It’s true. I use to have insomnia and trouble sleeping. But those problems are COMPLETELY gone and I sleep like a baby every night.

It’s true. I am still NOT a morning person and if you wake me up before my alarm goes off, I will go apeshit on you (sorry, Boyfriend). BUT once I get up, the mornings weren’t as hard as before even after 3-4 hours of sleep.

It’s true. I don’t particularly enjoy cooking so my meals aren’t that interesting. I would rather clean because cleaning is like a workout! And I clean a lot faster and more efficiently now.

It’s true. I use to never eat breakfast. Then I ate breakfast religiously every single morning. Now I only eat it when my body tells me I’m hungry.

It’s true. I use to feel guilty every time after I ate something unhealthy and beat myself up over it. Now, I practice moderation and make my sacrifices at the gym so food has become my best friend again. We have the best relationship. Ever.

It’s true. I use to feel randomly sad and depressed but now I love myself and am very happy about all that I’ve achieved and the life I made for myself.

…all this happened because I made the choice to live a healthier and active lifestyle.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of this equation, losing body fat is 80% diet and 20% exercise. You can workout all you want but if you don’t clean up your diet, you will never see results. With that being said, you may wonder, “then what’s the point of exercising if I can just eat clean?”

Well, why DON’T you want to exercise?! Which brings me to another question: why don’t girls lift weights… and lift heavy weights?!

When I see fitness videos and celebrity trainers promoting the use of tiny, pink dumbbells, I get so angry. It is impossible for women to get bulky because we don’t have the same testosterone levels as the guys and every woman needs to know that.

Losing weight is all about the diet but exercise is essential for building and protecting lean mass.

I remember years ago when I was at the gym using 8lb dumbbells and was afraid to drop the pins to increase load because I thought I would bulk up. I was doing high reps with low weights and even though I did lose weight (along with eating clean), I wasn’t building enough muscle and making efficient use of my time. So much wasted time. I cringe at the thought of that memory now.

Here are the benefits of lifting heavy:

• You get to look HOT…. naked too! Muscles over skinny fat anyday, right? “Skinny” girls may look good in clothes but I bet you they won’t look too appealing naked.
• Cardio may burn some of that fat off but weight-training changes your body composition so you get that desired look everyone calls “toned” … which is really means you have defined muscles. And you won’t get them from lifting light weights that don’t challenge you.
• You get stronger which allows you to do more and lessens the chance of injuries.
• You get FIT and that’s already a huge accomplishment in itself.
• You feel good all the time. Because you are so healthy. And you look so good. Which boosts your confidence.
• And the most important reason many people don’t realize:
  

  The metabolic spike!

  When you leave the gym, you will continue to burn calories longer than a cardio session and it also allows you to burn more calories even as you sit there and do nothing because the more lean muscle you have in your body, the more energy your body needs …even while resting. Hence, this is why they say weight training burns more calories than traditional cardio.

So to sum this entry up:

Can someone please tell me why 1lb dumbbells even exist.

• MONDAY – Rest day. Except I was going to bike to work but I got hit by mild food poisoning the night before after eating probably uncooked food at hot pot and I was slightly feeling it in the morning so I didn’t want to risk it.
• TUESDAY – Had a fun workout planned but was in soooo much pain the night before and was queasy on and off so I didn’t make it to the gym. I was also suppose to go to Bikram’s that night with some friends but had to cancel. I was SO. Sad.
• WEDNESDAY - Felt much better so I started off with a warm up on the bike with some HIIT sprints. Did 4 rounds of my first WOD but I almost puked at the end after all those Burpees because I was REALLY queasy. Started a super toned down version of my second WOD after I got myself together. Stretched and recovered. Then boyfriend came and we were just chilling in the studio so I practiced my Wall Climbs! I do them so much better on camera than in my WODs… pressure from “people” watching?!

• THURSDAY - Felt totally fine and had an intense plyo session with my best friend, whom I haven’t worked out with in AGES. It wasn’t as intense as we usually do it but I did collapse on the ground after, curled up in a ball so I think that counts. We ended it with some heavy and fast upper-body weights and a lot of talk about food.
• FRIDAY - Coach called this the “hardest Caveman ever” and it was pretty hard because of all the sprints. I still can’t bring myself to love running as much as I do other things. Then like always, we went to pig out with sushi afterwards.

  

• SATURDAY – Grouse Grind at 7am after a night of no sleep and itchy hives! But guess what? No excuses because the mountain was calling. This was week 15— the very first time we all stayed together as a group and it was one of the most fun Grinds I’ve done, plus I didn’t feel like killing myself going up either. The intensity started afterwards when I got dropped off at home, showered, got ready and got to my doctor’s then lunch with my family within two hours… by train. Sigh. That kind of workout, I do not like.
• SUNDAY - 70km bike ride to Crescent Beach. It was a challenging and hilly route but lots of fun! I also smashed into a rail and bent my finger back while trying to bike up a narrow lane onto a pedestrian overpass. Yay! I’m the best at getting unrelated fitness injuries.

  

My friends and I are doing a 2-week Sugar Free Challenge starting tomorrow and I’m stoked. Let’s do this!