Blog of Justin

What is your new year resolution ?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 01 Jan 2013 14:59:00 +0000

What would be the best way to wish your friend than to send a SPAM email/ message/text to him/ her. Its funny when we think about it.
I get greetings from my friends, without my name in the message, or without ANY personal touch, which clearly means that the same message was send to several people, probably 10s or 100's. Whereas my service provider and websites that I have registered to, sends me personalized emails with my name in it, thanks to automated emails by intelligent computer programs !
So its like this, friends send me spam email and machines send me personalized emails. Why are we growing so cold ?
How easy it is these days, to pick up a message and then 'Send to all' or 'CC to all' in your address list. I know that, we all lack time. But how about sending personalized email/ messages to people who are close to you ? You can continue sending spam to everyone else !
I still remember, back in my childhood days, spending time in the shop to pick up the right greeting card, fill it will beautiful messages, addressing it to the right person and sending it to your loved ones. Those days are long past and I don't want to keep complaining about that. But in this age of computers and fast communication, let us stop for a second, slow down and see if there is something that we all can learn from the past.
Next time, when you decide to send some junk 'forwards'/ text/ message to your loved ones, think twice. At least try adding their names, so that it might look like a personalized message. Try adding this to your list of new resolutions and see how love is returned back to you in ways you never imagined.

Have a happy new year

Questions for the 'believer'

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 16:22:00 +0000

1. Did you go to church/temple/mosque today ( Friendship and meeting new people, Eye and touch sensory organ)
2. Did you participate in the worship ( Music, satisfaction for the 'hear' sensory organ)
3. Did you hear some 'Godly' music this week (again, music, satisfaction for the 'hear' sensory organ)
4. Did you pray for a huge list of things that you want to get from God ? Did you sign for a new trade agreement ? That is, if God gives me this, I will do this, kind of thing.
5. Did you call up and give your credit card details to a ministry that you saw in God Tv / newspaper/ church / temple?
I found that the questions posted above has a lot to do with your sensory organs a.k.a touch, taste, smell, see and hear. But if your goal is to move about that plane, then I think you must start thinking above these, at a metaphysical level.

Questions posted below, try to tackle your inner self at a higher level. They might not give you any sensory satisfaction. Consider the first question stated below. When you thank God/ spiritual force/ creator/ Shakthi/ Krishna (call HIM/HER whatever you want, since he cannot be named by anyone) a neural pathway is created in your brain, and that is different from the memory states that you get directly from satisfying your sensory organs(touch, taste, smell, see and hear) More about this later. So check out these questions below, and answer yourself and no one else. God bless you.

1. When was the last time you thanked God for being sick, getting drenched in rain, not getting the promotion you 'deserved' ?

2. When was the last time you decided to stop using curse words and gossip with other people ?

3. When was the last time you allowed an elderly person to be allowed in front of you in a queue or when you got up so that he/she could sit, she while you were traveling in public transport ?

4. When was the last time you decided to stop saying 'Your life is sooooooo difficult and so hard to bear' or your physical pains were the most difficult to endure almost forgetting the suffering that people endure on this planet, without having food, clothing or shelter ?
Looking for some 'cool' sympathy ? Right now, at this moment, while you reading this, think about them. Hey guess what, at least you have got eyes. 285 million people are visually impaired as of today according to WHO. Now that's a big number !

5. When was the last time you visited an orphanage/ prison/ old age home/ destitute place or a slum ? When was the last time you spend an entire day with them, at any of these places ?

6. When was the last time you read about teaching from other spiritually enlightened books like Bhagavat Gita, Koran, teaching of Buddha ?

7. How much time did you spend for meditation today ?

Keep looking for answers and you will find the journey more fruitful than the destination. Looking for that right hand side place in heaven near the throne of God ? Man ! Are you expecting to see some 'non-believers' and your enemies on his left hand side waiting to be punished ?

I bet you are gonna be surprised. Have a nice day.

Why so serious son ?

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 23 Nov 2012 16:14:00 +0000

Think of all the fuss and tension we add to this world. Having a hard day, huh ? World has been pretty cruel to you, today too ? Nothing to thank God for ? Would you like to get some free sympathy and caring ?
Grow up girl/ dude ! How long would you continue to be the cry baby? All of us go through problems. God did not pick you up from the 6 billion population to give you troubles. He has better things to do.

Spread happiness and hope, and that's exactly what the world is lacking. People would continue to wrong on you, but there is hope, so cling to that and move forward. Spend more time with books, brood on good thoughts, help someone and if you still got time, get some pots and plant something and watch it grow.
This world is fully of infinite possibilities and the last thing it needs is your sad story. Be cheerful and have a great weekend.

Missing me

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 07:19:00 +0000

My journey in the last one year has been to be find me. I was seeing that I was loosing my connection with me, with all the new roles and responsibilities that I am into. It was time to think and it was time to change.

During the technology training that has happened last week, I happened to walk over to where Chandran, my team mate was sitting and suddenly a window popped up. It said - "Thanks for using Autolock remover - Copy left 2009) The minute I saw the word 'copy left' I was intrigued. I remembered this was the window from the utility that stopped the computer to 'lock' itself( then you will have to type your windows credentials to unlock) if remained idle for more than 5 minutes.
Chandran told me that he was using this utility for a very long time, and has been very useful while watching movies, or attending trainings like these. He thanked me for introducing him to this utilty, without realizing that I had coded the same and distributed it to all my team mates a few years back. I never knew I was changing someone's life even in a very subtle way, using my talents. .. . ..

This episode made me think to think over all the talents that are sleeping within me, waiting to be awakened. When I was watching the video below, this is exactly what it came to my mind. May be the video was doctored, but it definitely had something to teach me. To look at myself, connect and become the 100 % more you are supposed to be.

P90X Results - MARINE JAKE's Awesome Transformation

The joker in YOU

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:25:00 +0000

(Heath Ledger as the Joker)

Warning: If this post seems to be too technical please skip this over.

Prologue
I want to do a character analysis of the character 'The joker' from the batman movie 'The Dark Knight' played by the actor I love the most Mr.Heath Ledger. I have heard that the amount of work he put into this movie to get his character as portrayed in the movie was simply mind blowing. Ledger went on to recieve several awards including Oscar and Golden globe award for best supporting actor for the character he played as 'The Joker'

Introduction
Since so much work was put into the making of this character, I thought we would learn a lot by observing and studying the character using the psychology methods that I have learned. And I would be glad if you too can join the adventure, I bet this would be fun.

Let's Begin
So let's begin. Imagine you are a psychologist and one day, you get an appointment from someone who claims that he needs help. Being in this profession for a very long time, there shouldn't be much things that should surprise you. But still, here in front of you sits a man, who he claims to be a joker.

How would you begin and what are your thoughts ?

Lets analyze the character type first [Update: Mar 8, 2012]

So is he a neurotic or pshychotic person?
Joker always had a clear sense of time and he always knew where he was, although his behaviour was sometimes eccentric and not understood by many, he was surely not psychotic and surely would not require any psychoses interference in the treatment. Being a neurotic person, care must be taken to ensure that all encounters must be taken in that angle( of that of a neurotic patient)

Analyzing scenes from the movie [Update: Mar 15, 2012]

The Dark Knight: Hospital Scene

[Note: This post would be constantly updated, so please come back for more and don't forget to add your comments in the comment section]

Food intake and body building

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:54:00 +0000

(Tropical fruits : Source: sxc)

Ask any body builder and most of them would vow on one thing which is about thier food intake. There is an old saying in the computer world. Garbage in, garbage out. That is, the computer is only as good as the input you give to it. Similarly your body is only as good as the food you give it.
[For everyone else, who is on steroids and performance enhancements drugs, you shouldn't be reading this ! and should be chilling out with your new found strength]

As part of this idea, my chief resolution for year 2012 was to 'Cook healthy food myself' Now the 'myself' part is very important, because I was one person who found all types of excuse to keep myself away from cooking including common excuses such as lack of time, lack of knowledge and so on.

As part of realizing this goal, today I bought potato and some onion and also checked my stock of chilly power, salt and oil. Everything looks oil and this should give me all the propulsion I need, to take me to the cooking orbit. I also plan to keep a record of what I have done, what I plan to do that week, make sure I have everything required for that menu or make a purchase list of things I need to buy ( Not having things required was another 'genuine' excuse I used to make many a times)

Lately I have been doing with eggs, sausages, making juice myself - rather than buying canned juice with preservatives and also buying fresh fruits(which I was do before) and so on

Wish me all the best

Goals can be your buddies

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:52:00 +0000

(Above: Photo of my team mate Rhonda pace completing here 21 km marathon under 2 hours 28 mins. Now that's the face of a determined person)

Every goal that you set for yourself, is like a relationship. This means that just like any other relationship, the relationship with your goals, needs constant nurturing and evaluation. Now this may seem a little out of the way. Lets take some real life examples

Relationship with your spouse
Your relationship with your spouse is a multi dimensional exchange. Here are a few points you obviously take care on a regular basis

1. Giving your personal best
You have to work on your relationship and provide regular nurturing in terms of love, care and support

2. Feedback
You have to constantly seek for feedback, sometimes it could be direct whereas sometimes, it could be intuition, either way, you have to gain feedback from your partner and modify your actions accordingly

3. Gratitude
Always be grateful for whatever the other person does for you and thank in whatever ways possible

Let's now see how these can be applied to your goals as well

Relationship with your goal

If your goal is to be fit and build a great healthy body, again that becomes a relationship for you. Note that this can be applied to any type of goal, that you set for yourself. Lets see how the points above should be applied to your goals as well

1. Giving your personal best
You regularly work on your goal, spending your time, money and energy.

For example, I am heading to the sports shop now to get a pair of dumbbell rods, so that I can put my 5 Kg plates on that and start my biceps routines again. Now I have been reasoning myself to be content with 4 Kgs one that I already have, so that I don't have to spend this additional money. But guess what, its not helping me.
Although one might question the benefit that 1 additional kg could make, I believe its worth the money I am about to spend, considering the results I will get.

2. Feedback
Here the feedback comes from my body itself. I get to see what works, and what does not. What pains and what tares and so on. If I keep a regular note of all these ( how much did i gain? etc) and act on it, it can bring tremendous results.

3. Gratitude
I should always thank God ( Universal power/ force / Life giver or whatever you may name) for giving me this great body and also the opportunity to work with( and not towards) my goal to achieve what I want. Also being thankful for the support system that you have, and in my case that would be websites, forums, Facebook friends, twitter friends, fitness videos, and books

I am sorry if this sounded too philosophical, but this is what I had in my mind. God bless you.

Changes from within

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 15:44:00 +0000

Among all the things I want to set right with myself in this special year, one would be of making the right choices. Sometimes not making a choice is also a choice. For example, today I got up at 7:00 AM and I wanted to go for jogging and I had 2 choices:

Get my back up, head for brushing and the daily routine, with the water still being cold and head for jogging ( Explicit choice)
Stay at the comfort of the warm, soft bed and continue to sleep and have the excuse that I struggled for the entire week and I have got the 'right' to relax on a cool Sunday morning ( Implicit choice)

Now by not opting for choice #1, we wrongly assume that we have not taken any choice, which is not the case. We have implicitly chosen choice # 2 and all the results that come up with that, including:

Guilty feeling that I did not achieve the goals I set to myself
Tummy size, would remain the same and I have the genetics, food to blame to
Miss the great fresh air of the park and chance to add a few more years to my life

Remember, every type of inacation is also a form of action. I learned it the hard way, in the last few weeks. Hope this helps you in taking a close look at all the 'Inaction' items in your list.

Me and facebook
If you are interested in finding me at facebook, and subscribe to my updates, please bookmark my www.facebook.com/fitnessjustin. I am sure you will find it interesting if you are into health and fitness.

Back at office
Our EMC traning would commence tomorrow and would last for two weeks. They intend to cover topics such as xDesign, xAdmin and xPresso. Although we are proficient in these tools and have more than 2 years experience in working with these, we are going to be introduced to the new feautes of this tool as part of the 4.1 release which came a few months back. Training would be between 4:00 PM and 1:00 AM.

Last week, had some really interesting conversation with Seena, Anuroop and Ameer( Hadn't talked to them in years, probably a year or more).

So that's all for today, have a great productive and interesting week ahead.

New hero in my list

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 19:40:00 +0000

This post would not contain anything that I want to say, instead read it for yourself and find out if this lady deserves a place in your 'Champion's hall of fame'

(source : wikipedia)

Sarah Reinertsen (born May 22, 1975) is an American athlete. She was the first female leg amputee to complete the Ironman Triathlon World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Besides marathons and triathlons, Sarah has also competed in bicycle races.

She was born with proximal femoral focal deficiency, a bone-growth disorder which eventually led to her becoming an above-the-knee amputee at the age of seven.[2] After the amputation, she began to run track and broke the 100-meter world record for female above-the-knee amputees at the age of 13.Since 1991, she has recorded a number of athletic accomplishments:

Setting world records in the 100 m, 200 m, 400 m in her division (T42);
Becoming the youngest member of the 1992 U.S. Paralympic Team to go to Barcelona;
Conquering seven marathons (NYC 1997, 1998; LA 1998, 1999; Millennium New Zealand 2000; London 2002; and Boston 2004);
Holding the world record in the half marathon (2:12) and the marathon (5:27) for above-knee amputee women

You can read more about her at http://alwaystri.com/AlwaysTri.com/About_Sarah_Reinertsen.html

Reached first milestone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 13:15:00 +0000

70.00

Not even a gram less or more !! This was the number shown on the electronic weight scale today at one of the restaurants where I check my weight on a weekly basis. I was so over joyed that I could not believe what I saw. This would not have been possible without the great books, fitness videos, blogs, my hall of fame photos of people whom I want to become, and definitely motivating words/ tweets by hundreds of health/fitness lovers on twitter. And best of all nutritious and healthy food by my fiancee that just goes along with my daily exercise routine. Thank you all and a BIG thanks to you Jesus :)

Weight gain badge from livestrong

Arnoldation - Part 2 (Judgement day)

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 17:58:00 +0000

This is in continuation with my previous post 25 weeks to Arnoldation, which tracks my fitness goals and areas that I am proud and the things I should improve upon.

Weeks 5 - 10

Made it a point to hit park on weekends and other holidays and make atleast 5 - 8 rounds of jogging coupled with 10-12 rounds of fast paced walking.
Weight shot upto 69.5 KG, Yehaaaaaa, I am so closed to reach my first milestone, which is 70 KG(154.3 pounds)
'Push up' count reached 50 for the first time, and that too in proper form
Reps for flys, and raises have crossed 15(earlier less than 6)
More crunches that ever before, to take care of the tummy
I can see visible changes in my forearms, biceps, tricpes, rib cage, thighs; Small but significant and motivating me to push harder
Included meditation as a daily routine
Have become more conscious even while doing day to day tasks like, lifting a bucket, sitting while traveling, make sure to walk with the correct posture(ear, shoulder, hips on the same straight line)
Two rounds around ITPL(for about 20 mins) in the evening, on most days
Learned more about ab excercises from the book The Complete Guide To Abdominal Training by Christopherm Norris

Plan for the next 4 weeks

Include more variety in food intake to accommodate duck eggs, protein shakes, salads, cheese, butter etc
60 mins of strict workout and 20 mins of rounds inside the park, prior to that
'Presses' using barbell with 4 kg( 2 kg plate + weight of barbell)
Learn more about exercises, food, nutrition and physiology
Incorporate ALL the main moves that I learned in KungFu prior to the work out or during that
Make sleep and rise times fixed and do not fluctuate a lot
Increase 'Curls' and 'Fly's dumbell weights to 7 KG (5 + 2 kg plates)

Reaching my first milestone

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 04:17:00 +0000

(Weight graph as on Aug 29,2011)

Hi folks, I am an inch away in the weight tracking graph(see above) to reach my first milestone, that is 70 Kgs of lean mass, with as little fat, as possible. I have started to accumulate a bit fat in my mid-section(core) that I need to take care of. That means, more crunches, running and skipping( jump rope) It gives me so much happiness and confidence that I am going in the right direction, and would love to have all of these shared with the entire world. I want to do some before and after photos soon, again I would love to share that as well.

Currently my food table looks like this:

When ?	Food item (Primary)	Food item (Alternative)
Breakfast	Milk with Protein powder, Bread Sandwich	Milk with oats
Lunch	Rice	Chapathi
Post mid-day	Light snacks	Fruits
Dinner	Rice with curry. 2 boiled egg whites	N/A

Influence of Twitter
I must admit that twitter has to be one place I turn up for inspiration on a daily basis. Right now, I follow about 385 + people, most of them being body builders, fitness experts, nutritionists, athletes, models, fitness figures. Its a great inspiration to be going through their thoughts and aspirations and believing that you too be like them one day. Below is a brief list of people I follow in twitter

Twitter ID	Name
BikiniStaci	Staci A.
missleisl	Leisl
marissaroxks	Marissa Iuculano
DonnaBlase	Donna Blase
Tiff_Crystal	Tiffany Crystal
Laura_Superhero	Laura_Superhero
TiffanyGaughan	Tiffany Gaughan
TiffanyyUpshaw	Tiffany Upshaw
sha_sha_fierce	sharon phillips
theextrarep	Sheri Gaskins
desertMike	Mike McCollom
MzKameka	Kerry
Melanie_Collins	Melanie Collins
MissNadiaE	Nadia El
HotAtHome	Jackie B
karenkwilliam	Health &
Heather632	Heather Chavez
FranciscaDennis	Francisca Dennis
EJM3577	Ask Me!
MissSnoogie	lauren barthman
JillianJones1	Baybgirl811
ACE_Motivates	Alicia Rachelle
Bxtreme_Tanya	Tanya Martinez
ChristineGus	Christine Jenkin
TonyXXL	Antonio Mosely
DustinPoirier	The Diamond
ryanbader	Ryan Bader

In other news..

I was happy to find Melvin's email today morning, telling me that he finds my recents posts as inspirational. Love you buddy.

Befriending greatest body builders of our time

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 12:57:00 +0000

I was going through my facebook page, and was amazed at the number of trash talk that turns up, which made no sense at all to me. I was shocked to find the amount of time, I spend each day in going through pages that had no relation to what I was doing and where I wanted to go ( my goals)

As a first step, I decided to read more about lives of body builders and people who are into health and fitness. Since it hard to 'friend' someone in facebook, I decided to find their blogs/ twitter and follow them there. As a first step, here are some of the links that I found today.

People I am planning to follow

Another fitness site was recommended by Nandu today, and it contains a pretty good number of interviews too.
www.muscleandstrength.com

Weight gain

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 08:32:00 +0000

(My weight tracked in the past 6 months - courtesy Live Strong website)

Hello everyone, just checked weight today ( as I do on all Tuesdays),and I was so happy to see the numbers on the display. I was at a cool 66.5 KG (146.71 lb) and the gain has been going on, in a steady rate. The target is to reach 75 Kg ( mostly with muscle and bone mass) at the end of 6 months. The chart posted above depicts my weight gain in the past 6 months, tracked using Live Strong website.

I just had a box full of green vegetables (primarily consisting of carrots, cucumber, tomato etc) prepared with the magic hands of my fiancee, and it tasted so good. I am beginning to love this food style and I hope to continue this for a really long time. Veg pulao is waiting for me, in the bag. My cubicle mate Venkatesh just told me I look a lot different and he was happy to see that I have food at regular intervals. God bless him :) and all those fine people who are standing by me.

As a side note, I am also sporting a french beard. ;)

25 weeks to Arnoldation

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 16:17:00 +0000

Started my workout approximately 25 working days after my 25^th birthday. Probably on Jul 5/ 6^th. Prior to that, my physical activities included heavy cycling, covering upto 6 -10 kms everyday when I was around 11 to 14 years of age, martial arts (Kung Fu) between ages 20 –23 and I had joined gym back in 2010. Each time, the experience and the results were much different. And now when I consider body building as a serious hobby, to be perfected at home, I bet all my previous experience could help me a lot, which I would love to share with you all.

Short term goals

Weight gain. Reach 70 KG
Have a great physique
Look and feel Healthy(S*xy)

Long term goals

Weight gain. Reach 80 KG of pure muscle and bone mass
Well built proportionate body
Look and feel Really really Healthy(S*xy) and Strong

Here is a short summary of the progress I made in the past 5 weeks

Week – 1

Started working out with my dumbelss (2 x 4 KGs), some basic exercises, that I had learnt while I was in Gym
Jogging ( On spot)
Medium stretches
Dumbell Flys, curls and Dead lift

Week -2

Started food tracking by amazing free site - LiveStrong
Got myself ‘Arnold’s Modern Encyclopaedia of Body building’ from FlipKart
Also got myself ‘Dumbbell Training For Strength And Fitness by Matt Brzycki, Fred Fornicola’

Week – 3

Good news from Doctor. She said, I had the best cholesterol levels she had seen in any patient
Consulted doctor and as per her recommendation, got myself Protein powder ( 18 g/ scoop)
Got myself a barbell ( 5” , 3 Kgs approx)
Shocked to see my weight shot up to 65.4 KG
Took a couple of ‘before’ photos :)

Week – 4

Received the book ‘Men’s health big book of excercises’ home delivered by FlipKart
Shocked to see my weight shot up to 66.6 KG
Took more ‘Before’ photos
Posted about my new found interest in this blog

Week – 5

Bought myself two 5 Kg plates and a skip rope. Tried and found that it’ not that easy, I definitely need more practice and also a place to do skipping
Prepared a list of things I would eat each day
Steadily been tracking my food intake for the past 3 weeks, and it’s hovering around a cool 1800 + calories a day. Target is 2000+ so that I could have a steady 1/2 kg weight increase each week

Bigger trousers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 09:05:00 +0000

I have become very comfortable with skipping now (Jump rope) The only issue is that, its a very tiring cardio workout and you really need some stamina to keep going. Big cheers to all you guys who do a 100 + each day.

In other news, most of my size 32" trousers just don't fit anymore. I guess I have graduated to 34" now, after the 4 Kg + weight gain that I had in the last 4 months. I guess I might need to maintain my waistlines and tummy in this shape or convert more fat to muscles.

Muscles are forever

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 08:02:00 +0000

The title of this post is taken from Scooby's work out site, and it had a profound impact on me. I had thought that if you stop working out, in a few days/months time all your muscles are gonna get melted out or something. But it doesn't, it would be really really slow gradual process and I am sure when you start seeing it (I am sure it won't happen to you, if you do regular workouts - atleast 30 - 40 mins for two days, a week) just make sure you stick to your fitness regime.

And moreover once you start enjoying the benefits of good health and strength, I am sure there is no way you are gonna slow this down.

Skip Rope

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 05:35:00 +0000

(NSFW : Kindly excuse the skimpy clothes in the video, but its indeed a great workout video)

'Skip rope'ing got into me after I saw this amazing video on youtube posted above, about skip rope(jump rope)by Zuzana from body rock site. I googled for several videos since then, and hence I decided to include it in my workout routine. It's been 3 days since I bought the skip rope but it's been idling since then, due to the roadblocks I have listed below.

Road block – 1

My first plan was to head to the nearby park, for skipping due to lack of space at my place. The park closes by 8:00 A.M and several attempts to reach before that turned out to be futile, since I was unable to get up and be there, before that.

Solution: I decided to do skipping on the terrace

Road block – 2

Got up @ 6:00 AM went to terrace on Monday( Jul 19), and started skipping. The loud thud caused by me jumping up and down, was almost unbearable, so I was kindly requested by my cousin to stop it :)

Solution : I have to find some place else, but no idea where . . .

Road block -3

Since the option of going to park and skipping on the terrace was out of question, I had to think about something else. Our bedroom was hardly 8 feet high and there were lot of things inside it(including a TV, closet and a bed), so I couldn't possible even think about skipping inside the bedroom.

I did it !!

I was so disappointed thinking about all that, and I switched on my laptop to hear some music (which I always do when I hit road blocks like these)and stumbled across the video of this muscular guy and something inside me told me that I wanted to be like him.

I got up from my bed, took the jump rope, came back to my bedroom. I moved a couple of things around, made sure I stayed AWAY from the TV and finally tied the rope around my wrist so that the length reduced so that I would not be hitting the ceiling when I do the skipping/ jumping. And guess what ? In 10 mins I had done 8 sets of 4 reps each ! And I am sure this would be daily routine henceforth.

So why sharing this ?

The whole idea of sharing this with you is that, you might be having several roadblocks that prevent you from reaching your fitness goals. Keep looking out for options and I am sure you would hit the solution pretty soon . Several posts by Melola from Spark people had also inspired me in thinking of ways in achieving my fitness goal. In one post, she even stated keeping her jogging machine inside the kitchen since there was no place other than that in her house.

Wishing you all the best.

Body Building

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:54:00 +0000

(Cover image of 'BIG Book of Exercises' that I bought yesterday)

I don't know what got into me, but I just know that, I have fallen in love with body building. And I have just two things in my mind as the goals

Gain weight in terms of sheer muscle and bone strength ( current aim is 70 KG)
Endurance training resulting in more strength and stamina along with fitness

Now I know that, these goals cannot be reached overnight, But I just started loving the journey towards it. And the best part was that, my body has reacted in a very positive way (Contrary to my 'friend's' comments that I will never put on weight) And with the mouth watering nutritious food that I get from my fiancee I believe this would be one ride I would not forget(Yeah, she comes to my office just to give me this amazing food)
I was able to gain over 2 Kgs(over 4.4 pounds) in less than 2 weeks, and I want to continue in that path. The best part is I don't look that different :)

Firstly started with a pair of 4 KG dumbells, then recently graduated to a barbell, without weights, since the shop did not have stock for 2 x 2 KG steel plates. But that turned out to be boon for me since I think I might actually move to 2 x 4 KG plates ! in a few weeks time

The current routine looks like this

Exercise Name	Total Time(mins)
Jogging	10
Stretching (Kung fu based)	10
Upper body(with weights)	10
Lower body(with weights)	10

Nowadays, I regularly track my food consumption using Livestrong website and I got a chance to learn from several of these websites mentioned below

Dumbbell exercises for Men
Hundred pushups in 6 weeks
About Calisthenics (Also 'Google' in videos for Calisthenics)
Review of fitness sites
Scooby's free site about excercise, nutrition and tips

Books that I am reading now

Dumbbell Training For Strength And Fitness by Matt Brzycki, Fred Fornicola
The New Encyclopedia Of Modern Bodybuilding : The Bible Of Bodybuilding, Fully Updated And Revised - Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bill Dobbins
The Men's Health Big Book Of Exercises - Adam Campbell

I ordered all these books from FlipKart and delivered to me in much less rates(And free home delivery too)

I will keep you posted(Hopefully with some 'Before'/'After' photos too :) ) with all the happenings around me related to Health and Fitness.

Happy rocking your body, bye.

Best stock trading tools

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 19:54:00 +0000

Hi, In this post I want to cover the best stock trading tools (that also supports Indian stock markets BSE/ NSE) These could be online tools as well as desktop tools that are free and easy to use.

Stock tracking and analyzing sites (online)

Best Portfolio and stock Management tools (desktop and free to use)

JStock

I am researching on free charting software using the data sets from a free provider (eg: Yahoo finance) Currently look at Wintrend, iTrade, jCharts etc

The stock traders slang

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 16 Jun 2011 07:41:00 +0000

I am basically an IT guy, and it took a while for me to get my head around various terms used in the stock and trading industry. Some of the concepts had my thought process going back and forth but it was definitely worth investing in terms of time/ money. And as I learn more about this industry, I must say that I am really impressed by the depth and breadth of this great field.

Trade specific terms

Research Ideas

(more to be added later)

Stock trading through SBIcap

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 19:28:00 +0000

(NOTE: This post is very India specific)

After researching on various brokerage firms( companies that help you buy/sell shares), I decided to zero in on ICICI Direct, Reliance Money and SBICap Securities Due to relatively low 'Account opening charges' and 'Minimum balance' and brokerage charges, I decided to go for Reliance Money or SBI. Since SBI people reached back to me first and I already had an account with this bank, I had my account created in less than week and I placed my first order yesterday.

Links about using the SBI platform

Other related resources

Realtime Details on stocks from Rediff
Comparison of various brokerage companies (The details presented might be a little outdated, by the time you read this, so check the respective brokerage firms to get
Top 100 bullish shares

Towards wealth and investment

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 16:26:00 +0000

With suggestion from my best friend and fiancee, I had decided to go for investing in Gold shares. And the first place was to ask my parents, since they were veterans in share trading over the past 2 decades. With some basic information, that I got from them, I decided that it was upto me to take this forward. So I did the following changes in my lifestyle to accommodate this new interest in wealth and investment:

Developed a new interest in reading financial newspaper. A special mention goes to 'Economic times'. You can get its e-version here. ( Man !! can't believe the trash that comes in today's regular newspapers)
Changed my home page to forbes.com. I must say that's definitely one site that must be on your daily reading list, among others if you are serious about wealth and investment
Got some really amazing books : 'Rich Dad, Poor dad', 'Success Secrets of the Rich and Happy' and many others
Started making entries of my daily expenditure, first started with excel then moved onto full fledged software - Gnucash
Started thinking about ways I could reduce my expenditure, including reducing my broad band plan, which I rarely used, Using more public transport than private cabs. The habit of making note of daily expenditure helped me identify these hot spots and take measure to solve them (Again another amazing suggestion from my fiancee)

In the next post, I would try to tell more about my adventures in stock market and the thought process behind those decision. Until then, be happy.

Indexing our life - Dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 13:41:00 +0000

[ (c) stock.xchng]

It would be blinding to ignore the fact, or rather the truth how much my friend wants to be in a job, more than anything else and could go to whatever extend to get that point across. It just brings to my head, how much powerful our minds are in creating situations that match our personality/ beliefs and value systems.

Today I realized for the first time, the true power of focusing. If we focus our efforts on one thing and constantly think about that, make ourselves believe in it entirely, Its just a matter of time before you can see it unfold in front of your eyes.

As a matter of fact, it was not my friend's dream that I see around me, right now. I had dreamed my friend dreaming about this. Which means, when my friend's dream came true, it was my dream which came true in the first place, so this is very interesting indeed.

Money minting while you sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:55:00 +0000

I have been looking for ways to monetize my blog and I came across some options which I wanted to share with you

Blogging ads (url: http://www.bloggingads.com)
I was looking for a place to sign-up and finally I got it, I was supposed to click on the link 'Bloggers' on the top right corner of the home page. After the quick registration process(which also requires you to have a PayPal account) I was told that my blog do not have the 'REQUIRED PAGE RANKING' . Good !

What I gained ?
Due to the requirement mentioned in this site, I got myself registered in PayPal and its free and you could link your bank account to it(Some one earlier told me that its mandatory to have a credit card before you could register in PayPal)

PayPerPost (url : https://payperpost.com/)
Although this site had a more intuitive user interface, after the entire process, it just told me 'SOMEBODY' will contact me with a prospect ad. Wow ! And I was supposed to wait.

What I gained ?
Made me think about Adsense more

Adsense(url : https://www.google.com/adsense )
Although I did hear about Adsense and also that my cousin still gets a decent 300$ + check from Google (thanks to adsense) was more than ringing bells in my ears. I decided to go for it. The result of which you can see in my blog( on the right) The process is pretty simple.
1. Just log in to adsense site with your google account and create a free adsense account.
2. Fill in the details(The house address needs to be correct)
3. Go to 'My ads' and create a new ad
4. Paste the code in your blog/ site

Its that simple, and you could get help for all of these steps, elsewhere. So my first step towards reaching the goal of money getting credited while you sleep is moving towards its destination. Hope found this post useful