Gym: You go hard, or you go home.

I have been schlepping around the house for so damn long (thanks holidays!) so I went to the gym today.

I haven't been going for any cardio classes for the last SIX MONTHS (yep I got a major shock when I realized that today).

Sad to say, any endurance or stamina I've built up over the year has just been flushed down the toilet.

I nearly passed out, puked and I gave up after literally 30minutes of cardio kickboxing.

I can't believe that I let me do this to myself, so I'm taking it pretty hard today.

So just wanted to say, when people say you go hard or you go home - just make sure that you go as hard as you can without trying to kill yourself in the process.

Peace lovies.

Til the next post!

Health & Fitness: Omega-3 Fish Oil & Weight Loss

Don't worry, I'm not about to start writing a science paper. I just wanted to share some useful information.

Taking a capsule of Omega-3 Fish Oil 45 minutes prior to working out will help burn more fat during and after your workout.


A journal published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition conducted a study to determine the effects of omega-3 fish oil when combined with exercise.

They had a group that took the fish oil without exercise, a group that took fish oil with exercise and similar groups who took sunflower oil supplements (the placebo).

At the end of the study they found that those who combined exercise and the supplement lost weight but those who combined exercise and the fish oil supplement, lost more weight (almost 1.5kg of fat mass). The exercise constituted of 45 minutes of walking or running three days a week in conjunction with taking a 6g capsule of Omega-3 fish oil. Participants kept their regular diet of around 2000kcal a day

After reading up on this study, I realized that there could be no harm in trying this out. After all the benefits of taking Omega-3 supplements include reducing risk for heart disease and reducing levels of LDL and triglycerides (i.e. "the bad fat" that contributes to high cholesterol levels). Seriously just Google benefits of Omega-3 and you'll be amazed. (Click here, I've done it for you)

I am considering trying this out but there are so many brands of Omega-3 Fish Oil supplements, that I have no idea which one to choose!

Let me know if you're planning on trying it out!

Peace lovies.

Til the next post.

xx

The Daily Fat: Gym on a Monday?

I always say, don't start on a Monday.

Mondays are just more depressing than other days.

Apparently more people commit suicide on Mondays than any other days.

It's the first day of the week, our awesome weekends end when it's Monday. Boo.

So I usually say, don't start on a Monday.

After a good long month of fasting (and an awesome surprise when stepping on the scale!), I decided it was (almost) immediately back to the gym.

I was talking to my mom about it the other day and she put it really simply for me: If you don't go, then you'll just keep making excuses for not going. It's not about going tomorrow, it's about going.

I almost didn't go because I was so tired burning the midnight oil completing a massive assignment that was due earlier today.

E X C U S E.

That's what I told myself. So I packed my gym bag, took a power nap and I went out the door on the way to the gym.

In truth, I haven't been to the gym since like April. And I was pleasantly surprised at my stamina. My first time in the Jurong Point Amore Fitness outlet today. I like it a lot, and I really like that it's all females and even the PTs are female. In Tampines 1, the PTs were mostly male and they were very intimidating.

I hope to be back at it tomorrow. Probably going to do some weight training instead of just cardio.


WORKOUT

Cardio (Elliptical/Crosstrainer), 20 mins interval cardio (1 min moderate pace at resistance level 3, 2 mins intense cardio at resistance level 5), -165 calories.

Alright peace lovies. Fingers crossed I'm back with another workout update tomorrow!

Til the next post!

Weekly Workout: The Schedule 21/3 - 27/3

Alright. Before my computer lets up and the battery dies, and before I head to bed. Here's the low-down on my schedule this week.

Keep reading after the jump!

Monday
Kickboxing 1hr

Tuesday
Swimming/Gym&Weight Training 30mins

Wednesday
Step Workout 1hr

Thursday
Swimming/Gym&Weight Training 30mins

Friday
BollyBlitz 1hr

Saturday
Low Impact Aerobics & New Body 1hr & 1hr

Sunday
REST and prepare for the upcoming week

Let's see if I can keep to this schedule this week. I'm also starting a new budget this week. Hopefully I can keep to that as well! Will update next Sunday before I post up the new weekly workout schedule :)

Look out for more posts this upcoming week. Planning to update the blog more regularly!

Peace lovies.

Til the next post.

The 5-5-5 Workout

So my 'workout buddy' (yep, that's what she's called now) tried to find a more effective way to do cardio while using gym equipment. And she read that one of the most effective workouts would be to basically pump out everything you've got for 30 minutes without a pause or a break. 

10 minute segments on each of these three equipment: the treadmill (classic gym equipment), the elliptical (everyone's biggest nemesis but secretly your best friend), and the exercise bike (I hate the stationary bike. I don't know what it's positives are).

So that means 10 minutes on the treadmill, 10 minutes on the elliptical, 10 minutes on the bike. From what I understand that's the order you're supposed to do them in. No pauses, no breaks (drink water while moving between machines!), no slow-downs or cool-downs til the end. 

We did our own version of what I'm calling The 10-10-10 Workout - we did The 5-5-5 Workout version. Same deal, just for 5 minutes on each machine.

I was super surprised (and this is why this post is tagged as Resolutions 2011) that I could handle running on the treadmill for 6 minutes at 7.8 speed (who really knows what that means, it's just the number that was there). 6 minutes got me to about 800m. Which meant that if I kept running at the same speed, at the same pace, I would get to 1.6km (aka 1 mile) in 12 minutes.

Yea, yea. It is a pretty sucky time for a mile run but I have not run a mile in the LONGEST TIME. I have the worst stamina, the worst breathing - just the worst everything!! 

Anyways. I kinda like the 5-5-5 version of this workout. I think I might try the 10-10-10 version tomorrow after work. 

Let's see if I can do the mile in 10 minutes. Else, I better run the mile first and then switch to the other machines :)

Alright. Peace lovelies. It's Friday tomorrow. Get the TGIF banners ready!

Til the next post!!

Remember Ben?

If you don't remember my post on Ben, click here. 

I was innocently watching Fox News the other day and guess what? Ben was on as part of one of them Health/Medicine segments! They were talking about his weight loss and basically how he lost weight just by running! 

Kinda jolted my memory about my 2011 Resolutions that I've not been following for the first full week of 2011. :( Well I hope to be able to pick it up again tomorrow. I am going to be bringing my gym clothes to work and I hope to be able to catch the 3.30 KB class. 

It made me realize that it's important to have inspiration around you so that you are reminded of your goals and targets. 

I also decided to add a 5km run into my goals for this year. I was to be able to run 5km in less than 30minutes. I think it might be a lot of work but maybe if I work on it, by July's Shape Run, I might just be able to pull it off!! 

Remember to keep the inspiration around you lovies!

Peace lovelies!

Til the next post!

Stretchy Stretch

I think I have GYM ANXIETY. I don't even know if it can be classified as anxiety but I can tell you that there is a part of me that seriously does NOT want to go to the gym.

I know, I know. Sounds like an incredibly convenient excuse NOT to go to the gym. 

But every time I plan to go to the gym, it's like something in me comes up with tons of reasons not to go. Then my heart starts beating faster and faster at the mere thought of going to the gym. 

I keep telling myself that as soon as I make going to the gym a  h a b i t , maybe my "anxiety" will go away.

And it usually happens, that after I go, I feel rejuvenated from the workout and I forget about the "anxiety" I had earlier.

I need to delve further into this weird issue of mine. (Like I don't have enough problems!)

Anyway, today I went for StretchFit (SF). Which is basically a stretching exercise class filled with yoga type moves but a little easier (or so I think). I planned to go to Kickboxing after but my knees and arms were a little shaky. The workout didn't leave me KO'd, but I figured it's probably better to take it a little easy in the beginning. Right?

So after SF, I did 25minutes of power walking on an incline on the treadmill. 


Lesson of the day: I need to bring my headphones EVERY time I head to the gym in case I just want to walk on the treadmill. Seriously. The only entertainment I had was texting while exercising and when that died off, it was some strange Chinese period drama about six teachers, a demoness and a dude, who seems important, who is in love with the alleged demoness. Yea - WHAT? 


K that's it for today lovelies! I think tomorrow I will go for SF again and then do some gym exercises - exercise bike and treadmill sound good to me right now :D


If only I could play Plants vs Zombies while exercising. Maybe I should get a good audiobook?


HMM.


Peace lovies!


Til the next post!
 

OMG I joined a GYM

Never thought this day would arrive but here it is ladies and gents (I'm imagining there are people who read this blog), I joined a GYM.

Which gym?

Amore Fitness at T1

What do I think of it?

Well I wanted to join last year but due to the lack of cash and a credit card, I decided against it.

So thanks to S joining the gym and bringing me along today, I decided that I would sign up eventually.

Didn't really think I would do it today but since today was the last day of the promotion, I gave it a shot. On the condition that I could pay off the amount in two payments.

How much did it cost me?

First let me just say I'm not trying to show off by letting everyone how much the package was. I am just trying to be informative.

For a 1 year (12 month) deal it's

SGD 1188

+

SGD 120 (registration fee)

+

7% GST

Which equals to

SGD 1399.56

Of which I've paid

SGD699.78

So there. That's what I did on the second day of my holiday!

The Step Workout (B) today was craaaazy! It's a great workout and it may have been a beginner course but phwoar!

Alright peace lovies!

Til the next post!!

Lovingly posted on-the-go using BlogPress from my iPhone :)