Cannot lose weight no matter what!!!

A friend from college called me yesterday while I was on the treadmill at the gym, i picked up and we chatted about few losing weight tips.

I do have a lot of people come and ask me about diet tips. I'm no expert, still in my learning stage and I experiment  new things almost every day. I believe that our body is idiosyncratic so what works for me might not work for you.

"And you know how some 'fitness enthusiast' will be like I don't gain weight even though i eat like a cow or things like that".

But most of the time, when i looked at those who claim this i see them a lil bit on a bigger side. Their definition of curvy is already seen 'tembam' to me. Haha sue me for all i care. Then again, it is up to each individual. Its your body, your choice.

However the basic principal should be the same.

I used to share with them about calorie in should be less than calorie out thing because in the past it worked on me very well. But after 5 months, my body become accustomed to it and losing 1kg takes a month. I trained hard, 5-7 times a week (1-2 hour each session that consists of cardio, circuit and weight training). I eat 6-8 small meals a day or on some days I eat every hour. That was how I lose 20kg in 4-5 months.

Ok before I go any further, these are criteria of "I cannot lose weight no matter what I do" people. 

1. You exercise at least 3-5 times a week. Serious exercise. Not just brisk walking. Your workout already consists of strength, cardio and flexibility component.

2. You understand the concept of Basal Metabolic Rate, Daily Calorie Intake, etc.

3. You drink plain water, avoid fried and oily food and you know your carbs, protein, fibre well.

4. You sleep 7-8 hours a day.

Lets no go into detailed biological things like thyroid problems or hormonal imbalance thingy.

What I am currently doing:

1. Confuse your body. If you eat 6 small meals before, try 3 bigger meals. Do carb cycle, intermittent fasting, etc. Experiment new types food.

2. Keep your motivation up. We can never go wrong by eating healthy food, avoid overeating and exercise regularly. Although you are not losing weight, don't stop. Find a way to keep going after the initial excitement and result wear off.

3. Record every food you eat, taste a bit or even lick. I find using 'The Eatery' apps really help me do this. Just snap pictures and people will rate your food.

4. Change your cardio routines. If you cycle before try jogging or swimming or dancing. In my case, I'll move on to rpm and step classes instead of just body combat.

5. Slow down. Tone down the tension. Consider taking a week off exercise and eat more. I cannot do this. Too scary and risky. But worth a try.

6. Drink more plain water. 2-3L a day.

So far this is what I'm doing. Lets see if these works. I have 6-8kg to go. How about you?

XOXO,
Aisha ;)

Surah Luqman - Word of Advice

Have you read Quran today?

One of my favourite surah in the Quran is Surah Luqman, about Luqman giving advice to his son.  I read that Luqman was a righteous servant but he was not a Prophet.  (Isn't it cool to be him? I mean, he gave advice to his son Allah loves it so much and put it in the Quran). And the fact that he uses the word 'Ya Bunaiya' (my beloved son) which means term of endearment by father to son membuatkan surah ni bertambah-tambah sweet. hihi :p

Here are the verses that I think is the gist of this surah:

"O my son! If it be (anything) equal to the weight of a grain of mustard seed, and though it be in a rock, or in the heavens or in the earth, Allah will bring it forth. Verily, Allah is Subtle (in bringing out that grain), Well-Aware (of its place). -Verse 16-

"O my son! Aqim-is-Salat (perform As-Salat), enjoin (people) for Al-Ma'ruf (Islamic Monotheism and all that is good), and foid (people) from Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief in the Oneness of Allah, polytheism of all kinds and all that is evil and bad), and bear with patience whatever befall you. Verily! These are some of the important commandments ordered by Allah with no exemption. -Verse 17-

Some take home lesson (in my layman words and understanding):

1. Guidance and mercy for those people who establish solat, pay zakat and fully believe in the Hereafter.

2. Be good to our parents. If they make you join in worship other than Allah which you have no knowledge, then don't obey them but behave kindly. In verse 14 and 15, Allah reminds us of the hardship our mothers bear in rising us and commands us to be thankful.

3. In verse 16, the father is telling his son that when there's a secret (and that secret is hidden on top of hidden on top hidden..lol), Allah will still bring it out. Allah's power is coupled with his precision (Ya Latif). So whatever we do, Allah SWT is watching. How often do we commit small sins, thinking they're no big deal or that no one will know? The surah REMINDS us that Allah knows everything that we do and He will hold us to account to every little action. 

4. Solat must be established, make time for Allah no matter what. 

5. Be patient over whatever targets you because when you STAND UP against the wrong things, they might not like what you say.

6. Enjoin right, forbid evil. (Amar maaruf, nahi munkar) and be PATIENT while doing it. 

Today is the last day of 2012, make good choices. It could be a good kick start to a whole great year ahead ;)

Wallahualam.

XOXO,

Aisha

Ladies, lets kick ass!

Hello maaa readers,

What is the hardest part of losing weight and getting fit? CONSISTENCY.

Trust me, I know.

The solution is to find ONE perfect exercise that suits your interest, goal, body and energy level.

Can you guess mine? Kickboxing lah, ape lagi der.

There are times I don't feel like training with my PT. Rasa malas nak lift weights or do circuit training. But when it comes to kickboxing terus rasa ada je energy. I started getting to know kickboxing about 3 years ago when I joined Fitness First. I can barely keep up during my first body combat class. My movement was all over the place. I didn't get the instructor’s left and right, my joints were so tired from all the jumping and kicking but it was all in good fun.

Taking it to the next level, I hired a PT to help me train. My priority is to learn the proper techniques for kicking and punching. And also the fighting stands (which is important if you want to keep up. Salah stand, salah left and right will make it harder for you to follow the flow. And yea you will look ugly doing it. )

In general, I burn 500-800 calories per hour/hour and a half depending on intensity. Kickboxing gives you an all-over workout, moving and toning everything from your thighs, shoulders, arms, glutes and abs. The fast paced punching and kicking work well to help release stress and frustration.

It is fast, fun and helps you build muscles and burn fat at the same time.

Try lah. ;)

Oh for next year, to motivate me to train harder I bought this shirt that cost me RM35 and a pair of everlast 14oz pink fighting gloves RM130. (Sebab gloves kat gym busuk ok!)

Siapa kata kickboxing tak cute? Haa. 

 XOXO,

Aisha

New Year's Resolution 2013

I want to give this a try. Hopefully, on 31st Dec 2013 I can cancel off most of these.

1. Nak sentiasa solat awal waktu
2. Nak mula pakai stokin (wei, ni memang paling susah dah lama giler nak cuba istiqamah tapi susah yang amat. Cuma skarang tak pakai sandle nampak kaki dah, pakai covered shoes. Semoga tahun 2013 berjaya once and for all. Insyaa Allah)
3. Nak sentiasa ada minimum RM5k dalam bank
4. Nak kurangkan shopping. Ok tipu.
4. Nak jadi lebih fit. (Fat percentage iols nak bawah 20% with high muscle mass. Takpelah kalau orang cakap bahu besar, badan keras, bontot leper macam jantan. Tak kira nak jugak)
5. Nak berat 55kg.
6. Nak berkhidmat dengan parents lebih daripada sekarang.
7. Nak baca Quran hari-hari. Sikit pun jadilah.
8. Nak masuk pertandingan lari. (Start with 5km, 10km, so on...)
9. Nak travel lagi banyak to countries I haven't been to
10. Nak buat umrah.

Hehe. Dah azan maghrib. Jom Solat. ;)

XOXO,
Aisha

Gym Culture: Playing By Different Rules.

I knew trouble was on the horizon the moment a friend of mine told me probably about half of the guys at my gym is taking steroids and supplements like fat burners are like their Vitamin C.

When I started going to gym regularly 3 years ago, I’m actually glad somebody told me not to take supplement or fat burner too early on, when you can still lose weight the natural way. But after a while, you do reach a point of your natural limit, and you need to make a decision. Do you want to take it further? I believe that’s an individual choice. My basic science understanding regarding fat burner is, taking fat burners can prevent our ability to burn fat the natural way. Meaning that you’ll eventually become dependent on what you take and that it will lose some of it effectiveness. Our body will quickly become aware of the extra chemicals and so believes it does not need to burn as many itself. Or maybe the product increases our basal metabolic rate but may eventually disrupt our natural thyroid production. Same goes with hormones. Do you rather have extra of the fake testosterone rather than real one? IS IT WORTH IT? You choose.

I bet in any gym there are few ‘awesome’ looking people who stand out instantly among a sea of people with average looking bodies at best.  And that sea of average looking bodies at best people will think, “I need to find out what he/she doing so I can start doing it too and look awesome as he/she does”. Same goes when we look at fitness models, bodybuilders and A-list celebrities. We look at them, see the results they’ve gotten, and our first instinct is to replicate whatever it is they are doing.

Now here comes the part that separates average people with principled people.

It seems like a great idea and we’ve all probably been there before. But in reality, most of this hormones/stimulants/chemicals have different side effects in different people. I mean, its biology! Who can tell what works fine for them will work with our body just as good without the side effects?

What I learned is that, the next time some big guy (or big girl) comes over to give you training advice that is not inline with what you read and teach yourself, be careful. Chances are they are using whatever god knows drugs and chemicals. And if he does, whatever worked for him won’t work for you because you’re playing by very different rules.

And btw, I cannot wait to start training with my pink gloves. hehe. Tetiba kan kuar tajuk? takde kena mengena pun. Sukati i lah. Lol 

 XOXO,

Aisha :)

Pray.

"There will come a day when this veil of deception will be lifted. On that Day, we will see the true reality. On that Day, we will realize that two rak`at (units) of prayer were greater than everything in the heavens and the earth. There will come a day when we would give up everything under the sky just to come back and pray those two rak`at". -YM-

One thing I hate during TOTM (no, not the cramps) is the fact that I cannot pray. 

Few times people tell me, "You kan alim...you solat". Ramai orang rasa solat, pakai tudung (tak kisahla khusyuk or betul ke tak tudungnya) tu dah kira alim. Padahal, itu adalah requirement basic setiap orang Islam. If you believe in the day of judgement you should know that the first thing Allah will ask is about your 5 daily prayers. Kalau kita ni pemurah macam Oprah Winfrey pun tapi kalau tak solat rugi je sebab awal-awal dah fail dihisab. 

But what I'm trying to say here, we don't need to wait until the day of judgement to know the result of our Solat. Solat is like our daily conversation with Allah. Try this, lepas habis salam, duduk 2 minit talk to Allah in your Doa about your day. Dulu my doa selepas solat is very typical (belajar dari sekolah rendah). Yang biasalah, doa Allah ampunkan dosa, doa untuk ibu bapa, doa nak kaya, doa jadikan kita ahli syurga, etc. etc. Bukan nak kata doa tu bosan ke ape tapi macam dah jadi habit so kadang-kadang tak feel sangat. What I start doing recently is I talked to Allah about my day especially when I had a bad day. Dulu untuk benda-benda cani call kawan-kawan, lepak McD makan eskem nangis cerita kat member kan? haha. Sampai member pun nak muntah dengar benda yang sama 10x. Bukan itu saje, dahla sedih tak hilang tambah gemuk plak makan McD kan? Ehh..terbabas. Sorry. hehe

Try talking to Allah whatever you want to talk to your spouse, best friends or boyfriends. Susah nak cerita, you need to experience this yourself. Kena concentrate, believe in your heart that He is really listening to you. One can only experience it to know. Lagi seronok kalau time Qiyam. Bole nangis sepuas-puas hati. Subhanallah, few times after I did this my life transformed. The way I see things changed, the burdens i feel semua hilang. Rasa lega. My problems become solved. And the best part is the closeness to Allah, which I thought was unreachable for me. 

I'm not even writing this to tell you why you should pray, it is just the results of praying that you can cash out. TODAY. NOW. You don't even have to wait until the day of judgement pun. 

He Listens. He really does. Janji Allah itu benar. 

Believe that whatever your problem is, Allah can help you. So talk to Him. Pray. 

XOXO,

Aisha

As 2012 comes to an end.

Ehem.

Before I decide what are my new year resolutions for 2013, lets just summarised what I learned so far. Thinking about life and sorting out what we have learned is just as important as planning our life ahead. Kan? Besides I'm still high on endorphins from working out so I cannot sleep. So here goes. 

I am 27 and this year I learned that...

1. I don't have to be good at something to enjoy doing it. Practice and consistency is the key. 

Gym is like my second home nowadays. I started going to gym consistently since September and i swear the first month was damn challenging. Making the time to exercise and setting goals are hard enough, but adding to that is the muscle soreness that comes with adapting to the regime. Nak gosok gigi pagi-pagi pun susah, nak pakai baju pun sakit. Haaa. 

Setiap kali rasa sakit badan dan malas nak pegi gym, I reminded myself not to 'manja' sangat. Practice! Practice! over and over again! macam dalam poster Body Pump tu, "When your body screams, tell them to shut up". 

The result i got after only 3 months has been amazing. Well of course, I'm still struggling at the gym. It never gets easier. Doing lunges with 8kg dumbbells, 30 jump squats, sumo squats, or push-up row still scare the hell out of me but I do it anyway. The pain? Don't bother me that much anymore :)

2. Always always vision your end result

Credit to Mr. FRH that introduce me to MC Barao. Lol. I want that body:

Weight: 115lbs

Body fat: 12%

Muscle mass: 101.2lbs

Measurement:32-28-33

OK, this may be like aiming for the moon. But they say, dream big. If you miss, you will still land among the stars <3 :)

3. When it comes to relationship, don't let the same people drain you over and over again.

It's not hard to find someone who tells you they love you, it's hard to find someone who actually means it. So don't rush love, don't settle. 

Here some self-explainatory pictures. Go nuts!

4. Stand up for yourself, don't expect somebody else to do it for you

When face with conflicts, always be honest with yourself and others. Not to the point that honesty becomes inconsiderate but it's better to be upfront when you have to rather  than concealing things and expect it to get better. 

5. Never have expectations when it comes to people other than yourself. 

I learned the hard way that biggest disappointments in life are the result of expectations. So I'm keeping it low, or have no expectations at all. It is better not to assume, not to wonder, not to imagine and not to obsess. Always love and accept the real people in front of you, not the fantasy of who you hope and wish these people could become. Ok tak? :)

6. Take take take risks!!

Take risks, make mistakes. So what? So bila ade peluang buat benda yang menakutkan, redah je. Set. 

6 points cukup lah. Laterrrrrr...

Life is a journey, often difficult and sometimes incredibly cruel; but you are well equipped. :)

XOXO,
Aisha :)