who’s the worst blogger in the world? Don’t answer that! =)

It’s been awhile, but I have been very busy!  my mom is visiting from the U.S. and she leaves on tuesday, so I’ve been busy with the usual work and also taking her around Singapore.  Since I have my mom here I also did my first round of trying on wedding gowns.  I was so excited but I didn’t find anything I really love here.  On top of that, I couldn’t even zip up most of the gowns on display, which I thought was crazy! I’m definitely not a twig but I don’t think the dresses here are made for girls with any type of curves.  But it’s all good!  I’m heading back to the states in July and will get a dress then.

Other then that I had a full week of nothing but events.  In the same week I attended a Dom Perignon event, a Mango event, the Johnny Walker event, and also a Levi’s fashion show! Here’s just a quick breakdown!

~ Dom Perignon and Merrill Lynch was inside a art gallery in Ion.  It was a very small event but it was amazing and I learned so many new things about the brand and even just champagne in general.  We started off with the vintage, then we moved onto the rose, and finally ended the night with the 96.  The food was amazing and was perfectly paired with the Champagne.  And did you know…. champagne is actually better to drink through a wine glass vs. a champagne flute because it really opens up the aroma of the champagne.

(photo I took right before the event and then I forgot to take photos when I was there. like I said… I am the worst blogger in the world)

~ A couple days later I attended the Mango event at Takashimaya, and it was too much for me.  Their were just too many people there and no room to walk.  They launched their new summer/spring collection and their were some cute stuff, but trying to get your size or getting into a dressing room was impossible.  So I only stayed for a little bit and left.

~ The following Saturday was the Johnny Walker event held at the Mercedes Benz dealership, and of course it was amazing because all their events are always amazing.  When you arrive instead of walking into the venue each group of people were driven up inside a Mercedes of course.  It was free flow all night and my favorite was the Johnny Sour.  I decided not to take it on the rocks this time because I wanted to remember the night. =)

(First photo and round one of drinks)

(Helen Sandwich)

(Last photo of the night!)

~ Lastly I attended the Levi’s fashion show held in Clark Quay.  Once again we didn’t stay long because I was pretty tired by then and it was the 4th event on the same week.  They showed their Spring/Summer collection and I have to say if you are a single woman (which I’m obviously not), their was allllllllooooooot of eye candy! Photos below =)

(And here are a couple photos I took with my babies before I left for the event.  Could you die they’re so cute?)

(Winston my youngest.  He’s 2 1/2 years old)

(And Google. He’s 5 1/2 now)

Oh man I love my dogs so much! I know if you’re not a dog owner/lover you might think I am totally obsessed and crazy.  But if you are….. you would understand! Eeeek… love them soooooo much!

~ Helen Su

How long will it take for me to lose weight? That is the number one question I get from people who are inquiring about BodyBarre and the answer is…… it’s different for everyone!

Losing weight is dependent upon a few things.

A. How often you work out?

B. What type of workout?

C. Your metabolic rate

D. What you’re eating?

E. How often you’re eating and the portions you are eating?

And for women the last two are extremely important if you want to drop some serious weight.  Here are some basic mathematics below!

1. Not working out + not eating healthy = Unfit and flabby.  If you do this over a long period of time you will gain weight! Why? because as our body ages our metabolism will naturally slow down every year and for women every child we have our metabolic rate drops as well.  So the same routine you have been doing for years will no longer work for maintaining, even if it worked for you before.

2. Working out + not eating healthy = toned, tight, but thick.  First off, I’m not saying everyone needs to be skinny and at the end of the day it just really depends on what body shape you want.  Working out alone will help with some weight lost but once again if you want to drop some serious weight, your diet is also very important!

3. Not Working out + eating healthy = skinnier but flabby and saggy also known as skinny fat.  Ever see the girls/or guys who look relatively skinny but stick them in swimwear or a tight fitting outfit and all you see is this huge pooch?  and a saggy butt?  That’s what happens when you don’t workout, we can all thank gravity for that one.

4. Working out + Eating healthy = toned and skinnier body!  To me, this is the only way to go!  This is the only way you will get the body you want!  And I can’t guarantee it over any specific amount of time because it’s different for everyone!  And besides, muscle weights more then fat so looking at the scale isn’t the best indication of success anyway!

~ Helen Su

Lately i’ve been switching up my workout routine because I have been getting bored and on top of that you need to every once in awhile anyways.

For the past 5 years I have been doing barre and of course that is my ALL TIME FAVORITE WORKOUT STILL!! and I still do it all the time, but since I am the only barre instructor here in Singapore it gets bit lonely for me to workout by myself.  So before I would alternate or somedays combine BodyBarre with Running 5-6/week and once a week I would lift heavy weights do Burpees, sometimes swim and run the stairs at fort canning.  But just a couple weeks ago I decided to add in Bikram for a few reasons.

1. My knees, neck, and back hurt from running/baking/many years of dancing/tennis, cheerleading, etc. Pretty much anything that is high impact, but I’m thinking it has the most to do with the running and dancing because those two things are killer for your joints.

2. I love being a student in class just as much as I love being a teacher and not to mention it’s nice to see how other people teach a class and how I can learn to be a better instructor and to always improve my class.

3. The 90 minutes hot yoga is great for relaxing my mind from a stressful day.

4. I’m lonely. Yup, I hope this #4 doesn’t sound lame but it’s true.  When you move to a foreign country without really knowing anyone and then you have a profession where you are a one man show, your significant other travels allot, and most of your friends don’t like to or don’t want to work out with you….. it does get a little lonely sometimes.  So, I thought hey! 4 big reasons is good enough for me to add in another workout where I could possibly make some new friends, heal my joints, rest my mind, and just because I love being a student!

So now, I feel great! I have

1. BodyBarre to tone my body

2. Bikram to heal my joints and relax the craziness in my head

3. Running to build my cardio endurance.

BTW!!!! DID EVERYONE SEE THE BODYBARRE FEATURE IN THE APRIL ISSUE OF HER WORLD OUT RIGHT NOW!!!

The feature talks about how BodyBarre works and how it tones the body.  The writer also talked about how hard the class was and how she was sore for the new few days after!  Which may sound scary but it means that it’s working!

~ Helen Su

TO THE GYM!! SWEAT IT OUT! PUSH YOURSELF! FEEL A SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT! and if nothing else… at least during that 30 minutes, 60 minutes, or 90 minutes you won’t be thinking about anything else. 

Let’s face it, life can be pretty awesome! But allot of times life can take a big poop on you and it stinks.  I don’t know about you but for allot of my friends, family, and myself, this year of the dragon hasn’t exactly been the best year… so far.  Not going to bore you with the details because at the end of the day, that’s life!

But what I will tell you is not matter how bad I’m feeling and no matter how down I am on myself or what’s going on around me when I step into the gym or into a fitness class (BodyBarre!!) I don’t pay attention to anything else that has happened in that day.  In fact after the class I always feel better.  Of course that doesn’t make the problems go away, but sometimes you need to feel better about yourself before you can feel better about anything else.

** Sorry for the self promotion there… =)  but it’s my blog so I can post whatever right.

It’s easy to understand why when it comes down to losing weight or being fit and why people get so damn confused. It’s because their are tons of advertisements out there who want to take your money and lie to you! It’s easy to do because everyone is always looking for the easy way out. So please listen carefully while I save you allot of money!

1. No easy way out! If you want to look top notch then you gotta put in the work! Period!

2. Slimming spas, for reals? I have never seen so many slimming spas in my life until I moved to Singapore! I’m not going to name any names here but slimming treatments unless it’s liposuction (btw, I am not telling anyone to get liposuction) or anything that requires a knife to your body does not work! Most of the time if you do feel any skinnier after a treatment it is because you lost water weight! If you wrapped yourself in foil and went into the sauna/steam room for half an hour you would come out skinnier too. But a day or two later you will go back to your normal size because you never burned any fat. (Just to clarify because everyone takes things so literal, I am not telling anyone to get plastic surgery and I am not telling you to wrap yourself in foil and go into the sauna/or steam room)

3. When trying to lose weight or shrink down, you can not target only one area in your body. For instance if I have a big butt (I wish) and want to shrink it down, I have exercise my whole body, and then my body will decide itself where it wants to shrink.  And unfortunately when it comes down to problem areas, they are first place to gain weight and the last place to lose weight.  So you have to be patient.  So when you see an advertisement that tells you about a weight lost belt and if you wear it a couple hours a day you are guaranteed six pack abs? They’re lying! Don’t waste your money!

4. Drop 10 sizes in 10 days? or anything that sounds too good to be true? It is too good to be true! Once again, it takes hard to work and dedication and that is that. And why is that the only way? Because our bodies are made for survival and not made for bikini season. What that means exactly is that our bodies want to hold onto fats to survive, but for bikini season(or in general) we are trying to lose fat so it’s hard because we are trying to do the opposite of what our body naturally want to do.

5. Diet pills? I’m not gonna lie, some work. Some of them work because it tricks your body into thinking you are not hungry, therefore you don’t eat, therefore you lose weight. But please keep in mind, 1. One day when you do eat again, you will gain back all the weight and more because you have completely shot your metabolism (read my earlier post about metabolic rate in my previous blog).  2. The sh*t can kill you! (excuse my language but I am one million percent serious on that). 3. Just don’t do it.  For me personally I do like a little pick me up before a workout sometime, so I have some tea or I do take a ginseng pill for a bit of an energy boost if I am super tired.

That’s it. Hope this blog helps and for those of you who think what I wrote about is common sense… well… good for you! But unfortunately their are many companies who make millions of dollars each year trying to lie and tell everyone their is a easier way to lose weight but their isn’t.  Nothing great in life comes easy. Treat your body like you treat your friends and your family, put in the work, try your hardest, and reap the benefits. Cheers to family, love, and good health! And looking good in a bikini is a cherry on top! =)

~ Helen Su

BODYBARRE

Just some random tips I live by to stay lean and healthy. Once again, these are my personal tips and different things work for different people.

1. Drink allot of water! Yah.. I know you’ve heard this a million times by now but it’s true and that’s why you hear it over and over again. Drinking tons of water no only causes you to eat less and stay skinny but not to mention it makes your skin gorgeous!

2. Eat raw at least once a day. Every day I will eat some raw fruit, raw veggie, and allot of times raw fish.  When you cook food you also kill allot of nutrients.  I could never be on the raw diet, but I try to incorporate it into my life everyday.

3. Workout/do something active almost everyday of the week. I know going from not working out at all to working out 6x/week sounds insane but if you want it bad enough you have to put in the effort.  This doesn’t mean hit the gym 6x/week but just try to do something active and make good use of your surroundings.  Run the stairs in your building, go to the park, use the pool, and of course come to Bodybarre class! =) Just do something! And the more often you are willing to do it the less likely you will skip it!

4. Never workout w/makeup on! Unless you want your body to look banging but your face to look gross.  Nobody wants to be a butta-face (everything looks good but her face).  And always always wash your face after a workout as well! Don’t clog your pores!

5. If I know I’ve been eating unhealthy and I’ve gained weight, I never ever wear loser clothes at home to hide it. I do the exact opposite and wear the tightest outfit I can find or even something that shows my tummy so I know to stop eating crap.  I bet you would think twice before eating that pizza if you were wearing a bikini right?

6. I weight myself quite often but I also understand muscle weights more then fat so please please keep that in mind when you step on the scale.  I usually weight myself twice a week to make sure I’m around the right number for my comfort zone. But if you’re someone who cares only about the number, don’t weight yourself.  Instead your target should be to fit into an old pair of jeans vs. the number on the scale.

7. When I am not w/ friends and I’m eating by myself I eat super duper ridiculously healthy!  Because I know when I’m out I will eat whatever everyone else is eating so when at home I eat very clean. (check out my older post to find out what exactly)

8. I don’t do extreme dieting! At least not anymore.  What I’ve learned from them is that they work and you will lose weight but you will gain it all back the moment you stop.  And if it’s that extreme, you will definitely stop one day.

9. Eat 4-5 times a day! Never starve yourself and always always always always eat breakfast!!!

10. Eat High lean protein! This one isn’t hard for me because I love meat! Chicken breast, filet mignon, shrimp, tuna, salmon, egg whites, protein smoothies!

11. Low carbs/good carbs. First off, I never completely eliminate carbs because our body needs them.  But by reducing carbs it is a great way to trim down especially for woman.  If you cut carbs out of just one meal a day you will see a difference in your body.

12. I never drink my daily calories away, it is such a waste!  I much rather eat a slice of cheesecake then to have a starbucks frappachino (spelling? because I never drink them).  Listen, your life alongside your diet is a give and take game.  Nobody can eat healthy all the time, but it’s about picking and choosing what is more important to you. If you know you’re going to have a cupcake, then eat clean no carbs and lean the rest of the day.

13. Don’t deprive yourself. For me, if i really want to eat something I will allow myself to do so because if not, I just keep thinking about it and thinking about it until I literally stay up at night thinking about this one thing I won’t allow myself to eat.  And the funny part about this is a couple times I went out and bought whatever it is that I’ve been craving and the moment I bring it home I never even ate it.  I just needed to have it.

14. Lay off the food shows.  First off, those shows are awesome and I absolutely love them but every single time I will start craving for something I saw on t.v.  So do yourself a favor and don’t torture yourself buddy.

Okay, that’s it for now and I know I have hundreds more but lets take it a little at a time.  And remember if you really want to change your body you have to change the way your think and the way you live your life and that takes time.  Being consistent is the hardest part but after awhile you will automatically follow these rules without even thinking about it because it comes so natural to you.  Nowadays if I don’t work out I start to feel sluggish and if I eat allot of unhealthy meals in a row I start to crave something clean.  Allow your body and mind time to readjust to the new you and never reward yourself with food.  Instead I like to reward myself with shoes and new clothes for all my hard work.

~ helen su