Massage: Pain or Gain?

This ancient art of touch has long been known to have therapeutic effects on our emotional wellbeing. Other than a stress reliever, massage can reduce hypertension, promote blood circulation and even beat away the unwanted fats! Do keep in mind, there is certain amount of pressure that has to be applied to make it work. Nevertheless, we still enjoy body massage for its rejuvenating effect. Makes me want to go for one right now…

My first body massage was one of the most nostalgic experiences I have before I was about to get married. Situated at a quiet and sanctuary corner of Yishun Safra, I was greeted with a strong sense of ylang ylang aromatic essential oil diffusion. What was most memorable was the body massage. The masseur applied the weakest yet firm pressure upon my shoulder to my lower body. The feeling was sensational, however I was quite sore at the end of the session because the lady was still exerting a fair bit of pressure when massaging the body.

My second massage was to get back into shape when I delivered my baby one week later. A Malay Jamu, came, to my house and performed a post-natal massage. This time is no fun. It is all about pain. All the pushing and rubbing of my belly to get rid of all the clotted blood and toxin were painful. Ouch! Imagine the weight of the human resting upon your fragile weak tummy especially after birth. But my tummy managed to lose a bit perhaps an inch with the helping hand of the Jamu. The overall experience is still acceptable but seriously painful. If massage is done regularly and practiced correctly, weight loss is definitely achievable.

My third massage was commenced by the masseur at the slimming center. Combination of fingers and tools are used to ensure user have the best of both world experience. The beating, squeezing and pushing of the fatty layers made you just want to cry out aloud. Though such massage method is not as painful as a foot massage, but still a sore experience. Definitely, no pain, no gain… I can feel my fats being tightened and perhaps some parts of the body firmer. Such treatment are expensive as you do need to sign up a package with slimming centers to enjoy the beating away.

What is so important about massage?

In a research conducted by the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, blood tests were conducted on 53 healthy adults who received one of two types of touch treatments. The results revealed that those who had a Swedish massage with moderate pressure experienced decreases in stress hormones while increases in white blood cells. Even the immunity system has a great boost. If you tend to get sick easily especially a flu, try massage regularly to keep that virus at bay.

Meanwhile volunteers who had a "light touch" treatment showed higher levels of oxytocin, a hormone that promotes bonding. Based on the findings, Mark Rapaport, the chairman, believes that massage might be effective in treating inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. That accounts for the growing popularity in athletes going for massage after vigorous exercise  to minimize injuiries.

The simplest cure may lie in just a simple touch. Why not give it a shot since it offers so many benefits.

We shall deal with some techniques of massage for the body in my next article.

Special Diet Tips Learned from Slimming Center

At the age of 18, I signed up for my first slimming package with a renounced slimming center. Its advertisement has greatly enticed me to take the first step to manage my weight. The craziest thing was I was bingeing on just tins of butter cookie before I plucked up the courage to go to slimming center. I was eating as if each meal was going to be my last meal. Gals, please dun follow such crazy diet. It does nothing good to your physique.

I cannot afford to pay for those treatments that can show almost instant results. The cheapest package yet not that affordable to me  was opted though I was only a poor undergraduate who have to work part time for my allowance. With my perservance, I did succeed in losing weight. From a heavy 53kg, I shed 10kg off within 3months. Finally I can squeeze into XS clothing instead of my original M to L size clothing. However, I was starving myself like crazy while doing the treatment. My mum was terribly upset as I become unappreciative of her food and my boyfriend’s mum was not pleased with my fragile looking body and was worried that I could not conceive. I was of course ecstatic with this tremendous success in losing weight but I really lost the joy of eating and dining with my family and friends. However, my confidence was still not there.

The main reason I lost weight was a change in my diet from high fat to low fat content. I had to stick to a diet of 40g of fat each day. Certainly no easy feat as there had to be a complete diet change for the 3 meals. Certain popular hawker food like Char Kway Teow has 39g of fat and  laksa has 32g of fat. All these noodle dish has close to 40g of fat which makes up one only one meal of the day. Unless you are happy eating fish or chicken porriage every meal and snack on only low-calorie fruits every day, you will sure succeed in losing weight and fats. In short, you have to thrive on the motto “Eat to live” instead of “Live to eat”.

I have adhered strictly to this diet for almost 10 years till the day I switch jobs from being a teacher to a account executive in an integrated communication and marketing company. Majority of my colleagues and friends are not interested to ask me out for meals because it was stressful for them to see me eat so healthy and fussy. I even attained the nick “rabbit” as my diet is made up of mainly “rabbit food” which are fibred rich and seriously non or low fat products. Sadly, my social circle shrank badly.

Imagine staying with this strict, low fat diet for the rest of your life? Is it really sustainable? When you live in an highly urbanized society whereby lunch appointments, dinner dates, corporate functions and parties are part and puzzle of your hectic lifestyle, it makes it almost impossible to stick to this nomadic diet. One day, you will get bored and I certainly did when I switch to a faster pace job in the private sector.

The Battle with Weight

The moment puberty strikes me the hardest at the age of 14 years old, my size was an L despite only at an average height of 160cm. My face was round, red and pimply, my tummy looked bloated, my thighs expanded at an outrageous rate(I seriously hate to wear jeans when I was a teen because none of them fit properly), my calf becomes a carrot, not the real vegetable, I mean its shape. Sigh… Baggy tees and comfy loose Bermudas were my only style. My posture was bad too as I love to slouch like the cartoon character Hunchback of Notte Dame. My head always hung low because I just wanted to be invisible like Harry Potte in his invisible cloak. In short, I really felt ugly and never went out with my friends and classmates. I actually never went out at all during my secondary school to even university days. I shun cameras and ran far, far away from photo-taking events as if they are lepers. I will rather be taking photos than to be taken.

The only comfort is to immense myself in books. Lots of them and I even slept with them as if they are cuddly teddy bears. I was thrilled to be selected in the school Chinese dance club but my happiness was short-lived. My dance instructress wasn’t that pleased with my built especially my lower body. In fact, I was the biggest sized looking girl among my petite and slim schoolmates. There was even once I overheard my dance instructress passing the comment “She had elephant thighs” to the teacher-in-charge when I was on my way to the toilet. This casual remark pierced right through my heart and I quietly made my way to the warm up floor, forgetting I needed to pee. For so long, I had yet to get over this hurtful remarks. I lost interest in the Chinese dance though I did secretly hoped I can dance my way to a slimmer body. Nay… nothing like that happen. I was too preoccupied with preparing for my exams especially for the Olevel. At least, I had better luck with the national exams since I’m really a “bookworm”.

I was not an active girl since my Secondary school days. All the seatwork in the classroom, long hours studying, bingeing on junk food and the escape from PE lessons really my lifestyle more sedentary than ever. When I entered junior college, I was in my biggest built ever. Though weighing at 53kg, I looked seriously plump because I also had a lot of baby fats to shed. Till then, I realized the orange peel look on my thighs were actually cellulite. I accidentally scratch my thighs with my nails one day and wondered what that white, lingering streak was on my thighs. My mum teased me about cellulite. I was deeply horrified! I had cellulite at the age of 17. Arghhh….. I was still not doing anything about it because I was preoccupied in my Alevel exams. I only know I wanted to get into the University and the other non-life threatening matters can wait.

I plucked up the courage to join a slimming center at the age of 18 years old. For the first time in my life, I am doing something about my weight. Though such package is expensive, I was determined to shed pounds off. I succeeded!

Yet such a success was short lived, weight tend to rebound once I revert to a dormitory lifestyle. The results were not sustainable. I embarked in yo-yo diet, protein diet and meal-replacement diet. I haven’t even touched on the topic of exercise. I also tested a variety of exercise from heart-pumping cardio exercise to slow, mediating ones like yoga and Pilates. Even till the day I gave birth, the battle with weight still continued. Despite all the ups and downs, I preserved to find the best approach to slim down and this time focusing my effort  to sustain the results in the long run.

Stay tuned as I shared my first experience in the slimming center.

An Intro of Myself

I am a mother of a 3 years old boy. Since my teenage years, I am constantly struggling with my weight and skin problems. Especially when I was in my teens, I was constantly teased for being plump and pimply looking. My hormonal imbalance really wrecked havoc in my skin and body when I reach puberty. Though I joined the school dance club at the age of 13, I was the fattest girl in the club. My dancing instructress was not really pleased with me. Once I overheard her complaining to my teacher-in-charge that I had thunderous, elephant thighs. I was devastated upon hearing this statement so I quietly sneaked away to do my warm up with my peers. It was extremely hurtful and what’s worse, I was teased as “Beauty and the Beast” in one of my classmate’s project. All these hurtful remarks really demoralized me and I have never dared to look into the mirror nor take any photos because I feel really ugly in and out.

I began my weight management journey since the age of 18 yrs old. Lots of yo-yo effect but they were valuable learning experiences which I have accumulated over the years. What’s worse, struggling with my acne-prone skin was another challenge. My skin type keeps changing from puberty age to 30s. I create this blog to share with you the journey of making myself feel confident and beautiful on both the inside and outside, not forgetting the tips and tricks used to make oneself beautiful. Stay tuned to this blog!