The search for my masahista has led me back to that app called Grindr. I was informed that there are many ‘offers’ of both legit and not-so legit massage services there.
It made sense. The lines between hook-up and massage can get blurred. So I was back on Grindr to wait for masahe offers. And I got quite a few. Some were legit in the sense that they are trained therapists who have decided to expand their client base. But there were also a lot of ‘trialists’ - they want you to ‘try’ them out although they are unskilled. They claim to ‘dabble’ in hilot etc.
Yeah rrrright. They really just want to have sex and find giving massage as the perfect foreplay. Some even have the audacity to charge for it. Oh well.
I’ve sampled the spectrum. The best part of a Grindr massage is that there is no doubt that you will get your extra service. Some will charge more for it. But you can easily shoot that down. Looks-wise quite disappointing. Massage quality some were ok enough for a 2nd time.
Not common, but still there, is the therapist who will bottom. This is the plus factor when tapping Grindr for massage service. Some will include bottoming as part of the package. Some have even offered ... “in the heat of the moment.”
But that intersection of good massage, good looks and ok bod, extra service deluxe, I haven’t found there. Or maybe there could have been but the price was just too much.
Caveat: There are many risks with sourcing massage service from Grindr.
As in any social media hook up, there will be posers and weirdos. And there are horror stories of thieves and robbers.
I continue to be surprised, though I shouldn’t be, of many who do not practice safe sex. They offer to sit on your gear stick without condom. All done in the heat of the moment.
How to minimize the risks? Indulge in longer chat. Ask everything. Haggle and bargain if you must. I tell them what I want as part of the conversation. Declare that condoms are part of the service. Ask for pics, the more the better. If you can, don’t book immediately. Let the chat simmer a bit over a period of days. That will also filter those who are more legit (i.e. they need the moolah).
Proceed with caution.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Sunday, March 25, 2018
An Outsider Looking In
“Since you don’t live here, you don’t know what it’s really like.”
With that, my relative effectively shut the door to any two-way conversation in US politics. That is fine with me. I have come to seek understanding. And she is correct, I can’t possibly know how it’s like. I am an outsider looking in. I base my views on ‘biased’ media, according to her.
But thankfully, I have also friends (and relatives) who are more liberal-leaning. And they freely share with me where they are coming from. Nevertheless, I will proceed with caution. As I am no student of US history, I will just piece together my thoughts as an outsider.
I remain to be more liberal-leaning, as ultimately, I believe that contrary to their opinion, opportunity is not created equal for all residing in the US. By virtue of skin color, faith, culture, gender, gender-preferences, certain doors won’t open. Ceilings remain shut.
I am Christian-Catholic. My belief system contains a code of righteous living, yes. And some of those are very specific. Some of those would be in conflict with other belief systems, even within a Judaeo-Christian umbrella. I know of such conflicts between Protestants, Catholics, Jews. So I question the concept of a homogenous Judaeo-Christian “value system”.
But even more basic than any faith-based value system is a human moral code. This is something I share with other people. I believe there are basic universal values that people abide by.
I think that the wisdom of the US constitution lies in the recognition of those basic universal values and rights, not that amorphous ‘Judaeo-Christian’ value system. I reckon that even during the early years of the United States, there was already a plurality of faiths and cultures and traditions. Hence, their constitution had to separate the Church and the State.
As pointed out by friends and even family, Americans supportive of the current administration are not driven so much by their faith but by their fear. Their way of life is threatened by the diversity, economically, culturally. The violence and criminality is not helping this at all, but fanning the flames.
So they wish to build walls. They wish to keep to their own ‘kind’. Loosely, they define their ‘kind’ in terms of those sharing ‘Judaeo-Christian belief systems’. This will stop criminality . This will stop the violence. And walls would have to be defended. Hence, let’s keep the guns.
I will not even go to the irony of putting “Judaeo-Christian” in the same paragraph as “walls” and “guns”. Yes, this is so simplistic and reductionist. Blame my outsider POV.
But it is not just happening in the US. It is happening everywhere. I see this as a general resistance to years of ‘progressive thinking’ (inclusivity, sensitivity). The great melting pot of the US, the great example of diversity is now being rocked from the inside. The ideals being tested and challenged. I wonder how this will play out.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
With that, my relative effectively shut the door to any two-way conversation in US politics. That is fine with me. I have come to seek understanding. And she is correct, I can’t possibly know how it’s like. I am an outsider looking in. I base my views on ‘biased’ media, according to her.
But thankfully, I have also friends (and relatives) who are more liberal-leaning. And they freely share with me where they are coming from. Nevertheless, I will proceed with caution. As I am no student of US history, I will just piece together my thoughts as an outsider.
I remain to be more liberal-leaning, as ultimately, I believe that contrary to their opinion, opportunity is not created equal for all residing in the US. By virtue of skin color, faith, culture, gender, gender-preferences, certain doors won’t open. Ceilings remain shut.
I am Christian-Catholic. My belief system contains a code of righteous living, yes. And some of those are very specific. Some of those would be in conflict with other belief systems, even within a Judaeo-Christian umbrella. I know of such conflicts between Protestants, Catholics, Jews. So I question the concept of a homogenous Judaeo-Christian “value system”.
But even more basic than any faith-based value system is a human moral code. This is something I share with other people. I believe there are basic universal values that people abide by.
I think that the wisdom of the US constitution lies in the recognition of those basic universal values and rights, not that amorphous ‘Judaeo-Christian’ value system. I reckon that even during the early years of the United States, there was already a plurality of faiths and cultures and traditions. Hence, their constitution had to separate the Church and the State.
As pointed out by friends and even family, Americans supportive of the current administration are not driven so much by their faith but by their fear. Their way of life is threatened by the diversity, economically, culturally. The violence and criminality is not helping this at all, but fanning the flames.
So they wish to build walls. They wish to keep to their own ‘kind’. Loosely, they define their ‘kind’ in terms of those sharing ‘Judaeo-Christian belief systems’. This will stop criminality . This will stop the violence. And walls would have to be defended. Hence, let’s keep the guns.
I will not even go to the irony of putting “Judaeo-Christian” in the same paragraph as “walls” and “guns”. Yes, this is so simplistic and reductionist. Blame my outsider POV.
But it is not just happening in the US. It is happening everywhere. I see this as a general resistance to years of ‘progressive thinking’ (inclusivity, sensitivity). The great melting pot of the US, the great example of diversity is now being rocked from the inside. The ideals being tested and challenged. I wonder how this will play out.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Friday, March 9, 2018
Understanding their POV
I was apprehensive at first. I was going to visit relatives in the US who are current admin supporters. I wanted to tell them that we will avoid discussing politics as I hold more liberal views.
However I decided that avoidance is not the solution here. Intelligent objective discourse should be the way to go. For my part I resolved to try to understand where they were coming from in supporting the current administration.
Yesterday I had the chance to hear them talk about it.
Here is my understanding of where they are coming from:
- The US constitution is founded on Judaeo-Christian values. The rights enshrined are God-given and that ‘God’ is a Judaeo-Christian God.
From such a background the values of liberty and democracy arise.
- They see the ascent of the US to ‘greatness’ because of the strict enforcement of those values. They remember the discipline needed to achieve in life. They remember learning the value of hard work as foundational to success.
- They see the current state of the country as morally decaying - violence and crime, corruption. These are the result of the way the the previous administrations have ‘given in’ or accommodated to demands of plurality of faiths and cultures alienating the basic Judaeo-Christian values.
- They are not against immigrants per se. But they believe that US constitution (and the values it is based on) should not be bent and relaxed to accommodate immigrants. (They brought in the pluralistic society the US has today.)
- On the contrary, immigrants should ‘abide’ by these values if they want to come to the US and be citizens. They should respect these Judaeo-Christian values as sacred to the country they wish to adopt as their own. These include hard work and discipline. No dole-outs. You earn your keep just like everyone else.
- Because immigration systems are not based on these but on ‘liberal’ views, there is the influx of immigrants that do not contribute. Worse, they expect welfare and support. They have burdened the economy.
- They want ‘better quality’ immigrants who abide by the values enshrined in the constitution and will work and contribute to society. (They do not necessarily blame the immigrants for the crime and violence rampant in US society.)
I felt it best to just understand and not argue at this point. I have to admit that there is a logic to their thinking. And that is what I came here for.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
However I decided that avoidance is not the solution here. Intelligent objective discourse should be the way to go. For my part I resolved to try to understand where they were coming from in supporting the current administration.
Yesterday I had the chance to hear them talk about it.
Here is my understanding of where they are coming from:
- The US constitution is founded on Judaeo-Christian values. The rights enshrined are God-given and that ‘God’ is a Judaeo-Christian God.
From such a background the values of liberty and democracy arise.
- They see the ascent of the US to ‘greatness’ because of the strict enforcement of those values. They remember the discipline needed to achieve in life. They remember learning the value of hard work as foundational to success.
- They see the current state of the country as morally decaying - violence and crime, corruption. These are the result of the way the the previous administrations have ‘given in’ or accommodated to demands of plurality of faiths and cultures alienating the basic Judaeo-Christian values.
- They are not against immigrants per se. But they believe that US constitution (and the values it is based on) should not be bent and relaxed to accommodate immigrants. (They brought in the pluralistic society the US has today.)
- On the contrary, immigrants should ‘abide’ by these values if they want to come to the US and be citizens. They should respect these Judaeo-Christian values as sacred to the country they wish to adopt as their own. These include hard work and discipline. No dole-outs. You earn your keep just like everyone else.
- Because immigration systems are not based on these but on ‘liberal’ views, there is the influx of immigrants that do not contribute. Worse, they expect welfare and support. They have burdened the economy.
- They want ‘better quality’ immigrants who abide by the values enshrined in the constitution and will work and contribute to society. (They do not necessarily blame the immigrants for the crime and violence rampant in US society.)
I felt it best to just understand and not argue at this point. I have to admit that there is a logic to their thinking. And that is what I came here for.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, January 13, 2018
It Can Be Done 2 (ICBD2) : Food Intake
I had to stop myself from giving updates until the holidays were over. I had to make sure that even after the binges, I could get back to my pre-December weight fast.
Up till Dec 24, I was holding up pretty well. Then Christmas came. Then New Year. By January 1, I had gained 4 pounds. By January 5, I was back to my previous weight. So I think I proved that I have some cred to continue this discourse.
What I have achieved so far could not be done without taking a serious look at your food intake. I have tried all sorts of diets in the past. But for last year, these are the things that worked for me:
Intermittent Fasting
I practice the 16-hour fasting period. I start eating at 12nn and stop at 8pm. I do take coffee in the morning. And I can drink hot herbal infusions at night. I am uncomfortable with the term, though. I’ve been doing this for months so this is hardly ‘intermittent.
The eating window I chose works best for me. It allows me to enjoy dinner with my parents. This is something very dear to me. Last December, I actually became quite lax about this, though. I realized I was still eating way beyond 8pm, usually on peanuts. So, one of the first things I did in January was to be strict about 8pm cut-off.
Though IF seems pretty recent, I have heard about the concept decades ago. This was under the “Fit for Life” diet program. The authors talked about the 3 stages of digestion, each 8 hours long. And how one should only eat at the ingestion phase. So IF is consistent with this old regimen.
Proper Food Combining
Again, the practice came from “Fit for Life.” One should never combine protein sources with carbohydrates. You can only combine either of those food groups with vegetables. Steak + salad, never Steak + Mashed potatoes. I did this years ago and lost a lot of weight then. But I eventually abandoned it as the science seemed sketchy.
But two years ago, someone mentioned the idea again, this time in the context of functional nutrition. I decided to revisit but tweaked it. I ended up avoiding the starchy carbs (rice, bread, pasta, sweets). I ended up with a low-carb diet.
Tracking Calories and Proteins
In the ‘Fit for Life’ program, you could eat as much as you want during the 8-hour eating period, and as long as you observe proper food combining. I didn’t subscribe to that as I still believe in the energy equation based on calories in and out. Hence, it was important for me to still track my protein intake and count the total calories consumed. As I mentioned in the first post of this series, I tracked this crudely on a worksheet. As by my reckoning, as long as I stick to about 1,700 calories a day, I would lose weight.
Over the holidays, I allowed myself to indulge in sweets. But I must say that I still did not go overboard too often. A few days I saw my calorie intake hit 2,500. But I quickly adjusted after.
Keto
I have started reading up on this. More on this once I start doing and start observing the results.
So there you have it. I wouldn’t get to this without watching what I eat, obsessively. LOL
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Up till Dec 24, I was holding up pretty well. Then Christmas came. Then New Year. By January 1, I had gained 4 pounds. By January 5, I was back to my previous weight. So I think I proved that I have some cred to continue this discourse.
What I have achieved so far could not be done without taking a serious look at your food intake. I have tried all sorts of diets in the past. But for last year, these are the things that worked for me:
Intermittent Fasting
I practice the 16-hour fasting period. I start eating at 12nn and stop at 8pm. I do take coffee in the morning. And I can drink hot herbal infusions at night. I am uncomfortable with the term, though. I’ve been doing this for months so this is hardly ‘intermittent.
The eating window I chose works best for me. It allows me to enjoy dinner with my parents. This is something very dear to me. Last December, I actually became quite lax about this, though. I realized I was still eating way beyond 8pm, usually on peanuts. So, one of the first things I did in January was to be strict about 8pm cut-off.
Though IF seems pretty recent, I have heard about the concept decades ago. This was under the “Fit for Life” diet program. The authors talked about the 3 stages of digestion, each 8 hours long. And how one should only eat at the ingestion phase. So IF is consistent with this old regimen.
Proper Food Combining
Again, the practice came from “Fit for Life.” One should never combine protein sources with carbohydrates. You can only combine either of those food groups with vegetables. Steak + salad, never Steak + Mashed potatoes. I did this years ago and lost a lot of weight then. But I eventually abandoned it as the science seemed sketchy.
But two years ago, someone mentioned the idea again, this time in the context of functional nutrition. I decided to revisit but tweaked it. I ended up avoiding the starchy carbs (rice, bread, pasta, sweets). I ended up with a low-carb diet.
Tracking Calories and Proteins
In the ‘Fit for Life’ program, you could eat as much as you want during the 8-hour eating period, and as long as you observe proper food combining. I didn’t subscribe to that as I still believe in the energy equation based on calories in and out. Hence, it was important for me to still track my protein intake and count the total calories consumed. As I mentioned in the first post of this series, I tracked this crudely on a worksheet. As by my reckoning, as long as I stick to about 1,700 calories a day, I would lose weight.
Over the holidays, I allowed myself to indulge in sweets. But I must say that I still did not go overboard too often. A few days I saw my calorie intake hit 2,500. But I quickly adjusted after.
Keto
I have started reading up on this. More on this once I start doing and start observing the results.
So there you have it. I wouldn’t get to this without watching what I eat, obsessively. LOL
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
“Be Creative.”
Last Sunday’s homily revolved around the family. I had my eyebrows raised as the priest was starting his homily with ‘lost values’. I wasn’t expecting anything different from him anyway. He was the spiritual director of our lector ministry when I was still there. And it was because of one of his statements during a meeting that made me quit anyway.
But he mentioned something different this time that caught my attention. “Be Creative.” He was exhorting the LGBT community to exercise more ‘creativity’ in creating labels. He begs the community to use terms other than ‘marriage’ or ‘family’ as we argue for our civil rights. He mentions the biblical context of ‘marriage’ and ‘family’ as so ‘traditionally-held’, even sacred, to the religious. Hence, our arguments fall on deaf ears every time we talk about same-sex ‘marriage’ and redefining the ‘family’. Surely there our other terms, he contends. Reframing the argument for same-sex civil unions and households with same-sex parents may move the cause further.
Though some we still find his position disappointing, I choose to see his homily as a softening of his stand. And I become a little bit more hopeful in 2018.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
But he mentioned something different this time that caught my attention. “Be Creative.” He was exhorting the LGBT community to exercise more ‘creativity’ in creating labels. He begs the community to use terms other than ‘marriage’ or ‘family’ as we argue for our civil rights. He mentions the biblical context of ‘marriage’ and ‘family’ as so ‘traditionally-held’, even sacred, to the religious. Hence, our arguments fall on deaf ears every time we talk about same-sex ‘marriage’ and redefining the ‘family’. Surely there our other terms, he contends. Reframing the argument for same-sex civil unions and households with same-sex parents may move the cause further.
Though some we still find his position disappointing, I choose to see his homily as a softening of his stand. And I become a little bit more hopeful in 2018.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Saturday, October 7, 2017
It Can Be Done 1: Tracking
I posted this Like-bait, brag-post over at FB and Twitter:
“Slashed my body fat% by half from last month. Gained muscle mass of 3kg. I AM doing something right.”
First, the disclaimer. I realized I have my math wrong. I went from 8.7% to 6.7% pala in one month. Hardly ‘slashing by half’. The ‘half’ was achieved in 3 months, coming from 11+% in June. Muscle mass did increase correctly. So I still AM doing something right.
So what is it that I have been doing. Well, this will be a series of posts to try to document what this 51yo has been doing to show It Can Be Done. It has to be a series because it is not just one thing. It can’t be, not just diet, or exercise, etc. It is a combination of many things. So I have to discuss this one at a time.
For the record, Day 1 of this quest was June 16, when I went back to my FF personal trainer in Trinoma (after staying away for almost 5 months).
I’ll start by saying that this journey is highly personal. What worked for me may not work for you. Hence, the most basic first step for me is a commitment to track and measure as much as possible, as obsessively as possible to know what will work.
This is relatively easy for me, being OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) LOL. But applying it to this quest for health and fitness did not come easy.
What do I track?
My workouts. My diet. My weight. I track this on a daily basis using the most basic of tools: a worksheet. Yeah, there are so many apps out there that will do this for you. But somehow, something I ‘assembled’ from ground up makes me more committed to it. Other stats like body fat %, muscle mass and even actual body measurements are tracked on a monthly basis.
Why track?
This is the only way you would really know if something works or doesn’t. There are just too much stuff out there on working out, on eating right, most of them conflicting with one another. You just have to try it out and see if the results are there. Tracking the results give you immediate feedback. Pouring over the data, seeing correlations allow are all part of this.
Workout
I never tracked my workout. I had always left this up to my personal trainer. I never actually saw him write anything down. LOL. I did that for years and years. And I never really knew if I was actually gaining strength due to one workout or the other. So on day 1, I told him I wanted my workout written out so we could monitor progress. This includes poundage, reps. I am using a good old Excel worksheet for my workouts. He updates the worksheet during our session.
Diet
This is easy enough to do. I see people using myfitnesspal app by Under Armour. But I do this crudely, again on a worksheet. I made mine based on the computations of the nutritionist I consulted about 5 years ago. I track my caloric intake, with emphasis on protein servings. I am able to estimate, with fair accuracy, what caloric intake would burn calories. (About 1,700 to 1,800 for my height and build).
Weight and Stats
This is the ‘outcome’ part that I relate to the first two. I weigh myself every morning, right after my morning pee, without clothes. Every month, my PT uses the machine at the gym to weigh me. He also measures body parts (chest, hips, biceps, thighs) using my own tape measure.
That’s Part 1. Commit to track the input and the output.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
“Slashed my body fat% by half from last month. Gained muscle mass of 3kg. I AM doing something right.”
First, the disclaimer. I realized I have my math wrong. I went from 8.7% to 6.7% pala in one month. Hardly ‘slashing by half’. The ‘half’ was achieved in 3 months, coming from 11+% in June. Muscle mass did increase correctly. So I still AM doing something right.
So what is it that I have been doing. Well, this will be a series of posts to try to document what this 51yo has been doing to show It Can Be Done. It has to be a series because it is not just one thing. It can’t be, not just diet, or exercise, etc. It is a combination of many things. So I have to discuss this one at a time.
For the record, Day 1 of this quest was June 16, when I went back to my FF personal trainer in Trinoma (after staying away for almost 5 months).
I’ll start by saying that this journey is highly personal. What worked for me may not work for you. Hence, the most basic first step for me is a commitment to track and measure as much as possible, as obsessively as possible to know what will work.
This is relatively easy for me, being OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) LOL. But applying it to this quest for health and fitness did not come easy.
What do I track?
My workouts. My diet. My weight. I track this on a daily basis using the most basic of tools: a worksheet. Yeah, there are so many apps out there that will do this for you. But somehow, something I ‘assembled’ from ground up makes me more committed to it. Other stats like body fat %, muscle mass and even actual body measurements are tracked on a monthly basis.
Why track?
This is the only way you would really know if something works or doesn’t. There are just too much stuff out there on working out, on eating right, most of them conflicting with one another. You just have to try it out and see if the results are there. Tracking the results give you immediate feedback. Pouring over the data, seeing correlations allow are all part of this.
Workout
I never tracked my workout. I had always left this up to my personal trainer. I never actually saw him write anything down. LOL. I did that for years and years. And I never really knew if I was actually gaining strength due to one workout or the other. So on day 1, I told him I wanted my workout written out so we could monitor progress. This includes poundage, reps. I am using a good old Excel worksheet for my workouts. He updates the worksheet during our session.
Diet
This is easy enough to do. I see people using myfitnesspal app by Under Armour. But I do this crudely, again on a worksheet. I made mine based on the computations of the nutritionist I consulted about 5 years ago. I track my caloric intake, with emphasis on protein servings. I am able to estimate, with fair accuracy, what caloric intake would burn calories. (About 1,700 to 1,800 for my height and build).
Weight and Stats
This is the ‘outcome’ part that I relate to the first two. I weigh myself every morning, right after my morning pee, without clothes. Every month, my PT uses the machine at the gym to weigh me. He also measures body parts (chest, hips, biceps, thighs) using my own tape measure.
That’s Part 1. Commit to track the input and the output.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
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