The balance between diet and exercise

Losing weight is not as difficult as some people made it to be. the question is how bad do we want it?? bad enough that you're willing to 1.change your years long habit 2. adopt new habits 3.change our perception about food 4. change our thinking altogether. yes to all that??? well, i guess you're ready.
i vow to keep my body healthy and fit as a way of giving thanks to the Almighty for each day of my being.

What is the 70% diet about?
1. don't blame the food. nothing wrong with eating rice. we are asian so rice is our staple. we eat rice since year 1 so why stop eating something that made us who we are today or generations before that. the key is in the portion
2. don't forget the drinks. coke, 7up even isotonik drinks like 100plus are high in sugar content so if you're not exercising, put that 100plus away. 3in1 drink is loaded with sugar. don't be lazy. buy coffee and sugar and mix it yourself.
3. don't think all biscuits are healthy especially those that claimed to be healthy and 'low in fat' and all the BS.
4. eat lots of vegetables daily with differents colours if possible. for e.g. spinach (dark green), cabbage& cauliflower (white)
5. eat fruits daily as meal on its own and not after heavy meal. don't juice it and turn into smoothie. only way to get the nutrients is to eat with your teeth. the more you cut, the less nutrient remains.
6. eat every 2 hours. for e.g. 7am (slice toast/fruit/egg/capati);9am (fruit, bread) ; 12pm (lunch), 2pm(fruit), 4pm(tea-1kuih); 6pm(very light dinner)

what is 30% exercise about?
1. pick up a sport e.g. badminton, football, tennis, squash, brisk walking, hiking
2. must exercise more than 20mins for the body to start burning fat. i recommend min 40mins
3.at least 3x a week for it to be effective. the more better.
4. best is morning but evening is fine too
5. put the mobile or BB away for that time. focus your mind and energy to get a good workout. you owe that to yourself
6. don't compare yourself with others. each of us response differently to exercise. blame it on our genes.
7. find something that you'll enjoy doing. gym is not the only option!!!

there are so many things i want to share but for a start, try these simple formulas. i do welcome any questions you may have.
give thanks to God by respecting His creations and, we are His greatest creation.

yoga and fasting

maintaining a regular practice during fasting month requires more than will power....having nice soothing lounge music playing in the background certainly helps. quite a challenge to push it more than 60 mins. teaching while fasting is another matter altogether. 2hrs of class seems way too long when trying to maintain focus and zest for the entire class when energy is depleting as the minutes pass. my reward for end of day is this vegetarian meal. always believe that vegetarian meal is equally yummy!

tagine of aubergine with coriander and mint


dessert of 'pengat pisang' made of banana and coconut milk

yoga and food

not sure where to begin really. there are way too many misconceptions about yoga and the food intake..way too many that i may need a day or two to just slowly 'unravelled' the myth. the traditionalists might scorned at the word 'myth'. like it or not, the growing number of people taking up yoga for sheer purpose of losing weight, alternative to 'hard' exercise and achieve peace of mind. i find it quite enough challenge to convince the malays to take up yoga let alone trying to tell them to mind their food.

so, here's the thing. eating a lot of any food vegetarian or not, does cause discomfort to the stomach and make breathing while practising yoga, harder...if you don't throw up, that is. moderation is key. eat meat once a week. eat rice everyday. yes, rice everyday because we are asian. we grew up with rice and therefore, our body is accustomed to it. eat lots of vege and fruits. eat fruits as meal by itself and not as dessert. eat dessert sparingly...once in few days. yes, you can eat those cupcakes (like me) for tea but stop at one and no more until the next day. you see, i still don't understand the confusions that leads to misconceptions about the food intake as a yogi. i still eat the same stuffs as before but perhaps bit more mindful.

soul at peace

this morning, i told a friend over coffee that a soul can only have one resting place at a time. she didn't look at all puzzled as if truly understood every word i said. of course, there was a long talk (me alone) about how unsettling it is for me, the feeling i've been having since i got back from india. i'm not one who likes to whine about things. although i was confined to a room during my stay, i felt somewhat at ease despite having very limited access to things, in general. somehow, i was 'settled' and content, it seemed like my soul belonged there. she said it's the yoga that makes me feel that way. the more you look 'inside' yourself, more things being revealed...you grow more quiet as more thoughts come into being. and with more practise, the mind, too, will grow quiet. hopefully, by then, the soul has found a resting place....while i'm still breathing.

Funeral Blues

By W.H. Arden. Made famous by movie 'Four Weddings and a Funeral'....

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum,
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let the aeroplanes circle moaning overhead,
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves.
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever, I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now, put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

happy birthday ...to me

i celebrated yet another birthday last saturday. started with phone call from mom which i eagerly waited over the last many years. i told a friend that, to me, getting that call from her is all i need to start yet another year of my life. that day, it started like just like any other year with me going for run in the morning except that it was a walk this time around, with my sister and brother whom just picked up running and now, discovering the joy of it...something i've been trying to tell him over the last many years without much success until recently. due to my recent surgery, i'm now confined to walking and yoga for another 3 months to come...following the good doctor's order. after good long hill walk, we all went for nice and hearty breakfast at la bodega deli in telawi bangsar which till today serves one of the best breakfast in town..no kidding. breakfast proceeded by nice light lunch at prego westin and some shopping escapade. unlike most ladies, shopping was never on top on my 'to-do' list, in fact, was never on my list at all. nevertheless, i was thrilled to be taken to such route once in a while.

something was different this year. i didn't get as many calls or texts as i used to get before. i narrowed it down to the fact that i have since changed my mobile number twice. so, i decided to send this text to friends which reads "As someone who practises positive thinking, i like to think that the reason i've yet to get any wish from you is the fact that you have no idea whatsoever that today is my birthday. Well, now you do." for the next few hours, i received in flux of calls and texts with birthday wishes and told me how funny it was to receive such text from me. some even expressed regrets for not remembering it.

frankly, i believe that birthday is a private matter and under no circumstances i would wish anyone to remember it unless they are my family. why i did what i did?! well, i decided to give others chance to wish me. c'est simple! c'est tout!
besides, what i look forward the most that day were 1. my sis has baked 3 different pies for me to enjoy 2. the meals prepared were fantastic! the rest, were bonus.
i hope to be a better friend, a better partner, a better sister and most importantly, a better muslim. amin.

yogi is just another being, too...

they said the person who can hurt you the most is the one closest to you. so, he or she did and there is absolutely nothing you can do about it?! i believe so. if it is someone who is close and we tend to have many of those around us, things get easier. we can just make a conscious effort to spend less time with these people or better still...slowly but surely try to have less and less things to do with them until one fine day, they'll get the message.

the thing with those really close to us, things get difficult. subtlety is the word..in malay we have a saying, "menarik benang dalam tepung...benang tak putus, tepung tak berselerak" means pulling a thread in flour (direct translation, that is) so that both thread and flour are intact. in life, however, that is not always the case. for me, when that happens, i revert back to few things i always revert back in such situation...nothing can hurt me unless i allow it...or..let it go, don't hold on to negative words...or i am what i am, who cares what they say. the problem with that is, things don't hurt too much if it was done by someone else...someone whom you think ought to know you well enough and yet could say the most 'unpleasant' things, your heart does rattles eventhough just a little...you think, how could he or she said that? but they did. i say, take a deep breath, dig deep into your heart and gather all your strength, smile, nod and quietly retires to your thoughts, positive thoughts about your dreams, your plans for tomorrow and, hold out your hands and thank THE ALMIGHTY for all his blessings. finally, say your prayer and retire to bed, early, because tomorrow, there will be a whole new day ahead of us.