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This is an old page from Rod Begbie's blog.

It only exists in an attempt to prevent linkrot. No new content will be added to this site, and links and images are liable to be broken. Check out begbie.com to find where I'm posting stuff these days.

Entries for week beginning December 27, 2009

January 2, 2010

MMX - XXL

13 years ago

I have never been svelte.

This much should be stated at the start. The closest I’ve come to a healthy weight was during my four years as a student. Deprived of the contents of my parents’ fridge, and not yet able to enjoy the slap-up dining that a salary would afford, I was never “skinny” or beerbellyless”.

But I am currently fatter than I’ve ever been. I’ve put on almost 30lbs in the last year. Something needs to change.

I chose January 1st for two reasons:

  1. It’s traditional to make a new year resolution. The new beginning of a new year, and all that.
  2. I could gorge during the Christmas period.

By luck, last week, Richard Wiseman posted a blog entry on how to keep your resolution. Some good solid advice in there. In particular, state and track your goal publicly, and keep it measurable.

This has worked for me in the past. I decided that my goal for 2008 was to move to San Francisco, was open about it, and by the end of March, I had a job all lined up.

So here is my official goal for 2010: Weigh 210lbs on December 31st 2010.

That’s a drop of almost 60lbs. I think I can probably shift about 5–10lbs this month (the start of a diet always sees a quick drop), then sustain losing 1lb a week for the rest of the year.

My expectation is that this will require experimentation and tweaking. So here is my plan for January:

  • Using Lose It, a free iPhone app to keep track of calories. (Hat tip to Daniel Jalkut for mentioning Lose It on Twitter). I’m doing good old-fashioned calorie counting—no complex points calculation, no rules on what can and can’t be eaten. Your standard “Burn more than you consume, and you’ll lose weight” plan. This isn’t about changing what I eat; it’s about changing the quantity I eat.
  • In the spirit of keeping it public, I purchased the Withings WiFi Body Scale, a sleek and sexy set of bathroom scales which upload your data to the web. My progress can now be tracked by anyone at @lardyarsedgit. Go on and follow it! One tweet a day, and it’ll make me feel a lot better!
  • Regarding exercise, I’m starting off easy. Not going to join a gym or buy (another) treadmill. Instead, I’m going to try to take a smattering of small steps. For the beginning, I’m going to stop riding the elevator at work (taking the stairs to and from my team area on the 6th floor), and pledge to take Bacon for a 40-minute walk three times a week. If I can’t do these little things, there’s no point throwing $$$ at a gym.

At the end of each month, I’ll adjust the plan. But right now, it all feels very achievable.

My BHAG for the year? Next January, I’ll be able to sign up for The San Francisco Marathon Training Program and be able to run the SF Marathon in July 2011.

Keep your fingers crossed for me.

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Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space (SP50 and SP60)

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space (SP50 and SP60)

The bonus tablets with this re-release, containing demo tracks, string and choir sessions and other early mixes.

I imagine the other tablets have the shiny black back. I'm not opening them to find out.

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space (the tablets)

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space (the tablets)

12 individually sealed 3" CDs, one for each track on the album.

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space (the prescription)

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space (the prescription)

Personalized to me, Signed by J. Spaceman.

Ladies and gentlemen we are
floating in space SP70
Play once twice daily
Quantity : 12 tablets

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space

Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space

"Ladies and gentlemen we are floating in space" by Spiritualized is one of my all time favourite albums of all time.

Released in 1997, I bought the original CD in its glorious one-disc pharmaceutical packaging. But I still remember covetting the limited edition 12 CD blister pack on the shelf behind the register at Fopp, a snip at £120. Alas, my poor student budget could never stretch that far.

This year, the album was re-released with the original "can't help falling in love with you" mix of the title track (which I heard once on the Mary Anne Hobbs Radio 1 show, but which had been removed from the original release due to the expense of including the Elvis tune & lyrics). And part of the re-release was an all-new blister pack.

I had to own it.

It arrived today. The attention to detail is as loving and amazing as I could have dreamt. My 20-year-old self would be proud. $225 well spent.

January 1, 2010

The Old Dog and the Sea

The Old Dog and the Sea

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Built for speed

Built for speed

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Snuggle

Snuggle

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Getting attention

Getting attention

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I’m shy

I’m shy

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Clyde

Clyde

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The excitement of the new year was all too much for him

The excitement of the new year was all too much for him

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Bacon

Bacon

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Smooch

Smooch

Note the champagne in a margarita glass. I AM CLASSY!

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Failed Family Portrait, New Year 2010

Failed Family Portrait, New Year 2010

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Family Portrait, New Year 2010

Family Portrait, New Year 2010

How we saw in 2010: Lounging around in bed with the bassets.

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December 31, 2009

Best of Bootie 2009

This year’s mash-up-mega-mix. Amazing as ever!

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Comicraft Fonts $20.10 Sale

Comicraft does an annual new year’s day sale where they sell all their fonts for ~$20. Completely bargainous, since they are usually priced in the $100s. I bought a bunch last year, and have found them indispensable.

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namebench

Handy open source tool from Google to analyze DNS servers and see if it might be worth switching away from your ISP’s default.

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Tweeteorites iPhone App

Features push notifications of your tweets being faved, so you can have your ego stroked IN REAL TIME!

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December 29, 2009

How to keep your New Year's resolution

Solid practical advice on setting and sticking to New Years Resolutions.

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About This Site

This is an archive of groovmother.com, the old blog run by Rod Begbie — A Scottish geek who lives in San Francisco, CA.

I'm the co-founder of Sōsh, your handy-dandy guide for things to do in San Francisco this weekend.