Perseverance!

And so a couple of months ago, I gained a horrific amount of weight. 

 Most polite people around me said they weren’t able to see much difference but trust me, I gained it.

So, I went about trying to lose it. I used to do pump on Tuesday, yoga on Thursday, my own workout on Saturday and a run on Sunday of about 3-5km. I also embarked on eating clean and would make my own salads in office almost daily. 

I also drank my water w lemon, added chia seeds to my oatmeal and did everything I’ve read about which said I would lose my weight. Sadly, I didn’t. Not even 0.5kg. BUT, never give up was my belief! I couldn’t just STAY fat right? SO, I decided I was doing something wrong. 

I changed my regime to my own 1.5hr workout in the gym on Tuesdays, spin on Wednesday, yoga on Thursday, Spin on Friday, gym/bikram on Saturdays and 5km run on Sundays! And it worked! I’ve lost 3kg in a span of a month! 

So anyway, before I get too carried away, what I’m trying to say here is there is no fixed schedule for every person. Everyone’s body responds differently to different exercises. I tried many different combinations and finally found the one that worked, so never give up. Just keep trying and you will find the combination that works for you!

BRAND’S® InnerShine® RubyCollagen

A couple of weeks ago, Tian invited me to go for a BRANDS event with her at Mandarin Oriental. I jumped  at the chance for 2 reasons:

1.       I’ve been taking BRANDS essence of chicken since I was a kid and its always worked

2.       I got married at Mandarin Oriental

It was a lovely sunshiney day and we were all smiles as we took the day off from work and had the pleasure of attending such an awesome event.

When I was young, although my mother being Irish, strongly believed in BRANDS essence of chicken to replenish my strength after being sick and for exams time to keep up my strength. Although I never really liked the taste, I knew it was good. I guess the best proof of its effectiveness came when I took  my O levels. Before each paper, I would gulp a bottle of chicken essence right before entering the hall. I did really well and I attributed a part of that to my essence of chicken, it seemed to make me more alert and better able to remember all that I’d mugged.

Anyway, over the years, BRANDS came up with more and more products and the next one I began taking was the Birds Nest. Its really convenient as it comes in a bottle and all you had to do was snap the bottle open, no boiling, cleaning and washing up necessary!

Back to the event, the event was for BRANDS new product, Ruby Collagen.

The event was held at the outside area and the food was by Dolce Vita. I had the fish and it was amazing! Im definitely gonna return to Dolce Vita for my next occasion.

Juanita Simon hosted the event and she’s still so beautiful after so many years. She used to be my idol when I was younger cos I felt I could relate to her with her being Pan Asian and being so tall. (Yes, I had issues accepting my height when I was younger)

The product comes in 2 forms:

1.       Essence ( bottle form)

2.       Essence Strip (jelly form)

It’s recommended that you take 2 strips a day or one bottle and after meals. They both taste great, but for convenience sake I prefer the strip, its like dessert after my meal. I swear its super yummy cos its infused with pomegranate.

RubySignature formula defies the ageing process by performing a vital triple action of:

1.       SUPPLY collagen to maintain skin’s suppleness and elasticity

2.       PROTECT against collagen degradation

3.       DELIVER collagen, oxygen and other nutrients to skin cells

I used to take Collagen tablets before this but they gave me a headache but I have experienced ZERO side effects with this Ruby Collagen.  The number of benefits of collagen are just mind blowing and I can really see a huge difference in  my skin. Its more plumped up and a lot less dry than it used to be. These are the other benefits of collagen:

·         Helps you look younger

·         Scars on the skin heal faster

·         Reduces the appearance of cellulite

·         Relieves aches and pains cos it rebuilds cartilage in the joints

·         Builds muscle tone

·         Nails and hair grow faster and healthier

And these are just to name a few. So come on, try it. I swear it works, I tried it and I can see and feel the difference. Take a bottle of ruby essence daily for 6 weeks and you’ll be able to see it yourself.

It costs $57 for a box of 10 bottles and $36 for 10 strips of Ruby Collagen! I highly recommend the strips cos of the convenience it offers!

The Magic Combination

I know of a lot of people who have been working out regularly but still don’t see any results no matter how hard they try.

The reason for this could be one of many, your body could be too used to the type of exercise you’re doing e.g. running or your nutrition is all wrong.

I’ve always had a very strong interest in health and nutrition and am always reading up and talking to people who are experts in this matter.

Today, I’d like to summarise everything I’ve learnt and hopefully, this will help you guys in one way or another.

1.Exercise before breakfast

I know that this is relatively hard to do as waking up even 5 minutes earlier than you need to in the morning is a real chore. 

However, it is actually the best time to exercise and also the time where the body burns the most amount of fat. The reason for this is because, when you exercise before breakfast, your stomach is empty, your body only has the excess fat to burn and not the food that hasn’t been digested which happens when you exercise perhaps at lunch. What you’re burning is probably your breakfast and it’s unlikely that the excess fat will get a hit at all. Try sleeping an hour earlier so you can get up an hour earlier and maximise your workout!

2.Eat the right foods

I feel a lot of people don’t have the right knowledge about food. Most would think that eating wheat bread is healthy; in fact this is not true. Wheat is processed flour and is hard to digest which in turn causes bloating. An example of wheat bread would be the Sunshine Softmeal bread, while it is of course better than eating white bread, you should still opt only for whole GRAIN bread.  If possible, try substituting everything to whole grain foods; pasta, rice, noodles. It also keeps you full for a longer period of time resulting in you eating less.

Another excellent type of food, and which I notice more are starting to take is flax seeds. They actually lower body fat and are very high in fibre which, like whole grains, keep you full for longer and aid in digestion.  Flax seeds are usually eaten in cereal and oats.

The next would be berries. As we all know, all berries contain high levels of antioxidants and are extremely good for our health. Further studies have shown that, in particular, red and blue colored berries are the most effective in burning fat! So, come on go grab them strawberries NOW!

At around 4pm on most days, I find myself getting peckish and I’ve noticed the same with the people around me. A lot resort to buying a slice of cake, grabbing a curry puff, having a bao. These foods are all processed and high in fat. The best thing to snack on and to keep handy in the office would be YOGHURT! Any flavour of yoghurt is fine but make sure to buy low or no fat!

3. A combination of exercise

Focusing on just one type of exercise is NOT going to get you the body you want. It’s convenient, but after awhile the results are just gonna plateau.  To lose weight and to CONTINUE losing weight, your body needs a combination of cardio and strength training exercise. A lot of girls are under the misconception that weights will make them bulky. Carry light weights, when you use the machines at the gym, set it at 30-50 pounds. Of course, if you lift heavy weights, your legs and arms will get bulky and that is something most girls don’t want! Why we need to do some weights is cos the more muscle the body has, the more calories your body burns, EVEN WHEN YOU’RE NOT EXERCISING!! This is something cardio CANNOT achieve.

Findings from a two year long study conducted by the University of Otago found that women who participated in yoga, positive visualisation and meditation ended up losing more weight than those who only focused on exercising and nutrition. After two years, those women ended up losing 2.5kg!

This is why, its best to do a combination of exercise, you will definitely see the results you desire!

And to end this, the best thing you can do for your body is to drink LOADS of water. Minimum of 8 glasses a day. Water curbs hunger and helps in water retention. A lot of the time when you THINK you’re hungry, you’re actually just dehydrated!

Cinnamon

Hello all! I'd temporarily lost my inspiration to inspire with the information I come across but I suddenly remembered I’d always been meaning to blog about…. Cinnamon.

I honestly don’t know any girl who doesn’t want at some point of her life to lose more weight. And I’m always on the lookout for the easiest ways to do so. So I was really happy when I stumbled upon an article somewhere regarding how cinnamon can really give your metabolism boost and in turn help us lose fat.

According to the U.S. Agricultural Research Service, Cinnamon is one spice that increases your metabolism twentyfold — and all you have to ingest is a mere 1/4 to 1 tsp per day!

“Cinnamon contains a compound that helps break down the resistance of fat cells to the action of insulin. It works with the enzymes in your body to make glucose available to cells as a source of energy.”

http://www.livestrong.com/article/270935-cinnamon-supplements-for-sugar-metabolism/

Pretty interesting huh? I incorporate cinnamon in my diet the easy way, I add cinnamon to my tea and coffee, to my oats, to my sandwich when I’m having mashed banana on toast; there are SO many ways you can consume it and it adds a really nice flavour as well! So hey! Go grab a bottle of cinnamon powder now! You can find it at any supermarket. J

You’re welcome: D

SK2

Yesterday I attended the SK2 It Guy and Girl Event with Tian Tian. I’ve always had a strong interest in skincare and I believe good skin is only attainable if you take care of yourself on both the outside and in which you can probably tell from one of my first posts on supplements.

I’ve been using SK2 for about 4 years now. I can’t say I’ve been diligent in using it cos I haven’t. I always tend to slack for awhile, see my skin condition diminishing and start again. However, after this event, I feel “re-inspired” to continue my skin care diligently, especially at night when absorption is at its highest.

And so we arrived at Isetan Shaw at 7pm and saw a bunch of bloggers and media personnel around this booth they had set up for the event, so we knew we were at the right place! We received a goodie bag containing their famous product, Facial Treatment Essence, for both men and women! So YAY for Nick, he got a bottle too! This is the first SK2 product I started using and I have to say, it IS amazing. I can’t say the same about the smell, but hey! Good skin is more important right?  It lightens and evens out the complexion and if used on a daily basis, you can achieve that transparent look which I am working towards. I have a friend that’s used SK2 daily for years and her skin is indeed transparent and radiant ALL THE TIME.

There was a cool photobooth available and of course we had to get our pictures taken right? ;)

We were given drinks and some canapés and were then invited to the main event hosted by Valerie Lim, last years Miss Singapore Universe,which revealed the new IT guy and girl for SK2; who were Utt and Sara Wee respectively.

I actually hadn’t heard of Sara Wee until yesterday but yes, she definitely has good skin. I was peering at her and I couldn’t see a single wrinkle, and her skin seems really plumped up. She mentioned that her “miracle” product was the Stem Treatment. I went to ask the sales assistant about this product, and there are 2 kinds of stem treatment moisturisers:

1.       Stempower Rich Cream

2.       Stempower

At our age, we should use the Stempower. The rich cream is apparently meant for matured skin and of course, as the name suggests, is richer. I asked for a sample of the stempower so I could experience its magic ;)

Sara is actually a singer at some places in Singapore including Timbre. She sang 3 songs for us that night and boy, is her voice beautiful. It was just her, the microphone and a guitar but it was so nice to listen to. I’ve always envied people that can sing that well.

Tian and I proceeded to the counter to do our skin analysis as we were really curious as to what age our skin really was! They have this really high resolution camera which they use and take a picture of the “worst” skin of your skin and then analyse your skin based on that. The higher the score, the better. As long as you’re over 50% you’re pretty much in the clear.

So I went first, and this is the snapshot of my skin and the results:

They do an analysis on 5 factors:

1.       Texture

2.       Firmness

3.       Wrinkle Resilience

4.       Spot Control

5.       Radiance

My problem area where I only scored 59% was the texture refinement, which didn’t surprise me. I can see for myself that my skin texture isn’t great. One brilliant product for this is the SK2 Cellumination Essence. I have a bottle at home which I hardly use but when I do use it, I can really see a difference. My wrinkles were from the laugh lines near the cheek area and a few at the side of the eyes which is apparently very normal. What did scare me though, was the spot control. When they say spots, they mean brown spots. My “spot” age was 20 but I saw that I had quite a lot of spots under my skin that would come out with age if I don’t take care of my skin now! The solution is to counter this is to always slap on that sunblock before leaving the house! This IS something I do religiously but only in the past few months. I’m really tempted to buy the SK2 Whitening Spot Treatment which helps to lighten scars from the last 3 months as well as to prevent further spots from emerging.  This skin analysis is available to anyone, so if you want to try it, stop by any SK2 counter, it’s really informative as well an eye opener.

All in all, it was a fantastic evening. We met Yina, whom we’ve known for YEARS but have never seen in real life (and I forgot to take a pic using my phone!!) We spoke to Utt and had our pictures taken with him and I got to spend my evening with my good friend, Tian Tian! Happy day J

My Driving Adventure

In August last year I decided it was finally time for me to take my driving license, I had meant to for years but kept procrastinating which is why last year I set out to do a few things and I’m happy to say I’ve achieved most of them.

I chose to take my class 3 at BBDC because I like how the school conducts lessons, in a systematic and gradual way unlike private instructors who tend to miss out some stuff. I find that in the school, I learn everything and if the instructor feels you didn’t understand that lesson, he wouldn’t pass you. It might seem like a waste of money at the time, but when it’s time for your TP test, you will be grateful for it.

Upon my enrolment, I booked immediately for basic theory lessons. There are 2 classes which are mandatory, after which you do some practice sessions of the test questions followed by an evaluation which is a must to pass or you won’t be allowed to take the basic theory test! I did 2 practices and 2 evaluations cos I wanted to be totally ready and I passed my basic theory test on the first attempt. I followed the same for my final theory and passed with a full score that time!

I enjoyed all my driving lessons immensely and would really look forward to each lesson. In BBDC, you would be assigned to a group of instructors. My group had 8 people. They all had their own way of teaching and I really benefited from that. You can choose to fix one instructor at an additional cost but I liked that I could learn something from all of them. I also really enjoyed knowing all their stories and had a lovely chat each time I went for lesson which is 1 hour and 40 minutes at a go!

I’m getting to what I guess most people would wanna know before enrolling, how much would it cost? I believe I spent just about the minimum cos I failed only one lesson and managed to pass 2 lessons at a go on some days, so this is it. I’d say it’s an excellent investment and the joy you get from passing is nothing compared to that of a buying a new bag which is big coming from me!! haha. You feel such a sense of achievement that after about 6 months of hard work, you reap a positive result.

If you go for lessons twice a week, you would be able to finish in less than 6 months. Before you can start driving, you would need to apply for a PDL (provisional Driving License) which only lasts 6 months. I completed mine with 15 days to spare! Should you need to extend it, it would cost $25 to renew.

And I chose to take a manual license, it might be more difficult but that’s how you feel that true sense of achievement upon passing. I had to go for a mandatory auto lesson and while of course it was fun cos you only need to control the accelerator and brake, I would say it’s much more fulfilling to take a manual license. And with a manual license, you can drive both an auto and manual car so 2 for the price of one!

So for anyone thinking of taking your license, I’d say go for it! good luck!

Chinese New Year 2013! Year of the Snake

Is everyone prepared for CNY this year? Today is the first day of the year of the snake and according to fengshui, you're supposed to wear a red top and walk into a bank and deposit some money into your account! I dont know how much of this I actually believe, but hey! worth a try right? Doesnt cost a thing anyway! :)

I started early this year! I didnt intend to buy new cheongsams but I did anyway. I love how close CNY and Christmas are because the feeling of festivity just doesnt end.

I miss the times in Primary school when during our art lessons we used to make all kinds of lanterns to decorate the classroom. I remember folding all the ang pow packets to make fish and hexagon shaped lanterns.

Now, CNY just means food and more food for most! I always get my pineapple tarts from the same place, Cedele. Not only because its healthy, but they really are the best in my opinion! The other good place is Mirana Cake House.

I haven't got down to the spring cleaning bit yet but I'm really excited about my cheongsams!

There are predictions for each animal as well, and if mine holds any truth then I'm really excited for this year but then again I believe you make your own good fortune through hardwork.