Been having one of those reflective moments just now.
Was thinking about how short life is, how we shouldn't waste our short time on the Earth.
It got me thinking about using the time wisely and pursing our passion(s) in life.
I was thinking about the passions in my life. And my one deepest passion. The one thing I think about every day. Upon waking up. Just before sleeping. The one thing that even keeps me awake at night sometimes, for thinking so much about it. The one thing I search about on Google and YouTube. The one thing I receive daily emails about. The one thing that is constantly rolling out of my tongue/ mouth.
I think about it whilst working. I think about it whilst sitting here. I think about it whilst eating.
How do I pursue this passion? Have I left it too late? Am I too old for this?
Lesson of the Day: "If you have ever felt such tremendous enthusiasm and desire for something that you would gladly spend all your waking hours working on it, that you would happily do without pay, then you have found your passion." -- Sharon Cook & Graciela Sholander
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
21 May 2012
22 April 2012
Meet and Greet
I have no idea why it still feels so chilly when it reaches evening
time. We have reached the end of April already and the weather should
be improving day by day. The daylight has improved for sure, as we are
seeing daylight much earlier in the mornings and for longer periods of
the day. However, the temperature still seems unstable. Ah well!!
So in the past week I've managed to get to bed by 10PM most nights. Not every night I must confess. Sunday night and Monday managed 10PM. Monday morning I felt amazing with eight hours of sleep and noticed that I didn't yawn at all throughout the day until about 2PM! And that was even after workout first thing in the morning as well. Sleep is so under-rated! Tuesday night I think I managed 10:30PM. Wednesday I went Go-karting with a bunch of fellow driving instructors. It was Scotkart at Clydebank and it was so much fun! Got home not very late, about 9:50PM I think, but it was too close to bed time and it was impossible to 'switch off' just like that so I went to bed just after 11PM. It went downhill from there basically cos Thursday night I came home pretty late and ended up missing the gym on Friday morning. Not to fret, as I made it back up yesterday morning doing circuit style exercises for 45mins and then getting home for breakfast before starting work. All in all, I do totally feel the benefits of my sleeping plan of 10PM-6AM. I want to try it again this coming week although I have a pretty busy week of work ahead of me, with the latest finish of 8PM in the west end one evening. I don't like finishing so late as it usually means I cannot get to bed on time especially after I eat a little something once I get home. Ah well, we'll see what happens eh.
I think I'll sign up for the Men's Conference 2012 at Destiny Church on the 16th of June. The conference runs from 9AM that Saturday morning and ends in the evening time. I would imagine it would be a whole day event for Christian brothers studying the Word of God together, having fellowship and praying together. Guess I'll make new friends there as well. One thing I've realised about myself recently is that I need to expand in my circle of friends. Due to the 'isolated' nature of my job as a driving instructor, where I have no colleagues per se, where I am 'on my own' most of the time, it does limit my time of socialising and communicating with others. And by the time my working day is over I retire back at home where I just see my mum and sister. There is not much chance to really hang out with friends. Sundays are the times when I get a break from work, and I get to see brothers and sisters in church. However, the time spent is short and sometimes I feel there is not enough time to build quality friendships. So I'm seeking the Lord's direction as to what to do. As I grow older it is important to maintain an open mind and an open heart to get to know other people, to branch out and accept others and be accepted. I must not be a hermit nor so inward looking.
So the lesson which I've (re)learnt in the past week is that, it is ok to go up to talk to people. I have got to be less shy. Wednesday I had the opportunity to meet other driving instructors, some of whom I have never met. At first it was a bit daunting, the idea of meeting and racing with other instructors whom I didn't know. But it only takes the first line, "Hi, I'm Gordon!" followed by offering your hand for a handshake, and the rest seems to flow. By the end of the night we all broke the ice and everyone seemed very friendly and we had a great laugh. Saturday night, we had an evangelistic event in church. There were many new faces there, especially from Mandarin service. I managed to speak to one Mandarin dude whilst we were still setting up. Due to English limitations the conversation was quite short. Just before the event began I plucked up the courage to greet three younger people: Anson, Alison and her sister Elaine. It was to my shame that it was the first time I ever spoken to Alison as she has been in EM for around six months I think, and I hadn't ever spoken to her or the friend she comes with. But talking to them yesterday was totally fine and not as scary as it might seem. Tonight, at Destiny Church I managed to talk to a lady called Linda after the service. We had a good conversation about how nice Destiny Church is with how it is managed, the work it does locally and globally and how it has changed so many lives. I felt very refreshed and encouraged tonight and well rested. Although Destiny Church in the southside it not very local, but it is definitely worth the travel down to worship with so many others. Looking forward to attending Destiny Church services more frequently.
Lesson of the Day: Take the leap and greet people. It is not so scary!!
So in the past week I've managed to get to bed by 10PM most nights. Not every night I must confess. Sunday night and Monday managed 10PM. Monday morning I felt amazing with eight hours of sleep and noticed that I didn't yawn at all throughout the day until about 2PM! And that was even after workout first thing in the morning as well. Sleep is so under-rated! Tuesday night I think I managed 10:30PM. Wednesday I went Go-karting with a bunch of fellow driving instructors. It was Scotkart at Clydebank and it was so much fun! Got home not very late, about 9:50PM I think, but it was too close to bed time and it was impossible to 'switch off' just like that so I went to bed just after 11PM. It went downhill from there basically cos Thursday night I came home pretty late and ended up missing the gym on Friday morning. Not to fret, as I made it back up yesterday morning doing circuit style exercises for 45mins and then getting home for breakfast before starting work. All in all, I do totally feel the benefits of my sleeping plan of 10PM-6AM. I want to try it again this coming week although I have a pretty busy week of work ahead of me, with the latest finish of 8PM in the west end one evening. I don't like finishing so late as it usually means I cannot get to bed on time especially after I eat a little something once I get home. Ah well, we'll see what happens eh.
I think I'll sign up for the Men's Conference 2012 at Destiny Church on the 16th of June. The conference runs from 9AM that Saturday morning and ends in the evening time. I would imagine it would be a whole day event for Christian brothers studying the Word of God together, having fellowship and praying together. Guess I'll make new friends there as well. One thing I've realised about myself recently is that I need to expand in my circle of friends. Due to the 'isolated' nature of my job as a driving instructor, where I have no colleagues per se, where I am 'on my own' most of the time, it does limit my time of socialising and communicating with others. And by the time my working day is over I retire back at home where I just see my mum and sister. There is not much chance to really hang out with friends. Sundays are the times when I get a break from work, and I get to see brothers and sisters in church. However, the time spent is short and sometimes I feel there is not enough time to build quality friendships. So I'm seeking the Lord's direction as to what to do. As I grow older it is important to maintain an open mind and an open heart to get to know other people, to branch out and accept others and be accepted. I must not be a hermit nor so inward looking.
So the lesson which I've (re)learnt in the past week is that, it is ok to go up to talk to people. I have got to be less shy. Wednesday I had the opportunity to meet other driving instructors, some of whom I have never met. At first it was a bit daunting, the idea of meeting and racing with other instructors whom I didn't know. But it only takes the first line, "Hi, I'm Gordon!" followed by offering your hand for a handshake, and the rest seems to flow. By the end of the night we all broke the ice and everyone seemed very friendly and we had a great laugh. Saturday night, we had an evangelistic event in church. There were many new faces there, especially from Mandarin service. I managed to speak to one Mandarin dude whilst we were still setting up. Due to English limitations the conversation was quite short. Just before the event began I plucked up the courage to greet three younger people: Anson, Alison and her sister Elaine. It was to my shame that it was the first time I ever spoken to Alison as she has been in EM for around six months I think, and I hadn't ever spoken to her or the friend she comes with. But talking to them yesterday was totally fine and not as scary as it might seem. Tonight, at Destiny Church I managed to talk to a lady called Linda after the service. We had a good conversation about how nice Destiny Church is with how it is managed, the work it does locally and globally and how it has changed so many lives. I felt very refreshed and encouraged tonight and well rested. Although Destiny Church in the southside it not very local, but it is definitely worth the travel down to worship with so many others. Looking forward to attending Destiny Church services more frequently.
Lesson of the Day: Take the leap and greet people. It is not so scary!!
15 April 2012
Sleep
Fifteen minutes until I head to bed. For the coming week I will try to sleep for eight hours each night. To get up at 6AM for the gym would mean I need to get to bed for 10PM. I might not fall asleep right away but at least I will be resting7: my eyes and I will be away from the temptations of Facebook, Whatsapp, Youtube, Draw Something and WORDS with Friends. Haha!
Sleep is very important for everybody, especially for those who work out. Sleep allows the body to repairs it's muscle tissues which were damaged during exercise and lets the body restore it's energy, before the next bout! For too long I've neglected my sleep and averaged about 6-7 hours of sleep per night. There were some nights I was still up around 2AM which mean only four hours of sleep left before getting up for the gym. Hence I missed a few training sessions due to this. No good.
Instead, if I do a trial of sleeping 10PM-6AM each night, I hope to see/ feel better energy levels as well as improvement to my physique as the body is allowed to recharge properly. That would mean a typical weekday would pan out as follows:
10PM-6AM Sleep
6AM-10AM Gym, breakfast, prep lunch
10AM-7:30PM Work
7:30PM-10PM Dinner and wind down
10PM-6AM Sleep.... and the cycle continues so on and so forth!
I think it won't be too difficult for the first few days, at least until Friday. However, on Saturday there will be a church event going on which is posted as 7PM-9:30PM. I doubt I'll get to bed for 10PM, but then again, if I don't need to get up at 6AM on Sunday morning I should be ok. Will still aim for eight hours of quality sleep. Ok, time is now 21:55hrs to be exact. Gotta go now. Goodnight y'all!
Sleep is very important for everybody, especially for those who work out. Sleep allows the body to repairs it's muscle tissues which were damaged during exercise and lets the body restore it's energy, before the next bout! For too long I've neglected my sleep and averaged about 6-7 hours of sleep per night. There were some nights I was still up around 2AM which mean only four hours of sleep left before getting up for the gym. Hence I missed a few training sessions due to this. No good.
Instead, if I do a trial of sleeping 10PM-6AM each night, I hope to see/ feel better energy levels as well as improvement to my physique as the body is allowed to recharge properly. That would mean a typical weekday would pan out as follows:
10PM-6AM Sleep
6AM-10AM Gym, breakfast, prep lunch
10AM-7:30PM Work
7:30PM-10PM Dinner and wind down
10PM-6AM Sleep.... and the cycle continues so on and so forth!
I think it won't be too difficult for the first few days, at least until Friday. However, on Saturday there will be a church event going on which is posted as 7PM-9:30PM. I doubt I'll get to bed for 10PM, but then again, if I don't need to get up at 6AM on Sunday morning I should be ok. Will still aim for eight hours of quality sleep. Ok, time is now 21:55hrs to be exact. Gotta go now. Goodnight y'all!
16 March 2012
Chilling out
Taking things really slow tonight. Aiming for a really chilled night tonight. This time last week I was sipping on whiskey with Ian bro. Ok, I won't lie, I was throwing it back real quick at times. But that was because I had it diluted with lemonade being the lightweight I am. Haha! Today, well I was just working. Started 10AM and finished 4PM then had an appointment with Stephanie at 4:45PM for a back scrub and back, neck and shoulder massage. Had this booked a few weeks back as it would be a nice way to relax after a week of work and had not had a relieving massage for a long while. So after finishing work I headed down to town, near Central Station and had my treatments done. The back I had a Mineral Salt Scrub Treatment where she used a salt scrub on the skin of my upper and lower back and it took off the dead skin. I've never had this done before so at first it hurt a little as the minerals were quite rough on the skin. However, the "pain" was bearable and I knew it was good for me. After the scrub she put on some lotion which was a bit "tingly". Obviously, because my skin felt like it had just been scrubbed with a brillo pad! LOL! Again, initial contact was stingy but then it settled. Stephanie then hovered a steamer machine thing over my back and this killed any bacteria on the skin whilst refreshing it. This lasted about 6-8 minutes. Finally came the Dermalogica moisturiser on the back. Ahh bliss! =)
After that settled it was time for the back, neck and shoulder massage. Whilst getting the back scrub done I was thinking if I made the right choice of getting these two treatments done together. What if the skin on the back was too raw for massaging? I was getting ripped to shreds! But, no. Stephanie asked if I wanted the massage to help me feel revitalised or feel relaxed. I chose relaxed and she used the particular oil to achieve this. The massage was very nice. She managed to pushed almost all of the knots and tension on my back muscles due to my workouts etc and it felt so gooood!! Something that foam rollers cannot achieve. Haha!!
At the end of it all Stephanie gave me a glass of water and told me to take my time in getting up to leave. My back felt so refreshed, so hydrated. Even until now it's so smooth!! The back is always a very hard part to clean and see properly. And because the lungs are at the back, the refreshed skin is very good for it. The amount of sweating at workouts will no doubt block up the pores and skin again and I'll go back for the treatment again in the future.
Going to stay relaxed for the rest of the night. Not going to go on Facebook. Going to go to bed early. Long day tomorrow. Working 8:30AM-5:30PM on a Saturday!! =O Ok, time to go now. It is 8:30PM and I'm going to watch New Girl on Ch4. Continue where we left off in Grantham ;)
14 March 2012
Feeling relaxed
I am very glad that I had such a nice relaxing long weekend down in Grantham with Ian and Leanne. Because during the whole weekend we had such good laughs and it was like almost every moment we had laughs, jokes and teasing etc. It really helped create a nice relaxing atmosphere for us and a relaxing atmosphere inside me also. So much so that I find myself much calmer and much less uptight whilst working this week. For the past few weeks I was often feeling frustrated inside and I allowed the stresses of work get to me. On the outside I might have smiled or remained calm, but the inside held a storm. I guess I needed a good break away from work. And the long weekend was just that!
The last time I had break off work was back in November when I took the Friday off till Sunday and used the weekend for the church retreat. However, I was still very active, I was still driving, and I had my car key in my pocket. This weekend I intentionally left my car key in the house so I was well and truly relaxed. It was so nice to have Leanne drive us around places. I sat at the back taking photographs, videos and even dozed off at one point. Haha!
Lesson of the Day: All work and no play really does make me a dull boy!
The last time I had break off work was back in November when I took the Friday off till Sunday and used the weekend for the church retreat. However, I was still very active, I was still driving, and I had my car key in my pocket. This weekend I intentionally left my car key in the house so I was well and truly relaxed. It was so nice to have Leanne drive us around places. I sat at the back taking photographs, videos and even dozed off at one point. Haha!
Lesson of the Day: All work and no play really does make me a dull boy!
03 March 2012
A new routine
Just a wee log before going to bed. In fact I should be in bed a lot sooner, but I just spent the past hour reading the training manual for a new training system which I want to start from next week. As I said in my previous post, it is time to turn up the heat, and I didn't mean just the weather, but going to step things up a gear. Three phases to this new training program. Maintenance, Phase 1 and Phase 2. I will do the Maintenance for the month of March then begin Phase 1 in April for up to three months and hope to see improved results in muscle building along with fat burning. I will talk more about this in a future blog. =)
Got a long day ahead for tomorrow: hoping to go to the gym at opening time 9AM for an hour and come home for a big breakfast before going to church for 11AM worship practice. Will be in church till around 4PM the latest and will then go watch "The Artist". I think I will be mega hungry during church time, so will have to bring some lunch for before service starts. After service possibly head over to M&S for reduced price foooood. Things like sandwiches and wraps priced between 10-50p, croissants and breads around 10p each, salads 30p etc. Examples of things I've managed to get in the past. Will be good snacks for the movie at least ;)
After hanging out for a while I think I will be heading home to rest early and get to bed between 10-11PM. I will need enough sleep before I begin my new workout as of Monday morning, 6:30AM. Ooh yeah! And guess what? I'm so looking forward to getting those free towels every visit at Greens now! ;)
Goodnight!!
Got a long day ahead for tomorrow: hoping to go to the gym at opening time 9AM for an hour and come home for a big breakfast before going to church for 11AM worship practice. Will be in church till around 4PM the latest and will then go watch "The Artist". I think I will be mega hungry during church time, so will have to bring some lunch for before service starts. After service possibly head over to M&S for reduced price foooood. Things like sandwiches and wraps priced between 10-50p, croissants and breads around 10p each, salads 30p etc. Examples of things I've managed to get in the past. Will be good snacks for the movie at least ;)
After hanging out for a while I think I will be heading home to rest early and get to bed between 10-11PM. I will need enough sleep before I begin my new workout as of Monday morning, 6:30AM. Ooh yeah! And guess what? I'm so looking forward to getting those free towels every visit at Greens now! ;)
Goodnight!!
01 March 2012
Gone Platinum!!
First day of March and it went off with a good start, weather-wise at least. For the first time in a long while we had an afternoon of sunshine and I actually felt like I was teaching in a nice summer's day. It was very indeed. I cannot remember how many degrees it was outside but my jacket was off and the windows were down. My pupil was amazed at how nice the weather was.
This day also marks the day I upgraded to the 'Platinum Membership' in Greens Gym. What this means is, I pay an extra £10 every month on top of my membership fee. For that extra money I get a whole range of benefits including:
* A complimtary towel each visit of the gym
* One free guest pass each month
* Complimentary personal training session every three months
* One free coffee each month
* 10% off Costa Coffee within Greens
I reckon with the £10 extra, if I visit the gym ten times a month I will at least break even as the towels are £1 each. I usually bring my own, but now once I finish with their towel I just put it into the towel bin and won't have to carry it around with me if I were not going on. It also means I can take random visits to the gym purely for a quick shower and head back out. This will be especially useful in the hot hot summer days that Glasgow will soon be getting, so therefore, I get more much more value out of this.
The free guest pass per month is also very good offer. I have signed friends in before using their promotional guest passes which they issue each Christmas for use in December and January months. However, without vouchers, guests are signed in for £10 each time. Again, just bringing a friend once a month makes the extra money worthwhile.
Free training session every three months will be useful when I want a break from my usual training program and can have someone check my form or give me more advice etc for an hour. Guess I won't have my first session until June perhaps.
Previously they gave out sunbed vouchers to Platinum members. But the girl at reception told me today that since Nuffield Health and Fitness bought over Greens they took away the sunbed vouchers and replaced it with a free coffee instead. Not a bad idea as I would have NO use for any sunbeds. Haha!!
10% off Costa Coffee is something I will probably use more often. Though I don't do many coffee shop visits, but the occasional catch up with friends is nice and makes a change from Starbucks anyway. Plus this place has free parking which not many other places can offer ;)
So there we have it. I am officially a Platinum Greens member, after being a member since December 2009.
Lesson of the Day: More like a quote here - "If you keep doing what you're doing, you will keep getting what [results] you're getting.". It's time to turn up the heat!
30 December 2011
Christmas 2011: Inbetween Days
Last gym session of 2011 today.
Treadmill: Intervals of sprint and walk for 12 minutes.
PullUps - Deadlifts - Bench Press - Box Jumps - Thrusters - Rolling Dumbbell extensions - Plyo PushUps with Dive Bombers to finish off. Was pretty good workout and certainly broke a good sweat out of me. I still didn't feel 100% today but better than yesterday at least when I was coughing and it sounded pretty rough that even Caroline the PT said "Oh that doesn't sound too healthy(!)". I laughed it off and said, "Yeah trying to fight it here!" =P Got a compliment from a guy at the gym when I was at the cardio suite. Went over to shake his hand (as you do when you greet buddies and wishing a good Christmas and New Year) and he said he had been eating everything this Christmas and will want to head back to full training again from January. He commented that I was looking good and look leaner compared to when he last saw me in the gym (just a few weeks ago). Must be the top I was wearing. Haha! Anyway, yeah, I am glad that I started the ATHLEAN-X training program back in May this year. It has certainly helped me lose lots of bodyfat whilst building and maintain muscle mass. It is generally each to do both at the same time, hence bodybuilders go through the "bulking stage" when they pump iron whilst eating lots and lots and get big (gaining lots of muscle and fat along the way), then they go for the "cutting phase" and do lots of cardio in place of eating lots and hope to lose the bodyfat, revealing the muscle they built up during their bulking phase. It sounds easier than in reality as the bodyfat will never be shifted away completely or the level we'd like, at least not naturally. I've been through that stage of the game before and I can say it was fun whilst it lasted but now I train in a much more smarter way, training like an athlete, lots of bodyweight exercises along with free weights and generally get more body parts involved to increase anabolic and metabolic rate and the results speak for themselves. =)
The above picture was a random idea when I was in the changing room getting ready to leave. I had my shaker cup at hand whilst mixing my protein supplement after my shower. I took this picture because I wanted a record of how I look at the end of 2011 and I want to use this to better myself in 2012. I have great aims for 2012, spiritual and physical goals. Talking about physical goals, I don't like the picture above: I would like to build up my trapezius muscles, they look pretty flat compared to my shoulders. Also there is still too much bodyfat around the waist and I need to do more to burn away the stubborn layers. (Doing ab exercises alone will NOT do anything btw, that is called spot reduction - does not work!). Cutting away sweet stuff (apart from my supplements and stuff like yoghurts) and lowering carbs in the evenings will help too. So when it turns 2012, in less than 48hrs, I will be lowering my sugar intake whenever possible. I will still have my vitamin c drink of course (orange taste), but will be abstaining from sweet empty calories like sweets, chocolate etc. Please, do not offer such things to me. I will let myself some freedom when it's Cat's wedding (July/ August) and really celebrate then, especially in Singapore!! =D One final thing, I want to build bigger calf muscles. This one I am NOT looking forward to, even as I type this, I would rather work anything else but these stubborn stubborn muscles. But I know if I want bigger calves to look better in my kilt then I better get to work. Lol! So again in January I will start training the calves specifically. There are so many different exercises and believe me, these weak muscles will always ache the few days after the workout. LOL!! So these are the three physical goals I have for the new year. I will share my other goals next time :)
Last day of work tomorrow (Hogmanay!). Three lessons: 0930-11AM, 11-1PM then 330-5PM and then I'll be done!! Off work for a whole TWO days!! Haha!! Not sure what's happening for New Year yet. Might be a very quiet one this year =)
26 December 2011
Christmas 2011: Boxing Day
Came home quite late last night from dinner at Aaron Sam's place. So after getting home, shower, opening Christmas presents and going online, it didn't leave much time to sleep before today's Boxing Day Sale. Just before bed I found out, via responses on my Facebook status, that the Next Sale was scheduled to start at 6AM, not the traditional 7AM like in previous years. That gave me a little dilemma. Mum was due to start work at 7AM on Sauchiehall Street, so I promised her I'd take her to work by 6:45AM, drop her off, drive along a little further then park up and go to Next Sale. Win-win situation. However, if the sale were to start at 6AM then I'd have to work something else out. Gave it a few moments of thought then decided to go to bed and had alarm set for 5AM...
5AM arrived and the alarm went off. Only once this time as I didn't snooze. Good boy! Then I got up, got ready for going out, had porridge with a banana (no muesli this time), had a cup of tea with two croissants AND two antibiotic tablets. Then I left the house at 5:45AM and headed out for Next to meet Xiaoling. It was her first time checking out the Next Sale at opening time, and this was the earliest at 6AM!! Haha! Hardcore stuff man! So I went to get my essentials, underwear and socks and whilst looking for something for Kenneth I came across a plain white shirt also and grabbed that in excitement!! Paid for my stuff (three-figure sum??) then headed home to pick mum up. Oh yeah, before I left Next I took a picture of the shopfloor at 6:20AM. Check the picture out here (if you are my Fb friend).
Got home, dropped my stuff off, took mum to work in plenty of time, then went back out to Next to meet Xiaoling. After Next was River Island, after River Island it was 8AM and I had to move my car from a single yellow line road (outside Cineworld) into Chinatown carpark, hoping for free parking if there were no parking attendant guy in the cabin box thing. Nope, no guy there. Great! Walked back out to town, this time to Frasers, then Zara. Bumped into Vivian Lai in Frasers then Danny and Candy when queueing outside Zara. Again another stampede took place once the doors of Zara opened. This time not as bad as the Buchanan Galleries one cos this female security guard was huge!! =P Zara Men was disappointing again. Nothing there suitable to me. I tried one thin wool top on: L was too tight. XL was too loose. Fail!! Haha! Went for breakfast at Costa Coffee back up at Buchanan Galleries and bumped into Joey. After our break Xiaoling went to meet Alethea for girly shopping whilst I went to Cineworld to watch "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows". It was quite a good film. Funny, witty and often very clever ;)
After the movie I was beginning to feel tired so decided to go home. Took a slight detour to visit the nearby HMV first before really going home. Mainly looked at the blu-rays section and dvd boxsets but didn't find anything worth getting. Saw this guy holding all four seasons of Heroes on blu-ray though. Had a really tempting moment there. But when I went to check out the shelves, only seasons one and four were left, at £15 each. Doh! Never mind! I got home and went online again, checked some stuff out, Play.com being one of my sites, then checked out reviews on mobile phones, football scores and later it was time to cook the turkey for dinner with mum when she got home. The turkey took quite a long time. 1hr 50mins initially, remove foil, put in another 30mins basting it occasionally then recover with foil and sit for 30mins. So it was about 6PM when we started dinner. I washed up after dinner, unpacked all my shopping, showered and tried on my white shirt. Guess what!! I actually later found out that my shirt was NOT part of the Next Sale!! It was a non-sale item but somebody had slotted it into the 16.5ins shirt tray with everything else, and in my excitement I grabbed it. No wonder it came to triple figures!! LOL! Ah well, I really liked the shirt. Next Signature brand. Even the collarbones are metal and there are two spares also! Haha! Hard to find a white shirt that fits AND is not see-through, so I'll keep it this time =P
So there you have it. Eventful busy morning but a quiet and unexciting evening. And now I'm feelinng tired although it is only 10:30PM. Usually still 'early' for me, but I think after this I will brush, floss and scrape then head to bed. Back to work tomorrow. Still occasionally coughing but nothing like few days ago. Voice still a little hoarse (noticed by people yesterday and this morning) but nothing like few days ago. Two more days of antibiotics to finish and I really hope I will be fully fit again. So... working tomorrow 10AM-3PM then gym after that. Really wanna get back into routine now. Have not stepped into Greens since last Saturday I think (17th!!) =O
5AM arrived and the alarm went off. Only once this time as I didn't snooze. Good boy! Then I got up, got ready for going out, had porridge with a banana (no muesli this time), had a cup of tea with two croissants AND two antibiotic tablets. Then I left the house at 5:45AM and headed out for Next to meet Xiaoling. It was her first time checking out the Next Sale at opening time, and this was the earliest at 6AM!! Haha! Hardcore stuff man! So I went to get my essentials, underwear and socks and whilst looking for something for Kenneth I came across a plain white shirt also and grabbed that in excitement!! Paid for my stuff (three-figure sum??) then headed home to pick mum up. Oh yeah, before I left Next I took a picture of the shopfloor at 6:20AM. Check the picture out here (if you are my Fb friend).
Got home, dropped my stuff off, took mum to work in plenty of time, then went back out to Next to meet Xiaoling. After Next was River Island, after River Island it was 8AM and I had to move my car from a single yellow line road (outside Cineworld) into Chinatown carpark, hoping for free parking if there were no parking attendant guy in the cabin box thing. Nope, no guy there. Great! Walked back out to town, this time to Frasers, then Zara. Bumped into Vivian Lai in Frasers then Danny and Candy when queueing outside Zara. Again another stampede took place once the doors of Zara opened. This time not as bad as the Buchanan Galleries one cos this female security guard was huge!! =P Zara Men was disappointing again. Nothing there suitable to me. I tried one thin wool top on: L was too tight. XL was too loose. Fail!! Haha! Went for breakfast at Costa Coffee back up at Buchanan Galleries and bumped into Joey. After our break Xiaoling went to meet Alethea for girly shopping whilst I went to Cineworld to watch "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows". It was quite a good film. Funny, witty and often very clever ;)
After the movie I was beginning to feel tired so decided to go home. Took a slight detour to visit the nearby HMV first before really going home. Mainly looked at the blu-rays section and dvd boxsets but didn't find anything worth getting. Saw this guy holding all four seasons of Heroes on blu-ray though. Had a really tempting moment there. But when I went to check out the shelves, only seasons one and four were left, at £15 each. Doh! Never mind! I got home and went online again, checked some stuff out, Play.com being one of my sites, then checked out reviews on mobile phones, football scores and later it was time to cook the turkey for dinner with mum when she got home. The turkey took quite a long time. 1hr 50mins initially, remove foil, put in another 30mins basting it occasionally then recover with foil and sit for 30mins. So it was about 6PM when we started dinner. I washed up after dinner, unpacked all my shopping, showered and tried on my white shirt. Guess what!! I actually later found out that my shirt was NOT part of the Next Sale!! It was a non-sale item but somebody had slotted it into the 16.5ins shirt tray with everything else, and in my excitement I grabbed it. No wonder it came to triple figures!! LOL! Ah well, I really liked the shirt. Next Signature brand. Even the collarbones are metal and there are two spares also! Haha! Hard to find a white shirt that fits AND is not see-through, so I'll keep it this time =P
So there you have it. Eventful busy morning but a quiet and unexciting evening. And now I'm feelinng tired although it is only 10:30PM. Usually still 'early' for me, but I think after this I will brush, floss and scrape then head to bed. Back to work tomorrow. Still occasionally coughing but nothing like few days ago. Voice still a little hoarse (noticed by people yesterday and this morning) but nothing like few days ago. Two more days of antibiotics to finish and I really hope I will be fully fit again. So... working tomorrow 10AM-3PM then gym after that. Really wanna get back into routine now. Have not stepped into Greens since last Saturday I think (17th!!) =O
24 December 2011
Christmas 2011: Christmas Eve!!
Currently busy watching "Young Bruce Lee"... brb
Young Bruce Lee was very good. It was uploaded on Youtube through eleven parts and I watched it all. Mum was tired from work so only managed to stay awake until the sixth part and then fell asleep. I guess she'll have to catch up next time. Haha!
Well Christmas even was pretty boring to be honest. I was not well enough to work not go to the gym. So was pretty gutted I missed out on the 90-Minute Body Attack class which Cat and Iain went to. So sad! =( I could not string 3-4 sentences without coughing like crazy. Really felt like something was tickling the walls of my throat resulting in coughing fit. If that was only talking, then think of how much coughing would result from rapid breathing in response to face paced exercising! And also, how much coughing from talking lots during the driving lessons. =( As a result I had to cancel my two lessons as well.
Spent more time in bed. Slept till midday before getting up for brunch, medication, then went online, did devotionals, listened to more worship songs on Youtube and then burned an MP3 cd for the car. It wasn't until after dinner in the evening that I suggested to mum that we watch the Young Bruce Lee movie. She was a little reluctant at first because she said she was uber tired from work cos McDonald's so was uber packed due to the last day of shopping for most people and they was crazy rush to town to get those presents.
Before we knew it, it was midnight and Christmas arrived. We greet each other a Merry Christmas and I went on to tidy up the computer to TV set up as I had linked it up for the movie. Think I got to bed about 1AM after being on Facebook and reading lots of different, yet the same, updates full of Christmas wishes. Haha! Will be a long day ahead for Christmas Day. Church service then dinner at Aaron Sam's place. =)
Young Bruce Lee was very good. It was uploaded on Youtube through eleven parts and I watched it all. Mum was tired from work so only managed to stay awake until the sixth part and then fell asleep. I guess she'll have to catch up next time. Haha!
Well Christmas even was pretty boring to be honest. I was not well enough to work not go to the gym. So was pretty gutted I missed out on the 90-Minute Body Attack class which Cat and Iain went to. So sad! =( I could not string 3-4 sentences without coughing like crazy. Really felt like something was tickling the walls of my throat resulting in coughing fit. If that was only talking, then think of how much coughing would result from rapid breathing in response to face paced exercising! And also, how much coughing from talking lots during the driving lessons. =( As a result I had to cancel my two lessons as well.
Spent more time in bed. Slept till midday before getting up for brunch, medication, then went online, did devotionals, listened to more worship songs on Youtube and then burned an MP3 cd for the car. It wasn't until after dinner in the evening that I suggested to mum that we watch the Young Bruce Lee movie. She was a little reluctant at first because she said she was uber tired from work cos McDonald's so was uber packed due to the last day of shopping for most people and they was crazy rush to town to get those presents.
Before we knew it, it was midnight and Christmas arrived. We greet each other a Merry Christmas and I went on to tidy up the computer to TV set up as I had linked it up for the movie. Think I got to bed about 1AM after being on Facebook and reading lots of different, yet the same, updates full of Christmas wishes. Haha! Will be a long day ahead for Christmas Day. Church service then dinner at Aaron Sam's place. =)
23 December 2011
Christmas 2011: Two days to go!!
Woke up this morning just after 8AM and felt terrible. Rolled around in bed until 8:30AM then got up to make two important phone calls. One was to the DVLA making an enquiry about driving licences and secondly a call to the local GP to see if they had any free slots available. Was given 9:40AM. Those phone calls were so tough, especially the DVLA one, cos my voice was like sooooo rough!! Argh!! Was tad bit embarrassing but hey, it had to be done and I didn't have time to call later once my voice "warmed up" because the place shut at midday due to holiday. Ah well, I'm sure Cathy who answered the phone has totally forgotten about me now anyway as she prepares for her Christmas =)
09:30AM I made my way to the doctor's surgery and dropped off a bag of stuff for the local Salvation Army store.
10:30AM I had my first antibiotic tablet. Was given a ten-day course, two to be taken daily. Here's hoping it will help me feel better for Sunday =)
11:30AM I was in Tesco getting stuff for Christmas and getting two more little presents for my little ones ;) The place was packed full of people!
12:30PM I prepared lunch: reheated leftover roast chicken with rice, gravy and Tabasco sauce. Maybe not best to add spicy stuff considering my throat, but it were only a few drops.
1:30PM Hoovered the whole house
2:30PM Started looking for songs to download to make an MP3 cd for the car. Mainly Christian songs so far.
3:30PM Was reading Nutrition and Fitness articles
4:30PM Early dinner, prepared by Cat. I washed dishes afterwards. Mum had a relaxing time at home after her busy day at work. Extremely busy day.
5:30PM Did some exercises on the mat with my weights. Wanted to try a few exercises out. Was good.
6:30PM Was on Facebook for a while and checked out some funny videos too like this one which made me think of Secret Santa reactions. Haha! =P
7:30PM Started watching "The Romancing Star 2" on Youtube. Then later discovered there is a "Young Bruce Lee" movie uploaded also, which was released last year. That is now on my 'to-watch' list. Haha!
9:30PM Started watching "Initial D" dvd with Cat on the dvd. Wanted a break from the computer. Haven't watched "Initial D" for such a long time. I forgotten about the ending as well. Oooh, very open-ended for a sequel. Actually... has there been a sequel yet?!
11:30PM Logged on to blog of course! Haha!
Right now I have topped up my honey lemon and just sipping that whilst typing this. Oh yeah, had my second antibiotic tablet at 10:20PM. Throat is still quite croaky and I cannot seem to string together more than a few sentences without feeling the urge to cough. Seems my lunges have weakened, or there is something tickly around my throat that makes me cough kinda thing. Not sure how I will manage to teach tomorrow. OR how I can manage a 90-minute special Body Attack class at the gym!
Ok la, time for bed. Will see what happens tomorrow eh! Goodnight all!
09:30AM I made my way to the doctor's surgery and dropped off a bag of stuff for the local Salvation Army store.
10:30AM I had my first antibiotic tablet. Was given a ten-day course, two to be taken daily. Here's hoping it will help me feel better for Sunday =)
11:30AM I was in Tesco getting stuff for Christmas and getting two more little presents for my little ones ;) The place was packed full of people!
12:30PM I prepared lunch: reheated leftover roast chicken with rice, gravy and Tabasco sauce. Maybe not best to add spicy stuff considering my throat, but it were only a few drops.
1:30PM Hoovered the whole house
2:30PM Started looking for songs to download to make an MP3 cd for the car. Mainly Christian songs so far.
3:30PM Was reading Nutrition and Fitness articles
4:30PM Early dinner, prepared by Cat. I washed dishes afterwards. Mum had a relaxing time at home after her busy day at work. Extremely busy day.
5:30PM Did some exercises on the mat with my weights. Wanted to try a few exercises out. Was good.
6:30PM Was on Facebook for a while and checked out some funny videos too like this one which made me think of Secret Santa reactions. Haha! =P
7:30PM Started watching "The Romancing Star 2" on Youtube. Then later discovered there is a "Young Bruce Lee" movie uploaded also, which was released last year. That is now on my 'to-watch' list. Haha!
9:30PM Started watching "Initial D" dvd with Cat on the dvd. Wanted a break from the computer. Haven't watched "Initial D" for such a long time. I forgotten about the ending as well. Oooh, very open-ended for a sequel. Actually... has there been a sequel yet?!
11:30PM Logged on to blog of course! Haha!
Right now I have topped up my honey lemon and just sipping that whilst typing this. Oh yeah, had my second antibiotic tablet at 10:20PM. Throat is still quite croaky and I cannot seem to string together more than a few sentences without feeling the urge to cough. Seems my lunges have weakened, or there is something tickly around my throat that makes me cough kinda thing. Not sure how I will manage to teach tomorrow. OR how I can manage a 90-minute special Body Attack class at the gym!
Ok la, time for bed. Will see what happens tomorrow eh! Goodnight all!
22 December 2011
Christmas 2011: Three days to go!!
Just three days till Christmas and I am still unwell. I couldn't get up this morning for devotions and exercise. The alarm went off at 7:15AM and it was my second time getting up. First time was around 3:40AM when I got up for the toilet. In fact I woke up cos I felt I couldn't sleep. Think maybe the temperature was too hot or something. I suspected fever, but thankfully no more signs of it through the day. Anyway, I silenced the alarm the slumped back to bed. I couldn't handle getting up and just wanted to give my body a rest. A little rest turned into a long rest and I sprung up at the discovery of the time on my phone, 9AM!! I had half an hour to get myself ready and out of the house for my 10AM lesson at Maryhill area!! Gosh!
Made it on time for the lesson but I sooo wasn't in the mood for work today. Gah!! My voice had gotten much rougher through the night and it was not clearing today. So each time I spoke it was very coarse, very croaky. I didn't like it. =( First lesson was two hour long, after which I had a lunch break before second lesson of one and a half hours. I was sooo relieved at the end of the second lesson. I went home to get changed and then had to decide given my condition did not improve through the day, that it was not worth going out to Henry's birthday dinner. It would be unfair of me to spread any germs around my friends. Not a very good nice birthday gift for Henry either. So I had to text him to apologise. =(
I have a day off tomorrow though and hopefully I will get a long lie in. Might get up 8:30AM and call the local surgery and see if I can get an appointment to see the GP. Might need some antibiotics for this if there is so much bateria in me. =( Meant to be resting tomorrow but already I have a few things I plan to do: read, collect stuff to give to local Salvation Army shop, hoover the house, iron a new shirt, call the DVLA to make an enquiry (must call before noon when they shut!), select songs to burn onto an MP3 cd, and last but not least, contact Vodafone to ask if they can give me an unlocking code for my HTC Magic.
Oh! More on that last point! I made a really cool discovery, just moments ago! I was searching on Google for HTC Magic unlocking codes. I wanted to see if I can unlock the phone from Vodafone so it makes it more flexible for use with other sim cards, like UK networks or even abroad to HK or next year, Singapore. I remember I called up Vodafone for unlocking code for my K800i waaaaay back when as I came to end of contract with them. They gave me the code no bother. So I was curious whether technology has advanced since then (2007?) and I might get a code off the internet instead. Whilst searching I came across some websites asking for IMEI numbers before they sold you a code for about £10-£20. Among the searches there were also threads that discussed unlocking codes and someone said that Vodafone don't tend to lock their phones anymore, that some phones are just branded Vodafone but works with other network sim cards. So.... I was very intrigued by this and thought to try my Orange PAYG sim card on the HTC Magic. And... it WORKED!! It took a few moments for the sim to be picked up and a signal established. Although the startup screen displayed Vodafone as per usual, the Orange signal was strong and I was able to call "453" and it told me the account balance of my Orange sim card! Whoo-hoo! How cool is that? That's one less item on my to-do list for tomorrow! Haha!! So now it seems I have two sim free phones at home. Will be handy when travelling abroad or when there are visitors in Glasgow who require a phone I can lend them either my Ericsson K810i or HTC Magic, but for the latter, would have to warn about lagging etc. Haha! Nah, won't be that bad after a I perform a handset reset. Oooh yeah! Will do that once I get a replacement phone. Lol!
Made it on time for the lesson but I sooo wasn't in the mood for work today. Gah!! My voice had gotten much rougher through the night and it was not clearing today. So each time I spoke it was very coarse, very croaky. I didn't like it. =( First lesson was two hour long, after which I had a lunch break before second lesson of one and a half hours. I was sooo relieved at the end of the second lesson. I went home to get changed and then had to decide given my condition did not improve through the day, that it was not worth going out to Henry's birthday dinner. It would be unfair of me to spread any germs around my friends. Not a very good nice birthday gift for Henry either. So I had to text him to apologise. =(
I have a day off tomorrow though and hopefully I will get a long lie in. Might get up 8:30AM and call the local surgery and see if I can get an appointment to see the GP. Might need some antibiotics for this if there is so much bateria in me. =( Meant to be resting tomorrow but already I have a few things I plan to do: read, collect stuff to give to local Salvation Army shop, hoover the house, iron a new shirt, call the DVLA to make an enquiry (must call before noon when they shut!), select songs to burn onto an MP3 cd, and last but not least, contact Vodafone to ask if they can give me an unlocking code for my HTC Magic.
Oh! More on that last point! I made a really cool discovery, just moments ago! I was searching on Google for HTC Magic unlocking codes. I wanted to see if I can unlock the phone from Vodafone so it makes it more flexible for use with other sim cards, like UK networks or even abroad to HK or next year, Singapore. I remember I called up Vodafone for unlocking code for my K800i waaaaay back when as I came to end of contract with them. They gave me the code no bother. So I was curious whether technology has advanced since then (2007?) and I might get a code off the internet instead. Whilst searching I came across some websites asking for IMEI numbers before they sold you a code for about £10-£20. Among the searches there were also threads that discussed unlocking codes and someone said that Vodafone don't tend to lock their phones anymore, that some phones are just branded Vodafone but works with other network sim cards. So.... I was very intrigued by this and thought to try my Orange PAYG sim card on the HTC Magic. And... it WORKED!! It took a few moments for the sim to be picked up and a signal established. Although the startup screen displayed Vodafone as per usual, the Orange signal was strong and I was able to call "453" and it told me the account balance of my Orange sim card! Whoo-hoo! How cool is that? That's one less item on my to-do list for tomorrow! Haha!! So now it seems I have two sim free phones at home. Will be handy when travelling abroad or when there are visitors in Glasgow who require a phone I can lend them either my Ericsson K810i or HTC Magic, but for the latter, would have to warn about lagging etc. Haha! Nah, won't be that bad after a I perform a handset reset. Oooh yeah! Will do that once I get a replacement phone. Lol!
21 December 2011
Christmas 2011: Four days to go!!
Meant to be in bed right now, but have been tempted/ distracted by a website: Vodafone.co.uk.
My current contract expires mid-Feb, Vodafone allows upgrading up to 90 days before contract ends. It was almost a year ago when Vodafone offered me Half Price Line Rental for a 12-month term, meaning I was due to pay £17.50 a month and still get the full benefits of my tariff - 600 Anytime minutes, Unlimited text messages, Unlimited Data usage and Stop the Clock. The 12-month is running out soon, and although I was previously told I would get nine months at £17.50 and the last three at full tariff, out of goodwill (and my miscalculation), I called up Vodafone and they kindly discounted my tariff again in November AND December bills. Praise God! =) However, now I know it is definitely time to get a replacement phone. My phone (HTC Magic) has lost it's magic. Coming up to being two and a half years old, it is running uber slow, the contact name/ number often don't display when the phone rings, camera takes ages to load and process pictures, even turning the phone back to the welcome screen (pressing of home button) takes such a loooong while to refresh. I can no longer use the quick way of Google-searching things which this phone was designed for also, due to the loooong lagging delays. As you can imagine, this has bad effects for when running a business and of course for my social life (Fb, texting, Whatsapp etc). Oh yeah, I cannot seem to view video clips that people send through Whatsapp either! Grrrr!!
So I have my eyes set on another Android phone. I have grown attached to having my Google accounts linked directly to this phone, having everything at my disposal. So the Samsung Galaxy SII is something in my focus. But I'm trying to figure out which is the best deal to get with Vodafone. I will not look to end this contract, cancel, then restart a new contract. Will not take any tricky routes or try any loopholes as such because I do not want to port my number across or anything that might disrupt my business calls. So... I think I will be busy these next few days trying to figure this out and calculating. Haha!
Missed the gym for the third day now. Still managed to do some workout at home after my morning devos, but just not the same is it? Well, can't be helped really. My 'cold' or 'sickness' has not gotten any better. My voice has gotten rougher in fact and was today teaching whilst clearing my throat very often to make sure I am heard and that I don't sound too 'froggy'. Sake man, how frustrating. I am meant to go to Henry's birthday dinner at Prezzo tomorrow evening as well. I finish work at 2:30PM, so hopefully no more coughing fits either. We'll see how I feel after work before I finally decide. I need proper rest, but haven't taken a day off so far as any cancellations made less than 48hrs before will be charged, meaning I will the pupil a lesson. So I called my Friday lessons off today and explained I was not well. Thankfully the Friday lessons are for pupils who saw me in my sorry state on Monday when I was coughing like crazy then as well. I'll see them next Friday instead. That way I will not risk giving them any more of my germs =(
Ok, to bed I go!! Goodnight!!
My current contract expires mid-Feb, Vodafone allows upgrading up to 90 days before contract ends. It was almost a year ago when Vodafone offered me Half Price Line Rental for a 12-month term, meaning I was due to pay £17.50 a month and still get the full benefits of my tariff - 600 Anytime minutes, Unlimited text messages, Unlimited Data usage and Stop the Clock. The 12-month is running out soon, and although I was previously told I would get nine months at £17.50 and the last three at full tariff, out of goodwill (and my miscalculation), I called up Vodafone and they kindly discounted my tariff again in November AND December bills. Praise God! =) However, now I know it is definitely time to get a replacement phone. My phone (HTC Magic) has lost it's magic. Coming up to being two and a half years old, it is running uber slow, the contact name/ number often don't display when the phone rings, camera takes ages to load and process pictures, even turning the phone back to the welcome screen (pressing of home button) takes such a loooong while to refresh. I can no longer use the quick way of Google-searching things which this phone was designed for also, due to the loooong lagging delays. As you can imagine, this has bad effects for when running a business and of course for my social life (Fb, texting, Whatsapp etc). Oh yeah, I cannot seem to view video clips that people send through Whatsapp either! Grrrr!!
So I have my eyes set on another Android phone. I have grown attached to having my Google accounts linked directly to this phone, having everything at my disposal. So the Samsung Galaxy SII is something in my focus. But I'm trying to figure out which is the best deal to get with Vodafone. I will not look to end this contract, cancel, then restart a new contract. Will not take any tricky routes or try any loopholes as such because I do not want to port my number across or anything that might disrupt my business calls. So... I think I will be busy these next few days trying to figure this out and calculating. Haha!
Missed the gym for the third day now. Still managed to do some workout at home after my morning devos, but just not the same is it? Well, can't be helped really. My 'cold' or 'sickness' has not gotten any better. My voice has gotten rougher in fact and was today teaching whilst clearing my throat very often to make sure I am heard and that I don't sound too 'froggy'. Sake man, how frustrating. I am meant to go to Henry's birthday dinner at Prezzo tomorrow evening as well. I finish work at 2:30PM, so hopefully no more coughing fits either. We'll see how I feel after work before I finally decide. I need proper rest, but haven't taken a day off so far as any cancellations made less than 48hrs before will be charged, meaning I will the pupil a lesson. So I called my Friday lessons off today and explained I was not well. Thankfully the Friday lessons are for pupils who saw me in my sorry state on Monday when I was coughing like crazy then as well. I'll see them next Friday instead. That way I will not risk giving them any more of my germs =(
Ok, to bed I go!! Goodnight!!
20 December 2011
Christmas 2011: Five days to go!!
Five days till Christmas and there is no snow, there is a forecast of 11C for Glasgow on Thursday AND I've still got this cold!! Argh!! More coughing today during lessons; covered my mouth of course! But later on I started sneezing as well. NOT a good sign! Here I was thinking I was getting a bit better. Sigh... Maybe this is 'bad' before the 'good'. Currently struggling to breathe through my right nostril. Gah!!
Anyhows, better get to sleep soon. Only up this "late" cos I just finished watching an old Chinese movie with mum through Youtube. Connected the laptop through to the TV and played all ten parts of The Romancing Star, a 1987 movie which we had not seen before and I only watched the first part two days ago when I was randomly searching for Eric Tsang funny stuff. Haha! It was a typical Chinese romantic comedy with lots of laughs mixed with mistaken identities, chasing of girls and typical tongue-in-cheek moments. It was nice to watch this movie with mum as it meant she was in a relaxed state on the couch as opposed to being busy in the kitchen etc. =)
Looks like I'll be missing the gym for yet another day tomorrow. It's horrible. But at least I still got to workout at home a little. Managed to do workout yesterday (joined by Cat) and this morning myself. Then morning shower and breakfast and I'm ready to start the day. Home workouts are great. Not necessary a lot of floor space required for an effective workout. I am storing up / learning good new routines that will come in handy for those days when I'm snowed in and can't even drive to the gym. Lol! Yup, better plan ahead. I'm currently also testing out a workout program for a brother in Christ and by keeping accountable we're doing the exercises at the same time each morning, after we do devotions. It's a good way to maintain our spiritual and physical health. Both are equally important.
I thought up a slogan for this: "Devotion to God. Dedication to fitness."
If this idea is successful and we might even get more brothers (possibly sisters?) involved, we could start a good healthy club going. Will definitely be using that slogan then. You know where you've seen it first!! ;)
Anyhows, better get to sleep soon. Only up this "late" cos I just finished watching an old Chinese movie with mum through Youtube. Connected the laptop through to the TV and played all ten parts of The Romancing Star, a 1987 movie which we had not seen before and I only watched the first part two days ago when I was randomly searching for Eric Tsang funny stuff. Haha! It was a typical Chinese romantic comedy with lots of laughs mixed with mistaken identities, chasing of girls and typical tongue-in-cheek moments. It was nice to watch this movie with mum as it meant she was in a relaxed state on the couch as opposed to being busy in the kitchen etc. =)
Looks like I'll be missing the gym for yet another day tomorrow. It's horrible. But at least I still got to workout at home a little. Managed to do workout yesterday (joined by Cat) and this morning myself. Then morning shower and breakfast and I'm ready to start the day. Home workouts are great. Not necessary a lot of floor space required for an effective workout. I am storing up / learning good new routines that will come in handy for those days when I'm snowed in and can't even drive to the gym. Lol! Yup, better plan ahead. I'm currently also testing out a workout program for a brother in Christ and by keeping accountable we're doing the exercises at the same time each morning, after we do devotions. It's a good way to maintain our spiritual and physical health. Both are equally important.
I thought up a slogan for this: "Devotion to God. Dedication to fitness."
If this idea is successful and we might even get more brothers (possibly sisters?) involved, we could start a good healthy club going. Will definitely be using that slogan then. You know where you've seen it first!! ;)
19 December 2011
Christmas 2011: Six days to go!!
Aiming for bed at 11PM, so it means I will be hopping back into my room after I type this up. Just had my shower and now sitting here with some honey water. Not honey lemon as it's too late for that, too late to make a fuss of cutting lemon slices etc so just honey water for now, to help soothe my throat. Was coughing a lot this morning. Coughed through the night. It's weird how I could be sleeping one minute then the next moment my throat would itch so much I'd cough and wake myself up! Argghh! How annoying. Phlegm has started coming up, which according to Cat is a good sign, because it's the bateria/ germs etc rising up with the mucus and it should be signs of recovery. Should be. Haha! Hmm... I might say Haha! here, but having a coughing fit during this morning's driving lesson was NO laughing matter. Was quite embarrassed at one point. Have you ever had such bad cough where you felt your throat tickling a lot and every time you open you mouth you can't help but cough?? Well that was what happened this morning at one point during a lesson. And I could not say anything whilst keeping my mouth closed and refraining from coughing and splurting. My face turned rosy (not as bad as yesterday's chairing of EM service!) and could feel tears forming =S Ah well, the pupil was understanding at least =) I really hope I get better soon, better drink up my honey water and get to bed!!
Lacking
I know I lack two things: proper hydration and proper sleep. I don't drink enough fluids through the day and this is mainly due to my work lifestyle. If I drink too much water, I will constantly need to look for a toilet for comfort breaks, even during lessons. This would cause too much disruption to the pupil's lesson and maybe even the lesson plan/ route itself. If I were to hold it in and just carry on with the lesson until it finished, I would disrupt and possibly damage my own internal waterworks system. Lol! Believe me, holding in the urge for a "number one" is very uncomfortable and can get very risky!! Haha! I used to drink so much water when I worked in the office: constantly topping up my water tumbler from the kitchen and sitting down by the computer doing my tasks. But now water intake is reduced to once every two hours on average and that's not much much either, something less than 200mls at a time (I know because my 750ml KOR water bottle) never comes back empty even after a full day of work =( What can I do then...? I guess I should try to drink more right after work, replen my fluid levels because I would lose fluids through sweat (hot days or scary situations), through my breath (my job involves talking a lot) and through natural excretion. I hope my body has not "gotten used to" such low levels of water. Must keep hydrating!!
I also lack sleep. "We are a plane of sleep deprived people" - Scooby. His definition of "sleep deprived" is when an alarm clock is needed to wake you from your sleep, then you are sleep deprived, because your body is not ready to awaken and has not finished it's essential 'housekeeping' to maintain itself and recharge for the next day. It's quite an interesting way of looking at it. Because I am one who often turns the alarm off in the morning and just roll back into bed, even though I know it would be time to get up for the gym, work or for other tasks. I guess that's my body's natural response to telling me that it is not "fully recharged" for the day ahead. A bit like my HTC Magic phone currently which takes like a looooong time to get "fully charged 100%" battery status despite being charged overnight. Signs of age I think. So yeah, I know not having enough sleep will affect a lot of things: black eye bags (panda eyes), dull skin, dry skin (also linked to hydration), lack of concentration and possible mood swings for some people. In terms of health and fitness, lack of sleep is detrimental to muscle building. You work hard at the gym where your muscle fibres break up and need to build and grow. But it can only do this when you are sleeping. It is during sleep that the muscle building work happens and your hormones are also regulated. So... lesson to be learnt here... get to bed earlier Gordon!! Gotta have more self control over Facebook. Cannot be tempted to stay on longer to check out people's statuses, respond to comments, idolise over pictures etc haha!
Lacking
I know I lack two things: proper hydration and proper sleep. I don't drink enough fluids through the day and this is mainly due to my work lifestyle. If I drink too much water, I will constantly need to look for a toilet for comfort breaks, even during lessons. This would cause too much disruption to the pupil's lesson and maybe even the lesson plan/ route itself. If I were to hold it in and just carry on with the lesson until it finished, I would disrupt and possibly damage my own internal waterworks system. Lol! Believe me, holding in the urge for a "number one" is very uncomfortable and can get very risky!! Haha! I used to drink so much water when I worked in the office: constantly topping up my water tumbler from the kitchen and sitting down by the computer doing my tasks. But now water intake is reduced to once every two hours on average and that's not much much either, something less than 200mls at a time (I know because my 750ml KOR water bottle) never comes back empty even after a full day of work =( What can I do then...? I guess I should try to drink more right after work, replen my fluid levels because I would lose fluids through sweat (hot days or scary situations), through my breath (my job involves talking a lot) and through natural excretion. I hope my body has not "gotten used to" such low levels of water. Must keep hydrating!!
I also lack sleep. "We are a plane of sleep deprived people" - Scooby. His definition of "sleep deprived" is when an alarm clock is needed to wake you from your sleep, then you are sleep deprived, because your body is not ready to awaken and has not finished it's essential 'housekeeping' to maintain itself and recharge for the next day. It's quite an interesting way of looking at it. Because I am one who often turns the alarm off in the morning and just roll back into bed, even though I know it would be time to get up for the gym, work or for other tasks. I guess that's my body's natural response to telling me that it is not "fully recharged" for the day ahead. A bit like my HTC Magic phone currently which takes like a looooong time to get "fully charged 100%" battery status despite being charged overnight. Signs of age I think. So yeah, I know not having enough sleep will affect a lot of things: black eye bags (panda eyes), dull skin, dry skin (also linked to hydration), lack of concentration and possible mood swings for some people. In terms of health and fitness, lack of sleep is detrimental to muscle building. You work hard at the gym where your muscle fibres break up and need to build and grow. But it can only do this when you are sleeping. It is during sleep that the muscle building work happens and your hormones are also regulated. So... lesson to be learnt here... get to bed earlier Gordon!! Gotta have more self control over Facebook. Cannot be tempted to stay on longer to check out people's statuses, respond to comments, idolise over pictures etc haha!
18 December 2011
Christmas 2011: One week to go!
One week till it's Christmas. This time next week I'll be wishing y'all Merry Christmas!! =D
Really, time does fly by huh? Today at EM Service we spent some time reflecting on the goodness of God in our lives in the year of 2011. A few people have shared how they felt God's blessings through new birth in their families, through God being in control in all aspects of their lives, how God bless them through encouragement and accountability from others. Not everyone jumped at the chance to share, but I am pretty certain inside that God had touched each and every person in the room (and more!) at some point in the last 365 day. I myself feel so blessed by His guidance in my life. At the start of the year I was still recovering from an incident from end of 2010 which took time to get over and time for me to get my head around. That settled after a while of prayers and forgiveness from God and ourselves. Then the highlight of the year was when I left the AA Driving School franchise and became an independent driving instructor, truly working for myself and under my own "company". This is always a "risky" move because once independent you do not have any back up of a driving school to give you support or advice etc. You have to rely pretty much on yourself from sourcing pupils to maintaining pupils and recruiting more later. I really thank God for blessing me with experienced driving instructors who would give me words of wisdom and who pointed me in the right direction. I was and still am blessed with instructor friends whom I can liaise with whenever I need that listening ear and we help each other out too. I feel this has been a big important yet successful move for me but made So Easy, but only because of God =)
Have just checked the Glasgow weather for this week. So far no signs of snow. Ok, that's a good thing, although it has turned really cold nowadays. Last Friday (16th) we had overnight snow which stayed till the morning and I was off work again. The snow this time was not as bad last the snowfall previous Monday, but due to health and safety it was better not to have lessons with those scheduled pupils. As for that reason I am seeing them tomorrow. Will be starting at 11:30AM and finishing at 4:30PM. Not a busy week ahead, which is just as well, seeing as I am not very well either. Have developed a cough in the past few days. I think I got it from my mum who got it from her workplace. Or did I get it from pupils who were not well during driving lessons. My jobs means I get more exposure to more people. Hmm... either way, being unwell means unfit to train which is a biggest bummer. I will still work, because the cough is not that bad, and I try to open the window to get more fresh air in and also not let any germs (if any) breed in a stuffy environment. See how considerate I am? =P Let's just hope my voice is sustained and does not go all croaky again! Will not be fun!
Really, time does fly by huh? Today at EM Service we spent some time reflecting on the goodness of God in our lives in the year of 2011. A few people have shared how they felt God's blessings through new birth in their families, through God being in control in all aspects of their lives, how God bless them through encouragement and accountability from others. Not everyone jumped at the chance to share, but I am pretty certain inside that God had touched each and every person in the room (and more!) at some point in the last 365 day. I myself feel so blessed by His guidance in my life. At the start of the year I was still recovering from an incident from end of 2010 which took time to get over and time for me to get my head around. That settled after a while of prayers and forgiveness from God and ourselves. Then the highlight of the year was when I left the AA Driving School franchise and became an independent driving instructor, truly working for myself and under my own "company". This is always a "risky" move because once independent you do not have any back up of a driving school to give you support or advice etc. You have to rely pretty much on yourself from sourcing pupils to maintaining pupils and recruiting more later. I really thank God for blessing me with experienced driving instructors who would give me words of wisdom and who pointed me in the right direction. I was and still am blessed with instructor friends whom I can liaise with whenever I need that listening ear and we help each other out too. I feel this has been a big important yet successful move for me but made So Easy, but only because of God =)
Have just checked the Glasgow weather for this week. So far no signs of snow. Ok, that's a good thing, although it has turned really cold nowadays. Last Friday (16th) we had overnight snow which stayed till the morning and I was off work again. The snow this time was not as bad last the snowfall previous Monday, but due to health and safety it was better not to have lessons with those scheduled pupils. As for that reason I am seeing them tomorrow. Will be starting at 11:30AM and finishing at 4:30PM. Not a busy week ahead, which is just as well, seeing as I am not very well either. Have developed a cough in the past few days. I think I got it from my mum who got it from her workplace. Or did I get it from pupils who were not well during driving lessons. My jobs means I get more exposure to more people. Hmm... either way, being unwell means unfit to train which is a biggest bummer. I will still work, because the cough is not that bad, and I try to open the window to get more fresh air in and also not let any germs (if any) breed in a stuffy environment. See how considerate I am? =P Let's just hope my voice is sustained and does not go all croaky again! Will not be fun!
09 November 2011
Compliments
Received a compliment from a personal trainer at the gym this morning. He was impressed that I could do the Hanging Windshield Wiper exercise. I can't do it full range yet but between the pillars of the Smith machine and even then it really works the core esp the obliques. I told him I started doing windshield wiper exercises on the floor first before even attempting the hanging ones. The PT said he might try it when are less people looking, said he thinks it will be hardest to get the legs up in the air to start with. I told him I was surprised I could do them the first time (only found out I could do them about two weeks ago, so now is my new hobby which I try to fit in to each session I'm in =P).
The compliment was nice and although it wasn't a big comment that "brightened up my day", it did give me positive encouragement whether the guy meant to or not.
The recent verse of the day through my Bible app was from Proverbs 15:4:
"The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit."
What this reminded me of is that we humans like to give and receive compliments. Well some receive more than give. God has given us a tongue to help us speak and communicate. Ideally to help build each other up by speaking the truth, spreading the Good News and encouraging each other. The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life. Speaking the right words to somebody can really encourage them and put some positivity into their day, or their life. It can really make a big difference to someone who has been feeling very down that day. To hear something nice about themselves.
Some people unfortunately "mis-use" their tongue through lying, slander, (non-constructive) criticism and general negative comments. Things they say are sometimes with anger, hatred and malice. Those hearing such remarks will be negatively affected, whether you like it or not. Even at a party setting where everyone is having fun. It can take as little as one negative comment from someone to "kill the mood" of the party. So we must be careful how we speak to people. And try to make sure what we say is more towards positive. Of course, if you are feeling low yourself there is no need to pretend to be happy happy. But we should watch how we present ourselves otherwise. Do we gossip? Do we back-stab? Do we divulge secrets? Do we "slag" people off sometimes? I am guilty of the last one sometimes. When everyone is having a laugh about something or someone, I do feel tempted to join in 'for a laugh'. But at the end of the day, I am aware there is a limit. That I should not be doing it because God wouldn't be too happy about it.
Just some sharing about what I got from my Verse of the Day. =)
The compliment was nice and although it wasn't a big comment that "brightened up my day", it did give me positive encouragement whether the guy meant to or not.
The recent verse of the day through my Bible app was from Proverbs 15:4:
"The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life, but a deceitful tongue crushes the spirit."
What this reminded me of is that we humans like to give and receive compliments. Well some receive more than give. God has given us a tongue to help us speak and communicate. Ideally to help build each other up by speaking the truth, spreading the Good News and encouraging each other. The tongue that brings healing is a tree of life. Speaking the right words to somebody can really encourage them and put some positivity into their day, or their life. It can really make a big difference to someone who has been feeling very down that day. To hear something nice about themselves.
Some people unfortunately "mis-use" their tongue through lying, slander, (non-constructive) criticism and general negative comments. Things they say are sometimes with anger, hatred and malice. Those hearing such remarks will be negatively affected, whether you like it or not. Even at a party setting where everyone is having fun. It can take as little as one negative comment from someone to "kill the mood" of the party. So we must be careful how we speak to people. And try to make sure what we say is more towards positive. Of course, if you are feeling low yourself there is no need to pretend to be happy happy. But we should watch how we present ourselves otherwise. Do we gossip? Do we back-stab? Do we divulge secrets? Do we "slag" people off sometimes? I am guilty of the last one sometimes. When everyone is having a laugh about something or someone, I do feel tempted to join in 'for a laugh'. But at the end of the day, I am aware there is a limit. That I should not be doing it because God wouldn't be too happy about it.
Just some sharing about what I got from my Verse of the Day. =)
14 October 2011
"Train hard to gain hard"
Made a big investment in something last week. It arrived by courier today but nobody was in to sign for it. Therefore I have to pick it up myself from FedEX depot at Cumbernauld(!) Nooo!! I say this is an investment because it will be very useful for me and others AND comes with a 15 Year Guarantee. Cool or what! =) Looking forward to picking them up tomorrow around 8AM. Will give up sleep and miss my extra gym session for it. Worth it? Should be! =)
I also bought skipping ropes off eBay and they should be arriving soon. My flat is quite small in fact, might have to skip out at the landing outside my doorway. Haha! Skipping is good and I have developed a liking for it after doing the Four Minutes of Hell workout created by Jeff Cavaliere. So I now have an exercise mat, exercise band, weight lifting straps and later skipping ropes =) Fitness is such a healthy habit and can be so addictive. It's all I can think of really. I think I am more passionate about fitness than I am about driving. LOL! And this training I am doing now, The Wolverine Workout is soo cool!! It's a nine-week programme which is made up for three phases, each phase taking three weeks. I am on week two it emphasises lots on heavy weights, more rest times than before (double in fact) and increases strength and size. Already my mum has commented how I look bigger than before (that's even without her glasses on) and I got another compliment from a guy two days ago who said my training seems to be working well cos I'm looking good. To hear that from a guy is like so cool, haha!
"Train hard to gain hard" - I made that up myself at the gym this morning to remind myself that in order to gain muscle and size I have to lift heavy. No point in doing the same weight and it gets easy and comfortable. Give myself a challenge and increase the weight for the Barbell lunges as well as the Dumbell squat clean and press. It felt amazing!!
Anyhows, better sleep as I have to get up around 7AM tomorrow. Later then my usual 5:55AM, so I will feel like I've had a lie-in. LOL!
I also bought skipping ropes off eBay and they should be arriving soon. My flat is quite small in fact, might have to skip out at the landing outside my doorway. Haha! Skipping is good and I have developed a liking for it after doing the Four Minutes of Hell workout created by Jeff Cavaliere. So I now have an exercise mat, exercise band, weight lifting straps and later skipping ropes =) Fitness is such a healthy habit and can be so addictive. It's all I can think of really. I think I am more passionate about fitness than I am about driving. LOL! And this training I am doing now, The Wolverine Workout is soo cool!! It's a nine-week programme which is made up for three phases, each phase taking three weeks. I am on week two it emphasises lots on heavy weights, more rest times than before (double in fact) and increases strength and size. Already my mum has commented how I look bigger than before (that's even without her glasses on) and I got another compliment from a guy two days ago who said my training seems to be working well cos I'm looking good. To hear that from a guy is like so cool, haha!
"Train hard to gain hard" - I made that up myself at the gym this morning to remind myself that in order to gain muscle and size I have to lift heavy. No point in doing the same weight and it gets easy and comfortable. Give myself a challenge and increase the weight for the Barbell lunges as well as the Dumbell squat clean and press. It felt amazing!!
Anyhows, better sleep as I have to get up around 7AM tomorrow. Later then my usual 5:55AM, so I will feel like I've had a lie-in. LOL!
09 August 2011
Back after a while...!
Haven't posted for ages, since middle June, wow! So much has been happening in my life, both good and not so good, but mainly good. The Lord has always been good to me even though sometimes I forget to put blessings to blog, but I do my best to note down these blessings on my 'Grace Book'. I must remember to give thanks for all that He has given me. Our gratitude not only pleases God but indeed will be an encouragement to those who hear it, believers or unbelievers. =)
Throughout the past few months I've been busy with work. Work has had it's ups and downs as well. The requirement of patience towards pupils and the endurance of working in a metal box under the blistering sun has never been greater. Last summer I innocently worked wearing polo shirts and tee shirts and ended up with a tanned left arm whilst the right arm was noticably lighter. Lol! What's worse was, there was also a tan line difference from the top of my shoulder as well! No, cannot have that!! So this summer I've been wearing thin long sleeve tops whilst working. It certainly adds to the heat at times, but at the end of my long shifts I don't remove my shirt to find horrible shades around me. Haha! Doesn't look good at the gym either all these weird tan lines. However, having said that, I did get sunburnt at a recent barbeque in the back garden of a church auntie's. I had put on sun factor 30 but that was apparently not enough to withstand the sun's rays between 3:30PM-8:30PM. By the time I was about to leave some areas of my skin were in red shade and again noticeable to others who commented. =S Once I got home, my my, how red was I??! Tan lines created by the singlet I wore to the barbeque. I avoided wearing an ordinary tee shirt knowing the sun would be mega strong that Monday, so wanted to catch more rays. However, I think my skin requires much higher sun protection. SPF50 perhaps? I cannot remember how I managed to survive Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong during my visits there. And I didn't even wear singlets then. Lol! =P Ah well, at least I have two long tanned arms and they are even in tan! LOL! =P
I'm now on Week 11 of a twelve-week training program called ATHLEAN-X and it has helped me lose lots of bodyfat whilst building more lean muscle and I have been so glad of this program. It's definitely the first of it's kind to have such positive results on my body. I am so proud of this program, it's unique ideas and the results it gives me. I am frequently talking about this program to everyone I come across and I have bought all three of the ATHLEAN-X tee shirts and post up videos on my Facebook as well as it's well worth looking into for those who are interested in looking athletic. I will definitely be sticking with and recycling this program as part of my daily workouts. Due to my work schedule, starting at 10AM every morning (barring Sundays), I can only free up time in the early mornings somewhere between 6:30AM to 8:30AM. I don't train for much more than an hour anymore like I used to. The old concept was train longer, train harder, gain harder. Nope, now my understanding has improved and my knowledge broadened to realise it is much more effective to train with high intensity in low time. How does that work? Well perform the sets and reps with as short breaks between as possible. This keeps the heart rate ticking over thus burning up more calories and more fat. And boy has it made a different to me. The training program works on the whole body a lot and has two days of conditioning (not just conventional cardio) per week, leaving three days of training with weights. It has helped bring out my abs as well. Ooh yeah! Having received some positive comments from people who noticed my shape also adds to the fact this program is great! If anybody is interested to know more about this training regime, just give me a shout. It is totally drug free and is great fun. Just takes on average 40 minutes of your day five days a week. How cool is that!! =D
So I thank God for giving me the willpower, endurance and perserverance to get this far with the program. The early mornings, getting up at 5:55AM when the buzzer alarm goes off, have not been easy. Sometimes I do feel like giving up and flopping back down into bed and snuggling up. But I push on and once I'm out the house the crisp fresh air helps awaken me and shifts me back on focus. I thank God for the many safe journies to the gym each morning through the extremely quiet trip to the gym and the rush hour drive back home for breakfast. I thank God for my injury-free training as well and I hope I am able to keep it that way. I hope I can keep going from strength to strength both physically and spiritually.
The past few weeks I've been coming back to God as prior to that I let the busy-ness of work and working out distract me from spending time with God. Finishing work late, having some light dinner, washing up, doing admin, spending 'some' time on Fb and before I knew it, it was nearing midnight and I definitely needed to sleep in order to get up at 5:55AM the next morning. But praise God for calling me back by His side again. A story which I shared regarding Psalm 127. I hope everyone is encouraged by this verse and remember, no matter what stage of life you're at right now: whether it's enjoying summer holidays, seeking direction in life, job hunting, partner hunting, going through sickness or tough times, remember that Jesus loves you very much and God is in control of everything. We must cast all our anxieties unto Him. God is our Maker and with Him, through Him, nothing is impossible. Seek first His kingdom and all things will be added unto you. I was seeking and I have found... =) God is able. God is good.
Throughout the past few months I've been busy with work. Work has had it's ups and downs as well. The requirement of patience towards pupils and the endurance of working in a metal box under the blistering sun has never been greater. Last summer I innocently worked wearing polo shirts and tee shirts and ended up with a tanned left arm whilst the right arm was noticably lighter. Lol! What's worse was, there was also a tan line difference from the top of my shoulder as well! No, cannot have that!! So this summer I've been wearing thin long sleeve tops whilst working. It certainly adds to the heat at times, but at the end of my long shifts I don't remove my shirt to find horrible shades around me. Haha! Doesn't look good at the gym either all these weird tan lines. However, having said that, I did get sunburnt at a recent barbeque in the back garden of a church auntie's. I had put on sun factor 30 but that was apparently not enough to withstand the sun's rays between 3:30PM-8:30PM. By the time I was about to leave some areas of my skin were in red shade and again noticeable to others who commented. =S Once I got home, my my, how red was I??! Tan lines created by the singlet I wore to the barbeque. I avoided wearing an ordinary tee shirt knowing the sun would be mega strong that Monday, so wanted to catch more rays. However, I think my skin requires much higher sun protection. SPF50 perhaps? I cannot remember how I managed to survive Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong during my visits there. And I didn't even wear singlets then. Lol! =P Ah well, at least I have two long tanned arms and they are even in tan! LOL! =P
I'm now on Week 11 of a twelve-week training program called ATHLEAN-X and it has helped me lose lots of bodyfat whilst building more lean muscle and I have been so glad of this program. It's definitely the first of it's kind to have such positive results on my body. I am so proud of this program, it's unique ideas and the results it gives me. I am frequently talking about this program to everyone I come across and I have bought all three of the ATHLEAN-X tee shirts and post up videos on my Facebook as well as it's well worth looking into for those who are interested in looking athletic. I will definitely be sticking with and recycling this program as part of my daily workouts. Due to my work schedule, starting at 10AM every morning (barring Sundays), I can only free up time in the early mornings somewhere between 6:30AM to 8:30AM. I don't train for much more than an hour anymore like I used to. The old concept was train longer, train harder, gain harder. Nope, now my understanding has improved and my knowledge broadened to realise it is much more effective to train with high intensity in low time. How does that work? Well perform the sets and reps with as short breaks between as possible. This keeps the heart rate ticking over thus burning up more calories and more fat. And boy has it made a different to me. The training program works on the whole body a lot and has two days of conditioning (not just conventional cardio) per week, leaving three days of training with weights. It has helped bring out my abs as well. Ooh yeah! Having received some positive comments from people who noticed my shape also adds to the fact this program is great! If anybody is interested to know more about this training regime, just give me a shout. It is totally drug free and is great fun. Just takes on average 40 minutes of your day five days a week. How cool is that!! =D
So I thank God for giving me the willpower, endurance and perserverance to get this far with the program. The early mornings, getting up at 5:55AM when the buzzer alarm goes off, have not been easy. Sometimes I do feel like giving up and flopping back down into bed and snuggling up. But I push on and once I'm out the house the crisp fresh air helps awaken me and shifts me back on focus. I thank God for the many safe journies to the gym each morning through the extremely quiet trip to the gym and the rush hour drive back home for breakfast. I thank God for my injury-free training as well and I hope I am able to keep it that way. I hope I can keep going from strength to strength both physically and spiritually.
The past few weeks I've been coming back to God as prior to that I let the busy-ness of work and working out distract me from spending time with God. Finishing work late, having some light dinner, washing up, doing admin, spending 'some' time on Fb and before I knew it, it was nearing midnight and I definitely needed to sleep in order to get up at 5:55AM the next morning. But praise God for calling me back by His side again. A story which I shared regarding Psalm 127. I hope everyone is encouraged by this verse and remember, no matter what stage of life you're at right now: whether it's enjoying summer holidays, seeking direction in life, job hunting, partner hunting, going through sickness or tough times, remember that Jesus loves you very much and God is in control of everything. We must cast all our anxieties unto Him. God is our Maker and with Him, through Him, nothing is impossible. Seek first His kingdom and all things will be added unto you. I was seeking and I have found... =) God is able. God is good.
29 May 2011
Little pond?
He must have been a Godsend. I think DD was right. Maybe I have been looking in the wrong pond. Big fish in little pond perhaps? Time to move on I think...
It's amazing how God works though. Just out of the blue out pops the question. And of course, I gave honest answers. I spoke my heart. It's amazing how God can provide a counseller, a listening ear. Someone to show concern. I live at home with two women. I don't have any senior guys to talk to conveniently. After all, being Chinese as well, we are more 'conservative' when it comes to these things, usually. I'm not that shy about these things, but just find it hard to find 'suitable' people to chat to. So many people around me, all at different stages of life.
The prayer meant a lot to me. Oh Lord, lead the way :)
Athlean-X Training System
On a different note, I have decided to change my workout regime and try out a new 90 program which is to help me develop more lean muscle mass. Although currently I feel I am quite big in size and live up to my nickname Big G, I know I have a lot of body fat as well. Too much in fact. So this program, which has been vouched by thousands to have made a difference in their lives, is set out to give me different workouts every day for twelve weeks, along with an eating plan. Follow it as closely as you can to get as better results as possible. This would involve weight training Monday, Wednesday and Friday with conditioning (cardio) on Tuesday and Thursday. Guess I can rest on the weekends. Instead of slaving away at the gym for hours on end, each workout is designed to last about 40 minutes tops, leaving you more time to yourself yet having your heart beat just as much if not more than a long workout session. The results should be seen within 3-4 weeks. I am looking forward to this change. New exercises to challenge the body and keep it guessing.
I will need to change some habits like try to get at least seven hours of sleep each night. I will try to constantly drink water. I will try to eat small portions every 2-3 hours of the day and keep my metabolism running high. What else... erm... oh yeah, will continue using my mobile stopwatch to time my breaks between workout sets, making sure I don't slack when resting and take too long to get back into it. Might mean no eating out for a good number of weeks too!
I took my weight this morning, one day before I start this program. Most updated figures are:
212.2lbs - 96.2kgs - 15st 2lbs
I shall update after a week I think. Here's hoping I can get through this one week of training! Haha! If anybody is interested in seeing what this program is about, check out the link below! =D
ATHLEAN-X
It's amazing how God works though. Just out of the blue out pops the question. And of course, I gave honest answers. I spoke my heart. It's amazing how God can provide a counseller, a listening ear. Someone to show concern. I live at home with two women. I don't have any senior guys to talk to conveniently. After all, being Chinese as well, we are more 'conservative' when it comes to these things, usually. I'm not that shy about these things, but just find it hard to find 'suitable' people to chat to. So many people around me, all at different stages of life.
The prayer meant a lot to me. Oh Lord, lead the way :)
Athlean-X Training System
On a different note, I have decided to change my workout regime and try out a new 90 program which is to help me develop more lean muscle mass. Although currently I feel I am quite big in size and live up to my nickname Big G, I know I have a lot of body fat as well. Too much in fact. So this program, which has been vouched by thousands to have made a difference in their lives, is set out to give me different workouts every day for twelve weeks, along with an eating plan. Follow it as closely as you can to get as better results as possible. This would involve weight training Monday, Wednesday and Friday with conditioning (cardio) on Tuesday and Thursday. Guess I can rest on the weekends. Instead of slaving away at the gym for hours on end, each workout is designed to last about 40 minutes tops, leaving you more time to yourself yet having your heart beat just as much if not more than a long workout session. The results should be seen within 3-4 weeks. I am looking forward to this change. New exercises to challenge the body and keep it guessing.
I will need to change some habits like try to get at least seven hours of sleep each night. I will try to constantly drink water. I will try to eat small portions every 2-3 hours of the day and keep my metabolism running high. What else... erm... oh yeah, will continue using my mobile stopwatch to time my breaks between workout sets, making sure I don't slack when resting and take too long to get back into it. Might mean no eating out for a good number of weeks too!
I took my weight this morning, one day before I start this program. Most updated figures are:
212.2lbs - 96.2kgs - 15st 2lbs
I shall update after a week I think. Here's hoping I can get through this one week of training! Haha! If anybody is interested in seeing what this program is about, check out the link below! =D
ATHLEAN-X
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