The Kickflip

Working out and exercising in general is good for our bodies. For me it’s very stress relieving. It helps me get the tension, anger, and frustration out naturally without resorting to violence. Video games do that too but we’re not here to talk about that.

I have been working out consistently for 3 weeks and following a program from Peter Carvel called “6 week 6 pack Challenge” (http://www.6weeksixpack.com/). If you’re a fitness fanatic or just want to lose a lot of weight, you should try it! The workouts are pretty intense.

Advertising aside, I’ve lost a lot of weight in just three weeks. But that just didn’t happen with little effort. Great gains (or weight loss), comes with great discipline on food, exercise habits, sleep, blah, blah, blah and all that stuff.

Having been in the gym for the past year, I’ve seen people come in the gym just to quit after a few weeks because they aren’t seeing any results. Well, they’re probably doing something wrong. So, here are some ways for you to get good results based on what I’ve learn from the internet fitness guru’s. Note that I am no expert. Feel free to disagree.

Drink water… lots of it.
We all know the “8 glasses of water a day” rule. That’s true. Follow it! Though, I prefer the “3-5 liters of water a day rule.” Fun fact: Water helps the fat burning process in the body, it naturally detoxifies the body, and it helps with your diet because it makes you feel full. That’s why it’s better to take in a lot more than 8 glasses.

Watch what you eat.
I’m not gonna tell to count your calories and weigh your food while preparing them. As Sweet Brown once said, “Ain’t nobody got time for that!” Busy people like you and I already have a lot to worry about. Instead, I’m gonna make things simple. Keep away from food that are fatty, greasing, buttery, extra sweet and the like as much as possible. This is where the discipline part kicks in. Instead of taking in these unhealthy treats, your diet should be more of protien (chicken breast, fish, lean cuts of beef & pork, egg whites, etc.), vegetables, and fruits. Eat more vegetables and fruits because their fiber content would help you feel full for a longer time than meat and they give you a lot of energy. You’d also what to eat a lot of spicy food. Eating spicy food helps burn fat. Bring in the Indian food! :)

Exercise more. Eat less.
It’s that simple. Burn more calories than what you take in! But make sure you are taking in the right food. Food rich in protein, fiber, and all the other essential vitamins and minerals.

Take your vitamins.
To tell you the truth, the food you eat for the whole day will not give you all the vitamins and minerals you need. The best thing to do is take some dietary supplements or daily vitamins. Personally, I take Enervon but anything you prefer would be good so long as it is not expired. Haha!

Caffeine is good.
Caffeine is also a good natural fat burner. Another good thing about it is its cheap. A cup of coffee before exercising is good for you because it gives you the extra energy you need to push a little harder during your workouts. Have you heard of people being high in caffeine? It’s best to use that high on a working out. You will see results faster. And lay off those energy drinks. They might have a nice amount of caffeine be they have all these unnecessary sugars, calories and other stuff that could harm your body. You’re better off with coffee.

Sleep.
Sleep is important. Sleeping helps your body regenerate and repair your sore muscles after your workout. It also gives you extra enegry to perform not just exercises well but also your everyday routine. You get as much as 8 hours of sleep. Not getting enough sleep may cause your body to lessen its fat burning ability.

Patience
If you are trying to make some gains (or lose weight) always remember, that you should make your goals realistic. Let me put it like this, you are not going to lose 50 lbs. in a week! You have to work your way there. A more realistic approach would be 2-5 pounds a week for example. You have to put your mind into it and commit to the idea that you want to get that photoshoot-ready body that you want. Hard work always pays off!

For almost two months now I’ve bee going to the gym and working out. If you’ve read The Cosplay you would know why. But that’s not the only reason.

After coming home from Brunei last June I grew fatter. I was so big that I didn’t like the way I was getting bigger. It almost seemed that I was disgusted with it. Then I thought that now that I have graduated I’d have time to go to the gym without school pressure biting me at the back.

Another reason for me wanting to get fit is because of the my family’s medical background. We’ve had cases of heart-attack, diabetes and other health failure stuff. What Filipino family doesn’t have those bad health issues, anyway? I wanted to at least prevent that and draw myself away from have complications in the future. I wanna live long and do stuff while having that strength and endurance. Plus having that macho persona! LoL

So far, I’ve been doing great. From 190 lbs. (June 14th, 2011), I’m now down to 176 lbs (August 20th, 2011). That’s a big drop for someone as busy (well, not really) as me. I’m seeing improvement now and I plan to continue for as long as I can. Heck, I even plan to workout until I get married and have kids and even continue after that.

Oath to self:
“As long as I have strength in my body I will do my best to become fit and healthy.”

Its been a week since Em was confined in the hospital because she had Dengue fever. I was my first time to see some one up close have dengue and take care of them. I had a classmate in Elementary school who died of dengue and that made me nervous of my girlfriend’s disease. Luckily, she’s better but she’s still in the hospital for observation.

The night before she had fever, we were together. She was fine then and feeling alright. She was cheerful as usual. But when it was late in the evening, she felt something already. I was guessing that she might have been bitten in the jeep. That was just my wild guess but could be a big probability.

I’m sure some of you guys have experience riding a mosquito-infested jeep. Now that is pretty scary. You never know where those little devils came from. It is obvious that we wouldn’t be able to distinguish if the jeep we are about to ride would have mosquitoes lurking around. But if you guys do, please be extra cautious. You might become a victim.

Other than personal precaution, jeepney drivers should monitor and make sure that their jeeps are clean and should have no disease-carrying creatures in them. A spray can of insecticide is cheaper than a person getting confined in a hospital for a week or so.