Diet and Fitness For Women

Bukit timah hill up the stairs

weight — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 10:28:14 +0000

Hill climbing is a favourite family activity – for my folks at least. Normally, we use the road – the gravel paved slope – all the way to the summit.

Today, my kids ran up the stairs. They wanted something new. More adventurous.

The steps are of varying steepness. Most about knee high. The kids scaled the steps much more easily than I’d expected. We got to the summit faster than usual.

Had our picnic, relaxing on the grass as usual. Shook a huge black ant off my shoe. Watch out for those ants.

I walked down the slope hand in hand with my man, when our kids were busy yakking and playing along the way.. until they got bored and charged between us.

That’s a fun calorie-burning way to spend an evening.

Champagne Grapes – a delicious healthy snack

weight — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 13:12:21 +0000

Being on a diet doesn’t mean giving up sweets.

Nature has provided us with a wealth of desserts. There are grapes – fruit for kings.
And there are champagne grapes. The king of grapes.

These tiny grapes are the sweetest, juiciest grapes I’ve ever eaten. You can just nibble them right off the vine.

Refreshing, bursting with divinely sweet juice.. these yummy sweets make great healthy snacks too.

Did I mention they are rich in antioxidants?

You know how red wine is good for the heart. All that antiaging goodness without the dangerous alcohol is found in the skin of the grapes.

Vitamins, fiber, minerals. Who knew sweets could be such healthy snacks?

Who needs candy when you’ve got champagne grapes.

Scaling the vertical kampong

weight — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 12:04:51 +0000

Once upon a time, most Singaporeans lived in kampongs. Kids were rarely fat as play was synonymous with physical activity.

Soccer, playing catch and running around the kampong visiting friends in the area was the norm.

Everyone knew everyone else in the kampong. Neighbours were neighbourly.

Now, most Singaporeans live in HDB flats. Doors are closed most of the time and lifts that bring you right to your floor reduces the need for exercise.

Kids spend most of their time sitting in front of the computer – their main source of entertainment.

This sedentary lifestyle leads to an increase in obesity.

That need not be the norm. You can treat the building as a vertical kampong. Instead or running to and fro between houses, use the stairs.

On rainy days or when I wake up too late to run, I climb up and down the stairs continually for an hour.

I bring my kids with me at times, admiring how our neighbours above and below us decorate their homes with plants. We treat our climbs as tours around the neighbourhood, the greenery being potted plants of all sorts.

Some grow ferns, others orchids, some even grow vegetables ourside their flats which they then harvest for their meals.

With a little imagination, stair climbing can be fun.

Hiking up the tallest hill

weight — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 06:04:28 +0000

Working out alone can get boring. Why not rope in your family. All can get in shape together.

Where I live, there aren’t any mountains to climb. Our tallest hill, Bukit Timah hill is the highest peak available to scale.

It’s more a tourist attraction with a gravelled road that spirals up the hill, the top of which has a wooden shelter and a nice plain of grass where families have their picnics, or gatherings.

A place where one can commune with nature.

There are many ways to burn those calories. Hiking up a hill is one of them. Stopping to watch the squirrels, laughing at the antics of the monkeys, observing majestic trees, shy butterflies and interesting flowers makes the journey fun. Before you know it, you’ve reached the top. How many calories did you burn without realizing it?

More fun than the treadmill IMHO.

The path isn’t lighted up so do your hiking up and down the hill during the day. It is, after all, a tropical rainforest, with all its wildlife. Not somewhere you’d want to spend the night. Bring along a bottle of water and some light snacks and a mat and you can enjoy a picnic when you reach the peak.

Then make your way down the path.

You could go through the sandy trails and climb the steeper paths if you are more adventurous. As I always go with my kids we take the familiar paved route.

Heel Pain

weight — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 13:34:15 +0000

My heel hurts. The pain is intermittent and only happens when I walk after sitting for hours or when I get up in the middle of the night.

After walking for a while, I’m fine. I even go for 10k runs and hike up hills regularly. Then back in the office, I limp around.

Maybe that’s the problem. Running too much?

But I love running. The euphoria, that sense of freedom I get during a good run is something I look forward to each weekend.

The thought of having to miss my runs was pretty depressing, which was partly why I ignored the pain and refused to see a doctor about it. A friend talked some sense into me. She was an exercise enthusiast too.. who ignored a similar problem, which led to overcompensating on the other leg, affecting that one as well.

To avoid my situation from getting worse, I went to the polyclinic. A referral from a polyclinic to see a physiotherapist leads to subsidised rates for every session. A huge savings which makes the long wait worth it.

The doctor checked my foot. Inflammation of the heel. Bone spur growth.. or something along that line. Cause — high heel shoes. Usual suspect — walking long distances on high heel shoes.

Solution — stop wearing high heel shoes.

I was so relieved. I’d rather give up high heel shoes than to stop running altogether.

She gave me the referral to a physiotherapist. As for running — no problem.

Doctor says I can continue running as much as I want, as far as I’d like. Just stop wearing those heels.

Choosing your running shoes

weight — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:35:34 +0000

When you run, you place 3 times your body weight on your landing foot. How many steps do you take with each run?

Our feet turn in (pronate) as they land, to distribute the force and protect the legs.
Yes, you can run barefoot, but a good pair of running shoes goes a long way in protecting the feet.

Running shoes serve to

Cushion the feet and absorb the shock
Support the feet to prevent them from turning in too much, as may be the case in overpronation.

Choosing running shoes is basically about comfort and fit.

Asics and New Balance have pretty good running shoes. I personally prefer Nike Air.

What’s more important is the comfort and fit of the shoe.

How do you choose a pair of running shoes?

Bring along a pair of running socks when you go shoe hunting
Pick the shoes you like
Try them with your running socks on. The width should fit nicely while the length may be slightly longer than your normal shoes, but never too short.
The arch of the shoe should fit your fit.
Walk around in them. Are they comfortable?

Take your time to choose a pair of comfortable running shoes that cushion and support your feet well.

Foot Pronation

If you are a serious runner, you might want to pick shoes according to whether your feet over pronate, under pronate or have normal pronation.

This cartoon video explains normal pronation, over pronation and under pronation.

If you suffer from knee pain when you run, it might be time to change your running shoes.
Overpronation can lead to knee pain.
A pair of running shoes that provide good support will prevent overpronation and address that knee pain.

Your running shoes do have a lifespan. When they are worn out, even if they still look ok on the outside, the support structure within may no longer be so effective. If you’ve been using your running shoes for months, and then your knees begin to feel uncomfortable while running, it may well be time to get a new pair of running shoes.

Running warm up exercises

weight — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 09:33:11 +0000

When I started running, I was complacent. Never bothered with warm up exercises as I thought they were a waste of time. My left foot hurts intermittently. I know of too many runners who stopped because of injuries and I hope to avoid that. Want to be able to run for as long as I can as I really love the sport. The runner’s high is something I’m hooked onto. The endorphins – euphoria that accompanies accomplishing a good run is something I don’t want to miss out on.

I’m going for my run in a while. Before I leave, I’d like to share with you these warm up exercises I found, which I’m gonna try before my evening run.

Try these stretching warm up exercise before your next run.

Enjoy!

Fat to fight the belly bulge

weight — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 07:27:40 +0000

I couldn’t believe this at first, when I read about it in Shape magazine, August 2010 issue.

A study in Diabetes Care showed that people who got 23% of their daily calories from monosaturated fat had 5 pounds less belly fat than people who ate more carbs and less fat than them.

Avocados are rich in monosaturated fat.

Wanna reduce belly fat?
Instead of mayonnaise or cheese, use avocado.

You know how fat gathers in the middle as you get older?

Switch to monosaturated fat to reverse that trend.

A word of caution though. Fat is still fat and too much of it will make you gain weight.

Everything in moderation. Half an avocado a day (115 calories 10 grams of fat) should suffice.

Running Tips – Good running form

weight — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 05:16:23 +0000

I signed up for 2 10k races. To be honest, I have never trained seriously. To me, a run is just, put on my running shoes, hit the track and just run.

Actually, the way you run is important too. How you propel yourself forward for maximum efficiency, how to run to minimize injuries — it all boils down to good running form.

Here’s a video that explains how to maintain a good running form.

Yummy lunch at O’briens

weight — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:28:58 +0000

I was all set to hit the gym when my buddy popped over with the magic word: O’briens?

Oh wow. Thoughts of my favourite wrap, bursting with flavour and so rich in antioxidants and omega 3 and 6 shoved all thoughts of gym out of my mind.

We found a cozy spot at o’briens. I like the ambience. It’s a conducive place for hanging out an chatting with pals.

There, I got my favourite make your own sandwich. In my case it’s a wrap. Less carbo, less flour to dilute the taste. Mine was smoked salmon, sun dried tomatos, avocado and olives. Tangy, salty, sweet and tasty to the extreme.

Nutrient wise, its got omega in the salmon, vitamins a,c and e in the avocado and lycopene in tomatos. With olives that are rich in good lipid and vitamin e to boot.

Actually it’s the taste I love. The talk about nutrients is to justify the price.

That went beautifully with a cup of hot chocolate topped with a marshmallow.

My pal had her vgetarian sandwich with humus.

The company’s cool. We ate our fave sandwiches and had that girl talk that keeps us sane. These are the little pleasures in life I look forward to during the week. Beats hitting the treadmill solo each day.