Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Inspire Me...

I've been trying to inspire to do something for myself, and i'm short of inspiration.... until lately. For the past 29 years of mylife i've been accumulating adipose tissue at my stomach, thigh, arms and buttock, or in laymen term....FAT...
My weight subsequently gave in to the adipose tissue that had been attacking my body and the end result was a whooping 86kg or 189lbs. I look fat, i feel fat... Somehow, something, triggered my biological clock. This has to stop. "I don't want to be a big fat l..d" I said to myself. It may sound harsh, but i need that to motivate me to slim down and town down. It's for my own good.

Last year after i started my own clinic, i started to eat sensibly. No more late night snacks. No more in between meals and to the extreme sometimes, no rice during dinner. It was hell at first, it feels like a junkie trying to detoxify all the toxins inside. Slowly but surely my body was able to adjust to the new regime.

By 6 months i lost almost 6kgs, but after that my weight started to stagnant again... It wont come down as easily as it initially was. Then my wife hit a bombshell to me by saying...."Kalau jaga makan aja tapi tak exercise tak guna jugak" (translation : it wont help just by dieting without a proper exercise). She was right. The amount of energy that i get by eating is the same as the energy that is needed in my daily activities. I later started to do small jogging, jumping ropes and other physical activites.

Voila! I lost another 5 kg that put me to 75kgs. I thought the hardest part of losing weight had gone. I was wrong!!!! The hardest part is to maintain your weight. For a male like me with low metabolism rate, to gain weight is as easy as that. For the next few months my weight had fluctuate between 74kg to 76kg. It is kinda depressing as i have put in a lot of effort to lose almost 10kg in 1 year.

It didn't help either when my wife went to further her studies in Kuala Lumpur to do her masters. It means less time for me to do any physical activity outside the house as i have to see for the children more. Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to imply that my children are made to an excuse for me not to exercise, it's just that i can't seem to find a proper time to do it.
Then, i had an inspiration...Why don't i just exercise at home... but how would i do it? Do i just do skipping? Do i just run aimlessly around the house? I've found a perfect solution that might work. I've bought a treadmill for myself. Then, i can adjust my time and adjust my routine.

My very own treadmill.

Hopefully it will inspire me more. Hehehe.

The side view

The treadmill can calculate your body mass level with your body fat level. And i am still in the overweight category. Huhuhu. It can also help you formulate a programme for your fitness level until you are perfectly fit and not to be overweight. It will also tell you how many calories that you have burnt during the workout and also the distance that you covered during the workout.

I've started to use it a few times already. And it ain't easy i tell you. I'm just going to slowly bulid up my fitness level until i can do a proper exercising. I'll update later on my fitness level and my progress in losing weight. Got to go now. She is calling me, (the treadmill of course)....hehehe.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Happy Birthday

Happy Belated Birthday My Little Afiq
You were born in the holy month of Ramadhan 1428H. Like your elder brothers before you, I was there to greet you into this world.

Your passage is not as easy as your other brothers, your mother was already in labor for almost 4 hours. Your mother had been pushing on for your life and hers and was struggling for an hour before they made a decision to send both of you to another hospital for further intervention. My heart beats faster and faster. I prayed "Dear God, Please help them".

My prayer was answered, there you were. I can see your head. Slowly you came, but you had difficulty due to an umbilical cord was caught in your neck. But you've made it. You've made it. I was relieved. We were relieved, both your mother and I.


You cried aloud, as if to say that you've managed to get through despite the hardship. I took you into my arms. Clean you up. Clear your lungs by suction and dried you up underneath the warmer.



That was a year ago. This is now. Enjoy your life my boy. Be a good son for both of us. Be a good brother. Be a good Muslim. Happy Birthday....Ahmad Afiq Iskandar....

Friday, September 12, 2008

Origin Part 1


Baling has 2 origin according to the locals here.

I'll tell the first story or folklore, there are no official transcripts or any historical documents that i can refer to as our culture doesn't emphasize much on recording or writing history which defers from the europeans.
The 1st story suggested that Baling was opened by settlers from Thailand and Burma (Myanmar) about 2 hundred years ago. They arrived at a valley area that was surrounded by a river, the Baling river and Gunung Baling (Baling Mountain).

View from my porch



View from the roadside




The Baling River

The settlers then cleared the land and started planting fruit trees and vegetable farms. When the orchard starts bearing fuits their joy was shortlived though. Monkeys came down by the thousands from the Baling mountain. They ultimately destroyed the orchards and vegetables. As the settlers had never seen thousands of monkeys they called it Ban-Lin which means Monkey. Slowly the name changed as it is called now which is Baling.

Hmmm, I do wonder sometimes wether the monkeys behind my backyard is the great-great-great grandson/daughter of the same monkey....LOL

The 2nd part of the origin will follow suit, and you'll be surprised..Stay tuned...Ciao...