jeffwongdesign

As I write this, I’m enjoying my avocado toast with mushrooms and garlic. And if you told me 5 years ago that I would be on a plant based diet, I would have probably been doubtful. But then again, I’ve always imagined myself becoming a vegetarian, and potentially vegan. I’ve never really talked about it with folks, since it’s kind of a sensitive topic.

Vegans definitely have a bad rep, being extreme in all aspects–not just food, but the cloths they wear, the furniture they buy, and even the manufacturing/packaging facilities of their food. I understand it, but at some point veganism has become more of a religion than a philosophy. And that part turns a lot of people off. However, it doesn’t change the fact that I’d like to be healthier, reduce my carbon footprint, and stop supporting a potentially corrupt food industry.

Over the last month, I have transitioned over to a plant-based diet. As much as I’ve avoided meat, I’ve had to eat a tiny bit of chicken, a bowl of beef broth, and a tiny bit of seafood. My current position is that I will continue to eat meat, but only because it is part of someone else’s culture or if there’s no other option. And given the choice, I will choose seafood over meats (ie. beef, pork, chicken, etc). I would say that at the moment, I’ve transitioned pretty well, and I’ve reached a point where it’s starting to feel like a smooth routine.

One question I get a lot is how do I feel now? Have I lost weight? Am I healthier? So for starters, I feel about the same, except I’m probably more hungry now. I still have a craving for some things, but that has diminished as I’ve found more plant-based substitutes. I found myself cooking and meal prepping more, which probably saves me money and has improved my overall nutrition. In being healthier, I have also cut out deep fried foods. As much as I can, I also try to avoid too many processed foods as well–more on this later. As for weight loss, yes… but it fluctuates. When I started, I weight between 195-198lbs. When I weigh myself now, I’m about 191-194lbs. I think I’m losing an average of about .5-1lbs per week, but we’ll see how long that continues. I’m more focused on health and nutrition versus weight loss at this time.

I’ve also been exercising more (via biking to work while I’m in San Francisco). Side note: I’ll be moving to a new place that’s further away from work, and I suspect that will dramatically increase my amount of exercise per day, since I’ll have to bike approximately 2 hours a day. <gasp>

I’m not sure exactly what the best way is to describe my diet, but I would probably say I’m pretty much 100% plant based when I’m by myself. When I’m around others, I’m either vegetarian or pescatarian. Truth be told, I’m actually okay with eating meat if I can source the food… but this is really hard. I personally want to know the butcher and their methods for raising and slaughtering livestock. At this stage of my life, I can’t ignore it anymore. However, if I can’t source the food for my daily diet, I’m going to avoid it. I watched some PETA videos, and even if .01% of the food I eat is slaughtered in an unethical fashion, I find it hard to support anymore.

But all of this ties to something larger, which is my lifestyle. Over the last 5 years, I have been living for other people and my career. I’ve decided to start transitioning to take care of myself, so that I can take care of others. It requires me to put my own health as a priority, and that’s what 2020 is all about. Diet is just one part of my “lifestyle”.

Somehow I woke up one day…

Middle-aged.

Overweight.

A workaholic.

I can’t change my age, but I can definitely believe that my weight and work are correlated. As I work more and travel, it’s been an ongoing battle to get into a proper routine to exercise and eat right. Routine is a process, and process reduces one-off decisions. The biggest changes I’m making this year are to travel less–this means 2 month rotations between SF and the east coast. This will enable me to develop a better routine as I settle. Secondly, I’m focusing a tremendous amount of my energy on diet, nutrition, and philosophy. By anchoring my diet and nutrition to a philosophy things will be easier to sustain. For example, I adopted two kittens with Annie recently, and it would seem contradictory to rescue animals, but yet eat other animal corpses. Lastly, my goal is to do the things I love more. I’ve put off a lot of things in my life because I believed that I needed to earn money first and then enjoy myself… but I can tell you from experience that it’s just a recipe for disappointment and stress. I think that my new take on life is to enjoy each day, and try to live in the moment more. It’s a little more expensive, but I think that being happier will enable me to be more successful and find new positive feedback loops.

I just hope that I can continue this for the long haul.

I’d like to wake up in the future on day…

Feeling young.

Physically and mentally healthy.

And spending more time around people and things I love most.

And I believe a big part of that future lifestyle will be attributed to my diet. So cheers to our first month in 2020.

2019 has been one hell of a year, mixed with highs, lows and every emotion in between.

I’ve managed to build and move into a house in Maryland recently with Annie. We finally pulled the trigger earlier this year after trying to figure out the future in terms of relocation. The house took several months to build, and during that time, we had arguably the worst CEO that I’ve ever come across heading up my project. He was cut after 8 months, but that was probably the most stressful point in my career, given that I needed to have a stable job in order to ensure my loan went through for the house. There were several times where I thought I wouldn’t be able to make it, but that is a story in its own. In a nutshell, I was working for a “Tech Bro”—and we spend most of our energy running in place dealing with people problems. The good news is that our company is still moving forward, and my house is complete. For the first time in a long time, I feel that my life is a little better. The house is far from being fully furnished, but there’s something nice about having a place that you can call home.

The second event that was a huge loss and huge hit to me and my family was our family dog, Jack, died earlier. He was highly intelligent, extremely loving, and most of all, he was the anchor of happiness in our family. But, on the opposite side of the spectrum, Annie and I adopted two rescue kittens recently. These two are so adorable and radiate vitality. While it was really sad to see Jack go, we can now give that love to our two new kittens. I just hope that my parents can find a place to fill their hearts soon as well. Nothing will ever replace Jack, but I believe that we can give other animals a wonderful and loving home.

The third big change has happened with me recently—I have started working out again, using a Peloton. Yeh, I’m kind of jumping on the bandwagon, but it’s something that I need. I’m not sure exactly how I can maintain consistency since I have to travel back and forth from the east and west coast, but it’s something that I want to stick with. For the last 5 years of my bi-coastal life, I have put too much my work and building my career. My health has honestly gone to 💩, and I’m probably the heaviest I’ve ever been. I wrote blog posts before about my dieting and losing some weight, but I never managed to stick with it. This past year has been several attempts to start a better diet and exercise, but I’ve already failed. This time, my goal is to start exercising with a strong routine when I’m back on the east coast. In addition to exercise, my goal is to become vegan one day. I’ve never talked about it openly with people, but it’s something that I wanted to do… but didn’t know how. After doing a little research, I’ve learned a little more about it, and it seems possible. It’s going to be hard to give up meat, but I believe I can do it. I have had so many signs after the last couple months that have really pointing me towards changing my diet, and I have to stop making excuses.

As we enter a new year, I want to look at the goals for the next decade. I’m now in my 40’s—I’m middle-aged, overweight, and a workaholic. I need to adjust my priorities, focusing the upcoming year on my health, happiness, and giving back to those who have sacrificed so much for me to be here today. I’ve taken the chance to take an early start before the new year, so I’ve got a little momentum now. I’m hoping that I can stick with the new diet, exercise, and living healthier. That way I can give my best to my family, friends and work. I hope that the changes I can make are lifestyle changes, and not just another failed diet. It’s scary to think that I was around 170 in 2013, and now I’m well over 190 lbs.

I’m also hoping to make time to travel to see some old friends as well. If I haven’t talked to you in a while, let’s sync up. I’ll figure out a way where we can catch up.

You don’t know who you really are until you’ve been tested. Not just a hard check, but a true test by an adversary that is stronger, more talented, and more ferocious than you. To fight against something or someone that won’t back down or be intimidated. They will put relentless pressure on you because they believe that you can be defeated. What kind of person will you be when you have no wind left? What kinds of decisions will you make? Who will you become? What will be seen as the truth and the real version of you?

These are the challenges that ask us to reach deep within to choose a path—to run and hide, or to become the fighter. The samurai. The viking. The warrior.

The truth is, there is no physical difference between the warrior and everyone else. They feel the same fear and the same pain. They have the same 24 hours in a day that everyone else does. The difference lies within the choices that each individual makes.

The warrior chooses to keep pushing forward, when the odds are dire, through exhaustion, and when the body is beginning to shut down. This is a mentality that cannot be bought, inherited, or taught. To keep pushing forward takes heart, and that in itself is a choice.

This is not to be mistaken with survival instinct. Survival instinct gives us the initial adrenaline for fight or flight, but it’s an autonomous reaction that we get for free. And just because someone is good at survival, it doesn’t make them a warrior.

What separates people is their choices. What choices need to be made in order to defeat an adversary that has unfair advantages? Yes, one will need a strategy, a plan, a team… but at the end of the day, it takes heart. It may be hard to believe, but you can choose to have more heart than your adversary, long after the adrenaline is gone.

And, the real test is when we inevitably have to lose. This is life—it is impossible (and futile) to win every fight and have a flawless record. Life is about learning how to handle the Kobayashi Maru (the no-win scenario). Eventually one day, we will have to lose… it may be losing a job, it may be losing a loved one, it might be losing to cancer… but in the end, will our spirit and heart be defeated?

One day, our legacy will be defined by how we inspire others to understand that they have choices as well—to stand up to the tyrants, to shield the ones that can’t defend themselves, to make sacrifices for others. Our choices will be truly measured in the darkest moments, where we are most vulnerable, and our integrity and true intentions will be revealed when others are not looking. In time, the sum of all your choices will become the truth of who you are.

I was debating whether I should renew my domain. It’s been a while since I’ve shared anything on my blog. I’ve been spending most of my time posting on instagram instead.

My site domain was supposed to expire in another week or two, and I was very tempted to let it die. But for some reason, I decided to renew it for another 7 years. Maybe it’s because it’s a good platform for me to continue sharing. I’m not sure who’s watching anymore, but for those of of you who continue to check now-and-then, thanks for coming back.

My goal is not to generate a ton of traffic or go viral. I think this acts a personal journal for me to go back and review things from time to time of my journey. It gives me a chance to reflect on things, on myself, and about the people around me. Perhaps that’s enough purpose for now to justify keeping it around—to simply put some of my experiences and thoughts into words.

For now, I’ll use jeffwongdesign.com as a whiteboard to share my unabridged stream of thoughts.