Health & Fitness - The Operation Thigh Gap

I have been requested to write about this new trend among female teenagers worldwide, and this is something that bothers me much. As I was googling to find out more, I discovered that there is even a pinterest topic called 'Operation Thigh Gap'! I briefly browsed through the photos and realised there are like-minded people like me who commented to say that this obsession is not healthy. Well, so what is this obsession over thigh gaps about?

Firstly, girls out there, please do not obsess over not being able to achieve a thigh gap, in other words, this should NOT be in your list of fitness goals. Why so?
1. Everybody's legs are shaped differently.

A. Straight - You are lucky to get this leg shape, straight and non-bandy.

B. O-shaped curvature - This is a congenital bone deformation where only your ankles touch in standing position, making your legs form a letter O.

C. X-shaped curvature - Another congenital bone deformation where your knees touch in standing position, making your legs form a letter X.

Looking at this, I'm sure you can identify what kind of leg shape you have. Very often when your legs are slightly O-shaped, your thigh gaps are larger. Vice versa for A. Straight and C. X-shaped. I'm no osteologist so I'm nobody to judge on the different types of leg shapes but I do have a slight X-shaped curvature (a little bothered!).

2. Whether you have thigh gaps or not will also be dependable on the size of your hips (of course and the leg shapes will then come into picture). You will only be able to reduce the fats around your hips, but unfortunately, unless you can cut the hip bones at the sides (sounds really silly), your hip size is rather fixed genetically.

Conclusion, do not think that just by losing weight (healthily or not), you will be able to achieve this because we are made differently! Instead, try focusing on your fitness goals to live healthily, exercising/working out regularly, eat well, having ample rest; having a healthy lifestyle will lead to longevity, which is much more worth it than obsessing over getting thigh gaps. 

If you have been following me on FB and Instagram, I think you might have already heard of Brandnewstart SG. Do check it out if you are looking for a personal trainer to kickstart a fitness regime, OR, if you know of somebody who needs such help! Our team of trainers are ever-ready to help! 

These are the 4 main programmes that Brandnewstart offers:

For ladies who are looking to burn fats and tone up!

For men out there who are looking to shed some flabs and that beer belly!

For men and women who are looking to gain some quality muscles!

Lastly, for men and women who are athletes or are looking to train up to be one!

Take your pick and simply email enquiry@brandnewstart.sg if you are already sure of what programme you are interested to sign up for, otherwise, feel free to look up www.brandnewstart.sg for more information!

I know I promised HEALTH TIPS! Coming up next! Have a great weekend ahead! 

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Health & Fitness - Arms Training

I usually do not train my arms on its own, I couple my arms training with deadlifts and sometimes I skip doing arms and ended up doing abs, or I'd go very easy on the arms training. Truth is, you are actually working on your arms during other body part trainings, particularly your biceps as they are needed in most workouts. Having said that, I know many ladies out there are very concerned about getting rid of their "bye-bye" arms and had requests to advise on the arms training that we do so here goes, some of the arms workouts that we do.

We need to work on both biceps and triceps so there will be no imbalance of strength on either muscle group. It doesn't really matter which you start with, as long you try your best to cover both muscles during your arms training, it should suffice.

I will usually start with triceps as my triceps are weaker. What Jason is doing in the video: Triceps rope pushdown.

Dumbbell overhead Triceps extensions (P.S: Apologies, I do not have a video or photo of us doing the other triceps workouts).

You can also try dips as well as bench dips.

Dips

Bench dips

Next to biceps, bicep curls and hammer curls, that simple!

Dumbbell bicep curls

Dumbbell Hammer curls

Hammer curls using Tricep bar/Hammer curl bar

Take your pick, and enjoy the videos! So sorry but I could not upsize the videos. We had the honour to attend Julien Fournie for Love, Bonito show last Saturday at FIDE Fashion Week. Thank you so much Love, Bonito for the invitation! It was such an amazing experience as we had never attended any fashion event, let alone fashion show. The Julien Fournie for Love, Bonito show marks the end of FIDE Fashion Week and was a perfect finale!

My outfit for the night

Have a great week ahead everyone!!

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Health & Fitness - My progress so far

It's been a long journey from week 0 since I started IF (Intermittent Fasting). Here's a quick recap, basically IF (also commonly known as Intermittent feeding) is a pattern of eating that alternates fasting and non-fasting. So basically, you eat for 6-8 hours (8-9 hours in my case), and then you fast for the remaining 15-16 hours, which includes sleeping time. Some of the IF practitioners will do a complete fasting, drinking just water; some just water, black coffee and black tea. As for me, I take in anything liquid; in other words, I fast from solid foods during my fasting hours, simply because I want to avoid putting my body into catabolic state (muscle breakdown state) and I HATE the feeling of starvation. I will tremble and feel faint when starvation kicks in, which is so frustrating and unhealthy.

During the first few weeks, I made my body go through stricter fasting. By the 8th hour sharply, I stopped all solid food. I only drink juices and water, avoided coffee and tea. Honestly, by about 9pm every night I would start to tremble and feel faint. I endured for about 5-6 weeks, I worked out harder, increased my training frequency and rested very little as I was training 7 days a week, some days twice a day. I was literally pushing my body to its limits. VERY BAD!

On week 6, I finally took a day off from training and on one particular day, I took an 11 hours sleep which made me feel so good after. I see gains in my trainings during that week and I never felt so refreshed since I started IF. Unfortunately, ever sine week 6, because I was more lenient with myself, I went a little overboard and let myself have more than what I should.

Enough talking (writing), I'll let the photos prove whether I made any progress.

Week 0

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5 

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Unfortunately, I did not see much progress (LOL)! But you cannot just judge from my abs right? Generally I feel younger (my ability to resist and handle stress improves), I snack less and I feel stronger during training (managed a few new PRs during this 9 weeks). I have evidence to show that I not only feel younger but am really younger now (my body age I meant), and I've gotten people who meet me for the first time saying I look like a 21-22 years old (HURHUR). The most exaggerated comment was from this lady in SK gym, who asked if I'm a JC kid (Jason said it should feel more like an insult. HAHA). I took my body analysis from a scale that Nic bought and my body age is actually 20! WOOOOTS I get to celebrate SWEET 21 again next year!!

Okay, so I have 1.5 weeks more to go on IF and then I'll be practicing IF on alternate days and maybe try some other forms of diet (fret not, I'll definitely share!)

Here's what I've been up to:

We have been gym-hopping the past few weeks! 

Gymm Boxx XL with the Js

Edric is back! Stronger than ever!

Us at The Gym Nation!

OOTD with love bonito's Atherley top and a casual maxi skirt from allyfashion, with my long-forgotten toms!

Another old top from love bonito, really love the back!

I have been preparing for something exciting this weekend so stay tuned and follow me on Instagram, @limaranagustina if you haven't, because I will be updating real-time! Thank you for the support everybody and have a great Thursday ahead! :)

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Health & Fitness: Legs workouts

Sorry for the hiatus everyone! I'm back with a quick introduction to some of my favorite legs workouts. I love legs day I can just do legs all day everyday (I kid, again)! But nevertheless, I like to work on my legs because I feel a lot more pump when I work them legs as compared to the other parts of my body, probably because I started working solely on my legs when I kickstarted my fitness journey. My goal then, was to down my usual bottom size of a small uk 10 to a regular or small uk 8. AND I did it, I can even fit into some uk 6 now (Okay for bottoms with bigger cutting). I did this within (if I'm not wrong, 4-6 months). I whacked my legs hard with my mediocre knowledge of weights training. I could go to the gym every just doing legs but I loved it, that's why I have weak and puny upper body.

Those who know me well enough, I dislike my heavy bottom and curves and really envy those who have a more masculine, mesomorph physique to start working out with. I tried very hard to try to straighten the curves that I have, and I'm still trying. So, how did I manage to downsize my huge bum and hips? I did a particular workout over and over again, everyday to downsize to a uk 8!

The winner is... LUNGES!!! When I had the chance to gym, I'd do lunges, over anything else and it worked! Lunges is a good training for your stabilising muscles too! Start doing lunges if you haven't!

The fundamentals of my legs training always starts with a strength-based back squats or front squats. The back squat targets your entire legs; quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes. 

Whereas the front squat targets your quadriceps and requires a lot more core control

Of course, when you are more advanced, adventurous and into cross fit, you can attempt the overhead squats. Overhead squat, similar to front squat, targets your quadriceps and core but with good stabilising muscles and strong triceps, shoulders and back. So basically, entire body. That's the reason why I'm only doing an empty bar. HURHUR.

Then, there is wide-stanced squats, which target your adductor muscles (inner thighs) and glutes. You want a tighter 'upper' butt, this is one good workout you can do to tighten the 'upper' butt. Always remember to keep your knees out though. Also beware, the after-feeling of doing wide-stances squats can be rather uncomfortable. HEH.

The calf raise, is very often neglected and forgotten but ladies especially, should do to strengthen the calf muscles so it prevents injuries wearing heels! 

Lastly, I usually do wallballs after I finish what I planned to do, and add wallballs into a circuit or met con. It requires deltoids (shoulders) and legs, simpler version of a thruster to me, what with the similar hip thrusts and straightening of arms for the deltoids. You can do this for fun and increase the weight of your medicine ball for more challenge.

So, I have shared my secrets with you guys! Now go ahead and make it work! You wanna get perky butt and toned legs, you have to work hard on them legs. Moreover, our legs are the biggest muscle group in our body so by training legs and back (another large muscle group), you are releasing growth hormones and testosterone more than the other body parts, thus burning more fats!

Have fun with your legs training and happy midweek everyone! (=

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Fitness & Nutrition: How important nutrition is

I took a long time to prepare this post because I have been contemplating posting this as it'll be a societal shock to our modern lifestyle and diet, and to many of you out there. The other reason for the delay was to carefully put all the technical terms into a simpler version so it'll be easier for everyone to understand.

Do bear with me on this post as I'll be stressing a lot on the most challenging part of your fitness journey AGAIN. I need to keep emphasising on the fact that nutrition should be the root and the foundation to your journey to perfecting health and fitness, well, not just that, but going slightly ahead, especially if you are a competitive athlete or sportsperson.

There is an apparent reason, to me, why the sports industry is not blooming and moving forward in Singapore. Yes, as you can guess right now, the reason is NUTRITION.

As you can see from the triangle above, this is the Crossfit Dietary Prescription (CDP). I guess some of you may have seen this, may have understood this, and some of you may think this is irrelevant because you don't crossfit. But hey, take a minute (or few) to read what I have to say because if you are disciplined enough to give it a try and spread the good news, maybe the sports industry, and even the SAF (Singapore Armed Force) in Singapore will see the enlightenment and improve the current sports and fitness education.

Today, I'll be attempting to simplify this prescription so this can apply to everyone and instill into your lifestyle.

Ever heard of 'You are what you eat!'? This is the summary of CDP. Your nutrition is the foundation and will break or make you in your fitness journey. A good and well-balanced diet will ensure increment in health, energy and sense of well-being; it is also the deciding factor  of whether your body is reducing fats, building quality muscles and optimising performance in and out of the gym.

Sport - performance

Strength training (aka weight-lifting) - control of external weight

Gymnastics - control of our body in space

Metabolic conditioning - cardio/respiratory

Nutrition - solid molecular foundation

I do not even have to elaborate and tell you more about the other 4 factors if you don't know how to keep your nutrition in check. SO here goes:

Macronutrients - what I have been referring to as macros, are your protein, carbohydrates and fats. Micronutrients, as you may guess, are then vitamins and minerals. Carbohydrates affects the production of hormone insulin, that derives energy from your bloodstream in your cells to be used as fuel. Though it is an essential in the body, too much of carbohydrates in your body will result in diabetes type II, coronary heart disease, depression, obesity, etc. Protein, goes the same way as carbs, will result in fat storage if consumed in excess, however if in deficiency, will break down muscles to make up for the necessary protein requirement. Fats are then your optimal energy source and it contains almost twice the amount of carbs and protein. Of course I'm referring to good fats such as nuts, seeds, fish and avocado.

So where am I deriving at exactly? 

I'm trying to encourage and promote a diet that is a combination of 2 individual popular diets and one that you can keep and instill into a lifestyle, that will ultimately increase your performance in your sport, in the army, or even, in your pursuit of health and fitness for life.

Diet 1: Paleo Diet

Paleolithic diet is all about meat, seeds, nuts, vegetables, very minimal starch and NO sugar. YES, you read me right, NO SUGAR! Alot of crossfit athletes don't consume sugar AT ALL, which means they even avoid fruits that are high in sugar. It's really up to you though, I personally feel that as long as you don't go overboard with the grapes, bananas, mangoes and cherries, a little won't kill but hey, #YOLO! You know what your body needs and wants.

Diet 2: Zone Diet

The Zone diet emphasises on both the quality and quantity of your macros - calorie counting, which everyone irks. 

To optimise performance, you will need a mixture of both diets (sounds complicated and difficult uh?).

Bottomline - your diet should consist of more lean meats, vegetables, seeds, nuts, some fruits, little starch and NO SUGAR. Also, you need to keep the intake of your macros to support your workout, not your body fat. WHICH MEANS, you don't eat less because you want to lose weight, you cut on what you eat for a purpose to maximise your performance in the gym, sport or even in the armed forces. The CDP recommends 30% of your diet to consist of lean protein, 40% low-glycemic carbs (low GI foods) and 30% of good/monosaturated fats.

So then, how do you know much much to eat for each meal? Remember I mentioned before, that your different body type will determine how you should be eating? There you go..

The CDP has defined that:

1 block of protein = 7 grams of protein (cooked)

1 block of carbs = 9 grams of carbs

1 block of fats = 1.5 grams of fats

Now look at the table below and you will be able to find out how many blocks are recommended for you on the different meals. 

Give it a try if you are game for it, and have the plans to optimize your performance in the gym, as a professional athlete or sportsperson. I hope I managed to deliver my message well. Do come back to me if you have burning questions about CDP. Start cutting out SUAGRS from your diet everyone!

To those who have emailed me and waiting for my reply, kindly be patient with me, I'll definitely get back to you ASAP! Keep those emails coming in! (=

One of the nights while I was marinating my food for easy cooking - used cajun & ginger ground

Yay, finally got a photo taken with Zheng ge ping!

Saturdays with LOVE

Have a great week ahead everyone! I'll be back with the recipe I promised to share! (=

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Health & Fitness: Myths about Female weight training

I have been explaining about this to my family and friends OVER and OVER again, this topic about females not having to worry about gaining bulky muscles when they start lifting weights. So recently I came across an image that looked something like what I created (couldn't find the exact one that I had seen but yea, the idea is the same).

So, ladies, you only get your body at its peak and most beautiful when you start lifting weights, or at least be doing some exercises. Otherwise, if you are not on a caloric deficit and generally eating more than what you need daily (say 1lb), you will be gaining 365lbs in a year, which will be worse off if you don't even workout to start with. ISN'T that scary?!

The biggest problem of women that boils down to that fear of looking like a she-hulk, to me, is a complicated war of the will and flesh. Very often, you ladies genuinely and sincerely want to get your butts down to working out, but the flesh is reluctant, and so the misconception part comes into place, where excuses of the fear to look like a she-hulk seeps into the minds.

Let me simplify some of the myths that you have heard:

1. Weight-training will make me look like a she-hulk.
There is definitely no way a woman is able to build muscles like men because of the fact that we women do not naturally produce as much testosterone as men and testosterone is one of the main hormones that contributes to muscle-building. The bulky and intimidating images of professional female bodybuilders must have scared you away from the gym and weights, I do understand that. BUT, they do not get to those sizes without using anabolic steroids and other drugs to reach that high degree of masculinity. Even so, without all the drugs and steroids, it is not easy, takes heavy weight training, right diet and many years for men to build big and visible muscles, SO, when is it even our turn?

2. I want to get toned, don't have to necessarily be stronger. Can I just run?
I'm not saying running is not effective here, I still run (though seldom) and do other forms of cardio but that is not my main forms of workout. There are 3 main subjects that comes into this argument of fat-burning all the time:
1. Cardio
2. High Intensity interval Training (HIIT)
3. Weight Training

So which is most effective and why?
First of all, the reason why cardio should not be your main training is because though you burn fats, you not only burn the fats but the muscles (whole theory of muscle-loss=fats storing comes into play again). What's more, you only burn the fats during the cardio, nothing after that. It is still a good and healthy way to work the heart and keep your heart healthy.

HIIT, on the other hand allows you to burn fats during and up to 4 hours after the workout and by having HIIT in your training routine you burn more fats than a person who just does cardio day in day out, while sleeping.

Lastly, weight training allows you to target specific muscle groups and build lean muscles. By doing so, you will be able to gain quality muscles and then improve overall metabolic function. The functional training moves like squats and deadlifts will also improve your mobility in everyday activities, thus preventing injuries. Weight training also improve body composition (more lean muscles, less fats at the same bodyweight) and increases bone density which prevents the onset of osteoporosis. It also improves circulation, coordination, balance and bone and ligament strength.

So what is the verdict?
Add all 3 subjects into your training routine for best results!

3. When I stop weight training, my muscles will turn into fats and make me look flabby!
Muscles CANNOT turn into fats and fats CANNOT turn into muscles, I repeat, Muscles CANNOT turn into fats and fats CANNOT turn into muscles! This is equivalent to "metal CANNOT turn into gold". These are 2 different entities that must be clarified. Simply explained, when you stop exercising one day, your muscle cells will just get smaller and thinner, and your fat cells will not multiply too. If you do not watch your fat intake after you stop exercising, your muscle cells will decrease in sizes and your fat cells will grow bigger and bigger, that's how people get fat and overweight when they stop exercising altogether.

4. I should not be doing heavy weights because it is dangerous.
Well, there 1 main reason why I think women should progressively lift heavier. Here goes, if you have been doing weight training (which is good), you will ultimately reach a plateau where everything seems too light and simple for you, that is when your body is at its comfort zone and is used to doing the usual weights, therefore restricting or slowing down your progress. Generally, our body and muscles respond to resistance and when there is very light or even no resistance, then there is no way your body can change and evolve.

These are the usual questions I get from my family and friends and I hope to be able to clarify the burning questions of yours with these answers. Personally and honestly, one of the main restrictions to people not working out is the 'priority' issue. When health and fitness is your priority after God (if you have a religion) and family, there is no reason for you to not be able to find time to workout and keep fit. At least for Jason and I, we have a common priority after God and family, to eat and workout well, strengthening and protecting the only place we live in.

"You don't workout only when you have the time, you make the time to workout!"

This article is specially done for www.singasports.com and I'll be covering a specific topic every month to add into collection of articles on the page so do check the web out! I'm glad to see many like-minded fitness lovers out there and hoping to see more! Do email me if you have other burning questions and I'll try my best to help, apologies if I may take longer to reply though.

Before I end the post, I need to share my progress on the legs since 2009. Had a good time giggling over the skinny me in the past. I also have evidence of being a snack-junkie then (that bag of ruffles ewwwww! HAHA). Happy to see my progress over the years!

New recipe up next! Stay tuned and hang in there, it's midweek tomororrowwwww!

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Health & Nutrition - Quinoa, the wonderful Supergrain

I am going to share the recipe that you have all been waiting for!!

Quinoa with pan-fried chicken and asparagus

Ingredients:
- 30g asparagus
-  whole chicken breast
- Cajun seasoning (you may use your favorite seasoning)
- 1 cup of Organic quinoa (serves approx. 6)
- 2 cups of water
- 1 chilli padi

*I do not have photos of the entire process so bear with me with whatever I have :)

1. Prep the quinoa, make sure the ratio is 2:1 (2 portions of water: 1 portion of quinoa)

2. Wash the quinoa thoroughly with water, squeezing the quinoa while washing and the rinse the quinoa.

3. Pour the quinoa into a pot, drizzle a little olive oil and stir until quinoa is almost evaporated. Be careful not to burn the quinoa, keep the heat low.

4. After which, add the 2 cups of water into the pot and stir for a few rounds, then leave it to boil.

5. Once the water is brought to a boil, lower the heat to the lowest you can and leave it for 15 minutes (using a timer is advised).

6. While waiting, prepare the whole chicken breast, remove the skin (if there is) and chop them up to as little or as big as you like.

7. Add your favourite seasoning and mix the chicken with it. I use cajun seasoning because it's so yummy and goes with anything.

8. Wash the asparagus and chilli padi and then chop them up as many pieces as you like (as usual).

9. Pre-heat a saucepan/frying pan and drizzle abit of olive oil. Put in some garlic and onions if you like, (I used homemade pre-blended ones) and fry till slightly brown. Then put in chicken and fry for about 2-3 mins before adding the asparagus to fry together. By this time, your quinoa should be ready!

So, VOILA! You get healthy yet yummy food!

Why did I use quinoa (pronounced as 'keenwah') and what are the benefits?

• Quinoa is rich in protein as it contains all nine essential amino acids
• Quinoa has a lot of Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin) - help create proper energy production in cells
• Quinoa contains twice the amount of fiber as compared to many other grains
• Quinoa is rich in iron 
• Quinoa is rich in manganese - an antioxidant that help protect red blood cells and other cells from injury by free radicals
• Quinoa is high in lysine - essential for tissue growth and repair
• Quinoa is rich in magnesium

I had ICECREAM during the weekend ZOMG! But it tasted heavenly because I haven't had it for ages. Spent the weekend working out as usual, and then spent some time with JasonJJ, since he just booked out on his first weekend and an advanced birthday celebration for the boy too.

The awesome company at The Daily Scoop!

Happy Birthday JasonJJ

Hope your weekend had been great and that your Monday is treating you well so far! Have a good week ahead! Feel free to ask me if you have any doubts in the recipe and do follow me on IG if you haven't, @limaranagustina. Till the next!

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