Hello from Singapore!

[fizzifish]

Hi all, 

 

I've been stalking this website for some time and decided to come out of the shadows to share my fitness journey. I've noticed a vast number of forum posts are about losing weight, losing fat%, getting a 6-pack, blah blah and I hope to just share my thoughts and experiences on these issues. I hope this can be a motivation to those who are struggling in their own journey. This is for those who are obsessed with just 'losing weight'. You know who you are!

 

I'm from Singapore, male 30 y.o. 1.7m. 3 months ago, I weighed 82kg (get on with the metric system man!) and about 28% body fat. That might not sound a lot to you guys but for an asian, that's relatively heavy:) Felt miserable. Hated my job, struggled to wake up everyday, ate junk food, felt worse, ate more and.. i guess you guys know what I'm talking about. Throughout the years I've tried sooooo many ways to lose weight - weight loss supplements, not eating. You name it, I probably did it. Most of it made no difference at the end of the day and made me feel worse about myself. I did exercise (mainly running or other types of steady state cardio) but never really saw or felt any difference. I was so discouraged. One day, I just woke up and told myself: "**** this. It time for a change." I don't know what it was, maybe I was just sick of rolling in my own pig sty. But I was determined to make a change. Fast forward to today (3 months later): I'm 65 kg, getting ripped (4-pack visible and 2 more on the way lol), running 2.4km (1.5mi) in 10min 15sec (fast to me), waking up with full of energy everyday and never feeling so happy in my life. I'm nowhere near my end goal in terms of fitness and this is more of a '1st quarter report'. What changed me?

 

 

1) It's starts from the MIND

 

I see so many people in different forums asking the same questions - how do I lose weight fast? How do I lose that belly fat? How do I get ripped? This was my mentality previously, looking to supplements for fast results. But the day I decided to change, I didn't decide that I wanted to look good, I decided to get FIT. This drastically changed my mentality. I got interested in educating myself about the complexities of the human body, nutrition, HIIT, Strength training, etc. I was genuinely fascinated by how adaptable our bodies are. I can tell you if the only thing you care about is looking good during summer, you're gonna be miserable and dissapointed every year (well it works for some but to each his own). If you are one of those people who constantly compare yourselves with others, STOP IT. Your body is yours and yours alone. Don't be a wuss like the old me, being so easily swayed by what the 'world' tells you. If you want a shortcut, get out of here hon.

 

2) EDUCATION

 

I spent hours and days researching and reading up on nutrition, the importance of not only eating the right portions, but also eating healthy. For the past 3 months, I have not have a single drop of soda or sugary drinks (including those packet juices). I cut down on my sodium intake, starting cooking my own meals, eating lots of vegetables and fruits. In fact compared to last time, I'm eating larger portions but the difference is I'm eating healthy. Nutrition is a complex and lengthy issue and I'll leave it to the experts but the point is, EDUCATE YOURSELF. Don't just post in forums expecting people to spoon feed you a miracle schedule or food list. I've learnt to see how my body reacts to the food I consume. For example, if I'm feeling particularly lethargic for a few days, I tried raising my consumption of carbohydrates, that worked for me. Every body is different, learn about yours.

 

Another thing I spent tons of time reaching on was on fitness programs. Like a lot of people, I did not know what to do. So I started running (this was before the 3 months). Running and running and running running rungnginrunsndvkrlijglf... OMG RUNNINGGGGG... Yes my timing and speed improved a bit but I soon reached a plateau. likewise with my weight Then I read about things like HIIT, how strength training helps in fat loss, blah blah. To keep the long story short, if you are new to this, pick a program. For me it was P90X3. It wasn't exactly the exercises per se. It was more of the structure. Everyday I woke up knowing what I'll be doing and had a plan for it. I'm still doing it and mixing it up with my own interval run training, insanity and other activities that tickle my fancy. 

 

So that's my story in short. I've learnt so much these 3 months not only through this site but others too. It's been an incredible journey and now everyone comes up to me and are amazed by how much better I look. Well at least my body  Not to mention I have never felt fitter in my life. There's so much I've learnt that I can't put it all here but I'm excited to continue this journey! hopefully I can be of help to this community! I would say my weight goal is almost there so I'm prob looking to bulk up a bit:)

[DreamAchiever]

Wow! Congratulations. Keep up the good work!

[Guzzi]

Welcome on board. What a journey you've had already. Massive respect to you for educating yourself on how to actually live a healthier lifestyle and ignoring all the bullsh*t out there, and for your obvious dedication and determination in seeing it through and getting those results. Kudos man, kudos.

Hopefully you'll be able to put everything you've learned to good use on here and be able to help others who are just starting out on their journey to Awesome.

[Linkovicha]

Wow great story and success! Nice to meet you Fizzifish.