Monthly Update April

Here is my mandatory monthly fitness update for April 2012. The picture above is already posted in my Facebook account. I guess this time around, there isn't much surprise compared with the pictures revealed last month. That is actually understandable considering people who haven't seen me for a long time wouldn't know how I currently look like. Anyway, I do not wear tight shirts or sleeveless ones either. I think looking casual muscular is cooler. As usual, the picture is taken after some 'pumping' up with some push-ups and sit-ups. It would be horrible if my arms are that tense with the veins so obvious all the time. At least my theory that arms are easy to develop is true. I am not aiming to be hugely muscular but at least I need to be able to pull myself up easily. So far I am just thankful that my neck and shoulders are not swollen.

I reached this level purely using my bodyweight and a single 4kg dumb bell. I doubt the dumb bell actually helps much due to the light weight but I guess it is a convenient tool to get warmed up. Usually I do push ups in sets of 15-20, twice per workout session. Most of you will be surprised by the low amount of repetitions but my arms do get tired after that since I only start after I am done with running. At home, I usually do push ups with my legs elevated almost parallel to my shoulders. And I do not simply lower until my elbows are at 90 degrees but I make sure the tip of my nose touches the ground. The position of your hands determine how hard your workout is as well. I am sure you realize that when you put your hands closer together, it gets harder. Some of the articles I found online even suggested I put my hands positioned behind my shoulder and closely together. That way, you will be pushing your chest up with your head as extra burden since the fulcrum is at your chest.

My weight has finally stabilized around 70kg. However, the experiment is not yet over. The theory is that my weight will automatically stop declining when I reach my optimum weight with my current exercise routine and caloric intake. I think at this point of time, what I eat will become much more important since my body will be shaped based on what I provide. I do not want to store fat while I want to build muscles. But having proper food is not always an option. I can only try my best with whatever resources that I have. One thing is for sure, I need more protein which means more meat. According to common knowledge, I need to stock up on chicken breast and take in beef once in a while. Canned tuna is a good protein choice but I do not want to risk mercury/lead poisoning. I still try to take in almond as snacks and I drink chocolate milk daily for calcium. I eat around 3 cooked eggs daily on weekdays. I need to go check my cholesterol level soon just in case.

Starting May, I will increase my interval running routine by decreasing resting time between fast runs. It is also common knowledge that we need to constantly increase the difficulty or change the routine to make sure the body gets a good work out. My legs are still my pride. Of course there are much more space for improvements and I will do my best. How is everyone doing? How far can you run? Are you able to stick with your own exercise plan? Do not be discouraged if it is hard in the beginning. Most important thing is that you are exercising. It is easy to lose motivation. Even my motivation wavers every once in a while. So many things happen to me personally during the month of April. I can feel my way of thinking is changing constantly and hopefully it can be considered as positive growth. How many of you are aware that I am a person that does things better when I use another person as a reason? Honestly, I constantly think about certain Korean idols during my last lap for that final burst of speed. I am sure things that work for me does not apply to all, but try to identify what is it that triggers a positive reaction for you? Your current partner, your idol, your reflection in the mirror, thoughts of spitting at people that laughed at you? That's all for now, take care and have a nice week ahead.

Words and me

Finally after a long hiatus, I have decided to come up with a post today. This will not contain any fitness tips because it is already end of the month and I will definitely post my progress so might as well include those there. Stopping the daily blogging routine has been a double-edged sword for me. Of course I gain a lot of free time for other things but I have been missing out on 'me' time. Being able to express yourself even to a blog or diary is quite important for a lonely or introverted person. However, the problem with blogs is the public aspect of it while a diary doesn't seem to make sense to me. As you can see, most if not all my blog posts are directed to a person as if I am talking to someone. I think this style is easier to write and it is just plain weird addressing things to myself I guess. I can actually restrict access to my blog but that will just make things complicated to readers. Therefore, some things I will always keep to myself. As some of you may recall, it was due to a blog post that my form 6 life was ruined.

But I guess it was keeping all those things inside of me that made me who I am today. Some of you might have noticed that I have flooded my Facebook status updates with rather sentimental quotes. Well it was all due to drama I watched recently. Before you start rolling your eyes, the drama resonated with me deeply due to the similarity of the circumstances portrayed. But most importantly, the words that I was never able to say, that I was never able to express came out in the most accurate manner. It does not involve difficult words at all. Of course at first I was rather taken aback by it but it was mostly a positive feeling. It felt as if someone understood and portrayed it accurately as if helping to tell the hidden story to others. And yet there was still a tinge of regret as my truth is still within me alone. Nobody knows how I felt at that time, my determination, my sorrow and my pain. I am angry at myself for not being able to express it and for carrying so much emotional baggage. However, it is my past and no matter what I do, I do not think I will ever forget them.

Perhaps I do not want to forget those things. I do not think I will experience something similar in the future. And I do not want to forget the lessons I learnt from my past. Many times I find myself feeling down or perhaps uncomfortable but there is still a sense of nostalgia or even a faint smile as I thought 'hey now...'. Good or bad, they colour my life. It was the most turbulent time in my life so far and the most memorable as well. How many of you have the same feeling when you see a reflection of your past and there is bitterness with a grin? Furthermore my current working life is severely lacking in flavour. I mean it does have some ups and downs but nothing as exciting so to speak. I guess this 'downtime' is some space for me to recover as much as possible and prepare for a more challenging future. I do not know if I can consider myself 'healed' by now but I still consider myself not perfectly 'ready'. I mean we should always keep our guard up as we can never plan life. You can always improve on a certain aspect and switch it around. I think it is a good way of thinking. I do appreciate things I have, but I will not sit still. We are granted a chance to live another day, week, month or year. Why waste it?

Once again I have kept the intimate details of my past a secret because one can never be too careful with public content nowadays. Sometimes I do wonder, are my feelings at that time for her not that strong considering I am 'okay' with losing her now? This is not the first occurrence either. I will never forget my love and my feelings for her of that time but if you ask me to chase her now, even if she is available, no way. Does this mean I have 'moved on'? Then why do I read about couples that get back together after splitting up? I guess there will never be a 'correct' answer considering it is a very subjective issue. Everyone will have a different take on it I am sure. I do not think I am stubborn or egoistic in this matter. Perhaps not stubborn enough. Let me rephrase it, I am not 'loyal' enough. Day in day out I listen to songs that invoke my emotions. Maybe that is the only way I feel alive. Or that is the only way I can feel the feelings that I am lacking nowadays. Anyway, this is all from me. Look forward to my next post this coming weekend, take care and be happy.

More tips

It has been around 2 weeks since I started blogging about keeping fit. When the first post came out with a picture of my current look, I did not expect for such a sudden spike in visitors. Of course many are curious I guess. My second post did not receive such a warm welcome but that is to be expected. Either way, I am already glad that people will gain some knowledge or at least some food for thought via my blog. There will always be two sides to a coin and I am sure there are a lot of people who dismiss the things I write here too. I admit I am nowhere as impressive as real body-builders but I am trying my best. At least I am showing results and constantly improving. Anyway I manage to come up with some more health tips for those keen on getting fit. This post will be a short one though.

First of all, for people who started jogging or who is currently jogging, try to switch direction halfway through the session. If your track is a loop like the one I am running in, it helps to switch the burden of turning from clockwise to counter-clockwise to balance out the stress on your left side and right side. The same applies to people running on slopes. Try not to always concentrate on climbing the slope only though common sense dictates that it will burn more calories. Going down the slope requires effort to balance and to control your descent so it actually helps a lot and works out a different set of muscles. To stretch your calves and make it leaner, try sitting on a chair, lift your legs, hold them straight and turn your feet clockwise and then counter-clockwise. You should feel some sort of pull on the part below your knee. For those hoping to build your calves, find a step and stand there balanced on your toes. Lift yourself using your toes and then lower your feet below the step while balancing with your toes. You should feel the muscles being stressed.

I personally think going for a jog at a challenging track is better than running on the treadmill or cycling on the machine. You do not encounter turns or uneven slopes. Hopefully you will build more natural muscles though usually it will not turn out big and bulky like the ones western movie stars have. I don't really have much diet tips though. Most people who actually provide me with feedback finds it hard to even skip fast food. I can't really recommend anything more advanced until you manage to control the type of food you consume and the amount of food you consume. I agree that with our current lifestyle it is a very challenging task especially when we are surrounded by delicious food everywhere. I am not asking you to suddenly cut out everything but try it step by step. I too indulge in food once or twice a week. Usually I wait for friend invitation to hang out because that is when we eat at shopping malls or mamak stalls. Anyway I wish all of your good luck in your efforts to slim down and take care.

Workout details and me pt.2

I think it is about time I follow up with my post the last time. But before I dive into the details, spare me some space for my own thoughts. Nowadays I couldn't understand why people find it so hard to take the effort to exercise. Perhaps I am no more qualified to criticize as someone who has been doing it for so long. Maybe I too was some who procrastinate and am now spreading the word like a religious zealot. It is true we tend to try influencing the people around us to believe the same thing. Knowing that it is annoying I reduced my aggressiveness. But know that it is annoying to me as well when people tend to complain being fat while digging into unhealthy food. Now we are still young, we are still able with our limbs. Why do you want to wait until disaster strikes or until your joints are not as nimble as it used to be? No amount of money can buy back health especially when you are hit with preventable diseases or conditions like heart attack or stroke or at least general sluggishness. You cannot predict the future. The most you can do is prepare and enjoy the benefits as you go along.

Back to my workout details, as I have mentioned before, if you are aiming to be the next Captain America, look elsewhere. You have seen what my workout has done to my body and honestly that is what you should expect for yourself too. I do not have much strength because I have no effective means of performing weight training. But I am by no means a pure endurance athlete as well. If you are still interested, then please carry on. Firstly, I wish to pinpoint that please do not starve yourself. This is a journey towards fitness and health and I do not believe suffering from a lack of nutrients will help. As a matter of fact, I eat 5 times a day and I still manage to lose weight. Of course exercising is one of the key factors but choose your food carefully and at the very least you will be able to maintain your weight and feel generally healthier. Know your food types and like I mentioned before, try to count the calories from the food you consume.

Do try to stay away from carbohydrates. It is almost as bad as consuming fat itself. Our bodies are primed to store excess carbohydrates as fat. Thinking that you eat when you are hungry means your have burned all calories in the food you consumed is a common misconception. The truth is that the food has gone through your digestive system and currently your stomach is empty. Any excess has already been processed and stored. Your digesting speed determines the rate that you are hungry unless you are exercising where the hunger flag is raised once stores are empty. The main sources of carbohydrates are what I call the 4 'Whites' being rice, bread, potatoes and noodles. Currently I am consuming less than 2 bowls of rice per day which is significantly less than what I used to eat. I am not asking you to follow suit, but if you are already eating rice for meals, try to stay away from other sources of carbohydrates. Another note, sugar and syrup are actually simple carbohydrates. So that doughnut you just had is worst than a bowl of rice due to it being bread and sugar. And do not be fooled by commercial fruit juice. They are loaded with sugar or fructose syrup.

If you have the capacity to change and manage your meals, then try to replace rice with brown rice, bread with wholemeal bread, potatoes with sweet potatoes and noodles with pasta or wheat noodles. They mostly have the same amount of carbohydrates but they are harder to digest which makes you feel full longer, provides more vitamins and fibre too. I mean if you need to consume, might as well consume the best. Make full use of your daily calorie allocation. For me though, while reducing carbohydrates I aim to consume food with nutrients that cannot be stored by our bodies. Mostly, I keep my stomach busy with protein or fibre. Of course I didn't start out with my current diet because it takes time for your body to adapt. Thus the 1 year long duration. In the beginning, I aim to reduce the amount of food I consume at 1 meal. So in between meals, I snack on tuna buns or sandwiches. I also heard that it takes time to shrink a large stomach.

I am actually hesitating to divulge too much information before you are ready for them. I am sure some of you would prefer the shortest and most efficient approach but it is not without a severe price to pay. Furthermore, it is much more easier to follow and maintain if we take small steps and change our way of living slowly. I too was rushing for results and now my body bear some of the scars. It might not be visible in the pictures but I am well aware of my condition. Anyway, once you are okay with smaller portions, keep at it but change your snacks to healthier ones like I suggested previously. Fibre crackers are okay but not the best due to carbohydrate content. Fruits will be the best as well as salad with skinned chicken or tuna. Not all of you will have access to such ingredients or food choices so if you are not sure, feel free to post a comment or message me on Facebook. I will be more than happy to answer.

Regarding exercise routine though, how many of you actually tried the 'plank' exercise? You need to keep your stomach in while doing it. I guess you should stick to simple cardiovascular exercises as well as some basic strength training for a while before moving forward. I was close to nailing 50-60 sit ups after a jog before I moved on to other exercises. Make sure your foundation is solid before you attempt harder exercises. In theory it does not hurt but your muscles may come up more inclined towards strength due to the constant increase in burden. If being buff is your thing, then as far as I know, that is the path you should pursue. But, you will realize your weakness when you are required to exert strength consistently for a long period. Try to find the balance for your body. Among other exercises you could do would be star jumps, squats, lunges, and sports. I do sports in the middle of the week to flex my muscles differently. I do not want my arms to be strong in pushing vertically from my shoulder only. It helps give you a more general muscle tone as well as giving your major muscle groups some rest.

I guess I should stop here for now. There is nothing much I can share for now but if I think of something, you can expect a post by end of the week. Thank you for reading and take care.