Gym OOTD

I really need a regular lifestyle...
Today I went to the gym in the first time since one week and five days... My gym classes are all at 5.30PM but I have had school classes that would end at 5.15PM, and I would get too tired and lazy at the end of the day to go to the gym. Not only that, I felt the need to put my problem sets before the gym... Which does not even make any sense considering my study:procrastination ratio is about 1:5...

Today I went on the treadmill. Here is my Lululemon Catch Me Tank. I definitely need to have sized down to a 6... I bought size 8 in both this tank and the Optimal Tank. I guess I really was bloated when I bought these in Jersey...
The part below my chest is very loose... Which you can tell from the amount of wrinkling everywhere. Luckily it fits 'ok' enough for my chest... although it does gap in the middle. I was reading the reviews for it and a lot of people did not seem to like how it gaped at the chest area for exercises such as yoga. I wouldn't like it either if I was self conscious about flashing everyone during downward dog...

I like the back of the tank! It has adjustable straps (which I didn't need to adjust) and they are very pretty! The black goes nice with the purple.

As I was taking this photo, I dropped my phone and I had to lean down to pick it up, and I caught a sight of my butt. I had no idea how SHEER these were. So for the last month or so, I have been showing off my undies to everyone behind me during squats. How nice.

Sephora by OPI 'Handpicked For Me"

I love these types of colors. I think it has something to do with my age... I must be getting old. I just like the look of simple polished nails now. Maybe because my nail beds aren't exactly the most clean beds in the world. The only time I push them back is when I'm in class and bored. I rarely cut off the excess cuticles then they become dry as I never moisturize my hands. Disgusting I know. I'm quite lazy with these kinds of stuff.

The color itself is quite different to what it looks like in the bottle. In the bottle it looks more like a light copper with shimmers. But when applied, it is more of a sheer pink, with silver/pink shimmers. I like how this color elongates my fingers. I put on three coats and you can still see the white tips of the nails.

Gym OOTD

So since I went to Jersey for the long weekend, I ended up missing four gym days. And what an impact that make on my body. I went to body combat today and for the first time in a gym class, I actually had to step aside and drink water because I was so lightheaded and felt so faint. I get dehydrated pretty easily to the point where I have fainted in public due to the heat or during exercise. Today, I wasn't able to eat much. I woke up late and ended up rushing to class without breakfast, and had cereal for a late lunch. I think this the reason why I was so drained out of hydration and energy.

Anyway, here is my outfit of the day.

Lululemon. There are NO lululemon stores around me here, and I totally regret not visiting the store close to me when I lived in Pittsburgh. With this whole lulu hype, I really wanted to try their gear but as you know, the price is quite steep.
So I went to Lululemon for the first time in Jersey and I purchased the Optimal tank in Flash. It was $58 USD but I was happy because there's no clothing tax in the lovely state of NJ.

I usually wear a size S-M, 2-4 in shirts. I bought this tank in size 8. Yes, it made me feel quite strange buying something in size 8 as it really is 2 sizes bigger than the bigger size I wear. But I think since this is a Canadian brand and they don't have size 0 (I think?), it made 8 a bit easier to swallow. The ambassador told us that this tank has a smaller arm opening than the other tanks and that it might be a bit too tight if I wear it in my usual size.

I'm not sure how other people wear this tank and how it fits on other people but on me, it is slightly loose around my waist but it is a good fit at my shoulders, bust and back. From what I can see on the photos on Luluaddict, I think a lot of people prefer to wear their lulu tanks very tightly. I think if I tried this in a 6, I would have gotten mega armpit/back fat, with a better fit around my waist. I tried on the Power Y in a 6 and my eyes just blew up at the sight of the armpit fat. As you can tell, I really hate the armpit fat. But... I do think now that I could have gone down to a 6 in the Optimal tank because my friend and I did eat sushi and drank soda right before trying these on... Excuses excuses haha.

I really don't understand how the padding works in lulu tanks. I noticed that some of the tanks had padding and some didn't - for the same design. I am thinking maybe you ask for it at the counter and they give it to you? I'm not too sure, but this one I purchased had padding.
The tank (in this size) is flattering and the color is so vibrant. I usually work out on the first row and I felt like a crazy pink weirdo today.

I love the back of the tank and here I tried to capture the back but quite unsuccessfully as you can see:

The grey is such a nice contrast to the hot pink. Although I nearly fainted in class today, I was at least happy with my tank.

Hello Sephora

I live in a rural town in the New York state, where the nearest Sephora is an hour away. During this long weekend, I went to New Jersey to visit my dear friend from college. It's quite safe to say that she's the reason behind my Sephora VIB status as she is quite the enabler.

I purchased just a few items and got my Sephora birthday gift! It's the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment duo. Much better than last year's Sephora brand eyeliner pencil in green or something ...
As you can see, they are pretty miniature in size and they are extremely moisturizing and have a thicker texture than my Nivea tinted lip balm that I normally use. Since they are thicker, I am assuming they will run out faster. I really love my Nivea tinted lip balm in the strawberry color so these don't faze me as a 'must-have'. Nevertheless, I'm sure they will come pretty handy!

I got lash extensions about a month ago and approximately 98% have fallen off. If I had the opportunity, I would keep getting infills on a regular basis to keep its look but since I am now in a rural town, I don't have the luxury of a lash salon nearby. So I now have to resort to the regular mascara + eyeliner combo...

I purchased the Lancome Artliner in Aubergine. This is my third Artliner. I've had it in black and brown before and I wanted to try Aubergine. It's supposed to be a plum+brown color but when applied, it looks as dark as black, with just a slight tint of dark purple. I like the Artliner because of it's felt tip pen-like brush that is stiff enough for control. Mind you, they do not have a thin point so if you're looking for the thin point liners, I recommend looking elsewhere. They are very waterproof and do not smudge. If anything, they crack a wee bit, rather than smudge below your eyes. The only other liquid liner I have used is Chanel's felt-tip pen applicator and Chanel's tip was less stiff than the Artliner. Also, I wasn't too fond of Chanel's click-and-dispense applicator as it wasted more product and ended up running out fairly fast.

I also decided to purchase the Fairydrops mascara. The shape of the wand is quite strange... three bulb-like shapes clustered in a row. A mascara's ability to keep a curl is the make-it or break-it point for me. My lashes usually never keep a curl and the only one that has been able to do so was Shu Uemura's Precise Volume Mascara in Waterproof. I have gone through three of those tubes but as Shu's shipping usually takes two to three weeks to ship to the US, I just decided to get the Fairydrops at Sephora.
As a quick side story, when my friend and I went to a sauna in Jersey, she had this mascara on and this did not melt off. The hottest steam room there was 170 F... We could only stay in there for 10 min at a time since it became impossible to breathe. Anyway, I was pretty amazed at how the mascara performed. In this 170F room, she was sweating like a pig, yet her lashes stayed curled and at no point did she turn into a panda. I have high hopes for this mascara and hope it will perform just as well on me.

Last item I purchased was the Sephora by OPI nail color in Handpicked for Me. It's a coppery pink with iridescent shimmers. Just can't get away from shimmery polishes.

Gym OOTD

Today I went to body pump. I don't think I have been pushing myself these days so I loaded up an extra 5 lbs on my back tracks (20 lbs in total).

It was difficult but I don't feel like I am getting a tough work out, or I don't feel like I'm not trying hard enough to finishing my sets and not trying to maintain the correct stance.

Anyhow, here is my OOTD. As a warning, it is quite a frumpy outfit...

Missing are my Nike Lunar Eclipse+ 2's. These pants are by Adidas, which are good at wicking away moisture, but I'm not such a big fan of the sheen/the shine of the pants. They are not compressive so my bottom half looks like... their usual state. I prefer my Nike Dri-fit crops because they are thinner, has no sheen, and are shorter. The adidas pair is longer, coming down to my calves (they are pulled up in the picture above). These are more prone to the camel toe effect than the Nike's... so that's a big no-no for me. I got this pair from TJ Maxx for $25.

My shirt is New Balance, from TJ Maxx for $8.99. They only had it left in Medium but it's too baggy on me, and it is quite longer on the torso. Long tanks make my legs look short, and make my stomach look wider than it already is...

But the best part of the outfit is something you can't see! It's my sports bra and it's my favorite sports bra ever.

These are the mesh sports bra, from The Body Collection by Marika. I got mine from TJ Maxx, in size small, for about $11. Mine are slightly different to the picture above as mine have thin bra-like straps.  I've never heard of this brand before and I didn't expect much from this. These are so breathable and provide great support without cutting into my armpit area and causing that armpit fat that some sports bras create. They have excellent removable padding and are so so so soft and feels nice against the skin. I know it's kind of weird to say how nice your bra feels against your boobs but trust me, it feels so nice. The mesh is so great because it provides great wicking properties, and the mesh makes it thin enough that it doesn't cut into your back fat. I hope i can find more of these sports bras at TJ Maxx!

Maybe it was the frumpy outfit that made me uncomfortable looking at the mirror while working out. The awkward length of the pants and the long baggy tank didn't exactly make me feel indestructible... 

Lesson learned... feeling good about yourself can make a difference in your workouts.

Gym OOTD

Today's workout was body combat. I like to wear tight fitting shirts for body combat so it doesn't fly around when I throw punches and kicks.

It was a Nike day today. The nike 'swoosh' from top to bottom!

I don't remember the official name but they are some Nike crops with Dri-Fit technology. I think these are similar to Nike Filament Capri's.

I never invested in workout leggings before because I thought, what's wrong with normal leggings? Well, these pants changed my mind. They have this Dri-Fit technology that makes it super wicking. I never feel disgusting like how I used to after wearing normal everyday cotton leggings. They have this triangle / diamond shape seams at your crotch so you will never get that camel toe effect. Whoever invented that design is a genius. They have these seams that square in your knees so when you do squats or anything that requires constant bending of your knees, your pant's won't get dragged down. I rarely ever have to pull up my pants at my waist. They are the perfect length for me at 17" inseam as I am 5'7 / 169 cm. I think the back of the legs have a shorter inseam, which is great so they don't run up over my knees. I tried on both small and medium, and I chose the medium. The small fit fine but I was afraid of its sheerness near my butt area. As you can see below, my butt is flat, a bit saggy, and quite wide. I like to credit its appearance to the length of time spent on studying. I am trying to lift them up because it's causing my legs to look short and unfortunate.

My tank is also Nike and I bought it for $10 at TJ Maxx. It has a built in bra with padding. I don't buy built-in bra shirts if it has no adequate padding. I don't like to mix sports bra with shirts with built-in bra's because the combination feels bulky and restrictive. I am not that well-endowed in that area so just a built-in bra provides enough support - the only time I am thankful for their miniature size.

My shoes are Nike Lunar Eclipse+ 2. These are so pretty and I am always happy putting these babies on. I usually wear size 7 and 7.5, and I chose 7.5 in these because 7 was too small in length. Nike's usually run narrow, and I was afraid that these would be uncomfortable because I have wide feet. However, they are so comfortable and don't feel restrictive at all.

I took this picture when I first got these. I have worn them for five months now and they are great for treadmill running and cross training. I did notice though, that my feet slip out on the elliptical but I have been blaming that on my laces not being tight enough. Nevertheless, one or two elliptical mishaps won't change my mind about these shoes. I did own Nike Lunar Fly's before and they were comfortable too, in size 7.5. They were more breathable and lighter than these but looked a bit clunky on my feet.

It's amazing how a change in shoes can increase your run-time by a LOT. I switched from a random pair of Asics trainers that I got in freshman year of college, to Nike's and Nike's provide so much more stability that I can ran further and longer. The eclipse's are very good with stability, which is what I needed as I tend to underpronate a bit (putting greater pressure on the outside of the feet), which causes strain at my ankles. Ever since my soccer days, I developed some sort of problem with my ankles but my ankles have never been sore in these shoes!

The Jank's Fitness History / Les Mills

When I watched the Olympics in elementary school, I told my parents that my goal in life is to become  the 100 meter gold medalist. Watching the games on TV, I thought they were quite slow and I believed I was faster than all those world record breakers.

Fast forward 15 years or so, and I can't even run a 5K.

But, I have been active all my life, pre-college, that is. I did gymnastics and swimming during elementary and played soccer during high school. My coach always put me as a right wing (right mid-fielder) because I tended to foul play a lot (major elbow action!) and he figured that the ref wouldn't see me foul play if I was on the side (and he always encouraged my foul play. yeah. insert smug smile here). The disadvantage to this position is that you are required to run for the whole game. I ran and ran, up and down the length of the field and I rarely got subbed off because I was quite the dirty player. I have always gone through the finals for 100m sprints for school competitions but coming near last as a  long distance runner. So as you could imagine, I felt like dying during every game. Running 60 min per game, along with training twice a week, as well as at-home Pilates exercises and 100-200 crunches before bed, kept me in shape during high school.

I went to college and I had random spurts of going to the gyms on campus. I went on treadmills, ellipticals, kickboxing classes and Pilates classes. My cycle consisted of going every day for 2 weeks, pause for one year, repeat. They never got regular and I blamed my laziness on my busy school life.

In the summer of 2011, my friend forced me to buy the 3 month pass for Hot yoga. And to make myself feel less guilty about the $150 I unwillingly gave away in cash, I went 5 times a week. Yoga has such incredible benefits. You have to try it to believe it. I improved my tolerance, my focus, my attention and my calmness. Then, I managed to go to the gym and run on the treadmill every few days for about a month. I took this habit back to New Zealand and got a concession card at my local gym and found Les Mills. Since then, I have been hooked!

Les Mills was founded in NZ and is the world's largest provider of choreographed exercise-to-music group fitness classes (thanks wiki). Luckily, the nearest gym to my apartment here in New York offers Les Mills classes. Mondays and Wednesdays are my Body Pump days, Tuesdays and Thursdays are my Body Combat days.

Pump is a high frequency / low weights type of class, and it works every single muscle group in your body. At first, it can look very intimidating as people enter the class and start getting their weights, bars, clips, mats, risers, etc... I was very intimidated but I just followed everyone else and it was pretty easy to follow what they were grabbing. For your first time, I recommend just grabbing the lightest weight (2.5 lbs, 1kg), with the bars and the clip things, and as for the risers/steppers, follow what other people are getting. I noticed it's better to follow along with the correct form using the lightest weight in the beginning, so you can load up later when you are comfortable with the movements.
I use less weights than the long-time regulars as I have been only going for three months. Here is a list of my current weights:

• Warm up: 5 + 5 = 10 lbs 
• Squats:  15 + 15 = 30 lbs
• Chest: 7.5 + 7.5 = 15 lbs
• Back: 7.5 + 7.5 = 15 lbs
• Triceps: 5 + 5 = 10 lbs
• Biceps: 5 + 5 = 10 lbs
• Lunges: 7.5 + 7.5 = 15 lbs
• Shoulders: 2.5 + 2.5 = 5 lbs free weights
• Abdominals and Core.

The weakest group in my body is my biceps because 10 lbs feels like a lot for my little ones, and also my shoulders. Most people in my classes use 10 lbs in total for free weights (shoulders) but I can't go higher than 5. The strongest I would say is my back as I am planning to go higher than 15 lbs next time round. And glutes (for squats) should be everyone's strongest I believe.

Body Combat is a high intensity kickboxing/muay thai type of class. It helps if you are thinking about something that is annoying you and pretend you're punching its guts out. After regularly attending for only a month (4-5 times a week), I started to see better definition alongside my back and shoulders. I thank the 'hooks' for those. You will come out with a red, sweaty face, huffing and puffing for water. Pure beauty right there.

Both are incredibly fun! I get so bored on the treadmill or the elliptical. Even if I am watching the TV screen, I find myself getting bored and tired... Which is what I have to deal with on Fridays and Sundays when Les Mills classes aren't offered. In Pump and Combat, the music is LOUD and gives you so much energy. The instructors are funny and they pump you up hard... They are literally screaming along with you. I highly recommend them if you find yourself getting bored at the gym, or if you're intimidated by the free weights... I'm sure free weights have their own benefits, but when you're new, we all get scared of stepping to that side of the gym. As a note, I have never lifted free weights because I don't really know how much I should be lifting, or the correct posture or form. I would like to get a personal trainer at one point to teach me the ways... but for now, body pump is fun enough for me.

This is the longest streak of me attending a gym, and currently going at the rate of 4-5 times per week. So that says something about Les Mills classes!

There are other LM classes such as Body Step (step class), Body Flow (yoga/tai-chi type of class), RPM (spin class) and Body Jam (zumba-ish dancing class). I have only attended Flow but I do prefer the regular vinyasa yoga. I do not think Jam is my kind of thing... I am very un-coordinated and can't 'get-it-down' for balls. I would love to try RPM one day but I remember going on the bike in college and my womanly-crotch got sore. Us woman are not completely armor and steel down there. Well not mine, at least...

Look for the nearest Les Mills classes near you! If you're the type that needs motivation and energy from your surroundings, try it out. It could be the beginning to the newer, healthy you.