Dream Diary Day 22

I remember this dream pretty clearly even though it's already night. I'm a bit hesitant to write it, but I did say I'd write whatever I dreamt of-- no censorship.
======================
I had an argument with my father. I wanted something but he stopped me from getting it (winning it?). I was so angry. So. Damn. Angry. Moreso than anytime I've ever been before. I had something in my hand-- a bottle of sorts. And... I threw it at him. Gosh. What even made me DO that, I don't know. It hit his head, duh. And he turned to look at me.

And in his face, I can't imagine it. It was his face. But... different. And I felt so ashamed that I gave in to my little bout of anger. I immediately went to him and apologized profusely, but he just turned around after staring at me and walked away.

I sat down on the ground (coincidentally is was raining too) and prostrated, but to no avail.

=======================

The funny thing is that normally I KNOW when I'm dreaming, and I can forcefully wake myself up. But this time, I couldn't. It wasn't until my alarm went ringing for some time did I finally wake up. Hmm.

Dream Diary Day 21

Ahem. This was from this morning, when I was awakened from my dream by  my phone's alarm because I was going to play basketball with my friends. Anyway, here goes:

========

I was somewhere steampunkish-- dark, metally, machines everywhere but not shiny ones -- apparently it was my last day there. My sister and Kit, together with me, had to board an airplane by jumping through this small hole in the ground. It was kinda scary as we were kinda high up in the air. I never really did jump in the hole even though the other two of them did.

Someone then asked me, "How are you going to celebrate your birthday?" and then I said, "Probably makan somewhere only."

========

My phone alarm promptly chimed at the time and I woke up and got ready for basketball. 

I had another dream while taking a nap in the afternoon.
=======
  Argh..  cant really remember because it feels so retarded even trying to.

There was me in an area... just a space. There was bulbasaur. And some guy preaching about baseball... and.. I had psychic powers? mmm I can't... remember...

Running around while mentally levitating bulbasaur in the air while it was using vine whip...

Afternoon Naps of Awesomeness (ANA)

So, if anyone knows me well enough, they'll know that my family frequently takes afternoon naps, me included. However, ever since I started staying off campus, I could barely find the time to take a nap anymore and it doesn't help that my room (over there) is terribly hot in the afternoon. Like, oven-hot. It's headache inducing-ly hot. Therefore, I've neglected sleeping in the afternoons for a few months already.

And somehow it's become a habit nowadays to not sleep. And I was fine with that. But man, I was pretty worked out the past few days and finally gave in to siesta time once more. And holy crap it was awesome. So awesome, I now dub other afternoon naps like this ANA-- Afternoon Naps of Awesomeness. So awesome I now have to clear the puddle of drool on the floor and wash my pillows.

And I could hardly even wake up. Maybe it wasn't so awesome. :\
Because although it felt really good to sleep, I feel really lethargic right now and it doesn't help that some... "people" (I really didn't want to call them that, but I guess no matter where we are on the intelligence scale, we are of the same species ultimately) can't quit burning rubbish in front of their my house. Man, I reek of ash.

But this post is about ANA. Yeah, it was really awesome. I feel like sleeping again, but I have some exercises to do, and hell yeah, will power baby. I can at least control myself this much.

Reflections on Basketball

Reflections on Basketball

I believe being involved in basketball has had a positive effect on my life. I have been playing badminton on and off since form 1, but it never did light my passion for exercise. I never improved much over the five years that I played. I did enjoy playing, but it was more like a "if I had nothing better to do" kind of thing. I never had the desire to be better, and as such, I never did get better.

Then I skeptically joined some of my friends when they invited me for basketball with them. I was pathetic at it. I could neither dribble nor score-- but somehow there was something so... fulfilling about being able to place a 29.5 inch leather ball through a hoop hanging some 10 feet in the air. I wanted to do it again. I wanted to do it more often.

The problem was that there were always people trying to stop me from making that ball go through the ring. There were always problems. I was not good enough-- I lacked the skill, the dexterity, the precision and the stamina. If I wanted to feel that euphoric feeling again, there was only one solution: I had to get better-- better than my former self, and better than the obstacles preventing me from reaching my goal. I had to become quicker. I had to jump higher. I had to be a stronger person.

With a goal in sight, it was much easier to direct my ever-changing attention to one thing... and for the first time in a long while, I actually wanted to put in the effort for something-- on my own accord-- to reach a target which I've set for myself. It made me feel in control, like I wasn't just a person walking down a road, but a person walking down THE road. 

Being able to jump higher opened up a whole new world to a person of my stature. Suddenly, new places seemed to be in reach-- places which I never knew existed. Running and jumping made me feel so alive, in a different way that doing charity or spending time with the people closest to you does.

I finally started caring about my health because I wanted to see more. I wanted to live this life longer. Along the way I felt like I've become a different and, I hope not to sound arrogant but, a better person-- not just as a basketball player, but as a human being.

All in all, yes, I do believe basketball was a very good thing that happened to come my way. I can't say if it was the "best", for who's to know which possibility is better than the others?  Basketball also helped me start liking badminton all over again-- and now I'm an avid player of both.

Dream diary day 20

I was walking in McD with Bernard... and then I killed him. Like, assassin style killed him, from behind. I don't really know what I did, but I did something to the back of his neck. He was holding my gloves, so I took it back from him after placing him down at one of the seats. After that I ran out of the restaurant. It was a terrible feeling.

After running out, I was at Nottingham again-- more specifically the sheltered area just between TCR and F1. I saw Ah Teck, Hao Chen, and Chew Yi. They  said they were just done with badminton?

And I remember something about a bear with 6 hands... and arguing with my sister about a game.

:\

Beginning of low-wheat diet

It's not really a diet, per se. I'm just going to experiment what a diet containing no wheat feels like. Of course, now, at Nottingham, that isn't very viable. So, for now, I'll be trying out a LOW wheat diet. As in, very low. So far I've eaten only like... a quarter plate of rice for  lunch with lots of meat and vegetables. And I usually give Jia En half my rice during dinner so... yeah, let's see how it goes.

For the two weeks that I'll be at home from 20 Jan to 4 Feb, I'm going to go on a no wheat diet. That means no: bread, biscuits, rice, pastas, cereals, cakes, pizzas, instant drinks, and more. So far, I've been on a LOW grain diet for a week, and I see no notable differences.

If what some fitness experts say are true, well, I'm gonna be a changed person. But I'm going to try it out for a month and see how it works out. So far, I feel fine eating MUCH less rice than I usually do, but eating more meat and vegetables. No hunger, no fatigue. So, maybe I might just stick with it.

It's not like I'm totally not eating carbohydrates. I still get a healthy dose of it. Fruits, LOTS of vegetables, beans, sweet potatoes, nuts etc. 

I'm gonna need a source of calories to replace those from the carbs. Well, in any case, I'm just gonna try it out and see how it goes. If I start to feel bad and tire easily then I'll know for sure that those studies are bollocks and go back to how I used to live. But since there's so many articles advocating a no-wheat diet, I thought of giving it a try for myself. If it works then, so much better for me. If not, I've nothing to lose.
I'll be posting updates on my health from time to time throughout the month.

Wish me luck ;) 

Being healthy. And a rant.

 What do people first think when I talk about "losing weight"? Eating less, yes? Going on a "diet"? What if I told you that eating more (healthy foods) can help you lose weight?

The healthy range of calorie deficiency is about 500 calories per day. That means, if your maintenance level is 2200 calories, you can afford to eat as little as 1700 calories. And get this-- you lose ONLY 1 pound (0.46kg) of body fat per 3500 calories lost. Less than that and your body might go into shock and you'll go into energy conservation mode. Eg. Fatigued, irritable, etc.

But do you know what's so bad about having a calorie restricted diet? Nutrition. It's almost impossible to get our daily nutrient requirements with 1700 calories of food. Unless you eat only boiled vegetables and meat in exorbitant amounts. And even then it's still difficult. Besides, it's not so practical, and not to mention difficult to make the limited food intake a part of your life.

What did I mean when I said that eating more can actually help you lose weight? Of course, that must be paired with exercise. If you raise your metabolism by exercise (either through interval training, with weights or without weights, as long as you move and get your heart rate elevated), you can easily raise your maintenance level to about 2500-2700 calories, and possibly even more. Michael Phelps was said to have a calorie requirement of 10000 calories a day. (citation needed)

Back to the point, with exercise and some strength training, you can easily meet your daily nutrient requirements due to the higher calorie output by eating as much or even more! And still lose fat! All you have to do, really, is set aside about half an hour, three to four times a week, to exercise. Running, skipping rope, pushups, squats, jumping, anything! It's really that easy.

*** Rant starts here***

Of course, this article is directed at people who are new to fitness and didn't pay attention during PJK class. It's just that I feel that every 'body' deserves to be treated well and it irks me a little when I see people mistreating themselves by going on crash diets, liquid diets or whatever crazy thing they decided on doing without doing some research or talking with their doctors, failing, and then stuffing themselves crazy with junk food when they finally reach breaking point, feeling guilty about it and repeating the cycle over and over again until the point where they feel that there's no point in being healthy anymore and give up altogether, packing on the pounds of blubber around their bellies, arms, and thighs (most obvious places). It's so sad that I actually know a few people like that and they don't seem to see what harm they're doing to themselves. And the saddest part is that I can't do anything to help them help themselves, because they don't want to anymore. It's even a little painful.

I wrote this in hopes that people will understand that you don't have to spend hours in the gym to be fit and slim and toned or whatever, and to encourage everyone (thin and fat alike) to try and live healthier. I guess it's ultimately a matter of weighing the pros and cons of what you're doing and BY YOURSELF deciding that you WANT TO FINALLY BE HEALTHY. Be healthy, and STAY HEALTHY.

-Terence

After some reflection on my life, I realize that I've become one of those people who can seem to scarf down lots of food and don't seem to put on weight. I was pretty fat last time (about 65kg when I was schooling). I'm now about 56kg and 170cm. Losing weight was never really a concern for me. I am an advocate of living a healthy life. I don't really care how much I weigh or even how much I eat. I do, however, care about WHAT I eat and the things I do to stay healthy.
When you've read and understood just how bad some foods are for you, you just don't have the appetite to eat them anymore. And suddenly you realize it's not that hard to skip the fast food, or soft drinks, cakes... stuff like that. It's really not that hard.

Dream Diary day 19

I dreamt I was part of the Teen Titans. Well, maybe not. It went something like this:

Starfire and I were trying to save Robin from a group called Sabretooth. Or something like that.

The first part of the dream went something like this. Starfire and I were chilling in a room, when we were attacked. Outnumbered, I suggested that we hide, and so we hid. Tense moments. And then we were found out. So I told her to run. I grabbed onto her and we flew out. I acted like a wingman calling out targets and things to avoid because they were trying to take her down. We managed to escape and entered a rendezvous point and then waited for the others, but to no avail. Somehow or rather, we found out that Robin was held captive in a sewer-esque area. So we went there.

We had to wade through mud and sewer water. We entered a large room. It was huge, and in the centre of it were stacks of rice (?). Like literally stacks upon stacks of rice piling up higher than I don't know. The room made us feel uncomfortable, and Starfire had a feeling like something was watching her. We flew up to the top of the rice stacks and waited there for a while.

Since nothing happened, we continued on to the next room. Smaller room this time, connected to the room prior by a steel door with a latch and a eyehole to see through. In the room, there was a glass pane that can be seen through, and the room was dry, for the most part. Looking through the glass pane, we saw Robin being tortured there. He was being beaten and kicked and stuff. Starfire wanted to rush in there and save him, but I told her it would be a better idea to wait. So we waited. Eventually they left Robin alone. I kept watch up there while Starfire flew down and took Robin with us. At this point I can't remember if Beast Boy was with us or not. Hmm.

Anyway, for some odd reason, we decided to eat something. We ate at the dry part of the large room, near the steel door. At this point, Robin and I were talking about something, but I can't remember. Anyway, just as I was about to lock the door, it was flung open and there was another girl (enemy) with pretty revealing clothes and a whip in her hands, along with other enemy guys. We were ultimately no match for them. I can't remember how it happened, but they caught Robin again and Starfire went to help him and she was caught too. Somehow I managed to escape again and I had to run away, leaving the two behind. (Terrible feeling).

Some time later (probably years or months), I was at a press conference (apparently I was someone of pretty high standing). I just received an award for something ( I think it was NBA MvP award LOL) and was asked to give a speech. Instead of speaking about the award, I started talking about the Teen Titans and how we all must band together to defeat Sabretooth and save them. The room became silent and everyone slowly moved away.

I can't quite remember the last part of my dream. I might've woken up at this point. But I would say this is more of a nightmare than a dream, because it left me feeling terrible, sad, sweating and feeling like I hadn't slept the whole night.

Feels like this dream was a combination of Teen Titans and Fairy Tail.

Dream Diary Day 18

I dreamt of my former class teacher, Mr. Wong Leon Kit. He died. And everyone was very sad. Even me. I was crying, in fact. And then we went to his house(?) and more emo-ness ensued. funnily enough, I have never been to his house before. Therefore, his house(?) was mainly just my imagination. And due to that, it was almost... empty.

What I can remember was that there was a small rug/mat thing which I think was a bed. And.. that's it. It was an empty room.

Hmm, I knew I should have written this when I first woke up. Now I can't remember much more.

Dream Diary Day 17

I had a dream about 2 fish living in the water tank of my toilet. They were silverish in colour, and had big round eyes. One of them could talk. They were pretty big fishes at that. They looked cramp in there because the water wasn't filled full, so I added water to the tank till the fish rose to the top. After a while, I took the water out again. I don't know why.

I went again to the bathroom some time later and I noticed that one of the fish was missing, and the other one ( the talking one) was shagging a third fish. I asked him where the other one went, and he said something I can't remember.

Suddenly I'm at an old house-ish place. We(?) were looking for something. Like... a switch. I can't remember anymore. It was a pretty tensed situation though.