Life in Japan - Pictures galore !! Arcades, Temples, Rainy days, etc

I do plan to start the jogging but at first I'm sticking with the walking and slowly build it up. I really am out of shape so going straight in to a jog will knacker me within 5 minutes! I weigh almost 100kg! Jesus, what a fat f*ck I've become. My goal is to get back down to 75kg. I'm 179cm tall so 75kg should be perfect.

Yakumo

 

How much are you atm?

I'm doing the gym thing since beginning this year. But only once a week, with the wivey together. The rest I'm doing almost daily in my private Gym at home, which consists of two 20kg dumbells and some accessories.
If you're fat, try to eat as less carbs as possible especially in the evening.

 

The new age of "cool" for the young people. Emphasis on being cool by doing uncool things like drinking cheap beer, hanging out at coffee shops, listening to obscure music, wearing out-of-fashion clothes in a fashionable way, etc.

 

5-6 minutes (1k about) is as good of a place to start as any. I couldn't do that when I started by after a long hiatus (when my son was about a year old). I'm going to go jog 10k once I'm done working.

Cutting back the carbs isn't an awful idea, but as you start doing more cardio you need them. They are your energy... more so than protein. Just gotta burn 'em off.

I bought a Body Bugg when I was in the states. Pretty cool device... very helpful if you're trying to drop weight. Also, I know the train/cycling isn't an option down there, but the commuting lifestyle in Tokyo can easily count for a few hundred calories per day.

 

Yeah, you have to organize your carbs intake for each day individually. For training free days almost nothing (up to 125g max. per day) and very nothing for dinner/at evening/night -> eat fish, chicken (fore those who do) and vegetables.
For days which including a good training you sure should eat more carbs few hours before. Have some good cereals for breakfast, a good lunch and you will be served fine for the training.

Proteins always after the training or just a little before. They do not help much if you burn 'em

Oh, and also eat as less bread as possible. Especially the white one. And if, only for breakfast.

 

I do eat a lot of bread so I should cut down on that. I did stop eating ALL rice for a month but it had no effect on my body. I'll go for a 1km jog tonight then walk for a hour then another 1km jog. Where I live is quite hilly though so maybe 1km up hill will be too much at first? Anyway, I'll find out tonight . Thanks for the tips, guys.

Yakumo

 

1k shouldn't be too bad. Each jog should be hard... and they should get easier (then you raise the distance). It will suck donkey balls for a month... just hang in there. Listen to your body though. My knee hurts... I walk/run flat-footed. Trying to fix it but I feel like I ran 10k with my leg twisted at a weird angle. Probably b/c I did.

 

Lovely pictures you have there, GaijinPunch. What happened to those stones? Is that the result of a quake?

Well, did the jog and what a bastard it was. Only 5 minutes in to the jog I was knackered. My shins hurt the most. They aren't used to having 100kg pounding down on them. I did 746 meters before I caved in. I just couldn't go any further. Hard to breath, aching shins and spinning head. Yeah, i'm well out of shape but I'm not going to give up. More pain tomorrow!

 

Keep going at it Yakumo.

Amazing shots there, GP.

 

You do not have to continously jog, try jogging for a few hundred metres then walk for a little while, then jog again, etc, that way you will find you can do longer distances without killing yourself. Pace yourself.

A better way once you have jogged for a while is to Jog, Dash and walk, Jog for 200 to 500m, dash for 25 to 100m and then walk to catch breath then repeat a few times. You tend to burn up more energy in the dash part.

Also if jogging in the morning, it is also good to eat an apple or pear, if you do not like them then eat some other fruit (although Bananas and soft fruits are not recommended.) and have a cup of black tea (no milk and use sweetner rather then sugar if you must as you do not want to burn the carbs in the sugar, I tend to drink a nice cup of Earl Grey) about 30 minutes before. This way you will tend to burn fat and carbs rather then burning amino acids (if after jogging you have a slight ammonia smell then you are burning up amino acids which is bad).

 

Good question. It is very likely. I've driven by this place on my bicycle about every single day for the last year, but haven't gone in in ages. There were a couple of other similar momentos with signs on them saying to "be careful as they might fall".

Hopefully tomorrow will be clear, and I'll get some other shots. Also need to find a good night place. I think Nakano has some nice lit up at night Sakura.

I would go every other day. Jogging daily is just brutal. Maybe a good time to invest in a bicycle? I actually prefer swimming to all of it, but might be a bitch for you to find a pool. Anyhoo, eventually you'll figure out that you can go harder. When you get into the 2k plus jogs, you'll realize the first 500m are the most painful. I've had a few jogs where the first 2k were absolute agony and then the next 6 were a breeze.

 

WOW

Nice shots GP

 

Great camera, awful photographer, half-decent Photoshopper would be more accurate. :flamethrower:

 

Man, can't get enough of those blossoms. So pretty.

 

Here's some more for you then Today we had the annual yearly piss-up in the park. Sadly this year it was only my family with my wife's parents and her father's sister and mother who is 94 and still quite active!

Anyway, the park in these pictures is only a few minutes up the road from my house. I live in a very lucky and beautifully clean area.











So much meat can not be healthy but I sure as hell do like a BBQ with lots of beer.



And finally the obligatory Japanese group shot.



Yakumo

 

A few more here from our day out in Shinjuku Gyoen!

 

Shinjuku Gyoen is so serene. I went to Yoyogi Park last night for Oooze's annual tech house piss fest. Good lordy! That place was a mad house. Probably no more than last year but you forget how crowded it really is. Several thousand people -- couldn't even get a signal on my phone!






The official bird of Tokyo: The Genetically Mutated Crow





"Hope"

 

GP, What cam are you using atm? I like that slightly grey touch over the pics.

 

It's a Canon EOS 30D. I use 2 lenses: A zoom and a wide one which I can't for the life of me remember. The wide one was pretty pricey. $1300 USD when it came out... I think I got it when it dropped to $1000. The washed out color is just some Photoshop. I followed a tutorial and stuck it all in an action. It was so cloudy, if I didn't do something w/ the photos they're just totally white-washed. So, went w/ the vintage look.