My fitness progress was never a straight line. I started joining the gym autumn of 2016 but if I'm honest, my routine and eating habits were still far from enough to shed pounds. It's better than nothing, I mused. Summer of 2018, I was in an orange dress and asked Gab to take a picture of me - then it hit me. I am still not where I want to be and that's not okay. I know I can do better but I chose to procrastinate and whilst I celebrate my progress, there's still room {a big room, actually!} for improvement. A little caveat here, if you are happy with the way you are then that's perfectly fine. Personally speaking, even before that picture was taken I always look in front of the mirror each morning and shake my head. I am not happy with the way my body looks and I know deep down that if I clock in the effort, I can change that feeling into something positive. At this point - experience tells me so many things: fad diets don't work, abs are made in the kitchen and results are never overnight. Picture on the left was taken at Singapore, January 2016. Right picture was in London, July 2018.
1. I discovered running. If you tell me to run even early this year, I would've rolled my eyes on you. Treadmill, cardio, running... those are swear @%&# words in my book. Until one fateful Saturday. I don't know, it's probably out of sheer frustration on my part. You see, I've been going to the gym at least twice a week for the last two years but I can see very minimal results. Cardio is the only thing I've never tried so what if this works? So I did try it {using my Body Pump trainers}. Result? My feet were sore! This is it! I moaned. I knew this is not for me. Ha! What a closure. Then Gab calmly reminded me that trainers {rubber shoes} are very important in running. So - armed with a perfect reason - off we went to Covent Garden and bought my first Asics shoes. I had a GAIT analysis (it's a way of assessing the way in which one walks and runs) beforehand.
I need 50 runs to justify this shoes! I told myself. Tip: Every time I finished my run, I put a little check on my monthly calendar. I'm happy to report that today is my Day 88. Do I love running now? Let's just say each run is a celebration of what my body can do. There are two questions I ask myself every time my bum wants to lull around:
* I sat in front of my laptop for at least 8 hours today. Is 20-30 minutes too much to ask?
* Can I physically do it today? Knowing that there are days I can't.
2. Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. I always remember this phrase. I first heard it from one of my Netflix health documentary binges and it resonated on me from then on. I still indulge but I always strive to eat food that are not processed. I stopped eating canned goods because I cannot wrap my head around the fact that the food inside has been dead for quite a while by the time I open the can {take corned beef as an example}. Plus freshly prepared food always taste better than packaged ones. Tip: I prepare carrot and ginger juice at least once a week. Whenever I feel bleh, I imagine my 8-year old self gulping Enervon C or Lysine. It's the same thing, only this time, the vitamins are in their most raw form. Though you probably know it already: carrots are good for the skin and is one of the best cancer-preventing food we can ingest.
1. I discovered running. If you tell me to run even early this year, I would've rolled my eyes on you. Treadmill, cardio, running... those are swear @%&# words in my book. Until one fateful Saturday. I don't know, it's probably out of sheer frustration on my part. You see, I've been going to the gym at least twice a week for the last two years but I can see very minimal results. Cardio is the only thing I've never tried so what if this works? So I did try it {using my Body Pump trainers}. Result? My feet were sore! This is it! I moaned. I knew this is not for me. Ha! What a closure. Then Gab calmly reminded me that trainers {rubber shoes} are very important in running. So - armed with a perfect reason - off we went to Covent Garden and bought my first Asics shoes. I had a GAIT analysis (it's a way of assessing the way in which one walks and runs) beforehand.
I need 50 runs to justify this shoes! I told myself. Tip: Every time I finished my run, I put a little check on my monthly calendar. I'm happy to report that today is my Day 88. Do I love running now? Let's just say each run is a celebration of what my body can do. There are two questions I ask myself every time my bum wants to lull around:
* I sat in front of my laptop for at least 8 hours today. Is 20-30 minutes too much to ask?
* Can I physically do it today? Knowing that there are days I can't.
2. Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food. I always remember this phrase. I first heard it from one of my Netflix health documentary binges and it resonated on me from then on. I still indulge but I always strive to eat food that are not processed. I stopped eating canned goods because I cannot wrap my head around the fact that the food inside has been dead for quite a while by the time I open the can {take corned beef as an example}. Plus freshly prepared food always taste better than packaged ones. Tip: I prepare carrot and ginger juice at least once a week. Whenever I feel bleh, I imagine my 8-year old self gulping Enervon C or Lysine. It's the same thing, only this time, the vitamins are in their most raw form. Though you probably know it already: carrots are good for the skin and is one of the best cancer-preventing food we can ingest.
3. Consistency is non-negotiable. If I want to see results, I need to exercise, drink enough water, control my sugar cravings, basically choose the right things not only for one day but the day after next and so on. My goal is to make it a muscle memory that it won't take too much self-talks on my head and do it automatically. I cancelled my gym membership but I'm happy to report that I'm seeing results! I run at least three days a week. There's a gym in our flat (flat tour HERE) and it's perfect because I can run despite adverse weather conditions. The distance is not too much, only 3K each run and to me, it's perfectly fine. My goal is not perfection, it's continuity. -CMK
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