TennisGeek

So, the challenge. I'm bad. The weight last one I did was 167.4. The weight went as high as 168.6, and as low as 165.8. At least upward weight stopped. I think it's largely due to being able to control the lunch a little better. 1. Eating The calories seem fine to me according to MFP. The weight increase stopped at the moment. I still do a late night snacking. Like last night, I played tennis from 8pm-10pm and came back. It's hard not to eat. 2. Stretching Sporadic. I know how to do it. I'm just lazy. 3. Bike rides About total of 50 miles. Weather remains still rather chilly. What's with Boston's weather this year. It totally sucks. Today, it's finally 50. The high temp still remains good 5 degree lower than average. During this cold cold winter, I started working on my bikes. Now, I'm 110% addicted to tweaking and tinkering bikes. Not biking. Bikes. Tinkering. It fits perfectly with my nurdiness. It's infinite possibility to tweak and tinker. Many screws and wires, yet the whole thing is not much complicated. I spent many hours sourcing goods on craigslist/ebay/amazon/local bike shops. During challenge, I sold two bikes, and bought one. (Redline Metro Classic) I'll post some pictures. Right now, I have 4. Two are my "fun" bike and "commute" bike - both new for this season. I also bought an impulse buy of a bike, and one came from friend of mine for free. I'm slowly accumulating bike tools, and I'm pretty sure I wouldn't stop until I can open a bike shop. :-P In terms of life, it's not perfect, but I'm doing all right. My body is under control. I committed to play for a tennis team this summer, USTA 4.0 so I'll compete every Monday evening for two months. I'll probably play two or three tennis tournaments this summer. I quit my old tennis club because I was disgusted by management. I have to hunt a new place to play tennis. I think I had a down years for last couple of years but I think, although it's sad to lose my mom, but that seemed like it was the end of my down years. From now on, I think it's going to be upswing. My bike collection looks good. Tennis racquet situation is good. The slump of my tennis is finally seeing the end of tunnel. My personal and professional life sees a slight improvement this year. I'll probably come back for the next challenge with a bit more focus. P.S. I may have to change my name from TennisGeek to TennisAndBikeGeek, or TaBGeek. ;-)

A week in a wrap. So, according to MFP, I should be loosing weight, but I don't. I really need to reconsider how I'm putting in the entry. It's easy to underestimate the amount. For stretching, I'm under a strict order from my chiropractor to ease my upper shoulder pain. It probably comes from tennis and biking. I'm doing about every other day pace. I need to do it a lot lot more. I did ride 5 miles of biking last Sunday for test riding my newest old (used I shall say) bike. KHS Aero Turbo is a sweet bike. So far, the total of bike ride is 48.3miles. This weekend, I'll probably do 30-40 miles.

Hi, Swapm! Thank you for checking in. I'm doing all right. Coming back to NF isn't on my priority list at the moment, sadly. Let's see. I am totally into bicycle nerd mode. This is what happens to me. Once I get into a subject matter, I study every bit of it. If you have a minute or to two to spare, take a look at my bicycles. I have one more bike I haven't taken picture of. Because I have too many, I'm trying to get rid of too. Weather is still unkind. Temp was teens just yesterday. I will attempt to bike commute this morning however. It's 40 right now. My day to day habit is okay, except that I still munch on almonds in the late night. I'm sure that my weight does not go down is because I eat too much almonds. If I don't do that, there is a good possibility of losing some weight. My tennis game is, I'm finally getting out of funk/slump I had. Last weekend, I played the mixed doubles match, and unfortunately lost. I didn't lose my service game so I was playing okay. My return game was bad so that's the part I need to work on. For singles, the return can be somewhat non descriptive because there is only one player. For doubles, you have to be more precise since the space you hit to is smaller. Because I primarily play singles, I have to force myself to hit the return with more purpose. I need to work on that. In mixed doubles, I have to help my partner but it's not that easy. Also, the tax season is upon us. I hope to get it done soon. How about you?

2014-03-12 Thu 1. Cals: 2,098 C: 196 F: 57 P 126 2. Stretching: Yes 3. Bike: 0/43.1 2014-03-13 Fri 1. Cals: 1,745 C: 165 F: 69 P 97 2. Stretching: No 3. Bike: 0/43.1 2014-03-14 Sat 1. Cals: 1,417 C: 51 F: 81 P 132 2. Stretching: No 3. Bike: 0/43.1 2014-03-15 Sun 1. Cals: 2,473 C: 179 F: 158 P 142 2. Stretching: No 3. Bike: 0/43.1 2014-03-16 Mon 1. Cals: 1,785 C: 88 F: 114 P 108 2. Stretching: No 3. Bike: 0/43.1 Let's see. Almost a week that I did not come back. My bad. I am a bit depressed in general. I had dreams of my mom twice so far which was interesting. First one, it made me wake up. Weather continues to be crappy. It's determined that Boston had the worst winter ever. There was one day I could have done a bike commute but that was the day I had a concert to go to (Pentatonix!) in the evening so I didn't. Next week, there is a potential to do a bike commute. So, I must mention that I'm turning into a bike nerd. I am spending a lot of time learning about bikes and bike maintenance. I'm spending a lot of time in my basement and tinkering bikes. I now have, at the moment, 5 bikes, from modern bikes to vintage. Coming weekend, I may be going to a bike swap. It's been fun. So, TennisGeek is now a Tennis&Bike Geek. Also, I play in a mixed doubles (USTA 8.0) league. So far I only played two matches and one win and one loss. My tennis has been getting back into the shape. Finally, my forehand slump is over. I am looking forward to coming matches. This has been a bit different experience. I'm playin in a team, with a female partner. This week, the pro tennis is in Indian wells, AZ. Kei Nishikori - my country man - is now in the conversation as one of contenders in every tourny. Until Kei coming into the scene, every Japanese players were always losing first or second round. It's impressive, amazing and rather strange. The challenge is keeping me honest about MFP and reminding me that I need to do more stretching.

Thank you. I'm about to start munching on almonds -- just about midnight. I do go to bed more often than not these days.

2014-03-09 Mon 1. Cals: 2,164 C: 117, F: 109, P: 150 I ate a little too much. 2. Stretching - Yes 3. Bike: 0/28.3 2014-03-10 Tue 1. Cals: 2,126 C: 71, F: 126, P 124 2. Stretching - No 3. Bike: 14.8/43.1 I did my first bike commute. Cold weather is finally letting it up. 2014-03-11 Wed 1. Cals: 2,268 C: 203 F: 107 P 140 2. Stretching: Yes 3. Bike: 0/43.1 It was a warm day. So far, the food intake does not look good. It's around 2,200 cals. Tonight, I have to go out for a biz dinner, so this week has been not great. I played tennis on Monday and Wednesday. Did a bike commute on Tue so I am burning some cals but if I eat to cover it, it's not good. My weight is just about 168# right now - 10# more than the lowest I hit 1.5 years ago. No the absolute weight but I don't like the trend.

2015-03-07 Sat 1. Cals: 1,473 C: 156, F: 89, P: 105 2. Stretching - No. 3. Bike ride: 0/0 Played a league double match. I played relatively well. I didn't realize that I wasn't eating enough. 2015-03-08 Sun 1. Cals: 2,274 C: 129, F: 142, P: 111 2. Stretching - No. 3. Bike ride: 28.3/28.3 Finally, I went to a bike ride. The roads are still treacherous with ice, snow bank and potholes, so I joined a bike club and did a group ride so that I have some support. It was only 28 miles but after 20 miles my quads started cramping. I'm not in bike shape yet.

2015-03-06 Fri 1. Cals: 2,079 C: 131, F: 69, P: 142 2. Stretching - No. 3. Bike ride: 0/0 So, three strikes. In the evening, I went out and got a used bike on craigslist. Not that I don't have bikes, but I'm becoming a legit bike nerd. Now, I have 4 bikes. I am planning to sell one. Each one has its own role like commute in bad weather (fatter tires with fenders), good weather (narrow tires) and fast ride on off days. My old "fast ride" bike is upgraded thus I have 4. It's Sat. morning and outside is 25 degree. I am not riding in this cold. Tomorrow, tho, the temp goes up to 40. It's a possibility for a bike ride. Next week, Mon-Wed looking better weather.

2015-03-05 Thu 1. Cals: 2,003 C: 129, F: 95, P: 139 2. Stretching - no, but I had a chiropractor appointment in morning 3. Still too cold for bike 0/0 Cals are 2000 but I played 2 sets of really good tennis singles match. I was exhausted and needed an apple and almond butter for recovery. Without the recovery food, it was 1,700. So, it's good.

My car doesn't do too well in snow but I'm getting by. Looking forward to start biking. I'm becoming legit a bike nerd. Broiled fish came out quite nice. I'll show you when I make one next time.

2015-03-04 Wed 1. Cals: 1,514 C: 98, F: 66, P: 130 2. Stretching - yes. 3. Still too cold for bike 0/0 After last night's tennis, I slept really really well last night. The day started right. But, I don't have good energy. I broiled fish for dinner, mahi mahi came out quite good. It took 10 minutes of preheating oven and 10 minutes of broiling. I can do this more often. Lunch was Starkist tuna in pouch, dumped over salad, ate with bolsamic vinegar. Lot of lean protein, and very filling. I ended up somewhat undereating, but I was really full for lunch and dinner. I'm also trying to not eat after 10pm. My bad habit is to start munching on almonds late night. Last night how ever after 2 hours tennis, I had an apple and almond butter. Bad me but otherwise I'd be way too under calories.

Thank you. I feel like I have less of centered/grounded.

Onward. I took a break of challenge due to a bit of situation I had. http://rebellion.nerdfitness.com/index.php?/topic/61813-tennisgeeks-come-back/?view=getlastpost

2015-03-02 Mon 1. Cals: 1,496 c: 74, f: 85, p: 118 2. No streching - because I wrote the goals afternoon. 3. No ride. 0/0 2015-03-03 Tue 1. Cals: 1,772 c:112, f:90, p: 143 2. Yes stretching. 3. No ride. 0/0 Finally the tennis club resumed the operation albeit somewhat limited capacity. I played two hours of doubles and made me feel much better.

Hope it goes well. Take care. P.S. I also started late.

Hello, I, TennisGeek took a off from previous challenge. And, I'm also late for this one too. Earlier this year, I had to go back to Japan for a few weeks to take care of my family situation. Well, my mom passed away in January. I'm sad but I'm over it because we knew it all along. She was 81. Nonetheless, I a little got out of whack. My weight is up to 168lbs this morning. Due to weather, my tennis club was out for like 2 weeks. I haven't played tennis for a while. I was not in mood to watch out for food or drink, after over 2 years of diligent MFP logging, I'm not keeping it up. Good news is that, the club reopens soon. Also, weather is finally starting to let up. It's still cold (we had another 2" snow. last night), but I cannot wait to go out and bike. I'd like to mount a nice come back, and want to feel a little better. Instead of going full speed. I'm going to do small, incremental changes. Nothing flashy, big changes. Goals 1. Keeping calories under 1,800. (which is my TDEE) and no food after 10pm 2. To feel better, stretch every morning for 5 minutes. 3. As weather gets nicer, go out and ride bike. I'd like to do total of 200miles or so, which is 40miles/week pace. This is a bit ambitious as I wouldn't ride right now. Roads are narrow, and snow banks are still too high. By the end of challenge, snow would be gone, and weather is manageable. Alright. Spring is coming.

If it's muscle soreness, you should keep your body warm and do a light exercise to flush out the acid build up. Hot tub also works quite well. Stay in hot tub for at least 20 minutes. If you don't move it, the lactic acid stays in muscle longer and does more damage. Stretching regularly should help too. If it's really really severe (which I did), like the severe pain lasting weeks, you'd need a deep tissue massage to send some fresh blood into damaged tissue to kick start the recovery. So, do some light exercise (like brisk walks, stretching, etc.) to get the circulation going.

2014-12-20 Sat Played a few practice games for the doubles league team. Two mixed doubles. It sure is much easier when the ball comes to me a lot slower in general compared to men's A doubles. I played a singles for 30 minutes, 4-2 against a lefty 3.5. He doesn't have much of game but at least he knows how to be lefty. I regressed during the match. Trying to not lose is bad. I need to play up all the time. Forehand not working quite like I want it to be is frustrating but for the sake of improving, I need to keep push my forehand.

2014-12-19 Fri Played with 3rd best player of club. 3-6 1-6. I was pretty pleased with how I played. I need to improve two things. One is a backhand wide deep. My reply from deep corner almost always is short, and a good player can either put it away or I have to scramble after that. The other is a better footwork to have a better spacing between the ball and body.

2014-12-16 Tues Went to the gym. 2014-12-17 Wed Played with a pretty good player, difficulty - highish. 3-6 4-6. This was probably the most interesting match I played in terms of my progress. He is very smart player and doesn't do anything stupid, so I have to earn points. He is fast enough to cover ground but more importantly he knows how to not lose. I'm not particulary into winning, so in terms of learning how to win matches, he is an ideal guy to play against. The match was very close. Although I lost both sets, many games went into deuce, and the result would have been very different if I made a couple of shots.

Challenge is over, and clearly I'm not taking the challenge as "challenge" any more. It's a process to implement the gym workout in my life, and so far, it's not hard at all. I now have a gym program that I can implement, and I've been to the gym 2/week pace regularly. I often go in around 9pm when I'm not playing tennis, and get out before 10pm at gym close. It works and I'm pleased. However, the membership of gym ends at the end of year. (I transferred the membership from my wife who apparently not going to the gym at all.) Next year, I have to join a gym. Near-by gym has no power rack, or squat rack. With just dumbbells, cable machine, pull up machine, and short bar, I cannot do back squat and bench press. I have to make up my mind to join somewhere. I did DB front squat, and the weights left stain on my shoulder while the weight rested on. Also, I've been adding more things in my life. Well, as my daughter off to college, it's easier to do. I went to the Bikes not Bombs volunteer night last Thursday. I got my hands dirty taking apart broken bikes. I'm learning the older bikes. (All my bikes are pretty modern.) It's a work so I am not sure how much I want to be involved but I think I can do it once or twice a month. Saturday, I went to play tennis with random strangers - I decided to play for a mixed doubles team and went to a practice. Along with the socialization afterward, I got to see new set of people an a couple of different ways. Let's see. The weight this morning was 164.9lbs. I want to get down to 155 at some point but I'm not setting a date. It's about how I eat. Food wise, I do what I do. I cook regularly, mostly paleo. I'm teaching myself to not be "real full". My biggest problem is that, I eat until I get "really really full". This is also a continuous process of exercising self control. This will probably have the biggest impact to get the weight down. BTW, I made Steve's "beef stew". I put in a chopped apple to sweeten the stew, and it came out much sweeter than it should be but it's pretty good. Have happy holidays everyone.

2014-12-12 Fri Played a fake Boris. 4-6, 6-4. 2014-12-13 Sat Played a doubles league play, 4-6, 0-6 I sucked. 2014-12-14 Sun Played for an hour, just to hit. 2014-12-15 Mon Played with the 2nd best player of club for 2 hours. 1-6 1-6 2-6. I was very happy with the tennis today, finally. Forehand was better. The left arm assisting the take back very well, which stabilized the upper body rotation. I didn't suck too bad. Also, my serve was a little better in general. In short, I sucked less than Sat.'s play, which made me very happy.

2014-12-11 I went back to the gym last Thursday to repeat the "day 1". DB lunge Assisted pull up DB flye DB shoulder press Bench press Lat pulldown

2014-12-11 Thu DB lunge: 80lb 8, 70lb 5, 60lb 7 Assisted pullup: 80lb 8, 7, 70lb 8 DB flye: 15lb x 2, 8, 8, 12 DB shoulder press: 30lb x2, 8, 8, 6 Bench press: 90lb, 8, 6, 7 Reverse hand pull down: 90lb 9, 100lb 8, 110lb 8