Comments Posted By Kevin Kim
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Happy 30th anniversary to the SBHHH. Many happy returns.
The whole “non-binary” thing is BS: it just creates a new binary:
binary vs. non-binary
There’s no escaping binaries.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 24/October/2023 @ 11:13 pm
Diets like keto, Atkins, and anything low-carb are predicated on the insulin problem. This way of thinking is called CIM, the carbohydrate-insulin model. Its explanatory power picks up where the CICO model (calories in, calories out) leaves off, specifically when it comes to explaining why following CICO always leads to frustrating plateaus in weight loss.
I’ve written a lot about CIM and CICO on my blog, so you can search for those terms there. I’ll also see about giving you some video links to some experts so you know I’m not just blowing smoke.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 24/October/2023 @ 11:37 am
I was wondering where the photos of Beers #1 and #2 went, but I guess you’re keeping those for yourself.
If you’re eating, say, 1600 calories a day, then drinking another 720 on top of that, you’re probably overbudget. But yes, if your activity calories are sufficient, you might have incurred a caloric deficit. Again, though, weight loss is as much about minimizing insulin spikes as it is about reducing caloric intake, and twelve beers means twelve spikes in the evening, right before bed. Not good.
Brian has the right idea, though, in suggesting an incremental change in your weekly beer-drinking schedule. There are plenty of dieters who reckon their calories in terms of weeks instead of days. This can be more bearable, psychologically, for some people. Maybe try setting a weekly calorie budget for yourself, with food and nonalcoholic drinks as one category, and alcohol as another. Or hell, just lump it all together to make life simpler.
Whatever works.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 23/October/2023 @ 7:49 pm
A clarification about “avoid creamy dressings”: the creaminess isn’t the problem. But a lot of these dressings contain a ton of added sugar, especially if they come from a bottle and aren’t house-made. You can ruin a healthy salad by applying the wrong dressing.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 23/October/2023 @ 10:12 am
With caloric burn, there’re activity calories and total calories. We burn calories even when sitting around doing nothing. For most adult men, that total is usually somewhere around 2000 calories, which is our BMR, or basal metabolic rate. If you’re seeing 3000 calories on your tracker, then that’s 1000 activity calories.
So the question is how many calories you’re taking in. If it’s more than your BMR + activity calories, then you’re going to gain weight. Strive for a daily caloric deficit, and you’ll see some weight loss over time. Be sure to count the calories from your alcohol consumption.
The basic math says that 3500 calories equals a pound of fat. If you have a 500-calorie deficit 7 days in a row, that’s 3500 calories, so you’ve lost a pound for that week. (This logic can be taken to ridiculous extremes, though. Are you really going to lose 100 pounds of fat after 100 weeks? Not likely. And that’s something all dieters experience: weight-loss plateaus.)
Other factors, like hormones, affect weight loss, so the above formula is at best a rough guide. Insulin is the big one to watch for: while insulin lowers blood sugar, it also encourages the body to store fat. You get a spike of insulin every time you eat or drink, especially when it’s carby stuff. The more insulin spikes throughout the day, the more likely you are to gain weight. This is why drinking is so bad: you’re repeatedly spiking your insulin, bar after bar, beer after beer, and you’re doing it in the evening before sleep, which is double-plus ungood. This is why intermittent fasting and straight-up fasting are so beneficial: you’re minimizing your number of daily insulin spikes. And this is why those sources you read suggested cutting so far down on the alcohol. If you simply can’t do that, then it’s hopeless.
I suspect you’re not eating 2000 calories a day, but if you’re close, and then you add drinking on top, well, that’s going to put you over your BMR, and you’ll gain weight.
Some foods spike insulin higher than others. Those are the carby foods. Minimize the height of your insulin spikes by eating non-carby food. In this way of thinking, oil, cream, and butter are not your enemy. Fettuccine Alfredo is bad for you not because of the cheese sauce but because of the pasta. So seek out keto alternatives to what you usually like to eat, but eat in moderation: fat doesn’t spike your insulin much, but it does have a ton of calories.
One solution to the psychological problem of feeling unsatisfied after a meal is to eat lots of food that is not calorie-dense, like salads. A huge salad with some protein on top (chicken, salmon) could be the way to go. At restaurants, avoid creamy dressings and stick to oil and vinegar (I prefer balsamic vinaigrette).
Your goal is to lose around 60 pounds, right? If you want to try something radical, try the Newcastle diet, which I did in 2021 after my stroke. It’s hell as diets go, but you’ll lose 60 pounds in 3 months, guaranteed. Have a one-serving diet shake for breakfast and dinner, and restrict lunch to salad and chicken breast or fish. Keep your total caloric intake below 800 calories per day, and you’ll lose weight for sure. It’s not a sustainable diet, of course, and it’s not meant to be. You’ll find yourself thinking about food all the time. But if you can endure ten weeks of that—with no beer—you’ll reach your weight-loss goal before next spring. Heh.
Good luck!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 23/October/2023 @ 10:05 am
Good luck with the weight-loss program. I’ve found that burning over 4000 calories a day for a little over a week can reduce your waist size by two inches. The danger is in gaining it all back.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 22/October/2023 @ 9:42 pm
Good for you re: making it through the hike. There are therapeutic stretching videos on YouTube that can help with sciatica-related problems.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 21/October/2023 @ 6:53 pm
re: metformin
Not a fan. Please go to my blog’s search window and search for what I’ve written on the drug. Otherwise, it’s good to see things moving forward, medically speaking.
It was a good reminder that despite what I pretend to believe, I mean nothing to them beyond a drink commission. I left after one beer.
It’s always about the money, nothing deeper. Intellectually, you know this. Emotionally, well, you’re kinda stunted. But you’ve got a squeeze now, sort of, so why feel empty at all?
See, this is why I think you need to swear off the bar girls. On some level, a very stupid level, they do mean something to you, and that’s not appropriate when you’re trying to cultivate a committed relationship.
This ties in to the latter part of your post, which is at least partially about aging gracefully and with dignity. You can’t go around being an emotional puppy dog forever, never growing up, never learning from mistakes. I hope you make the Swan thing work, and I sincerely hope you turn away from all forms of paid companionship. It’s all fake, and you’re not “helping” anyone by helping to perpetuate such an industry.
Good luck swimming over to the deep end of the pool.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 20/October/2023 @ 7:05 pm
Congrats, I guess, on a decent-enough game. May your aiming fluid help your darts to fly true. This darts thing happens in cycles, doesn’t it.
Good luck figuring out the new rhythm. Asleep by eight? Pussy.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 19/October/2023 @ 9:22 pm
We took the Lubao route, about a 60K journey
I’m curious as to why there’s a loop in the route.
Your other commenter should calm down. There are dozens of videos online about how to deal with dogs that have dominance issues. Simply putting the dog down is no solution. Only someone who doesn’t know dogs would say that.
Here’s a super-short video on fixing dominance.
Here’s a longer video.
Both of these videos make the same basic point, and neither suggests killing the dog.
Here’s one more video for good measure, but the trainer in the video doesn’t necessarily recommend the method he uses for all dogs.
Your other commenter is right, however, about the alpha/beta thing. That has to be stopped immediately. Lucky does indeed need to know who’s boss.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/October/2023 @ 6:53 pm
Looks like a good hat, Brian. Thanks. I’ll see if I can find a Korean (more likely Chinese since everything here is made in China) equivalent.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 18/October/2023 @ 6:08 am
Europeans who visit the US and try Twinkies think they’re horrible, chemical monstrosities. I, being American, love them. Here in Korea, there’s a treat that is so similar to a Twinkie that I wonder if it’s a shameless ripoff. Completely different shape, but exactly the same in every other respect—smell, texture, taste, etc.
Glad to hear there was no knee problem, but I do hope you go see your docs all the same.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/October/2023 @ 7:20 pm
I wrote on this topic long, long ago.
TL;DR: I’m not much of an afterlife guy. After death, we echo into the future through the effects of our actions and in the minds of others. Nothing deeper than that.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 17/October/2023 @ 10:11 am
I appreciate the shout-out.
Age and death come for us all eventually. Unless we’re lucky or unlucky enough to die early. Then it’s just Santa Muerte coming for us.
That trip out to the resort seemed fun. Any plans to go back?
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 16/October/2023 @ 4:06 pm
Does that qualify as “glamping”? It looks pretty rugged to me.
Not glamping, but also not very fun-looking, what with a bunch of tents all clustered together in what looks like a lame attempt to re-create civilization. What’s the point in camping while surrounded by people?
and my imagination once again briefly ran wild
You strike me as—how do I put this politely—a bit over-concerned for your safety!
This gent was there to greet me as I entered the Car Wash, but I guess it wasn’t my time.
Interesting how different cultures treat death. In Mexico, there is a quasi-Catholic cult of Santa Muerte (Holy Lady Death). Fun stuff.
I went with the daily special rib platter.
Looks mighty good.
Goodbye[,] Monty’s…
Wow, how often does one see green, manicured lawns like that in the PI?
I guessed that “Come Sail Away” would be the music video, but I wondered whether you’d be enterprising and put up the horrible Cartman version.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 16/October/2023 @ 1:22 am
HIs name must be “Shorty”
Well, you know what they say about that Irish curse. “Jaysus,” indeed.
Looks to be a nice vacation spot.
I’d never walk 35K in your local heat and humidity. I’d die after a single km.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 14/October/2023 @ 9:18 pm
Just marveling at that lovely sky. And the lovely food.
Did I tell you the joke about the Irish schoolteacher and her bad student? This was told to me by an Irish priest back when I was in grad school.
An Irish schoolmarm is instructing her kids. She says, “I want you to make a sentence that uses the word ‘lovely’ twice in it. Sally! Why don’t you give it a try?”
Sally, a good and proper student, stands up and says, “It was a lovely day, so I went out to see the lovely flowers.” She sits back down.
“Excellent, Sally!” beams the teacher. Her eyes narrow as she looks at Jimmy, her worst student, sitting way in the back. “Jimmy, can you give me a sentence using ‘lovely’ twice?”
Jimmy thinks for a bit, then hesitantly stands up. He says:
“One day, me sis come home. She says to me da, ‘Da! I’m pregnant!’ And me da, he says, ‘Lovely, fuckin’ lovely.'”
Have a fuckin’ lovely day.
And with that, I’m off on my big walk. Not sure how frequently I’ll comment from the road, but I’ll try. You’re a daily read, after all.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 13/October/2023 @ 4:43 pm
Over the river
Still can’t believe that’s called a river.
I assume there must be some Korean missionary work involved here.
The blue-font Korean says:
“Let’s get to know Filipino history + culture! Mission(ary) study.”
A sad sight you see way too often here.
Yikes, that is one mangy fleabag.
I ended my hike at The Pub hotel where I booked a room for Wednesday and Thursday night.
In the comment I wrote but failed to publish, I asked why you didn’t just take a vacation for a whole week if you’re going to be water-less for that time. Kinda sucks to move in to a new place and immediately get hit with the water thing. Just a reminder that this ain’t the first world.
When do you plan to see the docs about your leg? Soon, I hope.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 12/October/2023 @ 5:00 pm
I could’ve sworn I’d left a comment, but I must’ve hit the wrong button at the end.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 12/October/2023 @ 10:45 am
Thanks for the info, Brian.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 11/October/2023 @ 12:56 pm
Looks to have been a good walk. I enjoyed the sequence of sunset shots. What prevented you from taking your own version of that final shot?
If the cab is 120 pesos, and the trike is 150, is it generally true that cabs are cheaper than trikes? That doesn’t make sense to me.
re: Thai food you don’t know
Surely, you can quickly Google those foods!
re: “closer to 5K rather than the 3K I anticipated”
I wonder if the Google Maps app might have been helpful here. It would have shown you the shortest route, but that might not have been the route you chose to walk, so it could be the app would have been irrelevant.
Please see your docs when they’re back!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 10/October/2023 @ 6:13 pm
I assume this was a post about Sunday, hence no mention of a doctor visit. I hope you went to your docs today.
re: blindfolded chick
Did you notice how her eyelashes are poking out from under the blindfold? I think she’s peeking.
re: headless George
You can still see the ghost of George’s head in that picture. The Photoshopper should have used the “stamp” tool, followed by the “blur” tool, to eliminate that.
I have to admire the even wear on your shoes, there. Nice.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 09/October/2023 @ 8:36 pm
Monday’s a national holiday in Korea—the last national holiday until Christmas: Hangeul Day. On the assumption that Monday isn’t a national holiday where you are, I hope you’ll take the time to go see your docs and get checked out. The more I think about it, the more I think Rascal’s theory might have some application to your situation. Maybe lead with that when you’re at the docs’ place.
Knee Buckling: 4 Reasons
Knee Buckling: 5 Causes
Weak in the Knees: Causes and Solutions
7 Reasons for Knee BucklingMany of the above sources mention multiple sclerosis as a possibility. You mentioned this, too, so you’ve already done some reading around. Sorry if the above is repetitive.
I’m also starting to think that some of your other commenters were right to take a cynical view of Swan’s intentions: you’re now essentially paying rent on a place where she can continue to reside… and I assume you’re also paying her since she’s now your employee. Sweet deal for her. I’ve tried to see Swan as overall classier than the usual bottom-of-the-barrel chick you go for, but if your more cynical commenters are right, she’s just a different subspecies of the same species. What a shame.
And since I’m writing this sort of comment, I’m glad she doesn’t read your blog (as far as you know).
I never read the book, but I saw the John Malkovich/Glenn Close version of “Dangerous Liaisons” long ago. Glenn Close’s character offers a challenge to Malkovich’s character, and if he succeeds at the challenge, she has to put out for him. He does succeed… but she refuses to put out. I’ve been thinking about that story as I witness the slow evolution of your relationship with Swan. More and more, I feel as if Swan is stringing you along. I predict that, sometime around Christmas or New Year’s, I’m going to be suggesting that you give her the boot as both a resident and an employee.
Which sends us back to square one, and to the old advice: lead a higher-quality life, attract higher-quality women. If your world is nothing but bars-bars-bars, and you can’t imagine anything greater, you may as well stop pining for the substantive relationship you seem to crave. You’re not going to find what you want there.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 08/October/2023 @ 8:01 pm
Good advice from Rascal. Maybe it’s time to see those doctors.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 07/October/2023 @ 10:41 pm
He brought his wife and kid along for the ride. Then we ran out of gas about half a kilometer from our destination.
Extra weight = more gas consumption. Maybe don’t bring the wife and kid next time, eh, buddy? (Oh, and: way to look at that fuel gauge!)
Joy messaged that her kids needed medicine[,] and that she was hoping to earn enough commission to buy them some.
The tee I sent is all for naught.
She had queued up a movie called “Morbius.”
I could’ve warned you. I feel bad, though, for Jared Leto. His story is rather complex. He can apparently be a real asshole to work with (as when he played the Joker in “Suicide Squad” and was sending prank gifts to costars—things like a dead hog, a live rat, and sex toys), and he’s been in quite a few movies that turned out to be giant turds, but I watched his performances in “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Blade Runner 2049” and thought he was fantastic. (I’ll soon be watching him in “Requiem for a Dream,” where I again hear he was awesome.) I think the man is truly talented. He just ends up in bad films like “Morbius,” and he’s got his own personal problems (for actors, what’s new, right?).
The rooftop roof is nearly complete.
Gonna host a square dance up there? Or at least a chili party? (You’ll have to buy chairs and folding tables, I suspect. And drag up a beer keg.)
Where I watch TV
Is that viewing angle OK? Seems a bit off kilter. No sun glare?
My darts area and guest CR. No, I haven’t thrown here yet.
For a fraction of a second, I interpreted that to mean, “No, I haven’t thrown any shit into that toilet yet.” You know what would be weird, though? Having a guest go into the bathroom, then you start playing darts while he’s in there. Thunk. Thunk. Thunk. I’d find it hard to take a shit with darts hitting the wall.
They all seem very happy with their accommodations down there.
I’d be weirded out with that sort of arrangement. Put the help in a separate building! Like in the good old days on the plantation!
Dining room
I spy a Lucky. You and he getting along better?
Kitchen
Looks as if you’ve got a bar or a cuisine island. Nice. Good place to put flatware.
The master’s bedroom
I can’t tell if “master’s” is meant as a joke. I assume yes. Or do they really say “master’s bedroom” instead of “master bedroom” where you’re from?
Where I shit and shower.
The key in the doorknob seems to mean you can lock someone in the bathroom. Interesting. And why would you ever need to do that? Then there’s that square toilet. I’ve never seen a square toilet before. But hey—if it works, it works.
My office space
Judging by the stuff still on the floor, I’m guessing you’ll need some bookshelves there to act as shelf space.
There’s also a guest room that, for now at least, is Swan’s space.
You’re not writing about how that’s going, so I surmise it’s either not going at all, and maybe Swan is stalling or something, or it’s going in some funky direction that is difficult or impossible to write about for reasons of privacy or whatever.
Continued good luck as you settle in further and further.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 07/October/2023 @ 8:46 pm
I’m still Facebook friends with all of my former wives. Also, my high school sweetheart.
I’m pretty sure that, if you lived down the street from any of these gals, instead of way over in the Philippines, there’d be trouble. I mean, look at all the trouble you make for yourself where you are. Yeah, being near your exes would be bad. You can get away with remaining in contact with them because you’re on the other side of the planet. Heh.
In my case, I think both parties would find that idea repugnant.
Yeah, yeah—easy to say. I’m almost positive the repugnancy would be absent had you followed a different life-path. Now, of course, given your general preference for young chickadees, you’d look at these ladies—all close to your age—and be like, Ewwwww. Menopause! They smell funny!
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 07/October/2023 @ 5:13 pm
Normally, I’d recommend walking something like that off, too. I’ve had the occasional knee buckle, and I attribute it to a momentary neurological thing: maybe a particular nerve that’s normally firing suddenly decides to take a break and leave me (almost literally) in the lurch. If you think this is happening too frequently, though, it could be a more acute neurological thing, so you might consider seeing your docs about that. I’d say hold off on the doc visit for a day or two to see whether there’s a pattern. If you think you see one, then by all means visit the docs. From your post, it seems you’re going to do something like that.
Still, it is good to remember your past, no matter how painful, so you don’t repeat the same mistakes.
That may be the best joke you’ve ever told.
Not that that has ever stopped me before. Knowing and doing are two different realms.
It’s always interesting how people can be so self-aware yet still prone to making the same mistakes. I include myself in that, of course, since I’m a people, too.
Will you change your mind?
Will you want me back again or have you found yourself a new lover?Yeah, that’s a typically American sentiment which leads to the pendular bullshit I see all the time when at least one half of the couple is American. “Oh, of course I keep in touch with my exes!”—which leads to getting back together, fighting, then breaking up again, usually in an endless cycle of stupidity. I’ve seen it with my friends in the States on many occasions. From the American point of view, the Asian (maybe specifically East Asian) tendency to just cut people off permanently seems childishly immature: mature people should still be able to talk civilly with their exes, right? But in my experience, an ex represents temptation, an invitation to fall back into the pit one escaped from. And too many Americans, in their rush to show how “mature” they are, end up back with their exes and go through the whole retarded cycle all over again. The irony is that this giving-in to temptation is itself childish, so the American has no moral leg to stand on when criticizing the Asian. Cut the ex off, I say. It’s better for your peace of mind and minimizes drama. Plus, life is far too short to waste on that sort of bullshit. There are other fish in the sea.
(I’ll make an allowance if a person has had a kid with the ex. The kid is a reason to keep in touch.)
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 06/October/2023 @ 5:29 pm
Something great is coming your way
Oh, yeah:
discrete = distinct
discreet = tactful; on the down-low» Posted By Kevin Kim On 06/October/2023 @ 8:00 am
In the event that Lucky’s attack had anything to do with “resource guarding” behavior, I found another cool video link that might be of interest.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 06/October/2023 @ 7:26 am
«« Back To Stats PageOne last river crossing
I was expecting a pic of Bridge #3. Buildup, but no payoff!
She joined him in his European homeland, and based on her Facebook posts, she seemed to be having a good time.
Is this the chick who hooked up with the snooty Frenchman who refused to visit the PI?
Always glad to help, sweetheart.
Good God—of the two people in that picture, which is more evil-looking?
Or is that the point?
Sometimes, the people who constantly fail at relationships are in the best position to detect the factors that lead to failure. Kinda like how we fatties know a ton about diet and exercise because we read so much about it—we just fail to implement what we read.
» Posted By Kevin Kim On 05/October/2023 @ 6:09 pm