How To Live a Healthy Life

   The first time I considered going to the gym was when I was sixteen. It was a family party night at my house and my aunt came up to me and told me I gained weight. My self esteem went down the drain and I felt so embarrassed. Even though my aunt did hurt my feelings, I can't really blame her too much because it's normal to be straight-forward and honest in the Asian culture. My uncle was always the one to point out all of the pimples I had. It's their way of saying "Go get your shit together, eat your vegetables, exercise, do well in school."

    I had to beg my mom to get me a gym membership because she didn't want to pay for it or drive me to the gym everyday. Eventually, she gave in and that's when I started my fitness journey. It wasn't easy because I learned everything by myself. Sometimes I had help from some of my friends, but I was mostly on my own. Over the course of 3 years, I learned so much about my body and the way it responds to different foods, workouts and etc. Working out has definitely increased my self-esteem and self-efficacy. It's an amazing feeling when you treat your body well and I want to everyone to know the feeling.

  --- 1. First things first, it never ends right when you go straight from eating burgers and fries one day to eating salads and tasteless chicken the next. It's okay to start small and change your diet gradually. There are a lot of alternatives for a lot of food. It may take more effort to make, but it's good for the body and your future health outcomes. It's more like a life style change than a short-term diet. For example, instead of frying your chicken, you can use breadcrumbs, seasoning and olive oil to bake your chicken. It still tastes great and you still feel great afterwards. You can find a lot of ideas online from food blogs or fitness blogs. The foods that you consume is one of the most important things when it comes to a healthy life. 

--- 2. The gym may feel intimidating, so if that's the case, home workouts can still work. There are a lot of home workout ideas on Youtube, Instagram and etc. If you want to build muscle and lose fat, weight-lifting is the way to go because it's the fastest and most effective way. When you lift weights, it's important to not overwork any muscle parts, so doing full body workouts everyday is not ideal. Your muscles will tire out and you won't see the results that you want. The best way to do this is to focus your workout on one body part every day. That way, your muscles can heal and grow when you're working out another part. I'm sure you've heard it all. Leg day, chest day, back day, cardio day and etc. I mostly learned my workouts from Youtube and Instagram.

--- 3. Moderation is Key. Too much of anything is never good. Except money. 

Don't deprive yourself when you're craving something. You'll get moody and might end up binging later. If you want a cookie, have a cookie. If you want pizza, have a slice. As long as you eat healthy a majority of the time, it's okay to indulge. Life should be enjoyed. You shouldn't have to feel like every day is a drag. Everyday is a new day and a new start. There's no need to be upset that you ate too much one night because you can start over the next day.

--- 4. Love yourself. Each individual is unique and you should never compare yourself to anyone. Although I have to admit it's hard not to compare yourself with other people because of social media and people's opinions. But, it's important to learn to love your own unique self. There were always times when I wish I could change something about my body that only surgery can change. It's not a healthy habit, but I've learned to love myself and my body. I still have doubts at times, but I try my best to stay positive. There will be bumps on the road but who ever said success was easy?

The four steps to a Healthy Life was what I learned to live a healthy and enjoyable life. There's always more to learn and I look forward to learning more over the years.

It's Just the Beginning

Back home in South Jersey, everything was slow and the days dragged on for years. The days would only go by fast if you had a full day of plans. The only good thing about home was the connections I made over the last thirteen years. Without my friends at home, life would be boring and mediocre in South Jersey. Ever since I graduated High School in 2015 and watched everyone leave for college, I felt like I was missing out on everything. I wasn't making as many friends as I wanted to in college since I was a commuter at my nearby college. There was rarely ever something exciting happening and I felt like there was so much more in life than what I was living.
Trapped was what I felt. Being under my parent's roof and not living on my own like everyone else. I mean a lot of people prefer staying home for their own reasons, but I wanted something new in my life and I was tired of living in the same town for thirteen years. During my time at home, I did live my life to the fullest, but not completely because I was still living with my parents. I often got in trouble because my parents always wanted me to be home, but I never wanted to.. I will never understand why they think it's a sin to want to watch the sunrise on the beach. I mean I understand that it's not good to stay out all night until after sunrise, but that's what I lived for. The warm summer nights spent with good company and good vibes were the highlights of my summer. Sometimes I would only get 2 hours of sleep for work, but Cuban Roast Wawa coffee always had my back.
Knowing how much stress I give to my parents (especially my mom), I knew it was only right to transfer to a college where I can truly experience life without two Asian parents nagging about everything I do. In my own opinion, I think I'm a good kid because I work hard in school and at my job. Work takes up most of my days in the summer, so whenever I'm off, I never spend the day at home doing nothing.  I never ask for money or let anyone badly influence me. But, just the fact that I'm never home, they see me as the devil's child.
Every day, I learn something new about myself. Even if it's something small like a new food or song I like. Before moving to Rutgers, I was worried about how I was going to get use to not having a car and not going to target every other day. But of course, I realized a car wasn't necessary since we have buses. And because everything is walk distance. Ever since I moved to New Brunswick, I made so many amazing connections and found my best friends in college. It's crazy how much we relate to each other and I'm glad we all live on the same floor. One of them is named Aileen and she's from Scotch Plains. The other one is Kaz short for Kazmuir and she's from Philadelphia, so she has to pay the out-of-state tuition, unfortunately. My time in college has been a life-changing experience. I learned so much about myself even when I've only been here for a short amount of time. The freedom I have here has allowed me to truly experience life and live it to the fullest. I've learned that if I put my mind to something, I can accomplish anything. Like when I had my last final exam the day before Christmas eve, I kept myself focused and studied my ass off despite being the only person left on campus. It really paid off and I was extremely happy that I got a 96 on it. It's an amazing feeling to be satisfied with life and to know that it's just the beginning.

Fitness Inspiration

Over the weekend, I decided to interview one of my closest friends back at home. His name is Kenny Randall and he's a 6'3 basketball and football player. For the past few months, I've been seeing him work hard towards his fitness goal and inspiring many young individuals to work for their goals too. He's been on Youtuber David Laid's channel a couple times and has gained many social media followers since then.
He went to University of South Carolina to play football his first two years and now he is taking classes at a community college for a semester until he transfers to Rutgers next year.

Interview
What inspired you to start a serious transformation?
- After being on David Laid's Youtube Channel, I recieved a lot of messages from his followers asking for advice and telling me that I inspire them to start working out. It's an amazing feeling knowing that people look up to you for inspiration and motivation. So, i thought it would be a good idea to start a transformation and bring my audience with me through this journey.

Have you started your Youtube channel yet?
-No, not yet, but I've started filming and editing already. It's going to take time to get use to filming, but I'm looking forward to starting my channel.

Do you want to get serious in the Youtube world?
-If my channel grows, then yes. But if not, I'll still do it as a hobby and have fun with it.

How did you meet Fitness Youtuber David Laid?
- I met David in high school. We both went to Mainland Regional High School. It's a small school and everyone basically knows each other.

What's your progress so far on your transformation?
- So far, I've lost over 60 pounds. I started at 356 pounds and now I'm about 290 pounds. I haven't gone under 300 pounds in years so I'm really proud of my progress. Seeing more progress motivates me to work harder.

What have you been doing differently in this transformation?
- The one thing that has really changed in this transformation is my diet. I've been counting my macros almost everyday. There are some days when I don't count what I eat, but I do it a majority of the time. Diet is really important and it can completely affect your progress.

So, What are your plans for Rutgers?
- As of right now, I plan on transferring to Rutgers next fall and hopefully play football there. Things could change, but I'll have to see if plans fall through.

Overall, it was nice interviewing Kenny and seeing a slightly different side of him. He's usually never serious and always joking around. But after this interview, I decided to be serious about my transformation. I usually struggle the most with the diet part, but I'm going to try my best to eat as healthy as I could. I have to cut out the late night munchies and cheat meals. Hopefully I'll start to see some progress!

Beauty Deep in the Skin

February 4, 2016
This weekend, I decided to visit my closest friends back at home. I didn't tell my parents or any of my other friends that I was coming home. I'm staying at my friend Jennifer's house with my friend Chloe for the weekend. We've all been friends since we were 7 years old when I first moved to New Jersey and we all live in the same neighborhood too. My friend Jennifer has been wanting to get her first tattoo for a while now, but she never had the guts to get it until this weekend. She's definitely following the quote "Go Big or Go Home" because she wants to get a big dragon going down from her hip to her thigh. For me, I started with a small quote on my collarbone, so it wasn't a scary first tattoo experience. Knowing that Jennifer has a low pain tolerance, I hope she'll make it through her tattoo session.

12:34 p.m. We arrived at the tattoo shop about 20 minutes ago and now we're just waiting on the tattoo artist, Dominic to set everything up. I know he's capable of doing the dragon tattoo because he did one of my tattoos and he also did all of my body piercings. Jennifer's extremely nervous and she's hoping it won't be as painful as she imagines it to be.

1:05 p.m.  Dominic is starting to put the stencil of her tattoo on her hip/thigh. He asks her if she's ready and she nervously answers, "yes.." He then starts on the tattoo and she's relieved because it wasn't as painful as she thought it would be.

1:30 p.m.  "Never mind!" she yells as she squeezes my hand so hard that I feel pain too. I didn't want to complain and tell her she was squeezing too hard because I know she's in more pain than I am. As she's squeezing my hand, I could feel the bones in my fingers crack. Even worse, she starts to dig her nails into my hand. She lets go and starts biting on her jacket. I could see her hand and nails imprinted on my skin. "Ow.." I said.

2:38 p.m. Outlining the tattoo is known to be the most painful part and after an hour and a half of tattooing, the whole dragon is outlined and 1/4 finished. she decides to take a break before continuing and dreads finishing the tattoo. Dominic gives her the option of finishing the tattoo in 3 weeks if she can't take the pain anymore. Jennifer decides to stay strong and finish the whole piece in one day.

3:45 p.m.   An hour has passed and our other friend Chloe finally comes after running some errands. She brings me a coffee and a salad from Wawa . Jennifer was in so much pain that she didn't even want to eat. It was the first meal of the day for me because I didn't have an appetite in the morning. My stomach was growling and begging for food the whole time. The first bite of my salad was heavenly. Even though it was only a salad, it was probably the best salad I've ever eaten. Wawa coffee was exactly what I needed after my salad. My hunger finally subsides and I feel content.

4:33 p.m. "Almost done!" Jennifer's eyes brightens up. She said it was the best thing she heard all day. The tattoo is basically finished, but now it's time to pick the colors for the flowers. After 10 minutes of deciding, she goes for the color orange and red. I didn't know if it would look good because I've never seen orange and red on a flower before.

4:45 p.m.  As expected, Dominic never fails to disappoint. After blending the colors red and orange on the flowers, the tattoo is finally complete! It was one of Dominic's favorite piece, so he took a couple pictures for his Instagram. It was extremely tempting to get something done while I was there, but I fought the urge because it would've been an impulsive decision. And also because I'm a broke college student.