Tofu NOT a good source of protein?

Oh-oh. This is bad news for vegetarians like me. Soy is not a good source of diet. Watch the video below for more information on this.

The Truth About Milk

 Raw Milk vs. pasteurized milk, which is better of us? This has been a long debated question. Now you can have your answers below in the video.

Cardio DOs & DON'Ts

As I mentioned in the previous post where I discouraged women performing cardio. Well actually that's not what I meant. Cardio is equally important as weight lifting, they go hand in hand. However, there is a proper way to perform cardiovascular exercises to accelerate fat burning.

If you catch yourself doing this in the gym :        

 or this                         

then you're not doing your cardio AT ALL. Most of the time you'll see one or two people slacking in the gym because they have no idea what they are doing there in the first place! As I mentioned before, to reduce the time u spend exercising means to reduce your rest time as well. Meaning, you won't have the time to read let alone the breathe to speak. That is a real workout.

Coming back to my cardio Dos, there is only one method that will boost your fat burning machine. And the magic word is HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training). With this training, you will only need 15 to 20 minutes on a treadmill, or cycle. Seriously, you don't need to waste 30 minutes to an hour running unless you are training for a marathon.

Now there are only two methods to perform the HIIT:

1. Run/cycle on speed 6/6.5 (or level of intensity for cycling) for a minute and half then sprint say on speed 12 for a minute then repeat. ( adjust the speed according to your limit, go slow if you are a beginner)

    2.  Walk on an incline on 3-5% gradient on a low speed for a minute, then
         decrease the gradient and increase the speed for another 1.5 minute

         (as for the cycle, adjust the level of intensity)

*** Remember to stretch before and after the cardio, to prevent injuries.

GOT A SWEET TOOTH?

Who says u can't have your cake and eat it too? This might sound contradicting to those of you who are on a constant battle with your weight. However there is a solution to end your cravings for desserts, pastry or anything that is on the RED LIST of a proper diet. I call it cheating. Get it? Cheat-eating. LOL. NEVER MIND! Anyway I will reveal this secret to those of you who give a shit. So yeah, the best time to stuff yourself with all the "nasty" food is WITHIN ONE HOUR AFTER YOUR WORKOUT. This one hour is extremely crucial, provided you had a proper workout (where u did not rest most of the time). At this time, your body will be so exhausted from all the hard work, and it will start searching for fuel. So, anything that feeds your body within this hour goes to your muscles, and it gets burned for energy (remember lifting weights keep your calories burning even after your workout?).

So there you go, eat your heart out! However, don't make this a daily affair, keep your goals in mind. Only allow yourself a treat when u really need it! Or better yet, save it for a special occasion (Christmas is coming up )  ;)

The choice is in your hands. It is solely your decision to choose the lifestyle you want to lead. Cheers!

BEAUTY SLEEP

 
There's no other reason it's called the beauty sleep if it's not to keep you looking beautiful. A GOOD QUALITY SLEEP is extremely important when it comes to fitness and staying healthy. After a hard day of working out and weight lifting, your body needs all the sleep it can get to repair and restructure your muscles. If you haven't noticed, you tend to look thinner when you wake up in the morning after getting a good night's sleep. This is partly due to the fact that we burn up to 300 calories in our sleep. Chances are if you workout religiously but don't have a good quality sleep, you would probably not see any results at all. In addition, a good rest also helps to keep the skin looking fresh all day, not to mention keeping the panda eyes at bay. So try to get at least 8 hours of quality sleep, and if possible hit the sack before midnight (this has something to do with the Circadian theory).

Diet Advice for Vegetarian Athletes

Diet Advice for Vegetarian Athletes

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p. s. I found this article while i was browsing, and I just couldn't resist to share this since there are so little information out there to help vegetarian athletes like myself

CIRCUIT TRAINING

I had a great workout today. Just though of sharing. As I promised, I will be giving away some interesting fat burning exercises. Before i start, I want you to remember that you only need 45 minutes to one hour to complete your workout. Be it fat burning or body building, NEVER exceed that limit. With that said here is how you should start off. If you're a beginner I suggest you start with light weights (men & women). Not light enough that you can swing it around, but make sure it's challenging enough.

*Always warm up before you perform any exercises: walking,cycling, stair climbing, skipping ropes, jumping jacks etc ( as long as you get your heart pumping) for 5-7 minutes

One great way to push yourself to the edge to burn extra calories is by performing CIRCUIT TRAINING. Circuit Training is a set of 6-7 different exercises that are rotated without rests in between workouts. Here is an example of a circuit training:

10 reps of presses

8 reps of dumbbell rows, each arm

8 reps of deadlifts

10 reps of dumbbell chest press

10 reps of dumbbell step ups, each leg

1 minute of sprinting on the treadmill

These exercises comprise a set. Perform these exercises without resting till the end, then rest for 60-90 minutes and repeat two more sets, making it a total of 3 sets. Then stretch all body group muscles.

Do this for at least 4 weeks then switch to a new workout. It's always more challenging as a beginner, but once you get the hang of it, it becomes easier, which is a sign that you need to switch to a new workout.

***When performing deadlifts, keep your back locked at all times (THIS IS CRUCIAL SO YOU DON'T INJURE YOUR BACK), just make sure you perform this in good form, do it nice and slow

*** make sure you lock your knees on the way up and keep it slightly bent so you don't injure your knees

***ATTENTION LADIES***

If you've been to the gym, I bet you've seen some (if you're not amongst them), if not most, women striding on the treadmill or hogging the cardio machines (sometimes with a book!). If you've not dropped a number on the scale, please do not be suprised. I'd hate to break it to you that you are just wasting your time.

Ladies, ladies, ladies...... If you're not breaking a sweat, you're not exercising at all. Ever heard of the notion no pain, no gain? Nothing comes easily in life, neither does a hot sexy figure ( if you're not already in shape). Now, most women have the misconception that if they carry weights, they're bound to end up looking like Arnold Schwarzenegger. Well let me break it to you. In order to gain even half of the muscles he has, you'd have to work extra hard ( where 5 or 10 pounds of free weights won't even get u anywhere close to that), even then you would probably not achieve that amount of mass.

So let's look at the science behind this. First and foremost, women do not have the hormone (testosterone) to develop a bulky manly figure, no matter how heavy you lift your weights. Most female bodybuilders are either on steroids to help them grow the extra mass, or they dedicate most of their time to build their body with really heavy weights. However, if you are aiming for fat loss, there are certain methods that will allow you to gain mass and burn fats without looking too bulky.

As a woman, majority aim to burn fat ( this is the correct term as compared to weight loss), instead of gaining mass (muscles). When you perform cardio exercises, you are burning calories only during your cardio training. However, when you incorporate free weight exercises, you are actually doing yourself a favour by burning extra calories even when you have finished your workout.

Yes, ladies. You also get to save half the time that you use for cardio and you also burn extra calories. Now the idea here is to gain mass (the toned and tight celeb figure) and to burn fats that will leave you looking lean and mean and healthy.

So the next time you head to gym, remember try to lift a few weights, start light and you will eventualy build up your strength.

Stay tuned for more posts on how to perform free weight exercises to burn fats. Till then, keep pumping those irons.

The BIG business

 

...in other words, "poop"... As shocking as it may sound, the amount of trips you take to the toilet does influence your weight loss efforts. If you're having a little trouble with your weight loss, ask yourself: how many times a day do I go to the toilet? The more waste your body holds, the more weight it adds to your scale.

Here's my remedy to regulate bowel movement:

* Drink a glass of warm/ room temperature water with a little squeeze of lemon juice, on an empty stomach (preferably when you wake up)

* add a pinch of cayenne pepper for a flush in your cheeks ;)

The citric acid washes away all the clogged impurities in your colon. Apart from improving your weight loss efforts, it also adds a glow to your face.

This is a great detox and remedy for those of you who suffer from constipation. Till then, stay healthy and keep pooping! :P

The BIG Breakfast

If you don't know already, breakfast is THE MOST IMPORTANT meal of the day!!! There is no other way that i can stress it's importance in our diet. Especially for those who want to keep their figure right. Yes I said that right. The reason it's called breakfast is, while you are sleeping your body goes into a starvation (fasting) mode. Hence when you wake up you need to break your fast. Not only will it help you function better during the day (by feeding your brains some nutrition), but it prevents cravings throughout day. Therefore allowing you to make better food choices, and eliminate binge eating.


Here is my typical idea for a healthy and nutritional morning meal, if you wanna jack my style ;)

I call it WAKE ME UP OATS ( i just made that up now :P)


1 part organic rolled oats
2 part water/milk
3 table spoons of milk powder ( if you use water instead of milk)
Sweetener to taste ( I use brown sugar)

let it cook for 15 minutes on medium heat

Serve immediately in a bowl;
 then throw in cubed apples/bananas (any fruit that floats your boat),raisins;
sprinkle some oat bran on top of the fruits;
and top it with some yogurt.

Voila! You have a bowl packed with lots of nutrition and fiber.

I am still looking for new breakfast ideas, so stay tuned for more, and stay healthy!

p.s my man loves it too   hehehe

Je presente......Moi

This is to those of you who are kind enough to step into my blog ;) First of all I would like to thank you for visiting my wonderful blog. I wonder why it took me so long so start up this blog. Anyways you will be hearing a lot from this chatterbox, and i promise to post a whole lot of interesting and beneficial articles about fitness and nutrition, a la moi. So stay tuned if you wanna be Jackin My Style :P


p.s I'm not a fitness expert/trainer neither am I a nutritionist. I write these posts based on my extensive research (some of which I had to pay for) and personal experience on fitness and nutrition