Wait a second, where did 2011 go?

I've sort of neglected this blog which was initially inspired to reflect on how I went about losing weight (and various other topics speeding through my head). I believe this goal was accomplished. Still in maintenance mode, and going strong, health and nutrition is still a top priority and always will be. The focus these days has been on raising two beautiful kids (now 4 and 3 years of age) with my beautiful and supportive wife and keeping Igloo Magazine and Digital::Nimbus Radio moving right along. More soon, I think?

Describing sound

Here's what I've been writing about via Igloo Magazine... each release has kept my mind awake and inspired:

Karsten Pflum :: No Noia My Love (Hymen)

Strange2 & Nev.Era :: Diario Sonoro (Lovethechaos)

Ahnst Anders :: Home (Ant-Zen)

Dreissk :: The Finding (n5MD)

Millipede :: Powerless (Hymen)

RUBRENE :: Glowing Overtones igloomag mix

Access To Arasaka :: Orbitus (Tympanik Audio)

V/A :: Painting Pictures On Silence V1 (Enig’matik)

elDot :: Among (33)

Philipp Münch :: Into The Absurd (Ant-Zen)

Enabl.ed :: Modules Fail (Enpeg)

Ignatius :: The 2EPs LP (Buried In Time)

Rumpistol :: Talk To You EP (Rump)

C.H. District :: Conclusion (Tympanik Audio/M-Tronic)

Odori :: Gathering Lines EP (Enpeg)

Eden Grey :: Tree Branches (Female Electronic Musician)

Dryft :: Ventricle (n5MD)

Kloudbreak :: Elements EP (Drawn)

Datacrashrobot :: Double review (Crazy Language / Ghost Technology)

Drifting In Silence :: Lifesounds (Labile)

V/A :: Crazy Compilation #5 (Crazy Language)

V/A :: Nine (Nonine)

V/A :: The Reconstruction of Fives (n5MD)

Xurba :: Xurbatronics System 3: Remixes (Electric Studio)

V/A :: Sampler Vol. 1 (Architects + Heroes)

Cepia :: Cepia (Cepia Music)

V/A :: Drinking the Goats Blood & Electric Carpets (Record Label Records)

Solipsism :: It Could Be Clouds EP (Herb)

Dicepeople :: Time To Play (Self Released)

citizenGreen :: Ulterior Motives EP (Nophi)

Polestar :: End Of An Era (Boltfish)

Tzolk’in :: Tonatiuh (Ant-Zen)

Enabl.ed :: Disabled (Lovethechaos)

Slowcream :: River of Flesh (Nonine)

Top releases of twenty-ten

Top releases of twenty-ten

My baby turns 10 (igloomag.com)

It's been a while since making any updates on this page and I assure you there's a good reason for everything. Life seems to toss more and more obstacles and it's just a matter of juggling them properly in order to pull through. Rest assured, as far as this blog is concerned (which is usually Health related), I'll always do my best to make updates as frequently as humanly possible. Time is all I'm looking for these days.

The news brief for today is to announce that Igloo Magazine, the online electronic music magazine that I manage, has turned 10 as of December 15th, 2010! This is a milestone that many publications can only hope for, and one that I hold dearly as we continue to promote obscure electronic music from around the globe. Managing Igloo Magazine has been tall order --with many contributors located all over the world, coordination has always been a critical step. To top things off, I have also released a 23-track (free) digital anniversary compilation via our Bandcamp page: Igloo Trax V2: The Most Music.

Please enjoy your stay at Igloo Magazine and have a listen to our anniversary compilation over the holidays!

Ten months in maintenance mode

It's been almost ten months since hitting (and surpassing) my target weight of 180-lbs and I've maintained this weight ever since. I'm still baffled with this accomplishment in 2009 with just over 60-lbs lost in a period of 8-months --starting in March 2009 (see Lose It! screen-shot at left).

There has been a lot of information distributed on this website on how I lost the weight and I've been holding back on continually updating this blog with means and methods, however, I do feel the need to write something as we're already midway through 2010! Maintenance mode has been going strong and I continually track all food and liquid intake to keep this mission active. It has become such a consistent practice, where discipline becomes the norm. Here's a quote taken from Ravi Raman's website that really made an impact on me:

"The challenge with discipline is that it requires you to make an effort consistently over an extended period of time. The upshot is that after a certain point – the discipline becomes “the norm” and no longer requires effort. Getting to this point, though, has been the bane of many new years resolutions!" [Set Higher Standards]

In 2007 my weight hovered at around 250-lbs and I finally began to take appropriate steps in March 2008 to lose the weight when I was at 239-lbs. I can't quite explain what sparked the immediate action to take serious steps, but it might have been due to my Endocrinologist's mention of a potential to become diabetic within 10-yrs. That's basically what it took for me to make a positive change.

As of today (6/9/2010) I weigh in at 177.4-lbs and have been able to monitor and adjust caloric intake consistently with the use of an iPhone (using the following app's). This has been a personal mission and these nifty iPhone app's make it very easy to figure out how to monitor your weight.

I have been fluctuating food and liquid intake within a range of approximately 2,100 - 2,400 calories / day. While at this point I can probably estimate (without the use of graphs, applications and guides) the amount of calories consumed in a day, the Lose It! iPhone app plays a critical role in maintaining my weight. Not only is Lose It! an effective tracking tool, their website also offers further graphical representations of food trends over an elapsed period of time, reports on net calories, weight trends, weekly and daily summaries, nutritional content and several other (visual) features that are enlightening now that there's over a year's worth of data to report.

It all really boils down to good quality, high-nutrition foods and understanding what's going inside your body. Read those nutrition labels and try tracking the amount of calories you consume in just one day. You may be surprised at the results. Exercise certainly helps the situation (something I have struggled with), but I am confident that food alone is 90% of the weight loss battle; it worked for me.