Category: Weight Loss

  • 11 Things I Learned About How To Lose Weight

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    I just got back from the boonies, where I spent 2 days eating till I didn’t enjoy food anymore. So sick of stuffing my face that I just can’t wait to embark on the second health project of the year, which I will reveal very, very shortly. Meanwhile, let me share my personal insights on how to lose weight.

    1. Minimize Sodium, Sugar and Chemical Intake

    High sodium causes water retention. Chemicals from pesticides, food additives and preservatives are hormone disruptors. Sugars just send your pancreas working in overdrive to produce insulin. Try to eliminate them from your diet. Things like MSG, sodium nitrite, and maltitol are especially bad. Get rid of them. You can get all your sugar intake from moderate intake of fruit and good carbs. You don’t need those sweet drinks either.

    2. Cut Out Wheat Products and Junk Food

    There are several schools of thought on this, but it doesn’t matter why it’s bad, having wheat-based products is just something that has never helped me lose weight. As I told the story last year, all I did was eliminate it from my diet and I lost 6 kgs with minimal activity. It’s that powerful if you are gluten intolerant. If you’re eating wheat products and have had problems maintaining a healthy weight, cutting them out would be a good place to start.

    3. Watch Your Stress Levels

    Stress causes your cortisol levels to rise, which in turns makes your body think it is under attack. What the body does is try to conserve the fats you have, thinking that you’re going to need the fuel to deal with challenges to your body later. Not having enough sleep can also make cortisol levels rise, which keeps you fat. I can’t stress this enough. Get your rest! The times that I was the fattest were also the times when I have experienced the highest levels of stress at work. In the words of a friend, when there are things bothering you “let it slide off like you’re made of teflon.” It’s not worth… the fat.

    4. Don’t Skip Meals

    When you skip meals, you send your metabolism to the abyss to run on turtle-like speeds. Also, when you do actually eat, you are likely to overeat because you have starved yourself by skipping a meal. It’s bad and you need to eat when you need to eat. It’s not a measure of how great your willpower is when you skip a meal. You aren’t impressing anybody, just hurting your own body. Eat right, at the right times.

    5. Exercise is Crucial

    I know what it’s like to slip into an exercise-rut. It seems impossible to get up for a walk, but I’ll tell you this. Exercise is crucial for those with very low metabolic rates, because it is the natural way to keep your engines running warmly. If you naturally have a slow metabolism and you don’t move enough, your body can’t burn what you eat as effectively, and you guessed it… it gets stored as fat.

    6. Manage Your Time Wisely

    You absolutely have to learn how to manage your time well. I am not naturally great at this, and always find that I’m constantly rushing from one task to the next. The rush causes stress. Having to make a meeting and rushing through traffic is stressful, and that’s right, the anxiety releases cortisol in your system (which keeps you fat). Always work in enough time, don’t over-commit yourself, and learn to say no without remorse. After all, nobody is going to take responsibility for your health except you. Even if they do, you’re the one who has to live with the consequences of ill-management. I always find that if something is going to have a negative impact on your health, you owe yourself the kindness to say, “No I can’t.” Why torture yourself for people who aren’t paying for it with their health? It will be you, all you. Learn the art of timing, no matter how young or old you are.

    7. Don’t Gamble

    I’m not talking about casinos, although it can involve that too. I am sharing with you that lifestyle strategies that involve gambling with scenarios on a daily basis creates stress for you and other people. For example, when you have parked your car in a public carpark, you’re going to lock your car. Not locking it will cause you to think about how fast you can return to your car to lock it, before a thief gets in and steals the valuables in your car.

    So for all situations, if you can, do what you have to do to minimize surprises and things that cause anxiety and frustration. Organize and arrange things in a very matter-of-fact way. Don’t let your ego get in the way. It’s never a good time to boast about how smart, seasoned, or in-the-know you are. Sh*t does happen independent of your smarts, other people can be stupid (which is not a reflection on your capabilities) and if you can save yourself the unwanted cortisol (which keeps you fat), get the thing sorted out right away by planning well, and don’t take any unnecessary chances. Keyword: CORTISOL.

    8. Be Organized

    If you’re messy, you’re going to be more frustrated than your neater neighbor. Again. Keyword: CORTISOL. Don’t be sloppy and all over the place. Notice how sloppy people are usually the most stressed out. They are also usually lazier (hence the sloppiness), and coincidentally fatter too. Lifestyle strategy is a very important aspect to health maintenance. Get organized, minimize cortisol-producing frustration, and maybe your weight might drop off from lower cortisol levels.

    9. Do Not Have Meals With People Susceptible to Gluttony

    It is impossible to lose weight when you hang around people who eat big, rich meals. Their habits are contagious, and this is especially true of the people you spend a lot of time with, because you derive comfort in them. If they are going to tell you to eat to feel better, you’ll eat to feel better. They’re going to influence you badly, and the more controlling they are with what gets served on the table, the more likely you are going to end up eating and inheriting their sizes and health problems. Your body is yours to care for. Don’t get sucked in to other people’s doctrines, especially if they are not showing it through example. (I.e. they are unfit and overweight)

    10. Don’t Listen To Bad Advice

    Some people are going to tell you things that suit what they want to believe in, like how low-fat stuff is supposedly good for you, or excessive intake of fatty meats have no effect on your waistline or health. These people are in denial, or are simply trying to make themselves feel better about their excessive choices. Don’t listen to them. Anything in excess is going to be bad for you, even if it’s something as healthy as guava (causes gastric problems). The key is to not commit yourself to one type of food, and load up on only that, but have a diverse and balanced combination of good sources of protein, fiber, carbs and fats. Stop lying to yourself. Look at the results of what you’ve been doing. If you don’t have a thyroid problem and are still a tubby after all the hard work you’ve been doing, you’ve been doing it wrong.

    11. Don’t Be Afraid To Take Care of Your Health

    You’re nice. You can’t imagine standing up to authority even though it is causing you the biggest amount of stress. The truth is, you’ll probably survive even if you gave the middle finger to your boss (not suggesting you do that). You’ll also survive if you said, “No. I don’t think this is worth getting a stroke over.” My point is, face life bravely, don’t let someone rob your health from you by sheer intimidation. Nothing is worth getting a stroke over. Don’t be scared to take care of yourself.

    So there you have it. The 11 things I learned about how to lose weight. Next week I will be sharing a very important step in my journey toward the optimum healthy lifestyle for me. Stay tuned…

  • How Eilvane Got Active, Started Eating Right, and lost 33 kg

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    This month, I’d like to share the success story of Eilvane Chieng, an amazingly talented young woman from Sabah, Malaysia. When I bumped into her a few weeks ago, I had noticed that she lost weight from a year ago. Little did I know she was actually heavier from a time before I met her. I managed to get an interview with the beautiful Eilvane and am so grateful that she is sharing her story with us here. Do leave a few motivating notes on the comments section below and feel free to ask her questions!

    1. Tell us a little bit about what happened to you in the past year that has gotten people excited for you.
    In the past year, I’ve managed to lose 10 kgs, which brought my total weight loss to about 33 kgs


    2. What motivated you to lose weight initially?
    I’ve always been in the mentality that losing weight was impossible, probably because I never actually tried; but when I lost my first 5 kgs without noticing, reality stroke that it WAS possible, and so I decided I should finish what I (accidentally) started.

    3. What was your highest weight?
    101 kg


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    How much do you weigh now?
    68 kg

    5. What did you do to lose the weight?
    – I engaged in a lot of physical activity, as well as eat in controlled portions. I also became increasingly picky with what I ate, choosing only “clean” foods: not overly-processed, lower in salt, sugar and fat, and whole-grain carbs.


    6. What’s your goal weight?
    Ideally 62-65 kg, with a maximum of 20% body fat percentage.


    7. What is the most difficult thing to overcome personally?
    My love for food, really. Because eating junk food and loving it has been a habit for more than 20 years of my life, it was difficult not to suddenly have a craving for potato chips or sausage, or rich, creamy desserts. It doesn’t help that I love experimenting in the kitchen too! I eventually learned that it was okay to treat myself to a small portion of those every once in a while, remembering also that I’ll need to work it off later by being extra good with my daily choice of foods, as well as working out.

    8. What drives you to get healthy?
    It was the realisation that my parents were growing old that became one of the major pushing forces for me, because it made me understand that my health was not only a responsibility to myself, but also a responsibility to them, as well as other loved ones in my life; I need to keep myself healthy because they’d eventually need my care, or at least, even if they’ll stay healthy all the way till 90 and didn’t need me to care for them, at least I’d be one less thing they need to worry about if I stayed healthy.


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    9. Who do you look up to and why?
    I look up to anyone who takes their health and fitness seriously. It can be that chubby girl that’s on the treadmill in the gym 3 times a week, or it can be the other girl who’s seriously ripped, but still goes on lifting weights to get stronger. Effort, determination and a strong heart are things that are worth looking up to.

    10. Favorite quote and why.
    ” I may not be there yet, but I am closer than I was yesterday.” It’s something I have to tell myself everyday as an encouragement, because there will be times when I feel like I’m getting nowhere with my workouts (because it is normal to hit a weight loss plateau from time to time), but telling myself that will help me keep on doing what I do, and push through the plateau periods to reach further fitness goals.

    You can connect with her here:
    email: asonginherheart@gmail.com
    twitter: @eilvane
    instagram: @eilvane

  • Post Weight-Loss Experiment (I Was Right About Gluten)

    It’s August. A year exactly since I lost 12 kg and weighed 73 kg. The bad news is, since January 2013 I have gone back to a fairly normal way of eating, ingesting things that I was convinced was bad for me, but nevertheless wanted to prove myself wrong the second time around.

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    Boy was I right the first time around. So I don’t weigh the svelt 68 kg anymore, but the good news is, I still weigh the same as I did a year ago after having lost 12kg. The miraculous part is, I have been stuffing myself like Empress Dowager for the past 7 months and been working out way too little.

    It is a wonder I am not back to being the 85kg fatty. God has been full of grace and good to me.

    So how do I feel about that? BAD. Very bad. I don’t mean the guilt of putting back 4kgs on since November 2012 (although there is some of that), but physically, I felt really sick being back on a diet that includes refined carbs, gluten, and msg-laden Asian food. “Unwell” would be a better word to describe how I felt back on the common diet.

    I wish it weren’t true. I wish I could eat all the French pastries as long as it’s a little morsel and go back to being a foodie, and everything will be fine as long as I watched my portions. Bullpoop. The thing with refined carbs is that one bite is never enough, and you just want to eat more and more of it. I’m sure the devil was given rights to wheat.

    I think if I don’t have full-on Celiac disease, at the very least I have a very visible form of gluten intolerance. The kind that a croissant a day can causes 3kgs of weight gain in a week. The kind that makes me bloated, unable to offload my bio-cargo normally, produce enough gas to power a village, and feel downright nervous, moody, anxious and just sickly.
    youtiao
    A few days ago, I saw these long Chinese fried donuts Youtiao or Cha Kuay at a local stall, and I just had to have it. It’s crispy on the outside, and chewy on the inside, and it’s absolutely wonderful with a bit of coconut jam spread in between. What happened?

    5 minutes of pleasure, 4 days of suffering!

    My stomach bloated like an African child with beri-beri, and I had to do a detox on day 4 just to get it out of my system. You know what? Instant relief after I got it out.

    How could I have eaten so much of something that acts like a poison to my system? Why are such delicious things so bad for me?

    WHAT’S THE PLAN NOW?


    Well, it’s clear I can’t take wheat products without paying for it in the form of thunder thighs, pot bellies, and mood swings. So I will go back to what made me feel really good.

    A clean diet that is abundant in fresh fruits and vegetables (70% raw), with organic sources of protein. Sans-wheat and gluten-free. I’ll also step up with the exercise as I don’t feel good physically when I feel weak.

    There is a renewed private goal. This time around, I know what works and doesn’t work, and I’ll share that with you as I go through my journey.

    Wisdom: Believe in good things, be gentle with yourself when you mess up, get back on track, and do your best to live the life that makes you happiest. 🙂

  • Real People, Real Voices: Q&A with Keith Dumpangol

    Ladies and gentleman, I want you to meet my friend Keith Dumpangol from Keningau, Sabah, Malaysia. He’s the male recipient contestant of the Breeze Magazine CORE’s Get Fit Challenge 3, where he was voted to be put on a fitness program for 3 months to get healthy at Core Fitness. I managed to steal some of his time to ask a few questions about what he hopes to achieve on the programme. So let’s all cheer him on!

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    1) How do you feel about being selected for the Core Fit Challenge?
    A: I feel excited! I think I’m in a ‘moment’ now where I’m mentally and physically ready for this challenge.

    2) What was your highest weight?
    A: I was at my highest at 164kg! That was almost 4 years ago. Worst. Feeling. Ever.

    3) How much do you weigh now?
    A: As of yesterday I’m at 132.6kg

    4) What did you do to lose weight before?
    A: I signed up for a gym membership and just started eating healthy. My first trip to the gym lasted me 10 minutes. Literally. 1 minute walking from my car to the gym, 5 minutes walking on the threadmill ( before I thought I’d pass out), 3 minutes of rest and 1 minute walking back to my car..LOL. And at the same time I started eating my Mickey Mouse diet.. you know, where you picture Mickey’s face on a plate. Fill his face with veggies and fill his two round ears with equal amount of carbs and protein. That’s how I started.

    5) What do you hope to achieve with Core Fit Challenge?
    A: For this particular challenge, since it’s only for 3 months, I’m planning to push myself (without going overboard lah) to lose as much weight as I can. I’ve basically set a goal of how much I want to lose so I’m going to work on that. If I reach my target, great and if I don’t, it’s still progress At the same time I hope to inspire other people who are dealing with their own weight problem to take that first step and take control!

    6) What’s your goal weight?
    A: I have never set a golden number on that to be honest. In the future, I might but for now I just want to go through this journey with a sense of achieving something.

    7) What is the most difficult thing to overcome personally?
    A: I guess consistency is pretty much on top of the list. A friend said to me fitness is not just a goal, it’s a lifestyle. Needless to say, I’m still working on that.

    8. What drives you to get healthy?
    A: Besides looking and feeling good? Well unfortunately I have family who passed at a relatively young age. And I myself am a diabetic. So I’m trying my best to break that chain. That’s what motivates me not to just lose weight but to BE HEALTHY

    9) Who do you look up to and why?
    A: Too many to mention!!LOL. In terms of weight loss though, I’ve been following this guy Jon Calvo. He lost over 180 pounds on his own based on his own method and sheer determination.
    10.

    10) Favorite quote and why.
    A: One of my favorites is simply “You cannot change what you refuse to confront” because it ain’t be any truer. If you don’t like it, change it!

    About CORE’s Get Fit Challenge


    Borneo’s premiere lifestyle magazine, Breeze together with Core Fitness have started the 3rd year of the CORE’s Get Fit Challenge during a launching ceremony at Core Fitness, City Mall. The challenge is an event that pits a chosen male and female to go through a complimentary 3 month intensive workout course at Core Fitness to get in shape with top-notch coaching and to gain a healthier, more active lifestyle.
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    Beginning in June, starts the vigorous sessions to help two worthy contestants reach their goals. The number of entries were small but all the finalists were excellent candidates. After an intense voting process, followed by an interview session by a panel of 3 judges, Keith Dumpangol and Noor Amy Binti Ajak emerged as the chosen single male and female that will go through the challenge. Keith and Amy will be monitored by their assigned Core Fitness personal trainers and Breeze on a monthly basis to keep track of their progress and continue to give them support to carry on through the challenge. Updates of Keith and Amy’s progress will be available to the public via copies of the latest Breeze magazine and also at Breeze magazine’s facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/BreezeMagazine.

  • Getting Measured for Bust Size (Mabuhay from Manila!)

    I’m in Manila. It’s not important why I’m in Manila, but it has been awesome for the past 13 hours. The city that I once passed by on my way to Honolulu has changed a lot since. 🙂

    For one, we went midnight shopping at Resorts World last night, and I stumbled upon a La Senza, a Spanish lingerie shop.
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    Since losing all that weight, I haven’t actually changed my brassieres and panties. For one, there was no real need to because I had bought a whole bunch earlier last year and they’re all in amazing condition. For seconds, I just don’t do “Ah Lian” lingerie, which is the only type they sell in Kota Kinabalu unless you go super-luxury.

    The bras at La Senza in the Philippines are on sale at 495 Pesos each (Approximately RM36), and I couldn’t resist myself. I was looking for my old size, then reeled back, realizing I’m now a different size. I told the sales girl that I’m not sure what I should wear anymore, because things have changed.

    “Do you want me to measure you?,” she asked.

    I agreed, and she pulls out a measuring tape. She looped the tape around my chest area below the bust-line and it read 33. She then, looped it over my bumps and it read 37 with my bra on.

    “You need a 36B,” she said.

    “Really? Okay, I’ll go try it on for size.”

    Fits PERFECTLY.

    So I am now a 36B and wear small sized undies. I guess that means I have lovely lady lumps and literally, a small ass.

    Old Habits Die Hard

    The weirdest part about the the window-shopping process is that I naturally always go look for L sizes. But after holding it up against by body in the mirror, they just look like clothes for pregnant women on me. It’s been weird to see that even some M sizes are too big on my new frame.

    How does it feel?

    FANTASTIC.

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    Because I used to stress out about not being able to find my size, because actually, (here’s some insight for you) there are just as many women who wear L and XL sizes as they are Ms.

    More significantly, it feels great because now all of a sudden, I have more choices of clothes to wear. I can now look at something and say, “Oh that looks soooo cute. I wanna try that on.”

    And when I do try them on, it actually looks good.
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    It is not all bent out of shape to follow a figure that desperately fights hard to no be out of shape. When I was 85kgs, I was round, but I had shape. But the clothes desperately tried to make me look as good as possible, and sometimes it would fail.

    Now, the clothes brings out and shows my figure.

    In the past, the clothes hid my imperfections. Now clothes celebrate my assets.

    So are you going to work in a 30 minute workout today? Because that can make all the difference! 😉

  • Hi-Protein Strawberry-Banana-Orange Smoothie

    Some people wonder how in spite of having gone back to eating foods for earthlings, I am able to maintain my weight. You should know that for every plate of food I eat, I am eating half or less of the portion. (I’ll share more tips in time to come). Most importantly, two of my 3 meals a day consists of extremely healthy choices like this smoothie.

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    Hi-Protein Strawberry-Banana-Orange Smoothie Recipe

    2 SERVINGS


    • 5 frozen strawberries

    • 1 frozen medium banana

    • 1 cup fresh orange juice

    • 1 tbsp whey protein powder

    • 2 ice cubes

    • Some ice water (to control viscosity)

    INSTRUCTIONS

    Make orange juice separately in a juicer. Then add all ingredients in a blender (below), blend on medium to high speed.
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    P/S: Add water to control desired thickness and sweetness.

    VOILA! Drink it with a straw immediately.

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    This smoothie has potassium from bananas, vitamin C from the oranges and strawberries, and flavonoids that have anti-cancer properties.

    This is perfect as a light meal replacement, but you can’t only drink this 3 times a day for a whole month and expect to be a superfit superhero. It doesn’t work like that.

    Keeping a healthy diet is all about feeding a variety of different foods to your body, at the right time, in the right combination, over a period of time!

  • 3 Tips on How To Avoid Eating Foods That Are Bad for You

    One of the most common factors that people tell me about why they fail in their weight loss campaign is that they find themselves in situations where they’re busy, hungry, and need food immediately. So they end up reaching for what’s convenient.

    The key to your success is to be prepared. Here are 3 tips on how you can avoid eating foods that don’t help you reach your goals.

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    1. Identify Shops That Sell Healthier Food Options

    The single most important factor to your weight loss success is knowing what to do when the hunger pang hits while you’re out. Choose shops that serve healthy foods in areas you frequently visit.

    For example, (if you live in Kota Kinabalu) let’s say you’re at Citymall and your stomach starts to growl.

    Instead of going for kuih and fried gluten sticks at the famous Malaysian chains, Natural Green House has some healthy lunch and dinner options.

    Kudos is a great restaurant (albeit a little pricy to go daily), because they use all fresh and natural ingredients in their food, and there’s no nasty MSG in anything they serve.

    There’s also a little convenience store on the ground floor that sells fresh cut fruits. Giant hypermarket also carries all kinds of fruits and handy nuts.

    If you’re at Damai, instead of going for the bread shops and noodles, consider eating fruit or organic snacks that are healthier.

    There’s a cut fruit store a few doors down from Tong Hing, salads at Coffee Bean, and two organic food stores. Know where your “healthy” options are, so you won’t cancel out all the effort you put into your Zumba class.

    2. Make & Bring Your Own Snacks

    Prepare your own snacks and meals if possible. Here are just some of the snacks I take with me.

    Mixed nuts
    Savory kinds are more tasty, and sweet types have dried fruit in them. Almonds are high in magnesium and phosphorus, and walnuts are high in omega 3s, with makes for a really nutritious and delicious snack.
    toastednuts3 I started making these for traveling. These are great to keep in a ziplock bag and in your handbag to take with you when you’re on the go.

    Oat Energy Bars
    I used to buy commercial energy bars, but never found a bar that suited my requirements and tastebuds. Commercial bars use trans-fat, preservatives, sugar, or sweeteners like maltose, and high fructose corn syrup which is a no-no to me.

    Energy bars are also expensive in Asia as they are usually imported from the U.S. and Australia and marked up so the importer and vendor makes something.
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    So to cut the long story short, I bake my own low GI oat bars using all-natural ingredients like pure butter and raw honey.

    The entire family eats them, my dad takes them on the road and travels with them.

    It’s so popular I’ve even serendipitously started a little bakery that sells them to customers who are health conscious or diabetic. (P/S: If you live in KK and want to order, you can email me at jackiemiao.my[at]gmaildotcom. They start from RM55 per tray).

    Fruits
    Choose easy to bring fruits like apples, oranges, bananas and the like. Otherwise, you could always just cut up any fruits you like and put them in containers to take it with you.
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    3. Don’t Be Afraid to Make Special Requests

    You have a life, and sometimes you have to eat lunch and dinner with your friends — they want normal food and that’s okay. If you find yourself in that situation, remember you can always make special requests for your food to be served the way you like it.
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    For example, when I’m at the wildly popular Bomber’s Burger, I tell the good chef to just serve me the beef patty with a side serving of salad. So my burger doesn’t come with the bun or fries.

    Or when I’m at a coffee shop that serves noodle soup, I stay away from wheat-based products as much as possible and tell them to go easy with the meehoon or kuay teow portion.

    I also tell them not to put MSG in my soup, and don’t make it too salty.

    This may seem demanding, but it’s my body and I’ve decided I’m not going to bomb my organs with chemicals and salt and then act all surprised when cancer shows up.

    I’d rather take the healthy route, and I hope that for your sake you think the same! 🙂

  • It’s Not Only About the Weight But Body Fat Percentage

    As you might have noticed, I updated the design of the blog to include more categories as I’m a big believer of the mind-body-soul connection in the maintenance of health and wellness. My weight loss might have put into motion the starting of the site, but I’m not really only about losing weight, but living consciously and being healthy all the days of my life.

    On to other things. I have one of those high tech weighing machines called Tanita. In addition to telling you how heavy you are, it measures things like bone weight, water weight, visceral fat, and body fat percentage.

    When I started my health and fitness campaign, my body fat percentage was at a whopping 36%.

    I was pretty disgusted with the readings, since I didn’t believe that I was made up of 36% lard (like chicken fats) and 64% everything else. But that’s what the machine read for almost 2 years, no matter how hard I exercised.

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    Body Composition

    So today I want to talk about why it’s more important for me to change my body composition instead of focusing on getting lighter only. When I lost 16kgs, I shed a mix of fats, muscles, and water weight which all contributed to the shrinkage.

    But over the last 2 months, I only managed to maintain and lose a total of 1 kg. Why is that? For one, I believe it’s because I’ve added strength training to my routine, and though I am shrinking in size I’m not really losing that much weight because I am building muscle.

    Body Fat Percentage

    Today my B.F.P. is at 30%. The ideal B.F.P. for a normal woman is said to be about 25%, and of course if you’re a fitness freak, that number is more likely at the 20% mark.

    Anyhow, I just want to bring it down to 25% for now, which I’ve been told is a pretty hard thing to do by fitness pros. It’s supposed to be harder than losing just the weight, because you have to build the muscle to replace the space that the fat took.

    I’m going to try anyway!

    I took a journal shot today (see above), just to see how I look in a gown. Been doing push-ups and sit ups as part of my X45/Crossfit workouts and I think I’m toning up slowly. I had very little sleep the night before and didn’t bother with makeup, hence I look a little tired so excuse the lack of grooming.

    There are a few things I want to share with you.

    Rewarded Myself With New Gear

    Firstly, I bought these fabuloso new 1080 V2 NB runners and have been taking them out when the terrain isn’t wet like a swamp.

    I’ve been wearing these ASICS for 2.5 years that I got from Melbourne and it’s time for an upgrade. I tend to use those on softer ground because the soles are not absorbent as they used to be. So if you want to save your knees, you gotta be smart about the life of your shoes too and I have a tip for you… get proper running shoes!

    Don’t just go for Nike or Reeboks coz’ you think they look cool. Really go and get fitted for your foot arch, strike, width and pronation. It’s pretty important if you’re doing a lot of running that you get the right shoes so you’re not hurting yourself and causing permanent damage to your joints, because every one’s foot and pronation are different just like clothes are.

    I wore and threw out about 5 pairs of Nikes before getting fitted to Saucony for four years, then switched to New Balance and Asics several years back because they were just a much better fit for me. Ain’t about the brand but the fit!

    Inspiring People Doing Amazing Things

    Secondly, Nadzifah, a lawyer from Kota Kinabalu shares her weight loss story and won herself a 1-year gym membership from Core Fitness. This lady sounds like she went through a lot of pain with her weight, and her triumph at losing over 40 kg is just so inspiring. I wish her the best in her future!

    Read her story here!

    A Bit of Looking Back

    Thirdly, I looked at some of my pictures earlier this year and it still amazes me how much I’ve done in such a short period of time. Take a look at what I looked like in Jan and last Saturday night!

    I really have to get used to accepting the new-looking me, because to be honest, I’m still trying to adjust and get a little shocked when I see myself because I’ve been in the big state for a very long time, and only a few short months looking the way I do now.

    So freaky!

    (In a good way of course.)

  • The Importance of Strength Training For Weight Loss

    I have to admit. I hate, hate, hate hated, hated, hated doing weights. I believe women were created to be graceful beings, and carrying heavy things just makes my face twists like godzilla in pain.

    Which is why I did little or no strength training to lose my famous 15kgs of lardy baggage. But when you go from an inflated 84kgs to 69kgs, your body shrinks in size but the envelope doesn’t shrink at the same rate. The result is soft, saggy and untoned excess skin.

    The bigger you are and more rapid your weight loss, the more saggy your skin.

    So after consulting my friend Sam who owns a gym and is an ACE certified personal trainer, he told me the only way I was going to achieve my goal of having a tight little sexy body is to do strength training. No exceptions.

    Ahh, really?! Do I really have to? Ughhh.. fine!

    Because I want that tight little sexy body, I began to do some strength training (hated every minute of the first week of it).

    So after about two weeks of working in some weights, pushups, ring rows, etcetera, I started to see the flappy tightening.

    And the truth is, I’m beginning to love that I’m getting physically stronger too (in a graceful way of course), so naturally am enjoying the training now.

    I wanted to show you what I look like today after 2 weeks of strength training (see above). Whaddya think? Tight little sexy body coming soon?

    Oh, and if you live in Kota Kinabalu and are interested in learning the proper techniques or start a personal training program (you see faster results), you should definitely give Core Fitness a try. They have a 7-day trial, which gives you a pretty good idea on what you’re getting yourself into.

    Here’s an article on how to lose weight without getting saggy skin. Don’t lose weight too fast (I was pushing it a little, which is why I’m slowing it down), or your skin will not be able to get back to its tight form.

    So that’s it for my second tip of the day!

    Have a GREAT WEEKEND folks!