Progress Update: Poor results

People has been asking my progress, and thought to post the most recent pic that I have.


My most recent progress post was on Sept 2009 - that post, I've put some details of how the charts and all. This time around, I don't have it - been a while since I last go to do medical checkup, yup.. yup.. been lagging.. been way tooo busy at work.. these past few months (nov 2009 to feb 2010).. was the worst times ever.. sometimes I barely able to do 3 times a week trainings targets.. I know.. excuses. That translated into a very poor results!


Well here goes... for the first time ever, I'm posting myself here shirtless (yup, finally gotten approval from my internal home minister.. you bet.. the wife!).

click on the picture for a full bigger view.

As you can see, despite popular belief, I'm still struggling to get rid the some of the fats that are still accumulated. My hardest spot are below the armpit, and of course around the belly. The weight has not been consistent, week after week, I'm hovering around 74kg, and sometimes it goes up to 76kg range.. if it does, I bring it back down 74ish.. I've not been able to top the lowest weight I've done (which is 71.5kg back early 2009). My guess is.. the eating has not been consistent - I've been missing my regular meals quite a lot (loooong company meetingss.. that sometimes I missed taking my snacks and lunches!).. and I these days I do work waaayy too late at nite.. yup.. not enough snooozzzze time - that increases my cortisol level.. (the stress hormone - a signal to keep the fats!).

Excuses.. excuses... excuses!!

Anyway.. life goes on, and let's remind each other.. let's pick ourselves up, and let's go!


stay strong
Sher Khan.

It's my birthday!

Today is my birthday, I'm 37 this year.. damn, time really flies. Can't believe that I'm almost reaching the big 40!
Hmm.. that makes me wonder - it's been a while since I last went for a full medical check-up.
Famous quote said - "What you don't know can't hurt you!". But I'm in an opinion of "what you don't know CAN hurt you!". I don't feel comfortable not knowing some details. Not knowing my latest vital signs worries me... am I doing ok? what does my triglycerides level / blood pressure / etc right now? etc etc.. that numbers are the most important to me.. not really what shows on the scale (although you can somehow correlate what's on the scale to the status of your vital numbers).

Anyway, enough of that worries. It's my birthday!! let me at least enjoy the rest of my birth day anniversary. Whatever the number say, what I feel right now is what matters. Quite frankly, I feel I'm at the most fittest days of my life!
A year ago, I can't even do 5 chin-ups. Now I can do 15 easily. Back then I can only do deadlift max at 40kg, now 40kg is just my warm-up stage!

Oh oh... I got some new exercise routines that I've gotten myself into.. damn, I thought I've tried it all.. but this one.. leave me aching all over!! watch out for my update on this bit...

stay strong
Sher Khan.

Go in, do it, done

Whenever I am at the gym working out, I noticed at least 60-70% of the crowd is just there for the sake of being there. Perhaps their spouse/parents/boyfriend/girlfriend/peers/colleagues are presurring them to shape-up, or they just come for fun. Why I'm saying that is because I saw them just walking about checking machines, try-test a few of them, watching the TV longer than any routines they're supposed to do, or even entertaining the cellphone at every other minutes, not to mention fiddling with the ipods/mp3 players at every change of the song... and oh..even worst, treating the juice-bar as the cafe to come for socialising.

To me, if you're at the gym - please make full use of the time there, and do what you supposed to do!! you're already there (you know to get to they gym is an effort by itself, you've to gear-up, drive down, look for parking, etc etc - that alone is at least 15-30mins waste of time). Then when you're there, please FOCUS - spend the next an hour or so doing what you're supposed to do.. EXERCISE your body!!!

just a pic of me at a futsal game.. not my cup-of-tea, but the exercise is what's important.

I've this rule whenever I'm on training/exercising, and that is also relevant if I were to visit any of the local gym (I don't have any gym membership, just per entry basis - I've elaborated why in my earlier post).
My rule is - no cellphone, no mp3 players, no TV, sometimes I purposely avoid any conversation (limit myself to just hi/bye). The only gadget that I've on me is probably the watch (to keep my time, and that's not even a HRM watch).

My reason is simple - that's the only time during the day that I'm spending the time to train my body (and enjoy the benefits of it), and I want to make full-use of the time to do just that. Go in, do it, and out. Typically about 45mins or so - though there are days that I've spent close to 2 hours on a single session (these are the times when I want to test few new routines, or just to challenge my body to a more extreme condition).

Once I'm done with it - I can spend all the time I want with the cellphones, mp3 players, or even socializing.

But that's just me.

If you've the time, check out Men's Health the 100 Best Fitness Tips.

stay strong.
Sher Khan.

Get your own domain free for life! - www.EmbunWeb.com

The most common food that is killing you...

hey all,
I've just read the most comprehensive info on sugar ever.. go to Dr. Mercola site.

It just proof one thing.. SUGAR IS BAD FOR YOU!... especially Fructose.. in the form of High-Fructose-Corn-Syrup (HFCS). I've mentioned it over and over again here on this blog.

...Be sure to eat your sugar with fiber ... as in a piece of fruit. As Dr. Lustig says, “When God made the poison, he packaged it with the antidote: fiber.”

If you're wondering why your middle section has not improve (despite all of those exercises you've been doing). Please do look at your diet... please drop the sodas/carbonated drinks.. it's a poison.

In my case, I've mentioned this before, carbonated drink has been my staple drinks before. I'd have bottles/cans of them at home, if I'm down to 1 can/bottle, I'll sure make a trip to the grocery store to stock-up. At office, it's free flow at the pantry! (sponsored by the company).
Now? since I've started my journey, I'm swearing to you that I've not had even a single sip ever since. If you don't want to believe, it's up to you. To me, HFCS is a poison. Why would I want to kill myself?

All of the scientific evidence has been shown on the above links.

It's your choice. I've made mine.


stay strong.
Sher Khan.

Never give up..!

There are times when I feel lousy.. no mood... no strength to face some of the adversity..

I keep myself fire-up by watching this video that I've posted back then.

It's not how your start; it's how you finish. 

90% of all those who fail

are not actually defeated..

they simply quit.

-famous quote

Stay strong,
Sher Khan.

Make your own 'Biggest Loser' by being *accountable* to yourself..

Watched a re-run of the most recent episode of The Biggest Loser Asia last night on Hallmark channel. Last nite show, Garry, the only caucasian, being kicked out.

It is interesting to watch fellow comrades (well, I used to be like them.. more like Tony I think) trying to lose the fat back then.. so trust me.. I can really take to heart what's running in their head!.. been there.. done that.

Infact worst.. I was without a trainer.. without anyone guiding/push you or motivate you.. in the show they're together supporting each other and always have the trainer to kick your posterior. Me? I was all alone (at least in the beginning)... How people make fun of the goal that I've back then. Every time I'm at the dinner table (or lunch, or breakfast), I have always have to face other people (even family) comments... some are good, but most of the times... not nice... but that doesn't stop me. Infact, I like it... the more 'the-not-so-nice' comments fired me - the more I'm determined to proof them wrong!

One thing if you've noticed - in my early days of the journey, I broadcasted my intention to friends and family.. I emailed my progress to my colleagues at work, friends, and family members. See my previous post on that.

Do you know why?

I want to make myself accountable. I learnt it somewhere (forgot where hv I picked up) - they termed it as the 'Declaration of Excellence' or DOE for short. In DOE, you have to list your goals, and you need to have your detail plans - and you need to tell people of your goal. Broadcast it to your circle of friends and family.

With DOE - I am accountable with my own actions. If I'm slipping - hopefully the people would remind me. People at the dinner table did exactly that - they know my intention, and they gave me the much needed feedback. I've to respond to it - and later, I did more, by sharing my progress report to them. The more they see you're 'for real', those negative comments slowly converting to a more positive and encouraging ones. See the old post.

When people started to forward my emails to their friends, a lot more queries came in, and I've had more than a handful to respond to them, and no time as well.. that at the end, I decided to have this blog. Rambling all I can.. sharing some knowledge, as well as sharing my progress, or what I'm up to.

I tell you.. with DOE, and people around me supporting you.. gives you the strength.. the motivation to push yourself even more... better than the participant of the Biggest Loser (you've your friends and family - much more than bunch of strangers).... and definitely... it's much much much much better than sitting on the couch.. watching The Biggest Loser...


Ask yourself.. WHAT DO YOU WANT???

btw, an old buddy of mine took this pic recently, and he matched it with our old pic.. cool :)

the 2001 pic - I'm still single.

the 2009 pic - got 3 kids! how time flies.

now 2010!!!!


Stay healthy always..
Sher Khan.

Welcome 2010!... Top Post 2009..

Hey ya all,

What's your new year resolution? ... I sounded like a broken record.. ;)

If you've 'losing the weight' in your list, I seriously recommend you to be more specific. Something like, "I would like to lose 10kg in 3 months". Put that in writing, post it on the mirror at home (to remind you), and start working towards it.

Can do? YES YOU CAN!!!


Here's my the Top 10 most popular posting in 2009:

		longliveandprosper.blogspot.com/2009/02/food-pyramid.html
		longliveandprosper.blogspot.com/2009/03/2-evil-foods-pls-avoid-them.html
		longliveandprosper.blogspot.com/2009/09/gynostemma-another-superfood-not-to-be.html
		longliveandprosper.blogspot.com/2009/07/durian-good-or-bad.html
		longliveandprosper.blogspot.com/2009/09/shers-6-pack-quest-video.html
		longliveandprosper.blogspot.com/2009/08/my-grocery-list.html
		longliveandprosper.blogspot.com/2009/12/lets-go-out-and-play.html
		longliveandprosper.blogspot.com/2009/03/skip-fat-youll-lose-fat.html
		longliveandprosper.blogspot.com/2009/05/santan-is-bad-for-you-bs.html

longliveandprosper.blogspot.com/2009/01/gym-is-must.html

Happy New Year.

Stay strong.
Sher Khan.

Let's go out and play!

Yesterday, I was not able to go out and do my normal Saturday trainings.. the weather was gloomy and raining.. my mood also bit gloomy.

Today? It is extremely bright out-there and just waiting for me to go out and play!!

Let's go folks. Stop reading this blog, and let's move our butts.

The post wouldn't be complete without Rocky's training montage...!


If you've the soul and perseverance, you can achieve anything in life!

Stay strong!
Sher Khan.

Two foods that you should NEVER ever EAT!

I've said it many times, and I would like to say it again here.. If you think why your bad cholesterol (LDL) never ever improved, and you're having a hard-time trying to reduce your fat.. please look at the content of the food you're taking... if it contains any of these 2 substances.. that's the culprit.


I bet you if you can avoid these in your dietary intake, YOU SHALL IMPROVE YOUR LDL CHOLESTEROL AND LOSING THE FAT!!  GUARANTEED! (even if you're not exercising..). I'm saying these based on my personal experience.

Check out my previous post on the Two Evil Foods that you should avoid.

Get it?


Here's more of my previous post that is relevant;

Santan is bad for you?? *bs*

skip the fat, you'll lose the fat

Supplements...

Counting Calories..

The Food Pyramid

Happy holidays...

stay strong..

Sher Khan.

Diabetic + Obesity = Diabesity !!

Recently, I had a pleasure reading and view an excellent new blog post from my defacto nutrition guru, Dr Mark Hyman. Doc Hyman is no stranger to me (I've started my new lifestyle after I read his bestseller Ultrametabolism book back in 2007 - see my earlier post on this).. and the book is still relevant till today, and followed by his ever popular blog posts).

In his recent blog post, he basically re-affirms the message that he has always preached, but slightly in a new twist and updated facts.

He talked about how people with diabetes type 2 can reverse the disease. How about that?!!!
He went into detail talking about the new buzz-word - Diabesity, the term that was originally coined by Shape Up America, Former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop Foundation. How our modern 'convenient' lifestyles created this epidemic, and worst, our modern medicine practice just way off track in treating the symptoms.

Wonder what it is all about? Put your speaker on, and view his video.



Here's Part 2 of the above video. Doc elaborated the facts that diabetic is neither hereditary nor genetic disorder, it is a direct outcome of dietary and lifestyle factors turning on all the wrong genes that we've complete control over. Excellent stuff.

If you've not read his UltraMetabolism book, I highly recommended it. It teaches you to know your body better, and how food interacts with you genes - so you know what to put into your body. Use food as the medicine to heal your body (see my earlier post on that).
You can easily find the book in local bookstores - MPH, Kinokuniya, Borders - I've seen them myself... don't walk, run to get it (and burn more calories ;)



to your good health,
Sher Khan.