Singapore Personal Trainer|The Fitness Truth

I watched Made Of Honour at Great World City today.

(Click on the picture to know more.)

Mmm… an alright movie but I wanted to highlight the part where one of the bridesmaids was an obese women.

I cannot remember what the exact script was but it went somewhere along these lines;

“So what are your dress sizes?” bridesmade 2, Stephanie asked.

Bridesmaid 1, Melissa: I’m a 4

Bridesmaid 2, Stephanie: (I can’t remember. Sorry guys.)

Obese Bridesmaid 3, Hilary: I’m a size 8!

Made Of Honour, Tom: (He’s a man for God’s sake!)

So when Hilary said she was a Size 8 when she was apparently a Size 12, Melissa could not contain her amazement and choked on her drink!

Melissa and Stephanie then tried to reason out with Hilary to stick with size 12 but she refused! Instead Hilary took out a bottled water filled with brown water. She called it some diet drink which she had to consume the entire day. It looked so DISGUSTING.

The Made Of Honour, Tom acted by Patrick Dempsey said; “How about Food?” I must admit, I thought that was not only a valid question but a hilarious one! The way he said it with a crinch on his face… “How about FOOD?” Hahaha!

Throughout the movie, it was shown that Hilary had fainting spells apparently because she chose to survive on diet drink all day. On the day of Hannah’s (Acted by Michelle Monaghan) scottish royalty wedding, Hilary’s gown splitted on the left side as she sat down! She had to use pins to bring the fabric together! Not a pleasant sight!

Many of you reading this may laugh. However the above scenario is very real-life.

Many women out there would lie about their dress sizes and even buy clothes with a dress size uncomfortably smaller than their ideal size. Why do women do this?

The bitter truth is that women have unrealistic expectations on how they should look like in a short period of time. Most times, women would want to be smaller than what they are even though they may already look GREAT.

It is undeniably true that women lie about their dress sizes just to make themselves feel better.

Think: “The smaller the better…The skinnier the better…(yea…till they disappear in thin air? Gosh!)”

They are consumed with wishful thinking that by buying 1 or 2 dress size smaller and going on a crash diet like Hilary with the diet drink above, they would be able to fit in that smaller dress size.

Some even squeezed through the smaller dress size which inevitably made them look so suffocated.

If you think consuming diet drinks would make you lose weight fast! fast! fast! - I promise you that you’ll be utterly disappointed. Instead of losing weight, you will stay the same weight or even put on more weight. If this isn’t bad enough, you’ll feel lethargic and have fainting spells all the time!

Do YOU really want all these hassles?

Lesson for the day: Consume Diet drinks And Get Fatter. Eat FOOD And Get Slimmer!

I trained Knut Estensen today and we were having converasation about self-image. With his new found weight loss and new muscles growing nicely at distributed parts of his body, my dear client has been spending time at Shopping malls!

He had bought new clothes from Dolce and Gabbana and Ed Hardy and looked easily 20 years younger than his age! He is turning 50 years old soon and hardly looks the least bit like 50 years old. Now with his new choices of trendy, fashionably unforgivable taste of clothes, Knut Estensen would defintely look ASTONISHING than he already is.

I would ask his permission to take pictures with his new style and post it on this blog. I’ll try alright! I hope he would be a motivation to all of you. See what a 50 year old can do with his life!

I can bet you with my life that Knut has found a new air of self-confidence and boosted self-esteem he never really had before. He can now perform Diamond push-ups which many half his age cannot even do!

Anyway after training Knut, I ran some errands and decided to do my usual observations. 2 days ago, I visited Fullerton Hotel and Singapore Art Cafe located at Esplanade but today I had no place in mind. I decided to put my car at home and safe petrol. I hate driving endlessly, wasting petrol and get nowhere. The Bus is a perfect cost effective tool for me. Thus I took bus number 65 and let it bring me to where ever it may go. It finally brought me to Vivocity and Harbourfront Centre!

I visited PageOne which is a replica of Borders and Kinokuniya bookstore. I wanted to go straight to the business section (My favourite reads)…

BUT I second glanced the Interior design section and saw this book! I stayed put at this section for quite some time. Interesting!

“Luxury Houses” book! Fantabulous houses by the seaside with articulate details of interior design! I was like “Oh My! Oh My! Oh My! Soooo NICE…”

Flipping throught the pages…

Something you should know about me is that I am quite different from the average female population. I am a little weird. I love shopping at the supermarket, my romantic idea of a date is walking at say District 9, 10 and 11 to look at HUGE houses. I love visualizing and love observing how the ambitious get to where they are. Whenever I take a walk to places with big landed properties, I would often asked myself “How did they do it?” “How can I achieve great things in life?” “What do I want in life?”.

Every single time I take a Walk of Visualization, it gives me an amplified boost of motivation all over again from my self-motivated self. Thus after the walk, I would be SUPER motivated!!!

More Books On Interior Designs Of Luxury Houses…

The reason I am sharing this with you is because this has helped me in losing weight. When I first started on my weight loss journey, I was TERRIBLE! I never thought I could ever lose weight. Everytime I said that I would exercise and eat right, I just never got to it and I gained more weight.

This walk of visualization has helped me find a concrete reason to be disciplined and committed to do anything that I want. The walk of visualization has given me hope to get my life straightened out and lose weight.

I kept telling myself that I wanted to lead not a luxurious life rich in materials but instead a life rich in good health. I strongly believe when you have health as your top priorities, you will naturally do well in other aspects of your life such as scoring good grades and making money.

Follow me here? Now, think about your walk of visualization and play it in your mind. Share with me on what makes you the most motivated. Find a reason, a concrete reason to reach out to your goals.

Share with me on Why Do You Want To Lose Weight…

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I love passing my time at the supermarket simply because I want the best for you and my clients. I am always reading food labels and discovering better food choices for you and my clients. For example the Fat-Burning Noodles I recommended to you on my last few posts on Shirataki Noodles has helped many people I know in sustaining and maintaining on their weight loss program.

I am now researching and working on alternatives to the asian staple rice and also vegetarian recipes for Shirataki Noodles as requested by some readers. Stay tuned to that blog post.

I just love the supermarket! It is colourful! It is my interest to observe people’s grocery buying habits and find a reason to blog about it and share better ways to improve your nutrition.

With that, I walked to Harbourfront Centre and noticed that there was…

YES! A Chocolate And Candy Fair at the 1st floor of Harbourfront Centre! No!!!

More Chocolate And Candy…

I trained a client at Namly Place last few days and was checking on her nutrition and advised her to make certain food choices. She’s seeing definitions on her tummy and it is getting flatter by the day. The results has made her motivated as ever to invest and dedicate her time to exercise and make better food choices.

However she shared that she is willing to do ANYTHING but chocolate is her GREATEST enemy! So I asked her next; “How often do you eat it?” She said “Nibs and pieces throughout the day…” My face was crumbling but I maintained my cool. Then she was quick to suggest that she’ll totally take chocolate out of her diet.

I STRONGLY protested! I told her not to do that.

I said; “You can have your chocolate. However have your chocolate only after training. Alternatively, eat “clean” (A fitness term I use with my clients on nutrition. It means eating good food choices.) 5 to 6 days out of 7 days and every weekend, induldge on your favourite food. In your case, it’ll be chocolate.”

You should see the smile on her face! I hate depriving anyone. As much as I know many professionals would disagree with me but to me what matters most is that my clients and you get RESULTS and look in your greatest shape ever and still having a life.

A life that allows you to make exceptions to indulge in sinful food every now and then.

I believe my method, will help you and has helped my clients to be more motivated to exercise and eat right. I have been using this method for 3 years as a fitness professional and it has shown marvelous results for Physique Makeover clients. All Physique Makeover clients aged between 30 years old to 60 years old has stayed with me for at least 1 year and the most is 2 years now and a few has booked Physique Makeover for the next 2 years of their lives.

I believe that if my clients can be motivated to look after their health, YOU CAN TOO!

I love this profession! I love it when people are more confident of themselves and develope healthier self-esteem.

This is the epitome of a fulfilling life - Helping others the best that I Can.

I am determined to do standard man’s push-ups chest touching the ground and perform at least 3 pull-ups again. I stopped training hard for the past 3 months and I obviously lost my strength. I could do pull-ups, 3 months ago and when I started training full-throttle 20 days ago, I can’t even pull myself up!

However these past days of training has shown much improvements to my strength and form. I did Twitter-ed that my complexion improved, the pimples on my face cleared because I was discipline to consume Omega 3 Fish Oil and other Healthy Fats, I can see my abs definitions once again and my legs are toned as ever that I’ve been wearing shorts and dresses! It has definitely boosted my confidence.

I can once again perform standard man’s push-ups (not many yet, just 3 sets of 10 full reps) and getting there in terms of pull-ups.

I FEEL SO MOTIVATED AGAIN. I’M NOT GOING TO GIVE UP JUST AS YET.

So what I decided to do today is to think of an inspiration on how I want to look like in months to come. All of us including YOU should have a picture in your mind on your goals.

This is called Visualization. Close your eyes and paint a picture of you in the best shape ever and keep being self-motivated and positive. SMILE.

I blogged about sexy and toned figures by the likes of Kate Beckinsale, Jennifer Garner and Jessica Biel and shared with you their secrets to their applauded physiques.

However, I did not feel quite “right” as them being my inspiration. I wanted someone I could identify with in terms of my body-type, personality and character. Put it simply, I wanted to have a realistic model in my mind.

So, I chose the Role Model For All Fitness Enthusiast;

Queen Of Pop, Madonna.

She’s 50 Years Old, mother to 2 children, leads a very stressful and hectic life and yet she understands the value of good health, power image and trends. She has invested her time in exercise and making good food choices which made her look her gorgeous, slim and toned self over the golden years.

“There are no short cuts to being Madonna, it’s all about hard work. There is no easy way. If you want to know how I look like I do, it’s diet and exercise and constantly being careful… I’m not going to slow down, get off this ride, stay home and get fat!” - Madonna In The May issue of Elle magazine, UK.

I chose Madonna as my role model because I admire her consistency, discipline and commitment about her well-being even at the age that she is. Most of you would have already given up to fit into that skinny jeans at 35 years old! Big Mistake!

When I turn 50 years old, I would want to follow in the footsteps of Madonna and continue to advocate Health, Fitness and looking GREAT to everyone.

So Do You Want To Look Hot Like Madonna?

I am sharing with you this Fr.ee 7 Steps To Skinny Jeans E-Book which would get you started!

Kindly fill in your name and email address in the form below to get the Fr.ee

7 Steps To Skinny Jeans E-Book.

WORK IT LADIES!

You’ll also be notified for future Blog Updates, FR.EE E-Books and Discounts from Physique Makeover’s Coaching Programs.

On the side note, Madonna has released her latest album, Hard Candy which was highly anticipated by Madonna Fans worldwide. Click on the Album Cover below to find out more.

First Of all, a big THANK YOU to my dearest friends, clients and faithful blog readers for all your kind words and encouragements with regards with yesterday’s post. It had certainly boost my morales and ignite more fire in me to acheive my goals. Here’s an action-taking affirmation - I CAN DO IT!

Alright, anyway I have been rolling up my sleeves these 3 days brainstorming on TWO new bootcamps for Physique Makeover clients. One of which would be the first of its kind in Singapore and (hopefully) spread the word of the importance of Power Image.

I truly believe FIRST impression lasts and therefore you must not only feel good about yourself but LOOK good too! This is especially so for professionals and corporate executives who meets clients/customers/consumers all the time and even to those who socialise or are in the dating scene. In fact I believe that with Power Image, you will increase your chances of say securing that sales deal, business venture and who knows, a great lover.
Health is indeed Wealth.

Anyway, I am still not finished with the Bootcamps so I would not talk much about it. Trust me, in a few days time you’ll hear me talking about it again.

At 2PM just now, I decided to take a short break from my laptop and exercised. I performed the time-saving 4 Minute Fat-Burning Workout. Woo! Feels good working out.

I truly recommend the 4 Minute Fat-Burning Workout to EVERYONE even if you’re at the office. What’s 4 Minutes right!!!? It does not only make you feel good but also helps you burn the fat and keep toned. This should motivate you to invest 4 minutes of your time.

As for nutrition, I had beef and eggs with tiny potatoes. The beef and eggs are good food choices. However not the potatoes as potatoes are high in starch. However I won’t sweat it because it is such a puny amount and it is not as if I eat potatoes all the time. Everything in moderation. It is still way better than chips and oily food! I’ll just have to be selective with my food next time.

Lesson for the day: Take it one step at a time and you’ll progressively get better.

I have something inspirational to share. This is going to be a longer than usual post. However I promise you that it will be worth reading on.

Picture this - You have a loving spouse, beautiful joyful children, a great job and then…

You were told that you had only MONTHS TO LIVE.

What would you do with your life?

I asked myself this question for the last few nights and thought about my mother. When I was growing up (and am still growing up), I saw how my mother fought for us, me and my siblings. I saw her struggled for 7 years in a highly abusive marriage, saw her tortured by her then husband and I was forced to grow up quickly, became a mother, father and sister at 7 years old to my 6 year old brother. I watched my mother braved being a single mother before she found herself a good man whom soon become the only father I ever knew.

All was so blissful with a new family then the bad news came. When I was barely 10 years old, my mother was told that she only had months to live. OH MY GOD!

My parents called me one day and told me: “Diana you’ve to keep this low from your brothers. We have something to tell you.” I knew something was so wrong. My heart was damn in my mouth. And then the words came out… ” Mommy don’t have long to live…”

I did not cry. I just stared at my parents face and nodded. I understood. At 10 years old, I had seen enough torture to feel pain.

The irony was, deep down, I knew my mother was going to live LONGER than that! It was a believe I had about my mother. I love her so much and knew God would be kind to let her stay with us.

Days became weeks, weeks became months, months became years and today she is still alive. After close to 10 years, she is still very much there when I wake up and go to sleep.

My mother and I once had a conversation.

“Mummy, I know you’ll live long enough. I want to show you the world and take care of you and shower you with what you want.”

“Don’t worry a mother’s stength and love for her children will always give her the will to live. I will watch you grow up.”

She was so strong and always has been. When you look at my mother, you would never knew she had Thalassemia(blood disorder) and Heart problems. You never knew that she was the lady whom once had months to live. She looked like any ordinary woman out there on the streets!

My mother told me, one of her the secrets to her prolonged life was positive thinking.

My mother visualised that she’ll get better and that she was doing great and living her life. She drew positive energy around her and within her. She is a great testimony that visualization and positive thinking helps prolong your life.

Her next secret was love and faith. Her love and faith for me and my siblings, kept her soul alive. Literally. She told herself that she would live long enough to make sure my siblings and I grow up being people with good value system, morals and a strong desire to excel in life which would be selfless to their family and society.

That’s my mother for you. Sometimes when people around me or even people who just knew me said - “D, you are really strong aren’t you? You just won’t give up.” I would smile and remember my mother. I truly believe I possess the strength to face all the challenges I have from her. My mother unknowingly has build a strong character in me.

As I was playing the years of my mother’s life in my memories this Mothers’ Day, I found an answer to the question - What would I do with your life?

I would keep fighting on with whatever that I do and NEVER give up. I will make a difference in lives of others in every way that I can. It starts from now where I reach out to people about the importance of Health and Fitness and developing a strong inner-belief in themselves. IMPOSSIBLE IS NOTHING.

Till, today I still have adults telling me that Health and Fitness is not their number 1 priority in life. I used to think that way too, being a fiercely career minded individual until I felt burnt out clocking in the hours.

I learnt the HARD WAY and I do not want you to suffer the same!!!

Now look at it in another perspective.

Yes our family and career may be the outmost priority. However if you are going to fall ill, be easily succumbed to diseases, is that not shortening your life span to 1) Spend time with your family 2) Be highly productive and build a successful career?

If you understand where I am coming from, you’ll realise that taking care of your well-being emcompases every other aspects in your life. It is a priceless investment anyone can ever make.

With this, I would like to share with you one of my many inspirations in life, Prof Randy Pausch. He has God knows probably months or even weeks/days more to live.

He is such an inspiration to me and millions of others in the world. Watching this video has made an impact in my life that it had be thinking about my mother.

I decided that to keep you motivated to start taking care of your Health and Fitness and Life, was to share this video and my life story.

Now, for a person who has Pacreatic Cancer and not much time to live, he can do Clap Push-Ups which would put a lot of YOU out there whom are very healthy, with no deadly disease and some time on your hand to SHAME!!!

BE MOTIVATED. BE VERY MOTIVATED.

Prof Randy Pausch’s “The Last Lecture” On The Oprah Winfrey Show (Sep 07)

Prof Randy Pausch’s Final Farewell (May 08)

Hope you actually clicked on the play button and really watch the videos. You won’t regret it.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

I am feeling much better from the migraine. Decided to rest again from exercising to allow my body to recover fully. In fact, I decided to take more time off and took long walks. Your mental state of mind is the most important thing you should take care of.

At this period of time, I have been working hard and cracking my brains on the launch of www.dianasabrain.com. One thing which I think many of you are unaware of is that I aim to make my first Million when I turn 21 years old, which is next year.

While some people are very supportive of my goals, some are skeptical. However, I am fiercely determined and an action-taker thus I will prove that I CAN do it.

A little information on my financials for last year was a revenue of $300 000 plus. Quite a decent amount which took me a year when my business partner Han Ayden and I started with close to zero capital. All by running Health and Fitness business? Yes all the money from advocating Health and Fitness.

With that money, I reinvested it into the company for expansion purposes. I feel that it was not time for me to splurge on luxuries yet. The money was reinvested to invest in research and development of the Health and Fitness industry, hire more trainers and management-level people to work for Physique Makeover. Physique Makeover is the personal fitness training company which produces RESULTS. It was worth every cent. I do treat myself to small treats for the small and big goals I have achieved along the way.

I have always been a woman of necessity.

Before I first started in this business at barely 17 years old, it was a struggle. I could still remember having 50 cents in my pocket and while my friends were going for breaks, I told them I was full. At that time, I was reading Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad Poor Dad and knew deep in me, I HAVE to do something about my life. Thus I chose this path - To QUIT SCHOOL and run a business. It was the most difficult decision in my life. However I am ALWAYS learning something new everyday and took action with what I have learnt.

There’s a purpose I am sharing with you a glimpse about my life. Remember I told you about the launch of www.dianasabrain.com?

Well, that website would be the countdown to my first million by 21 years old. This website would be a space where I share my experiences as a young entrepreneur, opinions and reviews on business strategies and the coaching program for youths.

Recently I have requests to start a mentoring-support group for youths and took the opportunity to make it happen. The coaching program will commence next month. I will update accordingly.

Each day, I would get youths emaling me on how, where and when to begin with as budding entrepreneurs. I have always wanted to give back to the society and this opportunity fits in the bill very nicely. I must admit, I initially thought that this is so soon for me as I have just started out myself. However after much thought, I told myself that I will give all my heart and soul to help these youths the best that I can and at the same time I am always open to learning new things from them. I believe we can learn anything from anyone.

As of now, there are 10 people whom have expressed interest in the group. With the launch of www.dianasabrain.com, I am looking at 50 youths who are inspired to make their dreams come true.

This is what I have to share for today. Some hints on what to expect on the launch of www.dianasabrain.com. My full profile would be launched together with www.dianasabrain.com. However if you want to know more about me, read it here.

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Entertainment of the day: I CHASED AFTER A SQUIRREL, LOST IN THE URBAN AREA OF THE CITY! (Just to get a few snap shots of it. How lame right!?)

Leave with a Smile. Be Positive. -Diana Sabrain

I have people from Singapore where I am residing now emailing me on where to get Shirataki Noodles locally.

You can find the noodles at selected NTUC(s). I know of one at Bukit Timah Plaza. One of my clients bought them from that place and cooked tom yam soup with it!

You can also get Shirataki noodles at the Supermarket at Isetan Orchard which is Japanese in Nature.

Other alternatives are Marketplace at Tanglin mall, Paragon or Raffles link and Cold storage at Takashimaya.

If all else fails, you can get it from me. However try the supermarket first.

Good luck and feedback to me on how you cook it!

I started my day by working out. Put on my pair of running shoes and jogged out to the running track near my house.

There is no excuse Really to not exercise at all! I live near the Stadium with complete fitness facilities. The only excuse one can give would be LAZYNESS.

Here’s my training program for the day

Sprint :Rest ratio is 1 :1

Slow Jog 5 Minute (Warm-Up)
Sprint 1 minute
Jog Moderately 1 minute (Breathe, “Rest”, Recover)
Sprint 1 minute
Jog moderately 1 minute (Breathe, “Rest”, Recover)
Sprint 1 minute
Cool down (Jog moderately but a little slower) 5-7minute (Breathe, “Rest”, Recover)

In total, I decided to sprint 3 times. I felt like puking after that last sprint… URGH! However after the entire 17 minutes of workout, I felt a good rush of euphoric feeling. It is all worth it! Waking up earlier to make time for my health makes me more responsible and inculcate better time-management, self-discipline and a sense of balance in my life.

In efforts to be more interactive with you readers, share with me your views on this question:

Do You Think To Get That Nice Flat Abs, You Should Do More Slow-Paced Running or Sprints?

Feel free to ask me any other questions here by leaving a comment on this blog post. I am trying to install something which would be easier for YOU to ask me questions and at the same time keep in touch. *I’ll get to it by this week.*

ANYWAY…

After the crazy sprints, I thought it would be great to get creative and sink myself in a movie. I did just that and watched Iron Man! Robert Downey Jr full-swing back into his acting genius, is exceptional as Iron Man. A superhero flick with the message that an arms dealer can see the light and give up the business of making a profit on the death of others.

I love IRON MAN! Look at that details of Red and Gold! I feel like buying the Iron Man figurines. The BIGGER the better! I love such toys! It depicts being strong and fit.

Alright, a random picture of me today. The Lighting in the room is too bright! I don’t photoshop pictures. Not because I don’t want to but because I feel that it is not necessary to alter anything. Save Time? Wore a cap because I sprinted with it (Singapore has been intolerably HOT and HUMID.) and I just felt like being tom-boyish today.

Be Positive, Laugh And Smile Always!

If you follow me on Twitter today, I was twittering on working out at Sunset Height’s Park.

I know I promised “proper” pictures but no one was with me while I was training so I self-took. Horrible but at least I was able to balance, perform squats and took a snap as evidence I was working out! Haha! Look at my obviously TIRED face.

What exercises did I do?

Since I was limited in equipment, I made do with the ground, bench and seats at the park. I must admit the supersets of exercises were not fantastic but it still beats sitting around doing NOTHING.

3 set 10 reps

A1) Standard Push-Ups
A2) Single Leg Squats (KILLED ME!!!)

B1) Good Mornings
B2) Mountain Climbers

C1) Hip thigh extension
C2) Jumping Jacks

I was perspiring like nobody’s business. It did not help that it was a super HOT DAY in Singapore! Anyway after my workout, I finally had someone to take a shot before I left for my next destination. I took off my perspiration soaked t-shirt and posed.

Lesson For The Day: You CAN exercise anywhere even at the Park.

I’ve been consistent with making good food choices and exercising regularly. I’ve been very stressed up lately though. Juggling clients, moving the business forward, networking and looking after myself…I have been rather edgy.

Often a time the general public have this perception that people who are in the Health, Fitness and Wellness industry are very physically, emotionally and mentally fit individuals. True, we are more conscious of our well-beings but that does not discount us from our fair share of bad hair days, mood-swings and occasional eccentric moments.

We are humans afterall!

Irregardless of the above, I believe that we have the ability to control our moods and make better choices. For example, I am an emotional eater eversince I learnt the consequences of scoring lesser than an A. (A earful and a damaged self-esteem.)

I developed a habit where I would have the “urge” of eating highly sweet and oily foods which would obviously make me pile the pounds. I told my mind that after I eat these array of TERRIBLE foods, I will be feeling GAZILLIONS times better. NOT.

However as I grew older and began exploring the Health, Fitness, Wellness and Motivational industry, I began to realised that it was just because I let “Stress” get to me and CHOSE to snack away. I bet a lot of you have the same problem and could relate to me.

Like I’ve shared above of being stressed these few days, I could have done what I did 3 years back - SNACK WHEN I’M STRESSED. Instead today, I chose to do more positive activities like take a short 1 hour walk at the park, listen to my mp3 and SMILE when there’s a passer-by.

YES! S.M.I.L.E. I feel that when you smile, you are actually releasing positive energies and attracting back positive energies around you. You smile, make others happy and when they return your smile, you would feel on top of the world too. Law Of Attraction?After taking a short walk today, I went back to the office feeing liberated and I did not allow myself to put on the pounds!

So what was my exercise for today? Recovery Short 1-Hour Walks from the 2 days of Weights-Training. Phew!

Lesson For The Day: Take short 1-Hour walks when you’re stressed and craving for junk.