Fitness & Nutrition: How important nutrition is

I took a long time to prepare this post because I have been contemplating posting this as it'll be a societal shock to our modern lifestyle and diet, and to many of you out there. The other reason for the delay was to carefully put all the technical terms into a simpler version so it'll be easier for everyone to understand.

Do bear with me on this post as I'll be stressing a lot on the most challenging part of your fitness journey AGAIN. I need to keep emphasising on the fact that nutrition should be the root and the foundation to your journey to perfecting health and fitness, well, not just that, but going slightly ahead, especially if you are a competitive athlete or sportsperson.

There is an apparent reason, to me, why the sports industry is not blooming and moving forward in Singapore. Yes, as you can guess right now, the reason is NUTRITION.

As you can see from the triangle above, this is the Crossfit Dietary Prescription (CDP). I guess some of you may have seen this, may have understood this, and some of you may think this is irrelevant because you don't crossfit. But hey, take a minute (or few) to read what I have to say because if you are disciplined enough to give it a try and spread the good news, maybe the sports industry, and even the SAF (Singapore Armed Force) in Singapore will see the enlightenment and improve the current sports and fitness education.

Today, I'll be attempting to simplify this prescription so this can apply to everyone and instill into your lifestyle.

Ever heard of 'You are what you eat!'? This is the summary of CDP. Your nutrition is the foundation and will break or make you in your fitness journey. A good and well-balanced diet will ensure increment in health, energy and sense of well-being; it is also the deciding factor  of whether your body is reducing fats, building quality muscles and optimising performance in and out of the gym.

Sport - performance

Strength training (aka weight-lifting) - control of external weight

Gymnastics - control of our body in space

Metabolic conditioning - cardio/respiratory

Nutrition - solid molecular foundation

I do not even have to elaborate and tell you more about the other 4 factors if you don't know how to keep your nutrition in check. SO here goes:

Macronutrients - what I have been referring to as macros, are your protein, carbohydrates and fats. Micronutrients, as you may guess, are then vitamins and minerals. Carbohydrates affects the production of hormone insulin, that derives energy from your bloodstream in your cells to be used as fuel. Though it is an essential in the body, too much of carbohydrates in your body will result in diabetes type II, coronary heart disease, depression, obesity, etc. Protein, goes the same way as carbs, will result in fat storage if consumed in excess, however if in deficiency, will break down muscles to make up for the necessary protein requirement. Fats are then your optimal energy source and it contains almost twice the amount of carbs and protein. Of course I'm referring to good fats such as nuts, seeds, fish and avocado.

So where am I deriving at exactly? 

I'm trying to encourage and promote a diet that is a combination of 2 individual popular diets and one that you can keep and instill into a lifestyle, that will ultimately increase your performance in your sport, in the army, or even, in your pursuit of health and fitness for life.

Diet 1: Paleo Diet

Paleolithic diet is all about meat, seeds, nuts, vegetables, very minimal starch and NO sugar. YES, you read me right, NO SUGAR! Alot of crossfit athletes don't consume sugar AT ALL, which means they even avoid fruits that are high in sugar. It's really up to you though, I personally feel that as long as you don't go overboard with the grapes, bananas, mangoes and cherries, a little won't kill but hey, #YOLO! You know what your body needs and wants.

Diet 2: Zone Diet

The Zone diet emphasises on both the quality and quantity of your macros - calorie counting, which everyone irks. 

To optimise performance, you will need a mixture of both diets (sounds complicated and difficult uh?).

Bottomline - your diet should consist of more lean meats, vegetables, seeds, nuts, some fruits, little starch and NO SUGAR. Also, you need to keep the intake of your macros to support your workout, not your body fat. WHICH MEANS, you don't eat less because you want to lose weight, you cut on what you eat for a purpose to maximise your performance in the gym, sport or even in the armed forces. The CDP recommends 30% of your diet to consist of lean protein, 40% low-glycemic carbs (low GI foods) and 30% of good/monosaturated fats.

So then, how do you know much much to eat for each meal? Remember I mentioned before, that your different body type will determine how you should be eating? There you go..

The CDP has defined that:

1 block of protein = 7 grams of protein (cooked)

1 block of carbs = 9 grams of carbs

1 block of fats = 1.5 grams of fats

Now look at the table below and you will be able to find out how many blocks are recommended for you on the different meals. 

Give it a try if you are game for it, and have the plans to optimize your performance in the gym, as a professional athlete or sportsperson. I hope I managed to deliver my message well. Do come back to me if you have burning questions about CDP. Start cutting out SUAGRS from your diet everyone!

To those who have emailed me and waiting for my reply, kindly be patient with me, I'll definitely get back to you ASAP! Keep those emails coming in! (=

One of the nights while I was marinating my food for easy cooking - used cajun & ginger ground

Yay, finally got a photo taken with Zheng ge ping!

Saturdays with LOVE

Have a great week ahead everyone! I'll be back with the recipe I promised to share! (=

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Health and Fitness - The harsh reality hits you

Whether you like to hear/see this or not, I know there are many people (both male and female) who are still living in denial, thinking that they are satisfied with their bodies, they make do with what they have or blame it on genetics. Somehow they envy people who works out, somehow they believe that no matter how ugly, how flabby they become, somebody will still love them (duh, of course!), somehow somewhere out there deep buried in their minds, there is a portrait of a dream body. The problem is, where is the determination, where is the dedication and where is the discipline? They're all in self-delusions. Well, I don't know about you, but I have a dream physique in mind and I'll not give up till I get there, no matter how long it takes, whether family-planning comes into the picture or not.

Yesterday, I went for a body analysis at my gym and since the last I did mine, right after we came back from our honeymoon (June 2013), my bodyfat percentage has dropped by 2%, my weight remained unchanged, muscle mass has increased (not sure where the last body analysis slip was). Well, you may think 18.2% isn't very low but this had shown me how much my hard work is paying off and I'll continue to work hard (even though BMR is still slightly on the lower side though).

As mentioned in my last post, I would like to share briefly about bodyfat percentage and here are some images you can refer to if you do not have access to get your body analysis checked.

For men:

For women:

So, what do you think your bodyfat percentage range is? which one can best describe your physique right now? And which is your ideal physique? 

Remember I said weight is not a good indication of your fitness level and how toned you are? By having more lean muscles in your body, your weight may maintain or even increase because muscles are denser than fats and therefore weigh heavier than fats. The images above are also just rough guides, different body types may produce different results on bodyfat percentage too.

Why do I say muscles weigh heavier then?

The same weight of fats and muscles look very different because muscles are very dense and compact as compared to fats. Would you then, rather have 5lbs of fats or 5lbs of muscles?

Some examples that I found (credits to photo-owners):

This lady has obviously worked out, looking at the slightly rounder shoulders, flatter and more defined abs and you can spot that her butt is perkier and legs slimmer, but she actually weighs heavier than before. Oh, and her posture had also improved (back to that in future posts).

This guy, similarly, has worked out (HARD) and achieved good lean muscles, yet still weigh the same.

So guys, stop obsessing over that little weight gain here and there if you are working out fine. Instead, the mirror is the best judge and of course if you can and want to, get a proper body analysis done.

I will be attempting to perfect my oat tomorrow morning and will post a proper recipe after that. HAHA. Please bear with me while I attempt the best recipes I can to share with all of you. 

What I had been up to during the week so far.

Went for a last tan before I start work next week! On that faithful bloated day..

Thinking that watching this in broad daylight will be less scary, but no, I did not finish the movie. HUR

My beyond-presentable oatmeal

My beloved company for the past 2 days <3

TGIF everyone! Have a great and restful weekend filled with love, health and fitness! Till the next.

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Health and Nutrition - Taco beef with peppers & asparagus

Well, before I start sharing my recipe, please do take note that I CANNOT cook for a living. HAHA. I cook only because I want to be able to know how much of all the ingredients I put into my body. If you have a better suggestion on how I should cook this, PLEASE do let me know because I'm not sure if this is the best way to cook, but I know I took less than 15 minutes to prepare this quickie. So, enjoy!

What you will need:
- LITTLE bit of olive oil (I estimate. heh)
- 30g of asparagus
- 3 pieces of mini peppers
-100g of lean minced beef
- 1 tablespoon of hot taco sauce
- Garlic salt (can do without)
- All purpose seasoning (can do without)

Got everything from Cold Storage - Asparagus, lean minced beef, sweet mini peppers, Hot Taco sauce (because I was craving mexican), garlic salt and all purpose seasoning

So how did I get all the portions as mentioned above?
1. I portioned the beef into 3 segments since the net weight is 312g and expiring 23rd Aug 2013, so I have about 100g of lean minced beef per day for cooking. Then I portioned the sweet mini peppers into 3 days too. As for the asparagus, I divided what I bought into 6 portions of approx. 30g each. Okay, the reason why I have to do all these portioning is to know how much I eat (everything in moderation, no matter how beneficial something is), and it's much easier for me to key into my calorie counter app (My Fitness Pal). This is how it looks like.

2. Next, cut/chop (whatever you call it) the ingredients to as small or as big as you want, making sure you wash them before you starting the cutting/chopping. For those who know me well enough, I HATED eating veg and ermmm, I still am very picky about the types of veg I eat but I usually force them down and have the least favourite food first before the meat. But wait, I love peppers and asparagus now because of their benefits (will go to that later).

3. Heat up a frying pan till it's hot enough. Now, pour about a tablespoon of olive oil into a frying pan and spread the oil. Once the oil is hot, put in the minced beef and fry till about half-cooked. Put in your favourite seasoning (doesn't have to be taco) and then the peppers. The reason why I put in the peppers earlier is because I like to eat the peppers softer and I want my beef to absorb the fragrance from the peppers. Fry until the beef is fully cooked or when the peppers are soft.

4. Last step, take out the cooked beef and peppers and serve them on a plate, then put the asparagus in and fry till brown (you can choose to take them out earlier) or when they are soft.

TADAH! Easy peasy right? I used less than 15 minutes to prepare this fuss-free meal and gobbled everything up in 5 minutes. Tastes yummy and looks so colourful! Go ahead and try on your own, get your favourite seasoning, or do without.

Let me share with you why I chose peppers and asparagus (besides the fact that I am picky with veg so I chose only the ones I like).
Asparagus:

• is a very good source of fiber, folate, vitamins A, C, E and K, as well as chromium (a trace mineral that enhances the ability of insulin to transport glucose from the bloodstream into cells)
• prevents cancer - a particularly rich source of glutathione, a detoxifying compound that helps break down carcinogens and other harmful compounds like free radicals
• is filled with antioxidants!
• helps in water retention - contains high levels of the amino acid asparagine, which serves as a natural diuretic, and increased urination not only releases fluid but helps rid the body of excess salts
• is an anti-aging property!!

Sweet mini peppers:

• is high in vitamin A, B-complex and C
• is filled with iron, copper, zinc, potassium, manganese, magnesium, and selenium. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme, superoxide dismutase. Selenium is an anti-oxidant micro-mineral that acts as a co-factor for enzyme, superoxide dismutase

Here's also what I have been up to in pictures, just in case you have not been following me on IG. Follow me on twitter and IG if you have not, @limaranagustina, I update regularly! :)

MIL cooked yummy and healthy food, loads to learn from! A portion of everything good, not too much, not too little. :)

I put chia seeds in my water to drink everyday and I try to drink at least 2 bottles of this 1.5litres (SO difficult I swear, keep hydrating your body because the more you drink, the more you drain!)

One of my morning feeds

Bendover row on Tuesday - new PR yippeee!

One of my evening (fasting hours) feeds

This morning's smoothie which tasted SOOOOO heavenly

Week 1 - abs are flatter but still gathering fats, keep getting at it!!

Today - still trying to get this 145lbs deadlift right and good, with an aggravated ankle (URGH!)

TGIF tomorrow so enjoy the weekend after! I hope you like my recipe and do follow me on IG if you haven't, for LIVE updates (if you are not afraid of the spamming). HURHUR. Hydrate and eat well everyone! :)

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Health and Fitness - The greatest fear

I have been very busy running around this week, which is good especially now that I'm unemployed, the least I can do is to keep my days busy and productive.

Confession: After about 2 years of training, the greatest fear of stagnation finally occurred to me, which is very very bad. I cleaned out my diet so much, worked out as hard or even harder now, but there's still something wrong somewhere that caused me to retain that amount of fats. SO, I'm going to be a real testimony of IF (Intermittent Fasting or you can also call it Intermittent Feeding), together with Edric and Jen (@thefitbean), I'm going to track my progress for 10 weeks, however I'll be doing IF for the rest of my life after the 10 weeks, still keeping my feeding during the 8 hours as clean-paleolithic as possible. I hope to achieve this before the baby comes into the picture (Hurhur, I know Jason is waiting for that to happen soooon). I will try to take photos of what I eat during the feeding hours and what kind of liquid diet I take during the fasting hours and I hope to be able to see improvement!

I get a lot of emails (Thank you for the emails, keep them coming!) asking questions regarding the type of diet and workout since I started writing and I must emphasise that whatever I suggest may not be the best way to attain your fitness goals. You need to read up and play around with what you think may work for you. It takes years of experience, sometimes, to even try to find out what body type you are, genuinely understanding your body and how it reacts to different diet and workout. The bottomline is, don't give up! If you fail (which I do and my gym buddies too), pick yourself up, learnt what works for you and what doesn't, and start all over again. If you feel the need to correct your form and need to start with light weights, accept it and start over again because you know that you will definitely be stronger and wiser than the first round. One diet may work for me but may not work for you, and you need to recognise what your body needs as a basic, and then work your diet into your lifestyle around the basics that your body needs. Your body is unique, as your character and personality are.

I hope everyone gets what I'm trying to say :/ I'm still learning too so please don't quote me. I'm still exploring what works best for me and it's going to be a lifelong journey! Buck up and don't give up!

I'd love to share this video that Jason got me watching, about Steve Cook explaining how to plan and grocery-shop and what he does when he's preparing to get lean for a show. Enjoy and learn as much as you can! Simply click on the title if you need to enlarge.

Backtrack to what happened last Sunday afternoon, we attended Houston's 1st Birthday party and here are some of the photos I got. He's such a love!!

Have a good rest everyone and I'll be back soon to cover more on the IF I'll be going through. All the best to me! It's FRIDAY tomorrow!

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Meal-planning is crucial

Before I go into the purpose of my first official post, let me share with you what had happened over the last weekend all the way in America: The CrossFit Games 2013!

For those who do not know, The CrossFit Games started in 2007 with the intentions to reveal the "Fittest man and woman on earth". It started with a small group of around 70 athletes and in 2012, more than 69,000 CrossFitters had competed. These athletes are tested comprehensively on endurance, physical and mental strength and the Games differ from year to year, each time made unknown until right before each event. This year, we congratulate Rich Froning and Samantha Briggs, who emerged as the "Fittest man and woman on Earth"!

Photo credits to Rogue Fitness

I have inculcated CrossFit training into my training routines since 2012 and I will be covering some of the workouts that I do here too. Now, is where my story begins and do bear with me while I story-tell. Hurhur. I promise I'll be sharing on how you can plan your meals and diet at the end of the post.

So, what made me kickstart this fitness journey? How has this lifelong journey towards health and fitness been for me? How is my diet like typically?
As mentioned previously in my first post, my husband, Jason was the one who inspired me to start working out seriously. That was back in 2008-2009, I had been very active in sports since my school days but that was all. I had, in mind, a dream body but without any fitness goals and equipped with very pathetic basic knowledge of sports. I was only involved in Netball trainings in school and naively thought that was sufficient. I was snacking so much I could finish a bag of chips (or maybe even 2) in a few hours. My favourite snacks were chips of any sort, chocolates, sweets and I hated fruits, vegetables and nuts. I had no problem maintaining my already slim physique but I was obviously expanding at the hips, butt and the infamous tummy area. When I felt fat, I'd starve myself and will feel skinny (bad skinny fat) all over again. So I was "working out" once a week and eating 1-2 meals a day, excluding snacks.

Well, it was in 2009 (if I'm not wrong) that I started to pick up working out, bit by bit. I don't exactly remember the details but working out was not a priority then. I'd rush through my workouts, skipping them when I had something "better" to do. To me, being in the gym would already make me fit (HAHA!). It went on for almost 2.5 years, with no proper nutrition, supplement nor diet, I was still snacking on my favourite snacks and having cheat meals every other MEAL. My enthusiasm never lasted more than 3 months, on and off. I was doing legs most of the week, though I saw a lot of improvement and my hips went down by a size (I had always been a bottom-heavy), I had a tiny upper-body frame and my shoulders were "smaller than three of my head put together", as quoted by Jason. In other words, my body didn't look proportionate. I was never fat, not even plump before, but that was not my dream body, which comes with a good and well-balanced diet suited to my fitness goals, good supplements for workout and overall health, and good training routines.

It was only in late 2011 when I was taking my training more seriously because of my upcoming wedding. I was doing working out more, with the guidance of Jason and his gym buddies. This was when I started finding out more about working out, proper supplements, diets and most importantly, how to keep myself healthy. I still snack occasionally, but I had already cut out fast food then. In July 2012, signed myself up with California Fitness since that was the nearest gym to my office then. I vowed to make full use of the gym since I had spent money on the membership and increased my training frequency. Diet was still an issue to maintain. It was only since April this year that I entirely cut myself out from unnecessary processed food (my favourite snack from Daiso was the only major distraction), I educated myself by reading up more about diet and watch workout videos and attempt new workouts every now and then.

Like many of you ladies ESP, I faced the problem of bad snacking habits. I never minded working doubly or triply hard in the gym but I could not resist snacking, it was a huge challenge. NOW, I can proudly say that the only snacks I eat are fruits and nuts. I never step into any fast food restaurants, I try to go for whole food when I can and I try to keep my diet as "Paleolithic" as possible following the first meal of the day. I had to adjust my diet drastically since one of my fitness goals is to get rid of my lower tummy fat. As the saying (absolutely true) goes, "abs are made in the kitchen, not the gym".

Planning of your meals

Photo credits to Bodybuilding.com

This is a very good way to plan your meals - you don't have to go into precise calorie-counting to get to this. All you need to do is to estimate according to the portion. Your diet must be very customized to your body type as well as your fitness goals. This is especially useful fo me when I go for meals with my friends and/or colleagues.

So typically, I eat 6-7 meals a day and here goes:
Meal 1 (6am or 8am): 1 scoop whey protein
Meal 2 (9.30am): 2 eggs, peanut butter toast & tea
Meal 3 (12.30pm): 1 serving of chicken breast or fish or beef with veg
Meal 4 (4pm): a handful of nuts with/without fruits
Meal 5 (7.30pm): 1 serving of chicken breast or fish with half serving of veg
Meal 6 (11pm): 1 scoop whey protein
On workout days, I take an extra scoop of whey protein after workout. And on days when I train in the mornings, I'll squeeze in an extra meal (small one) between meals 2 and 3, 1 poptart or a handful of nuts or fruits.





Some simple tips to take note if you are trying to burn fats:
- Plan your meals in advance and keep your body filled with food (quality food) so your body will not stop digesting - eating every 3-3.5 hours for fat loss that is. When your body goes in starvation mode, it will start "consuming" your muscles for energy, instead of fats - losing lean muscles will decrease rate of fat-burning, slow down metabolism and thus store fats!
- Keep your meals small and just sufficient, so you will not overeat, which will then affect your next meal.
- When in doubt, go for high-protein food.
- Drink lots of water (at least 2 litres a day)- the more water you drink, the more you drain.
- Choose fibrous carbs over grains - for carb sources
- Listen to your body.

I hope I don't bore anyone with this long post. There are so so much more to share but I'll stop here for now. Feel free to ask if you have any doubts, I may not be entirely right, nor am entirely detailed. I'll assist as much as I can.

Have a good rest-of-the-week ahead everyone!

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