Used toyota SEG or spanking new Myvi?

Nokia convert — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:11:46 +0800

Hi bros.....really need some serious advice here.

I am a fresh grad who earns about 2.5k per month (after minus epf). I travel a lot since I work as a salesman. Total cost of ownership per month (Monthly Installment + Car Maintenance + Road Tax + Petrol) that I am willing to afford must be less than 1000 (the lower the better). I can afford downpayment of 11k. I am considering only one of these 2 options:

1) Used Manual Toyota SEG
This car will only cost me about RM25k, the monthly installment should be <300 (5 years loan @ 5% pa, 11k d/p). However, I am very concerned about the car maintenance. Considering the car will most certainly be more than 10 years old, the car may require frequent repairs and thus increase my maintenance cost considerably. Can you guys please advise me on the reliability and the monthly maintenance cost of this car? Also, is the spare part for SEG cheap and common?

Another problem that I might face is the difficulty of getting a loan (since it's a >10 yr old car). I am unable to pay one off cash for this car. Do some of these 2nd hand car dealers got 'jalan'? Planning to loan about 15k only.

2) Brand new Manual Myvi (Premium)
This car will cost me about 46k, the monthly installment should be about 470 (9 year loan @ 3.75% pa, 11k d/p). The car installment is higher and loan is longer compared to SEG. Also, there is a higher risk of theft coz Myvi is really popular these days. However, a brand new Myvi may give me less repair problem and thus maintenance cost may be lower than SEG.

Longer loan doesn't bother me much coz I am gonna pass the car to my bro when he graduates 3-4 years later.

Which one should I choose?

Nokia's workout journal

Nokia convert — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:42:40 +0800

Been a couch potato for 7 years. I hardly exercise and had a terrible diet. I ate 3-4 fast food meals and about 2 ramly burgers per week. I couldn't care less about my health back then, I only care about having oily and tasty bites each day. My weight has increased from 70+ kg to 96kg over the past 7 years. I always whine about my outlook without doing anything about it......

But I will whine no more. Whining are for boys. Real men do not whine, they solve the problem.

So here it goes,

My long term target
Main aim:
- reduce body fat
- gain lean muscle mass
- increased base strength
- muscular but lean physique like bruce lee

Current target:
% Body fat: 10-15% <==Most important criteria to me
Body Weight: 80kg <==Couldn't care less so long my body fat is ok
Target Date: September 2009 (8.5 Months to go) <== I need to look at my best for my graduation ceremony in September....and I only have 1 chance

Body Stats:
Body type: Somewhere between Mesomorph and Endomorph. I did my test here.

19/11/08:
% Body fat: about 28%
Body weight: 96kg
Waist size: 40 1/4"
Height: 175cm

22/12/08:
% Body fat: 25.1%
Body weight: 92kg
Waist size: 38"
Height: 175cm

4/2/09:
% Body fat: Not yet measured but I am sure it is lower than last time. Will keep you guys informed in due time.
Body weight: 87kg
Waist size: 35.5".
Height: 175cm

My progress pics
14th of December 2008:

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

4th of January 2009:

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

To be publicly accountable, I will be uploading pictures every end of the month.

My diet:
Revised as suggested by dear forumers,

Breakfast (8am): 4 tablespoon of oats + 1 tablespoon of pure honey, 1/2 scoop of whey, 1 banana
Brunch (11am): 1 whole boiled egg + 1 boiled egg white + 4oz milk
Lunch (1pm): chap fan with stir fried veggies and stir fried chicken with some soy sauce without rice
Afternoon snack (4pm): Salad which consists of fresh tomatoes, lettuce and onion, 120g of chicken breast
Pre-workout (5.30pm): 1 banana + 1/2 scoop of whey

-------------------------------------------------Workout @ (6pm-7.30pm)------------------------------------------------

Post Workout (7.30pm): 1 scoops of whey (approx 24g protein)+ 4oz milk
Dinner (8.15pm): stir fried veggies, stir fried chicken with some soy sauce and tofu without rice
Supper (11pm): 1 slice of low fat cheddar cheese + 2 boiled egg whites

-------------------------------------------------------Bedtime @ 12am------------------------------------------------------

Estimated daily calorie of 1919 with approximately 223g of protein per day. Nutrition composition is approximately 49% protein, 26% fat , 25% carbs.

I will sometimes swap the chicken and veggies with other varieties. The diet written above is what I eat in general only.

I will take 1 cheat meal every 14 days or longer.

My diet will be updated daily.

My nasty old eating habits (before I started the fat loss program)
Breakfast: Roti telur + teh ais/McDonald breakfast meal/Fried Dim Sum/Nasi Lemak/Skipping it completely
Lunch: KFC Snack Plate Set + Pepsi/McDonald McDeluxe Value Meal Large/Chicken rice add more rice/Pan mee
Dinner: Hokkien mee/Fried Chicken Chop with a lot of rice + wafer as dessert/Ramly Burger
Supper: McDonald Value Meal/Hokkien mee/Indo mee goreng double/Roti telur + teh ais/Ramly burger

Looking back at my old eating habit, I really think it is a miracle that I am still standing today.

My supplements
1. ON Gold Standard Whey Powder
2. Multivitamin

Planning to get creatine once I got more $$

My workout plan:
My workout plan consists of weight and cardio training which will be detailed as follows. There are 3 weight training and 3 cardio training per week. Sunday is my off day.

Details of my workout will be updated daily.

Weight training

From 20/11/08 - 2/2/09:
My weight training is centred around Stronglift 5x5 program. The program consists of 2 workouts:

Workout A:
Squats 5x5
Bench Press 5x5
Inverted Rows 3xF
Push-ups 3xF
Reverse Crunch 3x12

Workout B:
Squats 5x5
Overhead Press 5x5
Deadlift 1x5
Pull-up/Chin-up 3xF
Prone Bridges 3x30secs

I do weight training on Monday, Wednesday and Friday (3x a week). Workout A and B are done alternatively.

9/2/09 onwards:

Monday - Chest/Triceps
Tuesday - Legs
Wednesday - HIIT on stationary bike
Thursday - Shoulders
Friday - Back/Biceps
Saturday - HIIT on stationary bike
Sunday - off

Monday (Chest/Triceps) :
Flat Bench Press 4x8
Incline Hammer Strength Machine 2x8
Dumbell Flyes 2 sets
Tricep Press down 2 sets
Dips (weighted) 2xF

Tuesday (Legs) :
Machine leg press 4x8
Machine leg extension 2x8
Deadlift 2x5
Leg press calve raises 5x8

Wednesday (Cardio):
HIIT on stationary bike

Thursday (Shoulders):
Seated dumbbell military press 4x8
Dumbbell lateral raises 3x8
Shrugs 3x8

Friday (Back/Biceps) :
Lat Pull down 3x8
Seated Cable Row 2x8
Standing Barbell Curls 3x8
Dumbbell Preacher Curls (with dumbells) 1x8

Saturday (Cardio):
HIIT on stationary bike

Sunday:
Rest day

Cardio training
As for my cardio, I am doing HIIT on a stationary bike on alternative days but having a 1 rest day per week.

My HIIT routine starts with a 4 minute warm up session using level 5, followed by a 30 second sprint at level 10. After the sprint, I will return to level 5 again for 90 seconds before sprinting again for 30 seconds. I repeat the cycle until my heart is screaming and my leg muscles feels horribly sore. Total workout time is about 20 minutes.

My workout in week 1:
Week 1 Day 1 (24/11/08):
Squats 5x5 - 80lbs
Bench Press 5x5 - 45lbs
Inverted Rows - only managed to do 3 sets 8 reps each
Push-ups - cannot do even one push ups.....but I will keep on trying
Reverse Crunch 3x12 - I use 50lbs as counter-weight

Week 1 Day 2 (25/11/08):
HIIT on stationary bike for 5 reps

Week 1 Day 3 (26/11/08):
Squats 5x5 - 85lbs
Overhead Press - Use 30lbs dumbbell only coz not strong enough to do it using a 45lbs barbell
Deadlift 2x5 - 65lbs
Pull-up 3x5 - machine assisted using 61lbs counter weight. I am still not strong enough to do it without assistance.
Prone Bridges - 3x30secs

Week 1 Day 4 (27/11/08):
HIIT on stationary bike for 5 reps. Barely able to stand afterwards but recovered 2-3 hours after that.

Week 1 Day 5 (28/11/08):
Squats 5x5 - 90lbs
Bench Press 5x5 - 50lbs
Inverted Rows - 10/9/8
Push-ups - cannot do even one push ups.....but I will keep on trying
Reverse Crunch 3x12 - I use 45lbs as counter-weight

Week 1 Day 6 (29/11/08):
HIIT on stationary bike for 5 reps.

Post HIIT Nutrition

Nokia convert — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 16:52:02 +0800

Should i consume protein and carbs right after an intense HIIT workout? Can i treat post HIIT nutrition the same as post weight training?
My current goal is fat loss and building up muscles .

I did refer to Darklight's sticky for info. However, there is no mention of nutrition pre/post hiit or cardio nutrition.

Any advice from the sifus here?

[WTA] 500W psu on 9800GTX?

Nokia convert — Mon, 05 May 2008 15:24:47 +0800

Last confirmation before I buy a rig. I have a spare Acbel Ipower 500W psu with one 6 pin pcie molex. It has 11A, 21A, 12A on its tri +12V rail. I read from somewhere that a typical 9800gtx system requires about 28A on its +12V rail. Due to budget constraints, I intend to use back my old acbel psu. I really need advice from sifus here on whether my PSU can support my following rig:

CPU Intel C2D E8400
MOBO GIGABYTE EP35-DS3L
RAM 2 X Team Elite ddr2-800 1GB
PSU Use old one
GC 1 X Colorful 9800GTX 512MB DDR3
HDD 1 X Seagate 16MB 320 GB SATA
CASING GiGABYTE Poseidon

I am not so worried on the wattage of this psu. I am more concerned on whether my +12V rail can support the 9800gtx or not. Pls advice...

Thanks in advance!

Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by Nokia convert

Used toyota SEG or spanking new Myvi?

Nokia's workout journal

Post HIIT Nutrition

[WTA] 500W psu on 9800GTX?