Watch this and you will get the motivation to workout.

What makes you tick? I hope this will give you some extra does of motivation to hit the gym hard TODAY!

Stay focus and happy friday!
Cuppypowers
xxx

Are you still just trusting what you read?

This is why i listen to my body. Low carb works for me, what is working for YOU?

Sigining off for now
Cuppypowers
xxx

Low carb bread.... actually 0 carb

Did i tell you that i cook? Did i tell you that i am addicted to bread?



Hello my curious readers. I have actually been out of the gym now for a full week and it looks like that is going to be extended for an extra week due to my back injury. Yes. I pull my lower lats last week doing weight assisted pull ups....

Anyway. I am writing today to share with you my latest creation! I am not as luck as many of you who lives in America where the food offerings seems to be out of a story book!!! aka the low carb products! We here in HK such thing does not exist. Also diabetic is not a big illness over here; thus our shops do not offer many low GI, low carb processed/ prepackage food.

On my quest of low carb diet, i often search high and low on the Internet for Low carb bread recipes that is good enough as a replacement for the real thing. Often i am disappointed with the out come as it lacks the correct texture. So i would use the recipe as a base and fine tune it....

AND i finally cracked it. look at the photo! It even looks like bread!!!! :)

I am not posting the recipe here because you can find different version of it all over the Internet, and you might have a pretty good one already!

If that is not the case however, do drop a line in the comments area I am more than happy to share!

Signing off for now.

Cuppypowers

xxx

Be inspired

when i saw Ava on you tube for the first time, she inspired me. I hope she will do the same for you.

I have tremendous respect for this lady who has been to hell and back and got to where she is today. It boils down to determination and discipline.

In my crazy fitness world, I am either IN or you are OUT. That is how i like to train at the gym. I am on my way to getting where i want to be. That is not "trying".

Help yourself achieving your personal goal by surrounding yourself with like minded people with the same fitness ethics, then be true to yourself when you hit the gym. Ultimately you still have to put in the hard work.

It's not going to be easy, but it will be worth it.

Have a good weekend everyone.

Cuppypower

xxx

How heavy should ladies lift?

Ladies i want to share with you my progress of my 12 weeks weight lifting program. I am currently at the end of week 9. I want to show you this is the reason why i lift and why i lift heavy, i am starting to have curves on my shoulders. Again, just some basic stats about myself 160cm tall, body fat at approx 24% weight in at 129lbs. When I say i lift heavy, i am doing 130lbs + 30lbs bar dead lifts which is more than what i weight and unassisted vertial dips etc. As you can see the photo below. I do not think I look "manly".



If i had to choice between only being able to do Cardio or Lifting weights, (including body weights exercises) I would so choice Lifting over Cardio. Many might be concern that you will get too big (I hope the above photos address that issue)  and think that lifting weight is boring. I so hear you, you are partly correct, i find working out at the gym uninteresting.

BUT i understand that it is something that i have to do in order to get into the best shape of my life. And the reason why i choice weights over cardio is that with weights, i can decide how i want to look and built on parts that to achieve the shape/ look that I am after. With Cardio, you put in the hard work, swatted it out for an hour, but you have no control over where if any of the fat is coming off from.(cos' you could be burning carbs not fat)  To me that ability to control results with my input is enough to drive me keep on doing it day in day out.

Now i do have a few suggestion as to how you could motivate yourself to start lifting.

• Think about the different hand grips you could have when you lift,
• Think about fitting in a quick set of push up in between your working sets
• Think about how much fun you can have with surprising yourself (and possibly all the man who are watching you at the free weights area thinking "lady you are lost") pushing and pulling heavy weights
• Think about you are in control of how you want to look and modify the move to shape your body the way YOU want
• Best of all is your make up won't be a mess. You sweat when you lift weights, but no where near as much as you do when you are doing cardio

I hope this will inspire you YumYucky :)

Signing off for now

Cuppypowers

xxx

My fitness goal for my 31st birthday

This was a photo taken on this Monday on my Boyfriend's birthday breakfast. Compared to a photo taken only days after his birthday last year

I know that you can not tell much difference between the two photos, but for people who knows me and can see me in real life will be able to tell you that I look very different.

Insert some more fat pictures from my 29th birthday:

May be this one gives you a better idea. The photos from my 29th birthday actually helped me to get onto the road of being fit again. The picture above was actually one of the "better" photos i have from my party. When i look at the photos the only thing that comes into my mind is/ was "what happened to ME?" Not long after i saw that photo and the ones i took when i was in France for my BF's birthday, i made a commitment to myself that this will not happen again. I do not want to look at a photo of myself and think "what happened to me" again.

As you know that I am a firm believer that you need to set goals for yourself so that you have something to push towards. I hope you can help me by keeping an eye on me, asking me for updates, etc.

This year my fitness goal is, drop Bodyfat to 15% (currently at around 24% compared to last year 30%) and  to build out my shoulders, so that from each angle you look at it, there will be curves, not a "sausage" arm as i call them. I have already made a good start to it as i have been working on them for about 1 and a half months now. I am so looking forward to what i can do in a year! What's your goal?

Signing off for now
Cuppypowers
xxx

The real Jamie Eason

Ladies and Gentleman, I want to introduce you to Jamie. She is often featured on the front covers of many fitness magazines.

She is one of the few Female Figure Competitors I look up to and is inspired by. Cute lady isn't she.

 But what i want to show you is a photo of Jamie when she trains. And I can tell you she can lift a lot heavier then the 2nd photo suggests! So what is your point. The point I am trying to make is that there is no such thing as "looking toned" you need to lift heavy to create curves; as Jamie is demonstrating. Don't be afraid to lift heavy ladies and refuse to be fooled by glossy magazine covers and catchy head line for "how to tone your abs in 6 weeks" because this is the truth. It takes hard work and dedication. No one ever said it is going to be easy, but it is achievable and it will be all worth it!

Siging off for now
Cuppypowers
xxx

True shortcut to 6 packs - REALLY!

Take a look at this. This is not my amazing photoshop effect it is the freaky result of £6,000.

My dear readers this is a lesson on “Know what you want, and how you want it” I discover this gentleman- Darryn Lyons today at work and I have to say, I was shocked with what I saw. I digger deeper about this guy and found out that he is from the UK reality show Big Brother. So what is the point you are asking

I understands that everyone is searching to look good the fastest way possible and that we are being brain washed to accept that a 6 pack is the ultimate sexy hot look. Sure thing if you have the money to give you a little bit of help in fixing thing that you cannot deal with, I am all for it! BUT look at this dude!

Does he not realize that you didn’t need to get surgery to get you a 6 pack abs so that you can look like the monster super heor

everyone has a set of them, he simply had the money and wanted a quick way out without putting in the hard work.  This is the wrong shortcut which has turned this guy into the biggest joke around!

Don’t get me wrong. I am not against plastic surgery at all, in fact I am all for it and has plan to undergo some work for myself. However, I want to point out that want I want to get done is something that I cannot achieve via workout/ watching my nutrition. It’s is really, my genes. AKA. I am Asian and therefore I have no boobies….

I am fed up with man (and female) leaving comments on fitness models vlogs/ workout demonstration on YouTube saying that “FAKE”, “I am put off by the fake boobs”  I wonder if they realize why so many fitness models out there has implants. Just in case they didn’t let me explain why. It is because in order to see a 6 pack, your body fat must be in the region of less than 12% and pro competitors body fat % will be even lower. Since Boobies are made out of fatty tissue, if you never had much before will mean that you will end up with NONE!

I want to have strong lines, that means I have to build up my muscle, that means I need to be very lean and I am getting there since my abs are beginning to show, BUT I also want to feel feminine. I feel incomplete and uncomfortable in my own skin that I do not have the “top” to match the rest of the curves I have on my body, to what I think is pleasing to my own eye. That is why I want to have surgery done on me when the time is right. Not because what other people brain wash me into what is desirable, or that it is a short cut to look “prefect”.

Lift weights like a man, think like a lady I say!
A little tune i was listening when i was lifting weights today at the gym!

Have a good day everyone!

Signing off for now

Cuppypowers

xoxoxoxox

One less "i can not work out because ....." oh yeah!

This piece of news (that's not so new any more) made my day!

Yes, i know i am jumping the gun here, since i have no ring on my finger yet, but I know that i want to be a mum and the thought of losing my figure (which i worked so hard for) because the lack of activity whilst bearing a little monster in my tummy just totally destroys me. You know all the talk about "you are not giving the baby enough oxygen when you work out" " Hormones that are being produced after exercise can harm your baby"

I have actually been researching for a while for exercises that you can do BEFORE you are pregnant specifically cater for faster rebound after child birth and/or assist with a more comfortable pregnancy. But the information is almost none existed! It's all about things that you can do DURING your pregnancy. That is too late, I want to be in the best form ready to receive little monsters!!!! Any ideas or good recommendation of sites i can look at?!

Stay strong and signing off for now
Cuppypowers
xxx

Opus!!!! Muscle burns less calories then what we have been lead to believe

Ok Guys, I think we all need to make time to read this article. Which I suspected was the case along time ago. The myth of ripped muscles and calorie burns

For thoses of you who has been reading my blog for a while will know that i do not just "believe" what i read or just "follow" advices that has worked for other people. I opt for working it out for myself.

I always has thought to myself. If i have gained so much muscle, and i have pretty much kept the same diet, the fat should have just melt off my body and cardio will not be required. Guess what. When i was doing INSANITY, i find that I had a much leaner look (without changing my diet) and now that i am on my weight lifting program, which in theory should provide me more muscle and helps me to burn more fat, is actually give me a more "wobbly" look.

So, please take some time to take a look at the link, if what it said is true, that will mean relearning everything we knows about working out and fitness. It sucks i know but it is important that we remains open minded and do what is the most effective! Life is too short to be wasted!

Signing off for now
Cuppypowers
xxx

What did you do for your birthday this year?

  

Me in AUG 2011



Today is the day i have been waiting for. It's my birthday and I am officially 30 year young and I have promised myself when i turned 29 that this year (30) I am going to be in the best shape of my life! I have been dying to say this and sharehow my body has changed. Ladies, you want to know what kind of shape diet alone will give you, please look at the picture of me back in 2007. I was very thin "slim " back in those days. My figure back than was not achieve via working out. It was achieve by means of watching what i eat.

Not sure about you, but who said turning 30 can not be fabulous? I think i prefer the way i look today than I did when I was younger. Oh, and a thank you to my man for catching me off gard again when he is taking a photo of me.

For me personally pushing weights is the way to go if you want the curves that is pleasing to they eye (at least in my own eyes)! Anyway, i have another photo comparison coming up in Oct. The fat picture and the "now" keep an eye out for it, because i want to show you how much you can achieve in a year if you are committed to what you really want. Sorry that this post is all about memememememe. please forgive me, it is my birthday!!!!



Me in AUG 2007



 Have a good day everyone !!! Have a piece of cake and push even harder today, because you can!!!!

Love you all

Signing off for now.

Cuppypowers!

xxxxx

P.S. i have not done any photo shop on these pictures.... and i was still a little "bloated" from that evil milk when this photo was taken when my bf and i went on weak boarding!



For all females getting in shape

For the sake of many females who are looking to get in shape I am using myself as a human ginnypig.

So far, one conclusion I have is that I am not so sure about “No Pain No Gain” anymore. I think “No commitment No result” is more appropriate. Why you might ask.

If you’ve been following my mindless mumbles. You will know that I am on this 12 week program. I am currently almost at the end of week 3 and is following the workouts as planned, upping the weights in almost every exercise. The only thing I adjusted was the commitment of not taking supplements. Simply, I was in too much pain to push and pull after each session. So I started taking a Whey Protein shake after my weight lifting sessions, and the muscle pain is non existence. Seriously. You might be thinking, ah she is not lifting heavy enough.

Let me firstly remind you that I am 160cm tall and 126lbs here are my records just for a couple of moves:

Lower Body  

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Warm up

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Warm up

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Warm up

Set 1

Set 2

Set 3

Bar Bell Squat

Bar x 12 reps

20lbs x 12 reps

25lbs x 12 reps

25lbs x 12 reps

Bar x 12 reps

30lbs x 10 reps

35lbs x 10 reps

40lbs x 10 reps

Bar x 12 reps

40lbs x 12 reps

50lbs x 10 reps

50lbs x 10 reps

Stiff legged deadlift

30lbs x 10 reps

60lbs x 12 reps

60lbs x 12 reps

60lbs x 12 reps

40lbs x 20 reps

70lbs x 10 reps

70lbs x 10 reps

70lbs x 10 reps

40lbs x 20 reps

70lbs x 12 reps

80lbs x 12 reps

80lbs x 12 reps

As you see, I am no joking when I said I was lifting heavy. And remember the Bar on the Bar Bell Squat rack thing at the gym is @ 45lbs a piece and add on the extra plates. (please can someone reconfirm that the bar is indeed 45lbs or not!!!!)

So what I am doing today (upper body again which involves unassisted dips) and tomorrow (lower body and leg press again!!!!) is I will do my work outs and NOT TAKE MY PROTEIN SHAKE. I want to experience the difference in the level of pain discomfort and how different my energy plus overall well being level will be like tomorrow to reconfirm if I am going to recommend Protein shake it to you guys!

Stay tune and stay strong!
Singing off for now.
Cuppypowers
xxxxx

Low Carb Bodybuilding Recepies... even Muffins

It is true. you read it right. They do exist!

I am not sure if you have noticed that I follow a low carb diet. I have been taking it more seriously for the pass 3 months or so and it has helped me a lot on my joinery to becoming more lean. I am always digging on the Internet for new things to read. I want to introduce to you “My little gems” (see below in the red box)

I will be regularly updating My Little Gem list to share with you what I have found on the web! This week, I have added Lean Body Lifestyle.Michael (might not look like a good cook… sorry Michael, but it has to be said!) but he has a tone of low carb bodybuilding recipes and they looks really really good!!!!! Enjoy and do link me back if you do end up making something from Michael’s

 site! Would love to read a review or two!

Signing off for now
Cuppypowers
xxx

Which one is for you? Whey Protein Concentrate or Isolate

Bodybuilding nutrition/ supplements has always been a challenge for me to navigate around. Are you confused about Bodybuilding/ fitness nutrition like I am? If so, I recommend you to seek for advice and guidance from Campbell fitness

What i really like about Brendan is that he is very helpful, and explain things in normal English! Something that i could understand. . Brendan's product reviews seems to be honest and unbiased.

On his site, you'll find supplement reviews, thoughts on weight training, nutrition tips as well as question and answer videos. He also goes into explaining Marco nutrients and shares his examples of a healthy meal. On top of that, Brendan is also very responsive and down to earth guy. He has been extremely helpful with the questions I have sent to him, so if you have any questions that you are afraid to ask, check out his channel or his website you might find the answer to what you are looking for! Definitely a thumbs up!!!

Signing off for now
Cuppypower
xxx
P.S. who wouldn't like to have a good looking guy explaining important stuff to us ladies training hard!

Whey Protien and Muscle Pain

My post from yesterday has bring me to today’s post. Natural supplements. My body obviously does not like the diary that I have been consuming and I have a change of heart. I am tempted to use a Whey Protein shake as a after workout supplement. The main reason is that I have now completed the first week of my new workout program, and I can tell you that I am in pain. I had to resort to deep heat rubs, hot baths with salt and a pain killer on this Sunday when I went out to a wakeboarding trip with my man and his friends… here is what I have been doing

Monday Bench Press Bent Over Barbell Row Dumbbell Shoulder Press Skull Crushers Barbell Curl	3 Sets 10reps x 20lbs 10reps x 50lbs 10reps x 20lbs (each hand) 10reps x 15lbs (each hand) 10reps x 40lbs (1set) 10reps x 30lbs (2sets) Above does not include a warm up set
Tuesday Barbell Squat Stiff Legged Deadlift Leg Extension Lying Leg Curls Standing Calf Raise Exercise Ball Crunches Lying Leg Raises	3 Sets 12reps x bar+20lb plates 12reps x bar+25lb plates 12reps x bar+25lb plates (the bar is @ 45lbs I believe?) 12reps x 60lbs 12reps x 50lbs 12reps x 50lbs 12reps x 40lbs 15reps 10reps

 Anyway, I hope you get the idea. I will not bore you with the details (more than happy to share it if you are interested). On Sunday after my weakboarding session in the morning I went to the gym to do my lower body work out, which included 3sets of 100lbs Leg Press. I felt that I needed to give something to my body to help it recover, since I will be back in the gym the next day…

I then turned to my boyfriend and asked him if I could have a Whey protein shake. He give me a dose which I drank immediately after my workout. Today, I will be 100% honest with you. I am in minimal pain (I won’t even call it pain, it’s just a slight discomfort) but my legs do feel “weak”.

I have always been a skeptic with weight training supplements, I personally used to believe that REAL FOOD is much better for you and sport supplements users has brought into the marketing scam that they pump out to mainstream media.

I am revaluating my option with regards to taking supplements. As you see with my log above. They are not miniature weights for a 160cm 126lbs Asian Female. I am being realistic and asking myself, how can I do the workout and give it all I can without supplementation? I will let you know if I do go ahead with adding supplements to my current plan and what I thought of it!

Milk is Evil!!!!

Hello everyone!

Hope you all had a awesomemo weekend.

I am really sorry that I have not taken the INSANITY after photos and post as I promised. I have stupidly  convinced myself that it was ok for me to drink milk again (250ml per pop of low fat high calcium of the white stuff) as part of my natural supplementation to my  new work out for the next 12 weeks. The results were that I have been bloated for the pass 4 days and it gave me a wobble wobbly stomach. I just felt that it would not be fair to me nor to the INSANITY program if I took the after pictures and post it here. So I promise, I will take those after photos after my stomach has settled down. From my pass experience, this takes anything from 3 days to 2 weeks. Since I drank milk for the 2 days i was weight training... I have an awful feeling that it is going to take at least 10 days for it to pass through my system.

Grumble grumble!!! What made it worst was that a fellow gym rat said to me on Friday's bodycombat class "you are going backwards with your progress! what are you going to do about it!!!"

I sware, it was the milk. I have been pushing hard!!!!

I hope you had a better week than i did!

Signing off for now. Keep on pushing people!

Cuppypowers!

xxx

12Weeks workout Program to build Strong muscles and Sexy Curves

Decision made.

I have been finding it hard to decide which program I want to do for the next 12 weeks and I finally settled for a program that promise by doing 30-45 mins of intense weight lifting (with reasonable eating habits), it will give me Sexy Muscle and Curves

I am going to use myself as human Ginny pig and see if it delivers. For those who has been following my journey will know that I take my workouts very seriously. I am either IN or OUT, I don’t do “I will try”. The only quirk about me is my diet. I do not follow conventional/ body building diet recommendations, it does not work for me.

What I hope to achieve in this experiment/ program is to show the ladies who are reading,

·         what kind of results you can expect from lifting heavy, without the help of supplementation at all, but eating a large quantity of meat

·         I hope I will gain shape on my shoulders, arms, and better defined abs. I am pretty happy with my legs and bottom, I am hoping they will not gain too much bulk.

·         I plan to stick in 1 INSANITY and 1 BODYCOMBAT class a week as my cardio workout that would be all

·         I will take before and after picture to let you all see how I am getting on

That’s the plan, but I am thinking about switching things up for the cardio in week 5 and week 9 as the weight lifting gets intense.

What do you think? Have I missed out anything that I need to consider?

Singing off for now

Cuppypowers

Xxx

P.S. I hope you will enjoy looking at the BodyBuilding.com website, I have found a lot of helpful videos and tips on there. Also I want to share with you that I am not a beachbody coach member, so I do not benefit from your shopping at the link I have provided for INSANITY.

Show some love!!!!!

This blog goes out to coachtemplar and other who are very attached to that number that appears on the bathroom scale. Believe I used to be one.

The ones who has been with me from the beginning might know that I have not lost hardly any lbs. Yes, that’s right. From all the ass kicking, sweat breaking sessions, the bathroom scales decided that it likes to point between 124 - 127lbs (that’s my weight when I first started working out again) but I recently discovered that my progress is actually a lot better than what it seems. Here is how you can “rethink” the number your bathroom scales has been telling you:

Day	Weight in lbs	Body fat %	Fat Mass lbs	Lean Mass lbs
3 Jan 2011	125.00 (56.7kg)	30	37.50	87.50
16 Feb 2011	123.24 (55.9kg)	25.9	31.92	91.32
22 Mar 2011	126.32 (57.3kg)	27	34.11	92.22
1 of Insanity	124.74	30   This must be a mistake!!! I will check my recoards and amend! 29/07/2011	37.42	87.32
8 Jun	124	23.4	29.02	94.98
Wk 4 of Insanity	124.75	23.9	29.82	94.93
Wk 5 of Insanity	125.4	23.75	29.78	95.62
7 Jul	126.8	23.5	29.80	97.00
12 Jul	126	23.7	29.86	96.14

Ok, so you might ask, what's her point? What I am trying to say is, even my weight did not change much, but when you plot the data out, I can see that I am on the right trend. A decline in fat mass, and an incline in my lean mass. Granted that is not a fast progress, but when you put it into context, that is a whoooooooooooooooooooping 7.64lbs of fat lost and 8.74lbs of muscle gain.

(I updated the graph 15/7/2011 because the one before was wrong!!!!)

Another note that i should make is that i do weekly averages on my weight and body fat %. which means my readings are even more accurate. I am not in it to fool myself. For me personally, the more the data, the marrier.

Hope you found this usefull and makes you wanna jump on the scales everyday!

Signing off for now

Cuppypowers

xxx