Down Day

Gosh, I feel more tired than I felt yesterday. But I think it's the not enough sleep thing hitting me. I need to get to bed earlier. My head feels very heavy today.

I can't wait to sleep in tomorrow. The weekend is the time to re cooperate! On weekends I do the work outs in the evenings, because the weekends are the only time I get to sleep in. And sleep is very much needed.

I decided today would be a rest day from the walking/running routine, BUT that doesn't mean I don't do any exercise. I know have to keep my body going everyday. I pushed myself to get my ass out of bed and wake up at 8.30am today and then swam 600meters within 20 minutes, which apparently is the equivalent of 500 calories, much more calories lost compared to when I run. But I guess that's cause swimming is a full body work out.

I ALMOST wanted to screw swimming this morning because I felt so extremely tired and have a full on rest day, but then I remembered I just gotta keep the momentum of exercising going. I can't stop, even for a day. Even if I am too tired and need a down day, I must force myself to do some form of exercise that day, never mind it be low intensity, as long as it is done. I must keep going and keep my self disciplined.

Gosh, all I want to do now is to just crawl back into bed curl up like a ball and sleep. I need my sleep.

Tired.

Today my time was 14 seconds faster than it was yesterday at my 5km lap. I feel a lil unsatisfied that I couldn't break that 1 minute and do 5km in an hour,but I know, these things take time, I can't expect to be so much faster in a day. It took me a month to move from 4km to 5km. I must remember small steps!! Slowly and hopefully I will be able to do it.

Also, I feel so extra tired today after the run. I know it's the lack of sleep, got a bit dizzy today at one point in time. Sigh,getting home at 12.30am, sleeping by 1am and waking up at 6am to work out only gives me 5 hours of sleep. I lack sleep. Even more this week I did it 4 days in a row, which I normally don't do. I break on Wednesday and do a swim.  If I swim, I get to wake up at 8am, that is two whole extra hours. I gotta get to bed earlier, sleep is an essential.

Waking up in the morning with lack of sleep is extremely hard, and there are times that I just want to fall back into bed and continue sleeping. But then I remember this :

I didn't want to regret not working out, so I got my ass of the bed and went to the park. 

Congratulations to Hanna and Wils!!

Before I start my normal blogging, I would first like to say a big CONGRATULATIONS to two of my very close friends William and Hanna for doing really well in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012. Hanna in the top 1% of her category and William in the top 2.5% of his category. I feel extremely proud  and extremely happy for the both of them because both of them have worked so hard for this. They are living proof you can do it if you just work hard and keep going. Inspiration!!

CONGRATULATIONS GUYS!!!!

So yesterday I decided to pick up some new kicks because my old ones were falling apart and were kinda heavy. Before getting them, I did some  research on what type of shoe I should get considering the issues I always have with my left foot, weak ankles, plantar fasciitis etc, and yesterday I found the perfect pair, the added bonus : they were PURPLE!

Nike Air Pegasus +28 Women

The cushioning on these shoes is just what I needed for my issue-y feet. Even though today was not a workout day and was supposed to be a rest day, I wanted to try them out so I went to Kiara Park this morning, and guess what! Absolutely no ankle pain whatsoever! Even with my running intervals which I increased today, to at least run a few times for a few seconds in each round I do. They are so much lighter than my other pair and so much more amazingly comfortable, it's pretty wow at how much of a difference a shoe can do. These new kicks make me want to go more! and I will!! 

Anyways, today was a 5.6km day. Endomondo as below. I am slowly getting closer to my goal for July. My goal for the month of July is to be able to do 5km in under an hour. How many minutes specifically? I am not too sure, but I just want to be able to do it in less than an hour. I shall set another goal once I complete this small one. 

Today at 5km, I clocked in at 1hr 1 min. Almost there!!

I will be posting motivational quotes here whenever I do blog , for today I created one based on William's quote and a picture of him running during the marathon.

Inspiration from Sunshine!

Morning Routine

Some people workout in the evening, some at night. For me, I have found that early in the morning seems to be the best. The only problem? Waking up is always such a pain in the ass, but it is a must! I like doing my walks in the morning because the temperature is cooler, and I will then have time to unwind with friends in the evening after a long day of work without worrying about having to do my workout. 

Today is Tuesday, so it is my 6km day. Pictures, with narratives for fun :

Early morning wake, was supposed to get up at 6am but only actually got out of bed at 6.20am. Better than usual, which is when i wake up at 6.40am in a panic.  I really despise waking up early, it's so hard to do when your comfy bed keeps beckoning to you. I set about 20 alarms on 3 devices, and I have my dad wake me up as well. I have to start early on Tuesdays and Thursday so I have enough time to finish the 6km and then rush to work. 

 This is Taman Tun's Kiara Park, which is my favourite place to walk at in the morning. There are alot of cute old people walking around, and doing their Tai Chi etc. It's quite cooling in the morning.

Every time I start my walks the first 2 rounds always make me feel like I cannot go any more, but once I hit the third round everything gets flowing, and I know I must just do it! I must do the 6km. I tried doing some running intervals today and it was ok. My ankle didn't hurt as bad as I thought it would. I really cant wait to get it checked by the specialist, I just want the doc to tell me what I can do to make it better. It's so frustrating to have a weak ankle that gets painful every time I start hard activity. It's a result of 3 sprains on the same ankle. Sigh, I hope there is a way to make it better. It's such a restriction I feel.

But anyways, I did my 6km today! So yay! If you scroll all the way down this blog, I have added the endomondo widget that I use to keep track of my workouts. It is quite a good app. It's nice to track your progress and see if you can exceed what you thought were your limits.

Today I actually made it home in time to swim, I love swimming and I know it's a good work out as well, but after being dead tired after the walk and having only 15 minutes to swim,  I only managed to do 420meters. 

Today's lunch and main meal of the day, grilled chicken breast. I fear I may get sick of chicken breast one day, but I don't think I will. Hopefully. I initally thought giving up the carbs (rice and pasta etc.) would be hard, because well you know, it's CARBS, but when the thought comes to my head of eating a meal with rice or pasta, I realise I just don't want it any more,enemies they are my enemies! Why should I negate the hard work I've been doing and pile back on those calories.

I am not cutting out carbs completely, I am just rationing my carb intake way down. I know if I cut out carbs completely, I will be down and demotivated, and might go on a binge fest, a big NO. So I am taking a small step of cutting out the main carbs that I used to love the most. Slowly, I know I cant rush these things.

Anyway,I don't really know what I will be writing in this blog, but one of it's main purposes is to keep me motivated. When I shared this blog yesterday with a few of my friends, they all gave me support and good advice and I wanna thank you guys so much for it! I hope it will work this time around, because I have something I never had before during my attempts to lose weight and that is encouraging friends. 

My friend Sam said he is very excited about this "project", and told me to not let the team down. I hope I wont!! One thing I try not to do very hard is disappoint people, because I know the feeling of being disappointed sucks, and I never want to be the person who disappoints someone else.So hopefully I will not disappoint you guys.  Damn my spelling still sucks, I had to type the word "disappoint" a few times to not have the squiggly red line underneath.

Anyways guys please leave comments in the Cbox in the sidebar if you want =)

I AM READY FOR A CHANGE!!!!!

Setting down the goals

So here I am , attempting once again to lose the weight I need to lose. I need to lose 40 kgs to be my ideal weight for my height.Will it be possible? I hope so, I shall do so in small steps.

Before anything, lemme explain why I named this blog "Small Steps". I dont know where this quote originates from but I believe it's an old Chinese proverb:

"It is better to take many small steps in the right direction than to make a great leap forward only to stumble backward." 

I look at this quote in terms of losing weight and achieving my goals. If you try to hard, and push yourself way too much because you want to lose the weight faster or get to your goal faster, you will come to a point where you cant take it any more and give up, this is what ALWAYS happens to me in the past. I get too tired of everything and I give up. Which is why this time around, I have decided to take everything in small steps, slowly but eventually and hopefully I will get there.

Also,this time around, I have someone who I know will push me and help me get through this long long journey to becoming a normal healthy person. Hopefully he will stick with me throughout this journey and not give up.

I want to be able to do the activities I have never been able to do because of my weight, I want to shed the fat and get out there and do things! Hiking, Rock Climbing, Running etc. I want to be able to Ice Skate (something I have always loved) and not have my feet hurt because of the weight on two thin blades.

I have realised, I am turning 25 this year and I think it is about time to turn my life around. If I want to get out there and do things, the time is now and I have got to get it right this time around. 

I have tried many times in the past, but have fallen off the horse and never really bothered to get back on. Lack of motivation, and of course my love for food.

But it also could  be because I realise that is because I never set  a proper goal for myself, there was nothing really motivating me to shed the weight. 


However this time around,I have something proper now, a really good friend, Wils, has inspired me to pick up running. He seems to have a lot of passion for it, and he set a small step goal for himself to complete, and he has recently done it. His long term goal is to run a full marathon in two years and I believe he can do it. He inspires me and motivates me. 


In order for me to be able to pick up running, I need to shed the weight  and train hard. My goal for now, as of today in which I have exactly 1 year to complete, is to shed weight (maybe not all 40 kgs, because that would be impossible and unhealthy but a whole major part of it), AND to complete a 10km run. Never mind about the speed, for now I just want to be able to complete it.

I know it's going to be a huge struggle, and there will be times I would just want to give up and it has happened before, but I now I feel I have something else to keep me going. I have support from my friends.

Previously I felt weight is always a sensitive and embarrassing issue to talk about, I didn't like to talk about how big I was amongst my peers, I kept it all inside.But now, I have realised that I should just be open about it. I really want to lose weight more than anything in the world, I want to be healthy, I want to be able to do the things they do with them! And when I finally got the courage to talk to them about it,the response from my friends were great, they were supportive and encouraging.

All this while, I realised I should have just opened up to them earlier, what is there to be embarrassed about? If they are your friends they would support you and motivate you if you want a healthier lifestyle. And I am so thankful to them. I finally got over the first step most people face, admitting you have a problem.

Anyway, I hope that I can carry this on, and I hope people will stick with me while I am doing this. I am really thankful to Wils who got me started on all of this.  I hope you will help me along the way, especially when I want to give up. Thank you for being my sunshine= for keeping my day bright, and for being my rock, ever sturdy to lean on.

I have started this regime with him on the 29th of May 2012. I started with walking 3 times a week, a distance of 4km (sometimes 4.5km) within an hour. I now have dropped one pants size, and lost 3.5kg and have taken the small step of upping the distance to 5km, occasionally 6km. When I first started, the very first time, 2km in of walking I thought I was going to die. But he told me "when you think you're going to die, and can't go on any more, you can actually do twice the distance" and I did it! I always keep his words in my head when I am doing my walks.

My next small goal for now is to be able to do 5km in under an hour and to slowly start running intervals. I would have to fix my ankle along the way, but I have to do it.