How about a cup of RRRAGE?

Back in Action.

2010-01-18T17:15:00.000+08:00

Greetings and Salutations,

After falling off the wagon for such a long time, I've managed to get my ass into gear and the first thing I've done? Quit smoking! Next on my list is to cut down my drinking to one day a week. That should help me somehow.

Now then, onto what state of disrepair my body has fallen under. Truth be told, I'm not sure. I've gone back to basics, focusing on body weight workouts only. Cycling has replaced my walks. I've been doing this for two weeks so far and my body doesn't feel that out of shape so I think I'm doing alright. I will do some calculations again and figure out what my body fat percentage is right now and what my ideal body weight is.

Since I'm in the office right now, I can't post any pictures as to what my current body shape is but I'm sure it's about the same as I was when I first started this blog. The only difference is that my weight is now at 72kg/158 pounds. With a slightly bigger belly. This is where I smile sheepishly.

Anyways, I will try to post more info to give you a clearer picture as to what state I'm in and what I'm trying to achieve.

Peace.

Back to the Fat.

2009-05-15T00:23:00.002+08:00

Yeap, I'm back. Back to being 69kgs that is. Just started working out again this week. It's going to be an uphill climb but I'll give a full update this Sunday. Currently at the office finishing up a rough cut for a documentary so I can't blog much.

Peace.

Many Apologies.

2009-03-23T01:48:00.003+08:00

Tired editor is tired.

I apologize for the lack of updates. Jesus, it's been a full month since I last updated and to be honest, I haven't even done a single thing to help me get fit. Work has been really really hectic. This month is really killing me, I've had to sleep at the office almost 3 days every week and it's been going on for the past three weeks. So yeah, this is really killing me, can't wait for work to get back to reasonable levels so I can start working out again. I did weigh myself and guess what, I'm back at 67kgs... which is okay I suppose but I'm really backsliding, gotta watch what I eat and drink less beer. Heh.

Well, I gotta get back to work. Yes, I work sundays too. Mmmm.... I hope this month's paycheck is worth the sacrifice.

Week #14 - Life Turned Flip Side Up

2009-02-18T15:02:00.002+08:00

Hello hello,

Not a good time to blog, work is getting even more hectic than before and I've just haven't had the time to weigh myself or even take a picture. As for workouts... last week was just pathetic, I only managed to do two out of three workout sessions. Sort of made up the third session by climbing the hill near my house. That was a nice workout mind you, felt like I was doing a little bit of HIIT.

Anyways, can't talk long but as a result of that hike, I've decided to sacrifice some sleep time and do ALL of my workouts in the morning - 6am in the morning that is. It's the same as before but I go for a 1 1/2 hour walk covering about roughly 7km in that span of time. I'll be doing that 5 times a week so I'm reintroducing my old routine which works out like this:-

Monday, Wednesday, Friday
4x15 Swiss-ball Pushups
5x12 Bicycle Situps
4x12 Swiss-ball Bench Presses
5x5 Chin-ups

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday
4x12 Swiss-ball Squats
4x10 Dumbbell Lunges
4x12 Bicep Curls
4x12 Shrugs

Sundays will be rest day but I'll do a spot of hiking in the mornings. Plan to use the hike as a gauge of sorts to see my overall fitness level.

Well that's that. I gotta get back to work.

Peace

WEEK #14 - Stalemate

2009-02-09T23:06:00.003+08:00

Hello,

Not a great week in terms of weight loss. Checked the scales and I'm back at 67kgs. Major shock. Here's how I look:-

Not much difference in terms of pictures but weight-wise...

Something went wrong in my regiment and it could be any of these or worst, all of them.

Not drinking enough water. I need about 3 litres a day since I'm in a cold dry environment most of the time. The skin on my hands are dry and peeling, that's a sign.
Meals are at irregular times and of varying sizes. I have more or less two meals a day and lunch is usually the heaviest. I also have dinner extremely late, around 9-10pm. Lunch is at 1pm now.
Not working out hard enough, I do feel that I'm only targeting my core and not enough on my lower body muscles. They're important as they are the biggest muscle group in your body, next to your back muscles. Will work on that as early as next week.
No more long walks. I used to walk a total of 30-40km a week which in my opinion really helps with fat burning. Gonna try and organize weekly hikes up a hill near my house, which should get me walking at least 20km a week.
Not enough sleep. Well, I can't fix this fully but I'll try to get at least 7-8 hours on average.
TOO MUCH BOOZE! Not a problem now since I'm saving up cash for a trip to Europe this November. Heh.

That's my list and it's looong. Well, I need to build more discipline and hopefully I can hit my goal of 60kg by the end of June. It is demoralizing but getting past this hiccup will be an awesome feeling.

Well, I need to get some sleep.

Peace.

Week #13 - Booze Booze Snooze.

2009-02-02T14:44:00.003+08:00

Hello Hello,

Blogging from the office here so I'll keep it short and simple; as simple as I can be that is.

So yeah, week #12 is missing a post as I was at my relatives place in Kuantan, Pahang and they didn't have any internet. That and I was drinking waaaay too much for Chinese New Year. Did a lot of boozing this past week as well so here's the damage. I'm 66kgs now and look.... more or less the same, maybe developing a belly again.

Beer belly in the making? Le-gasp.

Well now, I've gotten used to my regiment again and feel a whole lot stronger that I was two weeks back so it's time to up the ante!

Amir's Get Back Into Shape Routine (part two)
4 sets of 15 Swiss Ball Push-ups
4 sets of 15 Bicycle Crunches
4 sets of 12 Swiss Ball Bench Presses
5 sets of 6(or as much as I can do) Chin-ups
Workout days : Mon, Wed, Fri

Cardio Training : 1 hour / 200 sets of Jumping Jacks each morning

That should help me lose the belly that's starting to take shape. Let's hope it works eh?

Anyways, I mentioned something about getting adequate rest and what not and yes, it's quite obvious that you NEED rest but how much is too much and how little is too little? The general rule is 8 hours of sleep each night at regular hours. It is true but to a certain extent of course, I personally find that I need at least 9 hours of sleep a day due to the uncertain nature of my work and it has so far worked in the past 3 weeks as I don't seem to feel any weaker during the weekend.

The best way to gauge if you're getting enough rest is this, set a workout routine for yourself and by the second or third session if you feel that you can seem to complete your sets then you're not getting enough rest. It's a no-brainer but you'd be suprised by how many people get demotivated by this. What and when you eat are determining factors as well but that's logic really, just don't work out when you're starving and don't workout till after you've digested your food. Simple.

If you stick to this closely you should either lose weight consistently and feel fresh everyday or just maintain your current body shape but still feel good. If it's the latter, you're not pushing yourself enough then. Heh.

Well, I need to get back to work.

Cheerio.

WEEK #11 - Super Long Cheat Period.

2009-01-19T22:21:00.003+08:00

Greetings...

Yeah, yeah, I know, I took a month and then some more off my work out regiment. I don't feel that great about it either but what to do. When your fiancee comes back from Christmas break and you've got an insane amount of work the first week of the new year, you'd think twice about working out eh? I know, Excuse #9000.

So did I hit my goal for December 2008? The answer is YES, I did. I was 65 kgs during Christmas and did I gain any weight during my long break? The answer is also YES, I did. I was 67 kgs during the first week of January and now I'm back at 65.5 kgs. How do I look? Let's take a look shall we?

Decent but I've lost some muscle definition...

Not too great but I'm trying to get back in shape. I've lost a lot of muscle thanks to slacking off and drinking waaaay too much booze during the holiday season. Stated in my previous post, I did indeed get myself a Swiss Ball and it's really great! You can really feel the strain it puts on muscles that you don't usually use and it does make simple things like push-ups and sit-ups more challenging!

Here's my current workout plan; something I need to stick to for at least two weeks to get back into shape. I can't even stick to circuit training, that's how much weaker I am since I took the month off.

Amir's Get Back Into Shape Routine
3 sets of 15 Swiss Ball Push-ups
3 sets of 15 Bicycle Crunches
3 sets of 12 Swiss Ball Bench Presses
3 sets of 6(or as much as I can do) Chin-ups
Workout days : Mon, Wed, Fri

So that's that, I do it one workout at a time. The only issue I have are meal times. I usually eat my lunch around 1-2pm which is fine but dinner is the issue, I have my dinner around 8, 9 or even 10pm sometimes. So I sometimes get to full for workouts. What I'm thinking now is to have lunch at 3pm or so, head home, hit my routine first THEN have dinner. Which is what I've been doing for the past week. I hope this helps.

Oh yeah, I was supposed to talk about how sleep affects your weight loss and muscle gains but I'm too tired (see: lazy) to talk about it. I'll post it at the end of this week. Hopefully.

We'll see...

till then,
Cheerio.

Week #8 - Lazy man is lazy.

2008-12-31T16:55:00.002+08:00

Hello, apologies are in order. Haven't worked out for the entire week ever since Atifi got back and I suppose that's bad but I'm gonna take it as a well deserved break from working out. I will however start back next week, Week #9.

Just weighed myself and I'm now at 67kgs so that's not really good... Looks like my self-discipline failed me during the holiday season. This will be my only cheat week till... well hopefully till Atifi comes back again in June. :D

In other news, I finally got myself a Swiss Ball and I hope that'll help me get more results from my current workout plan.

Well that's that. Happy New Year people.

Week #7 - ???

2008-12-22T22:32:00.001+08:00

Sorry for the missed update. Things.... have been a little unexpected. I can't use the scale right now, it's not in my room that's why. Another Christmas gift for myself this year! One with body fat percentage on it as well.

I'll update first thing tomorrow morning when the scale is unoccupied. :P

Week #6 - So-So

2008-12-14T17:13:00.003+08:00

Well, after a week of Circuit Training. Here's what I look like:-

New room, not new camera, not mine actually.

So, I'm back at 66.5kgs. Not too sure what's with the raise, could be lack of sleep; I've only been getting something like 4-5 hours of sleep a day. It could be me not consuming enough protein to build muscle. I have no idea, maybe I'm not pushing myself hard enough during training.

However, Circuit Training is TOUGH. Really tough. By the 4th lap I'm usually begging for mercy so it makes me work up a real good sweat. I'm gonna watch my diet more closely next week and the only snacks I'll eat in between meals are gonna be fruits. I have a feeling "Choc o' Clock" at the office might play a part in my 500g raise in body weight.

In other news, I'll be getting new weights and finally, a Swiss Ball! Something useful for Christmas I suppose. :D

Well, that's that. Let's see what next has to show!

Peace.

Week #5 - Moving Places.

2008-12-07T20:03:00.003+08:00

Yohoho, 'tis getting closer and closer to christmas. Here's this week's progress picture.

Really bad photo, why did I tuck my chin in?

Anyhoo, weighed myself first thing in the morning and I'm at 66kgs flat. So while it's a small dip, it's working out pretty nicely. This certainly helped me feel a bit better after waking up with a hangover. Mezcal + Herbal Therapy = Major Headache.

This week was a test of sorts. I dropped walking completely. Did weight training every night after work before I went to sleep. To manage to still lose weight has surprised me really. All I need to do is increase the intensity of my workout and I should be able to make up for the lack of brisk walking. Had to sacrifice two days of weight training this week due to me packing up my huge collection of books and dvds and whathaveyous. I'm pretty sure running up and down the stairs in my current place helped offset my lack of work out on those two days.

Here's what I've been thinking of doing. It's called Circuit Training. So it's something similar to HIIT but involving weight training. My circuit works like this:-

Mon, Wed, Fri
Elevated Pushups (15 reps) -> Bicycle Crunches (20 reps) -> Chin Ups (10 reps)

Tue, Thurs, Sat
Dumbbell Squats (8 reps w/ 21 kgs) -> Calf Raise (12 reps) -> Dumbbell Lunges (12 reps w/ 21kgs) -> Dumbbell Shrugs (12 reps w/ 21kgs)

Circuit is repeated 5 times with 2 minutes of rest in between each circuit.

That's the current plan, I've actually tried it on Wednesday and it felt good and really had a similar effect to HIIT. So I'll stick to it for the next week and see if my body can cope. Heh. Work hours are pretty good right now so I'm usually at the office for not longer than 10 hours. Well, I've gotta get back to moving. Will post pictures of my new room hopefully.

Peace.

Week #4 - Work Begins!

2008-11-30T12:30:00.003+08:00

*yawns*

Good Morning/Afternoon.

First things first, let's see how I look like on week #4.

Alright I suppose...

Anyways, I hit the 66kg mark this week! Well, 66.5kg actually. But nevertheless, I managed to shed off a lot of the partying weight I picked up last week! Another kilogram or two and I'll finally hit my first goal! It'll be tough though. Why?

I have just started working.

Full-time.

As a Jr. Video Editor.

That means 12-16 hour workdays, 5-6 days a week. How the hell am I gonna get the time to work out?

So far, I've been managing to cram in my strength training as outlined in my most recent post. There is a nice strain I experience every time I do the routines though. I suppose pushing my body when it's mentally and physically tired is sort of good, results wise that is. But there is one thing that sort of bums me out though.

I can't go for my walks anymore. It's just not possible at 10pm at night, well it sort of is, but nobody is crazy enough to join me. I'm pretty sure somebody will tell me to do it early in the morning before I head off to the office but here's how it'll end up, time wise.

5:00am (wake up and go for my walk) -> 7:30am (return from my walk) -> 9:00am (head to work) -> 10:00pm (return from work) -> 11:00pm (hit the weights) -> 12:30am (sleep)
4 hours and 30 minutes of sleep!

Here's the schedule I wish I could do but nobody wants to join me in doing:-

8:30am (wake up) -> 9:00am (head to work) -> 10:00pm (return from work) -> 10:30pm (go for walk + hit the weights) -> 1:00am (Sleep)
7 hours and 30 minutes of sleep!

Makes sense to me to cram it all at night. I could cut down the amount of time I go out for my walk as well. But there is a really big difference in the amount of sleep I get. But for now, I'll just do my weights. Ah yes, I stopped working out on weekends as I think I'd have the best opportunity to recover my battered mind and aching body.

Well, that's that. Let's hope I'll still be able to lose weight and gain some muscle despite working like a crazy.

Week #3 - Awesome Week, Bad Progress.

2008-11-23T13:27:00.005+08:00

Ugh. I begin this post today by saying, Alcohol and Cigarettes = slow recovery and general tiredness. So here's this week's picture:-

Hat from last night's party and still wearing the same pajamas...

So yeah, stepping on the scale, I sadly regressed instead of progressing. I'm back at 68kgs and while i do feel that my body fat percentage is lower than last week, due to the lack of exercising and excessive partying, I'm not getting muscle definition. Damn. So I'm not very pleased this week and with the signs of another fever coming up, I hope to feel better next week and punish myself with 6 days worth of exercise!

Next week's plan will be the same as this week as I didn't get to really stick to it but with me being broke. I'm pretty sure there'll be no partying. :D

Intermission

2008-11-19T15:46:00.002+08:00

Haro Haro.

I'm down with a slight fever on my birthday. Great. Anyways, I forgot to add some details on my Basal Metabolic Rate. What is BMR? Well, it's basically how many calories your body would burn in a day if you didn't do anything but lay in bed the whole day.

Here's the formula:-

MEN

67 + (13.728 x weight in kg) + (508 x height in metres) - (6.9 x age) = BMR

WOMEN

661 + (9.636 x weight in kg) + (175.2 x height in metres) - (4.7 x age) = BMR

So yeah, that's how it work for your BMR. Then you have your multipliers, which you add on to see how much calories you burn in a day doing what you usually do. They are:-

Sloth-like : 1.15 multiplier
No exercise but normal everyday activities : 1.2 multiplier
2-3 exercise sessions a week : 1.4 multiplier
4-5 exercise sessions a week : 1.6 multiplier
6-7 exercise sessions a week : 1.8 multiplier

So mine adds up as:-

67 + (13.728 x 67) + (508 x 1.67) - (6.9 x 22) = 1616.336 calories a day.

with multiplier

1616.336 x 1.6 = 2586.13 calories a day

Every 500 calories you cut from your diet amounts to 1 pound of weight lost per week more or less. So I suppose that's why I'm losing pretty decent weight now. Well, that's that.

Peace

Week #2

2008-11-16T17:07:00.007+08:00

Yeah, I'm back for another update. I forgot to mention that I'll only be updating my blog on Sundays; it's easier for me to look back and see if I've made any progress. Well then, on to the update.

Here's how I look now.

Well, I just woke up...

Not much progress this week I have to admit, seeing that I slacked off a little bit. But surprisingly, after keeping a closer watch on my food intake, I've managed to shave off about 2kgs. So now I'm 67kgs. I've got 2 more kilograms to go to hit my first target. It's tough watching my diet, especially since I'm an uber-foodie. If I botch up my nutrition, I'm gonna end up to bulky for my own good.

I've also switched my routine slightly. Why? Well, I hurt my hamstring earlier this week during my HIIT session and now I can't sprint as fast as I could and so for the next 3 weeks, no HIIT for me. Nonetheless, I decided to balance it up by doing three new routines; Squats, Lunges and Inverted Rows.

So here's the current program I'll be doing while my hamstring recovers.

Oh My Hamstring Hurts! Program

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

hundredpushups.com routine
4x15 ab workouts
25-30 chin-ups/pull-ups

Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays

1 1/2 hour brisk walk to the TTDI Park
3x7 Squats
3x12 Lunges
3x12 Inverted Rows

That's that for now. If anybody has any ideas on how many calories Malaysian food has, please do tell me. It's hard to just guess my way through. I'm supposed to be only taking in 2300 calories a day to lose about a 1kg or so a week so I'm gonna need more accurate ways of measuring.

I'll leave a few links at the end of this post for those who want to do more research on their own and come up with their own routines.

The Starting Strength Wiki - This is the introduction page for those about to start working out. Keep in mind that most programs online are more towards bulking up first and then cutting muscle bulk so read up before going head first into a program.

Nutrition & Supplement Guide - From the same Wiki but for counting your Basal Metabolic Rate and all that jazz.

Stronglifts 5x5 Beginner Program - Good for beginners and people of average fitness. Helped a lot with my core training. They have a few good articles on this site as well so have look.

These three links are pretty much it but if possible, do some googling or browsing at either Borders or Kinokuniya for further info. Men's Health has a book out called the Home Workout Bible, if you can find it, it's pretty good for all you home rrragers.

That's it. See you next week.

First post, but not first day of "The Plan"

2008-11-05T17:49:00.005+08:00

Greetings, Before I begin into what "The Plan" is, here's some info on where I stand now.

23 years old.
157 cm / 5' 5"
69 kgs / 152 lbs
A pack a day smoker and casual drinker.

Now that's out of the way, here's how I look like:-

Currently, here are the goals, I've set for myself.

December 2008 : Hit 65kgs and gain some muscle definition.
June 2009 : Hit 60kgs and shed of excess body fat.
December 2009 : Hit 55kgs and be a lean machine!

The plan began in September 2008 and all I did was building a fitness base meaning:-

3 sets of 15 pushups
10 chin ups (with anywhere from 1 minute to 5 minute breaks, I couldn't even do 1 in the beginning!)
3 sets of 15 ab crunches.
3 sets of 10 bicep curls.

This was done during Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. No cardio, nothing. Just plain ol' weight training. Dieting was simply a matter of just having 2 meals a day (I rarely wake up in time for breakfast.) I just made sure I ate simple and small meals, no junk food and no snacking in between meals. I drink about 2.5 litres of plain water a day.

Fast forward to October 2008, I began to change my workout plan as I wanted to concentrate on working my core muscles (Back, Chest, Abs, Thighs.) So I found this interesting site called The Hundred Pushups Challenge. It's not so much that I want to be able to do 100 pushups in one go with no rest but the mere fact that the system allows me to push myself better.

In October 2008, I managed to convince my friend Bryan to join me in my workout plan and we added a new step. That is:-

Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays: Brisk walk around our area for a grand total of 10km.

So yeah, why did I decide to walk and not run? Well, brisk walking is an aerobic exercise while running is anaerobic.

Aerobic : Your body gets the right amount of oxygen, triggering it to burn fat.
Anaerobic : Your body doesn't get the right amount of oxgen, your heart does get stronger but you don't really burn fat.

Well, that's my rough understanding of it anyways. So if you know better, please comment.

Anyways, now it's November, I'm starting to push harder and instead of brisk walking 3 times a week. I do HIIT or High Intensity Interval Training on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

So now, here's my current plan which I'll stick to with very minor changes till the end of December 2008.

Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays

Hundredpushups.com Plan.
5 sets of 15 reps various ab workouts.
5 sets of 5 chin ups. (The stronger I get, the more reps I'll do, for now, 5 is fine.)

Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays

High Intensity Interval Training. 5-10 intervals each session.

That's it for now, I'll be posting updates and results every week to see how my body is shaping up.

DISCLAIMER : While my workout plan may work for me, it is by no means perfect as I'm constantly reworking it to get the best possible results. It's nothing more than a way for me to keep in check so please don't blame me if it's not working for you. Everybody has different goals, body types, metabolism rates, etc etc and so, do your research and find one that suits you best.