Pink and Undecided: yoga

Be Healthy and Do Good with Fitbar Donor Kalori!

Hey guys!

As you all probably know by now, i am all about body positivity and strongly believe that we all can be beautiful no matter what our sizes are. Having said that, i'm also all about being healthy (and happy!) and fit, please understand the difference between fit and skinny! I no longer care if i can ever again be a size 0, but i want to be as healthy and fit as i can possibly be! That means i continually try my best to live healthily and make healthy choices (but that doesn't mean i don't indulge once in a while, you gotta live and not exist-an unhappy life is more like a miserable existance, that's not really living!).

One of the healthy choices i encorporate into my life is snack healthily!

Indulging in healthy snack with Fitbar after our yoga class :D! Please excuse our sweaty, flushed faces, that's how you really look after a good workout!

I'm sure most of you are familiar with Fitbar already, at least you must've seen them in supermarkets!

I was lucky enough to get sent these so i can start my healthier life with no shortage of low calories snacks in tow :D!

Now, a little bit about Fitbar first! Fitbar, under Kalbe Nutritionals, is a healthy snack with lower calories from your regular snacks (you'd be surprised at how much calories your comforting little snacks are! For example, a chocolate donut has 133 kkal, fried pastries around 208 kkal and sticky rice cake has 177 kkal. I spend all day with my pedometer and hardly burn enough calories for one of those things *horrified* >.< no wonder i haven't been able to shift any excess weight!).

Even though Fitbar is a healthy snack choice, that doesn't mean that they taste bad! On the contrary, they are so yummy that it's hard to believe they're actually good for ya!

Fitbar's available in 3 yummy flavors : Fruits, Nuts and Chocolate!

I've always enjoyed Fitbar because of their taste (and of course, the fact that it's not so sinful so i wouldn't feel guilty when i have them!), i also make my whole family try them and guess what : they also love them!

My favorite flavor is the Fruits Fitbar! It has the right amount of sweetness (because i cannot take too sweet things, they make me sick!) and it's super satisfying with its layer of white chocolate and raisin (100% from real fruit)

The Nuts Fruitbar is my husband's favorite flavor!

He loves to indulge while playing PS4 >.<. He said that the nuts variant is crunchy, sweet and salty-just the way he likes it! He is a big fan of peanuts, i guess that's part of the reason why it's his fave flavor

What about the Chocolate Fitbar made with healthy dark chocolate and contains only 90 kkal?

Well, it's my 8 year old son's favorite!

In case you suspect me of using him as a prop *LOL*, he immediately tore and bit into the chocolate Fitbar after i snapped the first pic. Little O loves the chocolatey taste and the crunchiness from the corn flakes! Now, if it's yummy enough for a fussy 8-year-old, i bet it's yummy for you too!

If i haven't manage to convince you of its goodness, you need to know that Fitbar is also a great source of fibre (which contains vitamin and mineral's goodness to support your daily activities), free of cholesterol (which is super important of course! Maintaining cholesterol level is very very important in your attempt to maintain your heart's health) and trans fat (trans fat increase bad cholesterol in your body, it'd also increase your risk of getting a cardiovascular heart disease and type 2 diabetes)!

Now that you've been informed about Fitbar and its goodness, let me tell you about this awesome program they are currently having!

As a developing country, there is one common problem that Indonesia is currently facing about its nation's health. It's called double burden malnutrition. According to World Bank data in 2015, there still 8.4 million children under 5 that suffer from chronic malnutrition and dwarfism due to poverty and the parents' lack of understanding of the right nutrient standard. This condition can hamper brain's development and increase the chances for diabetes, obesity and heart disease in the future.

On the other hand, according to Basic Health Research in 2013, Indonesian adults suffering from obesity (result of over consumption of calories) has doubled in numbers during this decade, currently 24 million males and 40 million females in Indonesia are obese. Obesity can be caused by many things, but 90% of the cases are caused by surplus in food intake that is not followed by enough activities to burn the extra energy off.

This is caused by 4 factors : hormone imbalance (usually happens in women over 25. The fluctuation of growth hormones that function to maintain muscle mass results in decrease of muscle mass), the slowing of body metabolism (it decreases up to 5% every 10 years after hitting 25, and commonly Indonesian adults consume 500 kkal more than what we need), lack of physical activities, and lack of sleep (causing havoc in body metabolism. According to a research recoded in Archives of Disease in Childhood, lack of resting time can influence glucose formation that can lead to diabetes).

With these knowledge, Fitbar under Kalbe Nutritionals launched Fitbar Donor Kalori to help minimalizing effects of those two conditions. Now with just burning calories, people in Indonesia can already participate in building a healthier generation!

With this program Fitbar encourage us all to donor their calories (OMG just what i've been looking for my whole life T.T *LOL*) and pool 10 million calories among us to help street kids to have better quality lives. Hand in hand with Yayasan Sahabat Anak (a nonprofit organization that fights for marginal children's rights and Jakarta street kids so that they won't keep on living in the street and have a better future).

You and i can participate and help make a difference for them with some super simple steps!

All you need to do is to sign up at fitbardonorkalori.com, use any application in your Smartphone (or a pedometer if you have) that can record the number of calorie you've burned-snap a picture of the numbers, up
load it in your account and your is done! Easy as ABC!

I know not everybody has the time to dedicate fully for running a marathon or whatever, don't worry about it! You can burn your calories in the most simple ways (like walking, going up and down on the stairs or anything at all!)-just remember, those calories we burn will be converted to IDR 500 million for kids in need! The program is already running but you still have until the end of April to donate, so let's get going!

According to Adinia Wirasti (actress, sports enthusiast and member of Pertemanan Sehat) "This is a program that calls to the people to do good for both themselves and for others. By joining Fitbar Donor Kalori, anyone can give donation and help kids in need."

Of course, i am not just preaching, i am also taking part of this program and managed to donate more than 1000 kkal in the past five days (totally plan on continue donating!). I live my life normally and although the numbers i produced are not fantastic, they can be significant if i am joined by lots of you! Let's see what my daily activities looks like and how they help me burn those calories off (i've always wanted to do a "Day in a life of a blogger" type of post and here it is finally!).

Armed with Fitbar to help sustain me through the day!

This is me, just woken up *LOL*. I admit i am not an early riser :p and i always wish i never have to leave my bed in the morning hahaha

Then i'd hop in the shower and for most days i would start getting ready to go out (there are days where i just shower and be done *without putting on any makeup or whatever* because i am a stay at home mum as well as full time blogger, i also have other jobs that i can do at home so my office is my room haha).

I notice even when i apply my make up and change my clothes, i get up and down a lot to fetch my things-that made an impact in the pedometer!

On those days when i have to get out of the house (3-5 times a week), i often have no time for a proper meal (because i take a while to get ready hehehe >.<), that's when Fitbar comes in handy!

I just slip one in my bag!

And nom it on the way!

When i go out, i typically go to run errands (you know, to get groceries, or go to banks), attend meetings (blog related/other job related)....

Or attend blogging events

I might also just go hangout with my friends/family/go shopping or any other fun activities

I never pegged myself as an athletic person, but i found out how much i love working out and producing a good sweat during my latter teenage life (and that i have good stamina!). I do my best to join workout classes which i enjoy (when you enjoy something, you're more likely to stick to it and not bail!). For the past 2 years, i found my favorite workout : yoga.

We have yoga classes at least once a week

My favorite resting position hahaha

Getting more and more flexible each day

Yes, i prefer to be the one supporting because i am heavy *LOL*

Before i started taking yoga classes, i didn't know that i could even do it!

Sometimes i would not have time to eat before the class (which is a total bad news because if i don't eat, i would have no energy to work out!), with Fitbar i can spare a few seconds to down them and get of boost of energy!

Then of course, i must do my work : blogging.

With Fitbar in hand in case i got a craving hahaha

The typical work of a blogger

At night, after i've done all of my work, i like to watch horror movie (my favorite genre) online :

Don't get any funny idea, that's a horror movie titled Horse Head on the screen!

I always feel peckish at night (such a bad habit!) and with Fitbar i can now snack healthily (FYI, i do not eat so many Fitbars during a day *LOL*, the pictures are taken in many days as an illustration) and without worrying about getting fatter!

Result of my mundane life is not so bad :

So what are you waiting for? Sign up now and become part of this awesome program! If I can do it, YOU can do it!

#Pink

*This post is written to join Fitbar's blogging competition. I received the goodies with no further compensation. All opinions are mine and unbiased

9:53:00 PM
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Sports Bra : Yay or Nay?

collaboration

Okay so the title is probably a bit startling for my loyal readers, why on earth do i suddenly talk about sports bra *LOL*...

And yes, i probably should be one of the last person to lecture you about bras. I wear my old and comfortable bras forever (seriously) because i hate the feeling of new bras (and i hate the extra pads. Weird since i definitely need them to actually look like a woman, but i really enjoy being a flat as a board lady :p. So save your pancake jokes because nobody can make fun of my flatness better than me!) but in all seriousness, sports bra is a must have for every woman (who works out).

As you most probably knows, i do yoga.

I don't know about you, but i HATE working out wearing regular bras (in all honesty, i really dislike bras in general, so restricting! Hence my apprehension on buying new bras *LOL* i do that every year for CNY because new undies are a must in our family every CNY!) because you know, they ride up when you do weird position (and you do a lot of different ones when you do yoga) and dig uncomfortably into your skin. At the moment this is what i wear underneath my tee shirts whenever i go for yoga :

Yep, that's a cropped workout top (and the black thingy are pads in case of the visible nips!). #Undecided's and i's old workout place require us to wear those cropped tanks and yoga pants to make sure we do the right movements (and no self conscious problems because it was a female only class and most of the women in that class looked worse than me :p) and when it closed down (due to the only instructor/owner's failing health), we moved on to yoga and i (the thrifty person that i am) just continue to wear those cropped tanks for support.

My usual getup for yoga, please excuse the *cough* came toe-it's kinda unavoidable when you're wearing track/yoga pants!

But of course, it is not perfect. There are the negatives of wearing workout tops as bras like these :

1. The pads move around, sometimes to a degree where it almost falls out (admittedly it probably only haunts flatsies like me).

2. Sometimes after a vigorous workout, your arms are too sore to even lift up your clothes, let alone a very fitted cropped top that hugs your chest and become even more restrictive when soaked with your sweat.

3. I often lose one side of the pads in my massive wardrobe and as and OCD person, it's really making me MAD!

4. The pads often got our of shape after a few washes, giving you a serious case of wrinkly chests.

5. Some of my workout crop tanks have details in the back (like a bow) and it's unusable for yoga because i layer them with tees (hey, our yoga instructor is a dude!) and we do a lot of poses, the bow becomes very disturbing and even painful when we do lay down poses!

So, i've been thinking of investing in sports bra lately! I think the benefit of sports bras are really obvious already, but in case you're totally clueless lemme just summarize some of them for you :

1. Super support (especially for those who have bigger pairs than me!)

2. The girls don't bounce (well yeah, even though i am flat, my girls still bounce and it's really painful during PMS!)

3. Easy exercise (that's totally the point, obvi)

4. Super comfort (hmmmm, i would buy a dozen just for that!)

5. Temp control (great especially for those who live in tropical countries like us!)

6. No Sweat (this is important too, i have sensitive body skin and trapped sweat makes me break out in rashes!)

7. Storage capacity (oh yeah, anything to minimize storing space is heaven sent for hoarders like me!).

(all points taken from this source)

So... Sports bra? Yay or nay? Definitely YAY!!! I think i'm gonna start hoarding now *oh no!*.

I don't know about you but i find bra shopping to be quite boring, if you're as lazy as me (given that you already know your bra size okay!) then what's better than online shopping? This is where Zalora comes in! I'm sure most of you've heard about Zalora before? The online shopping website that has many choices for both male and female fashion, including sports bra! As for me, the one sports bra that caught my eyes? Of course it's gotta be pink!

What about you? Do you wear proper sports bra when you work out?

#Pink

(This post is written in collaboration with Zalora)

2:51:00 PM
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A Yoga Class with #Pink and #Undecided

acro yoga

Hello Everybody!

Namaste...

Well, the greeting is only appropriate because today we're going to let you peek into one of our yoga sessions.

This is #Undecided, btw, but as always, this is another joint post, #Pink will also write later :)

A few months ago, Av told us that one of his gym friends (let's call him Koko Yoga, that's what we call him anyway LOL) offered to teach semi-private yoga class. I was quite conflicted in the beginning. Torn between excitement (because I always hated going to gym / classes - fear of embarrassment LOL) and simply the fear of doing yoga (I pictured yoga to be something that I, being not nimble at all, could never do). But then I heard Koko Yoga's price and I was sold!! LOL. Besides, semi-private classes are awesome because you'll be surrounded with people you know, right, so what the heck I told myself, it's cheap anyway...

So long story short, #Pink agreed to join. Followed by my little sister (Ev). And on one Monday night, four of us started our very first yoga session. Since then a few more people joined. My aunt, my cousin (Meme), #Pink's cousin L, Koko Yoga's friend, but on the session that we took photos of, it was just #Pink and myself + Av + Ev, and Meme.

(from left to right) #Undecided; #Pink; Meme; Av; Ev and of course, Koko Yoga's back LOL.

Hi guys, it's #Pink here *grinning widely from ear to ear*. So after that "serious looking" photo of of us starting our yoga class, let us show you a clearer picture of our little yoga class (not complete, every class' hardly ever start with a full team *sigh* one or more members would always find an excuse to skip class.. LOL)

And yep, if you're wondering. Koko Yoga is kinda tiny *LOL*.

Now since we're all rookies in yoga, our class is definitely a basic yoga class. We've been having classes twice a week (but lately only once a week for many reasons like holidays and all zzz) for a few months (i can't remember exactly :p) but we're still far from good *LOL*. So if there are any yoga masters amongst our readers, please refrain from making fun or criticizing our poses! We never claimed that we're good at this, but we certainly enjoy our classes!

Now, our reason to post this, aside from the fact that we pretty much document everything slightly interesting in this blog so why would our exercise be any exception, also because we know the word "YOGA" can intimidate most people. It sure intimidated us before! We want to share with all of you that (basic) yoga is something that everybody CAN do. Even for people with horrible balance like me or stiff limbs like #Undecided *LOL*.

I asked my hunny to be the photographer of our yoga class that day, and he was very enthusiastic, snapped SO many pictures (like, 5 in every pose *SIGH*), i spent HOURS going through the pictures and picking the more decent ones and posting it with our stupid slow internet connection, so i hope you guys enjoy this! Oh, and it's photo heavy!

Start with a breathing exercise to calm your mind and body first

Continued with stretching from your head

To your hands... Hunny burst out laughing while taking this picture zzz, he told us we looked like zombies. LOL.
We kinda did bb hahahaha... Though I'll say we looked more like Chinese Vampires from the silly old Chinese horror movies LOL.

Somehow reaching right hand's always easier than the left!

Twisting our bodies, and why the hell did we look so scary (i mean, serious)

The right form one's supposed to do. None of us nailed this so i'll just post Koko Yoga's pic here LOLOLOL

Now onto our legs. Can you kiss your knee?

Koko Yoga was in a funny mood that particular day and he made us do weird stuffs we don't normally do. I guess people acts differently when there's camera snapping LOLOLOL. He asked us to cradle our legs and rock them like a baby -___-

And then used our feet to make a phone call. WTH koko!

Yes, you guessed right. None of us could do this pose LOL. On my defense, my legs are too long!
BB, you're using that excuse on 90% of poses that you cannot do... LOL

Breathing exercise. Inhale + bend your back and look up to the ceiling. And then exhale + curve your back with your head between your shoulders. No photo of the 2nd step though.

Next step. One, put one arm to the front.

Then twist it behind the other arm (oh hi Koko Yoga's butts LOL).

Back to step one and then lift the opposite leg. Hold for 8 to 10 seconds.

Then reach for the said leg and pull!!!!

Let go of the leg and then slide it to the side (look at my sissy in yellow resting her foot on the window pane LOL LOL).

My fave pose of all LOL (no idea why Ev was doing!).
#Undecided's favorite poses are my least fave, while mine (like the stretches where you have to kiss your knee) are her least fave, weird huh?

Adomuka (no idea if I write it correctly)
Or known as dog pose :)
Right. Btw, I realized just how curved my back is. Point to correct on tonight's yoga session! *note to self*

I still can't reach the floor without bending my knees. Then Koko Yoga would catch me cheating and scold me on the spot LOL.

Namaste (catch your breath, quick!!)

Chair pose (you'll have to be able to see your feet - then you're doing it right).

Praying pose with a twist (balancing sucks, I must add LOL).

Side plank!! (This pose is damn difficult, it took me several classes to get to this point, and it's NOT even perfect LOL).

The right pose.

The rest of us trying hard to copy the pose hahahaha...

Caturangga - the cheat caturangga actually as normally the chest can't touch the mat.

Bujanggasana - The Cobra.

Another adomuka (however one writes it - too lazy to google).

Highland (the step before Wirabadrasana 1 - very similar, just the foot on the back is pointed).

Dance Warrior.
I have no idea why i am so bent like that WTH

Chandra something something pose.

A very difficult pose.
Yeah, you guessed it-none of us could do it, hence no pic of us even trying to do so (coz every body just gave up. LOL)

A pose which name I can't remember.

The continuation of that said pose (by this time the leg on the front would be aching bad LOL)

Koko Yoga making his round - checking if we're doing it right...

Wirabadrasana 1.

Wirabadrasana 2 (#Pink's hunny said SMILE and obviously I obliged - look at Ave looking super mean hahahaha).
We look like we're surfing LOLOLOL

Another very difficult pose, everybody's yelling at my hunny because he wasn't snapping pictures at the hard ones LOLOLOL, didn't he know we're only trying so hard because there's a camera around...

Giving you the view of our backs LOL

Wkwkwkwkw plentitude of butts :p

Koko Yoga introduced to us a lot of new poses that day (told ya he's meaner when there's a camera around), and somehow when there are new, weird poses mostly only Av and i would even attempt to do so (and Ev usually, but she simply gave up in this pic *LOL*). It's actually much easier than it looks though. Look at #Undecided posing with her peace sign, she does that whenever she wouldn't even attempt a pose, and you'll see more of that soon -___-

Errr.... Obviously #Undecided's better than me in remembering the salutations' names
Three legged something, bb... I can't remember this one!

A super difficult pose that none of us mastered. You're supposed to put your kneed at the back of your arms and lift them up so your body weight's totally supported by your hands only. Both Av and i could only do that for a split second :p

Like i said, when it comes to stretching stuffs, it comes naturally to me while #Undecided sit it out again with another peace sign LOLOLOL. But trust me, she's like 10x more nimble now after a few months of yoga classes! She used to be as stiff as a rod!
No, bb, it's not that I wasn't trying. I was giving Meme some space! *lies* LOL.

I don't understand why these guys can do crazy stuffs (like folding your legs at the back and lay on them) like it's nothing but couldn't fold their bodies until everything touches the mat

Hahahaha Ev looking dizzy, and #Undecided simply looking crazy here hahaha (don't kill me BB)

Trust me, we're only posing here, as soon as the camera snapped our legs thumped the floor with full force *LOL*

Looking sombre but we're actually pretty happy, it's almost savasannah already hahaha

Hug your feet and kiss your knee :D
This I can do!! LOL.

LOLOLOL look at what the front row's doing while the back row's being super serious!
Not enough space, bb hahahaha

Lift your butt, peeps! I usually slack around until Koko Yoga comes around and lift my butt up immediately before he yanked my feet up LOLOLOL (yes, we're difficult to teach and very prone to cheating...)

Now this is not as easy as it looks okay, very heavy! And Meme's already giving up LOLOLOL
And yes, #Pink was right when she said I am way nimbler now for few months ago, me, doing this, was impossible LOL.

Fish pose (one of the rare ones that name i remember...)

And finally! Savasannah (or corpse pose, i know... scary name...)!

After savasannah and back to lotus pose, the class' finished! But since we're documenting this class for this blog post, i want some interesting poses to show you guys! So i DEMANDED koko Yoga to do a headstand...

Oh hi me in the mirror!! *wrong focus* LOL

One with his crazy students posing idiotically around ahahaha

I actually asked him to do some more weird poses (by himself), but he decided to rope us (except me who refused adamantly, i will explain why a bit later) in for some acro yoga...

And I'm quite proud to tell y'all that this was our very first attempt at acro yoga!!! Behold!!

Av being a super girl!

And idiotic looking me at the background. Then we teased Koko Yoga about lifiting my hubby (who's around 20kgs heavier than him)

To which he took as an insult and proceed on lifting him up for reals!
With ease I must add!!

With Av and #Undecided

And the nimblest of us all, Ev!
Again, this was Ev's first time doing this. She crazy good or what?! LOL.

We even made the-full-of-protests Meme to do something, very simple and even Meme went "What's next?" when they're up, but that's it Meme coz you asked for a very easy one!

And what i personally think is the craziest pose of the night!

Okay so i think i owe it to you guys to explain why there's no picture of me doing acro yoga *LOL*, thing is... I'm a control freak alright, and i HATE looking crazy T.T (if you notice i almost never even smile on camera because i look chubbier when i do). If there's no camera around i'd be more than willing to do crazy poses (like tucking my leg on the back of my neck, which i actually have a picture of, but no, you can't see it), i just don't want the whole world see me like that LOLOLOL. Plus i have trust issues and i really do not want to be in a situation where i can't control (again, the control freak part...) like being lifted on the air like that! I'm sure Koko Yoga can handle my weight, he even lifts hunny (who's more than 20 kgs heavier than me) but i just don't trust him somehow, what if he dropped me??? Haih, i think i will fail at leap of faith kind of exercise...

Believe me, people, I've scolded #Pink on several occasions about this. Keep telling her that she can, she can, she can!! It's not that I didn't try. She's her own worst enemy. And her own worst critic. LOL.

Anyway, i love love love doing yoga (even though i still suck at it), i finally find an exercise which i actually enjoy (other than swimming and other classes like Basic Exercise and Hot Excercise-you know in a heated up room) and look forward to every week. Now, please don't be a B (like some people) and tell me i shouldn't do yoga coz it won't help me lose weight, trust me i do not exercise to lose weight (exercise alone won't help. You need to diet as well to lose weight and i am currently on a strict diet *finally*) but for me it's a lifestyle and now, a hobby.

As for me, I'll say that I do enjoy yoga too... Even though I was quite adamant that I would suck ass, but looking at the pictures, apparently I'm not doing as bad as I though I'd do LOL. I guess, just like #Pink, I'm my worst enemy... But I'm glad everybody persuaded me to just join and have fun.

I believe whatever exercise you do, it won't help if your only goal is to lose weight (coz you'll lose interest in no time, and slack as soon as you lose that weight) and still eat like a pig *LOL* (trust me, i do whatever exercises and didn't lose weight. I go on a no carb diet and lost 4kgs in 5 days so far!). Maybe it'll take longer for me to get in shape with yoga rather than say, aerobic (seriously, STFU about aerobic already, i HATE it and there's nothing in the world you can offer me to make me take that up. Or maybe a USD 1 million will do) or running, but i 100% believe it'll help you in many ways in the long run (building lean muscles, sharpening up your balance, and making you healthier and happier as a whole) and i can already see the results in the loosening of my clothes (even when i haven't lost weight)-all in the impossible to reduce areas (for me) as well-arms and thighs!

And yoga gets results too you know!! I used to be straight as a stick, no waistline, but I acquired them when we were religiously exercising with Ce Nanie (Sanggar Bethlehem). Then for some reason we stopped and again, I was back to my old figure (with bigger tummy I must add LOL), but now little by little (thanks to all the twisting we did in yoga class), my waistline is starting to come back!!! *tears of joy*

Next step: slimmer tummy!!!

So for all of you out there whom are curious. Yes, you can do it!!! If I'm doing it, you can do it too!! Of course it's very difficult in the beginning (won't lie to you, and yes you'll be sore), but with time I promise you, you can do it!! Hahahaha...

And of course, if you want to sample Koko Yoga's *ahem* services LOL, we'll hook you up!

Toodles,

#Pink and #Undecided