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Tag Archives: fitness

Super-FoodsIn our pursuit to looking beautiful, many women succumb to splendid outfits and lavish accessories to look our best. However, it becomes pointless if you do not take care of your health and general well-being. By eating badly, you are depriving yourself to be at your most beautiful and gorgeous.

I can never stress enough on the importance of eating right and well. It not only brings you good health, it also gives you a healthy natural radiance and abundance of energy for your daily activities. Eating right also reduces the effects of premature ageing.


Here I share my ‘all-time’ grocery shopping list. It may seem to be boring to eat the same few types of food all the time. Yet, how can we get enough of these ‘super foods‘ that supposedly brings you endless health benefits?

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Odd shape feet not fitting into your closed shoes? Struggling with bunions in your daily activities?

That’s me. And sadly, nothing much could be done to reverse my bunions unless I am ready for corrective surgery.

Bunions are not uncommon in ladies, with the belief that this condition is primarily caused by wearing ill-fitting and high heeled shoes. There are, however, men with this condition as well, which makes this allegation somewhat untrue. Recent research has said that about half of the population of people actually have this condition!

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Want good skin? Well, my secret is to constantly ‘nourish’ it. I like to ‘feed’ my skin just like how I give food to myself. I believe HAPPY skin means GOOD skin.

Honey

What are some of the benefits of using Honey on our skin?

  • Antibacterial – Honey has antibacterial properties and helps to fight pimples and mild acne, especially that caused by hormonal changes. It also reduces infection and inflammation.
  • Antiseptic – When honey is diluted with water, it produces hydrogen peroxide. This is an antimicrobial agent (fights against microbes, a micro-organism), helps to relieve abrasion and over-exfoliated skin.
  • Good cleanser – Honey is able to soak up the impurities from within your pores and give your skin a good and nice clean feel.
  • Effective Moisturizer – Honey forms a barrier on the skin to help retain skin’s natural moisture and keeping it radiant, supple and moist, preventing drying.
  • Protect Against Harmful Sun Rays – Honey’s natural antioxidant properties help protect the skin from the damage of sun’s rays, supports the skin’s ability to rejuvenate and refresh depleted skin.
  • Prevents wrinkles – Honey is considered a natural ‘preservative’ and it is said to prevent wrinkles, and slows down the aging process.

Natural Honey Green Tea Facial Mask

Here, I used Green Tea powder mixed with honey to achieve a simple yet effective facial mask. Add half a teaspoon of green tea powder into one full teaspoon of honey.

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green tea honey mask

The green tea powder granules act as a peeling scrub for the face. Apply and leave on for 20 mins on clean face, and gently scrub in circular motions.

thebarebeauty green tea honey maskWash off with lukewarm water after. Make sure you give your face a clean wash to avoid finding ants being attracted to your face.

Green Tea Benefits 

  • Contains antioxidants which are effective against free radicals. Free radicals are formed when skin is exposed to harmful sun rays, that leads to premature aging.
  • Helps safeguard skin against sun damage.
  • Aids in cell renewal process of our skin. Aged cells are energized by the polyphenol compounds in green tea, synthesizes the DNA and prevents premature aging.
  • Soothes irritated and inflamed skin.
  • Helps in acne and pimply skin, as green tea has antibacterial content.

DIY masks are inexpensive yet effective. Though it has not been proven scientifically that applying food topically on your face does anything for your skin, the results I get makes me believe that they do indeed work. I DIY my facial masks once every 2 days, and my skin is kept looking fresh and energized. On days when I religiously do it everyday, I see even better results. Give it a try, but if you have sensitive skin or wants to be sure if your skin reacts adversely to any ingredient, please always start with a patch test on the chin area a day before. This will ensure you do not get any undesired reactions from your DIY facials.

Give it a try today! And let me know your results!

 

My life had been pretty average. Life used to just revolve around work, laze, surf, more lazing, eat, meet up with close friends, laze, surf (tech is a killer!) and sleep. Pretty occupied, I must say. But, fulfilling? I guess I’ve learnt now that its not.

Before, I treaded on everyday, just doing what was in front of me. I wasn’t spontaneous like how I want myself to be. I was afraid to try the less familiar, afraid of embarrassment, afraid of failures, afraid of ‘what ifs‘. I fall into this category of people who tries to make the best without wanting to move out of my comfort zone.

Now, I feel a changed person. Fitness has changed me. Or rather, vanity has. I wanted to change my ugly looking thighs.

The amazing thing about Fitness is it creates body awareness. Or perhaps it was Pilates that did that. Working out every muscle group in your body seems to have woken up every single one of them. They feel energized, alive, and always wanting to move! It has gotten to the point where I feel tired when I am not exercising.

So many positive things are happening to me now and I bet this has really changed my life and perspective.

Improved Posture : I no longer walk or stand with a slouch -who wants to look 10 times worse when they can look better? Standing or walking straight improves posture and allows for an even-workout for your body.

(Crazily) Healthy Dieting : I watch what I eat, closely – Working out everyday to burn out body fat and build lean muscles, how a tiny bit of junk food or unhealthy diet can write off your hard work of one session?

Spontaneous : I am more ready to try new things – Now that I feel I am fitter than before, the want to try more stuff is burning in me. Rock-climbing, horseback riding, run events, trekking…

Prioritizing the Necessary : I put my health before everything else – I’ve learned that we are what we eat, what we do, and that good health and great energy is achievable so long we have the right knowledge and mentality to change it.

Going Minimalistic : I focus less on who I am, how i look – Rather than applying loads of makeup to hide behind a lack of confidence, I am now happy with minimal, confident enough just to go au naturale and it does feel more comfortable to ‘focus less’ on yourself.

Happier : We all know exercise lift moods. When you exercise your brain releases endorphins, adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine. All these work together to make you feel good. On top of that, you feel relaxed and calm after, and a deep sense of achievement when you push yourself harder and harder.

Is life hitting your hard? Is stress bogging you down? You can make the change, if you allow yourself to. The world is moving so fast everyday that the true achievers are the ones who have time for themselves, and allow for time to look within. There is nothing more important than insuring in quality health so we live happier day by day.

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It is time to do something for yourself, starting from today 🙂

With Love.

It has been 3 months since I embarked on my fitness journey. For those who didn’t read how it started, it all came about from a photo of my ugly cellulite forming on my thighs! And sorry, there’s no way I will ever share that photo!

Prior to my vigorous fitness routine, I hardly exercise. The most I did was once a week Pilates on the reformer. The 50 mins workout was not really going to help fix anything, we know. Pilates is a great exercise, but it is relatively low-impact. I don’t huff and puff during the session and sweating is minimal. I knew I needed to build up my cardiovascular endurance.

From the moment I saw the ‘life-changing’ photo made worse with lighting down from the top thus making the cellulite look more hideous than they actually were, I started making goals on how to change my life. The ‘look good feel good’ mantra must be true. The next (probably the best) thing I did for myself was to pick up a copy of the ‘Shape‘ magazine and signed up for the coming 5km run event. The run was postponed to end Oct this year, and for sure I’ll be blogging about that after.

Look how one goal changed my May 2013.

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Not much, but definitely a step up from haven’t been running for 6-8 years!

My partner and I decided to bring this to another level and we signed up for a lavish gym membership at Pure Fitness end of the month. The money paid kept us very motivated in order to make our moola worth.

June’s fitness calendar looked like this – felt quite proud of myself for persisting :

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July’s – with a trip to Tokyo without a gym in the hotel, but made up with lots of walking :

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Starting an exercise routine is not easy. It requires a great deal of motivation and faith to keep pushing oneself forward in times of weariness and exhaustion. ‘No pain, no gain’ – before your muscles actually tear how can they become stronger upon healing? For those who hasn’t been exercising for a while, do yourself a favor. Get up and start moving, in the many years to come, your body will definitely thank you for it.

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I have my puppy to practice running with me! Whether I’m fast or slow, Kitt keeps up its pace with me! Wonderful training companion! 🙂

However, if nothing else seems to be able to get you out of the couch, maybe an ad might?

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What’s your fitness story? How did it all start for you?