Last Follow-up (1/12/2011)

Hi,

Now m already back in my hometown in Kuching...The transition with this healthy lifestyle is a bit hard but again maybe time is what i need..

I can't believe that my journey with Kristy  already ending... i still got lots to learn but again it was meant to be this way...4 yrs in Auckland i only know her my last year,..It's been a very wonderful experience... Overall, i lose 10% of body fat with her since 30/6 to 1/12/2011..about 5 months... I will be internally grateful for the knowledge and experience that she shared with me.. i still deeply interested in this field but again i can't figure it out yet what to be... but i vow that one day i will give back.. i think the only problem that fat ppl have is dat most of the time they are lack of knowledge of what to do... i hope that i will stay strong enough in msia with 1001 food temptation and also laziness due to comfort of home...finger cross...

Forth Follow-up (17/11/2011)

It is my second last follow-up...How time flies so fast...it's only two weeks left before i go back for good... I lose 2 more kg which is quite surprising with my hectic examination schedule this month..but again, juggling is something that i am quite good with but most of the time I just too lazy to do so... and also due to exams i love to  go to the gym daily so that i can sleep easily at night... i got insomnia sometimes when i am not that prepared with my exams... when i exercise, i calm down, tired and sleep well..This is a technique that i used for quite a long time,.. running is not really my thing but i run a day before exam since my first year in university to help me sleep...

My this journey is nearly coming to the end... but like studying, healthy lifestyle will never come to an end... going back to Malaysia is quite tough an scary as it is called  the food paradise.. I hope i will never gain back what i lose... this so-called hard work is too much to bear to be repeated once again.. i hope i will always remember that fact...

Sometimes, when the scale keep on going down, u keep on obsessing with losing weight and keep on going too far... or sometimes when the scales don't seem moving,  we stop..but after going through all this, i think the key is patience... being realistic, there are times we are tired, there are times our body can't take it any more and don't seem wanting to change... but all along the way, we need to always remind ourselves of why are we doing all this... what is healthy lifestyle??... is something damaging to ourselves like 4 hours of training per day or super low calories food, are they considered  healthy?... but again as human being, it is our nature to rush everything, lack of patience and with this modern life, we want everything to be fast fast and fast... but again we should aim for something that we can manage for the rest of our lives rather than the fast fast fast thing usually quite temporary fix...in term of medical perspective, it is good to lose excess weight but again as we all know, weight lose is merely more energy out than energy in....so more physical activities and less eating... but again  if it mean doing something unhealthy, isn't that contradict the purpose of wanting to be healthier...

Slim Down Smarter

Hi

The key to successful and  sustainable weight loss is moderation... but there are certain people like me who are not really good with moderation.. I like to do things in extreme so that I need only to do them once... There are week I will go for really super healthy food for every single day without miss, which actually a bit non realistic to maintain in a long run or there are week where I would exercise every single day and would do sometimes two hours  a day, a few times a week or there are week I will combine both extreme... but after a while, all this extreme is impossible to sustain in a long run except you quit studying or working and stop living, then maybe this will be realistic..  Below I  list down  a few ways in my opinion, to slim down smarter..

1. Don't Ever Ban any Food
I don't even like to eat meat, fries and pizza although I eat them occasionally because they are some of food that my family and friend like to eat... but when I started to say to myself never to touch all that, I started to build a weird craving for the food that I don't even enjoy...Even carbonated drink, I rarely drink carbonated drink as it making me gassy but there is one time I got a very intense craving for Coca Cola..I don't know how but I think it is human nature that we love to do things which are prohibited and don't like to do things when they are legal.. Like in Lady Gaga song Judas which somewhat saying that we all know that religion is good for us but we are more attracted to Judas the bad side..so the key is that eat what you want but in moderation...small smaller and smaller portion when it is super duper unhealthy... but If you have a super crazy craving like Carbonara which can be up 2000-3000 calories make sure you really work hard that week before you eat them.. Try this you will have less weird craving!!!!!!!

2. Love Exercise
The reality is that you can't lose weight only just by watching your diet... You will be jiggly and lose lots of muscle which contradict the purpose of being healthy... Exercise is a very fun things to do for me... I been engaging in active physical activities since a very young age... but again excessive eating of unhealthy food and sedentary lifestyle due to modernisation and living in the middle of city factors exceed my physical activities which making me fatter rather than slimmer...  Exercising sound and look scary but there are a wide range of activities you can do from in the gym like treadmill to weight lifting or group fitness where you can make friend... I like Body Pump it is a very energetic and pushing the limit class... or you can engage in sport.. I love playing basketball and futsal... then last year I took squash lesson and  love them.. or you can do things like walking in the beach, swimming, dancing Zumba is fun... They key is that choose something that you like.. people say treadmill can make you lose weight easily... I got a treadmill in my room since forever but as it is not something I love to do, nothing much it did to my weight.. When you do things that you enjoy, you don't feel like doing anything...

3. Being Able to Differentiate Muscle Soreness and Injury
One thing that always stop people from exercising is that soreness and pain which always making people think that they are injured.. but the reality is that muscle soreness is a part of process for the muscle to be stronger... when you exercise especially a new routine, you will sometimes feel sore which is actually Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness(DOMS)..it is just a way of muscle adapting to the new changes... when we exercise like lifting weight, there will be some tearing of our muscle fibre which need lots of energy to fixed the tear... we feel sore but at the same times this use lots of energy to fixed the tear making we loss more weight... some loss some gain..but the key is to understand your body... You are injured when you are unable to do basic living process like walking... If you just feel sore and tired, have  a rest and it will be fine after a few hours or days...  Like I said before, weight loss is not easy... It is lots of sacrifice, discipline and dedication..

4. Don't be Stingy, be Financially Smart
One thing I realise about weight loss is that be generous with money.. There are things like cooking which takes up so much time and effort, if you are in a rush just grab something healthy to eat like Subway or sushi...the problem is the if you wait and go back and cook, by the time you eat, you will be super hungry and will end up eating way too much... so better to spend some money rather than saving and gain more pound...  Instaed of buying ordinary oat that you need to cook, but the quick sachet oat which will be done 2 min in the microwave... the reality is that as a student regardless how organised you are, there are times things can be pretty chaotic and out of control... Easier things always costing more but again sometimes we need to be realistic above all... In Wall Street movie, there is a very good quotation "...money is not the prime asset in life, time is...."...but if money is your concern, then, be disciplined and always plan your meal way ahead....

5. Avoid Negative Thought

I think one of the hardest things about weight lose is that fear that keep on haunting you... before you start the weight loss process, the fear will be will I be able to ever lose weight??.. but as you started to lose weight the new fear will emerge thoughts like will I be able to sustain all things??... You need to avoid all this evil demon thought... They can be damaging... but again sometimes you cant help... like me I been overweight my entire life... in 2 months, I was lighter than I was in this past 10 years, it is a lie if I said I am not scared that all this just temporary and I will never be able to sustain this in a long run... the key is that acknowledge your fear, talk to someone, write in diary and then you will  feel better... but again it is good to have fear at least you always be reminded that you have something to lose... just don't make them take over your life..

6. Have Support System

When I start this weight lose program, in a way I am changing my lifestyle... It is hard to make some people to understand you... your family or friend will feel you eat western society food way too much, nothing Asian about eating vege and protein dinner or they feel you starting to lose yourself or excessive exercise is way more damaging than good or people feel you no longer fun when you no longer hanging out in Starbuck or eating fatty greasy fast food... Contrary to Biggest Loser, it is way harder to have support system in real life... but you need support system... so stay away from negative people and always talk to supportive people... 

7. Stop Stressing Out About The Number On The Scale

Exercise will make you build muscle which is heavy so the number on the scale can be disappointing... the better indicator is that your clothes... you can see that you are actually shrinking...

8. Sleep

A good sleep also vital in weight loss process... sleep repair the muscle and rest the body..

9. Patience is a Virtue

Weight Loss is not a one day thing.. You can't expect to run 5km and lose 5kg tomorrow... you need to have faith in things you do...weight lose is somehow mystery... sometimes the result is quick sometimes it is slow.. so just do what you do and have faith in your effort... work more than others but expect less than others..

10. Day Off

Always have day off from exercising or healthy food... We need to be able to indulge in food or lazying in bed  one day in week without feeling guilty.... then when you are in this stage not feeling guilty for being naughty here and there, well done you already achieve high level of understanding of weight loss...

Last but not least, there is no use in doing things that you don't enjoy... Work hard but have rest here and there...Reward yourself all the time... Don't be too hard on yourself... Push when you can, stop when it is way too much...Understand your body...Rest when you severely sore... Good luck all the best :D

Third Follow-up (14/10/2011)

Had my third follow-up last Friday..for safety and also to avoid frustration, a few days before the weigh in, i already warn Kristy not to be hopeful and i just can pray i don't gain weight...but it turn out i did lose 1.2 kg... with not much attention paid to my diet and also super decrease in exercising it is still amazing that i did lose weigh... lose some muscle which is a bit frustrating... i did realise some jiggly jiggly in my arm...basically once you exercise and do weight training u cant stop...it is so easy to lose muscle...

it been 3++ months m doing this healthy lifetsyle... it been a roller coaster... one moment m super excited and disciplined...one moment i feel m ungrateful so far in my life never work really hard...and when trying to lose weight which require lotss of sacrifice from me, i realise how ungrateful i was... never being appreciative of things that i have in my life, never make full use of God gifted talent, making me becoming hard working and grateful with my life for a while... one moment i was a bit anorexic...i hav a compulsion to do excessive exercise when i eat or i eat really really little... then, one moment i feel people don't understand  and supportive of me... ... life is too short to not to eat so much delicious foods that the world got 2 offer and to exhaust yourself every single days... then now i think m becoming lazy... eating healthy no longer a really tempting thing to do and my muscle, bone and body are just too lazy to exercise... i already vow to myself that i will be discipline and motivated back in all this weight lose...basically, all this weight lose thing, is not easy... there will always be roller coaster... but u juz need to keep going and preach what you believe... :D

Time Constraint

Hi there,

Been really busy lately as my beloved came to visit me for my graduation... it was a very awesome week last week..now bak to reality... i got a little bit of panic attack... in 2 weeks i will submitting my dissertation...i did wrote 15 pages a few weeks ago but then my supervisor read 2 pages n then told me i think now u understand what i want.. in other words, i need to do all over again in 2 weeks... in 2 weeks i need to write 35 pages of dissertation n finish my index amortizing swap code which m x sure whether possible or not... but again what can i do... life is like dat.,.sometimes u excel sometimes u screw up...so what i can do now is only do the best that i can... i set myself a few goal as u know when u are too busy, u get caught up n forgot what important so better sort out before the start of da busyness.. my few new goal for this 10 weeks:

1.Start and finish my writing at the end of this week(super impossible).
2. Start and modify my index amortizing swap by the end of this week.
3. By hook or by crook, get my hons regardless whatever class it is... as long as this one year does not juz a waste of time...
4. lose 8 more kg in this 10 weeks... i did 10kg in 10 weeks last time..but now i also realise my weight dont seem to go down any further,...but if it's impossible i will be happy to lose 3 more kg n become 65kg which mean my BMI is 25 which is quite okay...
5. To have body fat below 28%... which about 4% more i need to lose...

* i hope i manage to achieve all this...esp my hons... with my family knowing that i am a bit obsess with this weight lose, the last thing i want is not getting my hons n them surely blaming this weight lose thingy... Dear God, grant me courage to do all this...

Second Follow-up (9/9/2011)

Hi,

yesterday, i did my second follow-up... due to some problems, my follow up is a little bit late... it is now week 10... it should be every 4 weeks... yesterday, officially mark on paper that i lost 10 kg... when we look in TV, when ppl lose 10 kg they look so small... don't be suprise i am still big as always... before when i was 14, i gain 12 kg n never weigh below 72 kg... then in 2 months, i was lighter than i was in 10 years... now i am already below 70 kg... maybe in 4 months, i will be lighter than i was in primary school....hopefully....OMG... this is so fast that it is starting to freak me out... it freak my trainer out also... because when things so fast, there must be something extra extreme... i didn't did any extra stuff just did whatever prescribed plus now i eat whatever sometimes... maybe i gain lots of muscle so even when i eat i still lose weight... but looking at my body hard to say it is muscle...hihihh

but as i said earlier, weight is not an indicator of anything... we just do the weigh in because juz 2 see how it goes... in term of body fat i lose 4.4% in 6 weeks i think... which is really a lot... but as i lose most fat from my back.. i cant really see it... my stomach is still big as usual... in 10 weeks,,, i lose about 7++ % of body fat which is triple what i should be losing... i should lose 2.5% in 10 weeks.. in one way, it seem extra positive... in other direction, it seem scary... i hope i am not malnutrition... but i think m fine... i also not sure.... will see how things will be..

yesterday also Kristy gave me free training session... as usual training with her is super hard compared to my own training session... and the intensity is double harder than before... but with the Italian rugby team training in the same gym with me i become extra motivated.. hihihh... now i think i need to slow down on losing weight... Cardio and less carb honestly is the most contributing to losing weight plus weight training... however, i am not competing in biggest loser so who cares how much i weigh... now i think i think i need to focus more on toning my body... it is easier to do cardio on cardio machine...rather than to do crunch, lunges, squat all dat... i will still do maybe 1-2 hours a wk of cardio machine n lotsss of Zumba..really in love with Zumba... n more hours of toning... plus nw my new prescription i need to exercise 6 hrs a wk only... 2 hours discounted...ahahha....i hope by the end of this, i will be as super athletic as Tara.. i x know whether u guys know or not from biggest loser... although she did not win, she become super fit... that is what i want to be... rather than becoming a broom stick...hihihh ... but again with my super crazy hons... due dissertation very very soon, every week assignments due, my marking and exams around the corner, i hope i will be still alive by the end of the year... sometimes, when u did things in extreme, u become amaze with so much energy and abilities u have.... but i cant just forget my 23 years of free will, easy, laid-back and lazy lifestyles,  sometimes when things super extreme, i will be super sick...this yr i need to hav paryers more than i ever i did in my entire life...May God bless my good intention..... to hard work workout and study smartly...:D

Challenge 1 Update

Hi,

Today is the second or third last days of my  August 3 Weeks Mental and Physical, Toughness, Balance, Versatility Challenge... like anything else in life, it is a bitter sweet experience...

WEEK ONE
 the first week was hard... it was the beginning... not so sure what to eat...and i remember the first night of fasting, when i tried to exercise, i feel really dizzy n feel like fainting...most probably due to the really drop of sugar level... with two due assignments and one mini test, it is not helping at all... it was so tiring and stressful... and also i tried to went to Zumba because at the same time, my gym have a group fitness competition where u need to have certain amount of sticker to eligible for a lucky draw... i tried to meet the min requirement 10 stickers so dat i can participate in the lucky draw.. basically this week is really the test of mental and physical versatility... although i don't finish my assignment, but it more of my own fault who  like to end doing everything the few hours before due time... i email my food diary to Kristy and she was pleased with it... I was happy that i eat the right things...

WEEK 2
This week thing kind of a routine... i wake up at 5 eat pray, then do my assignment or work, go to class, go shopping in the between, then cooking, eat, pray terawih in uni n exercise... this week in term of exercise it was so good... i even did 2 hrs... did zumba 5.20-6.20 then cardio or weight at 8.00... but the eating part was horrible... i started to eat anything because i know Kristy is away and i know i surely will lose weight as a result of fasting... then since, this week the food diary was really horrible... it all start with a  bite of salmon pizza... then this and that... Kristy is not dat pleased with this week food diary... and ask me to stop eating cheese...now i know it going to be really hard when fasting end as i already use to eat everything... hopefully things getting better...

WEEK 3
i don't know due to extra fatigue or just simply because the extreme cold weather... i was sick this week... i was so sick that i spend my time sleeping all the time... i just woke up for class and prayer time... and then i lost appetite in food... i eat only sushi for dinner for 3 consecutive days with no eating all day... this week i take a week off from exercising...sometimes being sick is a way God tried to tell us to slow down n take a rest... with again 2 assignment due on 2 consecutive days, this is really hard... i was under medication so i did feel dizzy if i x rest enough...with fasting and sickness don't really go in line... i was so weak and can't really think clearly... but sometimes u gotta do what u gotta do... alhamdullilah with the power of God, it turns out i did manage to finish my assignments...

OVERALL
i think i did the best that i could... if minus the sickness, maybe it will be perfect... but again u cant do everything... sometimes u do lose something when u juggle 1000 things at a time... but again the reality, it is not possible to succeed in everything... but we need to have self-belief... and like as i said earlier, this is what i need to do... i know deep inside, i am capable of juggling 1000 things in one time...but i use to easy life, hardship don't really register in my vocab... that's y i am sick when i am over exhausted... but u need to try to be tough... sometimes, u need to do things u are not good with... so that hopefully one day u will be good with... and as i said earlier also, this is everything that is important to me... fasting is apart of my faith, studying is a part of my responsibility to my country and family and i cant let my mum down n thirdly healthy lifestyle is something i want for the longest time eva..but never manage to hav  faith that i will ever lose weight... then suddenly, in two months, everything seem possible surely this is not something i will ever let go... althought ppl don;t understand... they always feel i need to concentrate with my hons as it is something really hard and important... but they need to understand i never succeeded in losing weight... when it is somehow seem possible, surely this is way more important... getting hons is important too but i been through a lot of academic   success and sometimes it is just things making others happy... whereas losing weight will be more more an accomplishment if i achieve it as it is not something m gifted or good with... but again, that is human nature.. u want what u don't have and you don't appreciate what u have... but again i cant expect my family or friends to understand either, this is hons from UOA and it will be really prestigious to own one and this is an opportunity once in a lifetime and again i was more busier with losing weight.. where is the logic.. as i cant make ppl understand.. i need to make sure i did the best for both...so that it will not turn me down and also don't give ppl excuses to question and blame me, maybe to some, unwise decision...To healthy lifestyle..