Due to my endometriosis, I had put on a lot of weight suddenly and it has been a struggle to keep it stable and losing the excess is of course, a lot harder.

Thus, I decided to do something about it and I turned to Su Lee of Look Good, Feel Great Always for a consultation. Su Lee is a trained chemist, working for other industries for 20 years before becoming a wellness coach but because of her chemist background, she studies how food affects the body in a cellular and chemical way.

After an initial meet up, Su Lee asked me to track my food and drink intake (including water) for 3 days in a sheet that she gave to me. After 3 days, I dutifully handed it to her and waited for a couple more days before she could evaluate and meet me for the proper consultation.

Su Lee explaining to me about my diet

So...I was very nervous about the results because although I keep telling myself that I'm eating well (stop thinking that eating well = eating a lot), it's hard to hear what a professional would say about my diet.

Talking about sugar levels and insulin plus fat cells

As expected, my calorie input and output are almost the same. This means that my portioning is good! Personally, I feel that Fitbit has really helped me out on this. However, Su Lee said that I wasn't drinking enough water (oops). What does it mean when you're not drinking enough water? Your body doesn't flush out as much toxins as it should and as a result, it remains in your blood stream until it has the chance to be flushed out and naturally, this taxes your kidneys and liver. Also, I was not eating enough fibre. I do need to load up on fruits and vegetables while continuing to eat meats that are low in fat. Phew! Looks like my tons of research into crafting my diet is paying off! I just need to be a wee bit more conscientious but I told Su Lee that it's really difficult when I'm eating most meals out and breakfast seems to be the only meal that I can control.

Next came out her 'special' weighing machine, which measures not just weight but also skeletal muscle, fat and water in one's body. Reminds me of the machine that I use in my gym!

After taking my weight and comparing what Su Lee's scale churned out against what my gym's machine churned out, the conclusion is that I do have a bit of water retention issue (not drinking enough water) and (duh) I have excess fats.

Since I'm not eating excessively and I do know what I'm eating, I just need a bit of help and so, Su Lee recommended the following:

I got a box which contains 60 packets and will last me for 30 days if I faithfully take 2 packets a day. In addition to this, Su Lee also suggested that I take probiotics to help replace the bad bacteria in my intestines with good ones because this will aid digestion and the body's natural detoxification process.

What I liked about this probiotics is that it tastes like berries while containing the same amount of probiotics when compared to those pills that your doctor prescribes to you after you've had a bout of diarrhoea. Moreover, it contains a lot less sugar than most probiotic drinks out there. If you're lactose intolerant, this is a much better substitute to yoghurt.

I will be blogging about my journey on this new diet regime so please stay tuned for updates! If you'd like to start on the same plan (it's all natural so there's no adverse effects), you can purchase the items accordingly:

Full Set (Bios Life Slim + Shaker + Probionic) S$178

 

Bios Life Slim + Shaker S$140

 

Probiotic $43

 

Please note that all prices are before shipping and GST.

If you would like to book a consultation with Su Lee, her consultation charges are as follows:
1 month - $200
3 months - $400

The consultancy includes an initial meet up, 1 hour face-to-face analysis and recommendation for diet and exercise as well as follow up. All appointments can be booked through Pásshen!

It's October, which means...let the countdown to my birthday begin! So annually, I do have a wishlist (sometimes a none-wishlist) and this year is no different! As I often say, it's not narcissistic or demanding of me to have a wishlist. It's more like friends and family do not know what to get for me and so, I'm simply letting them know what I DO want. When you were a child, didn't you tell your parents what toys you'd like to get for your birthday/Christmas? Same thing.

So...my birthday wishlist for this year is:

1. Ownday Computer Glasses in pink
2. Sponsorship for Hello Kitty Run
3. Sponsorship for 2 weeks of my gym membership
4. Everyone to sign up as a member of Pásshen and put in S$10 credit (LOL) OR sign up for one of the workshops in the upcoming Beauty Week.
5. Vouchers from Sephora/ Zara/ H&M/ iTunes

Yup, that's about it. The usual NO hand/body lotion, photo frames, accessories and soaps apply.

Entrance of Strala Yoga and their smaller studio "easy"

I visited Strala to discuss about Pásshen's upcoming Beauty Week and Jo was nice enough to invite me down for her Core Strengthening yoga session! I like how bright and cheerful the front of shop feels and when I went upstairs to their "Nice" studio, I was glad to know that they've got an outdoor deck where they have outdoor yoga sessions! Too bad the haze forced them to cancel them for this month. :(

Jo from Strala Yoga at their outdoor deck

Strala Yoga started in New York in 2008 by Tara Stiles, a model who is now a renowned celebrity yoga guide, who has been named as the "Yoga Rebel" by New York Times, and has been voted as the "Coolest Yoga Instructor" by Vanity Fair and "Top 100 Most Influential People in Health and Fitness" by Greatest. I found out why during my session as Jo explained that at Strala, they don't do chanting, nor light incense (although they have essential oils purifying the room) and they play contemporary music throughout the whole session.

So while we were doing the yoga session (which was really intense btw) and I was struggling with some of the poses, we somehow talked about how yoga isn't about comparing oneself to the other person in the room (although there were none that day) but about self growth.

In my year of practicing yoga, I've seen so many instructors and they come in all shapes and sizes. A few of them even have muffin tops over their pants! However, all of them are strong, flexible and can out last a lot of cross-fit folks whom I see attempting yoga in my classes. Even for weak old me, I can hold certain poses longer than some people who go to my yoga classes although you'd clearly think that they're fitter than me when you see their well defined, muscular arms.

No judgement. Everyone is different and my take on it is that in modern society, we are caught up with what the ideal athlete should look like - lean and with as little fat as possible. Doesn't help that with social media, loads of photos with people doing incredibly difficult poses #yogaporn are popping up everywhere.

However, the aim of yoga is really about knowing your body better and just working towards making yourself stronger and healthier. You create your own objective and 'space' as seen in the photo above. That's also Strala's philosophy in yoga, where everyone is allowed to feel free, creative and inspired throughout the whole session. Jo kept telling me to feel free to sway from side to side, which was very different from all other yoga sessions that I've attended previously.

Happy that I survived the session!

Do what's comfortable to you and learn when to stop. As I was recovering from a bout of stomach flu, I got really dizzy at the end and had to lie down. Jo then helped massage me a little and even used some essential oils to help me recover. She said that in Strala, they are also trained in massage and that makes sense because asana (or poses) actually translates to "to sit" and yoga was formed to train students/warriors on how to comfortably sit for long periods of time. If you're at the limit, don't stress out and just admit that you've hit your limit and then work towards pushing it.

Constantly evolving. We also talked about how Strala Yoga has incorporated some Taiji movement into the poses. I think Master Sim from Wu Tu Nan would be quite glad to know that! Hence, Strala Yoga does throw in a bit more arm movement and 'swaying' from side to side whenever coming into certain positions. Fusion of 2 ancient exercises! That's something really exciting to discover and also goes to show that we too, must constantly evolve and learn.

Gratitude. Know how some right wing religious folks believe that one shouldn't practice yoga because of religion? Although we can argue with their ignorant view on the exercise, they'll probably be glad to know that Strala doesn't do any chanting. That said, I happen to know that 'shanti' means inner peace. So chanting it is just about bringing inner peace to one's self and to those around you. Many instructors also ask you to think about 'dedicating' or having an 'objective' for that particular practice. I'm usually just grateful to have survived each one, especially if it's hot yoga! Haha. Jokes aside, I'm always grateful that although it's not noticeable to many, I have grown stronger in the course of 1 year. I have managed to turn 1kg of fat into 1kg of muscle. I am feeling a lot better about my health AND when my muscles ache due to over-walking etc, I knew exactly how to stretch them out and ensuring faster recovery.

Some people find belonging only when they're on the mat, practicing yoga. Some have found their sense of community in this niche group. Others are just rocking the fashionable studio gear and others have grown businesses from yoga.

No matter what, we're all on this journey called life. Let's keep growing and doing more of what keeps us healthier and stronger!

Great rewards await you when you join Pásshen as a client!
Get a mystery box worth more than S$150* in health and wellness goodies when you join us as a member. This promotion is valid from 21 Sep till 30 Nov 2015.

How to qualify?
1. Sign up as a member
2. Email marketing@passhen.com your username, email address and mailing address
3. Once we have checked your status, we will mail the box to you within 5 working days!

What are you waiting for? Sign up NOW at www.passhen.com!


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So...I'm finally back on the nail painting bandwagon now that I'm back in Singapore. I'm trying out the new polishes that I bought from the US! I really restrained myself. Although I couldn't help but get 3 bottles of Sally Hansen Miracle Gel as it cost me only US$8.90+ (about S$12) when it sells for S$16 here. I also bought my first Essie nail polish in 'On a silver platter' for about US$8 as well.

Anyway, the polishes I used above are Sally Hansen "Flash-ionista" for the base and for the accent nail, I used the Essie polish.

I must say that I was a bit disappointed with the "Flash-ionista". Looked way better in the bottle and they didn't have swatches in the store. :(

Look what greeted me at home one day! Such a nice gift from Nutella Singapore!

Tada! My personalised Nutella! Now I can safely say that the jar of Nutella has my name on it!

If you're wondering where you can get yours, the roadshow at Bugis+ unfortunately ended on 13 Sep. However, you can go to www.yournutella.com and get your personalised label (limited to 9 characters and no jar) sent to you free. Alternatively, there will be 20 supermarkets in Singapore that will have the personalisation machine but for the schedule, stay tuned to www.yournutella.com or follow @NutellaSEA on Instagram for updates.

Have fun and remember to upload your personalised jars with the hashtag #yournutella!

Following their bookbook catalogue tongue-in-cheek ad (see embedded video below), IKEA continues with their humorous jab at Apple after the latter revealed its latest gadget, the Apple Pencil, earlier this week.

This is really genius as many of us have already come to know the IKEA pencil to be part of the store experience. There even is a whole Wikipedia entry about these pencils. In fact, a lot of us have probably swiped a few for ourselves when browsing/window shopping there. Which IKEA probably doesn't even care.

Watch the launch video of the Apple Pencil first before I go on:

I must say that when I watched the unveiling of the Apple Pencil, I was really impressed and I can imagine how those who love drawing on their iPads will go out and get one. I know for sure that there are a few apps out there that already have drawn on the iPad technology and have created similar styluses. I wonder, would this encourage more creation and sharing of artwork on social media?