David Chiu

Start weight: 182lbs 20% bodyfat
Current weight: 174lbs 17% bodyfat
Ultimate weight: 180lbs 10% bodyfat

Days left in this challenge: 11

This week I haven’t been able to get to the gym for my weight-lifting routine, but I continue to eat clean with little to no cravings whatsoever – although there was one night I was smelling french fries, or fried chicken when I was out and about. The hardest thing is nutrition and eating 5-6 meals a day. For a while we were cooking meals and I would bring leftovers for lunch, but then Heather and I got really busy so I’ve started eating veggie omelets from Good Stuff or going to Whole Foods and getting Huevos Rancheros. For lunch I’ve been walking over to Ralph’s for their salad bar. I also have stocked up my desk with raw almonds and MetRx carb-conscious protein shakes. This way I always have a healthy option to snack on between meals. I can already start to see the beginnings of a ripped midsection but I still have a good 10lbs of bodyfat to lose before I’m totally ripped. So I’m going to try to push extra hard in yoga “fusion” class, drink extra water and supplement with green tea extract and 1 cup of coffee before class to try to accelerate more fat loss.

My Nutrition RPM Plan:

Obstacles:
The problem is that I love to eat and I love all kinds of food – plus I get so busy that it is sometimes hard to eat right.

Good news! I’ve already received two opportunities for full-time employment AND I have a commercial audition for Kodak today. The downside: I’m sick and look like hell. So I’ve taken some DayQuil and am about to attempt to look presentable for my audition at 1.20 this afternoon. I’m suppose to be an extreme sports guy who likes hiking and spelunking. We’ll see what happens but I’m glad I’m at least auditioning again.

BTW, last night H and I watched “Hitch”. It could’ve been a good movie if it was done differently. But I also noticed there were some small roles played by two asian guys that could’ve been me. I didn’t even get the opportunity to audition for the movie. ARGH!

On another note, I finished another edit pass of the short film I’m in “Super Nova”. It’s looking pretty good! Now I just have to show it to my producer friend and hopefully we can really get moving to finish this project. I then have “ANTHEM” to start editing…

well, at least I’m busy…

I haven’t posted in a few days so here’s an update of what’s been going on:

Last weekend H and I participated in the Revlon 5K Walk for Women in memory of H’s grandma and support of H’s step mom. We have never done anything like this before but we had a lot of fun supporting a good cause. Next year I might even run the 5k instead of just walk.

A couple hours after the 5k walk I gathered up all my guerilla DV filmmaking equipment and headed over to my friends apartment to shoot the short film “Do Something” written and directed by Roy Eisenstein. Within a couple of hours we wrapped shooting and now we’re going to edit it. Now I just have to figure out how to work Adobe Premiere…

A few days ago I shot new theatrical and commercial headshots with Karman Kruschke. I’ve been thinking of getting new headshots for a while now but was nudged a little by my commercial agent who sent out an email basically saying that if you don’t have color photos, then there is a strong posibility that you may get dropped by the agency. So I shot new photos which I pick up tomorrow and I’m really excited to see how they turned out!

I also stopped at my theatrical agency to drop-off more pictures although I’m told it has been really slow. I really need a jumpstart in my acting career so I went to Samuel French to pickup the newest directory of Personal Managers. I’ll start submissions soon.

I left at 5am this moning to make sure I made it on time to be on set. Luckily traffic was light and I didn’t get lost on my way to the Ontario Airport. I was actually 30min early and was thinking that I would be the first actor on set. I was wrong. When I pulled into the parking lot designated for the crew, I saw a bunch of people standing outside. They were the “extras” for the day who would make up the “busy” airport. I went and stood in line asking to make sure everyone was working on the commercial. They were and everyone was waiting for the shuttle to take us over to the main location where we would be shooting.

When I arrived on location I checked in with one of the production people who showed me to my trailer. It was nothing fancy, just a big truck with a bunch of divided rooms for the principal actors. After getting situated I was told to visit wardrobe so they would know that I’m on set as well. When I walked over to the wardrobe truck and checked in they told me that they actually wanted to change my wardrobe to something more hip and stylish pther than just a suit and tie. So after a few change of clothes they decided on a new outfit that needed to be approved by the director and client. In the meantime I went back to my trailer to sign some paperwork and just wait. Eventually all the principal actors – including me, were dressed and sent to be on set. The rest of the day was spent walking back and forth the airport, stopping to watch a guy on his computer, then leaving. This was shot in several different angles with several different setups. By 4.30 we wrapped up and were sent home. It was funny because a few people ending up buying the wardrobe they were wearing for the day. We all were wearing very nice clothes. I would’ve bought my entire outfit if I had the cash (it was still expensive even with the discount).

All in all it was a great time and hope to do another national commercial soon!!!

BTW This commercial should be running in the beginning of April during the Golf Master’s Series – or so the rumor says…

I’ve been super busy with a whole lot of things lately. Last week I did a photo shoot for a Met Life ad aimed at the asian market. The shoot was fun since it was held in a good chinese restaraunt in San Gabriel valley. We all had dim sum for breakfast! I continue to play around with my new camera and read up on independent filmmaking. I finally found out what a Kino Flo is and how lighting a scene for film can make the difference between amateur and professional. Yesterday I went out on an audition for a hosting spot on a show for the i-channel. Callbacks were the same day so I guess I didn’t get it. Pilot season is here and my agent is asking for pictures. And I find myself struggling not to be dis-illusioned with my acting “career”.

This week is turning out to be a very busy week for acting. Tonight I had an audition for a play where I was told to prepare for three different roles. I’ve been studying the roles since Sunday and each role is very different than the other. Anyway, the audition went well and I’ll have to see what happens.

This weekend, I’m also working on the independent film, “Mah Jong”. I’m in a bunch of scenes to be shot on both Saturday and Sunday so I’ll have to start preparing tomorrow.

I’m also still trying to finish shooting scenes for my own short film, “The Krispy Kreme Conspiracy”.

…That reminds me. I need to pickup a box of KK’s tomorrow so I can finish shooting the scenes.

There’s also talk of the next Joanne Baron Master Class being scheduled in February. I’m still trying to decide if I would even have the time to devote to it.

Now if I could just quit my day job…

A couple of hours ago I witnessed a horrific accident on my way back from the gym. I was driving down Western and was about to cross 7th street when I noticed a large object in my lane past the intersection. At first I thought it was a large bag of trash and I switched lanes to avoid it. As I passed the object I looked out my window and was shocked to see that it was a man laying in the fetal position IN THE ROAD. I yelled out “OH SHIT!” and immediately started to pull over and call 911 when I heard a loud crash. The worst thought came to mind and I looked to my right horrified to see this black sports car slowing to a stop dragging the man underneath. I SCREAMED, “OH SHIT!” frantically dialing 911 only to get a message saying all lines were busy and to hold. At the same time the security guards of this night club we happened to be in front of came over and started screaming at each other to block traffic and call the police. The driver and passenger of the car that hit the homeless man got out of their car and started talking to the security guard telling him it was an accident and he didn’t realize there was a man laying in the road. Traffic started to back up and another security guard started yelling at the cars to move out of the way. At that moment an unmarked police car came driving by with their lights flashing. The first security guard started waving down the police but the the unmarked police car didn’t stop and kept driving. At this point I had a guard yelling at me telling me to GO! So I drove home, shocked and horrified at what I had just witnessed.

I feel like I could have done more. If only I had known that there was a man laying in the road I could have blocked traffic. The man looked homeless and he also looked hurt. When I passed him and looked at him he had his eyes closed and he wasn’t moving. All I could do was say a few prayers on the way home.

When I arrived at the house I immediately told Heather what happened. I was in shock. We decided the best thing to do was to call the police and try to file a report. When I called the police non-emergency line, the lady took my name and number and told me there were already four units at the scene and she would contact the officers there and tell them what I told her.

This is the worst thing I have ever seen. This is worst than the motorcycle accident my friend had in college and I also happened to witness the entire thing. He was hurt so bad they had to airlift him to a hospital. But he’s OK now.

This definitely makes me think that we need to reach out to the homeless to try to help them out. This was just horrible.

It’s been a couple days since I’ve made an entry in this blog. Like usual I’ve been busy.

It was wierd not having to get up and go to acting class on Sat. I found myself looking at the clock periodically for half the day saying, “I’d still be in class right now”. I miss everyone already. So instead of class on Sat, Heather and I went to Home Depot to pickup more paint samples for the house exterior and also pickup a new water dispensor for our bottled water. As we left we passed by a hot dog stand and the smell was to good to resist so Heather and I shared a jumbo hotdog w/ saurkraut, mustard, and ketchup. For some reason this made me think of a country fair so I told Heather that we should go to the country fair in Indiana sometime. Turns out, the fair just started but it would be too expensive to fly last minute so we’ll wait to visit the country fair next year.

I also started training again with the trainer over the weekend. He totally killed my chest and arms. He pushed me through set after set using moderate weights and different exercises with very little rest in-between. At one point I thought I might hurl. Now that’s an intense workout, although the trainer said that I still need to kick it up another notch and handle more weight.

I recently put together a list of things I feel are the next steps to my development as an actor and my career. On the top of my list is conquering my hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) problem I sometimes have related to anxiety. Next, is the audition technique class (taught at the Joanne Baron/DW Brown studio) which I have already signed up for. Then I also need to practice emotional preparations which is very important since this will help set me apart from most of the competition. As for my “career” I’m going to start submitting myself to projects in Backstage West, Ross Reports, and start networking more. Then I need to start trying to MAKE MY OWN MOVIE!

So I picked up our ‘93 Ford Taurus from the shop yesterday after dropping a couple hundred dollars to fix a oil leak from a busted gasket on the engine. Then on the way home I noticed that the car seemed to be a lot louder thatn usual and also the car was shaking while on idle. THEN I noticed the “Check Engine” light come on.

DAMN.

So this morning I called AAA and had my car towed back to the auto shop. The guy at the shop said they would fix it for free (which is good) but it’s just a pain in the ass to have to deal with this. I had to cancel rehearsal this morning and now I have to figure out how to get to class tonight if my car isn’t fixed. I’m suppose to rehearse before class with my other partner as well, but I’m not sure that’s gonna happen. On top of all that I have been super busy at my day job and I have an audition for an independent film tomorrow. I’m also suppose to meet my trainer tonight at 12am.

Crazy huh?