for the weight watchers

to date i've lost about 2.5kg since 2 weeks ago. i guess that was when i really started watching what i ate and trained a little bit harder. for those of you keen on knowing how, i can share a few pointers.

firstly, watch what you eat. cut down on oily food like chicken drumlets deep fired in batter (wow), too much read meat, chicken skin (every body's favourite when it comes to KFC), and probably avoid fast food too. focus on eating greens (avoid frying vegetables in too much oil), white meat (fishes and chickens are good) and a suitable amount of carbohydrates from bread and rice. generally i'd stay stay off rice (or eat less of it) and substitute it with bread. note that if you caloric expenditure per day of training is around about 3000cal, you may try consuming lesser calories per day.

here's a site that gives you a rough gauge of how to calculate daily caloric intake:
http://www.hpathy.com/healthtools/calories-need.asp

next, up your caloric expenditure. eating less does help your body to not store excess calories that are unused into fats over time. however, do train hard and smart. for me, i'd go with HIIT, high intensity interval trainings. one way of doing this is that you could sprint or run at 80%-90% max effort for about 5 minutes, and then jog at 30%-40% max effort for the same period of time. depending on your threshold and tolerance, you may adjust it to suit your threshold. in conjunction with that, regular visits to the gym would also help. for general workout, go for about 60% of 1 repetition max with about 10-12 repetitions. 1 rep max means that the maximum mass you could do with perfect form, but only for just one repetition. for bigger muscles, go for lower reps with 80%-85% 1 rep max.

lastly, the most important key to losing weight and sculpting that perfect body is discipline. sure, at times you are just plain lazy. you'd tell yourself that you would maybe go for a 10km run instead of a 5km interval training. and you may also say that there's another day to train since i'm rather tired today. and you may say that "oh i didn't eat much yesterday, so i'd reward myself with a nice drumstick from kfc". or maybe you would say "just abit of that char kway teow won't do me harm". bullocks!

enjoy boys and girls. i still have about 2.5kg to go.

it's a monday hey

it seems that singapore's GDP is slowing down and inflation rates are up to 7.5%. in addition, oil prices are very unforgiving. imagine, $2.10 per litre of fuel, with a full tank of 50 litres that would equate to about $105 (or about $80-$90) per refuel. and with a fuel consumption of 10km per litre (sometimes even as low as 8km-9km per litre), driving just got a little bit scarier.

outlook for stocks this week as i've mentioned are not optimistic. it is highly likely that most would be suffering from a correction, maybe down as much as 10%-20% from this year's high.

enough of that, i'd just like to point out the importance of customer service, especially here in singapore where people tend to cut you no slack. having worked in sales, some customers are nice, and tend to chit chat with you at times. but i guess i was the one initiating the chit chat cos i was bored.

now switching to the customer's perspective, i would definitely not like to be bothered when i'm browsing. actually, i won't mind if you were to talk to me about other stuff, rather than "these are going off at 20% off its usual price" or "these ones are imported from pakistan, which were previously made in china, shipped by the indians, blah blah blah". come on sales people, know how to approach your customers because no two people are alike. probably some jokes would lighten the mood, but i don't think it'll work well with an old auntie that has the look of a bulldog suffering from rabies.

apart from retail, selling your products such as insurance, investment funds, or being a recruitment consultant, also require good customer service. recently i was being contacted by a recruitment consultant that was going to schedule an interview for me, and guess what, never heard from her since yesterday evening after confirming with her the time of my interview. best of all, i don't have a damn idea where to go! bravo!

well i guess screw that. i'm kinda bored so i'm looking for jobs instead of watching the market all the time. and of cos muay thai and my upcoming fight which i think i'm gonna get my leg chopped to bits.

sleep time.

some technical analysis

focusing on SGX stocks this week, we see a relatively poor performance, dropping around about 6% to 7% since it opened on tuesday. looking at the 6-month and 3-month chart, the 10-day EMA line has barely cut the 20-day EMA downwards, and quite possibly cutting the 50-day EMA as well. on chart analysis, i can see that support level at 8.50 has been breached as the shares closed at 8.38. next support level would probably come at the 8.00 mark. very strong resistance can be seen at the 9.00 mark as the share prices tested this level on 3 separate occasions.

we can see that the RSI are just kissing the 50% mark, and haven't really made any significant movement downwards. coupled with fast and slow stochastic readings just cutting below the 20% mark, and a weakening MACD histogram, i would probably need a significant indication from my RSI to ring my bell.

relatively bullish and risk-adverse investors might want to wait till the downward trend sees its demise probably after testing the 8.00 support level. eagerly bullish traders might want to get a significant indication from stochastics and RSI. however, in my opinion, the share prices are basically lost and confused (side-trending) and would probably favour the risk-loving intra-day traders.

moving on to Capitaland, as with most of the other stocks this week, the volatile stock closed down about 7% since its open on tuesday. its 10-day EMA already showed a convincing downwards cutting of the 20-day EMA, and by the looks of it, would probably cut the 50-day EMA. this is a relatively good indication for all the bears out there. historically over the past couple of months we can see supports coming at around about 6.50 and 6.80, and resistance at 7.10. last week, it could not sustain a convincing move over its 6.80 resistance after moving down and testing the 6.50 support early this month and hence, has a high chance of testing its 6.20 support.

RSI levels are looming below the 50% mark, showing no direction at the moment, and coupled with fast and slow stochastics below the 20% mark, prices look bleak for this week. for followers of the MACD histogram, it just moved into negative territory, giving more indications that the 6.20 support may be coming.

bullish investors can sleep awhile longer as i cant really foresee any upward movement of this stock this coming week. as for traders, the current price is relatively close to its 6.20 support and my guess is that it might be consolidating around the current price for this coming week.

i guess that if sentiments were to play a huge part for the market next week, both stocks may see a short term upward rise. however, with the gloomy world news circulating nowadays, slowing GDP and all, i'd probably stay as bear.

wow and all psyched up

today's training was madness. but i guess that was how i was feeling. energetic during the pre warm-up 3.2km run, tyre jumps and skipping. then it came to some bagwork, some padwork with alvin, more bagwork, more padwork (till my calf cramped up), then bagwork again, and to end it off, clinch techniques. and now my neck hurts like mad.

what got me all psyched up was that alvin opened up an invitation for a fight coming up at the end of june. apparently they have it every end-of-the-month but not for this month. gosh i'm pretty much psyched up right now. 28th june! its kick or be kicked...

however, i seem to be at a slight disadvantage: weight. yes boys and girls, if you guess my weight, you'd only get it wrong. it's been hovering about the 71kg mark like a volatile stock market, even going up to 72kg last week. but thankfully i managed to drop some of it, and currently at 70kg. imagine if i were to go up with another 70kg plus guy, i think i might be knocked senseless cos no beginner weighs that much. but my ultimate goal is either 67kg or 68kg, and i think that's probably the max i can go before the body fat levels drop to below 8-10%.

well, i guess it's gonna be a challenge, a fun one at least. anything too tasty is bad. and if i don't want to get killed, i better shed my ass off.

product review: mentalk

normally i won't ever think of doing any product review (since they may be controversial in nature) but i guess it is worth a shot.

mentalk is an all natural herbal candy that boasts significant benefit with little or no side effects for its user. at first glance, i was taken aback because i never tried any candy that has ginseng in it, let alone any candy that isn't meant for a child. i decided to test this candy out during the span of one week of my muay thai training, hoping to either get a kick or get kicked.

the first day of consumption (saturday):
in the morning i had a game of football. an intense 2 to 3-hour session with intervals of sprints and stops. i had suffered from a few minor injuries after the session: aching of my right knee, aching of my right ankle (probably due to the torn atfl) and sore feet. i consumed the candy in the afternoon after my nap but of course, effects do not come that quickly.

second day of consumption (sunday):
as a disclaimer, i was told that it was going to "awake the ache". meaning i will tend to feel sore on parts of my body that were previously injured. the day went by normally, no new aches or pains apart from the sores i got from football the day before. i ate the candy in the afternoon.

third day of consumption (monday):
training day. i ate the candy about an hour before my training commenced. training began with warm-up: 2.4km run (10:30-11:30), static tyre jumps (5:00), skipping (10:00) and bagwork (10:00). then we went into 5 sets of 1-minute bagwork, 100 kicks on each leg on pads, and some padwork punching. that was intense. somehow i felt that my energy levels were somewhat moderately normal during my bagwork and padwork, but endurance levels during the run was certainly greater than the previous week of training.

fourth day of consumption (wednesday):
i skipped tuesday cos i wanted to see if the candy would give me the boost for that day's training. one thing i noticed when i woke up was that the sore on my right knee felt horribly worse than before. i couldn't even walk properly for most parts of the day. it hurts as though it had been hit by a jackhammer.

again i ate the candy about an hour before training. this time for warm up i did 3.2km run, skipping (15:00) and bagwork (10:00). then we had a 45-minute long session of bagwork: 3 sets of 1-minute combo punches, 50 single roundhouse kicks per leg on bags, 30 double roundhouse kicks per leg on bags, 10 continuous roundhouse kicks per leg on bags, 50 knees per leg on bags, and to end it off, 3 minute of alternate knees on bags, continuous. yes, very intense indeed but amazingly i wasn't at all gasping and crawling on the ground after the whole session. my energy levels were pretty much still up and i was able to do some more.

now to summarise the effectiveness of the candy, i'd keep it short and sweet.

pros:

• increased energy levels during training (at least that's what i felt)
• for guys, it is really quite good (if you know what i mean)
• doesn't make you thirsty (because supplements usually make you pee like a dog and you have to drink like an elephant in order not to dehydrate)

cons:

• aching and headache (though i only felt the aching on the 4th day and headache on the 6th day)
• the taste of ginseng (for those who can't stand the taste of that dreaded root)

my personal opinion:
different people may react differently to external stimuli and supplements. i can safely say i'm quite a hardy beast and can handle high levels of potency. however, for some of you who are weaker, you may feel the full blow of the side effects way earlier. and as for the benefits, trust me, whether you come from ocs or commando, doing the routine i did may just floor you (unless you've been doing it for a few months). for those who are open to natural herbs as a form of supplement (be it for sports or for other activities), you may want to try this out.

for more infor, visit http://www.mentalk2u.com/

a dull day for kindness

i seem to can't wait for mondays and wednesdays to come. cos i get to punch bags and pads of course! and sheesh its only half past three, another 2 more hours till training starts and i just can't wait. sometimes i wish i had training 3 or 4 times a week, at least that'll give me something to do in the evenings. i just can't stand staying at home, doing nothing and essentially stoning during most of my time spent.

recently i had an unpleasant encounter of the worst kind. a rude old inconsiderate lady who refused to hold the lift for me. sheesh. i was fuming mad after i realised she was holding on the the "door close" button from inside. and i must say i looked like a fool pressing the "door open" button repeatedly from the outside.

come to think of it, many of us would experience this quite often. and to be honest, i've always held the lift for someone who seems to be rushing for the door. i can't imagine why the old lady couldn't do the same. maybe she thinks i'm a robber?

so much for the friendly lion that wears a red shirt:

maybe we are still at this phase:
when will we ever learn to change...

addiction of the next order

yesh muay thai is like my drug. seriously. i was truly in pain for the whole of today's training session. my shoulders felts like they had daggers sticking out from them and my triceps felt like they had been cut up into shreds.

i even had problems holding up the kick pads high enough. it felt as though they weigh as heavy as a freaking medicine ball. and when i held up the focus mitts as they were being punched, goodness how my shoulders would scream "AH F*@%!!!" i cant even put my guard up properly... sheesh.

and in the end we did pushups. on a fine and dandy day i can do up to forty in one shot. no kick. i did one today and had my face smacked onto the floor.

yeah, just like a drug. you are hooked, but you just gotta bear the pain that comes after.

thanks for the burpees

bah. yesterday's training was the toughest so far.

it began with a total body warmup, 2 minute interval with as many superman burpees as possible. come to think of it, i should have just done 10 per interval. but i wanted to push, so i did about 25 each.

then came bagwork. by then my shoulders were screaming "NO NO STOP" and i could've swore the bag was laughing at me saying "Is that all you got?" 3 sets of the 3 minute drill.

next was the kicks. my favourite, until it came to "OK, we'll do 100 kicks per leg." i thought it was alright, but by the time we finished with the right round houses, something new was given.

now it was doing punches. 2 sets of 3 minute double jabs, 1 set of 3 minute jab plus hook, 1 set of 3 minute double left hook, and finally ended off with a set of 3 minute straight punch plus uppercut combo. at the end of it all, i had trouble trying to scratch my damn nose.

and eventually, training ended with a kick exercise, kicking each other's arm, gently... right kicks, left kicks, switching kicks...

however i decided to stay on and do an additional 10 minutes worth of bagwork, left jab right hook, left jab straight right, left jab right roundhouse. and now, come to think of it, i shouldn't have done that.

i woke up today, barely able to bend my arms at the elbows. yes, pain, thanks to the superman burpees. gosh i can barely lift up anything even now. so please children, take care of ye hands while they still work fine, who knows you may need then to scratch ye nose or the back of ye neck.

thanks for the burpees ah.

on a lighter note

yes finally it rained today! a good day to laze and daydream but i had to go to NUS for a medical checkup. yes, waste of precious lazing time but oh well...

anyways i got myself new gloves! and wraps too!

who works for free?

all around the world, people are working round the clock. non-stop business meetings, corporate objectives, data entry, computing, and the list just goes on and on. people want to go to work. they want to, and it's not a joke. why would someone want to spend their life away being a slave to the macintosh or notebook, sipping coffee to keep the sleep fairies away, and at the 5 o'clock mark, start rushing home for dinner?

the answer is money.

honestly speaking would you work without money? let's say work for free? if you say yes, i say screw you boy.

it apparently seems that i have issues with many things these days, but the reality behind this is scary but true. there are 3 groups of people in the working class (instead of the blue collar and the white collars and what people normally interpret).

the lowest band are those who never wants to put in any effort in working (i.e. making money) and are contented with trying to eke out a living, support a family and probably do this till they finally expire (by expire i think you know what it means).

the middle band are made up of most of us, those slaves that sit in front of machines, telling machines what to do and earning an average income. average, i emphasise. probably with the average monthly household income of about 6.8k a month, each head would probably contribute an average of 3.4k. wow 3.4k is alot... probably seemed alot when i was in kindergarten but not anymore.

the sad truth about some of these people are that they are contented with their jobs, because they have a steady (and safe) source of income. like any typical singaporean who are afraid of ventures and risks. job security is prime due to the need to raise their children and maintaining a family. in my honest opinion, some of them really do want a pay increment, but just cant be bothered to look elsewhere for opportunities because they have been sitting down on their lazy assess on the comfort zone couch.

and of course the crust, the creme de la creme, made up of top executives (top, i emphasise), CEOs, directors and the list goes on. these are people who work hard and rise up the ladder because they don't want to get pooped on when they have someone else higher up the ladder. either that or it is just a family business that has been handed down. competitive, determination, dedication, hard work, you name it.

and of course i'm looking at us young adults nowadays, probably teens that are entering adulthood. wasting our lives away on short term materialistic ideals and baloney dreams that are thought off on the couch watching serials. i believe that there cannot be any time sooner than now.