By LEE TING
What do you think of when you hear health and fitness?
Eating bland food? Going to the gym for hours every day?
For me, it is just a matter of eating moderately and incorporating little exercises into my daily routines.
I am far from the typical gym junkie or a health freak. I dislike running to the core and I have a soft spot for French fries. So it came as a surprise to my friends and family when I signed up for Viper Challenges’ King of the Mountain obstacle race.
The Instigator
After watching previous after-movies I wanted to feel how the participants felt when they crossed the finishing line. I wanted to challenge myself in ways that I normally would not.
The thing with the Viper Challenge was that preparation for the race itself is supposed to be vigorous. I am supposed to be running, doing reps of chin ups and work my core muscles every day.
Instead, I carried on with my life thinking, ‘Well, the race is in September. I still have time before I really need to get moving.’ Time passed and suddenly, the race was in two months.
I needed to step up my game.
Having a Balance
The first step to making my life easier was having meal preps.
Not only is it much healthier; it also saves you money and time.
In meal preps, you control the quantity of food intake and quality of the food.
Counting calories is foreign to me, so I kept to stuff I knew such as pasta, baked chicken, roasted or blanched vegetables and even mashed cauliflower!
The key of it all is to set an amount you will eat at each meal so that you do not overeat. If I have the need to munch, I go for nuts or honey glazed berries.
The best part of meal preps is that you only need to spend a maximum of five hours a week to do groceries, prepare the food and individually pack them.
Then you do not even need to touch the stove or oven and do heavy kitchen cleaning until the next week!
To be fair, I do not believe that you should be so hard on yourself. Yes, you have a particular diet to follow, but that does not mean you cannot try new cafes once in a while. It is all about the balance.
The Work
Just eating healthy was not enough for me, so I began some light exercises.
I believe that gyms can be rather unnecessary when it comes to working out.
As long as you have the basic equipment, you can work out anywhere.
Have you tried stir frying almost six cups of rice on top of the other ingredients? That itself is an arm work out on its own!
I would do a few dumbbell curls or sit-ups while watching TV instead of munching.
This way, the arms are getting a work out, you are getting your daily dose of TV and your mind is far from getting that bag of chips in the cupboard.
These are the little steps that can bring you further.
You will not end up doing this on your own. Keep it up and your friends will be motivated as well. As of today, two of my friends have sought my help in preparing their meal prep.
Trust me when I say this: it gets easier.
Soon enough you will automatically reject food that you know is bad for you. There is no need to slave yourself over machines at gyms that you cannot afford. There is no starving yourself in the process either.
You are at the beginning. You just want to be healthy.
All I am saying is that eating healthy and doing mini exercises is just a start towards a healthier life.
I know it was for me.
What do you think of when you hear health and fitness?
Eating bland food? Going to the gym for hours every day?
For me, it is just a matter of eating moderately and incorporating little exercises into my daily routines.
I am far from the typical gym junkie or a health freak. I dislike running to the core and I have a soft spot for French fries. So it came as a surprise to my friends and family when I signed up for Viper Challenges’ King of the Mountain obstacle race.
The Instigator
After watching previous after-movies I wanted to feel how the participants felt when they crossed the finishing line. I wanted to challenge myself in ways that I normally would not.
The thing with the Viper Challenge was that preparation for the race itself is supposed to be vigorous. I am supposed to be running, doing reps of chin ups and work my core muscles every day.
Instead, I carried on with my life thinking, ‘Well, the race is in September. I still have time before I really need to get moving.’ Time passed and suddenly, the race was in two months.
I needed to step up my game.
Having a Balance
The first step to making my life easier was having meal preps.
Not only is it much healthier; it also saves you money and time.
In meal preps, you control the quantity of food intake and quality of the food.
Counting calories is foreign to me, so I kept to stuff I knew such as pasta, baked chicken, roasted or blanched vegetables and even mashed cauliflower!
The key of it all is to set an amount you will eat at each meal so that you do not overeat. If I have the need to munch, I go for nuts or honey glazed berries.
The best part of meal preps is that you only need to spend a maximum of five hours a week to do groceries, prepare the food and individually pack them.
Then you do not even need to touch the stove or oven and do heavy kitchen cleaning until the next week!
To be fair, I do not believe that you should be so hard on yourself. Yes, you have a particular diet to follow, but that does not mean you cannot try new cafes once in a while. It is all about the balance.
The Work
Just eating healthy was not enough for me, so I began some light exercises.
I believe that gyms can be rather unnecessary when it comes to working out.
As long as you have the basic equipment, you can work out anywhere.
Have you tried stir frying almost six cups of rice on top of the other ingredients? That itself is an arm work out on its own!
I would do a few dumbbell curls or sit-ups while watching TV instead of munching.
This way, the arms are getting a work out, you are getting your daily dose of TV and your mind is far from getting that bag of chips in the cupboard.
These are the little steps that can bring you further.
You will not end up doing this on your own. Keep it up and your friends will be motivated as well. As of today, two of my friends have sought my help in preparing their meal prep.
Trust me when I say this: it gets easier.
Soon enough you will automatically reject food that you know is bad for you. There is no need to slave yourself over machines at gyms that you cannot afford. There is no starving yourself in the process either.
You are at the beginning. You just want to be healthy.
All I am saying is that eating healthy and doing mini exercises is just a start towards a healthier life.
I know it was for me.