Reflecting on 2020

2020 was quite the year. There are so many things one could say about it.

Some context: Globally, there was the Covid-19 pandemic. Domestically, in the United States, we had social activism through Black Lives Matter movement and the election resulting in Biden’s victory over Trump. Locally, in California, we have been in “quarantine” for the majority of the year - staying safe from both the coronavirus and the wildfires.

I thought a good year end post could include the travel Cathy and I did, but we have a whole series of blog posts on that. There could also be a thing on quarantine activities (such as baking bread and gardening). Or things I have accomplished. But none of those things are everlasting. For interests change and accomplishments are superseded by future accomplishments.

So instead of recapping moments in time, I want to reflect on the revelations this year that have changed my outlook on life, forever.

Lifestyle Revelations:

Location - I could live anywhere; I could be a nomad; I can also settle down.

Early this year, we spent a month in Phuket. There, my primary activity was training in Muay Thai, which was as opposite of a life as this white collar professional from San Francisco could get. And it showed me that I could adapt to a different climate and different lifestyle, literally on the other side of the world. I could live there, or anywhere.

This year, we also lived a nomadic life while we traversed through Southeast Asia. We enjoyed being in different countries. We were on the move and always had the next destination. We learned to travel light and not have many earthly possessions. Indeed, I could be a nomad.

And then, of course, being grounded because of the pandemic… we settled down back at home. Doing so in a much more domesticated way than before. Like many others, we spent more time in the kitchen. And in our waking hours, mostly confined to our apartment. Home has never been so home-y. We have settled down.

My perspective has opened. I used to think that I could only be in the Bay, because that’s where I am most comfortable. Now, I realize I can adapt and be comfortable in many more ways. So even in choosing to stay here, I know I could do something else and be happy with it. Which is vastly different than being here just because I don’t think I’d be as comfortable or enjoy being somewhere else.. Because I could. So then it comes down to circumstance and choice, even if preferences aren’t as strong. One thing I can’t change as much though, is where my family is. And being close to them is important. So there’s that.

Diet - Keto & Intermittent Fasting

Keto is not a new idea, and probably has been trending up for a while now. This year, I figured I would give it a try. And it more or less worked, at least my version of it. While I haven’t been strictly on the ketogenic diet; I am about low-carb, low-starches, and avoiding sugar. But I cut myself a lot of slack, because I enjoy fruit. So while not strictly keto, my diet has been effective. I lost weight without anything more than casual exercise (recreational running), and kept weight off even during periods without exercising. 

Intermittent Fasting was an easy thing for me to do, just by skipping breakfast. I flirted with the one meal a day thing, but most days it’s nice to have a lunch break. And I’m not consistent about this either because there have been times I get the late night snack, or grab breakfast just to “fuel up” for a hike (really just that I want to eat that donut). This does work for me, because conceptually I understand it. Let the body get to the point where it can burn the reserve energy (more likely fat), and when paired with some fasted cardio, all the better. Again, no scientific method, and lots of cheat days. But it’s “worked”.

Since this works for me, I believe in it (for myself). And this is not just going to be a temporary diet, it will be my diet - how I eat on a regular basis. I do have an allowance for “cheating” though, enough to not feel deprived and to also enjoy some of the tasty things in life.

Exercise - Consistent and intentional exercise

My diet and exercise lifestyle has been working, because I am in the best shape of my life. And there’s this saying “muscles built in the gym, revealed in the kitchen”. I don’t have a six pack yet, but most of the muscle is there. I am stronger and faster than ever before. Waistline and thighs are smaller than ever. But perhaps, the best indicator of all the diet and exercise working is how I look in the mirror. Which is really a huge positive reinforcement for me. I look better so it encourages me to keep it up. And if I regress at all, then it reminds me to stop slacking. The downside is that I have a little bit of body dysmorphia - how I look matters to me and that can mess with me a bit psychologically.

Nonetheless, I have made a lot of progress on my fitness journey, so I will keep exercising. The exact regime might change, especially when I hit plateaus, but what will stay is the consistency and intentionality of exercise.

Farmer’s Markets and Food Values - humane, sustainable, ethical, local

I always cared about animals and the environment. Heck, I was president of the Endangered Species Awareness club in high school. Cathy is vegan, so I definitely sympathize with humane treatment of animals. It just hadn’t always factored into my eating habits because of a combination of factors - taste, convenience, convention, nutrition.

But what really clicked for me was watching the documentary “Kiss the Ground”. Its main point is that to save the environment, we need better farming practices. While that doesn’t directly relate to humane treatment of animals, it provided a motivation to reconsider what I eat.

So now, I take the time and energy to think about the food that I purchase to make sure it aligns with my values. I want food that is good for the environment, good for the animals, and good for the farmworkers. This means we look for labels that indicate organic, non-GMO, and humane (pasture-raised).

Practically, we have changed our grocery shopping habits. We buy most of our groceries at farmer’s markets. This helps to ensure that the food is local (reducing impact of shipping on the environment, and supporting the local economy). And by knowing the farms that we purchase from, we can use our money to vote for regenerative farming practices.

Not only are we able to shop for our values, but the food is much fresher, tastier, and nutritious. We hardly have any processed foods this way! When we made this switch, we were worried that shopping this way would be more expensive, especially when we factor in our special diets. But surprisingly, our grocery budget remained the same. But it surprisingly works out. By shopping mostly at farmer’s markets, we are able to avoid all the extra processed food and snacks that we would otherwise get at grocery stores. We spend the same amount on food, but it is much better for us and aligns with our values.

Data Science - better understanding, life-long learning

I won’t go too much into detail here, because much of this was covered in a previous post about Data Science Bootcamp. But really, I think I understand what data science is much more than before (and there’s still more to know, especially in different contexts). 

And most of all - I appreciate the value of life-long learning. When I was growing up, I avoided programming and didn’t want to become a software engineer because I heard that skills become obsolete quickly, and it requires constantly staying on top of the latest technology. That seemed like a silly proposition to have to keep learning just to keep a job. But now, I understand. The world moves forward, and to stay in place, you must move forward too. Not moving forward, is really moving backwards. And this applies in any domain, not just engineering. So I must continue to learn, and make that time and space to have a concerted effort around learning.

Doing things - Iterations and experience are key.

The other revelation I’ve had comes from doing projects and cooking. And that is the value of experience. There are some things you just can’t learn without experience. This concept of metis which I go in length on the data science post, is really fundamental to how I think about things now. To get better at cooking, I need to cook. And I need to cook a lot. Cutting the skin off a kabocha gets easier with more experience. Cooking over easy eggs just right requires a lot of repetition. 

This concept and value of iterations and experience leads to a simple bias - a bias to action. Just doing things is the way to do more things and to do it better. Nike really got it right - just do it.

Hairbands and Conditioner - these are necessities for long hair

This is my covid related revelation. Because I have been avoiding going to get my hair cut, my hair has gotten long. So I’ve faced issues I’ve never had before. Like my bangs getting extremely long and extremely annoying. They block my vision and keep touching my face. Wearing a hairband solves this problem.

Also, with long hair, it gets damaged and tangled (as opposed to short hair where all the potential problems are cut ahead of time). Conditioner helps keep the hair smooth. I really never understood the value of conditioner before. So I just wouldn’t use it. But now I do. And it’s nice.

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For The Record:

2020 Places visited - Thailand, Cambodia, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Hawaii, Bay Area

Accomplishments - Muay Thai training (one-month), Coursera Deep Learning Specialization, Metis Data Science Bootcamp, Rode a motorbike

Activities - Sightseeing, Hiking, Snorkeling, Cooking, Blogging, Running, Baking, Ice-cream making

Projects completed - Two family photo books, burpee button, personal expense tracker

Projects in progress - Portfolio website: College basketball prediction, fitness lifestyle, venmo analysis, body fat estimator (proof of concept)

Projects started - Professional Website, TipTap, burpee button v2, Body Fat Estimator

Books read - Too many to list

TV shows - Too many to track

Movies - Too many to track