Bring The Sexy Back

The muscles in the back are some of the largest in the body. They provide the support and protection that your spine needs as you go through daily life. There are some muscles in the back that are a part of your core muscles that will help you to be strong and coordinated. When you develop your back muscles, you will be getting a very sexy look while you make you are making yourself stronger.

Many alternatives available to train your back, but these two are my favorite and the most I often do :

DUMBELL ROWING

GOOD MORNING

This Is Me..Outside Gym Life and Teaching Life

The Bday girl and her lovely,beautiful and fit muse*hihihih*

While waiting for our lunches

It's been another two weeks I haven't written anything in my blog. Very busy with work, looks that my writing ideas sucked into making lesson plans, parents teacher interview,school production and personal life.

Anyway...last week, I went to my friend's birthday lunch. She is my fellow writer and colleague. This week, due to my lack of inspiration just sharing the pictures...the other part of me as gym junkie. BTW thanks to Mira for her wonderful birthday. Love the restaurant darl....very cosy and warm

My eating,drinking,shopping,colleague BFF

Drunken Masters

Books are our friend*lol*.....two lovely writers

After a nice and hearty lunch

To Diet For

When you hear the word diet, what comes in your mind? How would you define a diet ?
Before, my definition of diet was skipping meals, restricted food intake and any effort to lose weight.

I met a girl last night in a gathering, she's been smoking and skipping meal just to lose weight. She said it was her diet. I wanted to be preachy about it, but it's her decision..just feel pitty.

Diet for me now is feeding your body with right nutrients in order to make myself healthier. Not just number on the scale or doing a yo yo diet.

A diet should be not a quick fix to reach your so called ideal weight but it should be a change of lifestyle, a change of to healthy eating habit.

Becoming Alia Balboa : part 2

*kickboxing face* hihihhii..too cute not so fierce

*front kick*



Just sharing some of my pics during my kickboxing , they are quite blurry but next time I hope better...

*getting ready for front kick*

DietWeightLoss-O-dRama

A looking back over my shoulder of my weight loss drama. I never thought losing weight could be so much drama. But do you feel the same?
Do you feel when something bad hit you and nothing you want to do beside eat fatty food and feel sorry for yourself? Moi..Been there...

Don't you think my weight loss now came easy..I had my ups and downs. I had frustration with my diet, when the scale wouldn't go to the left. When I had break up, when I things just didnt right.

Whether you realize it or not, dieting and weight loss somehow has effect on you psychologically. That's my personal opinion after everything I've been through.

It's all about mindset and yourself. The success of diet and weight loss not because of top personal trainer and top nutrionist. But it's in you.

YOU ARE THE KEY! yes...you are the one who determine your own success. When you lose the spirit nothing you can do beside whip yourself to go back on track. I know it's hard, especially if you are grieving but just do it.

It's happenning to me now. I'm having a painful broken heart and boy how I want to eat all those fatty food! Well I did though, but still in manageable portion and today I just got back from gym instead of feeling sorry for myself.

By the way, a little tip...if you just broke up...join boxing class, trust me you will feel a lot better. Today I had body combat class and I thought of his face during punching and kicking..you know what...IT FELT GOOD!!!

So, again...the success is within YOU!

Common Faux Pas When You Exercise

Exercise looks very easy to do, you go to the gym to exercise, do weight training and join the aerobic classes. But how come you're still not getting the result you desire ?
Check out the common mistakes below and perhaps you've done the same thing.

• Too eager,too excited and too soon : This usually happen to people who want to lose weight fast and looking for quick fix. They have the tendency to exercise frequently and excessively and they don't know their fitness level. It is important to find the right balance to ensure that your body gets necessary rest.
• Improper Technique : Perfecting proper weight training techniques can be difficult. There are an infinite number of incorrect ways to complete the moves. Without proper guidance, it is easy to perform exercises incorrectly. This can easily lead to injuries.
• Wrong Type of Workout : Where did you learn your exercise? Just watching from people? mouth to mouth?common myths? When I didn't see any result from my exercise, I decided to seek professional help and which was very helpful.
• Not Eating Right : Diet and exercise are like the referee and his whistle it connects with each other. Many people are in denial about the foods they eat and especially the quantity consumed
• Fixtating On The Scale : We often see our results just from the scale only, but you might want to change the way you think. Try to measure your success with your blood preassure, your increased endurance and your fitness level.

Gong Xi Fa Chai...another wishes..another blabbing

Another new year celebration, this time for Chinese New Year. I dont celebrate Chinese New Year though but it's public holiday here in Indonesia which give me another year to cherish.

No resolutions have been made but I do have wishes, perhaps not so important...but this is my blog..I'll write them anyway....

1. Nike outfit ( again...?) sorry guys..I have big fetish on Nike.

2. Live closer to my gym

3. Sipping my martini or ice tea at Loewy

4. Finding my soulmate *no more broken hearted please* hiks...hiks....

5. Book published

6. Body and hair treatment fee voucher

7. Famous fitness and health writer.

8. A place in Oakwood

Well I think that's all...for this time...GONG XI FA CHAI EVERYONE

Starting Low Carb Diet

When my trainer asked me to do low carb diet to lose weight, I was shocked and hesitated. To be honest I'm not a good dieter and wasn't ready to give up my favorite food.

So, as a newbie, I started to browse the net everything I need to know about low carb and let me share my tips as low carb dieter :

• Don't go extreme : means don't totally eliminate the carbs from your diet, have healthy with high fibre for breakfast. In the beginning I only crossed carbs for dinner only and gradually reduced the carbs for lunch.


• Educate yourself : find as many information about low carb and pick the one which suits you best.


• Get support : be with positive people since you are changing you life style.


• Go for protein and good fat


• Last but not least...exercise!!

I've been a low carb dieter for one year but the flexible one even when the time my goal was to lose weight.

Don't Stop Me Now!!! *sing with me people*

Eventhough there is something grief at this moment and my mind quite occupied by it, I still go to the gym, still eating the right food and definetely still looking good! Believe me..and I'm working on upgrading myself.

Anyway...when I was packing for gym I thought of this song by Queen without waiting I logged on Imeem and keep listening and singing this song the whole day as I was doing my gym routine..as matter of fact I'm listening to this song while I'm writing to keep me energized!

Open your YouTube or Imeem and sing with me (lyrics below ) and let's bring out the legendary Queen with "Don't Stop Me Now"

Im a shooting star leaping through the sky

Like a tiger defying the laws of gravity

Im a racing car passing by like lady godiva

Im gonna go go go

Theres no stopping me.........................

Becoming "Alia Balboa" :)

Anyone remember the legendary Rocky Balboa? I might follow his path, not become the boxer but copy his training.
Last week, the gym gave me the opportunity to join the introduction training ( for free and it supposed to be for personal trainers in upper level ) of kickboxing. It was like love at first sight and couldn't stop thinking about it.

For short, I made negotiation with the gym and it went well ( kinda ruin my financial plan ). So guys, within few months this chick will have kickboxing certificate in her pocket and I might write about kickboxing to kick your exercise.

It won't be easy training though...

Love Is In The Air - Valentine Fitness Challenge

Still looking around what to motivate going to the gym, go have a look to your calendar and yes..there's Valentine's day! You have approximately 6 weeks to challenge yourself. Of course I'm not encouraging you to lose weight drastically, let's set up a goal that you will lose weight at least and maximum 1kg/week.

First thing you have to do is make your own workout plan. You can copy mine below or you can modify according to your needs or fitness level. The best part is make your own workout plan as cute or just design as you want it. Since it's Valentine..why not put cute little hearts and with many pinks?

Secondly, make your own photo of before and after. Thirdly, keep track of your waist measurement instead of your weight. Fourthly, reward yourself by body treatment not with food.

Just for a reminder, if don't have a date by Valentine's day at least you boost your fitness level and confidence. If Valentine is about love then let's celebrate Valentine by loving your body and health. Good luck with the challenge!

I Believe I Can Chest Fly

Chest fly is another way to work your pectoral muscle, this is one of my favorite chest exercises. Chest fly make a nice complement of push up and chest press. In order to avoid hurting your shoulder is you'll need lighter weight to do this exercise. Also take care when lowering your arms.

Since my I like to challenge my core, I prefer to use exercise ball instead of bench. But if you think your core is not strong enough, you may use the bench or step.

A. The starting position is lie on the ball with your upper back and head supported by the ball. Grasp dumbbells in both hands by facing to each other.
B. Keep slight bend in elbows and stretch dumbbells out to side.
C. Slowly return to starting position ( A ).

Finding Motivation

How many people in this world who are so eager to lose weight but just within few weeks, you'll hear the same lame excuse again, "I easily get bored", "I don't have time" or simply just being lazy. Your motivation just disappear in thin air. You feel frustrated and find yourself in the old routine.

If you are a beginning to exercise person, then finding the right motivation at the right time can be critical to your success. You might get motivated when you want to lose weight to have the bikini body. Whatever the reasons for starting exercise, congratulation on just starting.

Now, the hardest part is to continue to exercise. The key is to keep in mind what is work for you. You must find your own motivation, deep inside yourself. I can yanking or blabbing about the importance of exercise but if the motivation doesn't come to you, then nothing will work.

In my opinion, exercise motivation is unique for each person.

PS : This post is inspired by Lance's Sunday Thought for The Day : "The golden opportunity you are seeking is in yourself. It is not in your environment, it is not in luck or chance, or the help of others, it is in yourself alone."-Orison Sweet Marden--

I think the quote above can be applied when you need exercise motivation when you need it most.

January 1, 2009

The first day of 2009...I started with birthday lunch with friends from gym, then followed with Spanish Rythm class...It was soooo FUN, we couldn't stop laughing and exciting. None of the people came out from aerobic studio with along face. However, I couldn't upload the video of the class, even the pictures are bad. It would be more than words..how happy I'm and while I'm writing this post, I'm watching the video.

Oh yes, one of wishes on my previous post came true, which is light weight laptop.

Well, I had so much fun and I'm happy that year 2009 is started with a smile and I hope it will continue that way.

Easy Push Up

If you think push ups are just for army buffs or men only, you might think again. Push up is very beneficial for women, especially to train your tricep and chest. Below are the pictures to do the easiest push up.


Position A : Place your palms flat, arms open as wide as your shoulder, including your legs.

Position B : Lower your body slowly without changing any position and pause for a moment.

Tips :

• To isolate your chest more during a push-up, widen the position of your hands a little bit. If you want to work out your triceps more, do the opposite and bring your hands closer together so that they're under your chest.

Kickstart New Year with New Workout Plan

It's that time of year again and what I've seen the number one New Year resolution is to lose weight, and it's not really that difficult. But many expect such thing to be done in overnight, and they tend to lose their motivation when it doesn't happen. You didn't gain weight overnight, so you won't lose weight in overnight either. Took me 6 months to lose weight and took me discipline to achieve that.

In order for a workout plan to succeed, a person must know that the weight scale won't go down by just first clutch of a dumbbell. Exercise must be part of regular routine than short term solution.

Joining a gym is one of many ways to start the fitness routine. But often motivation disappears after few weeks. According to the statistics, it is found that about half of the people who begin an exercise routine quit after six to nine months.

Personally, making a workout plan is very enjoyable, it is like making my own lesson plan. I type my workout plan in my laptop with cute fonts. Let me share the other tips :

1. Sit down with weekly calendar and determine how many days of the week you are willing to exercise.
2. Balance the cardiovascular exercise and weight training.
3. Commit yourself to follow your plan.
4. Follow your schedule at least one month.
5. If you are beginner, hire a personal trainer or find a buddy who is a fitness freak to motivate you and show you how to use the machines. Other alternative is browse the internet about exercises.
6. When you make your workout plan, make sure you put something you like.
7. Always vary your exercise to keep you stick with plan.

Hope my tips above will help you to attain your new year resolution and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

SMILE! and The Whole World Smiles With You

The title above it's another my favorite quote and when you see the picture above, don't you feel you want to smile too ? A smile is very related to our fitness. Why so? a smile can improve your health level, your stress level, and your attractiveness. But it's not just it. Smiling can boost your immune system, smiling also releases endorphins, natural pain killers, and serotonin. If you have high blood pressure, try to smile and see the difference.

Or when you are on your weight loss program and it seems to fail, just smile..it will brings positive energy and give your spirit back.

As for me, it takes practice to smile and it wasn't easy task. At first, I was just faking it and I was even nervous just smiling, until I can actually smile even to my sorrow moments.

So, when the world brings you down, put a smile and the world will smile back at you. But before you smile, I have a little tip : don't forget to brush your teeth :)

Holiday Workout

Gym bag must items :gym outfit ( I'm a nike big fan ), shoes, hair straightener, body wash, body spray, make up kit, shower kit, ipod shuffle ( small but very convenient ), fitness gloves

Holiday is here and I have 4 weeks ( minus 3 days because of in house training ) to cheer about. Due to the financial limitation and global recession *still smiling though*, I will be devoting my holiday in the gym. New songs have been uploaded new songs into my ipod. I'm loving T.I feat Rihanna live your life and Beyonce Single Ladies.
Sounds pretty boring huh? But it's not, it's my best time to work out. I will have plenty of time to try new exercises, and classes that I can't joing during my working days and writing. I have set up a target : More toned body, especially in the triceps area.

So, here's the plan for tomorrow :
- Treadmill for 30 minutes
- Lunges, Squat and Abs ( since holiday I can have 5 sets of each exercise )
- Fat burn on treadmill for 15 mins
- Might join Body Combat
- Sauna
- Do my hair
- Lunch with my friends at Sushi Tei ( I love sushi )
- Plan exercise for the next day

Well I hope it will go as it planned....( it must be....I put my determination for this )

Basic Crunch Exercises

Tired of extra spare around your waist. Here are some basic crunches that you can do at home or even in swimming pool area. No equipment required.

First basic crunch is targeted for your middle area of your abs. This looks easy, but it's not and you need to do proper crunch for maximum result. Here's how you do it :


Position 1 :

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor in front of you. Your feet should be as wide as hip. I prefer to fold my arms across my chest, to avoid pulling my head forward .
  
• Lie on exercise mat or large towel to prevent back strain.

Position 2 :

• Curl up and forward so that your head, neck and shoulder blades lift off from the floor. If your chin makes contact with your chest, then the abdominal muscles aren't being used in the exercise.
• Pause for a moment ( at least 3 seconds ). Lift your head up enough so that your middle and your lower back stay on the floor. Keep locking your abdominals as you pause.
  
• Do the three sets of 15-20 repetitions whenever you exercise.
  

Second type of crunch exercise is side crunch or obelique crunch, which the targeted muscle is on the side of your abdominals.


Position 1 :

• Lie on your back with your knees bent and your feet flat on the floor in front of you. Your feet should be little bit wider than your hip.
  
• Place your arms behind your head so your fingertips just touch each other as they remain rest behind your head.
  

Position 2 :

• Use your oblique muscles to bring your body up into a side crunch. Your side will bend as your shoulder lifts off the mat into the crunch.
• During the time that you are coming up into the crunch exhale the breath you took earlier. Be sure that your head remains in line with your neck the whole time you are performing the crunch to prevent neck strain.
• Lower yourself gently back down on the mat as you inhale to take another breath. Repeat for 15 to 20 repetitions and then switch sides to perform the side crunch using your other set of oblique muscles.
  

The last basic crunch exercises is hangin leg raise crunch, which you are targeting your lower abdominal.

Position 1 :

• Lie on the mat with your legs extended straight up to 90 degrees.
  
• Bring your arms side of your body.

Position 2 :

• From your starting position, slowly lower your legs down until they almost touching the floor.
• When your legs are almost touching the floor, reverse the motion and lift your legs back up to the starting position.
  
• During perform this exercise, focus on your lower abdominal muscle to lift and lower your legs.
  

There you go, my simple crunch exercises. Hope you enjoy it.

Wishes Flown Away

I might have to cross out my wishes from my wishlists for today and entering a phase which I don't want to do it, which I always refuse to do. As much as I want to weep or dwell about it or complain how bitchy the life is , I think I must force myself to think in different perspective and just getting ready what will come. I must be willing to let go life I have planned, so as to accept the life that waiting for me ( either good or bad ). Let's consider as my challenging times that I have to go through.

As long there's still gym where I can let my endorphine out, as long the sun stil shines, as long my salsa guru still hired by Celebrity Fitness, and as long there's still Body Combat and Dance Class and of course there will be something more to write.. I think I will be fine...

"Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure " -Oprah Winfrey-