Time well spent at the gym

The trip to the gym yesterday was very much how I liked it.  Both Pump and Combat classes were superb.  At last we are out of the new releases week but the BC instructor still kept that Shoot track in T4 of Combat, not that I mind at all...at least she didn't keep that "sword movement" track.  I did not stay for the last 2 tracks of Combat though...I figured I better not over exert myself as my stamina level is not at its usual 100% level, considering that I had skipped gym the whole of last week. 

I must say that The Black Eyed Peas' "Pump It" music is really not suitable for doing bicep curl singles.  The song was super fast and it was so gruelling to follow the beat of the music.  I felt like I compromised my form and had to stop and pause quite a bit.  I must remember to inform that instructor never never to go with that song again. So silly.....

Other than that, everything else was good.  Felt great to be sweating lots...........

Cooking Project: Sweet Potato patties

Another attempt at cooking.  Ever since I ate potato patties the first time, I had wanted to try my hands at making it myself at home.  Opting for a healthier option, I decided to use sweet potatoes instead.

Here was what I did over the weekend.

Boiling the sweet potatoes. 

Mashing the potatoes, using my brand new utensil from IKEA. Mixing in some peppers, salt and mixed herbs.

This is such a great exercise for the fingers.

Shape the potates into balls. Not a necessary step but I just love doing it.

I flattened the balls.

Brush the patties with egg and coat with oatmeals.

I tried baking this in the oven microwave for 10 mins. 

It did not turn out that great...

These look much better after I fried them....not deep fried though...just a little oil.

Verdict:  Makes for great snack.  I think it will taste even better if I use white potatoes instead, but of course sweet potatoes are healthier. 

Let's talk Loser...

and by that, I meant, the hit reality weight loss show...not that musical drama GLEE... is for Loser.  If you have never watched GLEE, I guess you'll be wondering what the hell am I talking about. Anyway......

I want to touch a little about the Biggest Loser show.  Being an avid fan, I love watching the contestants losing massive amount of weights week after week.  Their transformation is simply amazing.  Of course, Asia has just concluded its own version of Biggest Loser Asia recently.  In that show, I noticed that many of the contestants do not take weight loss seriously enough to make any significant difference.  The commitment is just not there 100%.  At the season finale, we saw that many of the contestants who were voted out early did not get any thinner, unlike the US or Australian version, where we see a huge difference in all the contestants.  My guess is that, as soon as they left the show, they went back to binge-ing the old ways and not exercising much. 

The reason I'm bringing this up is because, yesterday I had a field day arguing with a gym instructor about BL, who thinks that the show is sending wrong messages about living healthy. The truth of the matter is, in the real world, it is of course not realistic to lose 50-60kgs in 2-3 months and exercising 6-8 hours a day.  BL is not only about that...In a perfect world, people have jobs and families.  They face food temptations everywhere, plus, they may not always be able to exercise daily.  The other question is...is it healthy to lose 50-60kgs in 2 months?  I don't see why not.  If losing that amount of weight gets a person off 10 different medications, I don't see why not.....

While BL is a show about weight loss, it is still a competition. And as in any reality show, whenever you put  people together in the same house, there will always be drama. The important message to be learned out of this show, IMO, about is about taking the first step towards losing weight and learning that exercising and eating right is the correct way to go, not diet pills and surgery.  Can a fat/obese person lose 50kg, 100kg ?  Of course! It may take longer than 3 months but as long as they incorporate exercise and healthy eating, they can do it.  Sadly, most people only understand the first part of that equation.  I've seen fat people putting in hours upon hours at the gym but their diet is less than perfect.  There is always that mentality oh, I burned 600 calories, therefore I'm entitled to eat junk food after gym. What a load of crap...

Anyway, I feel that the show is and should be an eye opening for people who are fat or obese.  It is shown in 90 countries so, imo, it is an intricate part of pop culture doing some good to the world.  I don't think the show is sending any wrong messages, at all.

Fitness Equipment Bucket List....

Purchases of sports equipment is now tax deductable for up to RM300.  How neat is that? 

I couldn't help but wonder what constitutes sports equipment though.  Is lifting gloves considered sports equipment?? How about shoes? Or darts and board? Exercise DVD??

Anyway, speaking of equipment, I do have a list of fitness items that I have been wanting to get such as....

Yoga Mat

Isn't it amazing that I practised yoga for 3 years and now doing Pilates for 6 months and yet I don't own a mat?

Fitball

Great equipment for core and stability workouts.  I would love to have one of this at home.  And I think it'll be great to sit on this watching TV while learning to balance myself. I once fear this big ball but thanks to Ball Pilates, I fully embrace it.

Latex tube

Another great item for resistance training.  Tried this once and it's not as easy as it looks.

Dumbbells

The ultimate resistance training equipment.  I like this type of dumbbell because the weights can be easily adjusted and you don't need so many different pairs for different weights. 

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Then there are other sports equipments which I would love to own if I have the money to buy them cos these equipments are super expensive, but they are also super cool, imo.

Kettlebell

Swinging one of this kettlebell can be dangerous if one doesn't know the proper techniques.  One can get head or shoulder injuries. Imagine bowling ball with handles :-)

Bosu Ball

I would love to try doing Squats or single leg standing on one of this (the bosu turned upside down).  Great great for balancing training.

I can set up my own mini gym at home with all these equipments isn't?  I should seriously start shopping around for the best deal already. I'm gonna call this my fitness equipment bucket list....

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How's this for hilarious...

Much to my amusement today, I stumbled upon a piece of document belonging to the resigned girl, the one who had made my blood pressure soar daily.  Her resume was still sitting pretty in the notebook she was previously using.  Not that I was intentionally searching for it.  It was right there on the Desktop of the notebook. 

I couldn't help but glance thru the document.  She had assigned herself as "Senior Business Executive" when in fact her position was just only Business Executive and she has only been with the company for 6 mths.  I was like, oh my god...was this girl for real?  Seriously?? Should I laugh til I pee or should I just puke?  I couldn't help but wonders if her past work experience is genuine or not.

Good Lord..some people just have no shame.  And coming from someone who is clueless and brainless, this is definitely worth shaking my head....

Liar...dirty liar!

btw, the new replacement girl is such a joy to work with.  I don't get headaches, I don't need to puke blood daily and my blood pressure is stable.   Huge difference.  I wouldn't mind if this one calls herself "Senior".

This and that....

Life at work was hectic for the past 10 days, I felt like a chicken running without its head. 

It is so much calmer now. 

Now that work life is back to normal, I can focus more on my jobhunt...ahaks.

After having worked 19 hours straight from Sun to Mon, I went home to get my much needed precious sleep but my body refused to cooperate.  I ended up with only 1 hour of nap. Surprisingly enuff, the past couple of nites have been blissful.  Uninterrupted deep sleep is something that is a luxury to me and is hard to come by.  So, I am very grateful...and I hope it continues.

Of late, I have been binge-ing on chocolate chip cookies.  At one shot, I can eat up to 10 or more minis in a day.  So much so that I went out and bought myself 2 more packets. Not a good decision considering that most baked goods contain hydrogenated oil (ie. trans fat....ie. the worst type of fat) but this one only listed vegetable oil in its ingredient so I'm really not sure if the ingredients list is accurate. Even as I'm writing now, I'm already salivating over the visual of the cookie.  Damn.....

Gym life is as it should be. 

This is the 2nd week of new releases and so far I can't say if I'm crazy about the new choreo.

Body Jam 52 is OK for the 1st half of the class. I think I can officially say I am more comfortable doing Latin than Hip Hop.

I don't like the new Body Combat 43 release. What is with the stupid sword move? Instructors kept stressing that this release works the butts but how come I don't feel it? Maybe I've got buns of steel. oh, I like the Tripod Push Up idea but seriously, it needs to be done in a much slower mode, imo, or else it won't be effective at all.

The new Body Pump 73 is gruelling. I love "I gotta feeling" by The Black Eye Peas but I hate the new Chest track. And damn the 3/4 range singles in Biceps track.

I am now an official addict of Oreo Milkshake.  This couldn't have come at a worse time, especially when I found out that Oreos contain HFCS in its ingredient list.  Go to this link "The Dangers of High Fructose Corn Syrup" for indepth understanding of this sweet liquid. Since my addiction won't go away, I am using similar cookies that look and taste like Oreo to blend my milkshake.  Again, I better pray that I have stronger willpower.

Burning the midnite oil

Yawn...yawn...2.06AM

I haven't done this in a while....staying up the whole nite and morning working in the office...since Sunday evening.  Luckily I am not alone or else I would have cried standing. Been here 8 hours already and I'm guessing we will need to be here for roughly another 9 hours.  I just wish my colleague would work a little faster, since my portion of work relies heavily on his portion.

My shoulders are aching from hunching over the notebook, as much as I try to be aware of my sitting posture.  My eyes are half closing. I have never wanted my bed more.  It must be age catching up with my body.  Never a good thing.  I gotta catch up on sleep later in the afternoon.

On a positive note, I have an interview scheduled on Tues morning. And I also received an email from somebody requesting for my resume submission.  Good positive vibes are starting to flow through.  Hoping something good will turn up soon. 

I didn't wanna do this again but I need an outlet to vent...

So, the most inefficient co-worker that I have ever encountered will be leaving today (thank god!) but not surprisingly she is leaving all her mess and shit for me to clean up.  Work that was assigned to her 2 weeks ago did not get done (again, I guess this shouldn't come as a surprise considering that she is a LAZY INEFFICIENT cow!).

As a result, now I have to scramble to get that work done (again, I repeat, cleaning up the idiot's shit) due to its dateline submission, and not only that, there are other parties involved (eg. bank) to get some documents drawn up and with just 2 days to go, I really don't know how well the bank is willing to liaise with us, if at all. 

If it is up to me, I would have given this idiot a 10x slap across the face before she stepped out of this office for the final time. I have harbour hatred for some people across my lifetime but never before have I hated somebody this much.