Are Wii Fit?

It has been more than 5 months since I embarked on a 'quest' to rid myself of excess fat and try to bring my Body Mass Index (BMI) from Obese to Ideal. To date, my accomplishments are as listed below:-

• I have written two blogs since starting on this quest. This would be third blog
• I registered and started working out at gym at my work place.
• I had never eaten so much salad prior to the start of 'journey'.
• I went through a 'roller coaster' ride with my weight loss program.
• I received equal number of encouragement from friends and families as compared to the number of scorns in my effort to become healthy
• I realised that chronic stress can lead to obesity
• I also learn that it is better to start on new resolutions on May 1 instead of January 1 because stress is at its highest in the months of March and April.
• I am sure I learn and realise a whole lot of things but I am sure those are irrelevant and I choose not to write them in this blog.

In the first two month of joining the gym, I was working out at least 3 times a week but from the third month onwards, my shadow was never even within 50 meters from the gym. Motivation was overwhelmed by mental exhaustion. In other words, I always had excuses not to go to the gym.

Well, thanks to those innovative Japanese working at Nintendo, I have found the right combination of stimulation and excitement with a dash of 'kiasu'ness in Nintendo's Wii Fit and Wii Sports as I pursue health and fitness.

As silly as this might sound to non-believers of Wii, I have lost 1 kg (to be exact 900 grams) since getting the Nintendo Wii. The combination of of Wii Sports and Wii Fit is simply exhiliarating. However, I cannot give a proper evaluation of the product yet because the outcome can only be seen after a couple of months. I will be combining my gym workouts and swimming (starting soon) together with daily dose of Wii-ing in the morning and again in the evening. I am not sure how effective will the Wii be in actually reducing my weight but the gaming is surely revolutionary and would definitely spice up my quest to lower my BMI to ideal again. And it really does improve balance through its Yoga Exercises and Balance Games. I will update more on my quest with Wii Fit by my side (under my feet to be exact) when I get results worth sharing.

The world is in the palms of my hand ..

'Green' earth in the palm of my hands! Okay, okay, okay! I am not going to write about saving the earth and so on. Please look a few posts below and you will see that I wrote about my weight challenge about three weeks ago. The target was to lose 1 kg / week and by end of March I should reach 80 kg.

Well, three weeks have passed since and I have only lost 1 kg despite me going 'green' and working out at the gym. I still have five more weeks to go according to the challenge but it seems impossible for me to achieve the goal in a healthy manner. I have not given up yet but I have to be realistic and I should learn from my mistake - I should just keep my big mouth shut.

For those who believe in me, please be patient as I will eventually achieve the target weight. I know I can do it but it is going to take longer than I originally anticiapated. For those who snickered at the idea of me losing weight, you may have won the battle but I will win the war.

Quoting from the movie Ratatouille, 'Change is nature and it is the part that we can influence. It starts when we decide' I decided that it is time to change, be healthy and look good.

Florida, I shall one day return to you as I once was ...

Weight Challenge - Going lean means going green?

Picture taken from http://www.angry-associates.com/store/product_scales_celeb.html

In the news everyday, we hear the industry and government officials clamoring the need for everyone to go green in order to save the world - to provide a better future for our children. Even on a personal level, my family and friends are also calling for me to go green - eat more fruits and vegetables for the sake of my 'world' - my health!

For the first 17 years of my life, my maximum weight hovered between 50 - 56 kg. Too thin some people say, so I made a drastic measure by drinking a lot of milk and working out in a gym, and voilla! I have gained about 10 kg of muscles and nothing else. And no matter what I ate or drink at that time, my weight pretty much stayed between 65 kg and 68 kg. I was known as the 'food compacter' - two whole chicken in one eating session. No problem! Four BK Double Whopper with cheese - literally a piece of cake!! I can eat for hours at a buffet at KFC or at Chinese restaurants. All those food ever did to me was give gas and nothing more because by the next day, my tummy was flat again. I always wondered back then how could anyone be overweight.

Now and for the last six years or so, I can no longer do those amazing feat of gluttony that once embellished my reputation. I eat much less than before even though I do have my foot binges here and there (3/4 quater of a chicken can make me throw up already) but the outcome is humongous! My waist has grown from 30" to 42" and my BMI has gone from normal to obese in the last six years. My weight was getting dangerously close to the century mark. The remarks and comments I am getting from friends and families are hurtful and so was the effort of climbing stairs. Enough is enough!

I have decided to take up the 'green' challenge by eating more fruits and vegetable. But planting more trees or reducing deforestation, or in my case eating more fruits and vegetables will not be enough to slow down the increase in carbon dioxide or in my case increase in body fat. Mankind also needs to learn to reduce its dependencies on oil and coal for energy and so must I on oily and fatty food. However, the main thing I need to do is to stop the metaphors and get to the point - I need to increase my metabolism rate. Here are 7 Things To Do To Boost Your Metabolic Rate according to Korr Medical Technologies' website:

• Build Muscle Mass - I am doing that now as I have just recently joined the fitness center at my work place.


• Do Not Skip Meals or Drastically Reduce Your Caloric Intake - Err oops! Did I forget to eat breakfast again?


• Increase the Amount of Protein in your Diet - Yeah! I started eating lots of fish today.


• Aerobic Workout 3 Days a Week - No problem there!


• Increase Movement in Daily Lifestyle - I am heading in the right direction because I have started taking the train to work instead of hitching a ride from a colleague


• Go For an Evening Walk - Doing that when I walk home from the train station.


• Get Adequate Sleep - Hmm .. that means I have spent less time on blogging.

Anyway, I have just started this program on the 31st of January (first day at the gym) and I need to lose 9 kg until March 24, 2008 in order for me to get to the first milestone. if I make it, my secret Santas will hopefully reward me handsomely, otherwise, I need to find time to get three separate gifts for my secret Santas instead.

I don't need luck .. I just need the perseverance to complete what I just started. I will update my progress regularly through Gimme20 website. The snapshot of my accomplishment can be seen on the left side of this blog.