New year with some .... erm... unexpected misfortunate event

Hiya peeps! Happy new year to you all! (I know it's a bit late for that, but better late than never eh?) My apologies for not updating my blog for so long. ZZZzzzzzz...... I haven't got any inspiration to write anything these 2 months, plus I was not in my best-est shape, especially in Dec 2011, up till now actually. But am recovering, slowly. 

There were few sickness that "attacked" me at one time, which kinda messed up with my mentality, which indirectly affect my training performance. Plus, I was back in hometown for Christmas, and you know, with monsoon and stuffs, it rained every single day there, so I couldn't jog. Bla bla snore. Yeah. Lotsa excuses. 

Eventually, I've lost so much weight, from 51kg to 47kg, which I dunno why. Probably stress due to all those sickness, being mental and stuffs. Came back end of Dec, celebrating new year, and hope for better health and career, and BAM! I had apendicitis the next day and I had to undergo surgery immediately. So, you know, with stitches and stuffs, I can't really lift any heavy things, for now. 

It's been 2 weeks now. I'm planning to start and get back on track this coming Saturday. Will definitely start with light weights or body weights, and nothing that'll strain my abdomen at the moment. Clock is ticking coz I might have a beach trip coming end March. I won't be around KL for almost a month in February, so another disruption there. So I've got no time to lose, and in fact, gotta work double hard for the beach trip. 

Damn all these timings. I was in my best-est shape in end November 2011, but that was the time when there was no beach trip. Went to Krabi in September and I was not lean that time. And now, with all the travelings, recovering and holidays, I have only approximately 1 month to work on everything, starting March. *sigh* talk about timing huh?

These 2 months will be just a light come back, coz only God knows how I feel for not able to train for such a long time. I'm losing my ass, for God's sake! My hard-earned ass... *sob-sob* And I seriously envy those who can go to gym and train hard. I seriously do. 

Right now, I'm just stuffing myself with food, and soon some protein shake, and my training will probably be Cross trainer (to work on my ass), or maybe treadmill with 3-4speed and incline of 10, maybe? And will definitely do bodyweight squats and alternate lunges, as a start. 

Oh! I can't wait till this Saturday! :) Ok. I have blabbed enough already. Wouldn't want to bore you to death. Hehehe......

Toodles peeps~~~~ Stay healthy!

Progress on Day 24 :)))))

See that smile on top? Ha! Hehe.....

I am, so far, quite happy with my results but I still have long way to go. I have only achieve 30% of my goal, but that 30% served as my motivation, because I cannot wait and see what the results will be like if I have achieved 100% later.

I measured myself on Oct 3, 2011 and my weight was 51kg with a whooping body fat percentage of 26.6% *gasp!!* I was at the FAIR level, going to OBESE, according to the scale at the gym. (I really dunno how they judge obese, but I don't really look obese lah, don't you think? Far than obese, but definitely not lean, that I know) Definitely was very disappointed with myself. Few friends actually commented on my Krabi beach pictures that I look "normal" and didn't look athletic. That served as my "wake-up call" hence the diet.

My diet is very simple. High protein low carbs. Very easy to prepare as well, at home I mean, but rather difficult to find outside. I realise that I really need to be mentally strong when I eat outside, especially when I'm with friends. Most people do not understand why I eat this way. So far, if I happen to eat outside, I can only eat Nandos since the chickens are all grilled, or the salmon from Ikea. Hm..what else? I don't really dig steak, plus it's too expensive to eat outside anyway. Not worth the money anyway. 

So my breakfast everyday will be oat 2 tbs + 2 hard boiled egg white. (I added a handful of raisins and 1 yolk in my previous 3 weeks diet, but now not anymore) My lunch mostly is outside since I'm working, so usually will be fish and some vege, no rice. My dinner is usually either 2pcs of chicken drumstick skinless or 1 block of salmon and 1 chicken drumstick skinless, long beans and carrots, all dumped into the steamer. (Just like image below). My only sauce will be Nando's Extra Hot Peri-Peri, for taste. Sometimes I will have mustard, or oyster sauce with cili padi. I will have 1 cheat-meal day in a week, so that I won't go crazy at the end of diet. :P

 My dinner

So after dieting like this for about 2 weeks, coupled with training of 5x a week, I have managed to drop 2% of body fat, and am now at GOOD level. I intend to go until ATHLETE level, which will be around 20%. It's definitely working, doesn't it? So, I'm gonna stick to this diet and workout routine until Dec 10 for Zoukout. Yeayyy baby!! Heheheeeeeeee...........

 

 Me in May 2011

Me in 2nd week of Oct 2011

I wanna be like her, especially her abs. So I still have

long way to go. 70% more!!

And am definitely going to get fake tan later. Tanned skin enhances

the muscles more muahahahaha!!

Progress is not good

It is sad to say that my progress for the last 2 months was not really good. Been slacking, not watching my diet due to loads of open houses, family emergency, bla bla snore. Yeah.. I know, excuses, excuses and more excuses. 

I got a wake up call, a so-called wake up call when few friends, very honestly, commented on how I look recently. They said I don't "look athletic", but rather "normal-looking" and "have shrunk" despite the fact that I'm training more than other people. It was really sad to hear that all my 4 years of hard works have gone to waste in just a matter of 2 months time. 

Ok. Maybe not 4 years. Maybe 2 years. The basic knowledge is still there, but people won't know how much you  know unless they talk to you right? Well not that I'm super smart or anything. Plus, as much as I do not want to admit, first impression does matter. So when I look like "normal people", people will wonder, what the heck have I been doing at the gym? Ok. Maybe I'm making all these up, but this is what I'll think of if I see some girl who doesn't walk the talk.  

Anyway, I have already made up my mind not to get distracted by other things ie hanging out with friends, eating Chillis on Friday nights (just an example. I don't really always go to Chillis anyway), or drinking beer on Saturday nights. One of my weaknesses is I care too much about what other people think of me. But it's good. Whatever negative comments that they have said about me, I'm taking it positively and will promise myself that I will prove them wrong one day. 

It just that maybe the 5x5 training doesn't work for me. For some of you who doesn't believe in functional training, surprisingly, during that 2 months of the training sometime in March, I was in my best-est shape ever. I've gained muscle mass and my body fat percentage went down. Maybe this type of training works for me. I dunno. I need to start experimenting again what works best for me and what is not. 

I am only in 3rd day of diet and so far, I still can managed. I dunno what will happen after 2 months though. hehehe.....everyday I eat the same thing. Morning oat + 1 egg + 1 tbsp of raisins. Lunch fish + vege. Snack 3 egg whites + 1 fruit. Dinner 2 chicken steam + long beans + carrots. Post workout tandoori chicken. Still not so bad for now. After all it's only my 3rd day. So.....

Well, wish me luck! Hope I can prove them wrong by December 2011. Toodles~!

Finally getting the rhythm

Last time, about a year ago, when I decided to enrol in the Original Bootcamp (OBC) at Padang Astaka, I lasted only 3 sessions which started at 5:45am. Only God knows why I enrolled that time. So semangat. And with no friends to tag along with. Basically nobody to give me a wake up call and motivate me to go to the camp. Lone ranger. Yeap. That has always been me when it comes to fitness. 

Anyway, I lasted 3 sessions mainly because :-

1. The daily onset muscle soreness (DOMS) was really bad. Before my muscles even managed to rest and recover, already I had to do another rigorous training. 

2. It's just too friggin' early lar. Enough said. 

When my friend, Jasper Chai, said he wants to start another outdoor morning camp, I kinda hate it deep inside because I know I'm not really a morning person. I may wake up early but not as early as 6am. But I have already promised my friend that I will support his camp and that I'm interested in trying out his trainings. 

Again, I think I lasted 2 weeks only, even though his time is a bit different, ranging from 6:15am to 7am. Guess my body still need time to adjust to the new schedule. Then I gave up, for about a week or two, till Jasper tried to convince me to try again because he said he sees the potential in me.

You see, I'm the type that works hard if the right people motivates me, coz I give up easily. Bad trait, I know. True enough, when I returned back to the camp, I was more than ready, mentally and physically, to follow his schedules and trainings. Waking up at 5:30am is no longer a problem for me. I don't even need to take a nap after workout anymore, unlike last time. (After my first session, I went back home for shower and it was only 830am, didn't know what to do and a bit too early to go into office, so I decided to rest a.k.a nap a while. Wasted the whole morning coz I woke up at 12pm :p) 

The reason why I'm still joining the camp is because :-

1. The workouts are all about fun but at the same time are very effective in terms of muscle endurance, increase stamina and muscle toning. When I say fun, it doesn't mean you can laze around, rest for 5 mins and etc. Hell no! You'll hear his loud voice ringing in your ear, pushing you to your maximum before he lets you rest. 

2. It actually involves with some equipments rather than just using our bodyweights to train. Bodyweights exercises are good for beginners and fat loss, but intermediate or advanced fitness enthusiasts will definitely prefer training with equipments, mainly because you will challenge your muscles by doing different weights with different workouts. Training with equipments will also allow your muscles to grow and pushing yourself to achieve a higher and bigger goal.

3. This camp derives from the crossfit idea, where you do certain exercises within the stated time. Kind of like a combination of bootcamp with crossfit. Hence the equipments. Definitely fun, if you ask me! :)

Oh yeah baby..work it!!

If anyone of you wanna join this camp, just PM me! Will be glad to give you the details. :)

It's a lonely world here

The problem with some people is that, if you do things that is uncommon or unusual, they'll say that you are doing something wrong. Or that they'll say that you are a freak, for repeating the same thing everyday without fail.

That's what happened to me at the gym. Regular gym goers know what my first workout will be. I always start with squats. Then on with dealifts. Then some assistance workouts. Nobody does that routine other than me, and maybe these 2 other guys. I observe the way they do their workout and it's exactly like mine! I have a strong feeling that they are doing Strong Lifts 5x5. The difference is that they increase their weights in every sets. I thought you are suppose to load up in your next training and keep it that way in the 5 sets? Hmmm.... But anyway, it's the feeling that other people are doing restless workouts with their trainers while I doing my 5x5 routine. It feels pretty darn lonely, if you asked me.

Like I said in my previous post, it's not because of what people comment about my routine, but it's what I feel. Ok, yes, I might have gotten stronger and I can tell you confidently that I can beat 70% of the guys there with my squats' weight. It's not because I'm good but it's because they never train on their squats before. However, in terms of cardiovascular and endurance, I feel like that I'm not improving any. Hence the morning outdoor workout with my friends. The routines are really cool. Not as tough as the OBC (Original Bootcamp, coz I lasted 3 sessions only and it was friggin' early ok?) but at the same time, I'm feeling all my muscles being worked on. So it's really a great feeling.

On to the diet. I'm feeling definitely, particularly "lonely" over here when it comes to diet. You see, nobody does the diet unless they are needed to. Like me, I might have a beach trip soon sometime in Oct, so I need to look real good in my bikini. Like real good. Hence the crazy diet. No rice, no sugar, no coffee.

Surprisingly, I can live without coffee. When there's no coffee, there's no sugar also, because that's the only drink that I need to have sugar with. Other than that, I usually drink water only. So who would want to have such crazy diet with you, even though you always hear your friends saying, "aiya... I need to diet lah."  and then the next day, you see them indulging in beers or pancakes or McD. Who, I ask you?

No one.

Plus, the fasting month is coming. I can bet you that there'll be big feasts in this 1 month, given the fact that I have tonnes of Malay friends. I have even turned down a house warming invitation last week. Their meals were pizzas, jelly and KFC. It's not that I dislike the food, hell no, but it's because I'm on diet. So better avoid than having the food shoving onto your face right?

That's why it's a lonely world here. Ya hear me?

Phew! I'm back!

Yes yes yes. I know. Been a while since I last updated my blog. And I miss my blog too!!

And I know that I owe you guys an explanation on my bet with Aizan, which was supposed to be on June 18. To summarise, it was kinda sad to say that I didn't manage to hit the target - 62.5kg - of deadlift. I totally forgot about me going to Hong Kong for a week which was kinda affecting my performance. Only now I realise that my performance will drop drastically if I rest too long. Honestly speaking, I rested about 2 weeks before I started my training back.

Damn it sucks I tell you. It was like going back to square one after training and sweating and getting calluses and all. I had to start from 45kg of deadlift and slowly gained back my strength. My last record was 60kg only. The difference is, a month ago, I can do 5RM easily. But last Thursday, I can only do 3-4RM. Gggrr.... It was kinda frustrating. But can't do much also. Gotta slowly gain back my strength lah.

I haven't trained for my squats yet. Just did some lighter weights with higher reps to get back the "rhythm". And now I got sick. Gotta rest few more days again before start training back again. *sigh*

And the sad news is, when I got back, I couldn't chin up! Not even 1! I was like, f*** lar. After so many years of hard work training my chin-up, just because of some break, now I can't even do 1. Shheesshhhhh....  Frustrating ain't it?

Anyway, what have you guys been up to?

New PR (again) and Chin Up :)

Have wanted to update last week but something happened to blogspot which I can't log in. Here's the progress :-

Squat : 60kg, 5RM (Last Friday, 13May2011 )

Deadlift : 60kg, 5RM (Last Tuesday, 17May2011)

I remember it was only about 2 months back that 60kg of squat was impossible. I was even struggling to grunt and grunt to get that friggin' 1RM of 60kg. And last week, amazingly, I can already do 5RM of 60kg squat. Funny how our body works eh?

As for the deadlift, I am actually still struggling at that 60kg that I knew I wasn't up there yet coz I had back pain the very next day. Probably due to the breathing. I notice that breathing is quite important during lifting. It does help. A lot. In fact, breathing is important in other workouts too, especially yoga and jogging/running. Now I know why people always "Don't forget to breath".

Another update was, I can finally do full range of chin ups! Twice! Honestly, I didn't practice my chin up / pull up in more than 2 weeks. The bar at home is just sitting in my rack. So yesterday, I wanted to put it back up at the door frame, and curious, I wanna try and see if my chin-up have improved.

Damn I can finally go all the way up with my shoulders touching the bar. Haha! And the weird part is that, I have never trained for chin up. I always train for pull-ups only. But yea, chin up is easier than pull-ups. So if you can do full range of pull-ups, you can always do chin-up, anytime.

People always say (including myself) that if you wanna do chin-up, the best way is to do chin-up itself. But also, there are some other guys said that we can do other assisted workouts to help on the chin-up. Well, I'll say that both helps. I think.

I actually did some ghetto chin-up, bench press, lat pull-down, assisted pull-up machine and chin-up during the past 2 weeks. Maybe they really do help. But whatever it is, it's a whole new feeling all in all. :D

Progress Report 060511

Hit new PR for my deadlifts and squats :-

Deadlifts : 55kg, 5x5

Squats : 57.5kg, 3x5

My benchpress is still at the same weight : 30kg. I'm not confident enough to bench heavier if there is no spotter. And most of the time, there isn't one around, and I'm just too shy to ask the trainers' help at the gym to spot for me. So I'm basically stuck at the same weight. Plus, my arms are still "swinging" and "wriggling", so guess I'll just work on my form first before adding on any weights.

I did a finisher on Wednesday. Again, got the idea from Pushmore WOD 041411.

Five rounds for time of :-

200m Run

15 DB swings @ 10kg (No KB at the gym and I know it's too light for me, but ... )

10 Box Jump

Results : 19m21s

New PR and FRAN

Did some squats and deadlift last night. I have hit new PR for both workouts.

Squats : 55kg 5RM

Deadlifts : 52.5kg 5RM

Honestly, I am still struggling with my deadlifts at this weights, but I got a schedule to hit. So I'll try to get as steady as possible before I increase my weight to another 2.5kg by next week. People must be wondering why the heck I always do deadlifts. hehehe....

Anyway, after the 2 major workouts, I did some other assistance workouts ie dumbell press, OB bent-over row and few others that I couldn't remember.

And I ended my training with FRAN.

21-15-9 reps for time of :

Thruster (20kg OB)

Pull-Up (I did on Assisted Machine since I still can't pull myself up)

Time : 10mins

Not very impressive because I rested in between, which shows how much my stamina is. It's definitely dropping and I definitely need to catch up in the stamina part.

As for my diet, I'm trying not to take any carbs ie rice, white bread and the only carbs that I'm taking are oats, pasta and wholemeal bread. Also, I'm cutting down on my sugary drinks especially coffee + sugar. Cannot live without coffee but I managed to not drink coffee for 3 days now. It's not easy since I started my diet on Saturday. Ya know, hanging out friends and stuffs and all the influence, but yeah, somehow I managed to stick on my diet.

Finally, I'm drinking one now. tee-hee. Self-discipline very weak. I know.

Why am I dieting? Cause I'll be going to wear bikini and suntan by the beach Malacca in May, staying in a villa with swimming pools. Got swimming pools means I get to suntan right? If suntan means I gotta wear bikini right? If wear bikini means I gotta look good right? especially at the abs? right?

Ya. That's why. :)

See where you stand in this chart

Source : http://exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/StrengthStandards.html

Wanna know where you stand in weight lifting? Check out the chart below. I only choose Deadlift and Squats because these two are my main trainings.

 As usual, I suck at deadlift. I'm considered under Un-Trained category.

That really sucks. But in 2 months time, I hope I can jump

immediately to Intermediate. :)

As for squats, I'm in Intermediate category. Still can do better. :)

So what's yours?

Oh, they have charts for presses, clean and snatch as well. Head over to the link above and check it out. :)

Challenge on 18 June 2011

Related link from Aizan

So last week, Aizan and I chit chat over the internet about two main compound exercises - squats and deadlifts. We both know very well that Aizan scores in deads while I score in squats. My last record of squats was 52.5kg, which was a new PR, while I remember she does 63kg of deads. Pretty impressive for a 47kg girl, if you ask me. My record for deads is only 50kg, to date. And I'm actually already struggling. Plus, I'm bigger size than her!

So, to motivate each other, I thought of a healthy challenge, since we both wanna hit the other party's record. We will both train for 2 months, and we'll meet (somewhere) on 18 June 2011 for the challenge. She'll do squats of 52.5kg 5RM while I'll do deads for 62.5kg 5RM. I'm not sure how I wanna do that because that's a whole lot of 12.5kg to get to. However, at the same time, we will try to improve as much as we can in within these 2 months, since Aizan has injured her right shoulder, which doesn't allow her to train for a week. So no pressure, Aizan, ok? Right now, we just think of improvement. At least 2.5kg increased from previous PR is good enough already.

And here's my workout plan :-

50kg

14 Apr - 5 reps x 5 sets

18 Apr - 6 reps x 5 sets

21 Apr - 8 reps x 5 sets

52.5kg

25 Apr - 5 reps x 5 sets

28 Apr - 6 reps x 5 sets

2 May - 8 reps x 5 sets

55kg

5 May - 5 reps x 5 sets

9 May - 6 reps x 5 sets

12 May - 8 reps x 5 sets

57.5kg

16 May - 5 reps x 5 sets

19 May - 6 reps x 5 sets

23 May - 8 reps x 5 sets

60kg

26 May - 5 reps x 5 sets

30 May - 6 reps x 5 sets

2 June - 8 reps x 5 sets

62.5kg

6 June - 5 reps x 5 sets

9 June - 6 reps x 5 sets

13 June - 7 reps x 5 sets

16 June - 8 reps x 5 sets

18 June 2011 - 62.5kg 5RM

I wonder if I can manage to do that. We'll see how it goes. Wish us luck then. *wink*

Is that possible?

How do I gain muscle without looking fat, especially at my round face? Honestly, I have been eating 5 meals a day. Not very clean but not very 'dirty' also. I have not been eating rice for 2 days, and targetting on eating more protein, since the last 2 days were non-workout days.

But ya, though I have gained some muscle last week, but the comment that I got was, I look fatter than before. Not 1 person ok? Three!!! In a week's time!

Does that mean 5meals a day doesn't work for me? Too much peanut butter and wholemeal bread? Too much green tea? Last I remember, green tea works well for me. Sugar? I am reducing my coffee intake and didn't take creamer. Reducing the sugar also.

Something's wrong somewhere. What is it? Siiiggghhhh..... I really hate people say that I am fat. Really hate it.

What is wrong actually?

Yyeesssss!!!!

I've gained 1.7kg of muscles in 2 months time. Maybe it was not that  impressive, but I was surprised that I have actually gained muscles rather than fats. Well, the bodyfat part, on the other hand, not impressive at all. I've dropped only 0.3%. Which means, I really, really gotta do more HIIT now.

I was kinda depressed when I weighed myself last night before going to gym and saw that my weight has increased from 50.4kg to 53kg. (I know, I still can't help feeling all paranoid when my weight has increased on the scale) I was really hoping that I gained muscles rather than fat, because lately, my pants and clothes feel tighter, especially at the thigh, biceps and back area.

It's time to step up the weighing machine at the gym and measure my progress. While driving to gym, I did some pep talk. I told myself not too get disappointed in case the tightness that I felt was due to fat, and that I will work triple hard to get back in shape.

Oh well, guess it's all clear now, and I'm smiling from ear to ear. Working out double hard last night because of the "motivation" and whatever I did, it's working. I do realise that I have been eating quite a lot lately, small meals. So, Aizan, you are right about eating right after workout.

I never eat my post-workout meal. Usually hit the showers and sleep coz, yeah, I'm afraid that I'll get fat. But guess not!

So more muscle gain means more fats are burnt. And I'm definitely loving it!

Let the burning process begin!