Yoga anybody?

Hi all,

This graphic tells it all.

Anything to keep the mind and body healthy and strong.

Take care

Allen Lai

Of proteins, carbohydrates and fats

Your essential food plate 

Our body needs oxygen, water and adequate food to survive and to grow.

Food contains proteins, carbohydrates, fats, minerals and nutrients.

We are what we eat. Proteins, carbohydrates and fats are the essential daily needs. If you wish to be active and strong consume the following:

a.     Proteins – 1.5 grams per kilogram of your body weight per day.

b.     Carbohydrate – 10 grams per kilogram of your body weight per day.

c.      Fat – 0.5 gram per kilogram of your body weight.

But if measuring your food is a nightmare, then use the general rule of thumb that fat is the only food that really matters most. Intake of fat should be rigidly controlled. A good rule should be not to take more than 40 to 50 grams of fat daily. It is alright to take more proteins for your muzzle and adequate carbohydrates for your energy requirements.

 But “bad” fat is a no no. Monitoring fat intake is critical to good health and body form. Try to differentiate between good and “bad” fats.

Eat well.

Allen Lai

So you need a plan

If you don’t plan, you are actually planning to fail. Period.

Do you need a good plan for a new you? Mark McKeon’s book Every day Counts – Your system for a healthy body and balanced lifestyle provides you with an excellent plan for a healthy body and lifestyle. It is a unique and practical day - by - day method, presented in a manner that can be easily understood by us all. The system is simple, concise and self driven. The daily merit/demerit points system is easy to work with, informative and motivational.

The book starts with John Norley’s famous quote that “all things are difficult before it becomes easy”.

Mark McKeon was a professional former fitness coach for the elite Australian Football League Club, Collingwood and he knows how to deliver.

McKeon’s Point System include credits and debits in points, to achieve Points targets for Food, Exercise and Pressure. Rewards and Humanity Days are integral parts of the system.

Keeping a log book is critical to the programme.

A list of foods is given with its point system. Plus 1 point for good foods, 0 points for neutral foods and minus 1 point for “bad” food. You can make your own list of what is good and what is “bad” foods.

Points for exercises are scored for training in any form of exercise or sport, and not for intensity or speed. One point is awarded for every 15 minutes of exercises. Maximum need for exercise points per day is 6 points, which equates for 90 minutes of exercise.

Points for Pressure are scored 1 point for every 5 minutes spent keeping your life in balance. All it takes is taking time out to chill, relax, meditate, deep breathing, doing Qi Qong, Yoga. Anything that is food for the soul. Target points for Pressure points is set for 4 points daily.

The maximum points score for the day is set for 14 points per day. However the perfect score is set at 26 points. But this should not be the goal.

Humanity Days is a day off for every 7 days, 7 weeks and 7 months after commencing the programme. It is the incentive to keep on the programme.

McKeon’s Target Points per day are as follows:

a.     Food points - 12 points each day.

b.     Exercises points -  4 points each exercise day. No points needed for non exercise days.

c.      Pressure points - 4 points each day.

d.     Total points on 4 exercise days  - 20 points per day.

e.     Total points on 3 non exercise days – 16 points per day.

Can do? Go get the book from your nearest book store. Now you have a plan.

I got to start my planning now, but then again my spouse always have her other plans for me. So invariably I do my Plan B.

Cool ya?

Allen Lai

Functional movements

Functional movements? What are those? Well it says just that, movements that contribute a function to your bodies. For example there is a marked difference between sitting still and standing still. Standing still burns 60 calories per hour more than just sitting. An hour sitting in front of the TV will take off 22 minutes of your lifespan. Six hours a day on the TV takes off about five years of your life. Studies have confirmed the correlation between sitting and premature deaths. So the more you move the more you burn off what you ate. Some idiots called it exercises and that had put a lot of people off. Most people do not like to exercise, except for athlete freaks. Exercise is a very bad word and mostly misunderstood. Try functional movements. Move well and move often, and do as much as you can.

I just finished reading Mika Brzezinski and Diane Smith’s best seller in the New York Times Obsessed. Yes, admittedly the book is a ladies book. But then don’t men have bodies too? This book is all about obesity and how a Goddess framed Mika overcame her obsession for junk food and an obese Diane Smith could eat no thin.

People are fat because they do not move enough, read exercise, to burn the calories consumed. Obesity leads to a host of ailments including cancer. If you just diet without exercise or movements 25 percent of every pound you loose is lean body mass. And the more lean body mass you loose the more your metabolism slows down. The higher the lean body mass the more calories you burn. Calories not burnt up end up as fodder to your cancerous cells. They have a grand eating party and grow unabated. Movements are reflected in your METs score.

Read David Kirchhloff’s blog Man meets Scale here for motivation. David preached for many years that you can’t lose weight without changing your diet, but you can’t keep the weight off without exercising pretty consistently. If you do decide to give it a go, start slow.  Learn proper technique.  Most importantly, begin building a weekly routine that you can develop and build over time.  There is no reason to start with four days of heavy lifting per week, but two days might be pretty manageable.  My only advice is that once you get going, keep trying to gradually increase the amount of weight you are using so that you are doing the 8-10 reps, struggling a bit on the last one.  Most-most-most importantly, don’t quit.  Build it into your schedule, simply stick with it, and the results will follow. We can and should measure our healthiness as one of the most crucial metrics of our personal success. Weight can be the measure by which we keep track of our progress on improving nutrition and activity.

Just get moving, any which way, it is all functional.

I am off to break a sweat.

Allen Lai

A Porche car I am not

Saturday 19 October 2013.

UMMC measured my shoulder and knee strength. Using all my brute strength, I tried to be like a racing car with fantastic torque. But a Porche car I am not.

The peak torque for my shoulder is 16.9 NM for its EXT rotation and 42.5 NM for its INT rotation. The average power 17.9 watts and 36.0 watts respectively. Deceleration time is 110 msec and 220 msec respectively.

The peak torque for my knee is much better, reading at 81.5 NM for extension and 66.8 NM for flexion. The average power for my knee is 68.1 watts and 59 watts for extension and flexion respectively. Deceleration time stands at 230 msec for both extension and flexion.

Looks like I am still running like the good old Mini Minor. I will need to tune up my engines for better performance. Whoom !!

Allen Lai

Your general health matters

Hi all,

The chart by NCCN tells all. Let's be at least of average health.

National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)’s Life Expectancy by age and heath.

Age	Excellent Health (Years)	Average Health (Years)	Poor Health (Years)
80	11.9	7.9	4
70	20.6	13.7	6.9
60	31.4	20.9	10.5
50	43.5	29	14.5

NCCN expert’s recommend no further testing or cancer treatments if your life expectancy is less than 5 years and the cancer is NOT causing symptoms.

Allen Lai

Exercise Log Sheet

Exercise Log

Name:_____________________ Month:______

Date / Time

No.	Exercise Gym & Resistance band	Set & Reps	Rest Between sets
				__/__	__/__	__/__	__/__	__/__
1	Shoulders (Front & Lateral raise)	Sets:___ Reps:___	Min: Sec:
2	Arms (Bicep & triceps curl)	Sets:___ Reps:___	Min: Sec:
3	Chest ______________	Sets:___ Reps:___	Min: Sec:
4	Legs ______________	Sets:___ Reps:___	Min: Sec:
5	Back ______________	Sets:___ Reps:___	Min: Sec:
6	Abs ___________	Sets:___ Reps:___	Min: Sec:

Know your METs

METs stands for Metabolic Equivalent Tasks.  One MET equal to 3.5 milliliter oxygen per kg body weight per minute.

 When we are sleeping or resting we have a METs level of 1. Activities are then indexed against this level of complete resting. Hence METs reflects how hard your body is working or generally reflects your fitness level.

Some METs level activities are as shown:

- Sleeping - 0.9 METs

- Watching TV - 1 METs

- Desk work, Studying - 1.8 METs

- Walking at 1.7 mph - 2.3 METs

- Walking a dog - 2.5 METs.

-- Walking 2.5 mph - 2.9 METs

Cycling Stationary - 3.0 METs

- Walking at 3 mph - 3.5 METs.

- Aerobic exercises - 3.5 METS

- Cycling Out doors - 4.0 METs

- Weight-lifting -  6 METs

- Shoveling - 6 METs.

- Hiking - about 7 METs.

- Jogging - 7.0 METS

- Swimming at moderate speed - 8 METs.

- Calisthenics ( Push ups, Sit ups, Jumping Jacks) - 8.0 METs

- Running at 6 mph - 10 METs.

- Rope Skipping - 10 METs

- Running at 10 mph - 16 METs.

Activities under 3 METs are considered sedentary.

Activities from 3 - 6 METs are considerate moderate.

Activities more than 6 METs are considered vigorous.

Having a daily average of 2 METs is considered good.

Now get some exercises moving. Dont be idle.

Take care

Allen Lai

My baseline METs results

Below are my results taken after a weeks reading of METs and levels of activities.
With 18.38 hours daily average on sedentary idleness, I should do a bit more moderate activities.
It also looks like I can do with more sleep as I sleep 5.43 hours daily average. The body needs more quality sleep for big dreams.

More Huffs and Puffs

Saturday 19 October 2013.
More tests today with Dr Nahar and Gabriel

Arm strength test

Mr Das

Peter in the VO2 Max test

Me warming up

Dr Nahar recording our VO2Max results

Gabriel printing out our results

Water therapy

I swim at the Bangsar Sports Complex at least twice a week.

 Swimming and water therapy are very good exercises for the overall body conditioning and skin tones. There are a few senior citizen swimming daily in the complex. We really enjoy ourselves with the water. Sometimes playing and splashing water at each other like kids

Me showing the use of a noodle. 

Me holding the yellow noodle and a palm pad in my right hand

Join me at the pool?

Allen Lai

First Foray

Wow factor - Not me yet

Me. Haha 

 Warming up by cycling for one hour in my neighbourhood

Smile

Saturday 12 October 2013. First Foray with UMMC. Dr Nahar issued us with one resistance band each for our first set of exercises. UMMC wants us to have biceps like the picture above. Don't drool. Possible? Definitely yes. No study is without homework. Aiyoh. Alamak. We are to do exercises on alternate days using the Resistance Band Exercise Group 1 & 2 worksheets.

I have already started using it. It looks easy, but not so, after 10 repetitions with 3 sets for each drill. The orange rubber band is one mean equipment. Simple stretches and versatile, but effective. I had muzzle sore straight away. Long way to go for me. But slow and steady I shall deliver.

Dr Nahar also reminded us on no cheating on the sets and repetitions as he will issue us with a log book next weekend.

Yikes!! But it is going to be fun. What, the ladies group is already into their 3rd month. Siew Fune showed us her biceps. Wow.


Take care.

Enhance your muzzle building with proteins

Sources of proteins

Our body needs proteins. A normal person needs 20 to 30 grams per day depending on his muzzle mass in the body. One chicken breast is about 30 grams. Two eggs and yogurt for breakfast provide adequate proteins for the body. Meat proteins are superior to vegetable proteins. It has more complete amino acids.

Proteins promote muscle recovery and muscle growth. Whey and Casein are the two major types of protein source. Whey proteins absorbs faster than Casein protein. Protein shakes have an advantage because it absorbs fastest.

We would normally need 1 – 1.3 grams proteins per kg body weight. We could spread protein intakes over 2 to 3 hours daily. But if we are to deliberately build our muscle groups, then we would need more than 2 grams of proteins per day. We should take our proteins within one hour from finishing our exercises.

Take care.

Allen Lai

VO2Max

Elite athletes use VO2Max reading to show their fitness and performance levels.
VO2 Max shows the peak oxygen intake per minute. The test name stems from the terms Volume, Oxygen and Maximum.

Below show the two graphs for VO2 max readings.

My VO2Max reading on 5 October 2013 was 24.16. It is just barely Fair for my age. I need to work on it to improve my VO2Max data.

Graph shows Relative VO2 max  per body weight norms

Graph for absolute VO2 Max norms.

You can get a quick estimate of your VO2Max by using the formula below:

VO2Max =15X HRmax devide by HRrest

Take care

Allen Lai

The Seven Pillars of Health

It is back to basics. The Seven Pillars of Health – The Naural way to Better Health for Life by Dr. Don Colbert, MD. This book was on the New York Times Best Seller list. Written in 2007, Dr Clobert’s book is not outdated and still holds true to good health and good lifestyle since biblical times. He attest to 50 days to a healthier you.

The Seven Pillars of Health are:

1.     Water.

2.     Sleep and Rest.

3.     Living Food.

4.     Exercise.

5.     Detoxification.

6.     Nutritional Supplements.

7.     Coping with Stress

Water.

Water is the most essential element for the body. The body needs to be hydrated to function properly.

 Increase water intake by eating more salads, vegetables and fruits.

 Tap water generally contains high levels of unfiltered minerals, chorine and other contaminants. Tap water needs to be filtered.

 The general formula for the amount of water to drink is Body weight (LB) divide by 2 = ounces per day.

Sleep and Rest.

Sleep and rest restores , repairs and rejuvenates the body.

 Sleep is vital to the immune system.

 The body needs at least seven to nine hours of sleep.

 Insomnia stems from stress, anxiety, depression, caffeine, chronic pain and medications.

 Take time to rest. At least one day a week.

Living Food.

Eat more vegetables, fruits and healthy nuts.

Dark Chocolate is very high in antioxidants

Avoid processed foods.

Meats are cautioned foods

 Worst food are Hydrogenated fats and trans fats. Excessive saturated fats and

Excessive polyunsaturated fats.

Eat slowly and chew thoroughly.

People who restrict their calorie intake lives longer.

Exercise.

 Stagnant bodies build diseases.

Walk five minutes three times a week, build up to thirty minutes three times a week.

Exercise keeps off excessive weight.

Heart rate for training zone is 220 minus your age times 0.6 for low zone and times 0.9 for high zones. Keep within the zone levels.

Detoxification.

Toxicity permeates our environment.

There is a need to detoxify our body waste daily.

One hour of indirect smoking equals to 4 cigarettes.

Body odor sometimes are sign of a toxic body.

Eat fiber to detox

Eat more alkaline foods

Perspiration is detoxification through the skin.

Periodic fasting is a powerful detoxification process.

Nutritional  Supplements.

Diet alone is not enough.

Consider taking a daily multivitamin.

Most common deficiencies are Vitamins A,B6,C,D,E and K.

Minerals frequently deficient are magnesium, calcium, fiber and potassium.

Get 10 minutes of sunlight daily for Vitamin D.

Eat rainbow colored salads daily.

Avoid rancid fish oils.

Mega supplements are harmful.

Coping with stress.

Manage your stress well.

Identify what things you can control and what you cannot.

Laugh a lot

Do not worry.

Learn to do medition.

Lower your stress hormones.

Forgiveness releases stress.

Accentuate the positives and eliminates the negatives.

Practice proper breathing techniques.

Thank God daily for your good health.

Take care.

Allen Lai