Reality Check | Operation 健康アップ Week 4

Woohoo I survived 1/3 of my personal training fitness program!! ╲(｡◕‿◕｡)╱ They say it takes 4 weeks to see your body changing, 8 weeks for your friends and family, and 12 weeks for the rest of the world. So far, I think there's pretty true.

Like I mentioned in Week 3, I haven't noticed any significant weight change, but some body areas like my butt and thighs, feel even more toned. And over the weekend, I noticed that my waist is a teeny bit more shapely too (◡‿◡*)

Gym Workouts
No major changes in the week so I went for my usual Monday and Friday workouts. Superman took me for my training on Monday and as usual, he was very encouraging and patient in teaching me about the right form for my exercises.

I'm starting to feel a little embarrassed that I can't seem to get it totally right!! Feel like I'm such an idiot.. and for some reason, I can't really focus well during my trainings too. Like I know I can go harder, but my mind is weak.

Maybe because I'm tired after work, or maybe because there's so much "distractions" from people talking and telling me what to do {previously, I used to just put on my earphones and blast music to "stay in the zone" when working out}, or maybe because I'm just... hungry??? hahaha

Justin took me on Friday and OH MY GOODNESS! It was a really, really hard session. He increased weights for most exercises and really pushed me to make sure that I did a good rep for each exercise. I still wasn't getting the Catabell Romanian Deadlift completely right and it was taking too much time so we changed back to the Lying Hamstring Curl. He even put his fingers under the weights to make sure that I controlled and lowered the weights as looooooow as possible to touch his fingers before I curled my legs to bring them up again.

I asked him why this session with him seemed so hard??? He said.. maybe because I'm training with him??? (⁎˃ᆺ˂)

This is my latest gym workout plan with weights I'm using:

A1. Dumb-bell Split Squats, 4 sets, 12 reps - 9kg
A2. Dumb-bell Chest Supported Row to Chest {Neutral}, 4 sets, 12 reps - 10+9.5 {I think}
B2. Lying Hamstring Curl, 4 sets, 8 reps - ??? {More than 22.5kg}
B3, Bench Dumb-bell Shoulder Press {Twist}, 4 sets, 12 reps - 9kg
C1. Crunches, 3 sets, 15 reps
C2. Battling Ropes, 3 sets, 60s - Double ropes

Had a talk with Justin after my session with him and checked to see if my goals were still realistic with the current rate I'm going. He said that I am improving, and am stronger than when I first started, but to lose the amount of weight I want to by the end of 12 weeks would be kinda difficult {something the boy said too}. However, it is no problem to change my body shape since I'm building muscles, and drop a clothing size or two.

I guess like how most girls equate the result of their exercises, weight is the easiest to see if there's any improvement in our body after working out so that was what I was focusing on as one of my main goals too {together with toning & strengthening my back}, and honestly, I was a little bummed that maybe I might not be able to achieve this goal. However, I know that there are other factors like strength, muscle tone, energy level, fat percentage etc. to show improvements too and that's what I'm going to consider more of as well.

Justin mentioned that my workout programs will change from Week 5 and I think they'll be adding in more fat-busting exercises in it. I'm quite happy to change the program as I really don't like to do split squats because every time I squat, I'm afraid I'll bust my knee again! Although.. the likelihood of that happening now is pretty low since I've the personal trainers to look out for me and make sure that I'm doing it safely with the right form.

Home Workouts
This week I added a mini workout concentrating on my core on Tuesday, my usual home workout on Wednesday, and a gym workout on Saturday.

The boy gave me this program to build on my core muscles:
1. Crunches, 50 reps
2. Bridges, 50 reps
3. Left Side Crunches, 50 reps
4. Right Side Crunches, 50 reps
5. Ab Wheel Roll, 50 reps

Pretty doable and I'll slowly increase my reps to 75 each in my next session.

No changes from previous week for my home workout but for Saturday since I had to follow the boy out early, I went with him to our club gym in the morning and did a variation of my home workout program there with the weights machines.

I actually prefer to work with weights machines as you don't have to crack your brain on getting the right form with them plus it's easier to change the weights compared to the dumb-bell system we have at home. Also, there's more motivation at the gym when you see so many people working out!!

Since my gym workout plan is going to change, I reckon Jen will be changing my home workout plan too so I emailed and requested him to change it to one using the weight machines and free weights in the gym.

Food Nutrition
This week was slightly better I feel as I made the effort to cook a HUGE pot of meat and vegetable sauce {lots of mushroom yum yum yum} to last me about 3-4 meals. I used it as a topping/sauce to eat with a block of tofu so was pretty filling.

I think the hardest thing about keeping to my food plan is that I eat out a lot. Not just because I've no time to cook, but because I like to eat with friends and family, and these usually take place outside. It's not as healthy as eating home-cooked meals, of course, but baby steps.

Being a foodie, it's hard to keep to a really strict diet and completely eliminate certain groups like carbs or sugar so I just try to make healthier choices like choosing fish slice soup mee sua instead of my fave dry mee pok {which usually contains oil & lard}, or ordering teh si kosong ping {iced tea with evaporated milk & no sugar} instead of teh ping {iced milk tea}. I'd still treat myself to some fatty food I love e.g. durian!! but limit the amount I eat.

Funny thing happened last weekend. Valyn was in town so I met up with her, SJ and Leo at Sushi Tei and I asked them to order me a Sashimi Salad with Wafu Dressing first since I was going to be late. That's my go-to dish there when I'm being healthy, and luckily I did because turns out Leo read my posts on starting this fitness program, which was quite unexpected since he doesn't usually, and knew that I was supposed to be eating right :P Luckily I didn't ask them to order me curry rice, tonkatsu or chicken karaage which I love too!! hehe At least I'm showing that I'm walking the talk.. phew!  

Thoughts for the week
I always tell Lil Pumpkin that if she doesn't help herself, nobody else can.

So, I've been reading up more on my own as well on how to get the most of my workouts, and how to substitute different food for what I like to eat, or what are the food I like to eat that are actually really healthy and I can eat MORE of  e.g. edamame since just 1/2 cup of them a day really punches up the fiber, protein and vitamin/mineral content of your diet.

The thing about me also is that the more you tell me I can't do something, the more I want to prove you wrong. I guess that's what parents call "defiance" but something I'd see more positively as "perseverance"?  {just had an epiphany that maybe Lil Pumpkin is like this too!!!}

Since I've been told that I may not be about to reach my weight loss goal, I just want to push myself harder to make sure that yes, I can. It is still not too late since I've 8 more weeks left in my program. Not to say it's do or die for the 8 weeks, because even if I don't reach it within 8 weeks I'll still continue to work towards it after, but this is the current deadline I'm aiming towards.

It's not just about reaching a number on the scale, it's about proving to myself as well that my mind is strong enough to focus and make things work. It's about motivating myself to work better and harder, to make myself stronger both physically and mentally.

Wish me luck!!

Follow my Fitness Diary posts here or on Instagram {#AiFitnessDiary}.  

One-on-On Personal Training Updates:

The Beginning - First 4 Months
Girls Can Pull-Up Too!
Finally, I Have Visible Abs!
Holiday Workout - No Gym No Problem!
Lessons learnt from Being Injured
New 2 Months Challenge  
2 Months Challenge Results - Lowest Body Fat Composition Ever! 

Genesis Gym Personal Training Updates:
The Beginning - Signing Up for Personal Training

Week 1 - Getting the Right Form for Fitness

Week 2 - The Right Trainer Matters

Week 3 - Keeping Fit Needs Brain & Brawns
Week 4 - Reality Check
Week 5 - New Workout Programs, New Challenges
Week 6 - Program Progress Report 
Week 7 - Training with a Weak Back
Week 8 - Keep Calm & Gym On
Week 9 - Making Sense of Trap Lifts, TRX & Med Ball Slams
Week 10 - Workout Max Out
Week 11 - Rolling in the Deep
Week 12 - Program End Report
Week 13 - Start of Cycle 2
Weeks 14 to 16 - Slow & Steady
Weeks 17 to 20 - Milos Giant Sets
Week 21 to 24 - Cycle 2 Program End Report
Week 25 to 28 - German Volume Training & MetCon Workouts
Weeks 29 to 32 - What Doesn't Kill You
Weeks 33 to 36 -  Cycle 3 Program End Report
Personal Training - Results 1 Year Later 

Wendler's 5/3/1 Program to Reach Strength Targets
15% Body Fat Target Reached!
Good Bye Genesis Gym

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