Gary's Boring Blog

6 Months Have Passed...

...since Rosie passed away. Yes, we are still counting. I'm not sure when we will stop counting, but I'm sure that day will come some time in the future.

I was supposed to play football yesterday, but a badly sprained ankle meant that I couldn't really walk, let alone run. In some ways, maybe it was a good thing. Megumi and I spent the day together, and comforted each other. Inevitably, there were some tears and sadness, but we also remembered how much joy Rosie brought us. We are very much looking forward to holding and loving Rosie's little brother or sister when he or she arrives in July.

Japanese Legal System

All countries have some problems with their legal systems, but this one is just a bit too much...

SATSUMASENDAI, Kagoshima -- A Shinto priest accused of indecent assault for massaging the breasts of a 15-year-old girl was found not guilty after a court here ruled that his act was a "religious activity."

"There is room to accept that his act was a religious activity, and reasonable doubt in saying he possessed sexual intent," Judge Atsushi Tomita said in handing down the ruling at the Sendai branch of the Kagoshima District Court on Wednesday.
Story courtesy of the Mainichi Daily News (LINK)

Rina-Chan Collected the Cash!

I wrote about Rina-chan (LINK) before. At the end of January, thanks to all the volunteers and lots of generous people, they reached their target!
Yesterday, Rina-chan and her parents went to the U.S. to look for a donor.

Good luck!!!

South Beach Diet Update

Well, here's an update after the first 2 weeks on the South Beach Diet.
I started out at a rather flabby 87kg. My goal weight is 80kg, which is getting close to the 76kg I weighed when I arrived in Japan, aged 23.

Weight Lost:
4kg (= almost 9 pounds, I think)
Weight left to lose:
another 3kg or so.

Typical Menu for a day:

BREAKFAST: omelette with mushrooms and tomatoes with green salad and tea.
LUNCH: Grilled fish and salad (ham, chicken slices, smoked salmon, or cottage cheese). Salad dressing is a simple olive oil and vinegar mix made by the lovely Mrs G.
DINNER: Grilled chicken (or pork, or even steak) plus green veg and salad.

I have been drinking lots of water, and trying to reduce my intake of tea. Green tea is supposed to be healthy, but the diet advises you to keep caffeinated drinks to a minimum. For 2 weeks, I didn't eat bread, rice, pasta or potatoes at all. Since I am now on phase 2 of the diet, I had a slice of brown bread this morning with my omelette. I will also start eating cereals, though I need to find the ones which aren't full of sugar (and still have some taste!)

Thoughts on this diet

1)It's expensive. Rice, bread, pasta etc are cheap. When you remove them from your diet and replace them with vegetables and meat, you need more veg and meat than usual to fill you up. So, it costs a bit.

2)My stomach feels a lot better. I am not going to go into details, but I am not eating food with rich sauces, and my constitution is definitely much better for it!

3)Eating out is hard, especially at lunchtime. Japanese lunches always include rice, so finding places to eat is impossible. You have to bring lunch ('packed lunch', as we used to say)

4)You need support. Megumi has been great, waking up a little earlier every day and making my breakfast and lunch, complaining as she does! Without her, I would probably have given up already. I asked her the other day what we will do when the baby arrives this summer, and she informed me that I would have to cook myself. Not sure if I will be able to get up early enough...

5)Going without alcohol is tough. I cheated. I had two 'appointments' I had to go to which would normally have involved drinking copious amounts of alcohol. I had a few glasses of wine the first time, and limited myself to 2 small glasses of beer the second time.
Hopefully, I can get down to 80kg, stay there, and still be able to enjoy a few beers or a few glasses of wine occasionally.

6)It has been worth it. It's really nice when people tell you you look thinner or healthier. The best thing that someone has said so far is "your face looks better - I can see your cheekbones now".

Oh, and finally, the South BeachDiet is very similar to the healthy mother's diet Megumi has been given by the clinic, which also stresses limited amounts of carbs and sugary foods, and lots of fresh meat, fish and veg!

News Round-Up

I have been posting a little bit less frequently recently. So, here is a quick round-up of G & M news.

Megumi is doing fine. She's not really 'showing' yet, and her morning sickness is waning. Hopefully, in another couple of weeks she will stop throwing up completely. (By the way, I taught her the word puke, and she uses it with glee). We're off to see some friends this weekend, and then going to a friend's wedding reception next month and staying the night nearby. Megumi has been cooped up at home for a few weeks, keeping warm, so it will do her good to get out and chat to people other than me and P-chan!

Work is hectic. The project we have been working on for the past 6 months gets its initial release today. Fingers crossed...

Study. As you can see, I made an MBA blog, but I can't find the password to log in, so I haven't touched it for a while! Here's a quick update anyway. I handed in my first assignment on Monday. It was due by the end of January, and I sent it on January 31st. Perhaps because it was the first one, I was quite worried about doing the best job I could, and ended up taking a rather long time to complete it. I have to complete 20 assignments this year, so hope that it doesn't take quite so much time to do them all! I am also trying to set up a Tokyo area study group. There are 4 of us in the Tokyo area, and everyone seems keen on the idea, but it's just difficult to find a good time. Hopefully, we can meet next week for the first time.

Finally, I am on a diet. I have been thinking about losing a bit of weight for a while, but from Monday, I have actually started trying to do something about it. It's the first diet I have ever been on. I am doing the South Beach Diet, because Bill Clinto uses it, because most of the people I saw on South Beach were thin and healthy, and because I saw it on Mediatinker! For the first 2 weeks, I can't eat cereal, potatoes, bread, rice or fruit, or drink juice or alcohol. So, I am eating lots of vegetables and bit of meat and fish. Here's to losing a few pounds/kilos...