Posted by shalina

Okay, I feel somewhat accountable to share the mistakes I made in hopes to lose weight in a short period of time. When I first joined the gym about more than a year ago, I started to take my food intake very lightly as I thought, hey I eat and then I burn, so just eat whatever lar since I’m going to shed off the fats later.

But I soon came to find that, that mentality was dead wrong. I became obsessed with RPM (RPM is a 50-minute indoor cycling class based on outdoor riding. You ride to inspirational music over the equivalent of 20-25 kilometres of varied terrain, controlling the intensity of your workout with a resistance dial and pedal speed). I would attend 3 classes a week and since I’ve been told that RPM is THE GX class to look forward to as it burns most calories, I was in no position to take any extra initiative e.g run on a treadmill etc.

Apart from my obsession with RPM, I was also a Starbucks coffee freak. I used to consume a cup of Mocha Frappuccino (400++ cal) everyday, and sometimes twice a day. It went on for about a year when I realised that I had gained 3 kilos. I was so frustrated as I didn’t know what went wrong. At the time, the fasting month was just round the corner and I was eager to lose the 3 kilos ASAP before Raya. So during the fasting month, I only had Salad and a cup of Starbucks coffee for buka puasa. I would do RPM EVERYDAY with no carbo intake in my body (how I acquired the energy is still a wonder till today). I was THAT desperate.

But one night, while I was using the leg-press machine I was approached by a Personal Trainer named Julian, whose intention was to fix the way I used the machine initially. I have heard so much about him through a friend so I took the opportunity to ask him questions about my workout regime. He then signed me up for the free PT session that supposedly all new members get which I never got. (Hmm…) But the 2 sessions would only start after Raya. So after about 2 months of doing RPM everyday and eating only salad and Mocha Frappuccino for lunch/dinner, I began to wonder why I still wasn’t seeing any results.

Then after the Raya holiday was over, the free PT sessions began, and boy, what have I done to my body. I found out that I have been doing EVERYTHING wrong. I have been losing muscle instead of fat because I had no protein to help build the muscles and no carbs to help burn the fats so what I have been losing for the past 2 months was muscle. Since I ’starved’ myself to death, I have also accidentally lowered my metabolism which further increased the difficulty for me to lose weight.

When Julian explained everything to me I felt like breaking down and crying because I was so guilty for treating my body wrong. But I didn’t give up. I started taking everything in moderation again. I cut down my sugar intake from one cup everyday to only two cups/one cup a week. I changed my workout regime from focusing on just one part of my body (legs) to the whole as I have learned that you cant focus on one specific area to lose fats from that area only.

In the meantime, I did a lot of reading/research about fats, fitness etc. and I was determined to live healthy. Now, it’s been 3 months and I think I have managed to get my metabolism in a range where it can allow me to lose weight, I have also been eating right by taking more fruits and veggies without neglecting my carbohydrate and protein intake and everything else.

I’ve learned what moderation is and I have now successfully lost the 3 kilos I gained. I hope no one will make the same mistakes I made.

By Josh Stone