So what is a hash-tag?

Officially? Officially a hash-tag is a sort of meta-tagging to help categorize posts and find more posts about a similar topic.  So if you end your post with #HurricaneXena, anybody talking about or affected by the currently nonexistent Hurricane Xena will pop up when you click the hash tag.  So just like how @ is used to apply to one person in particular, # is useful when it can be applied to a large group of people wanting to connect on a specific thing.

Unofficially?  I would say it’s like a modern day emoticon that’s just another way for us to express ourselves.  Sometimes it’s used exactly like the old school asterisk like *rolls eyes* and *face palm.*  I used to always portray body-language by using the double– colon, like ::shakes fist in air:: and ::shrugs:.

It’s also used to be funny, with something like #fwp and #momquotes, for example…

So you could see how and why hashtags easily devolved from a useful sorting system to a double-reverse ironic gesture or for adding a rimshot to your own joke.

Facebook Privacy Concerns?

Now you can actively find people discussing subjects that you care about outside of your friends list.  But only posts that are set to be shared with “Public” will appear to people you are not friends with if you use a hash tag.

More ways to help maintain your privacy on Facebook: Tagging for Facebook and Log In With Facebook

Is this the end of the English language?

Boy, there are some dramatic people out there. People who claim that hashtags are ruining the English language.  Now that it’s on Facebook, it’s definitely the end of the language, right?

WRONG!  Language is ever changing!  People spoke very differently 50 years ago.  Were they speaking incorrectly or are we?  People misusing your/you’re and there/they’re/their are ruining the English language.  Just because hashtags aren’t in the dictionary doesn’t mean they are wrong.  Many things weren’t in the dictionary before they finally were accepted.  There’s a reason why we don’t speak like Shakespeare anymore.  Because change is the only constant and that includes linguistics.

This is just a new development in the way we communicate and it won’t destroy the English language anymore than e-books and blogging have “destroyed” literature.  Or any more than air quotes have ruined talking.

Besides, you have to admit, since intonation doesn’t exist online, things like sarcasm aren’t easily conveyed.  People still often end their sentences with “/” so people know how they feel. “People who believe in religion are genius! /sarcasm”

Hashtags are great for the linguistically lazy

Why explain the reasons for your excitement when you could just lazily throw in the #excited hashtag?  I would love it if people tried explaining why something has excited them or what they mean rather than just using a hash tag.  People will understand you better.  Hell, maybe you’ll understand yourself better too, as an added bonus.

Stupid ways of using a hash tag?

#Usingitasarunonsentencesmakesnosense.  I mean, you seriously defeat the purpose of a hashtag.  Yeah, it might be funny to you because you wrote it and you think you’re clever, but it’s really just very hard to read.  Or you know what else is stupid?  #Creating #sentences #out #of #hashtags #like #this.

Hashtags are meant to allow people to see your related posts, explore a topic, etc. When you hashtag something that nobody else ever has or will, you’re kind of defeating the purpose.  If people keep hashtagging random, useless words, it doesn’t make it useful anymore.

So anyway, hash tags could be annoying #when #people #needlessly #put #them #everywhere but they are useful in that they can be used to solidify intent, feeling, or describe and they still work as search indexes.  Compared to the lack of grammar and punctuation, the hashtag is the least of our problems.

So I looked online for a new toner cartridge and lo’ and behold, in the Amazon reviews, everybody complains of this issue occurring over and over again very shortly after buying a new HIGH-YIELD cartridge.  What a SCAM.  What a crock of shit.

I checked the comments section and found out a solution to make the printer keep printing regardless of the “Low Toner” message: You have to set the printer in “continuous mode.“

You could either press the Go button 7 times.

Or if you have a MFC model and there is no Go Button, then you have press the Menu button -> General Setup -> Replace Toner -> Press Up/Down Arrow -> Choose “Continue” -> Press OK -> Press Stop/Exit.

It will continue saying the toner is low, but it will print regardless.  And when I first did that it started printing everything that was stuck in the memory.  And guess what.  The page quality was still perfect.  So fuck you Brother, for scamming us into buying new toner cartridges before we need to.  The whole point of a laser printer is for it to last a long time.

After a year of doing bodyweight exercises without any set routine, I created this split routine to that I could hunker down and progress even faster.  Most of these can be done with just a requirement of a pull up bar or the ground.  If you have access to a parallel bar or a set of rings, even better!

Credit: The inspiration came from the residents of Original Muscle Beach, Santa Monica who got me into the traveling rings.  OMB is now my home away from home.  The exercises were compiled from the progressions wiki and this incredible bw fitness routine (which apparently originally got inspired from this post.) The split routine was created with the advice from the fundamentals of bodyweight strength training. You’ll note that we purposely emphasize on pulling exercises more than pushing because that is what will balance us out in the end.

RULES TO MAINTAIN SAFETY:

• Everything in the lists go from the easier variation to the more advanced.
• In the progression exercises, go to the next exercise only when you can do 10 of the previous.
• If you cannot hold proper form, go back to an easier variation.
• A stronger foundation is better than injury down the line.  For example, always keep your elbows in line.  Don’t let them flare out no matter if you’re doing a push up or a muscle up or anything else.
• If the rings are too difficult (because they move!), use the parallel or pull up bars.

Need more guidance than just photos or video demonstrations? Look for the #1, #2 for links to full tutorials.

Warm Up

Bodyline Drills (Go for a 60sec hold, then build up to 180sec)

• Plank
• Dolphin Plank
• Reverse Plank
• Side Plank (do both sides!)
• Dolphin Side Plank
• Hollow Hold
• Hollow Rocks (prerequisite: HH for 60+sec)
• Reverse Hollow Hold
• Reverse Hollow Rocks (prerequisite: RH for 60+sec)

Skill Work (1-2min for support holds, 5–10 min for L-sit & Handstand practice)

*NEVER SKIP SKILL WORK*

• Support Holds
  • Support Hold (P Bar) (press shoulder blades down)
  • Support Hold (Rings Neutral)
  • Support Hold (Rings Turning Out; Elbows Eyelets facing forward)
  • Swinging Support Hold
• L-sit progressions
  • Hanging Leg Raises (Bent Legs)
  • Hanging Leg Raises (Straight Legs)
  • Foot supported L-sit (press shoulder blades down)
  • Foot supported L-sit on fingertips
  • Tuck L-sit
  • Tuck L-sit (advanced; 90° angle hips/legs)
  • L-sit (One Leg out)
  • L-sit
  • L-sit walks
  • Straddle L-sit
  • L-sit turn (90°, 180°)
  • V-sit (raise legs and hips higher from L-sit)
  • Manna
• Handstand Practice

Strength Routine

Day 1 (Pushing)

Day 2 (Pulling)

Day 3 (Core & Legs)

Supplemental/Extra Info

By the way, I just started this new YouTube channel and I have zero subscribers… subscribe right here!

Look it! This could be you today!

I used to hate napping.  I never could do it right.  The few times I tried to do it when I was younger, I would wake up feeling more tired than before.  That was then and this is now.  Nowadays I embrace naps.  I’ve figured out what it takes to take a nice nap and it’s much more enjoyable and refreshing.  So here goes…

You have two choices.

You could either have a quick 10–30 minute “power” nap or a much longer 90 minute nap.  Choose a short or long nap depending on how much time you have but not in between.  You’ll learn why shortly…

The Power Nap (a short 10–30 minute cat nap)

The power nap is thought to have the maximum benefits of sleep and rejuvenation for the shortest amount of time.

The simple act of closing your eyes is extremely restful and refreshing.  All day your visual cortex is processing information and this takes a huge chunk of energy no matter if you’re watching your kids or just staring at a computer screen.  The goal of the power nap is to simply let your back muscles completely relax, let your brain stop processing so much information by simply closing your eyes, and just chill out for 20–30 minutes.

The reason we don’t go beyond 30 minutes is because we don’t want to drift off into a deep sleep.  If you get up in the middle of the deepest phase of sleep, you will wake up feeling extremely groggy.  This is exactly what you don’t want!  The point of the nap is to get you feeling refreshed, not more tired.

Cats are the masters at this.

The 90 Minute Nap

When you go to sleep at night, you don’t simply go into a deep sleep and then start dreaming for 8 hours straight until you wake up.  It doesn’t work that way.

Sleep occurs in 90 minute cycles on average. There are 4 stages of sleep and it takes about an hour and a half (90 minutes) to go through a full cycle of all the stages.

This image below shows how we go through 5 sleep cycles in a typical 8 hour night.  The REM portion is the time we are actually dreaming and it’s just barely a few minutes long, except for the last cycle. (That’s why you have your intensely long dreams around dawn).

We go from Stage #1 to #4 and back to #1 every hour and a half.

If you set your alarm to 45 or 60 minutes, that means you’re going to be awakened during the deepest part of your sleep and you’re going to be feeling really groggy.  Your performance after a nap is directly related to the sleep-stage you are at when you awaken.  People awakened during the deepest sleep have the slowest reaction times.  So if you have the time to take a long nap, go for a 90 minute nap.

Wait… if we sleep in 90 minute cycles, does that mean I could take a 180-minute (3 hour) nap and wake up feeling great too?  Yes, you sure can.  If you have that kind of time and really feel like you want a 3 hour nap, then by all means go for it.

When to take a nap?

This may sound obvious, but take the nap when you feel the urge for one.  If you wait too long, you will get a second wind and all of a sudden your want to nap will go away.  This neat image below shows all the slumps we naturally experience throughout the day.  It also shows how we go through the several sleep cycles within one night.

Tips for all naps

Set a timer/alarm on your phone.  If you only have 20 minutes for a power nap, then set the alarm to go off in 20 minutes so you don’t have to interrupt your precious nap time just to check the time.

The caffeine nap: If you drink coffee, try drinking coffee before the power nap.  Since caffeine in coffee takes about 20–30 minutes to kick in, if you drink some and lay down for a quick nap, you will wake up feeling more alert than ever.

And this is me when I take a nap in the daylight and wake up in the dark.

Click to show the answer

But anyway, I asked her what her goals are and she said she wanted to lose 10–15 pounds and that she “lost 5 pounds already but that is negligible.“  And I was like whoaaaaaaa there!  Five pounds of fat is NOT negligible! If you knew what five pounds of fat looked like, you’d be proud, or maybe throw up! Haha!

So here what “just” FIVE pounds of fat looks like…

So if that’s just 5 pounds of fat… Can you imagine how gross 20 pounds, or 50 pounds of fat looks like?

I’ll leave that up to your imagination.  But you may be wondering if 5 pounds is THAT significant-looking, then how does 50lbs of fat even fit in the body!

Well, fat is not just stored around your belly and thighs like a belt.  The sticky fat gets embedded between all your internal organs and that’s known as visceral fat.  This visceral fat is much more dangerous than the cosmetic (subcutaneous; under the skin) version because this “organ fat” is what truly affects your cardiovascular system.

Notice the 250lb person has some extra fat around the arms and legs but MOST of it is packed up in the abdominal cavity!

But anyway, back to basics… even if you lose just one pound of fat… look how significant it is!

Are you still mad you lost only one pound?

So how do we lose just one pound of fat a week?

One pound of fat is 3,500 calories.  If you simply eat 500 calories less per day, then in seven days that adds up to a 3,500 calorie deficit and you’d have lost one pound of fat. Fitness is science, not magic. (7 days x 500 calorie deficit = 3,500)

You could also do some exercise that burns 500 calories in an hour, but it’s physically SO much easier to simply eat a little less, than have to vigorously swim laps for one hour straight to create the same 500 calorie deficit.  In reality, it’s best to do a little bit of both.  Eat at a slight deficit everyday and throw in your favorite sport/hobby a few times a week.  And if you feel some hunger, don’t run and immediately get some stupid snack just because you think your body is going to shut down cause you haven’t ate for a couple hours.  Hunger isn’t a bad thing. Think of it as fat leaving the body.

Good luck! Hope that helps!

Bakasana (Crane pose) is also known as the Crow pose in yoga. This definitely looks like a crow on a perch.

If you want to try this, just do it on the ground with a big fat pillow in front of your face.

Adjust yourself to sleep a little earlier than usual.  You’ll start waking up slightly earlier.  Eventually, you’ll feel incredible preference for the peace of the morning rather than the chaos of night.

There’s not much productivity happening after 9pm anyway.  It’s just me usually screwing around on the Internet (moreso than usual).  It would be much better if I just did Yoga at 7am every day instead.  Plus, I want to get that forearm stand down that’s in the photo above.

That’s me! I’m like the MyFitnessPal mascot right meow.

I’ve surpassed my 120 day streak of logging my food and counting calories using MyFitnessPal!  That’s over 4 months time!  Or a third of a year!  Woooo!  To celebrate, I wrote this article to help y’all.

Calorie counting was a hassle of some sort in the first week or so but it very quickly became a habit.  It’s totally become second nature and in fact, I enjoy it a lot because it gives me so much peace of mind!

I’ve never micromanaged my diet before, but you guys… this is incredible!  It has allowed me to eat anything I want and lose weight because as I’m eating it, I just whip my phone out, open the app and add the food in.  And the reason I could eat a donut is because as long as I’m within my calorie-limit of the day, I’m going to eventually lose some weight anyway.  (How much you eat is more important than what you eat for most of us!)

Here are some tips that have helped calorie counting become second nature…

1. The MyFitnessPal app on iPhone/Android is really handy.  Way faster than logging the food on the actual website!  I don’t think I would have been able to keep this up if I didn’t have the convenience of putting it on my phone.

2. Log what you eat immediately, don’t delay! Otherwise, you’ll forget, trust me!  I tend to eat a number of different things everytime I go to eat something, so even if just half an hour passes, I will probably forget something.  As a result, I’ve made it a habit to log the food immediately, sometimes before I even eat it.

3. If you overeat today, don’t beat yourself up because tomorrow is a new day!  Just because you overeat today doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.  If you simply eat less the following day it will all even out.  So in other words, what you eat overall in the week is more important than that single day.

4. Know what 1 cup and 2 cups of water looks like in your favorite bowls.  Fill a standard (8oz) cup with water and then fill your favorite bowl with it.  Note the height of the water so you know what 1 cup looks like.  Then fill another cup of water in to know what 2 cups of water looks like.  Do this with the bowls you use often. (This is also why I love bowls over plates these days.) That way you don’t have to bust out the measuring cup every single time.  As a result, my ability to eyeball what a half cup, cup and two cups of food looks like has gone up.  Way up.

5. Get a food scale. Recently I started using a food scale to understand how much meat I’m actually eating.  It’s hard to eyeball whether that piece of steak is 6oz or 10oz if you’re not used to it. (That’s a difference of 220 calories!)  Obviously I don’t use the food scale to weigh my cheerios and almond milk because those can be measured in cups easily, but I do use it for meat/beef/chicken/turkey and veggies sometimes (cause a cup of broccoli can vary dramatically based on how finely it’s chopped.)  Here’s a link to some really great and affordable food scales from Amazon.

6. Round up your portions! If you’re trying to lose weight, overestimate the food you eat.  For example, if you think you ate a little more than 2 cups of a soup, just round it up to 2.5 cups.  We tend to naturally want to underestimate these figures so that we fit a little bit more food in the day, but that’s just messing with progress.  Don’t lie to yourself.

7. Round down on the exercise!  If you exercise and tend to eat back your exercise calories, this is possibly even more important than rounding up your food because MFP sometimes grossly overestimates the calories burned.  So if you went cycling for an hour and a half, just say that you exercised for an hour!  Plus, to make matters worse, a lot of people think they are working out harder than they actually are.  So don’t choose “vigorous” cycling if it truly was “moderate.”

8. Don’t avoid logging your food intake on “cheat” days, even if you know you ate 5,000 calories.  So there you are, eating at a deficit Monday through Friday and the weekend comes and you start overeating because you’re out with friends or family.  These are the days where you will want to avoid logging in because you don’t want to face the reality. But no!  Don’t feel ashamed! Be honest with yourself. Just log it! Even if you think you ate 50 different appetizers and it adds up to 5,000 calories, just do a quick-add of 5,000 calories.  If you can keep logging in your food on days you purposely overeat, then that helps ensure the habit!

9. Take your food with you in preportioned containers. Nowadays before going out for the day, I take five minutes to take food from home with me.  I already know what I’m going to eat for lunch by 8am because I’ve taken the food with me!  And I just log that stuff in the morning before I even eat them so I’m set!

Pro-Tip for PrePortioned Meals

Ever since I started using the Tupperware “Vent N Serve” containers, I totally understand the fascination with Tupperware now.  The plastic they are made of is extremely thick.  There’s nothing flimsy about them. Their lids are extremely strong so I never worry about the food opening up in my pannier bags while I’m bicycling somewhere (unlike gladware crap).  They are safe for the freezer and when I need to microwave the food, I just pop the vent hole open and throw it in.  The neat thing is these containers I use are either 1 cup or 2.5 cup sizes, so it’s super easy to know if I’m eating 1 cup of rice or what have you.

Here are my 2 favorite products I use pretty much daily:  I simply load up two 1-cup Tupperware containers and one 2.5 cup container and I’m set for the next 8 hours!  If I need to take some soup with me, I use my 4-cup container and I’m totally good.

I’ve learned more about my body, food and diet than I ever have, so to say this has been worth it would be an understatement.

My other posts in regards to me losing weight in chronological order:

1. Antranik’s Counting Calories
2. How to Stop Eating [So Much]
3. Turns out… losing just 10 pounds is kind of a big deal…
4. When you feel like you need to eat something, but you can’t figure out what it is, it’s water. It’s always water.
5. Intermittent Fasting to Break Through my Weight Loss Plateau