Dieting Rule #1: Metabolism

One of the hardest and challenging step of weight loss is metabolism. There are 3 reasons why, and i will list them out here.

1. You need to eat.

Most people think just dieting alone will help them loose weight. Yes, there is truth to that. But, remember that one guy from season 1 of "Survivor?" He lost like 50lbs during the show because he was eating a whole lot less in that island. However, when the show ended and he went back home, the fat also came back. The reason is metabolism.

During winter, bears hibernate. They don't eat, and their bodies are able to adjust and lowers their metabolism to the point where they can survive. Our bodies do the exact same thing. If you stop eating or lower your calorie intake significantly - your body will react and lower the metabolism, thinking if it doesn't you will starve to death. This is why you need to eat. But there are tricks to how you need to eat.

• First, you need to eat 5 times a day. Breakfast, lunch, brunch, dinner, snack.
  
• Second, you need to eat small portions. THIS IS KEY. Whenever you eat more than your body can handle per sitting, all those extra calories go to fat.
  
• Third, you need to eat smart. Chicken breast and fish, instead of pizza and hamburgers.
  

I am a HUGE offender of this rule. I honestly don't follow any of it. And that is the reason I can't seem to trim the last 10lbs i want to get rid of. I eat maybe twice a day - and during lunch i eat a very large portion (which sums to the majority of my calorie intake in a day). I also love carbs (rice, noodles, bread, etc.) - so my diet stinks.

Don't get me wrong though - you can still loose weight with my bad habits, but the results won't be alarming. To top it off, you have a high risk of gaining all the weight back because of a slow metabolism. However, there is a cheat which i will list below.

2. You need to gain more muscle

Muscle burns more calories than fat. That's a given. The more muscles your body has, the more fat/calories you will burn in a day. Your body will also thank you by increasing the metabolism to a degree.

Doing cardio (running, bicycling, walking) is a great workout and helps your heart stay healthy. I am all for cardio. But what it doesn't do that well, is help you increase your muscle volume. And here comes the big shocker! The downfall of cardio only diet is that your body will stay healthy only as long as you keep doing cardio everyday. Whenever you stop, or take a few days off.. guess what? Your body will not have the required metabolism and will gain all that weight back.

So, along with a healthy cardio, you need to lift weights. If you don't have any weights, use your body! Situps, push ups, etc.

3. Genetics

Just like some kids are born into rich parents and have their whole futures laid out for them. Some people are just born with an instilled gene that keeps their metabolism high even without exercise.

Maybe one day in the future, we can create pills that changes our genes..

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Anyways, i should probably start listening to my own advice. Eat smaller, more often, and get muscle!

Restaurant Review: Veronese Cafe

Veronese Cafe
419 W Commonwealth Ave
Fullerton, CA 92831
(714) 578-8265

Hours:
Mon-Sat 9:30 am - 12 am
Sun 12:30 pm - 12 am

If you are looking for something different than Starbucks or a nice dating spot, you should try Veronese. The main difference is the atmosphere. There are little fountains, lots of plants/trees, and plenty of seats for large parties. The drinks are well made, and they serve food (which i have yet to try). It's pretty quiet and unique.

There are two short comings with this place though.

1. Parking sucks. There are about a total of 8 parking spots behind the shop. If they are all taken you will have to park on the street, but it's only a 1 minute walk.

2. Service. Don't expect great service. Personally i haven't had any bad experiences, but i've heard some bad reviews on Yelp. My theory is, since the place is Korean owned, they are nicer to FOB's that speak fluent Korean. Most Koreans like to get their drinks and just talk with company and not be bothered by waitresses every few minutes - and they are probably used to that custom.

If you end up going, ordering a drink and receiving it shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure you go up to the counter to pay instead of flagging someone to bring you the check.

Why is growing hair so difficult?

So for the past 2.5 months i tried to grow my hair. Grow it long enough to do the whole FOB look. My hair is semi curly, so i was going to get a straight perm or magic straight done. When i went to the salon, i was advised against doing it, simply because i would have to redo it every other month and it costs $60 - $80 for guys. I hate the fact that my hair is so stubborn and short is pretty much the only thing it's good at.

Pretty much everyone i know has told me shorter hair looks better, or makes me look younger. I guess i should 포기 the long hair.

Movie Review: The Good The Bad The Weird

좋은놈 나쁜놈 이상한놈.

The movie is about 3 guys. A thief, a bounty hunter, and a murderer. All 3 of them are entangled in a drama over a treasure map. The setting is old western with a mix of early 1900 weapons and vehicles.

Lee Byun Hun and Jung Woo Sung star in this movie - and it's not often you find two very high paid actors in the same movie. Neither of them outshine each other - and it was a perfect balance.

The movie has many shooting scenes and abundant volume of chase action. Cinematography was really good, and some of the scene locations looked nice. But, the overall plot and drama didn't have any "umph". Most of the story was predictable. Worth watching at least once.

Rating: 7/10

Song of the Day: Huh Gak - Hello

After winning the Korean version of American Idol, Huh Gak finally released his first mini album. He has a great voice.. and the song suits him very well.

While we are on this subject.. anybody else think it was funny how John Park got voted off American Idol and ended up going all the way up to 2nd place in the Korean version of AI? I honestly don't think he sings that well.. anyways..

Rant: People who try to get pity attention

Ever since i was little i was taught a little secret about getting extra attention for myself. Pity. This can be used in a few different ways, but the general method is always the same. Act or exaggerate how sick or hurt you are. This is used in many different scenarios - the most prudent - is calling in sick for work when you are fully capable of finishing a shift.

Next is going MIA so that people start to worry about you. This works best after you made a mistake and need to apologize, but don't feel like being the instigator. So, you wait and expect others to approach you first to save face.

Lastly, (and this is by far the most annoying) is a method to get pity from people who live with you. It only works this way because you need to be in constant interaction. First, you need to act sick - and take unusually long naps. Stay in your room and come out only to use the restroom. When you do come out, you must make sure not to make eye contact or talk to anyone. If someone asks you a question, just grunt and act sick. If no one pays attention to you, you need to make your presence known by grunting and sigh'ing very loudly so that everyone can hear.

These methods do the following:

1. Make the other person worry
a. Did i do something wrong?
b. Why is he/she sick?
c. Did something happen?

2. You receive pity attention
a. If you are human, you will doubtfully wonder what the matter is
b. The other person becomes a priority in your daily thought process

3. You get what you want
a. Are you a parent, and your grown up kids are behaving? Act sick until you get the results you want. Then proceed to be miraculously cured. (F*** to any of you old timers that used this method)
b. You are a gf and want to play mind games with your bf. At the end, the bf is so worried he gets whatever you want.

To top it all off, you can call yourself a professional at using the pity attention method when you are able to be the one pissed off while using it. For example, you achieved the pity attention and you get people asking you if you are "ok". You respond by purposely acting pissed off and annoyed; when in reality you are happy inside that you are getting the attention. "Don't worry about me", "Get off my back" etc. What happens next is making the other person even more nervous and worried.

My mom's side of the family use the sick/pissed off tactic very often. I've had to live with it so long that i learned to just completely ignore them. Giving them any sort of pity attention will just encourage them. Generally what happens when i ignore them, is that they get infuriated that i don't give a crap. And my obvious response is that even if i did care, they would give me the cold shoulder tactic.

If someone tries to use this tactic on you, think carefully about how to respond. You may just have to balance the volume of attention you give - or else you can fall prey to a devious devourer.

Creating Korean Pancakes!

On a rainy day in Korea, you can ask just about anyone what they are craving to eat, and the answers will generally be the same.

"김치전, 양파전, etc."

It translates to Korean pancakes. There many different types of Korean pancakes, based on a single variable. Just like there are many different types of pizza based on toppings. There is seafood pancake, kimchi pancake, vegetable pancake, etc. Although my favorite is seafood pancake, the ingredients are not readily available. So i go to the next best thing, which is kimchi pancakes.

These pancakes go really well with soju, and it's a snack Koreans love to eat while drinking. Here is a quick and easy way to make some for yourself today!

What you'll need:

a. 1 cup of flour
b. 1/2 cup of water
c. 1/2 cup of kimchi
d. 1 egg
e. optional: frying mixture, and kimchi broth

First get the kimchi on a cutting board and dice it up. On a large mixing bowl, add the flour, kimchi broth (this is just the red juice in the kimchi container), water, egg, and the kimchi. The frying mix is optional because it's used for people who like their pancakes a little crunchy.

After you add everything, mix it together and you should get a nice thick layer of something like this:



Get a large frying pan and add a generous amount of cooking oil. You can make a large shape (as pictured below) or little shapes for individual sizes. Just make sure it's a thin layer.



After you took one, before you make another one - add more cooking oil. With the ingredients i listed above, you should be able to make 7 individual pancakes, or 2.5 large pancakes.



Enjoy! On a final note, you can be creative and add more ingredients like green onions or even beef.