I have not been doing much in terms of cardiovascular activity for the past 3 days as I'm tapering off my regime to prepare for my marathon on Sunday morning. My original plan was to clock an hour of cardio every day at the minimum and include 3 days of 4 - 6 hours of activity every week. I clocked 6.2km and 2 hours of boxing on Tuesday and 6.2km on Wednesday and 2.5hrs of boxing on Thursday as well. No activity for Friday and Saturday and on Sunday i have 42.195 km planned.

A while back, I had a canoeist friend who told me fables about this guy called Gluconeogenesis. He told me that Gluconeogenesis had the power to confer upon those who are worthy the ability to have boundless stamina and inconceivable strength.

I have never met Gluconeogenesis personally (unlike Rain), but I have been able to bask in his sheer awesomeness and power (unlike Rain either). I have always had this feeling that Gluconeogenesis was in me or, more precisely, in my liver.

My dear friend Glu (like Rain) is basically a guy who is capable of turning lactic acid into glucose (unlike Rain again - couldn't resist it).

What does this mean?

Lactic Acid is a waste product that your body produces when you exercise and is one of the main reasons that cause you to cramp. Glucose is a form of sugar that your body uses for energy. So Glu is the guy who turns waste into energy and all this happens inside your liver.

Why are telling me all this (while making fun of him at the same time)?

The answer is simple. Glu is basically here to show you that there is a point when you exercise where you body adapts and converts a waste product into energy. and it is at this point where you lose fat at the highest rate through another mythical hero called ketosis. The following is a discussion with a friend of mine.

A says:
 yarr.. starvation and intense exercise will force our body go through gluconeogenesis becuz the amount ot stored glycogen in our body is usually not a lot
 we cant stored too much

Project42 says:
 but they don't say when exactly
 i mean

A says:
 yarrr.. i min, different people have different metabolism rate, and different threshold for glucose storage..

Project42 says:
 we all feel shag

A says:
 hard to determine

Project42 says:
 but when do you REALLY FEEL SHAG?

A says:
 if we feel shag, tt mins our body is almost depleting of energy, becuz our body has a natural mechanism to restore whatever disequilibrium into equilibrium
 so that means, we should not feel shag if our body can maintain our exercise level

Project42 says:
 but there are different kinds of shag

A says:
 if we shag, we need to input energy into our body

Project42 says:
 the no oxygen shag
 the no energy shag
 the no water shag
 the not enough sleep shag
 im looking for the burn my fats shag
 lol

A says:
 hmm... i'm talking abt no energy shag lohh.. i think we know how it feels to be tired in the muscles right..
 but i think its very hard to come to thatt stage

Project42 says:
 hmmm
 i think we have a winner!

HUH?
Basically, this means that when you exercise, the point you are looking for to break down the fat store is when your muscles feel fatigued all round and at that point, you still continue to push.

And that is when you will be graced by the presence of my friend Glu. Send him my regards.

I HAVE A BLOG!!! (I'm hoping that this is your most amazing discovery for at least the past 2 minutes) I think I have really outdone myself this time! Good job! *attempts to pat self on the back but fails embarrassingly.

Anyway, if we put aside the hype of me starting a blog, we come to the question of "what is project42?" Allow me to answer that question(cue for applause).

Some time back, i had developed a keen interest in sports and bodybuilding. My intention was not just to get fit but to have a physical and mental challenge to put my resources into and project42 is the latest test i have constructed for myself.

I was reading the Life section of the Straits Times recently and came across this article about my good friend Rain and how he had achieved 0% fat for his new movie "Ninja Assassin". I was about to give him a call to check that he was fine but I was too busy to do so. The last time i checked, all the people i know who had 0% body fat was either dead or not alive. I get sick whenever the media imposes these sort of warped perceptions about body proportions. I came across this site that has a more realistic view on body fat.

So. "What is project42??"

project42 is about the next 42 days of my life and how im going to use it to got my body fat percentage from somewhere around 12% to around 8% while maintaining a weight of 70kg.

OMG!! How do you intend to do this??

err. Good nutrition, Good exercise and Good humor. Lots of it

Why 42?

because 42 is the number of days i have before the next school term starts.

Why blog about it?

hmmm. Good question. I've seen a lot of people who don't know where to start for an exercise regime and I've seen a lot of people who want to do something but can't seem to do it. My blog intends to be a rough guide on "how". I'd also like to hear people's opinions and ideas on improving on the material I have here.

What happens after 42 days?

I pull the plug on this blog. Indefinitely.