with.

the pre-contest diet is super restrictive. only lean proteins (chicken, turkey, lean fish, egg whites). starchy complex carbs earlier in the day (oatmeal, bulgur, sweet potato). fibrous carbs in the evening (broccoli, green beans, asparagus, ...). fats from flaxseed oil and almonds. within this phase, i'm also going to try carb cycling. so i'll have a high carb day (150 grams), medium (100 grams) day, and low carb (~50 grams) days.

the weight gain phase will still be 'clean' food, but more of it for more calories. fattier protein sources will be added back in (e.g. beef, salmon, sardines, some egg yolks), and every day will be a higher carb day. there will also be more 'good fat' foods (e.g. avocado). plus fruits (e.g. berries) and dairy (e.g. greek yogurt).

the workout routine will coincide with the nutrition routine. so i'll be training for size during the pre-contest diet (i.e. 10+ reps) and for strength during the weight gain phase (5 reps). the extra calories are needed for the heavier weight, and the heavier weight is needed to get the testosterone flowing.

i met this years goal. bodyweight dropped just below 190 lbs. bodyfat percentage is below 8%. in total, i lost ~20 lbs this year (55 lbs from Apr 1st 08). visibly, i still have a little fat covering my lower abs and love handles. that said i've got more definition all around; especially when lifting. my strength has dropped a little, but is still about the same as the start of the year. leg strength is actually up after re-incorporating deadlifts. for lean muscle mass, i still seem to average losing 1 lb of muscle per every 5 lbs lost.

its been a struggle with my ego as i lose size and strength. so i have to keep promising myself that i'll work on bulking up again later. and i'm trying to redirect the ego towards getting lean and seeing more definition. this part is not easy for me.

i kept experimenting with nutrition. the main change was avoiding all processed foods, and preparing all my own meals. a typical day now looks like :

breakfast - oatmeal and egg white (1 yolk) pancake, asparagus
snack - blend protein shake, mixed berries
lunch - 4oz chicken, brussel sprouts
meal - 4oz fish, quinoa or barley, green beans
pre workout meal - 4oz beef, mixed veggies (starchy)
post workout drink - whey protein shake, yogurt, blueberries
post workout meal - 4oz turkey, beans, broccoli
nighttime snack - casein protein (on heavy days, mix with tofu)
other snacks throughout the day might be edamame, almonds, prunes.

this meal plan gives me a consistent amount of protein throughout the day, from many different sources. it minimizes carbs, fruit, and dairy but still keeps my energy levels constant (mentally and physically). compared to last year, i eat alot more veggies, which provides a ton more fiber. i really like this plan on the days when i get to workout early in the morning, because then i get almost all my starchy carbs taken care of just after noon.

it sounds trivial, but i spent some time this year learning about grocery stores. serious. i would go into a store during their off hours and spend an hour or two studying the products they offered. reading labels and comparing products takes time. i also tried some new foods. each shopping trip, i made sure to pick up 1 new item that i had no idea how to eat. then i'd go home and search for 'how to eat/cook X'. youTube really came in handy for this.

next years goal is set. the plan is to keep cutting down to the obligatory 'six pack'. i'm not entirely sure what my bodyweight will need to be to meet this goal? when i weighed 245, i would have guessed 215. when i was 215, i would have guessed 200. when i was 200, i would have guessed 190. now i'm 190 ... and i've learned to stop guessing. anyway, i calculate my lean mass above 175 lbs (estimated) ... so i should be close ... hopefully. the problem is my genetic disposition for storing fat primarily at the midsection is entirely working against me.

so this post is to draw a line in the sand :
i will post an 'after' picture sometime in 2k10

this was finally all wrapped up. the notebooks that were damaged were 'fixed' with ethernet notebook cards, or usb-to-ethernet adapters. but that left damaged ethernet ports on an xbox 360 and a Netgear ReadyNAS. since i want to use Netflix streaming with the 360, i'll end up replacing it with a new one. in the meantime, i've just been using it with a wireless adapter. that left the ReadyNAS, which effectively became a brick without the ethernet port. Netgear refused to fix it, because it was out of warranty, even though i was willing to pay for repairs. i also didn't have any luck finding an electronics shop that gave me confidence they could repair it. plus it wont work with usb-to-ethernet adapters. so the only way to get to the data is move the drives over to my 2nd ReadyNAS (which still works). Netgear refusing to repair the device put me off ReadyNAS, so i'll ultimately move the data to a 2nd WHS device.

my home owners insurance would cover the lightning strike, although there is a $1000 deductible for personal property damages. since my claim would be less than that, there was no need to file. fyi, my rates would not have gone up since lightning strikes are not my fault ... disregard the lightning rods, kites, and blasphemy.

so that left filing a claim to APC. it took a while, and i had to ship 2 heavy UPS to them, and then it took even more time, but they did agree to pay the claim. also, one of my UPS was no longer supported, and they shipped me a newer replacement for free. i'm not sure about the 2 UPS that i just shipped them ... i'm wondering if i'll get the newer model back? anyway, APC earned a customer for life.

now i'm waiting for the next lightning strike. the main addition is a power cleaner on the outside of my house. so a surge should be stopped before it even gets in, or before it gets close to a data line. if a surge were to come in through the data line, then that should fry my cable modem 1st ... if it were to get through the data protection of an UPS before that. all my devices are still on a UPS (some of them newer models). finally, i have some additional data surge protectors (APC) between long runs of ethernets. so if a surge did get inside the house, and jumped to a data line, the damage should be localized to 1 room, instead of knocking out equipment all over my condo.

er, um ... i've been searching for healthy cooking / food science shows. notice that most of these are for foreign audiences. here's what i've looked at :

BBC The Truth About Food - 6 part series about being healthy, sexy, feeding kids, etc... good stuff. i like how the UK will somewhat abuse the people they use in their experiments.

Food Detectives - food science. so far there experiements are entertaining, but i'm not sure i've gotten much use out of them. granted, i've only seen a couple episodes.

Food Investigators - Australian series that is mostly about how to pick healthier foods. i like it.

Good Eats - educational and entertaining. the problem is alot of the dishes have been too unhealthy. so i generally watch it to learn cooking basics, how to pick ingredients, and then i look for healthier preparation options online; or i make my own substitutions. but the host, Alton Brown, just lost something like 45 lbs ... so i'm holding my breath that the series will become healthier.

American Test Kitchen - this is real similar to Good Eats. they go in depth about 1 dish / ingredient, talk about cooking options, tools, etc... this show stands out in that they seem to frequently show what can go wrong.

What's Really in our Food - i think this is New Zealand. similar to Food Investigators, they help you decide the healthiest foods to eat. i like it.

Biggest Loser - er, um ... i tried to watch this, but i hated it. its way too much reality tv, too much intensive training, and barely any nutrition. people commonly refer to losing weight as 80-90% nutrition ... but instead the show seems to show 80-90% training.

what else should i be watching?

i like the treadmill desk, but the problem is its been a bit too easy. if i increase the speed, then it becomes much more difficult to use the mouse accurately. the other option is too increase the incline. this increases the diffuculty at lower speeds, but changes the ergonomics. this wouldnt be a problem if i could easily change the height of the desk. its also not as 'smooth', because my trunk isnt as stable vertically. but now i've started to wear a weight vest while walking on the treadmill desk. this increases the difficulty at low speeds and doesnt mess up the ergonomics. started out by adding 20 lbs ... and love it. now it actually feels like a workout. it really works the leg muscles and forces the core to activate. i wish i'd been doing this from the beginning, and adding weight to the vest as i lost body fat. as far as vests, my vest is long-wide and goes up to 40 lbs. the plan is to outgrow this vest, and then switch to a short-narrow vest that can hold more weight. also, i need to make sure that the side straps are padded (and/or low), because my inner arms rub against the straps because of my lats.

when i was on an AI kick, I had a spider bot. started out using negative reinforcement to train it, but it would still find content i did not like. the key was to train it with positive reinforcement, and it ended up getting lost in good content. now i use that same technique for my diet.

instead of concentrating on the foods i cant have, i just think about all the good foods that i should eat. there are enough good foods, that i really dont miss the processed crap. so i really like the book The 150 Healthiest Foods on Earth along with the website whfoods.com. along the way, i've been having to learn how to cook. as Andy suggested, i turn to Alton Brown and Good Eats. i like his series because each episode generally concentrates on a single type of food. alot of times, i'll decide to try one of the healthiest foods from a source above, and then i'll see if there is a Good Eats episode dealing with it. of course i just skip the desert episodes. there really needs to be more 'healthy' cooking shows, something like these Cooking with Christina episodes on bodybuilding.com. speaking of bodybuilding.com, i started out reading there nutrition articles to figure out the macro-nutrient percentages i should be aiming for. it also has an endless supply of bodybuilder diets that i can attempt to figure out which one works best for my body type. so i've really had to relearn what food is. this has required alot of experimentation. so i make it a point to get at least 1 new food every time i go to the grocery store. this has helped me to rediscover alot of foods and find many new ones. there's been a couple times where i've taken an unlabeled veggie up to the grocery store checkout line ... and nobody even knew what it was (i.e. parsnips).

as far as organics, i saw the Penn & Teller Bullshit episode. so i dont really bother with organic veggies or fruits. i'll sometimes get organics just because the package might be smaller. otherwise, i might get the organic variety of a processed food. granted, i dont eat many processed foods to begin with ... but the organic variety generally wont contain unnecessary additives like high fructose corn syrup. about the only thing i regularly get that is organic, is organic decaf coffee beans.

for the last 4 months, my bodyweight kept bouncing between 196 and 201 lbs; although the goal had been to get below 195 lbs. so i backpedaled and started experimenting with the diet. i tried a seriously low carb approach, but that destroyed my energy levels and ability to think. then i tried just getting starchy carbs before and after a workout. the problem with this approach is that i never seemed to wake up in the morning. so i found out that i require starchy carbs in the morning (to get started) and then before and after workout. that worked for about a week, and then my energy levels would start dipping.

what seems to be working now is to have a mandatory 'cheat' day. for 5 days, i eat 1500-1750 calories per day. 40 grams fat, around 125 grams carbs, and over 200 grams protein. these days are mostly lean meats, fibrous veggies, some starchy veggies and some grain. i dont get any fruit or dairy on these days ... so there is very little sugar. on the 6th day, i 'cheat', and get about 2500 calories. i change things up by eating over 250 grams of protein, around 300 grams of carbs, and only incidental fats (less than 20 grams). the additional carbs come from more grains and starchy veggies, plus lots of fruit and dairy (tons of sugar). this cheat day seems to keep my metabolism from becoming too efficient. it also keeps my energy levels from dipping too low.

on the new diet, my bodyweight just dropped to 194 lbs. this is significant because it makes a total loss of 50 lbs. for bodyfat calipers, my chest and thighs still measure around 4-6. my belly had been measuring 15, but now its down to around 10. for measurements, my waist dropped from 36 to 35.5. belly (measured at belly button) dropped from 36 to 35. love handles dropped from 37 to 36. so this is the first time my belly measurement dropped below my waist measurement. visibly, i still have some fat covering my lower abs. the love handles are smaller but starting to shape up. the new stubborn fat seems to be some lower back fat.

the new goal is to drop below 190 lbs. i'm going to keep the diet as-is until my energy levels start dropping. then i might switch from 5 days on 1 cheat, to 4 days on 1 cheat.

/dicResKit is a simple article providing an overview of the Dictation Resource Kit (DRK), which can be used to generate language models for speech recognition and speech synthesis.

integrated DRK grammars into /eva. first, the code works on both Vista and Windows 7. i'm still trying to figure out why the previous n-gram loading code worked on Vista, but not Windows 7. second, this allows me to automate generation of the grammars nightly on a deployment machine. the only requirement is installing the DRK to the deployed machine, which is much easier to swallow than installing Visual Studio and Speech Server 2007 to get the Conversational Grammar Builder installed. that said, i'd still rather have a simple executable that i could hand a corpus text file and get back a compiled n-gram (.cfg).

i've only done minimal runtime testing, but so far, the results from using an n-gram with AppendRuleReference seem to be better than using a DRK language model with AppendDictation(topic). that's strictly from looking at the SemanticValues returned from Recognition. second, i'd also have to rework my search logic. the problem is i normalize the music library in my own code and store the original values and normalized values to a dataset. but then the DRK can normalize the values again, so i'd have to remap that normalized value back to the dataset to get the search logic to find more matches. e.g. my logic currently normalizes '808 state' as it is, but the DRK will normalize to 'eight zero eight state'. for now, i'm just skipping the step of using the DRKs normalizer.

so i've still got problems. the n-gram seems to give better results but there isnt a way to automate generating grammars and the code isnt working on Windows 7. vs the DRK language models, which dont seem to perform as well recognition-wise for this task, but they can be generated automatically on a deployment machine and the code is working on Windows 7. er, um ... so i'm stuck with using the DRK for now.