Starfruit has a lot to offer beyond how pretty it looks. And it didn’t get its name just because of its shape. It truly is a star because of how amazingly good it is for you.

Boosts Your Fibre Intake

If you’re watching your carb intake, you’ll definitely want to stock up on starfruit as it has one of the lowest carbohydrate contents of all fruits for the amount of fibre it contains – one cup of cubed starfruit has only 9 grams of carbs and 3.7 grams of fibre. In comparison, one cup of strawberries contains 11.7 grams of carbs and 3 grams of fibre. You need fibre to keep your bowels regular, as it helps move food through the digestive tract and prevent constipation. So if you want to spend less time on the toilet surfing on your smartphone, be sure to grab some starfruit the next time you go to the supermarket!

Vitamins & Minerals Galore

Starfruit is also a good source of vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, potassium, magnesium, calcium, folate, selenium, copper, and zinc. One cup of starfruit provides 45 milligrams of vitamin C—more than half the daily required 75-90 milligrams for most adults—which our body needs to produce collagen, repair tissue damage and heal wounds.

A Whole Lot of Other Good Stuff

Studies suggest that starfruit can potentially help fight against cancer as it contains antioxidants. It is also good for our hearts: its potassium lowers blood pressure, fibre helps bring down cholesterol levels, and vitamin C protects against oxidative stress. The fibre in starfruit can also help control blood sugar levels by slowing down food digestion and preventing blood sugar from spiking. Since starfruit is so rich in fibre and low in calories, adding it to your diet can help you manage your weight better and reduce your risk of diabetes.

Available Year-Round

Here in Singapore, we are very fortunate to be able to find starfruit at all times of the year. The best time to consume starfruit is when it’s bright yellow and firm. Green ones aren’t ripe and might be too sour for some.

 Precautions

Those with impaired kidney function should be careful about consuming starfruit though. Starfruit contains a neurotoxin that can harm the brain if it is not properly processed by the kidneys.

We are constantly bombarded with advice to drink more water. But how much water do we actually need to drink every day?

We all know water is essential for survival. Water makes up about two-thirds of our body weight, transports nutrients and waste products around our bodies, regulates our temperature, helps to lubricate and absorb shock in our joints, and is an important component in our body’s chemical reactions.

Studies suggest that drinking fluids to avoid even mild dehydration has its benefits, such as better brain function and ability to do simple tasks. It can also help manage our weight, especially when it is done before a meal.

We constantly lose water when we perspire, breathe and pee, so it is crucial that we drink enough water to avoid getting dehydrated. The long-held belief is that we should drink eight glasses of water per day. But experts mostly feel that we don’t need any more fluid than what our bodies call for. And when the body needs more fluid, it will send out signals.

This is where thirst comes in. According to scientists, your body will tell you when it is thirsty. When the brain detects that the body is becoming dehydrated, it initiates the sensation of thirst which will induce us to drink. Drinking too much water, however, can be dangerous when it causes the sodium level in our blood to become too low—a condition known as hyponatremia.

So how do we know how much water to drink? Most experts agree that the amount of water we require depends on our age, gender, body size, environment and level of physical activity. Some of us may prefer to stick to the guideline of six to eight glasses of water a day, including low-calorie options like low-fat milk, coffee or tea. Others may prefer to listen to their body and drink when they feel thirsty. One important thing to note is that once we are over 60 years old, our thirst mechanisms become less sensitive.

Perhaps a useful habit to cultivate is to carry a bottle of water with us wherever we go, so that we can drink anytime we feel thirsty. And if we do end up drinking a little more than we need, we will burn more calories by running to the toilet more often!

Along the way, i realized fitness gave me purpose, clarity, a direction in life, helped me to channel my anger & developed a beneficial way to improve my life experience through discipline and vision. Train your mind and your body, sculpting a balanced aesthetic muscular, powerful physique has a lot of benefits individually. Fast forward 8 years later, in constant pursuit of a better physique for myself and taking part in physique competitions along the way. I realized there is a better purpose than competing for that 1 minute on stage. Fitness has a purpose & function for everyone. Got into the deep dive of nutrition and training while exploring various hobbies such as parkour, calisthenics, golf, and surfing.

Took up advanced courses in which consists of anatomy, biomechanics, nutrition & program design, also sleep and digestion optimization & too soon to be an MNU certified nutritionist. I feel you can never stop learning; the correct knowledge you possess will benefit yourself greatly! I aspire to be one of the best personal trainers in Singapore. Found my calling which is to help and serve people with integrity and professionalism in fitness, be it nutrition, wellness, health or a better physique, etc. I challenge myself daily to use the knowledge and skills i have acquired to serve my clients better, fast forward a friend got me in touch with UAF which is run by Jovin, i appreciated his ideas and vision for changing the fitness industry here for better standards and i am part of the UAF team now! Fitness is a personal journey to improve yourself & level up. Be it building muscles, better nutritional habits, or losing weight or getting stronger and improving your posture. I am here to help you achieve these goals!

I leave with you 5 tips for your fitness and life!!

1)Health is wealth 

2)Take it as a learning process for yourself!

3)Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t know, go and get professional help

4)Do it with friends and family if you can!

5)It will help you be a better individual emotionally, mentally, physically wise!

Motivation has always been a factor in which startles the individual at every beginning of any process. The harder the challenge, the less confident they are, hence breaks the morale and intentional purpose of why they are doing it. Or could it be the other way, the harder the challenge, the more value and purpose are created through the hardships giving them self-actualization to go even further. Well, it falters between the two depending on a few aspects: Consistency, Commitment and Drive. Take habits for instance, we all delve into certain habits that make us consistent at it because its comforting and there is satisfaction. When those are in place, over the long term the chances of committing are much higher because there’s value to the consistent efforts placed in the habits you have already started with. Then this value comes with the drive. Drive comes from passion and love without even knowing that you will become that much successful in the process because you put your mind and heart in this. This reaches to the ultimate level to motivation why people do what they love and stick to it then influence others positively through the skills acquired. Overall, it starts with habitual things, small things which are impactful allowing individuals to invest more in the process. Then motivation will come naturally to which applies to many other things in life such as work, relationships, personal development, exercise, the list goes on.

When it comes to goals, there’s a focus in place. Goals are extremely important because it allows you to set targets and meet them to your expectations for growth and milestones. When you have a goal in place, you would want to know realistically how you can get there. By narrowing the pathway to what your goals are, consider the SMART goals as part of a business model to help you achieve attainably, clearly as well as strategically in regards to the subject matter. Specific, Measureable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-Bound – SMART. I believe most of you who studied business or marketing understands the rationale behind this so I will not go into too much detail on this. The point is that by narrowing in details such as the above (highlighted in bold), it allows you to see the big picture where you would see yourself in this. An example, if one would want to lose weight would not be a good reason because it’s too generalized. Perhaps if we rephrase and specify to:

Specific: I will decrease my bodyfat percentage to 10% by working on a variety of exercises using cardiovascular equipment and bodyweight exercises.

Measurable: I will record tests and results from beginning to end of my training regime.

Attainable: I will reach my goal of 10% by doing cardiovascular exercises 3 times a week and bodyweight exercises every other day.

Realistic: I will make amends to the reps and sets as my bodyfat drops.

Time Bound: I will achieve this goal by 31^st December 2019.

Overall, by combining some of the motivational and goal oriented techniques mentioned, the tendency of success rate is greater and the chance of staying on course will be longer allowing you to reap the benefits from the outcomes.

The last topic will be on a basic understanding of fat loss and ways to implement this in fitness training. By far, Fat loss and weight management are one of the more common reasons why people look for personal trainers and group classes at the gym to get them in shape, look good and become healthier overall. Importantly, how do we lose weight, specifically fat? Of course the main variable is your lifestyle. But in fitness training that skyrocketed at most gyms now is Metabolic Conditioning or HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training).

HIIT was first used for MMA fighters and Cross fitters to keep the body burning calories through short periods of rest. These intervals allow them to push their bodies to building the strength and endurance needed for the sport. These kinds of exercises range from Weight Training, Bodyweight Functional Training, and even Agility Training. Recently more gyms and fitness centers are utilizing this method efficiently to clients through regressed exercises and longer rest periods first. Until their bodies are slowly conditioned through the rigors of exercise sessions allows them to progress into more advanced exercises with shorter rest periods. This in turn maximizes the calorie burn while muscles being used get its tone and shape from this training method. With the cardiovascular aspects of shorter rests, HIIT proves to be a “2 birds killed with 1 stone” analogy because of it’s multi-purpose functions of all relations to fitness training such as power, strength, endurance and speed. In implementation, an example of a simple HIIT/Metabolic Conditioning program would be the following:

Here’s my gift to you

 11 Exercises. Complete each exercise for 45 seconds.

Rest for 10 seconds in between each exercise

Complete 3 rounds to finish the workout.

1. Squats
2. Planks
3. Jumping Jacks
4. Push Ups
5. Sit Ups
6. Burpees
7. Wall Sit
8. Side Plank
9. Tricep Dips
10. Mountain Climbers
11. Leg Raises        

The example above is a very simple method of what HIIT/Metabolic Conditioning represents. The bout of Work to Rest Ratio are usually 2: 1. 1min Work, 30sec Rest. But that could vary depending on the fitness level of the individual as well as how challenging you want to make out of training. To conclude, these topics flow smoothly from getting the motivation through small habits that turns into a healthy investment. Then the goals with SMART goals is another example that will help identify and narrow down your focus on what, where, when, why and how to get there be it in fitness and beyond. Finally, a basic understanding of how HIIT/Metabolic Conditioning will aid in Fat Loss and Muscle Tone then to implement them with exercises that goes back to back with minimal rest for maximum results in shorter periods of time compared to a traditional weight training program that may take longer for those who would only have small amounts of time to spare.

If you like my personal training style, click here and request to sign up with me! https://urbanactivefitness.sg/free-trial/

How Our Body Process Food

To understand that, we must understand what happens in your body when you eat food.

Step 1: Body digest and breaks down the food into (amino acids, glucose, and fatty acids)
Step 2: The small intestine absorbs these nutrients into the blood
Step 3: It usually takes about 2-4 hours to be in complete fasted state (that also depends on the size of the meal)
Step 4: Fed vs Fasted Cardio:

Cardio done while the body is still processing the food = Normal/Fed cardio.
Cardio done when your body is no longer processing food = Fasted cardio.
The best time to do Fasted cardio? No brownie points for this – first thing in the morning before breakfast.

It’s No Secret.

Basically, it “teaches” your body to burn fats more effectively in the long run.
How? Fasted cardio converts your body into a fat burning machine and it increases your metabolic rate.
Fasted cardio elevates the growth hormone levels which aids fat loss. In addition, it decreases post workout appetite which prevents overeating.

Those “stubborn” fats which is the bane of your existence? Those will be eliminated.
If you are a woman reading this, hear hear.
Hips, thighs, and butt are probably the most challenging to tone and shape up when you are trying to lose weight.

If you are a guy, don’t think you are getting off easy. Your abdominal muscles, obliques, and lower back are usually the stubborn parts.
Fasted Cardio done with the intention to bring blood circulation to these areas will help these stubborn areas tone up faster.

Not Just a Theory

As it turns out, exercise plays a HUGE part in effective fat loss. However as with everything, T&C applies – exercise done at a certain time and under certain conditions can produce the most desirable outcome. That’s our cheat code.

Recently, scientific research shows that fasted exercise:

Step 1: Body digest and breaks down the food into (amino acids, glucose, and fatty acids)
Step 2: The small intestine absorbs these nutrients into the blood
Step 3: It usually takes about 2-4 hours to be in complete fasted state (that also depends on the size of the meal)
Step 4: Fed vs Fasted Cardio:

Applying this theory – While calories deprivation remains as the best way to purge body fat, fasted exercise is done first thing in the morning and could possibly turn on various genes that affect the fat burning process.

Cheers to Burn Fats – A Beginner Fasted Cardio Solution

Our advice – An early morning jog, bike ride or a session on the treadmill or elliptical does not only burn fat, but sets you up on becoming more effectively at burning fat. Which would make dieting presumably less painful.

Try the below & thank us after.

Monday: Fasted walking for 20mins + 4 sets of bodyweight Squats x 20 reps
Tuesday: Fasted brisk walking for 30mins + Legs are at work + 4 sets of bodyweight Squats x 20 reps
Wednesday: Fasted cycling for 30mins + 4 sets of Abdominal crunches x 20 reps
Thursday: Fasted brisk walking for 35mins + 4 sets of Abdominal crunches x 20 reps
Friday: Fasted slow jog for 20mins + 4 sets of Leg raises x 15 reps
Saturday: REST
Sunday: Fasted jog for 30mins + 4 sets of Lunges x 15 reps per leg

Apply this program into your daily life and see the change.