my workout and eating plan

if you were to observe the way i lived a year ago and compared it to how i live now, you would probably find it hard to believe that the person you were observing was one and the same. i've completely re-vamped my diet, and more than that i've been trying to change my relationship with food; when one i saw food as an emotional experience, now it is merely something to fuel my body... and if u fuel your body with crap, well then it should be no surprise that the end result is less than satisfactory.

the key change though has got to be the added exercise. i used to be very sedentry. i felt lethargic all the time and shopping used to be my only form of exercise. but now i see my personal trainer din, three times a week for an hour long weight training and ab-work session each. after my session with din, i usually do a 15-20 min cardio session either on the stationary bike, satirmaster or treadmill. din has really helped me because he keeps me motivated by setting me mini goals, in terms of weight, each week. he also pushes me when that added push is necessary. basically he's da man (and as a former winning bodybuider, he has an insane body!)

here we are after one of our sessions, with me looking (and feeling) like a drowned rat.

i also do cardio sessions on my own twice a week. for the moment i've taken up kick boxing to replace one of the abovementioned cardio sessions. that's my rather dapper kickfit trainer ilham, who has been very patient with my rythmically challenged self.usually on the day that i do cardio myself, i either bike or run on the treadmill for half an hour. i find the stairmaster too challenging for such a long cadio session, for the time being at least. so basically i work out 5 days a week, but surprisingly feel a lot more energized. my mother has also mentioned that i'm a lot less grumpy when i've been to the gym.

as for my food i try to limit myself to 1 200 calories a day, that's 300 for the three main meals and then two 150 cal snacks. here's an example of a days meals:

b'fast:

2 slices brown bread

2 teaspons of cottage cheese (basically curdled milk. funky looking but extremely low fat. see below)

2 teaspoons low fat tuna spread

1fruit/ a glass of skim milk

lunch:

1 small bowl rice

1 bowl veg

4 oz(palmsize) meat, chicken or fish

dinner:

grilled meat/chicken with salad/boiled veg/ soup

snacks:

granola bar/low-fat fruit youghurt/ 15 raw almonds/ 1 piece dark chocolate/ diet coke

basically i try not to eat too much at night and don't have any carbs for dinner. i made myself a grilled chicken(marinated with lotsa indian spices) and mixed it into a salad, for a surprisingly satisfying dinner.i've come to realize that its ok to be a little hungry, especially at night. it's singapore after all. i'll eat again in the morning.

chicken salad with balsamic vinegar

cottage cheese: