Why Did February March? Because April May.

1. Lame, I know.

2. Anyhow, I still think it's not too late to wish Happy Leap Day to all of you, especially to those celebrating their birthday on 29 February. Awesome don't you think, to be born on the day which only fall every 4 years.

3. Been busy with work, as always. But I love my job, so there's nothing to complain. I just feel like I need some new challenges (just a little) so to make my job more interesting.

4. Been working out religiously so far, didn't skip even a day. It makes me feel good, so why should I stop, right? I'm just torn between working out or going for a run, because both are fun in a different kind of way (although by now I think you should know that I favor pumping iron), but I can't afford to do both on the same day. Just wish I can add an extra 30 minutes for morning run daily, and work out in the evening after work. But it's a big challenge to wake up early to add in the morning run into my routine.

5. Mulu in 9 more days, and I can't wait! I consider that as an early birthday gift to myself (I just love rewarding myself with outdoor activities!). I went backpacking to the southern states of Peninsular Malaysia last year during my birthday. This year it's Borneo.

6. My running shoes got stolen a few weeks ago (my mistake, left it outside of the house, but I have my reason), so I had to go for a quest to find a new running shoes. Well, it's not difficult when you already know your favorite brand and style.

This time you can spot me from far.

7. I just love when it rains at night, because I can roll in my bed under the duvet. Best feeling in the world, after a heavy workout and a warm shower that is.

8. And it's raining heavily right now, I can hear my bed calling me.

Now and Then

Came across this old photo of mine, back in 2008.

I was so huge!

I remember weighing 52 kg at this time, but I never realize that I was fat.

Well, that's the heaviest I've ever hit.

I skipped a lot of meals, but I was still flabby.

I could not even run 100 m at this time, for sure. 

Never even dream about trying weight lifting.

And I always said no to any outdoor activities.

And now in 2012...

My body is tone.

I weigh 48 kg, just 4 kg less than last time, but I definitely look fitter.

The lightest I weigh was 43.3 kg, back in 2010, but now I'm stronger.

I eat 6 small meals daily.

I can now run 10 km anytime.

I love weight lifting and would not let a day pass without pumping iron.

And I've turned into an outdoor junkie.

So if people still call me fat after this, I'm going to direct them to this entry (kidding).

Really girls (and boys), I don't believe in long hour cardio, because I've done that, and I can pick up the weight I lost fast if I don't continuously do my cardio. But what I really believe is in the power of weight lifting and resistance training, and high intensity cardio, and of course with proper dieting (and dieting here does not mean skipping meals!). Read a lot on health and fitness, there are just plenty of information in the world wide web. Don't be misinformed and think that people who concentrate on weight lift are not as fit as people who only do cardio. Well, do your research ;)

My Inspiration

Those really, really close to me knows how much I love visiting this two sites : http://bodybuilding.com and http://simplyshredded.com. Both sites are inspirational, they become my reference for my diet and workouts; only I don't eat as much as those body builders and I don't carry as heavy as they do. But yeah, I do adapt eating every 3 hours and their workout routines. It's fun to read different life changing stories in those sites, keep me motivated every time I feel like giving up. And all of their different routines and dieting make me realized that our body are unique from each other, and we have to try out different things before we find out what really work for us.

Well, that's not really what I want to blog about. I want to blog about this particular fitness figure whose physique caught my attention; Pauline Nordin. She's a bodybuilder, fitness model and journalist from Sweden, and she is all muscles, but hey, she's still so pretty and I think by far the most feminine bodybuilder I've ever seen. She's the coach in The Biggest Loser Sweden (go check out the YouTube!). When I found out that our height are almost similar, man, that makes me admire her even more. Can you believe with that body she only weight 115 lbs / 52 kg? She look good both on camera and on scale.

Nak pengsan tak tengok biceps dia? OMG.

She's so petite yet she's so muscular. Nice!

Well, it will be a really really really really really long way to go if I want to achieve that physique, but she's definitely someone who's perfect to be an inspiration towards healthy lifestyle. So next time I want to cheat with a Famous Amos cookie, I'm just going to think of her and the fact that she hasn't cheated for years. Dang.

10 Tahun You Ols!

Someone I can count on...

Someone who's always there during thick or thin...

Even after 10 years, never once we stop communicating. Kan Farisya, kan? Kalau boleh nak gayut on the phone / Skype hari-hari :)

Shared too many laughter, too many tears :)

Friends forever, insyaAllah :')

How I wish there are more photos of us captured together...

Farisya,

How time flies and tak sangka kita dah kawan for 10 years. No words can ever describe how grateful I am of our friendship. Well, hopefully, there are many more 10 years to come, insyaAllah. Thanks for all of your time melayan segala drama. Only God knows how many times I wish Miri and Tawau are just a town away... Part of me will never be who I am today without you, so, thank you :')

Page 29 of 366

1. First up, I must apologize for not updating. Work has taken its toll, and obviously life has taken its toll too, in a good kind of way.

2. So far, I'm on track with my 2012 new year resolution, which is to have control over my own lifestyle. Well, suffice to say I'm busy living. I'm either at work, or at home preparing meal after meal, or at the gym working out, or at the park running, or doing what I do best, socializing.

3. To have people pointing out that I have work-life balance is just awesome, especially when I myself did not realize that. I focus at work so that I don't have to spend extra hour at the office or work from home or on the weekends, and I schedule time for myself - my workout, my run, my pampering session. I even make time for family (well, phone calls for now) and friends.

4. However, I realized that I don't have enough rest. I barely even get 6 hour of quality sleep daily. Need to make sure I schedule enough sleep in my daily routine. I'm weight lifting again now, so sufficient rest is a must for muscles to grow.

5. I've just completed Week 4 of Lee Labrada's 12 Week Lean Body Program. Another 8 weeks to go, and so far I've seen positive changes to my body. I know my body responds well especially when I take care of my daily nutrition.

6. Signed up for 2012 Borneo International Marathon, 10 km run in Kota Kinabalu on 6th May. Hey, I'm going to fly in this route : Miri - KL - Korea - KL - Kota Kinabalu - Miri. Notice the extra mile?

7. Can't wait for my friend's visit to Miri next month and my trip to Mulu in March. Hoping everything will go smooth and as per planned. I so need a getaway.

Oops, time for my afternoon run. Toodles!

It's Just Not Okay Anymore

When it comes to the point that it's not okay anymore for me to pretend like I am cool with everything that is going on... Hmm entahlah. Probably will just distance myself, keep quiet, not in the mood to talk to anyone. Will just have to swallow everything, just to make life bearable.

1st Day of 2012

Just chilled at home most of the time. Bliss.

Was wide awake at 4.45 am. I guess I had a really good sleep that night, I don't even hear the slightest sound of fireworks. And living in Miri for the past 2 years, the sound can be seriously loud. So being all fresh that early is definitely my 'green button' for the day.

Not a photo of mine, but I swear my sweet potato muffin looks exactly like this.

Went to the kitchen to prepare some sweet potato muffins that I've already planned. Well, I wanted to cook more this year, and eat out less, so yeah, one of the healthiest snacks that you can easily make is sweet potato muffins. There's no flour in it, no sugar in it, only all the healthy (and of course pricey) ingredients are in there. Marinated some chicken too for some of my meal this week. I've done this before (eating healthily, I mean), and I know the secret to a successful eating habit is to plan earlier. I have my 7 day meal plan, I have equip my kitchen with only healthy food, I know when I'm going to have my cheat meal - that's basically the deal. So for 2012, I'm going to kick start with Lee Labrada's 7 Days of Lean Body Meals (with of course, a little tweak to it) which I find pretty interesting as it suits my lifestyle - I'm allowed coffee, and the meals are pretty tasty (and importantly doable and easy to cook) if you ask me.

So I went to Taman Bulatan after I put the muffins in the oven. I completed my 10 km routine, it has been a while. I had my right ankle sprained when practicing for Penang Bridge Marathon (although I managed to break my own personal record during the run, yeay!), and that was why I slowed down a little on running. I just wanted to refocus on gym training again, because I know (and many people has been telling me this!) that my body is at its best during my gym era.

And I came home at 9 am to a kitchen which smelled oh so good! You guys seriously have to try out this recipe. The sweet potato muffins tasted so good too.

I'm seriously hoping to get back on track with my healthy eating and weight lifting. Okay enough rambling about this or I might jinx it. We'll just see the results.

The rest of the day - I watched TV, lied down on the bed, cooked lunch and dinner, talked on the phone, pampered myself - exactly just the way I've intended it to be.

To a great start of 2012, insyaAllah.