Day 11: Videoz

I played for a decent amount of time today, but I couldn't really tell you how much. I also didn't eat so well today, so hopefully it balanced out.

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Day 11:

AA'd this awesome song (seen in following video; Jessica accidentally ended it early). In the beginning my brother challenged me to play Wonderful Night, since that'd be more "impressive". So..

Woot.

Day 9: JESSICA IS VISITING TOMORROW! :D

Well, today was an extremely busy day. I woke up at 7 and worked from 8:40-3. I got home, and my mom says the bathroom is gross. It was. I cleaned the bathroom from 3 to about 6. I then cleaned my room from 6 to 8. Then I played DDR for about an hour. Then I decided to make this post.

After showering, I did an unofficial weigh in. It may be inaccurate due to the amount of activity and sweating I've done today, but I'm down to 172 regardless. That means in only 1 week and 2 days, I've lost 6 pounds. Not bad.

The goal is still within reach. I hope I can achieve it.

Day 7: Weigh In #2

Goal: 165 lbs

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Weigh in #1: 174.5 lbs

Weigh in #2: 174.5 lbs

Pounds lost since last weigh in: 0 ;_;

Net pounds lost: 3.5 lbs

Pounds to go: 9.5 lbs

Day 6: Improvement?

Today I have work at 5, so I decided to wake up a little earlier than normal and get 1.5 hours of game play in.

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Day 6:

(8 footer) Baby Love Me: A

I was getting a little frustrated today. I checked my weight this morning (even though I probably shouldn't have), and it looks like my weight actually went up a pound since Monday. I was playing extremely poorly when I began today, but once I played this I got back into my groove. I didn't do extremely well, but it's also not a very easy song. So I figured I'd screen shot it.

(9 footer) Afronova RE-VENGE: AA

This wasn't as difficult as I was expecting; I have a ton of Afronova remixes, and this is probably one of the easier of the bunch. Regardless, it's still impressive considering it's a 9 footer.

(9 footer) Breakdown: AA

Ah, Breakdown.. we meet again. I'm pretty proud of this score -- you can even scroll down and compare this one to the screenshot I took of only a few days ago. As I mentioned in my last post, I love replaying songs and seeing how much I have improved. This is just proof that I'm that much closer to my old self. However, I recall being able to AA breakdown on any given day. Bah.

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Well, I have work in a few hours unfortunately, but tomorrow is pay day! Also, Jessica comes in only 4 days! :D Tomorrow is the second weigh in, but unfortunately I'm not expecting much of a change (which is strange, considering how much I sweat from these sessions).

Day 5: Mixing It Up

Since I don't have work today, I decided to destroy my body.

Day 5:

Dynamite Rave: A

The reason I'm putting this up here, is because on day 1 I played this, and ended up with a low C. Today, I got an A -- and with AA within reach. I like progress I can actually see.

Today I played for a good hour. In between each song, I would do a set of sit-ups or a set of push-ups (alternating by song). This added to the intensity of the whole ordeal -- the dancing wears my stamina out, and I instantly go into another work out. I then rest for about 10 seconds, before jumping on the pad to lose my breath yet again.

Rinse, repeat.

Needless to say, today was a good day -- I sweat maybe even more than when I played with my brother. Part of that is that is because I didn't take any breaks other than doing the side exercises.

Day 4: Recovery

Well, I still have time to get this in. I played for ~40 minutes today, but stopped since I'm a little sore and lacking motivation. I really need to pick it up for tomorrow, since I don't have work.

Day 3: First Weigh In

Original weight: 178

Current weight: 174.5

Goal: 165

Weight lost to date: 3.5 pounds (and in only a few days, holy crap)

Pounds to drop: 9.5

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Not bad if I do say so myself. Today is a day of rest -- after waking at 7 and standing/working till 3, my feet kill. I'll just work double time tomorrow.

Day 2: Sweaty

Day 2 has come and.. mostly passed. Today my brother (AJ) and I played for a decent 2 hours. I did a set of push-ups between each song I played just for the sake of not losing too much upper body strength.

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Day 2:

Daikenai: AA

Another song that makes me reminisc

ent of how much Kung and I use to play. We played this song pretty often whenever we went to Regal to play. Haha..

Burnin' The Floor (Naoki): AA

Though I got the AA, it prolly isn't warranted since I had 3 goods and 2 boo's. My biggest issue right now, as it has been, is finding my center of balance and mai

ntaining it -- and when I lose it, finding it quickly enough to get back into the beat.

Me: F

If you were wondering what I look like after a DDR session, the answer is simple: ridiculously sweaty. This was after todays session; in the end, I'd rather this to not sweating at all -- at least I know I'm getting somewhere.

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Another shift tonight, 5:30-10:30. My paycheck this Friday should be a decent size, and it better be, since Jessica is visiting from Canada in just over a week! :D

Day 1: Reminiscent

Well, it is day 1, but only 2 more days to the first weigh in. I found out earlier today that the scale I've been using is about 2 pounds higher than what it should be, so that will be taken into consideration.

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Day 1: Time played: ~1.5 hours

Freckles: AA

This one was for you, Kung. While I did get the AA, it's frustrating how much I keep stumbling over myself. Heck, I didn't even full combo it -- 4 boos >.<. Note that this is my first (of soon to be many) AA in ages. (I didn't get any last night >.<)

Break Down: AA

This was just for good old times -- and I'm very surprised I AA'd it. I use to do it with relative ease, but considering this is day 1, I'm pretty satisfied. With 3 good and 25 great, still room for improvement :P

Healing Vision -Angelic Mix-: A

This was the peak of my day, and was (and actually always has been) a good test of my endurance. I always play very well until the one second pause, and lose my accuracy during the final stream. I hope to improve on this.

As for the rest of the day, I have a 5.5 hour shift tonight, and then just going to relax.

Day 0: The plan forms.

Can playing DDR help one lose weight? Of course. But how much is possible in only a few weeks? I guess only time will tell -- but I hope to find out the answer.

I recently purchased a Cobalt Flux DDR pad (an extremely expensive, but supposedly durable metal pad), and I plan on playing the crap out of Stepmania.

I currently weigh, on an average day, 178 to 180 pounds. I feel a little disgusted with myself every so often, because I wasn't always like this. However, my weight tends to fluctuate when it matters; during the school year, prior to a PT test, I will usually weigh around 165 pounds -- just barely passing the height and weight for the PT test. This is my goal for now.

As the army teaches its leaders, I will create a "SMART"* goal for me to chase after.

* (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time Bound)

(The pad is so beautiful, isn't it?! ;__;)

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The goal: I will reach my desired weight of 165 pounds by August 20th (this is the day I will likely go back to school and lose access to my DDR pad)

(Note: the weigh in time will probably not be the same each day, and thus a little inaccurate. I will attempt to weigh in around the same time each day -- but regardless, the trend should be evident if I am losing weight).

Day 0* weight: 178 lbs (*this is not actually a weigh in from today -- rather, my average weight)

Goal: 165 lbs

Pounds to drop: 13 lbs

The plan: Assuming I'm not lazy or dead tired at the end of the day, I will update this blog twice a week -- that is, on Mondays and Fridays. The reason is that weight tends to fluctuate, so weighing in twice a week should make the weight trend/changes more evident. Also, this is a blog, so I may put in other things as well, perhaps even my work hours so it's easy to keep track of and so I feel more accomplished on my lazy days.

The most important thing for me will be playing DDR for a minimum of 30 minutes. Even on the days when I don't create a blog, you can assume I will meet this goal unless I state otherwise (injury being really the only reason why it'd happen). I will also try to run at least once a week.

My eating habits? I likely won't change them very much. I eat junk food for the most part, and I hate salads. The purpose of this "experiment" of sorts is to see if keeping my same diet (which isn't THAAAT bad) but playing DDR and running a bit more will lose me some pounds.

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Day 0:

• Ran with brother (Zach) at a nice easy pace for 1.3 miles -- ran at 100% intensity for another .7 miles before I saw the FedEx truck and got excited for my pad to arrive. It didn't.
• Worked 4.3 hours.
• Came back from work to find my brother (AJ), his girlfriend and my father coming home with the pad. YESS
• Played ~30 mins of Stepmania. Realization? I am not nearly the DDR man I once was. It will take time to regain my skill, and embarrassingly, my balance. The more I play, the better I get, the harder songs I play, the more weight I lose. A simple concept.

Thoughts? Well, I am still able to pass many 8-9 footers right off the bat. This is good news -- that means in only a few weeks, I may even be back to my old self. Only time will tell though. However, I'm pretty sure I'm going to feel some pain in my legs tomorrow.

Good pain.