Month #20: Gym Defeat

59.4 kilos.

That’s how much I currently weigh right now.

Just 3 months ago I was 63.1 KG and I was 2 kilos shy of the target weight.

Then my stomach problems hit in, and exposed the frauds of my desperate eating habits and shortcuts to gain weight.

This is so far the worst defeat I’ve faced in gym training. Up until now, all I’ve been experiencing were ‘up and up’ moments. Ironically, this is my original objective when I first met my trainer Qunling last year: to burn the fats and lose some weight – back then I thought I should be under 60 kilos.

This week’s work outs were met with set backs as I couldn’t lift my ‘previous high’ weights – didn’t finish my squats even! To think that just a few months ago I trashed all my ex-scout mates at the gym circuit.

Oh well. I’ll be back for sure. Bet on it.

My priority right now is to discipline my eating habits and sleep / awake time. My stomach problems have been capping me on my daily affairs like speaking (more I speak I’d feel nausea), physical activities and meeting friends on outings.

I need to overcome this a.s.a.p. or else I won’t be ready for the speaking circuit!

Gym Training – Month 14 Update

It’s been more than a year since I started training with Qunling! A few months ago, in my attempt to desperately bulk I got myself a date with the stomache specialist.

Doctor said I had an internal injury in the abdomen and while it would heal naturally, I had to watch what I eat.

For a long time, I had to lay off the acid foods or risk vomitting and indigestion. It had been that way for me for almost three years and I didn’t know what the real problem was until now. As a result, not only I ate less than usual (and I am already not a big eater) it sucks not to be able to enjoy my meals.

A bigger intake of vegetables, carrots and tomatoes helped and eventually I was able to get back to my former appetite. Finally!

For the first several weeks, I ate more porridge and dropped ‘rich foods’ like too much cheese and milk; switched to soy milk instead. More than half the time I cook my own meals now.

After the stomache injury, I took up only brisk exercises and later when I got back on my feet, it was back to building muscles again.

Right now my weight stands at 62.7 KG (or nearly 138 pounds). Still aiming to put on another 2 1/2 kilos and I should look just about nice for my body proportion. Body fat percentage went up a bit, from 15.1% to 15.9%. Still acceptable, so long as the muscle mass gain follows.

I spent the most of the first year training to get my body conditioned. Now it’s time to get more ambitious. At this point, I am already able to ‘carry my own weight’ for dead lifts and squats – 4 reps and 8 reps per set respectively.

Got to start training for runs. I’ve signed up for the KL Standard Chartered Marathon which is on 24th June. This will be my first 10KM run in 10 years.

BTW I used this Alkaline Food Charts. You might find this useful too. 🙂

Gym Training – Month 11 Update

Measured again for the first time in 4 months. I had been travelling for the past several months however I managed to keep my training consistent by making up the following week.

Right now I weigh in 60.5 kg, a 2.3 kilo drop since last October. And so is my body fat percentage, now 15.1%! It was 16.4% when I last measured.

However this also means a drop in overall muscle mass.

Which is ironic, considering the past three weeks all the intensive trainings were focused on muscle building workouts.

The hardest part for me isn’t in the training itself; it’s the eating part. I am not a big eater. While my appetite has improved since before I started my training, it was only marginal. I get nauseas easily when I am near full and there were so many embarrassing moments I was struggling not to vomit out my food when I was in public or with friends over a meal.

I wonder if it is a medical condition? To think of it, I got this nauseas problem since 1st January 2009. I remember the exact date because it was also when I started to have chronic eczema. Only months ago the skin problem had dissipated to the point of nearly vanished (still holding my breath on that though). However my nauseas problem remains.

Now I need to gain at least another 4.5 kg to reach 65 kg. Bulking is going to be tough in my nauseas condition, I plan to see the doctors at Pathlab when I go to Johor again for the Chinese New Year holidays. About time anyway – it’s been 3 years since I last went for an overall health check up. I am confident they will strike out ‘high level cholesterol’ this time. 😉

Gym Training 6 Months Later

A quick update on my progress…

It’s been nearly 6 months since I’ve started my training by my personal fitness trainer, Koay Qunling. On the average I train 3 times a week and I’ve not missed a substantial part of the training at all; weeks that I trained twice I would make up the following by training 4 times.

The routines were changed slightly every now and then as seen fit, but generally each training day focuses on a specific body part: chest / back / triceps, legs, and shoulders & biceps.

In the latest measurement, I’ve successfully dropped by body fat percentage to 16.4%! It was 17.2% just one month ago, and before I started my training my body fat level was flirting with the danger of touching nearly 19%. (that’s unhealthy!)

This time’s fat loss came at the expense of 500g of muscle mass, however in the grand scheme of things I’ve definitely put on more than 3 kilos of muscles since the time I started my training while my overall body weight remained consistent. This time I weigh 61.0 KG, just a month ago it was 61.4 KG.

(Back in November 2010 I weigh 64.1 KG – not good because for a long time since high school days I weigh anywhere between 56 – 59 KG!)

Overall appearance right now, my muscles had regressed a bit also owing to dieting and being more selective with my meals. Ultimately, I’m still lean and mean. 😉 In many ways I’m thankful that genetic wise, I’m having it easier than a fat guy in a hurry to cut off dozens of pounds. I don’t have much body fats to lose to begin with.

I figure this would be the best time to put my BEFORE and AFTER photo really. While I can post my results as of now, I realized I’ve accidentally deleted my BEFORE photos that were taken back in November last year… damn!

Seriously, that would have made posting my current photo more meaningful. It would had been really awesome and feel good to see I lost a lot of that flabs around the tummy and how the chest and triceps hardened since!

Oh well. Right now, training is going another notch up. Weights are still going up with each set I take in, the reps are anywhere from 10 to 20 each, and running the treadmill in between is now 60 seconds instead of 30. This is where I burnt most of my body fats, in spite of it being one of my most hated workouts, the other being dead lift!

Until the next gym training results…