ITD 10 & 11 - Zumba & Jogging around Singapore River

Within merely less than 2 weeks, I was surprisingly active and unknowingly got a taste of a myriad sports and workouts! Things that I never had done before.

Milestones:

1. Trekking - Bukit Timah & Bukit Brown!
2. Badminton - Got a grip of how to serve ball and rules of double playing as well as score system.
3. Stretching - Increase body flexibility is significant in lowering the risks of physical injury.
4. Zumba - Reminds me of aerobic dance! Preference to the latter. 
5. Stairs Climbing - Most intensive workout ever! Paralyzed the next day. Nonetheless proven to be effective for tummy trimming! ;)
6. Scenery jogging - Around CCK & Singapore River. Going to explore Jurong Lakeside soon!

Complimenting to workouts, I acquired the correct knowledge of having a healthy diet for slimming down. Differing from the conventional belief of eating less, the ultimate secret of trimming fat belly into sexy flat tummy in 7 days (which I did it! *proud*) is...

Fast after 7pm except plain water and sleep strictly before midnight. 

This is the ultimate secret that skinny people, who ate like giant pig and don't even exercise, did not tell you. Because they themselves are not aware of too. 

I did not have fat belly in the past. It all only started when I picked up the bad habit of indulging in supper 2 years back. And it sucks a big time, in both my filming career (last time) and later my soon-to-be C.A. life.

Other foolproof, complimenting methods of slimming down your belly in the shortest time possible are, VERY IMPORTANT for healthy slimming:

1. "Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper." Wake up early for a big breakfast and reduce the food intake for each meal after which.
2. Aerobic exercising (e.g. jogging, rope skipping at least 500 times) every day! Make it as early as possible. 
3. Get a cup of low-fat / skim milk each time after post-workout. Your body seeks proteins to repair the exhausted muscles after exercising. This will help weight loss. *Forget about those expensive and commercialized rich-in-proteins post-workout products as scientific research (1 2 3) has proven a simple cup of milk is the best! Would you spend $8 on a luxury protein drink which tastes boring or $1.20 on a pack of milk that tastes yummy? 
4. No fried or fast food and avoid sugary or artificially sweet stuff. Needless to say, they are very evil. 
5. Eat your carbohydrates (rice, noodles, bread & etc) as usual or reduce to an appropriate amount. You must not void all carb food in your diet just because you think they will cause weight gain. Rather, your body will protest and rebound fat! (Search online for more info) 

Lastly,

DISCIPLINE & DETERMINATION

"It takes 21 days to form a habit.", as famously quoted as it is, holding true to its words. People with stronger mentality will take lesser than that. I took 7 days to form a habit. 

For all the pretty or healthy-wannabes and those who want to change their lives for better, please continue to strive! There's no such thing as immediate result. 

Every achievement comes with consistent hard work, logical minds and formidable perseverance. 

That is what makes achievement worthy and promising. 

If others can do it, why can't I? 

SO if I can do it, why can't you? :)

ITD 9 - Workout Bootcamp @ WellnessXpress & Selamat Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya! 

Woke up early for my church friend's housewarming to chill out on the public holiday! Although it doesn't affect since I was/am/will be unemployed. At least until the end of this year. :[

Thanks C & H so much for the great hospitality and food! Re-watched E.T. and the film is still as heartwarming and impactful as always. Much much better than most animations these days. 

Waiting for job to commerce is tough. You are penniless and bored. No unlimited concession (transport), no face to ask your old parents for financial support. Except a few working projects here and there, where the pay only comes long long later. Every day's a free day and you start to get itchy and looking for things to keep you occupied - physically and mentally. 

Just like home-bound lol. 

9th day down the road to my personal intensive training diary. I decided to give it a try to WellnessXpress and seek for any potential motivation that keeps me going. Besides, exercising alone can go downhill. This is where your good or new friends who are similarly determined should join you in the race! ;)

On my first day there, I already made wonderful and strong-willed friends! They are very motivated and amiable!

 3 young sisters, all in black!

There's a noticeable change in my face shape. It became slimmer and sharper unexpectedly. So is my tummy! Flattening! Note not fattening okay! 

After all the daily aerobic exercises! IT8 I jogged back and forth from Yew Tee to Choa Chu Kang. *feeling proud of my determination!*

Gonna continue my visit there tomorrow. Keep fit, sleep early and goodnight!

Conclusion for today's overall diet:

- Breakfast: Avocado milkshake (finally I got it! yumm!), carrot cake

- Lunch: Catering @ friend's house

- Dinner at 5.30pm: Salad with some carb food - pasta & potato

ITD 7 - Bukit Brown Heritage Park

Early and refreshing morning! We had come to Bukit Brown Heritage Park, also known as the old Chinese cemetery, peacefully resting are the great contributors to Singapore who had enriched our local history.

I happened to pass by this interesting free tour in Meetup.com. Apparently the cemetery is planned to be abolished for expressway and other possible future development. It is a shame that we are going to lose another important historical site of ours. What is left for our children? What will they know?

Besides their fierce loyalty playing with a piece of metal and plastic screen...

Even today, our younger generation (and also my era) already knows so little about Singapore history. Our general education system at my time has been set in a way that foreign histories are prevalent and more emphasized compared to our Mother land.

At the end of the day, I learnt that there is a combination of factors in order to instill patriotism in our fellow Singaporeans. And one of these is, History.

I can understand why quite a significant number of people of my generation and younger feels a detachment from their nationality.

History is important. Other than plainly showing us examples of a series of human activities, other than teaching us to understand the 'yin' and the 'guo' and not repeat the unwanted historical warfare or conflict again, other than equipping us with the knowledge to analyse, we must not forget. History is the significant link to our roots.

I used to think little about my root. And I believe we were taught the chinese idiom 'yin shui si yuan' but we never truly understand what it means at the core.

Well, it is getting a little too deep and emotional here.

Cutting short, we signed a petition to save the heritage after the tour. The tour guides are all unpaid volunteers, who are truly passionate and dedicated to the heritage protection. It is highly doubtful that it would change the authority's decision, who knows if we spread the word and do something about it?

If the Japanese cemetery (as old as Bukit Brown's) in Singapore can be conserved, why not ours? :)

Note: I will update next time about my trip there! Photos? Of course! :D

After the heritage tour, we had a lunch feast at Two Chefs Eating Place! One of the best Zi Char restaurant around! 

Taking random of the plate while we were curiously discussing about the 4 letters on it. Reading from the right is "wan shou wu jiang". It means "a million years of longevity without border".

What else have you seen? Observe!

In conclusion, Singapore is small but it is rich in history and heritages worth exploring. It is untrue that we had it all here and it is a boring place with nothing but shopping mall which majority of us had visited a thousand of times. 

One precious take-home today is, there is countless to explore in this small sunny island. 

We do not have to be "out-of-the-box" to enjoy life. 

In fact, life can similarly be fulfilling "inside-the-box", 

by paying extra attention to every single details, of our surrounding.

P.S. Did a little hiking and jogging. A suitable pair of shoes is an essential for good sports. We shall find out more in my upcoming post! :)

ITD 5 - Badminton

It's been a long time since I picked up a badminton racket! Exactly this was what my new friends and I were doing this afternoon. Even received a free professional lesson on how to kick-start a shuttlecock. :p

Played for 3 hours continuously. A great leisure and interactive exercise that tests you on your focus, reflexes and skills. Hit three birds with one stone! 

Lastly, wish everyone a happy Sabbath day. May you abide in God, and He abides in you. For He is the Living God and the only and faithful God. 

Amen. 

ITD 2 - Stairs Climbing (outdated)

Due to my intended training, it makes me read up more about a myraid of exercises and led my curiosity about pilates.

Did pilates the night before and in the morning when I woke up. I must say, the effect was intense targetting at my abdomen, accompanied by regular jogging/skipping rope.

Guess what, both sides of my waist have clearly sunk in in just 3 days!

Mommy was shocked when she thought she saw abs.

Interestingly, I signed up for a meetup group which organises regular outdoor workouts.

So I went for my first challenge - stair climbing!

30-storeys HDB blocks. 4 times repeatedly.

Total = 120 storeys for an hour.

Surprisingly, you tend to sweat way much more compared to regular jogging. Resisting against the gravity, lifting your limbs up higher each step.

Milestone

Tada! *vain*

Alright, move aside...

 On top of the building 

Very intensive for a beginner. Even with proper warm-ups beforehand, my legs wobbled after the whole event. My leg muscles, knee joints and ankles were a little uncomfortable.

The whole event was challenging and fun despite such! The seniors were friendly and welcoming though I'm the only youngster that evening. They are also very generous in sharing their sports adventure! :D

Stairs-climbing group!

Since I'm going to continue my self-motivating training, I bought 2 knee support bands to protect my joints. Only $3.80 from nipponya!

Prevention is better than cure, isn't it? :)

Good news: Progression for my backbone. I finally stand straight! Automatically!

How do I know? Cos' I leaned against wall every 15min to make sure things didn't go back to square. Quite obsessive but it works! Hee..

Muscle memory. They are built around the new bone position if you kept doing it.

When I tried to slough, it felt so awkward and returned to the straight position automatically.

Idiot proof. Do it for 3 days continuously, every day, every minute and every second!

Discipline plays a big role here. You have to persevere. Starting can be painful. I was a little depressed when my shoulder muscles hurted after the first day. It is normal to feel so.

But I kept persevering and it doesn't hurt anymore! :)

Believe in yourself and you can do it. For hunchbackies, you aren't alone!

Now I need to take note of my cervical area. Slightly forwarded neck and doing neck push back exercises every hour.

Gonna wake up for jogging tmr. Good night!


Note: Due to fire outbreak at SingTel facility, I only get to post this 3 days later. :/

ITD 1 (Intensive Training Day 1)

Remember that I mentioned about taking up a personal intensive training of correcting my posture and slimming down my body? My mommy seemed to have voluntarily taken up the role of a watchperson, readily scrutinize my daily work-out and consumption.

I wasn't allowed to touch anything from the fridge last night, not a finger laying. It tortured me so badly as a habitual happy supper-indulger. ;(

Unbearably, I sneaked into the kitchen in the midnight to steal a mouthful of milk and pieces of cereals. Keke..

Waking up the next morning at 8 a.m., I accompanied my mom for grocery shopping and bought roughly a-week food supply that will prepare me for my healthy diet programme. She is unexpectedly supportive, never did I see her that enthusiastic about my initiative before. We bought all the healthy items like avocado, watermelon, organic salad, cherry tomato, yoghurt, chicken breast and cereals. Some of these will be served as my newly-listed tidbits in case my mouth got itchy and start munching mindlessly.

At 9 a.m., I headed to jog for 2.4 km (minimum target to start out) which was considered very short distance. For an average occasion, I can jog up to 3 km at least in the gym. The road feels slightly uneven and a different texture on the park jogging path. Followed by 20 sit-ups and crunching before I headed home to bathe.

At 12 p.m, I had salad! Never a salad fan and only tried less than 10 times in my whole lifetime, I couldn't understand why the exaggerating benefits about it. My usual diet is generally fine and healthy, as I often drink avocado milkshake, orange juice, eat salmon and fishes, and only 1/3 bowl of rice. Meats are usually not for me as I don't enjoy the odour. This kind of explains of my good complexion and fast-healing.

The main thing that contributes to my unsightly tummy is SUPPER. And sloughing to eat makes the fat even more glad to accumulate there.

I finally decided to give salad a try. My first salad recipe.

Tada! My lunch...

Beyond my expectation. It tastes good! :D

It is simple. Green, red lettuces, cherry tomatoes and baked salmon, garnishing with thousand island.

Finally, to update about my posture correction (standing straight) since last night, my reflexes have adjusted well and automatically alerted me to stand straight. It wasn't easy, I did it intensively the whole night yesterday, once every 5 minutes to assure my straightness against the wall.

There is improvement! I tend to stand and sit straight the whole morning after continuous self-alerts. I will continue with the good work and probably improvise it by stabling book on top of my head.

It is going to be a tough process. My body aches after the whole process last night for 6 hours. It still stings a little but my body is adjusting to it. Seeing much oblivious wing-bones! :)

Let's continue to eat grass for the next 1.5 months. Moooo...

SIA Interview - Praise the Lord!

It was a great experience. I never expect I would come so far.

Thanks God for working the miracle.

Deuteronomy 7:9

"Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments."

I am very flattered to reach the final stage of kebaya-trying.Despite not meeting the stringent standards, I met with this kind and motherly judge who pointed out my shortcomings and was willing to give me a chance to work on my figure and grooming and keep me in view. In which, I can come back straight to test the kebaya again next recruitment. 

There is no confirmation or assurance that I will get in after my next attempt though. All depends on my personal result later.

I was and am very very lucky. Especially when I did not intend to come in the beginning due to other concern. No words can describe my gratitude now. 

It is going to be an intensive training and work-out from today onwards. In fact, I had been practicing the correct straight posture the whole evening and now suffering from muscle cramps! Gonna maintain it for the rest of the month to turn it into a habit. :)

This is the posture that I'm working on!

For those who got in, congratulations! For those who didn't, keep trying and never give up your passion. I tried the second time before I nearly or somehow made it.

"Failing is a process of succeeding." - quote from Attention Please Special

I will work hard, so will you!