Going On A Diet

I don’t recall ever going on a diet in my life (fasting doesn’t count). Throughout high school I was 5’9 and 140lbs. My buddies Dom and Bryan constantly made fun of me because of my weight, or lack thereof. Dom had completely grown into his body by his senior year and Bryan had completely grown into his body at about 6th grade (although his head continues to grow at an alarming rate). They were convinced I had worms or something because I would eat more than both of them combined and wouldn’t gain any weight. I just told them Thai people don’t gain weight.

After high school, Dom finally convinced me to start taking weight lifting and working out seriously. I did just that and started gaining weight rather quickly. It wasn’t only weight but muscle weight. I felt great. I was stronger, faster, and had more energy throughout the day. It was like my mutant gene activated, and I had all these newfound powers. I’ve been committed to working out ever since.

However, being committed to working out consistently is only half the battle. A healthy diet and proper rest is the other half. Since I’m one of the laziest persons I know, resting isn’t a problem. Healthy diet, however, is another thing entirely. My whole life I’ve never had to worry about what to eat. I just ate what I wanted. Food content was irrelevant. Taste, flavor, and some type of dipping sauce were all that mattered. Now that I’m older that doesn’t quite work so well. The other day I got on the scale at the gym and my initial thought was “Oh ****! How did THAT happen?” I thought Thai people didn’t gain any weight? As it turns out, Thai people don’t gain weight while in Thailand. But in America, the land of Cheesecake Factory and carne asada burritos, they gain weight just like everyone else.

My wife has done a good job taking care of me by making sure I have a healthy breakfast and a home-cooked dinner everyday. Lunch is the problem. If men are honest, we’ll admit we don’t like making our own food. I only learned how to cook to impress ladies and when I did cook for myself it felt like a survival show. So when my wife is away and tells me where the food is and that I could make it myself I kindly say, “Ok, thanks honey.” Then quickly drive off to In-N-Out. Contrary to the popular social trend of wanting to live a long and healthy life, I really don’t want to live THAT long. I mean, when I get to the point where I can’t play basketball or need assistance in doing daily things (e.g, going to the bathroom, dressing, etc.) what’s the point really? (This is NOT a reflection of how I view the elderly it’s just how I feel about myself). In addition, I have Life Insurance so if I kick the bucket for whatever reason my family cashes out. So what’s the point in being cautious? My wife seems to want me around for some reason so I probably should make some effort in staying around, especially with a baby on the way. In light of that, my recent scale debacle has me rethinking my eating habits. Maybe I should scale back the carne asada burritos.

The last couple of days my wife has packed a PPJ sandwich, trail mix, an apple and some string cheese. You know, things I would only eat if I were on Man vs. Wild. It’s only been two days but it’s been unbelievably boring. I also don't have any energy because of the lack of calories. I’ve been scrounging for my co-workers candy stash just for some sugar. “I know you have them!!! You can’t hide them from me!!!” Anyway, I’m trying to be positive about this. Losing some weight will only improve my quickness on the basketball court. Also, I’ll probably look even sexier than I already do. Outside of those two reasons I don’t see any other positives but it’s a start.

Show Me The $$$

First, let me begin with apologizing to all three of my readers for the lack of posts in the last month, but I was studying like a crazy person for a couple of exams (and watching more basketball than I should be). It’s not like I get paid to blog (although that would be nice), so I had to prioritize.

Speaking of those exams… they were for my securities license (Series 6, Series 63). And yes, I passed. Actually, I failed on the first attempt on both of those exams. I’m a natural slacker so I wanted to see how much I could get away with. The exams are written by a bunch of lawyers intentionally trying to make it so ambiguous that even they don’t know what in the world they’re asking. Don’t you just love those kinds of people? After learning how to interpret the questions written by drunken lawyers I passed with flying colors. I love passing exams like this because it really feels like sticking it to “the man.”

The question I get asked most often when people find out I am pursuing finance is, “Are you going to stop teaching?” That’s an understandable question. I mean, why in the world would I put myself through this if I weren’t planning some type of career change? Here’s the first part of the answer, or my plan anyway. I hope to teach as long as my sanity allows me. Since my wife is going to stop working and raise our little girl to be a classy, intelligent, and responsible young lady like herself, we’re going to lose an income. My desire is to be able to supplement our income and have my wife stay at home for as long as she’d like (well, maybe not that long but long enough to raise the kids).

The second part of my answer is, as I’m learning about Personal Financial Planning, at UCLA, the more I’m intrigued by the subject matter. (On a side note, I have no idea why Personal Finance isn’t in the school curriculum, but students still need to pass algebra in order to receive a high school diploma for some reason. Because, as you all know, algebra is expressly practical and all.) I really enjoy talking about financial planning with friends and emphasize the importance of that topic. Becoming a CFP is a way, I believe, God is stirring my heart to help people and truly look for the client’s best interest above the common, “What’s my commission?” outlook that many in the financial world have. I believe that’s the way to honor God in financial planning, “to not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil 2:4).

How did I first get interested in the field of FP? It started several years ago when my mom passed away unexpectedly. For all the wonderful things my mom did in serving God and loving her family, she didn’t have an Estate Plan. As a result, her estate had to go through probate. In addition, since my mom didn’t have an estate plan, my lunatic older sister hired a lawyer in order to get the most she could out of my mom’s estate. She dragged the process on for two solid years. Never mind that we could’ve solved the problem by coming together as a family and being reasonable and not run my mom’s good name through the mud. The opportunity for her to receive “her cut” and to stick it to my younger sister and I were too enticing for her. Thankfully, my mom did have some life insurance, which helped the process (paying for lawyers, burial, funeral, etc.). It was bad enough to deal with the sudden loss of my mom but to deal with a crazy sister for two years following made it worse.

In short, after this experience, I started looking into estate planning and life insurance for myself. Then I started looking at the other financial components and found it extremely complicated at times. I didn’t really know whom to trust. It is a shark industry and I’ve heard stories of people getting ripped off. So I decided to start studying it myself to simply be more informed and know what kinds of questions to ask.

Then a strange thing happened while I was doing my research. The thought came to me, “Hey, why don’t I do this!” And the rest is history. Well, not exactly because I’m still in the process of becoming CFP (although I have a couple of licenses already) so I guess history is currently being written. It’s hard work but I’m enjoying the ride. We’ll see where we end up.