Health Blog by YinTeing

I have spent 16 days in Thailand and was just back a few days ago. My work and preparation for the trip kept my completely busy from updating this blog. Each time, prior to my vacation leave, lots of things will crop up and I will be swamped with endless things to complete. But on the bright side, I’ve learned to enjoy and appreciate my holidays better after havng to work very hard right before it:)

I’ve been always curious about how a majority of Thai people are slim despite taking rice and sweet stuff (their drinks are sweater those sold in Malaysia). Any Thai restaurant or hawker stall that sells noodle soup will have the following for patrons to put into their soup: grounded chilies (it’s very hot), sugar, pickled chilies and black soya sauce (kicap). And many people will scoop about two teaspoon of sugar and chilies each into their soup.

Curious, I asked my Thai friends as to what is their secret of staying slim. They told me:

• unlike the Chinese, they are generally not crazy about fried stuff. Mainly they take spicy but not fried food
• yes, they eat a lot of rice but work hard. For those who work in the office, they take the effort to exercise, either jogging or the walking during commuting to work
• portions of food are relatively small- a bowl of rice with just one or two dishes

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If you workout in the gym, it’s very easy to measure your progress- either,

• you are able to exercise for longer duration without feeling tired
• able to increase the intensity of the exercise, for instance increasing the effort level or the gradient of the machine, or have higher speed
• able to gradually lift heavier weights

However, if you are not practicing in the gym, how will you know if you have progressed?

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This morning, I decided to squeeze in a workout before going to work. It lasted about 40 min.

First, I selected my favorite songs from the list of my MTVs that I’ve compiled from YouTube. I played them in my exercise program:

• Track 1 : Do light jogs, jumping jacks and jog with raised knees to stomach level.
• Track 2 : Combination of jumping jacks, running on the spot, quick aerobic movements.
• Track 3: With 1.5kg weights on each hand (that’s the only hand weights that I have with me), do a combination of jumping jacks, and leg raises. Halfway in the song, started side squats with sidekicks (got the tip from E! Channel) with the weights till the song stops
• Track 4: Yoga poses- start off with the right leg at the back- in combination of warrior 2, triangle, warrior 2, sun warrior, warrior 2 with hand touch the ground, then raise to a leg lunge by pushing at the back up to get up. Then repeat with the other leg. End up warrior 3 position for both legs. Then lie down with both feet pressing to the Stability ball at 90 degrees- lower to 45 degrees and repeat that for about 15 times in quick movements- with tummy tucked in to prevent strain on lower back. Then do butt raises, twice on each leg.
• Track 5: Sun salutations, crunches, then a bit of hamstring stretches
• Track 6: Continue warm down-and end with the yoga plank-to-cobra-to downdog: repeated that bout 5 times.

Halfway through some of the tracks, I change tracks because either the video hang or I felt I prefer to hear another song. Therefore, even with 6 main tracks, the entire exercise took me about 40 minutes.

Being a self-proclaimed exercise addict, I would feel all wrong by the 3rd day without exercising. Today’s only my second day (since Sunday). Squeezing in a workout before work helps to increase my endurance at work and getting more things done within limited time. Still, I have to admit that I am loading a bit more on carbs (more than I burn) due to stress eating- these week especially, demands at work had been high.

Yesterday nite, not long after I posted my blog entry, I started on exercise for total of 1.5hrs:

• Body Balance release #34 track 1 to 4 (on DVD)- because I love the track 1 and 4 of that release
• Then, dance on the Stability ball watching YouTube videos.
• But later, change to workouts using the Stability ball- sit ups, push ups (ankle on the ball), stretches, exercising adductors by lying down and releasing the ball 45degrees, then raising again. Also butt raises, etc.
• Complete the last 15 min with dance and stretch movements.

I am glad because the last time I went to the park months ago, I could not even make it 1/2 circle with continuous jog- normally I only walked 3 rounds in the park, followed by a rich brunch or dinner. Today, when I am able to make it for 4 rounds, I realised that my self exercise prescription bears results. But from my food diary below, you will see why I am not losing an average of 1 to 2 pounds per week because of the way I eat:

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My recent muscle pull experience

Last Saturday while doing some exercises using the Step board in a fitness test, I sprained the muscle on my left calf. For a long time, I’ve always been vary of step exercises because I’ve experienced muscle pulls on my calf and ankle areas.

The pain did not come immediately, in fact I was able to workout in the gym for 2hours on Saturday, followed by about 1 hour of cardio on Sunday- there was just a bit of discomfort on Sunday but not enough to stop me from exercising. Then on Monday morning, I almost could not get up from bed due to the sharp pain experienced from the muscle pull. By Tuesday morning, the pain got worse and I tried to put a heat plaster on my leg to relieve the pain and stiff feelings on my left calf. The pain felt like it will never go off. And to add on, when my friend told me that it normally takes one week for full recovery, I got a bit upset.

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Today is the first day that I have no access to the gym since I had frozen my membership for the month. Initially, I had set my alarm clock at 6.30am in the morning -plan to do some homework, followed by running at a nearby park. But darn, it rained early in the morning and lasted till afternoon. Then I planned to go in the evening and after meeting with an old friend, it was late and it was raining. So, no outdoor exercise for me today.

That is one of the challenges that folks without gym access to continue being motivated to exercise. One must have a relatively high motivation to always seek alternatives when faced with the challenge of the elements. Later part of the night, I am planning to put in a couple of exercise DVDs that my friend had burned for me.

Initially I had mentioned in a previous post that I am planning to train with more intensity for my upcoming trip. My cardio intensity had increased but I am not able to practice as often as I would like due to other job and personal commitments. It will be busy days ahead leading towards my trip and I will do my best to squeeze in as much exercises as I can. I know a number of my friends also face demanding working and family life (especially those with kids). So I will try to identify limitations and figure out solutions to overcome those limitations, in which I will share with in my blog.