Week 3 in Fitness

My third week in training started well but midway through, I had some rough nights and the lack of sleep really got to me. I managed to stay on point with the diet and go out for a single 6km run. However, I did cover a total of 25.3km thanks to brisk walks.

Week 2 in Training

This week was pretty good, but marred by an intake of carbs that pushed my weight back up to 93kg. These included bagels and whole wheat bread with raisins and nuts from Costco. Thankfully, with enough diligence and effort, it’s currently at 90.7kg, which is the lowest I’ve weighed in a long time. In hoping to reach 88kg this week. From there onward, 75kg seems within reach. My runs were actually pretty good. I recovered quite quickly, which means that I’m getting used to running again.

Week 1 in Fitness

It’s taken me a long time to get back to running, but I’ve finally managed it. I’m in my second week of running and I’ve already started to see some nice gains. I’m almost 4kg down from my starting weight 2 weeks ago. I also started my low carb diet again. I’m making my own lunches and eating out a lot less. No sodas, no processed foods, no fast food, etc.

Diets High in Fructose Lead to Overeating

Scientists have shown, using imaging tests, that fructose can trigger brain changes that lead to overeating. They found that after drinking a fructose beverage, the brain doesn’t register the fullness feeling as it does when simple glucose is consumed.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

Cooking Fueled the Growth of the Human Brain

A new study has calculated the energetic cost of growing a bigger brain. If humans had been eating a raw food diet exclusively, they would have had to spend more than 9 hours a day eating in order to get enough energy from unprocessed raw food alone to support their large brains.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

Consuming Fruits & Vegetables Improves Psychological Well-Being

The World Health Organization recommends five servings of fruits and vegetable every day to keep the human body healthy, but how much is needed to keep your mind happy? That’s the question that researchers pursued in a new study.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

Great White Shark Have a More Varied Diet Than Previously Thought

A great white shark. Photo by Terry Goss, image from Wikipedia.

Even though it might seem that Carcharodon carcharias prefer seals and sea lions as their preferred prey, studies indicate that great white sharks consume different prey based upon their age, size and location. When they are juveniles, they seek out a wider variety of foods before culminating into the more well-known options.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

Genetics and Healthy Diets Are More Important for Longevity than Calorie Restriction

Drastically cutting back on calorie intake doesn’t seem to lengthen the lifespan in primates. This conclusion comes from a 25-year study in rhesus monkeys fed 30% less than control animals, and represents a setback for the notion that a simple, diet-triggered switch could slow aging. The study actually indicates that genetics and overall dietary composition matter much more for longevity than simply counting calories.

Read more @ SciTechDaily

2.8 KM Treadmill Run

A co-worker invited me to his gym and I decided to accept. I started my workout with a 2.8 km run that I completed in 20:55. My pace was 7:28/km, which is fine for my first run in months. It felt a bit strange running on a treadmill. The last time I had used a treadmill was a couple of years ago. I’ve been running outside for a while. Treadmills are a nice change of pace because you can set your speed and do some splits, accelerate, decelerate quickly.

Information Flow & Digest

Since I got an iPhone last March (my first smartphone), the way that I access and consume information has changed. While I’ve had an iPad for about 5 months, I hadn’t yet gotten a 3G card from my carrier. There is a big difference between having access to the Internet anywhere and just not being able to do so. The places I go to don’t have reliable free WiFi. The iPhone 4S allows me to tether my iPad for free, because my carrier is CHT in Taiwan and they are partly government-owned, my iPad 2 still hasn’t gotten an 3G card.