PIIT28

For some time, my fitness has been lacking cause I got bored so when Cassey launched her PIIT28 program, I decided to invest some money into it.

What is PIIT and why 28?

PIIT stands for Pilates Interval Intense Training which is similar to HIIT - High Intense Interval Training but this program incorporates pilates movement. I actually hate cardio but maybe teamed up with some pilates movement, I might be able to squeeze some in.

It guarantees result within 28 days with clean eating of course. Cassey do have meal plan as well but I just bought the workout plan. 

What am I suppose to do?

7 moves, 45 seconds on, 15 seconds break = 1 round. 1 day = 4 rounds. 

It is intense, it will make you sweat but you will love it.  

I also want to support Cassey for everything she had done for me for the past years with her free workouts and I love her bubbly positive attitude towards fitness and life. Plus, if I paid for it, it might hold me accountable.  

Want to push yourself too? Let's go! 

Journey to Splits

When it comes to flexibility, I am as stiff as an oak tree. Therefore I took up blogilates July challenge - stretching daily to increase my chances of doing the splits. 

Here's how it works. 

- Stretch 1 to 5 daily. Hold each stretch for 1 minute. Both sides. 
- Add another stretch from day 6. Therefore for day 8 - you will have to do stretch 1-5 then stretch 8.

I'm going to try this and hopefully by the end of the month, I will be able to execute the split. 

Let's go on this journey with me. 

Later dayz,

Hot Body Year Round Book!

It is finally here! Last year when Cassey announced that she was writing a book, I was determined to get it - mainly to support and thank her for the push and motivation she had given me through her videos. Even if it burn a little hole in my pocket, I'm going to get it because I knew I would not be disappointed. 

When her pre order came out on January 30th, I booked a copy for myself and waited excitedly for April. It felt like a long time back then but now we're already in April. 

I am in love with the book. I could feel Cassey poured her whole self into the book and as I read, I can hear her voice narrating. This is crazy but it's a good crazy lol.

I love seeing all my favorite torturing moves included in the book and as an old time Popster, reading these moves one by one made me smile as I recalled how it felt to be on the mat and feeling so sore and painful. It took me back to the journey when I first started and how much I could endure now compared back then and how much more I can improve now and in the future. 

Fitness is a slow progress but it all starts with a single step. I'm so glad I found Cassey who pushed me to my first step. 

Oh because I pre ordered the book, I received the tote bag 2 days before the book came. I am loving the gradient font and I don't know what will be so worthy to put in this bag. 

Hot Body Year Round is an absolute Blogilates form in a book and I would recommend getting it. I now can teach my friend some pilates moves as well - at least now I know how many reps to give out and also reminder for beginners pose. 

Later dayz,

Say hello to the gym!

A while ago, I posted about quitting the gym and the reasons I did it. Well, it bit me back in the butt because I am now back in the gym. That's why you should never say never. 

Here are the reasons why I rejoined the gym :-

1. The gym is now near to my workplace. No more excuse of distance. 

2. Yes, I still hate cardio but I learned to appreciate the result of these intense workout. I basically visit the gym now for good run and that's it. At least that's my goal - at least now I have a goal. 

3. After running, I just get back to the locker room for a break and man, those are the sweats dripping. It felt good! Plus, now I have the polar watch I felt the other thing that made me felt awesome about exercising is looking at how much calories were burnt. 

4. I still felt like I'm comparing myself to other people but at least now that I've taken off from gym, gotten stronger with Cassey and returned, I don't feel as inferior as the first time. There will always be people stronger and fitter than me but this time, it's about me. It's about my pace and I know where my weakness lies. 

On top of that, I have a gym bunny now who actually dragged me to classes. For her to be so motivated in turn motivated me. 

I am still loving Cassey and blogilates. I love working my abs even though it's sore like hell as well as the other parts of my body. I was even "homesick" when I first stepped into the gym again - like .. what am I doing here? I want Cassey!! I just need Cassey!! 

I'm such a drama mama lol but I do understand that even though I'm stronger than I was before, I still need to improve my stamina - I still need to burn off the excess fats therefore I run. I still get down on the floor and get my pilates on during off gym days. 

Plus, I do believe my stamina has improved a lot. Previously I completed 100 burpees within 40 minutes and only jumped for half of them, this time I completed 100 burpees within 25 minutes with full 100 jumps. I surprised myself and this just fuels my determination to keep running. 

Just gonna stick around the gym for a while to try this out. 

Later dayz, 

Self love

I used to wish I was skinny. I used to envy the girls who can wear whatever and looks good. It took me a long time to actually realize that try as I might, no matter how I would never be able to achieve the same skinny frame that they have. 

I'm not born with the skinny frame. I'm not genetically small either. Once I understood that, I stopped hating my body and see myself for the person who I potentially could be. I stopped feeling sad for myself and I tried to get myself into a fitness routine. 

The quote that inspired me most was this : -

It really reflect on how long I felt sorry for myself and how much time was wasted. I'm wasting my youth moaning about something that I can change, something within my control. 

Fast forward a year and 8 months later, I felt better about myself. Not because I'm skinny, not because I have an hourglass body but because I finally learned how to love my body. 

Along the process, I started to appreciate my body for being there - an opportunity for me to sculpt it into something awesome, something I can accomplish. I am still on my way but loving myself was not something I thought I could do. 

I'm a rectangle by the way. 

I no longer envy the skinny girls because we are all different. I'm me, rectangle me and I am going to work on this body because it's mine. Everyone have their own body shape so be proud of yourself - it doesn't matter if you are a triangle or round because your body will show you what it is capable of if you work it and eat right. 

Be the shape you are meant to be but work on it to be toned, strong and healthy. 

That's all. No magic formula. Just train hard + eat right and you will be fine. 

Later dayz,

My dream body

When girls are looking at women like Kim K and J'lo as role model, I don't usually give them a second glance but I finally have someone to look up to. 

WWE Diva Paige has the dream body that I want. 

Forget big butts and boobs, I would just want that flat abs, toned legs and firm butt. I used to have wider waist and now I have a rectangle body. 

The way she struts down the ring exudes sexiness and confidence. Maybe because she's fair which makes me feel like I too can achieve her body. Feminine yet strong.  

Who are your role models? 

Later dayz,

On the scale

Chinese New Year day 5. 

One week of eating. Not working out. I stepped on the weighing machine.

No weight gain. 

.
..
...

Before anyone thinks I'm bragging or anything, I have to state that I got sick right before Chinese New Year which decreased my appetite. Infection from close contact with sick family members. I also ate in moderation, out of habit. 

My sore throat evolved into an annoying cough that wouldn't go away and flu that is still blocking my nose. I can't smell anything that I eat. 

Flu, faster leave as I want to enjoy my food!

Later dayz,

Review for miband

Jogging and walking are not my favorite type of exercise but when I heard of the Fitbit Flex two years ago, I started exploring fitness gadgets. 

Fitbit is unfortunately a little too expensive for me and I scraped the idea of owning one after weighing out the pros and cons. Most of my workouts are strength training and lesser cardio. 

I don't recall who passed me a link but it was for the mi band. I started doing some research first and foremost because I want to make sure it's compatible with my S3 phone. 

I bought the mi band online and it arrived within days. The battery was at 74% charged but I put it on after downloading the mi band app in play store. 

After using the mi band for nearly 3 months, here is my review : 

What does the mi band do ? It tracks my steps and my sleeping hours - that's the basic use of the tracker. 

When I registered my app, I set my profile and set 8,000 steps daily. 

The interface is really simple and  easy on the eye. The chip on the strap records my steps and when I bluetooth connect to the app at the end of the day, it took a few seconds to sync and update the data. 

When I click on the number of steps for the day, I get the breakdown details of my daily steps. How many steps I walked during that particular hour. 

I can view and compare my steps daily too.  I like to see the numbers spike up and down especially now when I'm walking more during the weekdays. 

If I select the moon icon at the bottom of the interface, I switched to sleep tracking mode. I used to wear the device to sleep but stopped doing so because I didn't want to wear it 24/7. 
  

The device will track your sleeping hours and break them down to your light and deep sleeping pattern. 

There is also the alarm clock function which vibrates to wake you up. I didn't quite like it because I get annoyed with the band vibrating on my wrist.
  
The chip itself has 3 lights which you can see if you swing your arm up as if you're looking at the time. The lights represent your progress of the day - if you complete your total steps for the day, the band will vibrate. I usually get excited when the band vibrate!

A few more things to note :-

Accuracy - I would take this with a pinch of salt because I was in the car for an hour + the other day but the app recorded I walked 10 steps during that hour. I tried walking slowly a step each time while holding my phone to see the numbers increase and it did precisely so I would say it's plus minus for accuracy. 

Battery - long lasting. When I bought it, it had 74% left and it lasted for a month and a half before it died. It took me about an hour to charge via usb and slipped the chip back into the strap

Waterproof - I took if off during shower because I don't think this is waterproof. Little splashes of water is fine but I doubt I can go swimming with this. 

Strap - when I first got the strap, I couldn't push the knob in the hole so I had to get my scissors into it and twist it a little to enlarge it before clipping the strap on. 

Design - certainly not a glamorous piece but it's passable as an accessory without being noticed. I'm using the black band which can match any clothes. 

For Xiao Mi phone users, I think there's more features for you guys but I'm using S3. For the price, I would say this is a good basic gadget to track your steps and sleep. Don't expect something fancy though. 

Get it here!

Later dayz,

Why I love Blogilates

When you have something good, you would want to share and this is what I'm doing today. 

When people asked me what exercises I did to lose weight - all I can say is pilates Blogilates style. The founder of Blogilates is Cassey Ho and I found her about her through another youtuber (for this I owe you Bubz!) and I'm so happy I found her. 

Here are the reasons why I love Cassey and why I would recommend her if you are into home on the mat workouts like I do. 

1. Her workouts are fun and usually accompanied by a pop-ish song in the background

2. Her workouts are short and effective. Her longest video up to date is about 20 mins but most of them are below 15 minutes mark so I don't feel like I've been dragged on too long. 

3. Her monthly workout calendar are free. All you have to do is sign up for her newsletter for free and a password will be sent to your inbox. She planned your whole month workout with different target area every day so today I work my legs, tomorrow my abs and so. All her workouts are free and can be found on youtube. Bonus : Cassey even list her daily calendar workout in playlists on her channel which was very helpful. 

4. Her blogilates app (both ios and android free!) provides huge motivation to keep working on your goals. Sometimes on my lazy days, I get in and looked at these amazing transformation these girls accomplished and I want that for myself too so I get off my butt and sweat it out. 

5. Her workouts make you sore. Trust me, the pain - the good kind is addictive and you just want to keep going. I remembered almost giving up after my first day because I was so sore and my abs hurt but I didn't want to keep giving up on myself. The workouts remained the same as time goes but you get better. 

6. I started with Cassey's beginners calendar first to ease into the idea of working out. So if you feel that you need to start with baby steps, Cassey has her new version of beginners calendar which will help you begin before transitioning to the normal monthly calendar. 

7. She releases a new video every Monday which means you'll get more and more workout videos. 

8. Cassey's positive and cheery attitude with her motivating words and encouragement during the workout sometimes distracts me from the pain and just makes me happy working out. Positive body image and loving yourself are what she promotes and it is parallel to what I strive for. 

9. She's real - she's not skinny, she's fit and toned. Through her, I accepted the fact that I will never be skinny because I'm not built that way but I can be the best version of myself in my body. I used to hate my body but now I love it and I want to nourish it with good things. 

10. Her workout does not require equipment - most of them. All you need is a thick yoga mat. I personally use a 8mm thick piece because my elbows and knees are being pressed into the mat all the time. Most of them the workout can be done with my own body weight. Some of her arms workout require weights but I worked with water bottle until I was comfortable enough with to get a pair. 

I'm sorry if the list is all jumbled up and similar cause I felt like I'm just babbling on. Moving on .. to the other side. 

As much as I love Cassey and appreciate all that she has done for me and the other girls, there are some things that just I can't get along with : 

1. Her meal plans are nutritious and healthy but it's different from what I have here. Either the ingredients are expensive or hard to find. I just have to make the best of what I have here. 

2. I've been following her workouts for a year and half now. Even though she put them in different combination each time, it does get repetitive. It's only a matter of days/weeks before the same video end up in the playlist again. I can parrot what she says in her videos and I heard the same stories again and again. 

Other than that, I love Cassey and so thankful I found her. I never thought I would enjoy working out - ever. Maybe one day I'll talk about my pre-Blogilates days but that's all for now. 

Later dayz, 

A smaller size

When I began my fitness journey, I started with low expectation and made losing weight my motivation. 1 year since I started pilates, I bought a new pair of jeans because my old ones were getting loose. 

Few months after the new jeans was bought, I decided to put both jeans together for comparison as I'm looking to purchase another pair of jeans soon since the newer one too has gotten loose. 

Comparison and realization like this has further motivate me to continue working out and knowing that there's hope, there's something to hold on to and I am not fated to be fat because of my genetics.

Later dayz,

Abstaining from instant noodles

A year ago, I decided to abstain from instant noodles. I know this is a weird thing to do but here is the reason why. 

Occasionally when I get to the office in the morning and it's raining, I would get this craving for hot soupy noodles. Instant noodle cups were the only available option on the shelf and I usually gave in. 

However the regret kicked in almost immediately after I finished my cup. I felt bloated and disgusted with myself when I'm done. It just has that sickly aftertaste and my mind is just telling me that I had made a poor choice for breakfast. 

Not only that, I get hungrier faster when I had instant noodles. Within an hour or two after my meal, my stomach started growling again and it annoys me for surely instant noodles should last me longer than crackers? 

Therefore I decided to quit instant noodles, not only for office breakfast but for everything. It got to that point where I felt disgusted with myself for allowing my body to take in something that made me feel awful afterwards. 

Of course I did not quit noodles totally, I still enjoy the ones freshly cooked from the wok. I just stop consuming the ones which are instant and stop ordering the ones which they cooked using the instant noodles, if I'm aware of it. 

It's been a year since I quit instant noodles. I'm going to try staying away from them as long as I could. Yes, there was temptation. Last June, I had a craving so badly that I paced up and down the shelf before I grabbed the cup and shoved it in my drawer. Then I decided to forget about the instant craving and got something else for breakfast. 

I guessed partly it has become a challenge for myself as well. See how I can discipline myself and how I can abstain from it. I admit, I did not read up on the danger of instant noodles, I just wanted to quit because I felt bloated and disgusted with myself. 

I might not quit them forever but for now, I would like to see how far I can push myself. 

Later dayz,

Quitting the gym

One of my biggest wish while I was still studying was to be able to join the gym when I am able to earn. So I did just that in October 2011. I was so excited to finally be on my weight losing dream. I made everyone signed up with me as motivation and encouragement.

credits google image

At first I went to the gym 3 times a week but as the time goes by, I find it hard to keep up and almost 2 months later I quit with a heavy heart (that time) cause it was a longtime dream of mine and I wanted to feel like I ‘belonged’ somewhere, like if I kept my membership I will be deemed still trying rather than quitting.

It was after a long few months’ consideration and my attendance to the gym had been reduced to perhaps once or twice a month that I decided it was not wise to keep hanging on for sentimental value.

Here are the reasons why I quit the gym :- 

1.       At the time of joining, the traffic to the area was not bad but over time a 5 minutes’ drive became 20 minutes. I arrived home from work at 6 or 7 pm +. Time for dinner then had to wait an hour before heading to the gym with the 20 minutes’ drive. The workout time was so limited.

2.       Lack of guidance. I have no idea what I’m doing and what I’m burning. All I ended up doing is running on the treadmill and I hate cardio. Hiring a personal trainer cost me at least a thousand and I was reluctant to do so. I mean, it’s a big hole in the pocket.  

3.       I know this can’t be helped but I didn't like the air conditioning. I am weird. I like to feel my sweat after a workout and it’s impossible to do so when the cold air kept blowing me dry.

4.       Focus on me.  I kept looking at other people’s achievement and felt sad when I couldn't run as fast or my thighs are not so small etc. I resent those skinny people who are at the gym, wondering if anyone is looking or laughing at me. 

I started working out at home when I found Blogilates. It solved all my problems and I had no excuse.

1.       I can just roll out my mat upon entering the house, do my work out, take 10 minutes break and head to the shower and do anything I want. I don't need to go through the jam or to find parking. 

2.       Cassey had prepared her monthly calendars and I just followed. It’s that simple and painful at the same time. Plus, her videos are free and I'll forever be grateful to her for this. 

3.       I roll out my mat in the middle of the room and let the natural air flow. No air con, no fan. Just sweat it out. 

4.       There’s no one to compare to and as time goes by, I realized I just need to compete with me of yesterday. I learned to love myself compared to the time when I was in the gym. 

I have been sore and in pain but as time goes by, things get easier when I hit a routine. All I needed was my mat and some weights. 

There’s still one thing though, I still hate cardio. I really need to get myself pumped with adrenaline and just go out for a run. Perhaps I should get serious about aerobic and dance.

If you know any good dance tutorial channel, let me know. 

Later dayz,