Optimizing Until the Very End: Thoughts on Death and Living

May 26, 2017 Fabian

Photo: BigStockPhoto.com, Copyright: AGCuesta

Despite being occasionally whiny about my genetical uphill battle when it comes to athletic performance and body composition, I enjoy a reasonable bill of health and my life in general. This, however, does not stop me from occasionally thinking about death and I think you should do so too. Read to hear why!

More Than Book Learning - Five Novels that Shaped my Love for East Asia

May 10, 2017 Fabian

Photo: BigStockPhoto.com, Copyright: ieang

While in recent years I mostly read nonfiction, I strongly believe that novels can be just as powerful when it comes to broadening the horizon and understanding the big picture.

I think that to understand the world, our history, even contemporary and future developments, it takes both, reading history books for a factual framework and reading novels to get a feeling for the zeitgeist.

While the origin of my life-long interest in Asia will likely stay a mystery forever, I know for sure that there are a few brilliant books that shaped this interest. Among the many I want to highlight five that stood out in particular.

Man vs Sea Elephant - Unlocking the Secret of my Slowness Part III

April 29, 2017 Fabian

Whom do you call fat??? Photo: BigStockPhoto, Copyright: Christopher Boswell

The quest to understand the roots of my appalling running performance is an ongoing topic of this blog. In two previous Life-Sparring rounds I looked at possible reasons like age and weight and my running form. In this article I dive deeper, literally going more than just skin-deep, doing a professional athletic fitness assessment at the Institute of Human Performance of the University of Hong Kong. If you are a regular reader, you can imagine that it was a humbling experience with a lot of insights.

Angry Cards and Vocabulary Crush – Playing Games You Can’t Lose

April 3, 2017 Fabian

Make all moments count! Copyright Life-Sparring.com, Filter: Prisma

About four years ago I started to show severe signs of getting addicted to a popular mobile phone game. After reaching a point where playing the game began to disrupt parts of my life, I made a rather radical decision: I deleted all games from my phone and decided to get my fix from something much more productive, a flashcard game to learn Chinese. Interested to hear how that worked out?

Going all Keto: Week One - Five Insights of a Keto Beginner

March 15, 2017 Fabian

Pork Belly on a Bed of Brussels Sprouts and one lonely Sweet Potato - copyright Life-Sparring.com, Filter: Prisma

Tired of gaining weight despite a high level of physical activity, I decided to pull the nuclear option and go on a full-blown ketogenic diet. As there are a lot of useful resources on ketosis, but not many detailed jargon-free reports for beginners, I tried, to sum up the experience of my first week on the keto diet in this article. Enjoy!

In Love With a Falling City? – Reflections on ten Years in Hong Kong

March 4, 2017 Fabian

Tram on Hong Kong Island (2007), Photo: Life-Sparring.com

This article is close to my heart. I have problems to wrap my head around it, but it has been exactly ten years that I moved to Hong Kong. Time to look back and reflect on my love for this "Falling City".

The World’s Smartest Bagel – Is this Kickstarter Product the Ultimate Tape Measure?

February 20, 2017 Fabian

Two kinds of Bagels. Photo: Life-Sparring.com via Prisma App for iOS

Today’s Life-Sparring round is all about Bagel. No, I don’t mean the dry stepbrother of the doughnut, but another ambitious Kickstarter project I backed last year. The Korean team of Bagel Labs promised nothing less than "The World's Smartest Tape Measure". Does the sleek looking Bagel device live up to that promise?

Older, Fatter, Faster? – 50 km of Joy, Pain, and Mindfulness on the Hong Kong Trail

February 6, 2017 Fabian

Older, Fatter, Faster? Old man on the last stretch, after 50 km of Green Power Hike. Picture: Life-Sparring.com, Filter: Prisma App

While I enjoy running in general, it constantly and painfully reminds me of my physical limits. Despite my almost life-long relationship with running, I am embarrassingly slow and technically bad.

As the stubborn and competitive person that I am, being slow and bad at running does not stop me from occasionally reaching for the sky. My recent participation in the Green Power Hike, a 50km trail running race over the full length of the Hong Kong trail, across the rocky backbone of the island was an example for me testing my limits. The 24th edition of the iconic trail running event was my fourth participation. How would my lack of training, five years of age, and five kilogram body weight since my personal best in 2012 affect my performance?

Aiming for the Streak – Three Apps to Track Your Habits

January 19, 2017 Fabian

Photo: BigStockPhoto Copyright: : PixelsAway

After chasing big and lofty goals in 2016, the focus in 2017 is on habit setting. Using a strategy called "Mini Habits", I try to set small but very regular tasks to establish healthy habits that bring me closer to my ambitious goals, with much less stress. To make sure that I am not forgetting my daily goals, I was experimenting finding the perfect mobile up to nudge me at the right time. Which of the contenders Irunurun, Nozbe or Strides proofs to be best suited to keep me on track over the year?

Big Goals and Mini Habits – A New Take on a New Year’s Resolution

January 13, 2017 Fabian

Photo: Bigstockphoto.com, Copyright: StanciuC

Despite the bad reputation of New Year’s Resolutions in the scientific world and my mixed record with meeting my annual goals in the past, I continue to make resolutions year after year. New Year's Eve would just not feel the same without good intentions and lofty goals.

After going all S.M.A.R.T. in 2016, this year it's about going small, taking a page or two out of Stephen Guise's book Mini Habits.