Kinds of people I hate

Asghar tells me that I've always said that there are four kinds of people that I don't like. Like   they really really tick me off when they're in my company, or more importantly, they're the people I have to deal with on regular basis. And, right now, I don't remember what those four people are. Actually, that's not what Asghar tells me, what he tells me is that I always forget the fourth one while enumerating the four types.

Well, let me try now, let's see if I remember any.

1) Arrogant people. 

This has got to be on the top. I will add the explanation later.

2) Fake people. 

Okay, so basically, everyone's fake. We all hide ourselves, which makes this this world a live-in-able place. So what we call fake are just the people who're faker than us. That's the case usually. But there are some people wayy off the median. The kind that will pretend to be sophisticated, educated, rich when they're talking to people of lower-class than themselves, etc etc. Their confidence rests on their gadgets, their hair color, their new slick first-copy of Gucci eye-wear, or their ability to cuss.

3) Dumb people. 

I always put them at number three, because I thought they deserved to be hated less than the other two... but do they? I mean, they are what you come across the most. A person who's arrogant, sure, but you don't find too many of them that are unbearable. A person who's fake, well, there are so many, that you get used to them, and after a while it's a nuisance. But dumb people? Oh... they surprise you Every Single Time. And they are a lot!

This hasn't got anything to do with IQ. This is sheer, absolute lack of desire to think! This hasn't got anything with the ability or inability to think. It's just that these people don't see things, don't get jokes, don't think before they make a joke, or say something blunt, or see the point unless it's presented to them on a platter, or keep arguing after they've been proven logically incorrect. They just start blabbering on about something else. God! These people have made me such a quieter person! This phenomena is also seen in the number one category, of arguing when the argument is really completed, but arrogants are the worst, because they keep arguing Even When They Know They Are Wrong! Sometimes, what they're arguing against is something they themselves agreed to, like two days ago, but now, since it's brought up in relation to their something they do or have done or have said, their arrogance binds them to disagree.

4) Stealthy people

Hey Asghar, guess what? I can finally articulately define the fourth kind here. These people, they don't give you clear answers. They don't say no. You can see through them! They would use lies, non-lies, tricks, jokes, all sorts of cunning to just avoid a clear cut talk. To not say what is the Truth. To not tell you they will break the promise they made. To try to appear nicer than they are choosing to be. If you're playing like a bitch, own up to it, bitch!

Saad, are you a gamer?

Social Science chick: Saad, are you a gamer? I am writing a paper and I need to do some research.
Saad: I am a player. Would that do? ;)

Read 'em

Ernest Hemingway
Jane Austen
Tim O'Brien
Rudyard Kipling

Quote, Unquote

Every man is wise when attacked by a mad dog; fewer when pursued by a mad woman; only the wisest survive when attacked by a mad notion.

— Robertson Davies

How I lost 12 kg

I have been on healthy diets, very successfully. And I have shown Drastic changes, getting stronger, leaner, over very short periods of time ( 90 days) and losing like 15 kgs of fat while putting on muscle.

Though it worked, I couldn't sustain it. Specially when life is filled with other moments, where your will is torn open, or simply because you travel a lot (I do), or have two families (I have :p), or when you are moving from student life to practical life ( I did, and that just took away all the free time I had!).

So now I am taking it easy. Really easy. I am not wanting to ( I am wanting to, even expecting, but I shouldn't) get impressive results. That's it. Not impressive. It will be so slow, and so natural, that even my folks won't notice. So Instead of working out 100 minutes a day, or even 60, I am just focusing on working out 15-30 minutes a day. Or if not that, then at least 30 push ups!

Regarding nutrition. Which prompted me to write this post. Well. I have done three successful diets in my life, and none of them was unhealthy. I got positive results from each of them, gaining muscle and losing fat with each (I rarely do anything without first educating myself about it, so I rarely follow fad diets, or buy into pre-packaged plans, I come up with my own stuff, mostly).

Let me talk about the 2nd time I took fitness seriously. At that time I ate two parathas in breakfast, along with two fried eggs. A cup of milk, a cup of coffee (I know, I know, stay with me, will ya?) and then for lunch, I had a corn cooked over coals, no oil or anything added to it, just some lemon and spices for taste. My lunch costed me 15 bucks! I was interning then, and was staying alone (without friends or family, since it was vacations) in LUMS over summer. So I could pull it off. I drank three of four coffees a day (two of them with sugar) because I used to feel very lethargic because of the diet.  Then by dusk I reached home, had a coffee without sugar but with a few biscuits. And went for a workout. This was a Really gruelling workout. Every session was painful. I was pushing myself in Every workout. Everday I did something more than last day. Either in running, or in weights, or in strictness of form. And then for dinner. I ate PDC ka salad. Now that's not real salad. The total is like 100-200 gm of chopped onion, cucunbers, tomatoes, carrots, etc. And it was So dull, that I had to have it with vineger. And some days, I was so tired that I didn't have the energy to eat this (the workout Was gruelling!), so I just went to bed hungry (Do you understand the breakfast now?). On weekends I partied. Steaks, burgers, milk shakes, ice creams. My every weekend was an outing with friends of eating crazy. I loved that time! I even got the bonus for performing excelling work at that internship!

Why Yes I do, you handsome devil you :)

Ramadan Schedule!

So Ramadan was around the corner, people were talking about it. In particular, one of my friends Waqas, told me, "Saad, is dafa Ramadan ki tayyari karni hai!" (Saad, this time around we have to get ready for Ramadan). Also, one day, while reading from a book, I stumbled upon a hadith that talked about Ramadan's blessings. So, all this is to say, that this Ramadan didn't catch me by surprise.


Anyway, when on Friday night, it was finally annouced that Ramadan crescent has been sighted, and I reached home after taraveeh, I sat with my sister and tried to come up with a Plan for this month. This was more of a schedule of important things, guidelines that I Needed to follow. So I wrote it down, and got my sister to sign it under the heading of 'Enforcer'. Haha... This was the plan:

1. No computer usage after coming home from work. As in no computer after 5 pm. Period. 
2. Meditation after Isha. 
3. Recitation after Fajr.
4. No fried stuff in aftaar. 
5. No coffee or tea. 
6. Workout after Maghrib. 

Well, it went great. Some things I implemented with great success, and some things I wasn't as successful. Needless to say, it felt great. The first week felt great. There were some issues, of course. Firstly, the shape that I am usually in isn't much kind to offering taraveeh. So I got a bad backache. Secondly, I got crotch itch. This wasnt a good experience really. I have the memories a bit hazy about which happened when, but they all happened in the first week. There was one good news in the first week too! Wahaj's visa got processed and he was said to leave on the second Tuesday of Ramadan. So he gave an Aftaar party on the Saturday before it. And I met all my friends. And while my shape had gotten pathetically worse over the last two years, I was very impressed to see that guys especially Hamza Javed and Danish Zafar were doing really good. They were working out regularly, and eating very disciplined protien based diets. I got a lot of inspiration and a lot of tips too!

So I was set that I would workout too! Just fifteen minutes. That's all. So I googled '15 minute men's home workout' and something came up. It was basically five exercises, done in a circuit of five minute.

So far it's been going great. I am sticking with it up till now, and I feel stronger now too. I complete this within time, as opposed to the first week, when it took me 20-25 minutes to do a 15 minute workout. I still pant like a horse, but I guess that's gonna stay for a while. 

So that's it for now... I am gonna plan a new schedule for normal days, which I will stick to too. And I am loving this thing. Usually, whenever I have gone healthy in the past, I have always given it my best shot. Done it with full focus. Lost a great many pounds. But that's what my aim is not. Now, I just have to do it a little. So little that it's easily managed with work and life, and so much that it's effective in the long run. I don't want to be 'jock' or the person whose only thing that he does is lose weight. I don't want to be just losing weight! In fact, I don't want to do that. This is not a temporary thing. It's gonna stay. Fifteen minutes? I can manage that. Let's see.