The Biggest Loser Pinoy Edition (yeah I admitt I was a fan of this reality show)

The Biggest Loser Pinoy Edition is a reality show that centers on overweight contestants accomplishing the same goal of losing the highest percentage of weight to become the Biggest Loser.


The contestants came from across the country (Philippines) and faced temptations and challenges, weigh-ins and eliminations until one contestant remained to claim the title of "Philippines Biggest Loser."

The contestants had an amazing journey of transforming their bodies, health and ultimately, their lives and was aired over sixteen weeks in ABS-CBN. I was a fan of that reality show, even if I'm living and working here in Singapore, I tried my best to watch each episode in TFC (The Filipino Channel) or video streaming over the internet. 


Each contestant works out under the supervision and guidance of professional trainers Jim Saet and Chinggay Andrada. A nutritionist, Nadine Tengco and psychologist Randy Dellosa also monitored the progress in the camp.


The season starts with a weight-in to determine the contestants' starting weights, which serve as the baseline for determining the overall winner. 


The contestants are separated into two teams of six contestants, each wearing separate colored t-shirts. The trainers are responsible (in conjunction with medical personnel retained by the show) for designing comprehensive workout and nutrition plans and teaching them to the contestants. However, the contestants are individually responsible for implementing the principles taught.

During an episode, various challenges and temptations are featured. Those who win a particular challenge are given special privileges, such as a weight advantage for the next weigh-in or even full immunity from being voted off the show. Each week culminates in another weigh-in to determine which team has lost the most weight for that week, in percentage of total weight lost. The team that has lost the least percentage during that week (known as "falling below the yellow line", which refers to a line featured on a video screen showing the cutoff between safety and being at-risk) will have one member voted off (unless the team consists of only one remaining member, in which case there is no vote). The vote is usually made by the other teams, though some episodes feature one team making the decision alone. Some episodes feature a second, "red line"; if a contestant falls below the red line the contestant is automatically off the show with no vote. Other episodes allow for the contestants, if successfully meeting a goal at the weigh-in, to all receive immunity for the week.


When the number of contestants has shrunk to a predetermined smaller number (unknown to the contestants), the teams are dissolved and the contestants compete one-on-one against each other.

The camp in which the contestants stayed during the duration of their game is located at the previous Eagle Ridge Golf and Country Club in General Trias, Cavite. It was renovated for the production of the series. The gym of the camp is courtesy of Fitness First, while the emergency health rooms are courtesy of St. Luke's Medical Center.


Larry Martin was the grand winner of the Biggest Loser Pinoy Edition. Martin, a policeman from Camarines Sur, was declared the first grand winner of the Biggest Loser Philippine franchise. As the grand winner, Martin took home the grand prize which includes P1 million, a condo unit from DMCI Homes, a Vespa scooter, a lifetime membership at Fitness First, a 40” Sony Bravia Internet TV and Whirlpool appliances.


Going into the final weigh-in, Art Mendoza was the heavy favorite to win the Biggest Loser Pinoy Edition. However, Larry Martin had the best percentage weight loss among all the finalists. Art Mendoza ended up finishing first runner-up, taking home P500,000, a Vespa scooter, Whirlpool appliances and one year Fitness First membership. Finishing third was Raffy Tan while Angela Lupangco and Hazel Chua ended up fourth and fifth, respectively.




If you want to see the before / after pictures of the Fab Five Finalists please visit the blog of Randy Dellosa. 

MYTH: Sweat Suits, The Diet Pill and Fad Diets

2007 drastic weight loss (not recommended)

A lot of people have been asking me if it is possible to lose weight specifically 20 pounds in 2 weeks. Is that even possible?


Well I had done that before in 2007. 40 days to be exact. I also lost 48 pounds. But that was a drastic weight lose and I don't even recommend it. I ended up starving myself for 40days. I don't eat breakfast and dinner. I am only eating Skyflakes or Magic Flakes during lunch. So I'm just eating once a day and only three slices of crackers during lunch. Can you do that? I ended up losing a lot of weight that my skin sagged (specifically on my arms and stomach). Turns out that most of the weight that I lost are muscles that have been eaten away by my body due to starvation and that is not really healthy.

First of all, a healthy amount of weight loss is 2 - 3 lbs a week or 1 - 1.5 kg. Some health professionals such as my personal trainers at the gym lean more towards 1-2 lbs a week as a healthy amount of sustainable weight loss. So no, 10 lbs a week is not possible to do it in a healthy manner (unless you are going starve yourself like what I did last 2007). Sure you could do it, but it is all water weight. I remembered just this month I went on a 21 km run from Hougang to Buona Vista, I lost 3-4 kilos in less than two hours (see picture on the right). But I gained it all back as soon as I started eating and re-hydrating (drinking).

SWEAT SUITS


For decades, many people have used sweat suits, garbage bags ir saunas in order to lose weight quickly. I'm also using one as posted on my previous blog. You will lose weight in the form of sweat, which is water and electrolytes, but you will gain it back as soon as you eat again or drink water. This myth seems to have spread through sports like boxing where guys need to lose a few pounds in order to make a weight class. But sweating exessively has no useful purpose in healthy weight loss. The dangers of sweating to lose weight are severe - they may include heatstrike, extreme loss of electrolytes (kidney damage or death) and dehydration. 








THE DIET PILL


The only way to lose weight is to burn fat by reducing caloric intake, exercising more, or a combination of both moderate eating and exercise. There is no pill that can help you burn fat or increase your metabolism while sitting on the couch eating chips and drinking soda. Sure, there are pills than can reduce your appetite, but if you want a healthier version of a natural hunger suppressant, just drink more water.


In fact, your body needs water in order to burn fat. Sweat too much water out and your body will first have to make adjustments for its dehydration by retaining water and fat. 

FAD DIETS


Fad diets are popular because they promise rapid weight loss. However, fad diets or crash diets do not allow the body to burn fat calories as you would think, they actually produce a net loss of lean muscle mass, water and stored energy. Just like I mentioned on the second paragraph of this blog. As a result, most people on such diets become tired and have a hard time finding the energy they need to exercise.


You have to burn calories through cardiovascular activity such as walking, running, biking, swimming or even doing household chores. Lifting weights or doing calisthenics burns calories and spikes your metabolism to build lean muscle and stronger bones. You may not see a weight loss immediately, but you will see inches lost, because muscles takes up less space than fat and weigh more. But, the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn at rest. 

Sauna Suit ordered from ebay (Korea)

Every time I'm doing my workout at the gym, I always wear my sauna suit. You may have noticed that already on some of the pictures I posted (on previous blogs) that I am wearing a sauna suit while doing exercises at the gym. For those who does not have any idea what I'm taking about, a sauna suit is a garment made from waterproof fabric designed to make me sweat profusely. It may be called sometimes a "thermal jacket". Sauna suits today are typically made of PVC or coated nylon cloth. The construction is typically in the style of a waterproof sweat suit, consisting of a pullover jacket and drawstring pants. The closures at waist, neck, wrists and ankles are all elasticated to help retain body heat and moisture within the garment. Some sauna suits includes a hood (on the jacket part) to provide additional retention of body heat.

I got two of these Kingston sauna suits from ebay. The product is made in Korea. I commonly wear this during physical exercise at the gym as an aid to weight loss. I also wear this if I'm doing outdoor running during early morning and evening. This helps a lot as an aid to my weight loss. By wearing this suit, this can cause a rapid loss in my body weight by loss of water. Even though the gym is airconditioned, my body temperature is high and I would sweat profusely. 

Just a disclaimer though, please do not wear this when running outdoors under the direct sunlight. The body temperature is multiplied several times when you are directly under the sun doing outdoor running and can lead to the possibility of heat stroke and dehydration. I suggest wear this only during early morning jog when the sun is not yet up or during evening runs. Thus, a sauna suit should not be worn while doing extreme exercise or in hot conditions. 


Some people said that the use of a sauna suit accelerates weight loss in exervise by an increase in metabolic rate and calorie burning. Others disagree, and that the only significant effect is temporary water loss that can be immediately reversed by drinking water. 

Well, for me I had positive effects wearing a sauna suit. It provides me the encouragement to do physical exercise. The increase in my body heat from wearing a sauna suit gives me the impression of getting a good workout. 

If you want to order a sauna suit then just go to Wushushop-Hyem ebay store. They only accept Paypal as payment and uses Korea post. It takes 10-15 days delivery to all countries.

More pictures of the sauna suit from it's original packaging below. 

6 common exercise mistakes

This is an article that I have read from www.maxworkouts.com discussing the 6 common exercise mistakes.


Mistake #1: Doing isolated exercises


Doing isolated exercises like bicep curls and tricep kick-backs will not get you any significant results. These one-muscle-at-a-time moves simply don't stimulate enough muscle fibers to build lean muscle or expend enough energy to maximize your calorie burn.


If you want to build lean muscle while burning fat so you can get serious definition, you need to perform compound exercises that stimulate as many muscles and expend as much energy as possible at the same time. Using these types of exercises will dramatically accelerate your results.




Mistake #2: Working out with machines


Fancy machines may make the gym look high-end, but truthfully, about the only thing they're good for is for sitting down while you tie your shoes or catch your breath! The problem is this: Machines alter the way your body naturally moves and restrict your range of motion. This severely limits your ability to fully activate all of your muscles fibers -- that means less fat burning and less muscle definition. Worse yet, machines can cause excessive strain on your joints, leading to nagging injuries down the road.


If you want fast results, it's critical that you incorporate exercises that allow your body to move naturally with full range of motion so you can skyrocket your metabolism and tone your entire physique. 




Mistake #3: Doing long bouts of cardio


Look, you need to do cardio if you want to lose weight and burn fat...BUT there's a right way and a wrong way to do your cardio workouts. If you've been pounding the pavement or the treadmill with nothing to show for it (except sore joints and a pair of stinky worn out sneakers), you already know it takes a lot of effort to get minimal results.




Mistake #4: Doing crunches and sit-ups to get 6-pack abs


If you want washboard abs, doing traditional ab exercises like crunches and sit-ups WILL NOT get you a six pack. In fact, doing any exercises that target your abs won't get you a six pack either! These so-called "ab" exercises are a complete waste of time. They don't make your abs get any more defined and they definitely don't burn any fat.


The key to getting sculpted abs is to burn off that stubborn layer of belly fat that's hiding them! In the next few minutes, I'll show you how to burn away the "ab flab" while stimulating all 6 of your abdominal muscles at the same time so you can finally carve out your six pack abs.




Mistake #5: Repeating the same workout routines over and over


Repeating the same workouts over and over is a surefire way to STOP getting results. We're creatures of habit and we tend to stick to things we're familiar with and good at. But when it comes to your workouts, if you want to keep making progress and keep seeing changes in your body, you've got to start switching things up.


You see, your body has an amazingly ability to adapt quickly and when it does, that's when you hit the dreaded plateau and you stop making progress. You need to change up your workout routine so you can keep your body guessing to accelerate the results process.



Mistake #6: Doing long workouts


Longer workouts do NOT equal better or faster results. If you've been slaving away at the gym and your body isn't visibly changing, you can't do more of the same thing and expect a different result. When it comes to getting lean and fit, your body responds to quality over quantity.

The key attitude is the WILL to do it

I started at 108.65 kg in March 13, 2011 when I realized that I was a fat slob and being fat would make achievin my dreams harder. My most important goal is to be happy. 


In the following 8 months (as of this writing) I got down to 87 kg. I am still working on losing weight until 70 kg, which is my ideal weight. 


The key attitude is the will to do it. This enables you to do everything else, it is a very powerful instrument.


I became very disciplined when I imagined that now exactly this second was the most important time of my life, it literally was. I imagined my life in 20 years without losing weight - a fat single loser with social anxiety - and if I accepted the challenge I would be happy and enjoy life. 


I am not the same person as 8 months ago, my life turned 180 degrees. Other key behaviors where, of course, eating habits and my gym membership. 


I'm doing it slowly right now. I didn't jump into it all like many or most do. I took 1-2 months doing cardio exercises and the gym and slowly tweaked my diet over time. Towards end of the two months, I simply started outdoor running. Around the third month, I started doing free weight exercises and during the fifth month I got serious in the gym researching more variety of exercises. 


I guess what I am saying is that I believe lots of people that fail, fail because they try doing everything at once. When I talk to people and help then I have the, spend the first month logging their foods and work on eating better slowly. For example, stop late night snacking one week, then the following week no eating fast food. Slowly work on small things. Adopting new healthy habits or dropping unhealthy habits, in a common sense has played a big role in my transformation. 


Well, I guess not following your diet for a day or even a week does NOT mean you failed. Just pick yourself up, dust off and get back to healthy living. Also see the previous question what my game plan was.


We will all hit hurdles in life where it will be very difficult to follow through on diet and exercise. If someone feels the need to go out and eat a good fattening meal, it is ok to do now and then. 


As a matter of fact if you can be strict with your diet Mondays to Fridays. I have always had a cheat meal on Saturday and one on Sunday and sometimes binged pretty badly, but overall month after month I was losing weight. Of course if weight loss is stalling you need to work on taking out or reducing these cheat meals. 


So I guess don't give up just because you will blow up one day. See what you did, work on fixing it and move along. 

DETERMINATION: You can absolutely, 100% do it, as long as you really want it!

My change in lifestyle has affected my life in a variety of positive ways, many of which I did not event expect.

Throughout college and my life as a young professional, I found it difficult to stay on track and get my work done.


I was disorganized and unmotivated. As I began to take control of my diet and training, I began to feel more confident, and this translated directly to other areas of my life such as work and social life.


At one point in my college career, I felt as though graduating and getting my degree was unlikely. I had trouble focusing on school, because I was unhappy with my body and lacked self-confidence.


I know how you feel, because I've been there so many times before. I have felt unmotivated, discouraged, and defeated. You owe it to yourself to do the things that motivate you and make yourself feel great, and if one of those things is improve your body, then you need to know that you can absolutely, 100% do it, as long as you really want it.


Nobody is going to change your body or your life, except you, and the determination you have. There are no miracle diets, pills or supplements that are going to do it for you. 


It has to come from within, and when you do make the changes in lifestyle and training that lead to the body you want, you will have a great sense of accomplishment and achievement, knowing that you did so with nothing but your own determination and will.


I know you can do it!

COMMITMENT: CONSISTENCY, MOTIVATION, PATIENCE and KNOWLEDGE

click on the image for larger size

I have been working on transforming my body for the past 8 months. I can say despite me wanting to change my body over these 5 years, I was only 100% committed in my diet and training for the last 5 months.

In these past 5 months however, I have seen enormous changes in my body, due to adherence to only a few key principles. Commitment and devotion to training and diet are they key to the results that we all want.

I belive very much in the old cliche "you only get what you put in". This saying undoubtedly rings true in many different areas in life, but I feel that it really applies to bodybuilding / exercise and improving one's health and quality of life.

Some of the keys to my success have been:

CONSISTENCY (In training and diet)

I train 6 days a week, and never miss a session. As for my diet, I personally stick to a "targeted low carb diet", taking a a relatively low number of carbs 6 days per week, with the majority of my carbs being ingested directly before and after my workout.

As I began to maintain consistency, I saw the gradual changes in my body, and became almost addicted to the feeling of bettering myselft in the gym and seeing the results in the mirror.

MOTIVATION

It is completely natural to sometimes lack the drive and desire to get into the gym and maintain a healthy diet day after day, week after week.

I keep myself on track and motivated in a variety of ways; I keep a mental image of what I want my body to look like in my head, and think about how great I'm going to feel once I achieve this long term goal, and having my "dream body". This type of mental imaging and goal setting is powerful and motivating.

I look to others as motivation as well. I have an enormouse folder of inspirational images and qoutes on my computer, that I often find myself looking at before I head to the gym. Of course, I also view pictures of my crushes in facebook. Kidding aside.

I also make sure to keep my iPhone loaded with music that gets my blood flowing and gets me pumped up to have a great session in the gym or running outdoors.

KNOWLEDGE

Learning about different exercises, techniques, dieting principles, and nutritional information has been incredibly helpful to me in my pursuit of a body that I am happy with.

For years I didn't know about what to eat, when to eat, how much rest or recovery time my body needed, and what types of exercises would suit my goals best. I am learning new things about nutrition and exercise everyday, and with this new found knowledge, I'm able to maximize the time I put into the gym, and thus see results faster.

PATIENCE

It took me 8 months to achieve what I thought to be a short term goal of like 2-3 months. The reason it took me so long, is because I lacked the four very basic principles I have outlined here. I lacked consistency, in that I would commit myself to exercise for a few weeks, and then neglect my training for weeks or sometimes even months on end.

In addition, I knew little about nutrition, so much of the time I was putting in at the gym wasn't being used to its full potential anyway due to my lack of knowledge. I lacked the motivation to change my habits, my body, and my life, because I wasn't seeing immediate results.

Results in the gym don't happen overnight, they happen over weeks and months of consistent work and proper nutrition. That doesn't mean that it's going to take someone 1-2 years to achieve their goals, because in fact, I feel like if I could do it all over again, putting 100% in effort in consistency, keeping myself motivated, attaining relevant knowledge, and maintaining a little bit of patience, I'm extremlt confident I could have made the same transformation in well under one year.

People seldom improve when they have no other model but themselves to copy

 The past 8 months of my life has been amazing. I can't begin to tell you how much has changed and what has happened. I never thought that 8 months ago, I would be inspiring a lot of people. Life is amazing and I'm thankful everyday for this gift. I was given a second chance to change my life. The story of how I got to such a bad situation is as important as how I got to where I am today. 


It is a story that deals with depression, faith, overcoming, confidence, fear, hope, challenges, motivation and friendship.


Key bad habits I dropped? EVERYTHING I USED TO EAT!


I went from my high weight of 248 pounds down to my lowest at 187 pounds in less than 7 months.


The first 10 pounds were from healthy diet and jogging alone. Then I hit a plateau and that's when I started exercising really hard, both weight training and cardio, and lost the next 40 pounds.


I went from not exercising at all, to working out like a freaking mad man, pretty much 6-7 days a week. Varying muscle sets.


I'd really like to say the old cliche, "If I could do it, anyone can do it,"

To be totally honest, I'm not so sure if this is true. You see, I have this little thing which is typically looked as a psychological issue, or problem, called obsessive / compulsiveness. 


So many years ago, when I decided I was going to do build and modify computers, I just put a stupid amount of my time and energy into doing just that. And so I succeeded. Never mind that I blew off having a real career, or possible retirement someday. 


So anyway, I'm not sure if this is what you wanted to hear. I mean, how can you teach somebody to just throw out 90% of every important thing that normally runs through their minds, and replace it all with health and fitness?


Would you even want them to do that? One thing's for sure, if they did this, they would almost certainly end up reaching 99% of their genetic potential or more. 


Anyway, I guess there are a lot of worse things for a person to go off the deep end with, other than health and fitness. 

Stay tuned, I'm just getting started. If I could make this kind of change in 18 months, I can't wait to see where I'm at by my 28th birthday that is about 4 months from now as of this writing. 

I can only speak from my experience

I can only speak from my experience, I was an obese person, but for how long? I used to hate pictures of myself, I was really mad when i looked myself in the mirror.


I have been alone for years, no girlfriend and not going out because i was ashamed of myself. If you identify with these things, well, you need to change. 


The best feeling in the world is when people see you on the street and make this big amazing surprised face because you are looking younger, great and healthier. Another great feeling is to fit in normal size modern clothes.


Are you demotivated? Find the reason! Take a picture of yourself every month so you will see the changes and be motivated every time. Know that you are eating to keep your body healthy and fine. Just think in long term, your body will thank you for that.


When you reach your goal, you will feel powerful, invincible, that you can achieve whatever you want in life. Let me tell you that this feeling leaves you speechless and so happy every second of your life. It will worth the fight and the sacrifices, just keep doing it and results will come.

Some weight loss pointers

IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO START


No matter how much you are currently overweight, obese or out of shape you are, you can always start making changes and imporove your life. 


Forget about yesterday and focus all your energy into making smart choices for you
to live a healthier life. 




FOOD IS A VERY POWERFUL DRUG


You can use it to make yourself very sick or you can decide to use it to effectively fuel and energize your body. Try to research different foods and learn about the multitude of ways nutritious foods would impact your body in a positive way. Learning how and what you are eating is important




BE VERY CONSCIOUS


When you sit down to eat a meal, try to ask yourself if this food is helping you reach your goals or is it setting you back. A lot of people I know simply eat without thinking about what they are putting into their bodies. It's like shoveling the food into their faces. They consume foods unconsciously. Try to relax and truly enjoy every bite of the food you have prepared for yourself.




PRE-PLAN YOUR MEALS


This is very crucial. If you don't have a plan, it will be very difficult to choose the right foods to attain your ideal physique. Keep nutritious foods at your home and especially at work. Maybe have a bag of nuts at your desk so that you will have access to these quality foods when you are hungry. 

How long did it take me to start seeing the results?

Within about about 1 month of going to the gym, I started feeling very active and my srength levels go way up. My energy level was really high and I couldn't wait to get back in the gym to train. When I added cardio workouts and a clean diet to my overall fitness plan, the changes were incredible.


To this day, I am still halfway through my weight loss progress, I can still see changes in my physique over the course of at least a week or two when my nutritional plan is on. 

When I tighten up my diet and really focusing on the the foods I eat, the changes start showing up in a matter of days. Unfortunately, this can go the other way also. 


If I take a few days or weeks off and when I consume more calories, the mirror doesn't lie. I have always found it fascinating that with small changes on what I eat and my training at the gym, one can make noticeable changes in their physique. 

As of this writing, I am currently on my 7th month of strict training and diet to reach my ideal weight of 73 kilos. Currently my walking weight is between 87-90 kg. I lost already around 20 kg since I started going to the gym last March 13, 2011.

The most important changes I made and the most challenging about losing weight

From the three elements (clean food, weight training and cardio), my diet was probably the most important aspect which helped changed my physique. When I decided to be very disciplined with the foods I consume, the changes were incredible.

I have always been a person who loves to eat and with a huge appetite. During those days I was still working in a call center, I would indulge in everything from greasy fast food to very sweet desserts. I don't have control over what I am eating. 


The most challenging thing for me was adhering to a strict nutritional plan and cutting out most of my favorite foods. I then learned early on that these so called favorite foods were triggers and these would instantly affect my appetite. 


Let's say if I had a small piece of dessert or some fast food, it would trigger my hunger and it was almost impossible to back down from eating more. I focused on more nutritious foods to fuel my body.


Within about 3 to 4 weeks, my craving went down and my tastes started changing. My usual habits and routines started to change. I was focused to prepare healthy and nutrient dense foods all the time. 


Of course, I still get craving once in a while but I decided to choose healthier foods to eat. Choosing the healthier alternatives have cut down on my overall calories and still leave me feeling satisfied.

What made me decide to lose weight

I worked in a call center as an overweight adult. I was always tired and had very little energy to do anything. Four years of working in a call center on a night shift, I got older, sluggish and suffering lower back pains. I knew I had to make some changes

At the end of my call center career in the Philippines, I was weighing in at about 245 pounds. I was really big and was carrying around a significant amount of fat. I wanted to burn off excess pounds and focus on more of a lean athletic physique.

I decided to really focus on my diet. I went on a very strict nutritional regimen. I cut out all empty calories from my diet like fast food, sweets and soda. I really focused on only eating clean nutrient dense foods. 

From the first week that I started going to the gym at True Fitness, I focused primarily on my cardio workouts. I gradually increased the time from 30 to 45 minutes to 1 hour on my cardio workouts everyday to burn off excess fat. 

I also started weight training but with machines only during the first month. 



It really came down from all angles. Clean food to fuel my body, weight training to build muscle and cardio to burn fat.  

My first time to enter True Fitness VivoCity

outside view of True Fitness VivoCity @ 3rd Flr Sentosa Boardwalk

It was March 10, 2011, in the middle of strolling around IT Show at Suntec Convention Center Singapore my cellphone rang. I received a call from a person named Sheila saying that my friend referred me to get a complimentary two week VIP pass at the club.

I was thinking that this is going to be another sales talk as they are trying to meet the monthly quota of membership sign ups. Well, I have been jogging for the past month already except when the weather is bad. I'm also contemplating of going to the gym to see what would be the benefits aside from my usual routine of jogging. 

So I decided just to come to the club even though I know it will just be another sales talk and closing their sales for the membership. I promised to myself that I will not sign up since I have not yet received my first full month salary. I am on a tight budget until the end of March so there is no way I'm going to sign up. I had the appointment set with Sheila on a Sunday afternoon, March 13, 2011.

At around 5:30 PM on March 13, I went to True Fitness VivoCity to meet Sheila. She was also a Filipino working as a Fitness Consultant. So we did a little bit of chat about the Filipino culture and from what part of the Philippines we live in. 

I tried asking Sheila who referred me to this club but she would not disclose any information. But I'm sure one of my friends who got my number referred me to this club. 

She started by touring me inside the fitness center showing me all the equipments, the rooms for fitness classes and the locker / shower room. After showing me around she started doing some sales talk which of course is very common starting at 500 dollars membership fee and 180 dollars monthly fee. Well, of course I declined the offer saying that I don't have enough money to pay for that expensive membership fee. I am expecting a rebuttal from her which is not to include the membership fee but just to pay the first month. I still declined for a reason that I still don't have any money to pay for the first month and I would just like to try the 2 weeks VIP access. After a very long sales talk which lasted for thirty minutes, Sheila finally gave in and understood that I cannot pay for now so she gave me the 2 weeks free VIP access. 

And so after a long discussion with Sheila, I was then handed over to one of the personal trainers who took my weight, height, BMI (Body Mass Index) and BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate). I will just create a separate blog about BMI and BMR next time so that you will understand what I am talking about. 

The first thing that the personal trainer did was to get my height (176 cm) and weight (108.65 kg) then calculated my BMI (34.6) and BMR (2200 calories) and explained to me all those figures. To make the story short, my ideal weight would be at 73 kilos and it would take me 11 - 15 months to shed off my excess weight assuming that I will loose 0.5 to 1 kilo per week. The personal trainer also made some sales talk for personal training which would cost me 125 dollars per 1 hour session. That was way too expensive for me so I declined no matter how many times they offered a lower price. After all those sales talk from fitness consultant to personal trainer, I started my first gym session at True Fitness VivoCity last March 13, 2011.

March marks my second month in Singapore

pictures taken at IT Show 2011 (March 10-13) @ Suntec Convention Center, Singapore

This is my first time to witness an IT Show in Singapore. I had a great time checking out all the gadgets, electronics, computer stuffs and the booth babes. Too bad I still haven't received any salary since I just started work last February 21 so I only took some pictures and brochures.

Suntec Convention Center is really spacious and it took me almost four hours to check everything out from Level 3 to Level 6. My feet is aching from all the walking. I realized that being obese and overweight is a disadvantage when you are walking for more than 3 hours without even sitting down for a rest. 

Still, my only plan is to loose weight by merely jogging everyday until I received a call last March 11 while I was busy strolling at the IT show.  Sheila, a Fitness Consultant from True Fitness VivoCity called me up regarding 2 weeks free VIP pass which at first I hesitant to try but accepted the offer because it sounds like a good deal to me going to the gym for 2 weeks free.  Up until now I still don't have any idea who referred me to True Fitness. It might be my good friend Jan Copingco who happens to be a member of the club referred me since she got my handphone number. Details on how I enrolled in a fitness centre will be discussed on my next blog.

My first month in Singapore

I just signed a contract with my new company last February 11. My first day of work is dated February 21, 2011 and I still have a lot of time to stroll around Singapore with friends. 

These pix were taken at VivoCity and East Coast Park. I'm still obese and having a round shape body. 

New Year's Resolution for 2011

As I purchased my tickets to Singapore last August 2010, I promised to myself that I really have to loose weight by 2011. I was thinking positive that I will be getting a job abroad and luckily I did within the first 2 weeks of my stay. During that first two weeks I did some jogging with my fellow job seekers and Gherald, Jennifer Joy and their friend Kuja between 6-8pm everyday. We spend the rest of the day applying on online job portals and at the end of the day we tried to at least do some exercise by means of jogging. Sometimes we end up just walking around the city for one to two hours and going to some tourist spots. 

Here are some pix last during my first two weeks in Singapore (Jan 30 to Feb 15). Still fat and obese, what ever you want to describe. 

with Tin waiting for our flight in Singapore

 with Erna 

at City Square Mall

at MRT going to Orchard 

had a reunion with Joeboy at Somerset