BLOGMAS Day 9: Current favourite Blogilates videos

It's BLOGMAS day 9!! Time flies man, time flies!! 16 more days to Christmas. WOW?! Luckily, I'm done with Christmas shopping. Can't wait to give them all out! 

Anyway, I'm sharing my current two favourite workout videos from Blogilates. I have two main concerns - the flabby arms and the muffin top. So, I have been looking for suitable workout videos online, but the problem is most of them involve so much movement! I know right, super diva all, want to get rid of flabby parts but don't want to move too much. But hey, it's possible and I found two videos from blogilates that seemed easy at first, but what the freak my muscles were so sore the next day. 

My current workout routine is either a 30-min jog + 2 "6 Min to Sexy Arms" videos + 2 "Muffintop Shredder" videos, or just 3 arms + 3 muffin top videos. Of course, I will switch it up every now and then when I get bored of the same routine - I'll just add in more blogilates videos! 

These days, whenever it's my apply-clay-mask day, I would do 2 "6 Min to Sexy Arms" videos while waiting for the mask to dry. Confirm feel like a superwoman! 

Anyway, the Blogmas posts are not going as smoothly as I thought they would be. Work has been crazy busy and I'm trying my best to stay sane and cheery. Can't wait for my long leave to start! 24 December, faster come!! :D 

1000 Calorie Workout Video by FitnessBlender

This long workout video (1 hour and 28 minutes and 42 seconds, WHAT?!) focuses on abs, HIIT cardio, strength and stretching. Today's the first time I'm doing this workout and I could only complete 44 minutes before fast-forwarding to the cool-down and stretching portion. Too freaking intense man. But, I'm quite determined to continue with this workout and hopefully by my 4th/5th time, I'll be able to complete it. 

Note: The creators of this workout advised against doing this workout everyday. 3 times a week is the ideal! I totally understand why man... *in complete exhaustion*

Also, please eat something that gives you a lot of energy an hour before this workout. 2 bananas? I only had pomegranate juice (yay elixir juice sg!) before this and I felt light headed after 40-odd minutes. That was one of the reasons why I stopped too. This feels like Insanity all over again hahaha. I remember I had a heartache after completing my first Insanity workout. Stupid me didn't eat anything substantial before the exercise! 

Ok yes, I hope I can complete at least 50 minutes the next time I try this workout! Huat!!

Off to wash up, beautify myself and yay time for Singapore Night Festival 2014! :) 

Have a great weekend everyone!

#100HappyDays - First 23 Days

Salad Stop | Sushi Tei | Pique Nique | Platypus

Sushi Tei | Sarnies | Homecooked goodness by ky's mom | Vitasoy

Nivea Creme in nice packaging | Best serum ever | Chocolate truffles | OOTD | Hotel room in Berlin | New running records

Cheap Taobao find | Berlin art | Berlin Dome | ZARA vest | Day 1 | New shoes

Berlin Dome | OOTD | Cute and very functional bottle | Crazy awesome WEE kids | Repeat Vitasoy photo (argh!) | Berlin Dome from the top

And then we have this Dora. I seriously only take photos of myself so much when I'm with her. HAHA. 

4 short days in Berlin in 8 photos and 1 stupid watermark photo that I cannot remove. 

POP Pilates for Beginners

My new obsession! Some of the moves are basic, but omg some are so tough. Definitely can feel the pain (the good pain ah, not the injury type)! I'm on Day 5 today! :D

Come come join in the fun! Thanks Chay for introducing this to me!

POP Pilates for Beginners (28-day plan)

http://www.blogilates.com/blog/2013/06/03/beginners-calendar-for-popsters-just-starting-out/

November 2013 in general...

I do not what happened to 2013. Why is the year passing by so quickly?? We are now into December 2013 and I'm quite sure I'll be attending count-down gatherings very soon. Then it'll be 2014, then I'll be turning a quarter of a century years old. Gosh. 

Scary how fast you go through the 20s so quickly. Your 20s is like the bullet train period, for most people lah. You graduate, you find your first job, you buy your first house, you get married, you have kids, etc. etc. So many responsibilities to handle in your 20s. 

My mind is always about these. Aiyoh. I think that's why I have acne flares so late lah. I'm so stressed about everything! 

ANYWAY, I got to recommend the below curry noodles to everyone that I know. It is SO NICE. I went to Chan Brothers to get my Taiwan travel visa done and Kengyang and his parents brought me to this magical place (Hong Lim Complex!) for breakfast. 

W.O.W. I don't fancy curry mee very much, especially those with yellow noodles. I detest yellow noodles. But the thick beehoon version was so nice and soooooo smoooooooth. It's quite pricey for hawker food (S$5/S$7) but the S$5 bowl was a mega huge serving and the uncle's generous with his portioning. 

TWO THUMBS UP. 

Kengyang also brought me to this porridge place at Bukit Merah (Ye Shang Hai Porridge) and it was extremely affordable and very yummers.

Yes, Kengyang's family eats out a lot so they know where the good eats are. Yay for me. HAHA.

Anyway, we paid S$6.20 (!!) for what we ordered. We realised we didn't have meat so we ordered a small portion of duck from the duck rice stall and that plate cost as much as our entire porridge meal (S$6). Haiyoh.

Finally tried the Royal Pudding from Paris Baguette Cafe. This is not cheap at all - S$4.50 for a tiny portion. But the container is cute, can be reused and mom paid for it, so of course must try. I got the Mango Royal Pudding and wow now I know why people are raving about it.

More Yankee Candle for December! My room smells foul whenever there's no ventilation (strange, maybe there's a dead bug somewhere), so burning candles is a life-saving routine.

I was really upset last Monday and overall I wasn't feeling in the mood to do anything. It was the usual PMS mood swing and it was worse than ever. Miss Lirong was so sweet and when I met her to pass her her Taobao purchase, she gave me a stalk of sunflower and a hand-written note to cheer up. :') This girl is very precious.

-Insert random photo here heehee- I like the necklace so yay!

OKAY. We have come to the most important part of November 2013.

I started on this 30 Day Squat Challenge after seeing it on Instagram. Today is Day 12 for me and it's rest day (Thank God). I have been religiously following the routine and I gotta be honest, it hurts, hurts like hell.

However, the results have been quite positive. I did squats everyday + 1-min planks and then my jogging routine every other day, and I have lost some centimetres!!!! So exciting!!

My weight has increased though but I'm quite sure that's the additional muscles' contributions. As of last night, I have lost 1.5cm off each calf, 1.5cm off each thigh, 2cm off my waist and 4cm off my hips. WTF?!?! Got so lihai or not?? That's after 11 days only le!!

I'm so impressed with the results and I'm DEFINITELY going to continue this routine. I must admit though, planks are so much more difficult to do than squats. But yay, centimetres lost = always a good thing! :D

Now, let's face December 2013 bravely! I'm traveling to Taiwan from 20-27 December 2013 (thanks Kengyang's parents!!) and I'm stoked!! :D

Exercise + diet routine (how I lost 6 kg in 4 months)

Losing 6 kilograms in 4 months may not be a feat to some people, but to me, it's a reward for my hard-to-come-by perseverance. The main reasons why I was so determined to lose weight was because I had enough of people shunning me because I look fatter than the average human being. I mean, yes, some people were nice and they sais I was just a little bit plump, but there were others who went all out to make sure I felt bad about myself - including some family members too.

I was under depression almost 1.5 years ago because of this matter and had so many suicidal thoughts. Then one night, I snapped out of it and decided to give it my all. I lost 6 kg between February 2012 and June 2012, and currently I'm just trying to note gain anymore weight. If I do lose more weight now, it will be a bonus, but my exercise and diet routine now is just to maintain the weight loss.

So here is my exercise routine!

Running/jogging/walking

I made it a habit to run, jog or walk at least 4 times a week. It's not about how much calories you are burning, it's about moving around. You remain stagnant in a certain position so much everyday that you  accumulate fats in areas that you don't want fats to store. For example, studying or being in school means you are sitting down a lot, and hence if you eat too much, your fats are probably going to accumulate in the tummy and butt area. NOT GOOD. Therefore, it's important that you move about by either running or simply walking around your estate.

Don't under-estimate walking. Walking more contributes to the increase in your metabolism level. Increase in metabolism level means that the rate of you burning fat WHILE NOT EXERCISING is faster.

If you want to lose weight, running is great, especially when you add intensity levels into your routine. For example, you can sprint for 1 minute, and then jog slowly for the next 2 minutes. You don't need to be a marathon runner to be able to lose weight. It's all about moving around and not being in the same pose for too long.

Online fitness videos

I have two videos that I want to share:

1. Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3)



The video above is a compilation of all 3 levels, but the gist is you start with Level 1, and then change to Level 2 on your 11th day and then to Level 3 on your 21st day. Some of the moves are quite simple, but some are really painful.

The 30 Day Shred has varying effects on different people. Some lost weight, some gained weight instead (but they noticed their body contours were more defined and firm). For me, I lost minimal weight but the inches lost from my tummy and legs were quite spectacular. I was really happy with my tummy area because my waistline was very obviously smaller!

2. P90X videos

Sadly, I couldn't find legitimate videos on Youtube, but you can always Google for them. I don't really do P90X exercises often because they are really intense. The first time I did it, I couldn't walk properly the next day. It was really quite painful.

For those who don't want to gain more muscle mass than necessary, I suggest that you don't do the P90X exercises too often.

A typical exercise day for me will be:

• 45 minutes jog around my estate
• 15 minutes of a combination of 30 Day Shred moves and P90X moves
• 5 minutes stretching

Of course, exercising only WILL NOT lead to weight loss. What you need to couple it with is a good diet. Not starvation definitely (I'm guilty of this, especially on days when I feel flabby. Yikes.)

A good diet to have:

• Many people say just avoid carbohydrates. WRONG. Carbohydrates are highly important for your system. What you need to take note of is what kind of carbohydrates you eat. Anything processed is a no-go. White bread and white rice are two of the most evil things you put in your mouth. Once in a while is of course perfectly fine, but I will suggest going for unprocessed carbos. Whole grains are fantastic, and just avoid eating potatoes. Beans are also great. 
• More fruits and vegetables. This is a no brainer. However, skimp on the dressing. Many fast food joints' salads contain higher calories than their burgers because of the crazy amount of dressing they include. Red wine vinaigrette is a great dressing. Personally, I eat my salads with as little dressing as possible. 
• TOFU. This is my all-time favourite diet food. Tofu is just packed with goodness. You get the calcium, you get the protein, but not the calories. Furthermore, eating tofu regularly can help to lower your cholesterol levels! 
• KIMCHI. I love pairing kimchi with tofu. They fill you up like crazy, but you don't get as much calories and fats. 
• WATER. Yes, water really does help in weight loss. Also, it doesn't hurt to hydrate yourself with something that contains no calories at all. 

It's a good diet to have, but don't follow it too strictly. Sometimes, you need to reward yourself with good food and it's okay to eat fatty food once in a while. 

In my case, I cannot resist good food AT ALL. So, whenever I eat high-fat content food or high-calorie food, I compensate by exercising more. Indulging in good food every now and then is amazing for your mental health. Don't deprive yourself!! You'll get depressed along the way and nope, that's not very nice! 

The above is just my personal take on exercise and diet routine, please don't take it too seriously. The tip is to find the best exercise and diet routines to suit youtself! :) However, I hope this post has been useful for anyone who's looking to lose weight/maintain the weight loss - I hope it directs you in the correct direction! :) 

Have a good weekend, everyone! :D