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..

The dynamic of sugar

Like most normal girl,  I am a sugar addict without realising them... esp during examination and busy days, the things to keep me going usually chocolate, biscuit, Starbuck, energy drinks, all types of teas...but most of time, white chocolate, white mocha, white chocolate... I am not a big fan of dessert but i love bakery...custard bun, butter bun, cream bun n bla bla bla... All of things are high in sugar...

In my countries, we use sugar all the time... in our drink, in our cooking... but what we don't realise that other carbohydrate also break down into glucose which is a simple form of sugar... that is why diet which are high in sugar are not really a healthy option... high intake of sugar usually link with obesity and diabetes... but the reality is that it is more than that... every time we eat food which are high in sugar, our pancreas work extra hard to realise insulin to balance the sugar level... but up to one point, through so much hard work, this system fails... like us also, when we works so hard, then up to one point we will be so exhausted and flat... but when this fails, the blood sugar level in our body don't have hormone to maintain its function... we always heard about high blood pressure... diabetes is actually a term for high blood sugar... this is a metabolic disease where body does not produce enough insulin or cells in our organ no longer respond to insulin...This is fact that most people know about sugar...

but other than that, there are many more consequences that we face when  our diet is high in sugar before diabetes come in... one thing is that constant hunger...when we fuel our body with lots of sugar...we will be super energetic for one moment... then when the blood sugar drop we tend to feel tired and that is why we keep on wanting to eat to stabilise our blood sugar level... The second effect of diet high in sugar also making people feel so tired and sleepy....this is also due to the constant increase and decrease in blood sugar...

but again as we know it we need some form of sugar in our life for energy... if not, the condition of hypoglycaemic which up to some extend is really dangerous and fatal... as we know, carbohydrate also break down into sugar...by eating carbohydrate we already have sugar in our system... we don't need excess of refine sugar .. things like chocolate, ice cream, ice blended drinks, dessert have little  nutritional value, nothing but just sugar... but again once in a while, it is okay to have a treat.. but to consume all this every single days, it is really bad for our body... the second solution is that eating every 2-3 hours... this make sure that our blood sugar have a consistent level... the constant increase and drop in sugar is what is dangerous because it causes pancreas to work extra hard to balance this... up to one point, the ability to function will be less effective... and the last but not least, decrease in intake of carbohydrate... as we know carbohydrate break down also into glucose which is a form of sugar...excessive intake will produce the same result as eating too much chocolate, coke cola and etc..

 I am a big fan of tea... i drink from 4-12 cups of tea every single day from a very young age... when i cant put sugar in my drink, it kind of hard... what i recommend is that to cut down sugar intake slowly in your diet... i cut sugar straight away once i start the program and it is quite dangerous... unless there is someone motoring you, it is safe to cut down all intake... after a week, i feel so weak... i feel tired all the time... this is some sort of sugar detox process where your body tried to adapt to the changes... that is not the scary part... the scary part is that during the third week where i had a very scary mood swing... i have so much anger and sensitivity where i don't know coming from where...i got angry over every single things... and also sensitive over every single words that people say.. this is also result from drop of sugar intake... but trust me, after you go through that, you will be amaze with so much energy that you have when you cut sugar... but we still need sugar, we can have them from intake of carbohydrate like rice, bread, apple... i don't recommend cut off sugar intake straight away unless you think like me, you have an urgency to lose weight... what you can do is that reduce the amount of intake and when you ready you cut it off... so that you don't have extreme fatigue and crazy mood swing... if you want to have more energy, this is one of the most effective solution... no sugar policy...good luck

Challenge 1: August 3 Weeks Mental and Physical, Toughness, Balance, Versatility Challenge

Hi,

Selamat berpuasa everyone... it been 6 weeks now on my toward healthy lifestyle process... it been some sort a routine now... but since Ramadhan comes,  things getting trickier but don't worry, workable..this month i got myself three weeks mental and physical gruelling... As u know now is Ramadhan which only happen once in a year... Basically, this challenge is more like to find balance... dedication to my study which i already half-hearted in doing which is my responsibility to my mum, family and country..with so much hope and expectation from my mum and lecturers da last thing u want is to let ppl u love down.... secondly my own want, which is this healthy lifestyle..n also my trainer want... as she did fat test instead of weigh in, it is hard to cheat...so i need to work my ass off to make sure i don't lose any muscle... and the most importantly it is Ramadhan, it happen only one in a yr...it is a moment when u try ur best to be a better muslim... a time to reflect and seek forgiveness... n on top of dat... i got a life to live... frenss to entertain, family to care, my job as a marker for a 300 level Maths paper... and my own life to live... things dat i love, music,  movies , skin care, talking and writing, magazines, shopping n etc...

it kind of hard to find the balance... u don't want eat too much that u need to exercise too hard... but u dont want to eat too little and dont have energy to exercise...u don't want to exercise too hard that u don't have energy to do your assignment... u don't want to dedicated too much time on assignment, that u don't have time to do your obligation to God...u want to sleep enough, so dat u function properly...but u don't want to spend too much time sleeping, that u don't have time to reflect..u don't want to be too tired that ur mum can sense it when u call her.....u don't also want to be a horrible fren, sister and aunty... u don't want to spend too much time to reflect, that u don't have time to write your dissertation... but u don't want to spend too much time writting dissertation that u forgot to do Maths...on top of dat, u don't want to lose urself... things that make u happy... things that u lyk...OMG :D

it is tough to find the balance... to be a good muslim, a good daughter, a good student, a good fren, not letting my trainer down... that's y ppl say u cant have everything... this month i will try to have everything... i hope i will find the balance... i tried my best so far..i admit it is hard... but again u gotta do what u gotta do..when things r important to u, so juz do it... i work up at 5 eat then do my assignment, go to class, in between i do things i love if i hav time lyk shopping, then berbuka, terawih, gym n sleep sometimes in my gym clothing n da things repeat...hopefully i will hav enough energy to do all this n don't get bored n stop...n most importantly i hope i will be able to find my balance...all these r important... none r more important than other... Islam is my religion, study is what my family and lecturer want me to succeed, healthy lifestyle is what i want..... n most importantly i hope i dont lose myself in the midst of busyness... to 3wks of mental and physical gruelling...

First Follow-up (28/7/2011)

Hi,

About 2 weeks ago, i did my first follow up with her... it is a monthly follow-up to see progress...we did measurement, fat test n photo her fav part but didn't do any weigh in...bcos as u exercise, u gain muscle mass sometimes... i lose 3-4 cm on every part of my body... when i look at a ruler, it seem a lot but still when i look at myself it don't see much different... she said the normal one is usually 1cm per 4 weeks n she is so impress with what i achieve...it is so obvious that what i eat and my laziness is contributing factor to my fatness.. i never really lose anything in my life so quick... but when i eat healthy and moving it seem to work... on the body fat test, i lose 2.5% of body fat... which she say is a lot... she wants me to lose 1% per 4 weeks but still she said 1% is not something really achievable... as i lose 2.5% it would be really good... but she said the more u lose, the harder for u to lose afta dis and the faster u lose, the harder to maintain... but again she said with discipline and dedication, this is possible... i don't know how true is all this..is it true what i achieve is as good as what she say maybe she juz want to keep me motivated... but again i can lose a bit also an achievement considering 19 yrs of being overweight... i hope this will continues...:D