I always challenge my body in every movement possible, be it climbing on the gates of my home when I've forgotten my card or basically moving in a way i barely move in, and this have made me notice certain tightness at different areas of the body, the human body never seem to get me thinking on how this has occurred, maybe i carry my bag more on one side, maybe i played netball for a very long time, maybe i got the wrong shoes i was 12, or maybe sitting is really that bad.

I still find this movements challenging without any weights being used, therefore stick to body weight and perform 10-12 repetition on each legs for 3sets, as for a static exercise hold for 2 minutes.

Compared to basic forward lunges, the primary difference with a lateral lunge is that during the exercise, you lunge toward the side rather than forward. You start in the same position, standing straight up with your feet shoulder-width apart, arms down at your sides. Take a big step to one side, lunging down and putting most of your weight on your leading leg. Lower yourself down until the thigh of your trailing leg is nearly parallel to the floor, always keeping your toes pointing forward during the exercise. Return to your starting position, then repeat on the other leg.(citation)

pretend that you are reaching out for a chair at the side of the room.

Whenever i begin training a new client i am always impressed to those that can get into this position and if they cannot sit down in this position comfortable, i would try to fix it until they reach deep down in a squat position, this is by far the most natural state of sitting, remember those days that you had to squat to take a poo?

If you find holding the position a challenge, place something heavy in front of you and slowly find your balance, but always make sure you're feet is pressed firmly on the ground.

Due to work and working out, my hair is usually in the messiest bun, a pony tail or really tight plaids, i wish i could let it down more often for healthier roots and hair, having it up weakens my hair, and the amount of hair that falls when i shower, scare the crap out of me. I am blessed to have a really good salon look after my hair and i trust my hair stylist Nicky from Black Hair Salon to do whatever he wants to my hair, but of course i can't have salon blown hair everyday!

Why are girls even guys are crazy about hair? because it frames our face and i love my hair big, I love having volume in my hair, it makes it appear more healthy than having hair that is flat, and you know when you watch Victoria Secret, their hair walks with them with a never ending bounce, imagine if they had their hair bun with lingerie, hmm. well i can't either.

Thanks to the people from Hairstylers.Asia for sending me my very own BabyBliss Big Hair.
I have never manage to blow dry my hair with a comb and a blow dryer, actually wait a minute i do not own a comb. This baby works like magic, think about doing 2 things at a time and i can do it from the comfort of my own home.

i prefer using BabyBliss Big Hair on towel dry hair therefore i do not need that long to completely dry my entire hair, but i am sure you can achieve more result if you split your hair in partings and curl it separately. 

It is so light that it is coming with me for my trip to Bali next month.

There is 3 settings altogether, cold air, medium and hot, and 2 buttons at the top for which direction the curler spins, it was confusing at first and got my hair all over the place but with a little practice i got the hang of it, if you want your hair to curl inward then you place the curler inwards. 

this is the best part for the brush it gave my fringe volume instantaneously, especially ladies with fringe who finds it hard to style , this brush does the work for you. 

with a little more time spend, i manage to get my hair sitting the way i want it to be, also it made my hair shinny due to the bristle of the brush.

use the code TENOFF AT www.hairstyler.asia for a 10 percent if you want to get your hands on one of this Babybliss, also check out the other range of product they sell, the delivery service is amazing, head to their website now.

Have you seen the latest movie, EDGE OF TOMORROW? I'm definitely not a fan of Tom Cruise but I watched it because of Emily Blunt! Damn! Her body looks so lethal that I feel bad munching on my popcorn but finished it anyways.

Recently Hollywood have been celebrating strength in women. Not just skinny bodies with a pretty face, but actual celebrities who put in hard work for their roles.
 So I spoke to her personal trainer. Okay, just kidding. Being a personal trainer, I know the amount of hard work she had to put in to achieve that body. And yes, it may take longer for most of us but make that journey count! I want to look badass like Rita Vratask, or maybe just half of her.


Before we dedicate time for some arm exercises that you can do at home with a water bottle or with weights at the gym, let's talk about 3 pointers that would help you increase your progress

1) Nutrition
Stick to unprocessed food, ensuring that you get protein in every meal, keep your meat lean,and ensure that you eat the whole plantation of green leafy vegetable, if you are hungry and need a snack  reach out for healthier option such as nuts or vegetable sticks, and also drink loads of water. 


2) Exercise 
Yes Emily Blunt trained 6days a week, 2 and the half hours a day but not all of us have that luxury, so dedicate 20 minute everyday - doing something challenging, throw in some stairs sprints and interval trainers at home and another 40 minutes being active and on the move, like take more toilet breaks , stand and walk around, do some stretches, do some squat at your desk or some table push up, just so you know, i am not responsible if you do get weird stares : ) 


3) Increase of activity 
Make every minute you have active, if you are not rushing, take the longer route, take the stairs, walk your dog, play sports with your friends or when you go shopping, try to increase your walking speed. 

Here's some exercises you can do for her svelte upper body.^^
3-4 sets 
10-15 reps
you can choose to finish 1 exercise first and move on to the other or challenge yourself to do exercise number 1-4 without much rest and repeat, 
exercise number 5 is basically to challenge you, do as many reps as you can with good form until failure.


for push up, there's 2 option, feel free to pick which ever works for you.

pick a weight that you can do 10 reps and the last 2-5 reps are tough but do-able or even start off with a pair of water bottles!

Two days ago i recalled i had a wedding to attend and i had to google to read on people's first experience of a Malay wedding. I even had to question my friends in regards to what i should do or wear upon attending to one, trust me i've had my underdressed and overdressed moments at wrong event, mostly over dressed, but now i am always prepared when i have to attend anything important.


ATTIRE

Dress well even if the location is below the void deck , it doesn't matter, dressing up is a form of respect for the people attending that event and for the bride and groom. Obviously if the wedding is in the hotel then don't be to slack, wear something formal, just like how you are attending a chinese wedding, therefore dress for the location.

Malay's are very extravagant, classy and yet modest, therefore try not to show to much skin, a simple dress that graces the knees or a maxi dress for ladies and for men jeans or pants and shirt would suffice for location below the void deck, just because a wedding is below the void deck is doesn't give you a reason to come in shorts and shirts and slippers, marriage is a grand occasion, wherever the location may be.


WHAT TO DO ?

Upon arrival don't just go find a seat, find the parent of groom and bride and congratulate them and introduce yourself after which then you find a seat.

oh oh eat! there is  no wrong of right ways to eat, you can either  attack the dessert, go for a second serving or eat the whole pot of nasi briyani, i don't think anyone would have much of an issue, but let me warn you, malay food is so tasty, especially all the lontong and rendang and if you never had them before and have a weak stomach, go easy on spicy and coconut laden dishes, but come on its malay cuisine!!

When then brides and groom arrive what to do ? nothing really ! eat some more or watch the performance that is being put up.



HOW MUCH TO GIVE?

So how much to give? give according to the location also and how close  you are to the brides and groom, please don't give 20 bucks if your invited to a 5 star hotel for a Malay Wedding because thats the norm if they celebrate it below the void deck, i am sure you are smart enough to do your math and how to cover cost like that! 

i really had fun even though i was covered in sweat i had amazing company and witness 2 beautiful people in matrimony.

Friend A: Jasmine I’m still single, find me a girl!!!

Me:Let me tell you why, because you’re staring at you’re phone while walking all the time, even is Jennifer Lawrence walked by you would have miss the opportunity.

That was my recent conversation with a friend, well someone else reminded me to live in the present and to absorb the surrounding that to stare at my phone and share my experience with the world or a cute butt photo of two, or taking 10minutes to pick a filter!! I am guilty of over sharing my life and I know I would still do it tomorrow but at times I wish I was off facebook and had no instragram to keep up with, its addictive once you get hooked on to social media.

Even after yoga class, the first thing I see what people do if reach out for their phones.

I mean come on! it provides us human with a connection like no other, we clearly do not need to ask “how are you?” or “what are you doing?” anymore its all there, I post a photo of what I’ve eaten on instagram, check in where I am at on four square and shared a link of  YouTube videos what I am watching on Facebook. It is by far a fabricated sense of connection.

Do social media changes us ? definitely, for better or for worst, only we could answer that.

Will I ever delete my facebook again for 4 years or so ? yea why not, I mean realistically my real friends are barely on facebook, but it is the simples way to reach out to everyone.
___________________
What’s not so great is that all this technology is destroying our social skills. Not only have we given up on writing letters to each other, we barely even talk to each other. People have become so accustomed to texting that they’re actually startled when the phone rings. It’s like we suddenly all have Batphones. If it rings, there must be danger. 

Now we answer, “What happened? Is someone tied up in the old sawmill?”

“No, it’s Becky. I just called to say hi.”

“Well you scared me half to death. You can’t just pick up the phone and try to talk to me like that. Don’t the tips of your fingers work?” 
― Ellen DeGeneres, Seriously... I'm Kidding
Here’s some photos of my last weekend :*

some of my meals that you can use as an idea!
1) salmon, brown rice, asparagus and eggs
2)eggs and mangos
3)baked garlic chicken 
4)more salmon

i've never seen a fat Japanese, unless if they stay in singapore haha.

Catching up with Wany is always productive and in our workout clothes always.

As you know it I'm a self proclaim Nike girl, a broke one too after every shopping spree, i remember my brother bought me my first pair of nikes when i was 12 and I've never looked back, i wish i took photos of every one of them that served me well, and they did! i wear my sneakers everywhere to class to netball training, sprinting to the gym, i even wore some till i could feel the floor, my 4.0 depreciated to a 1.0 and i still didn't want to throw it away because finding the right pair of shoe is not easy, every single time i had to throw it away because I've fully utilised it, my heart cringe just a little knowing that i spend so much life experience with them. sad but true, no one would understand unless you live in your sneakers!

So a little enlightenment for today is knowing which model to pick for your Nikes, my favourite range is of course the Nike Free not only because they are so light, but i like being grounded to the ground especially when i do my exercise. A good pair of shoes could make you or break you while lifting weights, for those who take weight lifting more seriously I've suggest that you opt for weight lifting shoes but darling they are not the prettiest mind you but hey for me Nike Free works like magic, it doesn't have too much of a cushioning that you feel like your on the balls of your foot a lot, i love the 3.0 and 4.0 range, it would be different for everyone, this is not a paid article, i just love sharing what have worked for me.

taken from Nike.com

NIKE FREE BENEFITS
Allowed freedom, your toes will flex and grip, setting off a natural chain that exercises muscles normally neglected in traditional footwear.

Exercising these muscles allows athletes to achieve small performance benefits, adding millimeters to a vertical leap or shaving milliseconds off a race time while strengthening key stabilizer muscles that help prevent injury.

The outsoles of Nike Free shoes feature siping (deep slices) and reverse flex grooves to encourage flexion and extension in both directions. With a lightweight, seamless upper atop the flexible outsole, Nike Free shoes merge the natural, healthy motion of a bare foot with the protection of traditional footwear.


DIFFERENCES BETWEEN NIKE FREE 3.0, 4.0 AND 5.0
In the Nike Free continuum, the lower the number in a shoe’s name, the closer it is to barefoot running. On the continuum, 10.0 represents conventional footwear while zero represents the bare foot.

top photo credit: Kc ENG

When i had to visit the chiropractor for postural reason, he insisted i spend 20 min a day rowing, (say what!!) trust me it bore me to death for the first couple of times, no upbeat music could save me to the long rowing cycle i had to do.  I recalled my days in Crossfit Singapore we would row for calories or time after which i would jump into a double under or burpees and my legs was just in agony, who would have thought that rowing required more works from the legs and the arms are basically follow through. I still hate rowing trust me but i get all my clients to do it and ensure they perform in the most efficient manner, because at the end of the day rowing is an exercise like every other exercise that the drive comes from the legs and the arms are just there to finish the movement, days when i feel lazy and standing upright is such i put my ass on the rowing machine and row for 5 min ensuring that every row I'm sitted tall and my back is engage! before giving it a try do read the 17 tips below taken from one of my favourite website. www.breakingmuscle.com

row away folks

The 17 Commandments of Rowing

1. Don’t grip too hard – Don’t hold on so hard to the handle. Keep enough grip to not lose the handle, but also not so much that you wear out your hands, have achy forearms, and tear up your palms.

2. Drive with your legs – Rowing is mostly about your legs. Despite your natural instincts, your legs are far stronger than your arms and should be doing the vast majority of the work. Your quads and booty should be toasted after a hard rowing workout.

3. Imagine you’re doing a clean – If you don’t know how to perform this lift properly, don’t imagine this. Imagining doing a clean won’t help in that case.

4. Legs, hips, arms, arms, hips, legs – This is the sequence of rowing. If you reorganize this list, it doesn’t work.

5. Drive straight back – If you feel yourself lift off the seat, or tragically, you pop off the seat and land on the rail, it is because you are pushing UP instead of back. Push straight back.

6. Don’t let your butt go solo – Don’t shoot your butt back first. Keep your core engaged throughout the stroke; the angle of your back should not change as you drive with your legs. Said another way, the handle should travel in sync with your seat for the initial leg drive portion of the stroke.



7. Don’t pull with your arms – Keep your elbows straight as you drive your legs. It’s about your legs, not your arms. As soon as your arms bend, you’ve lost the ability to translate power from your legs.

8. Keep your elbows relaxed – Don’t lift up your elbows at your sides. Don’t artificially tuck them in, either. Keep them relaxed at a natural angle and don’t make chicken wings.

9. Don’t shrug your shoulders up – Don’t pull your shoulders UP into your ears as you drive back in the stroke. Instead, imagine you are pulling your shoulder blades together behind you.

10. Pull the handle to the bottom of your ribs – For the ladies, you want to pull the handle to the bottom of your sports bra. For the men, pretend you’re wearing a sports bra.

11. Sit up tall at all times – Hinge at the hips and keep good posture, like a good morning or a deadlift. Lift your chest up. Don’t let your lower back or shoulders collapse. Be relaxed, but with good posture.

12. Imagine your upper body like a pendulum – Okay, maybe an upside down pendulum. More like a needle ticking back and forth between 11:00 and 1:00 on a clock face. At the “catch” or beginning of the stroke, right before you drive back, you should be leaned forward at the 1:00 position. At the “finish” or far end of the stroke, when your legs are fully extended, you should lean back to the 11:00 position.

13. Feel the connection through your feet – The whole way through the drive you should feel a solid connection between the balls of your feet and the footplates.

14. Don’t re-bend your knees too soon – As you start to return forward in your stroke, your knees need to remain straight until the handle is above your mid-shin. Hinge at the hips, sit up tall, and wait (just like with a deadlift) until the bar has passed your knees to re-bend them.



15. Don’t slam the seat into your heels – As you continue to move forward and return to the start of the stroke, you should stop when your shins are perpendicular to the ground and your heels are curled up off the footplates, but your seat should never run into your feet.

16. Breathe properly – Exhale as you drive back; inhale as you recover forward.

17. Focus on consistent steady movement– You are the master of the numbers on the computer screen, not the victim of them. Steady consistent movement will be more efficient. Remember you are on the “water” – smooth movement is rewarded. Smooth movement is fast and efficient. Jerky movements make waves and flip boats.

The truth is, when you increase your proficiency and technique at rowing; when you pump up the music, close your eyes, and drive off hard, imagining your boat lifting up out of the water, and that the air from the fan is the ocean breeze; when you imagine yourself in sync with a boatful of unstoppable forces, and you are the master of the moment…well, when that happens, rowing is pretty awesome. Hopefully these tips help YOU find that moment.


photo credit: derrick say and kin lee say.

Last Friday right after yoga i rushed of to 7 CYCLE to experience my first cycling class or spinning class, call it whatever you want, it wasn't a cycle in the park i gave it my all or all my quads that almost collapse on my way down the stairs when i was heading back, embarrassing much. Now i understand why all my cyclist friends have powerful legs and amazing calves, my calves are non existence. 

The closest Mrt stop is Tanjong Pagar or Raffles Place, its a distance to walk but hey its a good warm up before class starts, 7 cycle sits on the first storey of a three level shop house and as you step in you can't help but notice the brick walls and comfy sitting area and friendly staff! cute even! They handed me a pair of cycling shoe also know as cleats and a locker key and made me fill up a couple of forms so after my spinning class they could email me what i m have done in class.

oh I'm a sucker for toilets and locker rooms, i get gross out if the floor is grimy and slippery. You definitely do not need to squint for your locker numbers like every other gyms i go to, i have to scan through every locker to find mine. I love the fact there is both a rain shower and a handheld option, if you had long hair you would understand, the toilet is spacious and also supplied hair clips and bobby pins just in case, I seem to lose them a lot, they just disappear , I'm sure you can relate to me if you do use them, they seem to have magic disappearing powers and you never seem to be able to find them.

My mouth is always itchy, Hic-juice happened to sit on the second story of this quint shop house and i couldn't help but get a bottle, no idea what i drank paid 8 bucks for it, i believe the price is due to the fact that the fruits used was organic, so if you think its expensive feel free to make your own juice.

So i got on my bike! couldn't help but stared at my outfit and everyone else's that light up due to the neon light in the room, the instructors fix me up according to my height in a jiffy and taught me how to place my cleats on the bike. 

How many bikes in a class? a lot! but it was spacious, i didn't had to fight for space and did not get drench in someone else's sweat.  Oh oh i was excited about this little box on my bike that basically was used to calculated my workload throughout and too estimate if i was giving my all, it was easy to know which pace to work comfortable and which pace to go all out when Hann Sern(instructor of the day) gave us numbers in RPM to find out pace, so high tech can! when did cycling get so high tech it even would graph my cycling pace for that day and send me in a form of a graph. 

45 minutes later i survived! there was a couple of 30 second upslope that i wanted to stop pedding after 20 second but my legs pulled me through when i saw everyone else was in it with me! the class did not feel like 45 mins at all! make me sit on a stationery bike in the gym, trust me i'll leave in 3 minutes, 5minutes if I'm lucky or theres a cute guy nearby,just kidding. I get bored when it comes on cardio,i don't do any cardio besides walking while traveling, but spinning proved me wrong, the songs carried me forward and Hann Sern made the entire journey not only a physical one but also we had to connect with our inner self and translated that to energy to pave our way through class, we did hill sprints, a friendly competition between two teams in the spinning studio and also a lot of intervals that got me massaging my quads every moment we got a break.

I got my heart rate up and panting for my breath, at the end of the class i felt accomplished cycling for that long! if it wasn't for a spinning class, it would be impossible to work that hard on a bike. 

Will i do it again ? Certainly i enjoy different activities thats challenging and also test the capability of my body. Its the energy within the class and the music sure do play apart! 
So keep calm and pedal on! 

visit 
7 cycle at  Boon Tat Street Singapore 069623
or click here to check out their website.

I can't believe 3 months just passed by with some of the best people i came across along this journey.People always ask me why i like to join pageant and why do i do all this silly competition, to be honest its like a challenge doing something out of my comfort zone,also i learn more about myself and what i am capable of, yes  i still don't read hyper text mark up language( HTML) but hey i started my blogging journey altogether, got my piece together and was more interested in technology more than ever, definitely made me grow as an individual and that is better than winning to me. Oh and its also so much fun dressing up,being girly ,hanging out with Limaran, at the end of the day I'm still a little girl :)

Thank you everyone for your support and enjoy the photos from my Canon G16 below. still eyeing on a DSLR, recommendations anyone?

Hair doesn't make the women, but good hair definitely helps.

Its only been a month with the team of Black Hair Salon, Nicky my hair dresser never fail to impress me each time I see him, I asked for a simple side sweep and be even made braids that i didn't even notice until i took a photo.

Its definitely a  blessing to have an opportunity to have good hair for every event.

Look no further if you are finding a hair salon that's affordable yet uses the best quality products in the market.

 VISIT BLACK HAIR SALON
THE BENCOOLEN (OPPOSITE OG)
180 BENCOOLEN STREET, #01-28 S(189646)

OPERATING HOURS: 
MON - SAT: 11:00 AM - 8:30 PM
SUN: 11:00 AM - 6:30 PM

TEL: 6835 9976

NEAREST MRT BUGIS, BELOW IS THE IMAGE OF THE BUILDING

**MENTION MY NAME TO GET 10% ON HAIR CARE SERVICES **

they don't just make my hair pretty! check out the other bloggers below, i don't think i could pull of purple and blue but dang it look so good reminds me of my little pony.