My little blog on health,wellness, nutrition and fitness

Cancer - Health News ( I cut and pasted this from an email my friend sent me)

2009-04-15T01:41:00.000-07:00

John Hopkins Update - Good article

AFTER YEARS OF TELLING PEOPLE CHEMOTHERAPY IS THE ONLY WAY TO TRY ('TRY', BEING THE KEY WORD) TO ELIMINATE CANCER, JOHNS HOPKINS IS FINALLY STARTING TO TELL YOU THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE WAY .

Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins:

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's lifetime.

3 When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors..

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastrointestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal, Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be M anuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in color. Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer fighting properties. Water-best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water.. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines becomes putrefied and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the bodies own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor. Anger, un-forgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.

1. No plastic containers in micro.
2. No water bottles in freezer.

3. No plastic wrap in microwave.

Johns Hopkins has recently sent this out in its newsletters. This information is being circulated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center as well. Dioxin chemicals cause cancer, especially breast cancer. Dioxins are highly poisonous to the cells of our bodies. Don't freeze your plastic bottles with water in them as this releases dioxins from the plastic. Recently, Dr. Edward Fujimoto, Wellness Program Manager at Cast le Hospital, was on a TV program to explain this health hazard. He talked about dioxins and how bad they are for us. He said that we should not be heating our food in the microwave using plastic containers. This especially applies to foods that contain fat. He said that the combination of fat, high heat, and plastics releases dioxin into the food and ultimately into the cells of the body. Instead, he recommends using glass, such as Corning Ware, Pyrex or ceramic containers for heating food You get the same results, only without the dioxin. So such things as TV dinners, instant ramen and soups, etc., should be removed from the container and heated in something else. Paper isn't bad but you don't know what is in the paper. It's just safer to use tempered glass, Corning Ware, etc. He reminded us that a while ago some of the fast food restaurants moved away from the foam containers to paper. The dioxin problem is one of the reasons.

Also, he pointed out that plastic wrap, such as Saran, is just as dangerous when placed over foods to be cooked in the microwave. As the food is nuked, the high heat causes poisonous toxins to actually melt out of the plastic wrap and drip into the food. Cover food with a paper towel instead.

Heatiness

2009-04-07T18:03:00.001-07:00

Today, I was having a discussion with some colleagues over durians and how they were very unhealthy and heaty or "pu jua". Apparently durians contain about 357kcal per serving (about one full cup), which is a lot of calories. So, they were right with that - but what about the "heatiness"?

What exactly is "heatiness"? Heatiness stems from a Chinese philosophy of balance - in this case, of "hot" vs "cold" air inside the body. Correspondingly, there are certain foods which have the characteristics of being "heaty" and "cooling".

Excessive "heatiness" will bring about symptoms or physical feelings of temper, fever, and irritability. Symptoms of excessive heatiness would include:

1. Pimples
2. Sore throat
3. Nosebleeds
4. Ulcers
5. Indigestion / Constipation
6. Rashes / flushed face and cheeks

How our body is susceptible to these effects is affected by things like our lifestyle - sleep, exercise, nutrition, environment). From a TCM point of view, "heatiness" arises from lifestyle and weather factors, for example, hot weather, over-exertion, lack of sleep and exercise, stress and an imbalanced diet. Food thus does play a part in causing heatiness.

Typically, heaty foods are:
1. Fried
2. Fatty
3. Rich is sodium
4. Sweet
5. Grows under the sun

Cooling foods are:

1. Dry
2. Lean
3. Rich is potassium
4. Salty
5. Grows in little sunshine

Examples of cooling and heaty foods:

Cooling Foods:

Bamboo shoot, banana, bitter gourd, clam, crab, grapefruit, lettuce, persimmon, salt, seaweed, star fruit, sugar cane, water chestnut, watermelon, lotus root, cucumber, barley, bean curd, chicken egg white, marjoram, oyster, pear, peppermint, radish, strawberry, tangerine, and yogurt, broccoli, cauliflower, zuccini, corn, tomatoes, pineapple, turmeric.

Heaty Foods:

Pepper, cinnamon bark, ginger, soybean oil, red and green pepper, chicken, apricot seed, brown sugar, cherry, chestnut, chive, cinnamon twig, clove, coconut, coffee, coriander (Chinese parsley), date, dillseed, eel, garlic, grapefruit peel, green onion, guava, ham, leaf mustard, leek, longan, mutton, nutmeg, peach, raspberry, rosemary, shrimp, spearmint, sweet basil, tobacco, vinegar, walnut, jackfruit, durian, leek, shallots, spring onion, , apricots, blackberries, black currant, mangoes, peaches, cherry, mandarin orange, grape.

Ideally, one has to balance the body condition with one's food intake. For example, herbal tea is said to have cooling properties which helps to negate one's heatiness.

A good knowledge of how your body is feeling and symptoms of heatiness will help you know what to eat to negate its negative effects and vice versa.

Live well!
Tim

Calorie Counting - Food Intake

2009-04-07T01:51:00.000-07:00

This is a follow up post to my previous post on Weight Loss. As mentioned previously, diet and exercise are paramount to any weight loss program. No less important to dieting and exercise is calorie counting.

Basically, 1 calorie = 4.18400 joules. In English, this simply means that calories are a metric unit of energy. However, when dieting, weight loss and exercise is involved, we normally use a metric of kilocalorie or Calories (with the capital C).

Why is Calorie Counting important then? It's pretty simple actually - and it's also has all to do with diet and exercise. Basically, Calorie Counting is about examining how much energy you consume in your diet against how much you expand in your exercise.

To lose weight, you need to simply expand more energy in your exercise, and reduce how much you consume. Specifically, you need to:

1. Understand your dietary habits (in terms of what you consume and how many calories they contain)
2. Know what food is low in calories and tailor your dietary habits accordingly
3. Work out regularly and with enough intensity to ensure enough calories are "burned"

Cutting back on about 3,500 calories would equate to losing about 1 pound, or 2.2kg. To give you a general idea, women are advised to consume about 2,000 Calories per day, and men 2,500 Calories in the UK. In Asia, I guess that's probably slightly less. Just to give you a clearer picture, I'll list out some pretty common Singaporean foods and how many calories they contain, as well as some general activities, and how many calories they burn. I got this from a helpful site here:

Foods (1 serving of each)
Rice - 242 Calories
Mee Pok - 432 Calories
Char Siew Pau - 212 Calories
Char Siew Rice - 600 Calories
Sliced Fish Soup - 349 Calories
Carrot Cake - 467 Calories
Plain Prata - 122 Calories
Egg Prata - 289 Calories
Nasi Bryani tops the list at 873 Calories.

To put things in perspective, here's a list of some common activities / exercises, and how many Calories they burn. Heavier people tend to expand more energy doing the same activities as those who weigh less, so for the same activity, they burn more calories. Also, obviously working out at a higher intensity would burn more calories too.

Will write more about Calorie-burning activities in a separate post later :)

Live well!
Tim

Guinness is good for you!

2009-04-07T01:50:00.001-07:00

Despite my recent "obsession" with health, fitness, wellness and nutrition, I am very much still a drinker at heart. I do drink rather occasionally (about 2 times a week at least), which does explain why I don't have abs of steel (yet :P), and I have to work out extra hard to get more defined.

Generally, drinking is rather bad for your liver and health on the whole, if drinking is too frequent or excessive. I don't think it's a coincidence that most professional athletes abstain from alcohol as well. I've read that drinking the occasional wine or beer does have it's health benefits such as reduced risk of heart diseases, but I won't really go into that too much. I'm sure everyone knows the ill-effects of alcohol as well, so not much need to elaborate.

Since I've started living more healthily, I've been trying to cut down on drinking. Also, I've been trying to drink less beer and find a better more nutritional alcoholic beverage. I don't like wines much - white ones are mostly too acidic and sour, whereas reds stain your teeth. Beer is also too gassy and I'm sure there's a reason a big paunch is called a beer belly, so I've started drinking stout :)

To most people, myself included - Stout = Guinness. I honestly can't think of any other stout (Kilkenny and ABC comes to mind, but I think they're dark beer). But what's the difference between stout and dark beer then? Haha... So anyway, I didn't know this but, Guinness contains only 198kcal per pint, which is much less than most other beers, and less than skimmed milk or orange juice (so says wikipedia).

Guinness also contains many antioxidants, which I mentioned in my previous post on skin food. These slow down the deposit of harmful cholesterol on the arteries, which is beneficial on the heart.

Also, I particularly like how the pint of Guinness looks when it's fresh from the tap. The froth at the top and the darkness of it as it bubbles is quite a sight. Also, I used to find the taste bitter, but now I find it quite smooth. Also, my friend introduced me to "Black and Ten", which is Guinness mixed 50-50 with Kilkenny. Very nice too! Here's to more Guinness - it's good for you! :)

Live well,
Tim

The Biggest Loser - Update

2009-04-06T07:31:00.001-07:00

I've just finished my jog - my legs hurt like crazy. Coronation Plaza to Sim Lim Square to SMU then up Clemenceau Avenue to River Valley Road and then to Grange Road stopping at Tanglin Mall. Total of about 11.7km. my nike+ died the last 3 or so km :(

My legs are aching like mad. My right ham string is super sore and my thighs hurt - but should be ok after some deep heat and a good 8 hours sleep. I'm going to take my glucosamine now too.

Glad I completed my 12km (almost), but there's another 28km to go from now til Sunday. Looking forward to it! :)

The Biggest Loser

2009-04-06T02:22:00.000-07:00

I was told of this program by a colleague of mine, who was amazed at how some of these people lost the amount of weight they did. We had this discussion on how these people were so impossibly fat to start off with that, and that if you were THAT fat, it'd be so easy to lose weight.

So this Sunday, I was just bumming in my room and watching tv - and I stumbled across a channel showing this program. I think it was like the last 4 people in the elimination round. I was looking at pictures of the contestants before they took part in the show, and I didn't know if to be amazed at the amount of weight they loss, or disgusted about how they could be that fat before.

Nevertheless, I was quite inspired. I had a big weekend, drinking, eating and smoking. I've been taking nice pictures to put on my food blog, so maybe that's why I've been eating more. But starting today, I shall try to see how much weight I can lose myself.

I am going on a hardcore cardio routine to cut away all the fats and to see how defined and cut I can possibly become if I put my heart to it. I am going on a 12km run later once I knock off, and I pledge to run at least 40km this week. I'll keep you updated on my progress and weight loss through this blog.

Pictures paint a thousand words, but I'm happy to write a thousand words for your reading pleasure and my writing pleasure as well. Here's to a slimmer, lighter me!

Live well!
Tim

Best Workout Music

2009-04-01T20:15:00.000-07:00

I've never jogged listening to music previously. I always thought it too much of a hassle / discomfort to bring along a mp3 player. But once I started listening to my iPod once jogging on the treadmill in the gym, I realised I could go for longer distances, so I tried pushing myself more and more, and now I can cover about 15km (at a slow pace) as music helps distract me from the pain and repetitiveness of jogging.

Here are some songs which keep me "pumped up" for a good run or workout.

Rock

I stand Alone - Godsmack
Bodies - Drowning Pool
The Only - Static X
Crawling - Linkin Park
Hollywood Whore - Papa Roach
The Beautiful People - Marilyn Manson
Slither - Velvet revolver
Bulls on Parade - Rage Against the Machine
Whens Worlds Collide - Powerman 5000
More Human than Human - White Zombie
Thunder Kiss '65 - White Zombie
Enter Sandman - Metallica
Chinese Democracy - Guns N' Roses

Hip Hop

Back that Ass Up - Juvenile
Balla Baby - Chingy
Bombs over Baghdad - Outkast
Signs - Snoop Dogg feat. Justin Timerlake
The next Episode - Snoop Dogg
Impacto (Remix) - Daddy Yankee feat Fergie
Work (Freemason's Arabic Remix) - Kelly Rowland
Pump It - Black Eyed Peas
Elevator - Flo Rida
Ooh Wee - Mark Ronson feat Ghostface, Trife & Nate Dogg
100 Million - Birdman
For My People - Miss Elliott (Basement Jaxx Remix)

These are just some of the tracks which I think are really really good, especially the rock workout playlist, which really keeps me psyched up for the extra km of running.

I'll be adding on some dance music tracks later on, but I hope this helps in your workouts as well as they do in mine! :)

Live well!
Tim

Basic skincare for men

2009-04-01T01:37:00.000-07:00

I was just out shopping recently, and I was looking for some perfume. But during the course of looking for my perfume (in the end I bought YSL L'Homme), I explored Lucky Plaza and Suntec City, and I came across a mind-boggling array of men's skincare products.

I was a little overwhelmed by the array of facial foam, shaving gel, aftershave balm, toners, night cream, day cream, moisturisers, exfoliating gel, purifying masks and facial scrubs. Besides there being so many different types of skincare / facial products, there were also so many brands to chose from. L'Oreal, Nugeno, Clarins, Clinique Lab Series, Zirh, Neutrogena, Gatsby, Nivea, Laneige, Vichy, Dermalogica and the list goes on and on.

So, I started asking myself, "What is all this about? What do all these things do for my skin? What is a good skincare regime? Which are good products?" And as I started my research, and buying my skincare products, I slowly started to make sense of it all.

1. Differences between guy's and girl's skin?

From what I've read, the difference between guy's and girl's skin lies in the sebaceous glands and sebum. The sebaceous glands are tiny oil-producing glands commonly found in human skin.

These glands produce a oily fluid called sebum - which help to prevent evaporation of perspiration, and keep skin and scalp supple. Sebaceous glands are much more prevalent in guys skin, larger and more active. In simpler terms, guy's skin is typically about 15% more oily than girl's. Also, we have significantly larger pores, which may be easily clogged up with excess oil or dirt :)

Also, there is the rather obvious difference problem of facial hair, and shaving it is another painful process which guys have to go through. Shaving often leads to razor burn, razor bumps, cuts and ingrown facial hairs.

2. What is a good skincare regime?

a) Clean

Given the extra oil in our skin, we guys have to take extra care to make sure there is not excess oil or dirt on our skin which will clog up our pores and give us pimples. Facial foam and facial scrubs help to remove excess oil, and keep our skin clean and clear. Typically I don't spend too much on facial foams or scrubs as they are the most basic of all skincare products.

Typically, for normal to oily skin, you should wash with facial foam about once to twice a day, and use a scrub about once to twice a week. Don't use facial scrubs too often as they can tend to be quite rough and cause irritation to the skin.

b) Tone

I just started toning recently, and I think a large majority of other guys don't really do this as well. I usually apply the Vichy Homme toner that I bough with cotton wool, and I find it cleanse s and freshens the skin more than face wash, as well as shrinks pores. This is not surprising, as toners are designed to penetrate pores, refresh and cool your skin while clearing away excess oil, impurities and dead skin cells.

Toners also restore the skin's natural pH balance. When you wash your face, the pH balance of the skin is changed (depending on how acidic or alkaline the facewash is), leading to your skin having to work to restore pH levels; this process of skin can take up as much as half and hour or more. By using a skin toner, the pH level of your skin is restored instantly.

c) Moisturize

We all need to moisturize our skin from the damaging effects of the sun's rays, pollution in the air, humidity and changes in temperature, which may leave skin flaky or dry.

Moisturizing keeps the skin supple and hydrated, protects it from the damages of the environment, helps skin cell regeneration and helps remove the signs of ageing - fine lines and wrinkles.

Most of the time, moisturizers come in a cream or a gel form. A good moisturizer should contain the essential ingredients for good skin (as mentioned in my previous post on Skin Food) such as Vitamins A, C and E, essential fatty acids, minerals, antioxidants and plant extracts. A good moisturizer should contain all these ingredients, as well as not be too oily.

I use Nugeno's Face Lifting Cream in the morning right after I wash and tone. It keeps my skin feeling "protected"

d) Exfoliate

Exfoliation is the removal of dead skin cells by scrubbing to reveal the newer, younger skin beneath. The exfoliation process removes all the dead skin on your face, unclogs your pores, keeps your skin clean and "fresh" and prevents acne. Another small little benefit is exfoliation exposes the hair follicles on our face, which allows for a better shave.

I use the Nugeno Men Deep Exfoliating Gel. By slowly massaging into my skin in a circular motion, the gel seems to melt away all the surface impurities and dead skin, leaving my skin feeling newer and fresher. Exfoliating about once a week should be just fine.

Once again, the range of products for each of this steps is simply too much for me to go into much detail on. Also, there's the question of dry skin, sensitive skin, oily skin and combination skin, to further complicate things.
However, I think no matter what skin type or what skincare products you use, these 4 steps are still essential for a good skincare regimen. Also, 8 hours or sleep a day and 8 glasses of water will ensure proper rest and hydration.

Live well!
Tim

Weight loss - My personal thoughts / experiences

2009-03-29T22:21:00.000-07:00

I'm sure that at any one point of time in their life, everyone has felt fat before. I sometimes get comments from even my slimmest, tiniest female friends that they feel bloated / big / overweight.

However, a lot of it ends there. People generally just complain about their weight, but either a) don't do anything about it, b) do something about it but not enough, c) do something about it, but go back to their regular eating / living habits after and put on the weight again. Statistics say 75% of all people who go on diets put it back on again later, but I think there's a way to stick to the get out that group: it's a combination of the 3 things - a) diet b)exercise and c) motivation. I think weight loss plans differ from person to person, there's a basic need for constant motivation - which will keep you on course in your diet and exercise.

Personally, I think exercise helps out in 75% of my weight loss, with dieting making up the other 25%. Sure I'm not a fitness or nutrition guru, but here are some of the things I've read, and here are some of the things I think have worked for me.

a) Diet

1. There's no such thing as a "sure" thing. All "100% guaranteed" weight loss supplements don't tend to work over time. Most people tend to take their supplements, lose some weight, but put it back on after they're done with their supplements. The best way is lose your weight naturally, and keep it that way.

2. There are a lot of diets out there - the Atkins diet, Slim Fast diet among others. A lot of them have very similar principles - low carbs, more proteins and more fruits and vegetables, which I do adhere to. I've been incorporating more fruits and vegetables and cutting down on rice, noodles and red meat. I try to eat more fish and soupy things for lunch nowadays, with extra servings of vegetables.

3. Stop the soft drinks. Soft drinks are evil! They contain lots of sugar and are very very high in calories. Instead, oolong tea, sparkling water or fruit juice works great. But ideally, drink plain water. 8 glasses a day will do you good :)

4. Stop drinking beer! I am an occasional alcoholic - when I start drinking, it's very hard for me to stop. And I like drinking beer too. But one pint of beer contains about 200kcal - which is how much you would lose from a 2-3km jog (depending on the intensity). Bubble tea is also full of calories - in fact it contains more calories than beer! So you know what drinks to stay away from now.

5. Eat more yong tau foo soup / fish soup / porridge. Soupy stuff tends to contain less oil. YTF and fish soup both are high in protein. I normally pick a lot of vegetables for my YTF, and I always order just soup without noodles or rice.

b) Exercise

6. Exercise burns calories. I firmly believe that no matter what exercise (aerobic or anaerobic), intensive or relaxed, as long as you break a sweat and burn calories doing it, it is good exercise. The key to weight loss is doing enough exercise and expanding more calories than you consume. Thus constant regular exercise is a definite requirement.

7. Regularity - They key to sustained and noticeable weight loss is regular, sustained exercise over the long-term. Be it climbing 3 flights of stairs up from lunch, walking home from the MRT everyday, jogging 5km every 2 days, swimming or going to the gym every week, you need to do it constantly, and be committed to setting time aside to do it.

8. Intensity - If a regular marathon runner who runs 42km every week suddenly starts jogging 1km every evening, will it make any difference to him? Will he be working out at an intensity which his body is not used to and will be exercising at a intensity which will give him a good workout? Probably not. Basically, you need to be working out at an intensity which will make you sweat, make your heart rate go up and make you breathe hard. At the end of your workout, if you're working out at a good enough intensity, it will be natural to feel muscle soreness and fatigue. A good way of finding out how hard you are pushing would be the perceived exertion scale.

9. Time - How long do you workout each time? Is it a 5 minute walk each day? spending 2 mins doing pushups before you sleep? If you're not seeing any effect, what you're doing is probably not enough. I think it takes about 10-15 mins before your body starts to warm up and burn calories, so a 30 minute slow jog for starters would be good enough. I normally try to run for about 45 minutes to 1 hour each time.

10. Cardio - There's always been arguments on cardio (aerobic) vs gym (anaerobic) exercises. There's been debate on which is more effective in losing weight and getting more "cut" or getting more muscle definition. For better muscles, definitely one has to go go the gym for anaerobic exercises to build better, more solid muscle mass. However, for weight loss, and for better muscle definition, one must definitely engage it aerobic activity. Jogging, brisk walking and swimming are good examples of aerobic activity, which takes in a lot of oxygen for activities. Personally, I think running is the most intensive and the best cardio workout.

11. Varying your workout - Once your body / muscles are used to a particular series of movements, the exercises that you do will start to lose their effectiveness. Keeping your workout varied, for eg, doing a different number of sets / repetitions for any body part occassionally, or doing different exercises constantly will not only make your workout more interesting, but your body / muscles will react more positively to them. If you're running, change your speed, distance and intensity with every run.

c) Motivation

12. Goal-setting - One key aspect to keeping motivated is to set realistic, achievable and sustainable goals which you do hit and exceed regularly. For example, running 4km in 45 mins twice a week for starters would be considered realistic and achievable (for most). But will you keep doing it? Sustainable goal-setting early on is important, for achieving your goals and setting harder goals is a virtuous cycle which feeds on itself.

13. Pushing yourself - Once you've been working out for sometime, I assume you'll naturally lose weight and attain a reasonable level of fitness. But eventually, your weight loss will start to plateau, and you will eventually lose momentum. They key to overcoming this is to keep pushing and going beyond your comfort level. If you are falling within your comfort level, you're not challenging yourself to go the extra mile.

14. Fighting fatigue - If you're constantly on a "negative calorie" diet, ie. the calories you expand exercising are less that what you consume daily, you're bound to feel fatigued. Muscle aching and soreness, lack of energy, feeling sluggish / lethargic are some of the many symptoms which you should feel if you're "doing it right". Eventually you'll get used to it, and your energy levels should be back to normal. But in the meantime, 7 hours of sleep to re-charge your body and let your muscles regenerate is essential. That being said, not getting enough sleep is one of the mistakes I make quite often.

15. Staying motivated - One of the key killers of any weight-loss program is a lack of motivation, or drop in motivation. Very often, I am very tempted to go drinking, have a oily lunch, go for a buffet, skip my jogging / gym session. And in fact, every once in a while I do. But the key thing is not to stop completely. Taking a break every once in a while is fine, but the next time I exercise - it's going to be at a higher intensity. Rewarding yourself for a long run or good workout is fine. Having 1 or 2 beers or a steak or burger is good too, but they key is moderation, and knowing yourself enough to draw the line. I guess being a little vain / narcissistic helps as well - looking at yourself in the mirror and weighing yourself often helps you want to keep going.

So here are my 15 little "tips" to starting / maintaining a weight loss program. I'm still working on mine, but I hope reading this will help you with yours. I'll be posting more updates again soon!

Live well!
Tim

Skin Food

2009-03-26T00:01:00.000-07:00

I've been reading up on how to get more "beautiful" naturally - how to get better skin, whiter teeth, and clearer eye-whites.

I haven't really been taking good care of my skin except the occasional scrub, and exfoliating gel and night cream. No toner, mask, shaving foam, aftershave etc. I've recently seen many skincare products out there in the market, and I've just bought the new Vichy Homme toner. I also use Nugeno exfoliating gel, Face Lifting Cream and Men Radiant Youth Essence.

While my pores have become smaller and skin has cleared up more overall, I still have some scars from the teenage years :( I want to have a healthy radiant glow in my skin, but I think that's going to take a long time to achieve, and one way to do so is to start eating good "skin food". Without further ado, here we go:

1. Fish - All fish is supposedly good, especially salmon which contains omega-3, omega-6 and other essential fatty acids which prevent dry skin.

2. Lots and lots of vegetables - We all know vegetables are yummy and good for you, but how so? Dark green vegetables (brocolli, spinach, chai sim) and dark orange vegetables (carrots, sweet potatoes) contain Vitamin A which are strengthens the protective tissue of the skin. Tomatoes also contain anti-oxidants, which counteract negative free radicals in our body.

3. Dairy products - Low fat milk and yoghurt contains lots of Vitamin A which is also important for healthy skin and eyes. Lack of Vitamin A leads to dry skin and pimples.

4. Citrus Fruits - Oranges, Grapefruit, Limes and Lemons. While I know many people are not big on citrus fruits due to their acidity and sourness, citrus fruits are excellent sources of Vitamin C. Vitamin C helps the synthesis of collagen which prevents skin from sagging. Regular intake of Vitamin C (maybe an orange juice a day) will keep skin youthful and firm.

5. Green tea - Green tea is the source of an extremely potent antioxidant called EGCG (epigallocatechin-3-gallate). Apparently this EGCG helps negate skin cancer, sun-related skin ageing and acne too.

6. Water - While necessary hydration is a given, most people do not drink at least 8 glasses of pure water a day. Drink up for better skin!

7. Berries - Strawberries, raspeberries, blueberries, cranberries and dark plums are also help the body manufacture collagen. They also contain much antioxidants, Vitamin A, Vitamin C and fibre.

8. Avocados - Avocados do contain a lot of fat, which is weird since it's a fruit. Which other fruits do you know contain fat? But the fat from avocados is mono-unsatured / "good fat", which once again keeps skin supple.

9. Whole grains - Whole grains are good for skin because they are loaded with the B group vitamins. B group vitamins are essential for normal skin functioning. They are required for the growth of new cells, replacing those that have died, and help strengthen the skin against infections and stress.

There are other other good foods for skin such as nuts, pomegranate juice and sunflower seeds - but these are foods which I seldom consume.

In addition, 8 hours of sleep a day should ensure sufficient time for cell regeneration.

I've been trying to consume more of the above foods, and hopefully I'll slowly but surely see results.

Live well!
Tim

My First Post

2009-03-25T17:30:00.000-07:00

Hi all,

This is my new pet project on Health, Wellness, Dieting and Exercise. I'm turning 30 next year, and after the years or unhealthy eating, constant drinking and smoking, it's about time I started paying attention to my health and wellness before I regret.

I've seen friends my age start balding, put on unhealthy amounts of weight, and show signs of ageing (especially girls) - this as well as concern about my own appearance, has started me running, working out, eating better and generally bothering more with my own well-being.

I don't have abs of steel, or even normal abs yet, but am working on it. I've lost about 11kg in the past few months through rigorous running, and am working on getting more "cutting" through dieting, frequent weight training and even more running.

I'll be posting articles (not necessarily mine), reviews, tips and general information on subjects such as skincare, dieting, motivation, training and general wellness. I look forward to sharing more information with you soon!

Live well!
Tim