Valen’s Vanity Square

While some people prefer to lose weight taking fat burner pills or tablets, my husband’s favorite ‘fat burner’ is the new X-training machine at home.

Since we got the machine last week, hubby has exercised on that machine for almost every day. And every time he got himself soaked in sweat. Oh, more than soaked actually, his sweat was literally dripping! And he is oh-so enjoying that kind of feeling.

As for me, I have been on that machine only once, haha! I think I should work out on it more often, say 3 times a week. I will set the calories to be burned at 200, then slowly step my way while watching TV at the same time. May be 200 kcal is too little if I want to lose weight fast, but that’s better than not burning any calories at all!

Wonder how long will it take me to shed 2 kilos with my slow-motion exercise?

If my vanity is all about my face, then hubby’s vanity is all about his waistline. Haha! Don’t get it wrong, it’s not that hubby wants to have a slim waist. He’s just being cautious of not having spare tires bulging out from the sides of his waist.

Hubby has said to me several times over these few days that he must sign up for a gym membership. Hubby has been very busy with work-related evening events recently, and these events are always accompanied with typical Chinese full course meal with eight dishes. He’s really worried about the after-effects of the heavy meals, i.e. increased waist line and a bulging tummy, haha!

The thing about hubby is that he’s not one of those who are willing to take slim pills or do a body detox program to lose weight fast. He needs to feel his heart pumping and sweat trickling down all over his body to assure himself he’s burning the calories away. Since I don’t allow him to buy a treadmill (coz I don’t think there’s any space in the house for it), and it’s increasingly difficult for him to find time to exercise, thus the idea of rejoining a gym.

Well, I’m perfectly fine with hubby going to the gym, as long as he comes home on time to have dinner with his lovely wife, that is.

Time really flies. There are only 3 more months to go before we come to the end of 2009. Before that, there will be Christmas, of course.

When mention about Christmas season, I always feel like it is the busiest time of the year. Well, companies have to conclude their annual financial status, salesmen will try to close their last sales before closing their account. And certainly everyone will do their Christmas shopping–last minute.

Many people will want to get ready for parties and dinners starting from now, such as to start a weight loss program so that they could get back in shape by then. Well, 3 months are not a long time, and not a short one either. But whether one is able to shed the weight needs to be shed depends on the weight loss method and how persistent he or she is. Some may have started to search for the best weight loss supplement in the market, hoping to lose weight fast and will look their best during Christmas.

For me, I have more than 3 months to lose what I need to lose, as I won’t be preparing for Christmas, but for Chinese New Year!

Are you trying to lose weight? Are you still searching high and low for the best diet pills on earth? Well, you don’t have to. Because if you were like me, rushing to meet a tight deadline for a super-tough writing assignment, you’ll lose weight by the time you completed the project.

I didn’t expect the project that I’m currently doing to be so tough. Work that I usually could complete in 3 hours took me 6 hours plus to get it done! So initially I thought I could complete 4 sections of 3-hour work (total 12 hours) in less than 2 working days. Looks like I need more than 24 hours to finish everything, but the problem is - I don’t have that much of time! Unless I work non-stop for the next day and night or so.

So you could imagine, no mood to eat, no time to enjoy food, deprive of sleep, stress…. it’s impossible not to lose weight after 2 days. But I think you better not follow my way, because it really is a unhealthy way to lose weight.

Was watching ‘Queen‘ the Taiwan beauty talk show at my mom’s. Yesterday’s topic was about weight loss products. It’s really ‘amazing’ to learn how actresses would go all their way to try different methods to lose weight!

From prescriptive pills and unknown supplements, to weird diets (e.g. eating a kind of oily fish and green apple together as a form of laxative) and acupuncture. Wow! And all I am doing is controlling my diet and exercise a couple of times weekly.

However, as the doctor in the program mentioned, it is okay to use weight loss drugs, but one has to first make sure a few things:

• What are its main components or ingredients?
• What are the action of those ingredients (e.g. appetite suppressant, oil absorber, fat burner)?
• How to take it (e.g. what time, how much dose, before or after meals)?
• Are there any temporary side effects?

For example, if you are recommended Stimerex ES by a friend, then you should first do some research about this product, either through the internet through professional advice. You want to make sure the product is suitable for you and fits your weight loss plan.

Of course, the best way to lose weight and prevent weight gain, as the doctor mentioned, is to consume less fat (so that you don’t have to take those oil absorbing pills) and stop eating after 8 pm. Eat a wholesome meal for breakfast, moderate for lunch, and the least during dinner. I think I’m doing it the other way round. No wonder… haha!

One of the things that Dr Lenis mentioned in his talk was about losing weight. What do you think is the most natural and cheapest way to lose weight?

Sleep.

Yes, sleep well, and sleep a couple more hours extra. That’s the secret to losing weight!

How? I’m not really sure. Can’t recall if Dr Lenis explained about it. My own ‘theory’, hehe, is that when we have sufficient sleep, our body has the time to repair itself, and when we wake up, we will feel fully energized and alert. Our body won’t be craving for energy replenishment, which we usually achieve by consuming food, haha!

Also, if we go to bed early or take a nap in the afternoon, the chances of us munching on supper or afternoon snack are greatly reduced. So, we won’t be taking in extra calories.

However, in real life, how many of us have the luxury of sleeping a full 8 hours or more, right? The only time that one can sleep till the sun hits the butt is only during weekends, and that is if you have no morning plans with family or friends.

Sleep to lose weight, theoretically it sounds very easy but not everyone can do it. Otherwise, there won’t be so many weight loss products, such as appetite suppresant and fat burning teas etc, available in the market, right?

Sometimes spending a little bit of money and effort is more practical and effective in achieving a goal than doing it at no cost at all.