today the earpiece to my humble, non-fancy mp3 player died, right before i run. yeah, maybe i should've been more careful with things. i guess i need to have separate ones now. one for the office, one for running.

anyhow, after failing being the expert in fixing minute-sized thing, i gave up... (that after the whole thing died altogether.)

i ran anyway. maybe today's music will be the sound of cars... and knowing that those drivers are stuck in it, unable to perform any big physical exercise, i feel better. the jam that was building helped a lot too. i knew i would feel miserable and shitty if i'm one of them.

somehow, someway i knew i had to run today, irregardless. the power of goal. i love it!

have a nice day!

yeap, its been a while.

ive been in and out of bootcamp. that changed my life. pushed me even deeper into this fitness pit and im loving that. im currently out of that for now. just couldnt find the time and energy to do it (yes, i generally finish work at 12, i need my rest). unfortunately, the lame excuse of "too busy with work" became reality. i am one of those people. i succumbed to work and slave myself, ignoring all the things that i practiced and preached to others before.

however, after the first day of hari raya, i just told myself, if i am able to do it before, i surely can have that repeated. it might not be me going gaga over dumbells, weight plates and all things gym-y, nope. not this time. i have a new goal.

i. just. want. to. run.

and yes, i have a marathon in mind. but for now, ill take things easy. ill just jog and progressively expand my horizon from there.

i was too inspired, after months of being miserable and unhealthy. the one thing that really got me inspired to run, aside from all the youtubes, magazine articles, internet pieces and all that was when i saw Opstupe ran with his wife somewhere along the roads near the hartamas mosque. that sealed the deal. i was on my to a buka-puasa gathering at a friend's place. i shouted quietly in my heart "I WANT TO RUN!"

i kept to my words. second day raya and im already running. sure, a turtle can beat me at that moment... but competing with myself (and not to the old uncle who passed me several times or to the teen girl who made me feel like im a sloth) has definitely made me a better runner compared to that first run.

here's to more running. cheers!!! (finally got myself a proper running shoe, woohoo!!)

Entering my second month of bootcamp.

So far everything's good. I got upgraded to SEAL!

During the first session of November, we had our assessment thingy. I definitely felt the change in the way I run. My time improved and I think its awesome! Stamina went up! Reached one goal already! (at the sidebar)

Still trying to perfect my jack knives and grunts... so far those are the only thing that the trainers correct me. Better buck up.

Am I missing the usual gym stuff? Not at all.

A fellow bootcamper who happens to be my school mate from high school commented that I looked aneroxic. Damn. Not what Im going for. (Some on the other hand told me I gained la, Im bigger than before la... what the hell) Maybe people see better. I know I lost weight, but I still have that mental image that Im slightly fat. I know that Im thin currently with a gut hanging loose. I believe that that is because of the weight I lost around that area that left major space unfilled. Im working towards just that to be frank. Im not sure if it will go naturally, as some said that some surgery work is the only thing that can take those flabs out. I still don't want to resort to that (not just because it's expansive and unnecessary) because I dont believe in ruining what God gave us.

Im am getting excited with running nowadays. So that's good. Found a jog partner, and hopefully the Friday evening sessions will be ongoing.

Later.

After using short poles (pipes?), sandbags, tires and all three, we carried backpacks today. My only regret was that I shouldve asked for the senior's (SEALS) weight. Not bragging, but the one I carried was doable. And doable, in this scenario, is not pushing the limits.

Lesson learned.

Im in love with bootcamp.

*Theres this chick, in my group (RANGERS) who ran fast. Im going to try and beat her next round. Good motivation.

FINALLY!

I took the challenge, from myself. Im proud I actually went and not backing out since two other friends cant make it. A former colleague was there to have her final session before she leaves to Australia. So that helped a lot. And yes, I am motivated just by seeing her do the thing.

DAY 1
It was good. I think my body is in a state of shock (up till now). Left the fitness field for few months already, so Im expecting aches all over the body later on. Anyway, we had the assessment thing going today, to measure the our capability (and time result will be used to place us under different groups). Im not big on running and I suffer shortness of breath after few minutes of jogging. But seeing the group work, it mentally forces me to just keep on going and thats the best part of working in a group. Compared to when Im in the gym, mostly alone, its easy for me to lose my motivation when I 'feel' that I cant do anymore... I am my own trainer so I rule my own workout.

We had to run two laps and do push ups, grunts and sit ups and repeat the whole thing thrice. I accidentally did four because thought we should take turns with our partners, instead of doing the whole in one go. But I did not regret the mistake that I made.

Good day, I can say. Cant wait for another session. Excited. Never felt this good for such a long time.

"Your training partner's name is pain. You start out trying to ignore him. Can't do it. You attempt to reason with him. No way. You try to strike a bargain. Hah. You plead. You say "Please stop, please go away. I promise never ever to do this again if you just leave me alone." But he won't. Pain only climbs off if you do. Then you're beaten. " - Scott Martin

"A path with no obstacles doesn't lead anywhere." - Unknown

Its been a while since I last blogged so here goes...

I made my life less stressful by not thinking of my workouts that much since I am always rushing here and there nowadays. I always remind myself that AS LONG AS THERE'S SOME PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DONE, than its always better than having none. I know that sounded bad but I am adapting to the new life I embarked few weeks ago. (No, I did not change my job or anything).

Gym trips become lesser. The most is three times a week. Its bad, I know. I blame myself for sucking at managing my time, still. BUT my priority IS my career, so yeah. Plus, I listen to my body. Of course the 'mental control is powerful' shit is something I truly agree with, but time really is not on my side and I am mentally and sometimes, physically tired after six.

I hate myself for giving excuses (suddenly went to watch the youtube video on the top right og this blog).

Pilates, well, I abandoned that long time ago. I think I need to re-start it again, to compensate the lack of ab workouts during my gym time.

Im only doing cardio (mild run/jog) for abt 15 to 20 mins after hitting the weights. And on some days when Im not rushing, I'll punch the dummy at my gym for few minutes, just for fucks.

So yeah, thats pretty much it... my fitness side...

Oh, and also, Im using my dumbells at home during days that Im not at the gym... just to keep the body to have a momentum of weight lifting, despite the light weight.

Today I had a sudden chat with my former college mate whose into fitness and all. Its kind of nice to have someone to talk to about this matter, and yes, I am proud that I do have some knowledge on this subject... and the chat sort of reminded me of how obsessed I was with fitness and yes, it was declining at some time (plateau and shit) but I guess thanks to him, something sparked the obesessive part of me (towards fitness) to pick up from where I left off. Im crossing my fingers now.

Ok, enough rant. I want my sleep.

Im glad I had this blog.

Die die have to go to gym, TOMORROW!

The launch went well, but umm, I kept eating. It’s a bad week for me. I can’t seem to control my food consumption.

What worse was that this day itself, supposedly, I should be able to go to gym, but the event ended at 7 and there was a post event dinner which I just wont skip since its not often that me and my team are able to sit together and have a good time, talking, changing opinions and just chill (it’s a hectic life, this publishing life).

Breakfast – I had some chicken bits stir-fried with half a can of tuna, with half serving of nasi lemak bungkus (took the sambal and egg, haha)

Lunch – My printer person, who’ve been dying to take the designers out for lunch decided to treat us with Friday’s, and I had chicken quesadillas. Chicken strips wrapped with so called taco (like a harder version of roti canai, damn it!) with salsa, avocado, some shredded lettuce /salad and sour cream (took some). And the sharing spirit arose and I had my boss’ chicken taco (he dunked it on my plate before I could reject) and then I took two strips of colleague’s medium rare stakes with some green peppers and onions. The other designer had spaghetti with hot prawn sauce (whatever it’s called) and I spun the fork for one good spin and that was it. Then had some of the fried (yikes!) mushrooms (3, I remembered) and that was that.

They ‘bantai’ my printer person by sharing chocolate mud pie to wrap the lunch session so I had like ¼ of it.

I feel bad aite?

Tea – Finger food consisting of several small sandwiches tuna and chicken (white bread, so I stopped after two of those), took some tuna rolls, and took 2 prawns and a small, cube-shaped brownie.

BAAAAAD.

Dinner – We went for pure malay cooking at Bangsar’s Rebung and I just ate the dishes, no carbs, at all. Ate strips of meat from the gulai lemak cili padi (coconut milk mixed with some spices and hot chillies) but didn’t gulp the gravy, just meat and the some veggie in the same gravy as well. But no slurping of it, just took the veggies. I filled my tummy by having coconut juice (with bits of it).

My goodness. I am turning this blog into a whining thing now. I shouldn’t. It’s out of the ‘fitness blog’ line.

Baby steps, Ibster, baby steps…

God, tomorrow three different shoots will take place and I will make everything efficient so that I can get myself off from that office of mine and do cardio, weight training (Im getting fucking weak!) and some calisthenics exercises.

Dear blog, its been a week since I last train. (like confession pulak)

Last weekend was suppose to be a workout weekend but instead, due to stress and all, I went on a short trip to Penang, on impulse. Last minute decision. I told myself I needed a getaway, and that was it.

Diet got crash and burn. But I maintain still the 3 hours eating. The only bad thing was that I indulged on white bread toast for my first breakfast, Nasi Kandar for my first lunch, big buffet on my last day and also a serving of Nasi Goreng Pattaya for dinner on the very very last day. It consist of just flavorings like soy sauce and small amount of mixed veggie, with egg as the wrap. Why cant nasi goreng be more healthy and filled with nutrition!? I hope all the walking around town can at least do some justice.

Thats bad.

Been busy and tired after work. Work itself dragged all the way till 8 onwards and by that time, the gym is already closed (maybe I should switch to fancy gyms that operates all the way to 10?).

Two days ago I already packed everything to go and then last minute, my writers ask for assistance, carrying loan items for yesterday's day long shoot. I hope walking around from one mall to another WITH those heavy coats and shopping bags helped as well :P

And I now feel bad, watching the ad on the right of my blog. Yes Im making excuses.

Hopefully if there's extra time today after the launch of a new mag (that Im involved in) I can get my self to the gym. Or else tomorrow will be my first visit to the gym for this week (BAAADDD!!!).

I doubt that I'll be in during Sat and Sun (both days) because I might have aches all over if I train hard on Friday (or even today).

Damn it. Two visits this week.

Improve on your time Ibster!

Smoky

Hanging out with friends are great. But not when Im turn myself into a secondhand smoker. Damn it.

I find it a fuss to explain to people when they ask me why I dont eat this why I dont eat that. I am an avid reader when it comes to finding facts that are useful for my body and health. I am however not a good preacher or a good teacher to explain why this is this and that is that. Another reason that Ill use for my excuse of being a lazy information provider is that I know that most of them will go "Ala, we're still young and that we dont have to worry much for now".

Well early training will definitely create a stronger base and will eventually become a habit and thats how I see things for now.

Right now Im feeling slightly uncomfortable.

I skipped gym (I was tired, no shit) and went to have an unhealthy dinner with colleagues, along the way turning myself into a secondhand smoker.

I had this thing consisting of a thing dough with tuna + mayo (lots) + chicken ham + egg fillings… with additional curry sprinkled over… I managed to spread away the excessive, additional mayo on the top though, so good thing I did that.

Should I be worried? A little is okay I guess. It’s not always that I spoiled myself with food that doesn’t benefit me and my body.

But then again, I had this fried mushroom pieces around 10 pm (few strips, thank god) and that made me feel down a little… but then again. Enough! Depression over small things will lead to nowhere.

So I’ll just need to finish off all my work tomorrow and make sure I head to gym for chest and triceps. By tomorrow I hope the muscles aches around the thighs will be gone and Im able to perform more rigorous aerobics after/before my workout tomorrow.

Note to self: DOABLE weights (pushing the limits accordingly). LESSER cardio, walk faster though. Eat right. DRINK lots of water, it’s not that hard to down a full bottle. IMPROVE the close grip pushup and TRY to do 5 perfect chin up.

Rest well later… by reading, or something.

Night!