Cook after Workout? Why not!

What do one normally do after a tiring workout? Rest, eat, shower? I tell you what I do. I cook, specifically dinner. Why? I'll answer with a question. Isn't cooking your own meal a healthier version, for a slimmer you? Plus, my workout time is with my hubby which is after his work hours (approx 6pm which is my cooking time).

As I mentioned, I'm a SAHM (Stay-At-Home-Mom) so obviously I have "loads" of time. Uh huh. It's a myth but no one will understand it except for another SAHM. I digress so back to the topic. How do I do it? Simple, just plan ahead. Depending on the workout you're doing, you decide what kind of meal to cook. Let me give you an example.

Workout Day 4

4Sets (Time: 29 mins 5 secs)
10 Burpees
20 Lunges
30 Sit-Ups
40 Mountain Climbers
50 Jumping Jacks

This particular day, I cooked something that may seem like a meal that takes a lot of preparation but honestly it's as easy as 123 and ABC. I did Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Padi (YEAH! Orang Nogori rocks!) and Stirfry Eggplant & Four Angled Bean. I'll even share the recipe if anyone is interested.

Ayam Masak Lemak Cili Padi

300 - 400gm of chicken breast (cut into cubes)
15 green cili padi (Hubby chose green over red, don't ask why, I'm sure red is also fine)
2 onions
200ml coconut milk
Few cloves of garlic (We're vampire killers so we always put a lot!)
1 piece of lemongrass (smash with knife)
2-3 tsp turmeric powder (A friend said it's just for colour)
Salt to taste

1. Take all the cili padi and 1 onion, blend together into a puree.
2. Put some oil in the wok, put in garlic, lemongrass and stir until fragrant.
3. Put in the pureed cili, followed by the chicken and stir fry until chicken half cooked.
4. Stir in the chopped onions and then pour in the coconut milk. Bring to boil.
5. Put in the turmeric powder and salt to taste.

Voila! Done. Easy? The whole meal I did it less than 30 minutes, including the stirfry vegetables. Altogether with the workout, I did all these within 1 hour. Imagine if we were to eat out, we had to shower, prep the baby, drive out, find food, order food. By the time we do eat, it's like 8pm? It's all about effective time management and if I can do it, so can you.

Nic's Plan to Lose Fat

I was planning and planning and planning. I was still on my bum, nothing was on paper. Everything was just on my mind. This would be a great plan to finally put it into black and white and see if I'm able to abide by it.

1. Cut down on carbs, sugar & sodium
2. Exercise 5 times a week
3. Eat more fruits, daily if possible (difficult for me as I'm not a fruit lover)

4. Drink at least 3L water a day (difficult too as I'm quite the cactus)
5. Cook healthy food for self and family as often as possible

Post Exercise Thoughts

Exercise Routines (3 days workout, 1 day rest, 2 days workout, 1 day rest)

Day 1

2 Sets
- 50 jumping jacks
- 20 sit-ups
- 60 climbers
- 60 high knees

Finished with 10 burpees and 2 rounds of 30secs planking

Day 2

3 Sets
- 10 burpees
- 20 squats
- 30 russian twists
- 50 high knees

Day 3

4 Sets
- 50 jumping jacks
- 50 climbers

After thoughts
Day 1 I was full of enthusiasm, I didn't expect myself able to finish it. Day 2, I was aching slightly at the joints. Day 3, I wanted to do abs exercise which I did manage to do 1 set but my abs were aching too much to proceed in which led to the above revised routine.

FYI, most breastfeeding ladies doesn't have their monthly flow and it was the same for me. However, on day 2, my Aunt Flow unexpectedly came and here I was thinking, should I use it as an excuse to not exercise? Would it prevent me from executing any of the moves? It never stopped me before, I don't see why it should now. Surprisingly, there was no muscle cramp or backache like last time. Is it possible that the exercise eased the pain? Possibly the other muscle aches were more painful than the period pains. ;) Now, would I continue or give up after 1 day rest? Continue to follow us to find out!

PS: Starting weight: 56.9kg. Would be weighing once a week as a record. Take note: Low weight doesn't mean fit/slim. I forgot to measure fat% in which I would the next time around. Again, all these are just estimations. Best measurement? Look in the mirror. Also how you feel. Clothes you wear.

Bout the wifey

As the wife, I've been supportive of my husband's exercise regime. I've been the one promoting healthy lifestyle but right after marriage, with pregnancy and all, slowly some of these things that I preached went down the drain. After months of persuasion from my husband, I've decided to pick up again and also decided to co-write his blog. We felt that a woman's point of view was crucial as our bodies are different. Women have many different things that goes on in their life eg: period, pregnancy and I'm here to share how I tackle these issues.

Currently, I'm a stay-at-home-mother with a 9-months-old baby. I'm exclusively breastfeeding which means I require extra calories to feed my baby. I've been given an idea that breastfeeding burns extra calories so I should eat more to increase or maintain milk supply. The first month after giving birth, I lost the pregnancy weight but the tummy was obviously here to stay. I read that tummy will slim down as I continue to breastfeed. So far, I've had 2 misleading ideas. Simply because as I continue to breastfeed, I grew fatter, waistline wider, tummy is the size of when I was 5 months pregnant! Reason is I've eaten more than the calories burnt and I'm more inactive now than when I was pregnant.

So follow me on my journey, be it up or down and motivate each other to LOSE FAT OR DIE TRYING.

PS: Please excuse my long-windedness. Possibly a woman's thing? :)

Blog Updates from me and my wife, Nicole

That's right! In the coming months and hopefully years, both my wife and I will be updating this blog. We will be posting updates on progress and pictures of our weight loss, workout regime, activities, healthy foods that we eat as well as our occasional cheat foods.

Did I mention to you that we also have a 9 month old baby girl? By us parents setting an example of healthy living, we hope that it will will rub off our baby girl. So stay tune for future updates, pictures and perhaps videos of our journey towards a healthy and happy family!

Happy working out!

Shane See SK