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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Movie review [The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug]

Just watched this movie in JEM's Cathay movie theater. Surprisingly, the theater is only 1/4 filled judging by the fact that this movie tops the box office in Singapore in its first week just last week. 

The action scenes and pictures are still as good and impressive as the first movie. However, I still do not understand why this book requires to have 3 movies when Lord of the Ring has only 1 movie per book. Furthermore, the last movie for The Hobbit has very little content judging by how it ends in this second movie. There are obviously no surprises in there if you have read the book but since I have not read the book in a while, this movie serves as a memory refresher for me. There is a slight weird romance in this movie as well which I think can be omitted and I find that the first movie is better then this as it seems to be moving too slowly. Anyway, this is just my own thought about it. Probably you have a different opinion with regards to it. 

Ratings: 3/5 stars

Rewatch factor: Probably I will catch all 3 movies again when the last movie is release but I will not watch it on its own. 

One thing that I am happy today:

THE HOBBIT MOVIE WITH DAD AND SIS

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Should I or Should I Not, Fitness Trainer

I have been thinking if I should be a fitness trainer since I am enjoying sports and I love to read up on nutrition as well. Although my current physique is still up to standard, I can continue to work hard to increase my muscle mass, endurance, stamina and overall fitness. But I find that it is rather difficult to become a fitness instructor in Singapore. There are hardly any classes or courses to teach you how to become one. I recently found this Basic Sports Science Course and Fitness Instructor Certification under Singapore Sports Council  (SSC) but I am not sure what I will benefit from this. 

I have always been enjoying doing sports and studying them. I think I need something that I enjoy doing now instead of just doing some meaningless work and wasting my time. Is like how I went for a jog yesterday to loosen my sore muscles. I ended up following a guy wearing a neon green shirt so as to pace myself faster then my normal speed. I went from 7min/km to about 6.3min/km which is AWESOME! My muscle ache is still around but I think I feel better after that. I shall go workout after work today too. 

Just researched the courses offered by SSC. Apparently, you will have to have the knowledge of a sport before taking this course. Although I have knowledge of a couple of sports (Netball, Touch Rugby), I do not have very good skill with those and thus will not have any confidence in teaching them. I have a done a basic course in coaching of Netball so that is why I do know that I will not be a good Netball coach. 

Thus, now I am looking for Zumba classes to attend to first before I think I would want to join as an instructor. Wish me luck!

One thing that I am happy today:

GOING TO WORKOUT TODAY!

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Weekend buys & exercise

I am currently writing this entry with super sore calf, thighs, hamstring and glutes. Thanks to the gym session I had on Saturday with Gerald from Abvolution. I think I killed myself by going yoga in the morning then without having any lunch, I went to gym. I did not expect that I will feel so sore after these exercises on Saturday! I think my muscles will still not recover even after today. To counter the soreness, I went for Hot B (Bikram) yoga yesterday. The poses killed me as I was unable to completely relax into some of the poses but I feel better right after that but the tightness of the muscles still crept up to me after some time. I shall try to do some stretching after I go home today and hopefully it will not be so painful to walk tomorrow. 

I bought 2 items this weekend which I am so proud of. I am so in love with these 2 items!! <3

Studded shoes from The Editior's Market (Cathay Cineleisure) @$15

Black leather oversize bag from Mango (Marina Square) @$39

These 2 items are loves and for the price is double loves! The Editor's Market is having a sale with all their shoes at only $15 when their actual retail price is usually above $30. So I actually got the shoes at more than 50% off. Such an awesome buy. As for the bag, Mango is having a up to 50% sale on their past season items. This bag is so suitable for people to bring up to plane as a carry on bag or for me to go gym or yoga in as this bag is so spacious. I am so going to style these two items together in an all-black ensemble. 

One thing I am happy today:

GREAT BUYS THIS WEEKEND!

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