Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Mix It Up to Lose Weight!

Dear Friends,

It’s the Festive Season and it’s time to feast and celebrate and be grateful for the things we enjoy. It is also a time when you put on weight from the eating and drinking. All the hard work you have put in to maintain or lose weight will go out of the window.

So, you need to ramp up your exercise to counter the increase intake of unwanted calories. And if you are still not having much success then you should also exercise to at least maintain the weight or your weight will balloon. 

The solution may be to mix your work out by incorporating different things. For example, if you only jog, then include cycling and swimming as part of your workout routine. Include Gym workout where possible as building muscle can help in increasing metabolic rate which then will help you lose weight. 

Last week, I played soccer with my neighbor for about two hours and he claimed that he lost about 2 kg. Of course he did a lot of running plus he scored a few goals. It could be mainly water lost but he would have would have also burned more than 500 calories from the workout playing soccer.

Alternatively, you can combine High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) on days that you do not Run, Cycle or Swim. That way you can mix things up and your body does not get used to a routine which may result in diminishing returns.


Try different things and mix things up to get better result. Each one of us responds differently to different kinds of workout. Good Luck.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year! God Bless!

Love All, Serve All!

Best Regards,
Mark

Friday, May 6, 2016

KUDOS to Leicester City for Winning English Premier League Title!

Dear Friends,

This is a fairy tale story coming to life. We could not have imagined a team with no stars and a team that has never won the English League title ever winning the 2015-2016 English Premier League (EPL) title. I am really happy Leicester City have won.

I am a die hard Manchester United fan for a long time and I still am. I was hoping that David Moyes and now Louis Van Gaal (LVG) would continue the Alex Ferguson tradition of attractive attacking football and play with a never-say-die attitude. But that was not to be. Manchester United are playing poorly despite having a team worth millions. When I started supporting Man United, they were a mid-tier team. But they were interesting to watch. But now its really painful that a bunch of millionaires can't even string decent passes together. I am waiting for a Man United revival but for now I am going enjoy watching Leicester- the underdogs play attractive football.

I have always wanted the underdog to win. Even when United were winning, in those seasons where United were not on top of their game, I would wish for a underdog not in the top 5 teams to win. Almost every EPL season will start with the underdogs leading the pack but they will eventually fizzle out because they do not have strength in depth or the money to buy big name players like the top teams. This is the first time a couple of journeyman who have stayed up and won. Why?

1) Teamwork- Everybody worked hard for in the Leicester team.
2) No Star Player only a team of players.
3) No pressure to win because nobody expected them to win.
4) They had a strategy and system in place which is counterattacking football by allowing opposition teams to have most of the possession and make the mistakes. Apparently, they had the fastest players in the EPL.
5) A good coach in Claudio Ranieri. He has managed some big teams but the ex-Chelsea manager has never really won a league title with any of the clubs he has managed. And he is a nice guy.
6) Having the winning mentality to the end. They never let their league position to get to their head. The coach made sure of that.

The Foxes ( Leicester's nickname) outfoxed the big teams like Manchester City, Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspurs and Manchester United to finish on top with two games to spare. Its a remarkable achievement for a team that nobody would have given a chance at the start of the season.  There is a thing or two we can learn from this fairy tale. Never give up hope! Those who dream big and are persistent will eventually be rewarded like Leicester.

Cheers,
Mark
http://helpyourselfnhelpothers.blogspot.sg/
(still a Man United fan but a closet Leicester fan)

Thursday, February 11, 2016

On a Mission to Lose 5kg!!!

Hi Friends,


It has been a long time. How have you all been?

I have been enjoying life-good food, drinks and celebrations. But at the same time I have been exercising where I can. However, when input is greater than output, you put on weight. Simple maths. It did not help that the haze prevented me from exercising outdoors towards the last quarter of 2015. I especially missed my running and cycling. This was followed by Christmas and New Year celebrations. Added to that is work and family commitments.

I started the New Year with a 10km run. This was followed by 2 or 3 gym workouts, cycling, trekking and golf. But this has not really helped with the weight loss.

So, I am going on the assault and start exercising every alternate days.

Wish me luck! MAY THE FORCE BE WITH ME!

Cheers,
Mark