Hi Everyone! I never knew that this day could come where I became so involved with health and fitness. Since young, I wasn’t really in a good body shape and exercising had been a bane of my life til the beginning of this year, where I started to have develop this affinity to fitness. Taking up a gym membership and staying committed to exercising was one of the greatest turning point in my life.
In the early stages of my fitness journey, weight loss was the key motivating factor to keep me constantly visiting the gym for 3 to 6 times a week. With an open heart and armed with a willingness to learn, I begin to explore other group fitness classes in the gym thinking that it would be cool to learn something new. Never would I have imagined that I enjoyed the feeling and satisfaction of being able to shape and tone the body in a way to help me perform my exercises better. It felt great to be able to perform the yoga,pilates,body combat and Zumba moves smoothly with a flow. I felt so much stronger after each session of workout and right now, I could say that I am pretty much addicted to fitness classes, in particular, the dance workout-classes. My love for dance has re-ignited and I really love the aesthetic part of dance so much so that I actually signed up a Zumba Instructor course, in hope that I could become a fitness instructor one day to share the joy of dance and fitness. Just like blogging, this fitness journey wasn’t really part of what I had planned initially but now it’s part of my passion and dream.
An amazing opportunity came knocking on the door when I was approached by Breathe Pilates to collaborate on a fitness integrated programme called the ‘
30 Day Challenge‘ open to anyone who wants to achieve an ideal body shape or fitness level. This programme ties in pilates exercises with a nutritional plan so that participants will be able to witness optimal results achieved within a month’s time. It’s novel fitness programme in Singapore which I’m really glad to be part of it. Yes, that’s right! The first-ever 30 Day fitness challenge in Singapore! In coming month of August, I would be joining the other participants to take part in this challenge where I would go through a series of seminars and fitness-related lessons conducted by a team of highly qualified pilates instructors, nutritionists and physiotherapists. I will also be journaling my fitness and nutrition progress as I undergo this
30 Day challenge.
This challenge is coming up in about two month’s time and I thought it would be aptly to draw up new fitness goals so that there is a target in mind which I could work towards to.
Goal #1: Shedding off the Kilos
Over the past 4 months of exercise, I realized that I did not shed off much weight as expected but instead, I’ve gained quite abit of muscle mass. The abs are starting to show up and the muscles around my limbs are toner as compared to before. But I guess the fats are still lurking around in my body and I hoping to incorporate suitable exercise and diet to lose the unwanted flabs.
Goal #2: Learning how to juice and eat clean
I’ve been sticking to a semi-vegetarian/semi-vegan diet where I could try to go vegetarian as much as possible but on some days, I would eat meat or indulge in cheat meals. This eating habit has been keeping my body energized throughout the days but I would like to take it to the next level where I could eat a clean and balanced diet and at the same time, losing some weight so that I could perform better in yoga, pilates and dance. And hopefully, I could keep this healthy lifestyle going as long as I can live.
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Breathe Pilates Studio at Novena |
To find out more about this 30 Day Challenge programme, I met up with Dr.Deborah Wong (co-owner and trainer a Breathe Pilates) and Dennis Teo (co-owner of Breathe Pilates) over at the
Breathe Pilates studio located at Novena Medical Centre. The studio was small but it was well-equipped with pilates equipment which I’ve never seen before in my entire life. At some point in time during the studio tour, I really did felt like jumping onto one of the equipment and figure out how the machines work but I was afraid that I might incur damages to their equipment with my rough hands. Anyhow, it all seems very fun to be working with machines which could further stretch the joints or hard-to-reach core muscles.
I believe that a small studio is always good because that actually means that the class size would be small and each student would receive more attention from the trainer. Speaking of which, I am pretty excited about taking up their
uniquely-designed classes here like Fat Blast Pilates and Barreworks.
During this 30 Day challenge which comprises of 6 days per week of pilates training, I would also be learning the anatomy of the different muscle groups in the body so that I would be able to maximise my pilates workout and work the right muscle groups to attain a toner and leaner body. It did sounds there’s alot of work to be done but I couldn’t wait for it to get started so that I could start working out the right way!
Quote of the day! Be optimistic is part of the formula to a healthy body and mind as well.
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| Pilates Reformer. |
To prep myself for this challenge, I thought maybe I should do some research on what pilates is all about and how it begin. Through Breathe Pilates Facebook Page, I found this cute animated video which presents a really interesting facet of pilates and retold the story of Joseph Pilates invented and promoted pilates. This video also explained why the pilates equipment resemble somewhat like hospital beds…
Breathe Pilates currently has two boutique studios with one located at Novena and the other, at East Coast. What is really unique about this pilates studio is its strong focus on clinical pilates to help treat patients with injuries or people with neck and back pain through therapeutic exercises to either reduce existing pain or promote proper alignment of the body when moving.
Watch out for more upcoming blog posts on pilates as I prep myself for the 30 Day Challenge with Breathe Pilates!
The 30 Day challenge is open to all, even for beginners. Priced at SGD680, this programme would include 24 group pilates classes , anatomy workshops and a nutritional talk by Dana Heather from Balanced Living.
To find out more about this 30 Day Challenge or to sign up for this challenge, you could visit Breathe Pilates Facebook Page or The Breather ( their newsletter webpage).
Breathe Pilates
(Novena Branch)
#09-33 Novena Medical Center
10 Sinaran Drive 307506
Nearby MRT Station: Novena
(East Coast Branch)
#02-05/06/07
217 East Coast Road428915
Nearby MRT Station: Eunos
