I'm no Tim Ferris...

...but at the point of writing this I am deep into 72 hours of being really healthy.

Shanghai can be a bit stressful. There is honking cars, subpar driving everywhere (one should know that my primary means of transportation is a bicycle) - so I have to deal with scooters, bikes and sometimes cars coming my way sleep-driving (that is what I like to call it) towards me, honking, people turning in black Audis without signalling and of course (making use of) not their right of way. It's the negatives that still don't outweigh, at least for me, being outside, waking up on the bike ride to work, getting to know the city and my way around it, the exercise, the being in touch with 'nature' and the not being too comfortable (really it's just odd to take taxis or uber everywhere - I probably wouldn't do it anywhere else, so why choose this as the place to get used to it).

It's 3 days of not touching alcohol so far.

Yesterday I got my haircut from my two fat guys in Zhabei and they know me  not only as the only foreigner that goes there, they know me as the only person that comes in there with a beer. It's similar with the vape shop I frequent. Beer is awesome. Beer tastes great, makes you a real German, a man and is refreshing and usually low in alcohol here. It also gives you a bit of a belly when indulging on a daily basis. I am no beer snob, I don't care. I go for the Suntory (and the beer ratings are through the roof!), it's 5 RMB for a 500ml can (a slightly better variant) or 3.6 RMB or so for 600 or 660ml bottle (the one wit the ratings). It's beer, it's refreshing and tastes okay when cold and if you drink it fast. There is no surprises. You get what you pay for and it tastes like 50 cent a small beer step above water. So if you like okay beer then we can be friends (also if you like beer in general).

China makes a lot of foreigners drink. Sometimes it seems like there is not much more to do, because the fun police closes popular bar streets (not that I care too much, but that street is completely dead now). When I was still working in the insurance sector things where worse, the drink after work seemed needed just to calm down and detach from the sales, the meetings, the phone calls and the pressure. It can get excessive.

A Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after a holiday that I am smashing my goals with my Fitbit.

I got the Charge HR and it's my second fitness tracker after the quickly destroyed UP24 (by Jawbone) that had a cute app. It's motivating. It auto-detects my bike rides to and from work as well as the boxing workout we did yesterday and other sports (but swimming - it's not fully waterproof). The app looks cool and it functions for 5 days on a charge which is roughly 5 times more than the much more expensive Apple Watch. I still wear a watch even though the Fitbit shows the time as well.

Step by step I am trying to go to a 80 kilo physique with small habit changes. When I returned to China in 2011 I was also biking, making green shakes in the morning (chocolate whey protein, a banana, a apple, spinach and peanut butter) and moderate exercise. I was at that and want to get back there. One of my friends and coworkers goes all Keto and it's working like a charm - it's motivating. It also helps to work in a healthy, friendly and fun environment. Gonna give myself this week and then keep it up moderately while drinking socially on the weekends and on special occasions.

In addition I am currently reading 'Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales' by the great Penn Jilette and it's great fun. Highly recommend it.

There is tons of ways to be healthy and it begins in your head and it's always habit changing for permanent results. Drinking isn't the only activity but an okay one, like the Suntory - so have a good beer or a glass of wine once in a while.

What I really wanted to say is: have a beer, enjoy your life and work and find a way. I also just wanted to write again and share something from my life and just write. So that was me doing the worst Tim Ferris expression as a non-scientific brain fart without a proofread to my blog. Living on the edge!