Are you serious about LOSING Weight? This APP is for you.

My race plan this year is focused mainly on Olympic/ Standard distance triathlon races and one Ironman 70.3 race. I structured my training program to accomodate 1 major race every 2-3 months starting this February. Since shorter distance races are faster and use more anaerobic energy compared to longer distance races like the Ironman,  high intensity/ speed training is a priority. 

A regular "weight control" diet would complement a rigorous training program to achieve good results. I started my weight loss regimen with just restricting "unnecessary" calories from junk and processed foods.

I was shocked yesterday when a friend showed me his personal training app from his iPhone. I thought I was eating less than I used to but the app showed me I was consuming more than I should because of 1 specific part of my diet. Nuts! I can't stop eating peanuts. I have them in the car, at home and in the office. I had not realized that they are so calorie dense that I have been putting in more calories than burning them because of these nuts. Thank God for the MyFitnessPal app. I immediately downloaded the app and installed it on my iPad. It takes awhile to start using the program but once you've regularly logged your data it gets faster and easier. 

The app recorded training hours and provided calories burned per exercise. It can also record daily food intake with corresponding nutritional facts and your personal physical statistics. Its food and exercise database is enormous that it can even provide me with nutritional facts for my "HUMBA" or "Monggos". The best part about this program is that it is USER friendly. Sign-up for free and your good to go. Wow! An all-in-one FREE app that can truly help us in our training. 

If you have a Blackberry phone, iPhone or iPad, android or windows phone you can download the app for FREE (That's Right, FREE! And there is no PAID app so we all get the same app) at MyFitnessPal.com. Try it! It can really help. Good Luck!

Staying Healthy this Holiday Season

Christmas Season is fun and memorable for all Filipinos. We Eat. Then Eat. And Eat. Parties almost every night starting from the 3rd week of December until the first few days of January. Then comes Sinulog!!! 

But not everybody wants to attend parties. Some people (myself included) try to steer clear of overeating opportunities to avoid gaining weight during the holidays. It is really hard to control your appetite when all your favorite dishes are being served and waiting to be devoured. My weakness? Humba. I just can't stop eating our home cooked (Heart attack guaranteed) Humba. I also can't refrain from having an extra serving of any vanilla/ chocolate Ice cream. I am heavy built and gain weight easily whenever I indulge.

I created a healthy lifestyle plan to keep my weight at bay during the holidays. I hope it works well for you as well. Good Luck!!!! 

1. Whenever you are invited to a party. Arrive LATE! As long as you are not bringing food for everybody then it is acceptable to be late. Be Tardy enough that all the good and tasty food have vanished and you are left with just water and Soup. 

2. Stick/ Hang out with healthy weight-conscious Friends. Some of my team mates from Multisport Team Reborn are healthy but not weight conscious because they are blessed with bodies able to metabolize large amounts of food. I try to stick with team mates who are trying to control their food intake as well during the holidays. One for all, All for one. 

3. Make aerobic/ fat burning exercises a group activity. Organize a group bike ride or run to make the holidays more jolly as well as healthy.

4. Schedule Lunch or Dinner parties after regular training hours. This will help increase your metabolism during the party and burn some of the calories you are taking in. 

5. If its not too important, SKIP IT! Try to make an excuse for not attending the party. Be polite, not rude. 

6. Earn your food. Eat only what you have burned prior to the meal. Remind yourself that training is hard and burning 500 calories is equivalent to running at moderate intensity for an hour. Drinking one venti-sized Frappuccino (>500 calories) can be burned by running for more than an hour. 

7. Count calories. I am not a big fan of this but I just remind myself that a cup of hot Cafe Mocha is more than double the calories compared to a cup of Cafe Americano with no sugar and cream. A bottle of San Mig Light is 100 calories and a regular glass of red wine is 100-150 calories.  

8. Eat more vegetables or fiber. I eat cereal bars for breakfast while driving to work or after a workout. During parties, I try to fill my plate with veggies first before meat or carbs. 

9. Love Peanuts and Peanut butter. I never run out of peanuts in the car and peanut butter in the office. I love Jiff or Peter Pan Reduced Fat Peanut butter and Cheding's Greaseless Peanuts. These help reduce my food cravings between meals and provide me with enough protein and calories for recovery. 

10. Pick your food. It does not have to be expensive as long as it is not processed. Despite my love for Cheeseburgers, I try to refrain myself from eating fast food unless there are no other choices. I eat chips, fries and Ice cream only during "cheat days" 1-2x a week to keep myself motivated to exercise and burn the calories I have consumed. 

11. Drink water. This, for me, is the most important. A glass of water before meals and 30-60 minutes after a meal. I consume around 2-3 Liters of water on a regular day. If its really hot and humid outside or if I am training, I consume more. No beer, soda or artificial juices during parties. 

This regimen has worked well for me these past few weeks. I have not gained weight since the start of the holidays and I feel lighter. A regular and healthy diet supplemented with a consistent Aerobic exercise program (moderate intensity, at least 30 minutes/ day for 3-5 days/ week) will help you feel younger, lighter and healthier. Happy Holidays!!! 

I am joining the 2013 Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines

I was just given the approval to join the next Cobra Ironman 70.3 Philippines in Cebu, Philippines. I can't wait to register this December 1, 2012.

I missed the 2011 edition of the Ironman 70.3 Philippines since I had already raced in the Aviva Ironman 70.3 Singapore and will only race once a year. This year, as part of my Adult Pulmonary Medicine fellowship Medical training, I was in Palawan for our Midyear Convention while the participants raced the streets of Cebu last August 2012. Next year, despite the lack of time for serious training I will join the Ironman 70.3 Philippines to be one with my team mates (Team Reborn). I will not aim for a fast finish but will try to do my best to finish strong despite the lack of time to follow our training program. 

I am so excited to resume fitness training once again. I have been trying to lose weight to compensate for my lack of training. If I can't commit to long training hours to increase fitness power then I need to lighten up to improve performance. I hope to be 68 kilos on race day. We, Team Reborn, have been keeping track of our weight, Body mass index and body fat percentage and So far I am on track. Started with 77 kilos prior to resuming training and have lost more than 5 kilos in the past 8 weeks. I will soon blog about how I lost weight properly despite my busy schedule. I am now as healthy as I was 2 years ago when I joined my first Ironman 70.3 race. I still have to lose a few centimeters of fat in my midsection which I accumulated from not exercising and eating more than I should. This time, I am determined to lose weight and control my diet. 

I want to be an Ironman once again. With God's help, I will be successful in my Adult Pulmonary Medicine training and Ironman 70.3 training next year.

I need to control my Diet

I have been exercising less and eating more these past few weeks. Whenever I visit my friend’s house to spend time with his kids or hangout, we commit eating “sin”. Ice cream, salted chips, coffee, chocolates and the world famous, Heart-attack proven “Humba” of Ate Marit. It is therefore not surprising that I gained weight. This has always been my problem.

Moderation is the key. Eat moderately. Drink moderately. Exercise moderately. Party moderately. Work moderately.

Not for me. When I drink with friends on occasion, I get drunk. When I eat, I glut. When I exercise, I do it more than I should. When I have work to finish, I do not sleep until its done. When I sleep, I siesta the entire day. Moderation, for me, is like eating broken glass.

Here is something I read from one of our Medicine references:

Title: Controlling Portions

Points:

1. Eating more than a lot of fruits and vegetables is still eating in excess. Excess foods = Excess Calories.

2. Practice makes perfect. Whatever you want to eat, put it your plate. Eat whatever is half of what you placed is your plate.

3. Eating half of twice the food you want to eat is cheating.

4. Practice comparing portions. Three ounces of meat looks like a deck of cards.

5. Know your food. Carbs, fats or protein. Pasta is a carb and so is Bread. Don’t eat them together.

6. Restaurants should include “Calories per serving” in their Menu.

7. Soda and Orange juice are not the same. Juice will contain vitamins while soda is simply water + sugar. Coke Zero? Go figure.

8. Healthy foods should be cheap while junk foods should be expensive. Double the Ice Cream Tax. (#*^$*%$&^$ !!!)

9. Divide your plate. Half of the plate should be fruits and vegetables. Eat half of the Veggie and fruits and half of the other things you placed in your plate.

10. Read Food Labels. Know the calories per serving and Servings per container of each food you buy.

Good Luck!!!