A while back, I helped my mom move her furniture from her KL home to her KK home. It wasn't an easy feat but thanks to the movers from CahayaPacks, everything was able to be done smoothly. Not only did they unpack, they also assembled everything into it's place and also help move furniture around as we were decorating it. Great moving service!

Anyways, my mom's bed that just arrived was a super king sized bed and we thought that our biggest problem would be to move the super king sized mattress up the stairs. Little did we know, we had a bigger problem on our hands.

The sheets that came with the bed was still in one of the boxes and still had to be sent for laundry. So in the meantime, my mom and I had to scout for bed linens that would fit her bed. If it were KL, it would be easy, I'd say.. In KK however, there weren't many places to go shopping for bed linens! We ended up in Parkson and eventually found only 1 set of bed linens from Akemi that could fit the super king sized bed.

Now my mother has to find another set for my sister's room! Our old four poster bed that was moved back to KK was also sent back to be put in my old room which is now my kid sister's room and I think this time, I'm going to ask my mom to go and check out Luxury bed linens because normally luxury brands are the ones that make extra large sizes compared to all the other commercial brands.

So good luck, Mom! By the way, I am pleased with my interior planning on where to put the stuff.. It's not easy to fill up a home that is already fully furnished with even MORE furniture. It like moving 2 homes into 1. ARGH! But I managed to do the living room.. and I also planned her bedroom!

There are other pictures of the other parts of her bedroom which is my favourite, but that's all the sneak peek you guys are gonna get!

So I have some advice to those of you who, like me, are beginners interested in losing weight, getting fit, getting buff, or gaining weight even.

It definitely is something that you have heard many times before, but also the truest! The key is to BE PATIENT. Patience pays off, trust me! I recently saw the picture of my friend who has been jogging consistently for the past 4 months.. She has lost so much weight and looks better than ever! If we had joined in on her schedule, don't you think we'll be reaping the benefits by now?

There's no such thing of losing immense amount of weight in a week, or in 2 weeks.. I mean there is, but if it's done any other way besides The Biggest Loser way, you'll be paying the price with your body because it just isn't healthy. The Biggest Loser contestants are working out 4-6 hours a day, supervised and they have a strict diet regime that they have to adhere to.

So if you are like me, you just started exercise and started eating well.. just hang in there. Dig deep and find your motivation. Don't give up so easily. Don't even think of taking those hgh releasers! My dear friend Mel (who has helped me a lot with my fitness program) has written a great article about Understanding Your Body Work which may help you a lot. Check it out!

No.. not "pot" or "weed" kinda grass!! What are you guys thinking??? *rolls eyes*

I'm talking about another kinda grass okay! I've been trying to incorporate a lot of fiber into my diet and I know one thing that's absolutely great for nutrition -- Wheatgrass Juice.

The wheatgrass juice that I normally take usually comes in a can form.. like a can of Coke.. :) The other type that I take, which is more concentrated is in powder form! Nowadays, you can get wheatgrass even in tablet form, actually. I am sticking to my wheatgrass in a can and the powdered form.. which is pretty yummy!! :D

You can read more on the benefits of wheatgrass juice but I personally feel that it's a really good natural  colon cleanser. It also helps me feel full and can sustain me all through lunch. I don't know about you, but if it's good enough for Kimora Lee Simmons, why the hell not? It's fabulous.. fabulous!!!

 

For my fitness program, I have decided to do cardio exercise 3 times a week and alternate the days with some resistance training/circuit training with a rest on Sunday. This is my 2nd week in to this "Shemah's fitness program" and last week it was all about Billy Blanks Cardio Bootcamp (alternating with and without weights).

This week, my cardio video of choice is my Zumba Fitness Cardio Party which is super fun because it raises your heart rate while not making it turn out to be such a chore. I love dancing.. so this is pretty much the perfect cardio exercise for me at this time.

Since yesterday I already did my Zumba cardio, today, I did a circuit workout that Mel wrote out for me, which is Zuzana's old workout.

One word.

BRUTAL.

It raised my heart rate like in the first 30 seconds and it continued like that for a whole hour AFTER the whole routine. My results may NOT be INCREDIBLE, but then I am proud of myself because I pushed myself hard (since I promised Mel I'd post my results and I wanted her to be proud of me).

This was my first time doing this workout, and it may be very pathetic results but that just goes to show that THIS is the fitness level I am at right now. I will continue with this workout and hopefully achieve better results as the week progresses. I know I did BAD, but better than not doing it at all!

So here are my results for the 8 Drill Workout.

Walking Lunges - 37, 28
Full Squat - 30, 22
Side Lunges - 19, 12 
Rock Climber - 41, 33 
Push up (on knees) - 24, 24
Step up with knee lift - 26, 22 
Backward lunges - 20, 12
Plank single back row shoulder press - 8, 8 

This is an 8 step workout. Each step is done for the length of 1 min, and you are supposed to do as many reps as you can in that minute. After you complete these 8 steps, you repeat it again for another round. The red numbers indicate how many reps I was able to do in the first set, followed by the second set. As you all can see, by the second set, my reps have declined DRASTICALLY, because trust you me, by the second set, I was like a fish out of water. It was a miracle that I managed to move at all!

In between the sets, I took between 5-10 seconds to jot down my score and catch a breath. I've done circuit training years back and I know that you should minimize the time between each step. For the push ups, since I couldn't do a straight leg push up, I went down on my knees.

I can say, though, that my push up form has really improved because last time, when I did push ups, my form was so poor, my tummy would sag to the floor before my arms were perpendicular. Now, I can say, my back was plank straight, tummy tucked in and I can go further down with my nose just a few inches away from the floor! Proper push up, yo! Hahahaha!

For those of you who want to try this out, and beat my score, you're most welcome to try it out! It's fun, it gets your blood pumping and most of all, burn baby burn WITHOUT phentermine diet pills, mind you!! Check out the video below on how to do the exercises.

In the video below, Zuzana used 2 of 1.5l bottles filled with water to substitute for her weights and a step ladder for her step up with knee lift routine.

This was my first time doing this workout and I did it sans weight bottles and my only prop was my Sony Ericsson phone timer, which worked awesome, and my son's IKEA chair propped against the tv cabinet for my step up exercises!


Although I did it without weights and push ups were done on my knees, I am hurting like all get out right now!! My legs are burning, it takes me 5-10 seconds to sit in a chair with lots of OW OW OW OWs! I have Mel to thank for that! Hahahaha! For my burning butt, arms, back, thighs... oh my thighs!!

But seriously, when you're hurting like this, it's a good type of pain.. that when it DOES pass, you're only gonna crave for it! Besides, it helps a lot with watching your food intake. Like today, seriously, after hurting this bad, there was NO FREAKIN' WAY did I even want to go near rice! I went for veggies, almonds and fruits instead!

So, anyone brave enough to join me???

My dear friend, Mel @ Kadazanbonita has been encouraging me with my diet and fitness program and she has recently introduced me to Zuzana from Bodyrock.tv!

Now for those of you who are into fitness and don't mind sweating and working out (I  know a lot of women out there just can't stand all this sweating and getting tired and everything associated with working out!), you might want to give her blog a visit! She gives out great exercise and diet tips and her body is to DIE for.. (yes, Mel, minus the nenen part.. hahaha)

Her routines are quite tough for beginners like me (although I was able to do it once upon a time during my "kettlebell" and "core body workout" phase with my trainer, Paul). However, that was a LOOONG time ago, and now I am back to square one and yes, back to a beginner.

So anyways, since I mentioned in my previous post that I woke up too late for my morning workout, I thought that I might try her 4-min workout or something! 4 HARDCORE MINUTES! hahaha but Zuzana makes it look so worth it!



The thing I like about her blog site, is she gives step by step instructions, she has high energy and her body itself is very motivating. Surprisingly, she doesn't even make me think about any best weight loss supplements which is really awesome!

Don't forget to check her out, you guys!

It's Saturday! As much as I love the weekend -- the fact that the children and I can sleep in, and just chillax at home watching movies and cartoons, there is also something that I dread a lot come weekend. My mind and body sort of knows when its the weekend because it automatically goes on eat mode! 

Weekends make me lazy and make me just want to enjoy food.. which is a big NO-NO. Today marks the 6th day of my "weight loss program". I've been working out regularly and watching/writing down what I eat to keep track of my calories and so far I have to say, I'm doing pretty well. But then again, it's only the first week. (And no... I haven't taken any weight loss pills that work). 

However, as seeing that it's Saturday and I just woke up, I'm way past my workout time. Urgh. So mad at myself! I think I'll do it in the evening instead. I HAVE TO. I just have to.

So 1 week down and another 65796309594593 weeks to go? LOL!

If there's one thing you need to know about my husband is that he collects cigars. I seldom see him smoking it, though.. or maybe not in front of me because he knows how much I can't stand him smoking.

There are a couple of cigar brands that are missing from his collection and I thought of getting that for him for his next birthday.. It's between the Monte Cristo No. 5 or the Romeo y Julieta Churchill cigars. I honestly don't know how much this costs, but I don't think it's in the price range of those gas station cigars! LOL!

So what do you think?

As a woman who knows nothing about cigars, I like the sound of the Romeo y Julieta Churchill cigars. I'm gonna Google it up and find out the prices. Even though I hate smoking, this is one collection that I know means a lot to my husband and it just goes to show that I'm willing to put aside my opinions to make him happy..

Personally, I can't stand going to a store to look for stuff and find out that they carry the brand but not the specific model I'm looking for and then I'll have to go to another store.. and ANOTHER store and ANOTHER store.. and when I finally DO find a store that carries the model I want, it's out of stock. It feels like someone is really trying to get back at you for something bad you did when you were a child. -_-

Don't you just hate that? So here, I have made your life easier in terms of searching for your printing supplies, like printer ink, toner, ink cartridges, etc. ConcordSupplies.com carries all your printing needs and that just absolutely saves time, effort and energy! If you're looking for that rare 108R00725 it's available there, too!

You're very welcome. ;)

I always have trouble thinking what to buy for my other half come our wedding anniversary. It's stressful and it's one of those dilemmas that I honestly could live without. In fact, every year I (secretly!) hope that my husband doesn't get me anything so I don't have to think of giving him something! Yes, it does get that bad!

Over at JustPaperRoses.com, apparently they already have gifts lined up for your annual wedding anniversary. They specialize in hand-made roses, made out of different materials according to the number of years you've been married. For instance, for your first anniversary, it would be paper roses. On your second wedding anniversary, it would be cotton roses.

If I were to follow the anniversary gifts by year, this year marks my 7th wedding anniversary so that means I'll have to get the hubs hand-made wool roses.

However, I know for sure my husband doesn't like receiving flowers, albeit handmade or fresh, because it reminds him of funerals. He doesn't mind if I decorate the house with flowers but to receive them, it freaks him out. *sigh* So there goes another gift idea. I guess my dilemma still continues..

I'm bummed I missed The Biggest Loser Asia Season 2 last night. But apparently, someone *ehem* forgot to pay the Astro bills.. I guess what with being in KK during Raya holidays and coming back to have my son admitted to the hospital.. I guess these minute kinda details slipped from my mind.

Anyways, I wonder how much I can lose if I followed TBLA's workout and diet regime. I've always wondered if they do take any diet supplements to help them with their weight loss. If they do, I think lots of people will go out by the droves and buy apidexin! However, I don't think that's the case.

The Biggest Loser doesn't take the easy route. It's all hard work, baby! I might just have to try that hard work thing one of these days! ;P