NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS 2014

2013 has been quite a monotonous year for me. It seems to me that it is the saddest year that I have went through so far. Although there are definitely good and fun things that happen, I can only remember the negative ones.  So, for 2014, I must make it happier and more eventful. I have never did a new year resolutions before but I will do one this year so as to make myself feel that I have done something good this year. 

NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS 2014

1) Complete a half-marathon.

         ONGOING. Manage to run 15 km recently. Will definitely join a half-marathon next year. Probably Sundown marathon. 

2) 10 km timing to be under 60 min.

         ONGOING. Recently my pace is up to 6.20 min per hour. 

3) Reduce weight to less than 55 kg and lose the stomach and inner thighs. Also, fat percentage to be less than 20% because I want abs!! And be more flexible. 

          ONGOING. Refer to my previous posts.

4) Increase my social circle. 

         ONGOING. Went to a touch rugby meetup and will be going for another meetup this Saturday and next Friday. 

5) Backpacking/diving/hiking overseas.

6) Family holiday to HK or beach country (eg. Boracay, Phuket, Koh Samui, Bali, Langkawi)

7) Beautify skin especially on my face. 

           ONGOING. Since very long ago. 

8) Have job satisfaction.

Just saw a video by the Fung Brothers from Youtube with regards to New Year Resolutions where they said it sucked (how ironic). True that we nowadays have a lot of distractions around us that will bring us away from our goals so we have to be more mindful and keep our goals always in sight. Eg. we can print a copy out and read it every night or just tattoo it on yourself (just kidding k?). 

Anyways, the video is linked below for those who are interested. HAPPY 2014 TO ALL!

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Emotional/mindless Eating + Update

Hello! It has been about a week since I started my CNY weight loss plan. Since then I manage to do 3 out of 5 rules that I have set for myself. I am doing exercise everyday like running, yoga and touch rugby. I have always been bringing my own lunch to work so there is no problem for me to healthy-fy my lunch. I am able to massage every other day and drinking loads of water everyday. However, there are 2 rules that I need to improve and change. 

No starch for dinner is really difficult to fulfill if you are an Asian and your mom cooks at home. It is just not possible for me to eat the vegetables and meat without form of starch plus my mom will force me to eat at least a bit of rice. Therefore, I will just reduce the amount of rice by half or eat no rice whenever possible. 

Out of these 6 days that I have started on this plan, I actually snacked for 3 of the days and worse of all, I snacked at night after my dinner. I "blamed" this to emotional/mindless eating. I used to not have this habit of eating after dinner and I like the feeling of being hungry. However, once I started work and I have free time in the evening, this is when I started to snack regularly at night. Furthermore, the things I snack on are usually high-caloric and sweet food items which is obviously not good as these food will be stored as fats since they could not be used up by the body. 

Therefore, to counter this problem that I have, I will change the rules and prize for this CNY weight loss plan. The prize for this weight loss plan is a toy that I have always wanted from Stay Real, a brand that 五月天 阿信, had made which cost $40. If I snack for one day, I can only buy the toy 1 week later after 29 January 2013. Since now I have snack for 3 days, I can only buy the toy 3 weeks later. Hopefully, this is a huge enough incentive for me to work on. Gambatte!!!

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Stats of current situation:

Height: 168cm

Weight at start: 60.5kg

Weight 6 days later: 60kg

BMI: 21.4

Expected results: 56kg

Preferred results: 52kg

NOOOOO!!! Too heavy!

OMG! I saw a dreaded number on my weighing machine yesterday. I can't believe how much I have gained since 2012 after my graduation. I think that my jobs and my state of mind results in this absurd weight gain. Therefore, I decided to amp up my weight loss regime to get ready for Chinese New Year (CNY) which can act as my short term goal. 

My following plans goes like this:

1) EXERCISE EVERYDAY

           I will try to do about 30min to 1hr of exercise during the weekdays and possibly up to 2hrs during the weekends. Even if I have no time (which is not an excuse), I will definitely try to do some deep stretches or some pushups/situps before I go to sleep. 

2) NO RICE/NOODLES/STARCH FOR DINNER

         This is just to reduce my calorie intake as it is stated that to lose 1kg per week, about 3500 calories have to be loss via exercise or diet. That means we have to have a net deficit of 500 calories per day which cannot be attained by a 1hr exercise. Since a bowl of rice is about 100 calories, this can help to increase my net deficit of the day. Furthermore, refined carbs causes a spike in sugar level which will be stored as fats storage if it is not used up during the night where our activity is low. 

3) FRUITS & VEGETABLES FOR LUNCH AT WORK

         I have been bringing lunch to work since I started work. Usually I will bring a sandwich or a wrap or a pasta but since I need to bring up my calories deficit, I decided to just eat fruits & vegetables without any dressing. Vegetables have loads of fiber and vitamins which are essential to our body. However, the amount of calories it contains per cup is too little (excludes starchy vegetables) therefore I added fruits to the lunch. For fruits, although it contains loads of fiber and vitamins as well, some of the fruits contains too much sugar which may be stored as fats since my job is rather sedentary. My choice of fruits for lunch should not contain grapes, cherries, mangoes and bananas.

4) NO SNACKS/SWEETS/FRIED FOOD/CANNED DRINKS

         Need me to say more about this? I guess this is self-explanatory. 

5) MASSAGE EVERY OTHER DAY & DRINK 3L OF WATER PER DAY

         Self-massage every other day with firming cream, lotion or oil to get rid of water retention in the body. For ladies, it is easier for us to retain water in our body which may cause us to gain extra weight and also look more swollen. Water retention can be caused by having too much salt in the body. Salt will retain any water that is close to them which will take time to excrete out. One other way to counter water retention is to drink more water. By drinking more water, it will make our body think that we have enough water in the environment so our body do not need to store water for later use. Also, water allows us to flush out the toxins which are bad to our body. In conclusion, water is good.

These are the 5 things that I will concentrate on from today, Christmas Eve, to 29 January 2014 (as 30 January is CNY Eve, which screams steamboat!). The prize that I will give myself is $100 to buy yoga clothes as I have just started on doing yoga and I do not have yoga tights to wear to class. Every time I did not do one of these 5 things, I will deduct 1 dollar off my prize. 

At the end of this plan, I hope to achieve a better body in terms of the physical and aesthetics of it. So I will try update every week with the things that I have done and if I manage to complete all 5 tasks. Good luck to me!!

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Stats of current situation:

Height: 168cm

Weight: 60.5kg

BMI: 21.4

Expected results: 56kg

Preferred results: 52kg

Self-control

Lately, I realized that I am lacking in self-control over myself. I think I have already stop controlling myself since last year after graduation. I do not control things that I put into my body. I do not control things that I have in my mind. I do not control how I am living my life in general. I need to get my self-control back and I shall start now. Who says that New Year Resolution have to start on 1st January? It can happen anywhere anytime. 

First, controlling things that I put into my body. I have been binge eating on and off since mid last year like I will eat peanut butter out of the container at 9pm while watching dramas on my computer even though I know I am already full and too much sweet things causes me to have gas. So to bring back my self-control and also my weight (I did increase quite a substantial amount since last year), I am going to eat 3 meals a day with no snacks in between. I am going to start out slow since is the Christmas season now and the next month is Chinese New Year. There are bound to be some gatherings that I cannot skip. Also, I need to drink more water to flush out the toxins in my body and to boost my hydration level. I believe the first week may be tough as this habit to snack may take a toll on my mental mind but I will complete it!!

Second, exercise. I just recently bought over a yoga membership from a friend and I will aim to go for yoga three times a week, together with Puma run and a long distance once a week and hopefully zumba too. Therefore, in total, I will be working out 6 out of 7 days which should be manageable for me as I am already hitting about 3 days a week now. On days that I cannot manage to workout, be it because of weather, work or gatherings, I will do squats and planks at home. Hopefully, this training can help me increase my endurance and stamina for my goal to do a half-marathon next year. 

Third, I need to start planning for things that I want to complete. I want to go hiking for the longest time and I have not started on doing. I want to go for backpacking solo trip. I want to learn diving. I need to get notice in my job. I want to do things that are important in my job which currently I am feeling rather useless now. 

Ok, I have finished ranting now. I will definitely start on the first two right away and I shall see if there is any results in one week time. JIAYOU!

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Day 14: 2 Weeks down!

It has been 2 weeks after I have started on this 99 Day Plan. Honestly, I have not seen any weight drop at all but I do feel like I became lighter and cleaner (if this makes any sense to you). One thing that I am quite happy is that my humongous thighs has dropped about half an inch. YEAH! This is probably due to my exercises like running and muscle toning. Hopefully, I can see some losses in my tummy area soon. 

For the next week, what I will do to increase my intensity is to put in 5 - 10 minutes of exercises before going to work and when I reached home after work everyday. Exercises may include push-ups, crunches and lunges (with variations). This will boost my metabolism and keep my heart and lungs moving especially in the morning. Also, it can provide my body with energy to kickstart my day.

And today is the last day of school for all primary school children. How I wish that I am back in school now that I have started working. I want to go to a holiday. I remembered during my school holidays, I went to Genting! It was so fun! I want to go back there again! When doing my research on Genting, I found out they have many new things that I have never seen before when I was there. For girls out, they have actually a late night shopping at their First World Hotel which opens from 10am to 1am during this holiday period of 9 November to 31 December. This is so exciting. The link to shopping is this http://www.rwgenting.com.sg/en/shopping/index.htm

http://www.rwgenting.com.sg/en/shopping/index.htm

Not only their shopping, they have their awesome theme park which seems so much better than the one in the past. Coincidentally, First World Hotel is the hotel that I stayed in when I went Genting. It seems to have so much more facilities now. I want to take leave to go there!

Anyone want to go there with me? =D

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Day 12: Food Diary

Source

Do you have a food diary? I just started mine about a few days ago and have been very religious in updating it. The point of having a food diary is to keep track of what you have been eating daily so that you will not overeat and have a well-balanced diet. I used to have a food diary but once I stopped using it, I started to eat without thinking and this is why I am going back to having a new food diary at My Fitness Pal. Make sure your food diary shows you the amount of calories, carbohydrates, sugars, protein, fats, salt and calcium that you have consumed. These few parameters are the basic requirements that your body needs. Other requirements such as vitamins and minerals should be provided for if your meals are rich in vegetables and fruits. 

Some points to take note to have a good food diary:

1. Be religious to your food diary.
   Make sure to update it EVERYDAY. In that way, you will be able to keep track of your meals and make sure you do not step over the allowed intake everyday.
2. Be truthful to your food diary.
   What purpose is the food diary if you are not truthful to it? Do not lie to your food diary and if you have eaten something sinful, write it in so that you will take note of it and not eat so much of it in the future. 
3. It is okay to exceed the required amount.
   Lets' say that you have exceeded the calorie amount for today. It is okay for you to do that. Do not fret too much about it. Read into your food diary and find out the reason and work on it. It may be because the day require too much of your own physical energy and therefore you consume more food. Do not stress too much when you exceeded your calorie intake. 
4. Do not starve yourself for one day and think it will be okay for you to indulge the next day.
   If you starve yourself, your body goes into the starvation mode in which the metabolism slows down. When food comes into the body, the body will store these food as fats so as to prepare the body for another starvation period. 
5. Find a buddy to do this together with you.
   By finding somebody to track your diet together with you, you will have someone who keep you on schedule and to nag you regarding your diet. It will of course be more fun to have someone to go through the diet journey with you. 

Go and create your own food diary. Enjoy!

Bye!

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Day 6: Green Tea

GREEN TEA! My favorite hot drink. I drink this almost every day in the office (because office provides this. HAHA!). However, even if the office does not provide this, I will definitely buy it and drink it everyday in the office. Lucky for me, I am very sensitive to caffeine thus I am unable to drink even a cup of coffee. However, I am able to accept the caffeine level in green tea which can provide me with more health benefits than a cup of coffee.

Superb Antioxidant

As our body ages and be exposed to the external environment, our body will react to these external factors and become oxidized to produce free radicals. These free radicals will then proceed on to "steal" electrons from other molecules so as to stabilize themselves. By doing this, our cells may become even more vulnerable to other forms of attack. This is the same concept as the aging of our skin. Aging due to sun is because the UV rays are able to attack our skin and produce more free radicals which will remove electrons from our cells and thus making the skin vulnerable and thus will aged faster. 

This is the reason why antioxidant have been so popular lately and you can see many different kinds of antioxidant supplements appearing in your local pharmacy or drugstore. Why buy these expensive supplements when you can actually get it cheaply by drinking it?

Green tea contains a large amount of polyphenols, a type of antioxidant, which is known to be able to fight cancer. This type of antioxidant can also be found in apples. However, green tea has the most powerful type of polyphenol known as catechins and not only can this antioxidant able to reduce the chances of having cancer, it can also reduce signs of aging. 

Fats Fighter

As many of us may know, tea in general helps to "clean" the fats out of the gut. The same applies to green tea. It can actually help to reduce the amount of the "bad" (Low Density Lipoprotein) cholesterol in the body by preventing the absorption of these cholesterol into the bloodstream. 

Green tea can also help to increase fat oxidation when coupled with exercise (source). I was pretty surprised when I saw this study. Next time I shall try going exercise after drinking a cup of green tea and see if it does work to reduce the fat percentage in my body. 

Since green tea can help to reduce signs of aging, prevent cancer and to reduce amount of fats, why not starting drinking green tea from now on =)

Bye!

|ser|