This gallery contains 8 photos.
On Saturday, 8th March 2014, Lyn spoke to a crowd at Times bookstore Malaysia, Pavillion KL. Here are some photos of the event:
Cortisol: The Stress Hormone
If you haven’t heard of cortisol, it’s about time that you started knowing what it is, how it affects your body and how you can reduce it.
Cortisol – What is it?
It is the stress hormone release in response to fear of stress by the adrenal glands as part of the fight-or-flight mechanism. There are 2 types of “stress” :
- eustress (good stress)
- distress(bad stress)
Both stresses release cortisol as part of the general adaptation syndrome. Once your body is alarmed to release cortisol, your body becomes ready for action – either fight or flight. If cortisol is not used/depleted, the cortisol levels will build up in your blood which may cause havoc in your brains/body.
Eustress: The “good stress” creates a carpe diem state which is often linked with a positive goal to attain. Upon attainment of the goal/objective, cortisol levels will return to normal levels.
Distress: Sometimes known as “free floating anxiety” doesn’t provide an exit route for the cortisol. This causes our bodies to sabotage itself as the anti-stress mechanism backfires.
How does cortisol affect your body?
Here are some of the effects that you may have experienced:
- Increase weight gain
- Increase blood pressure
- Increases risk of depression/mental illness
- Lowers immune function
- Lowers bone density
- Lowers life expectancy
What can you do to reduce cortisol levels?
- Increase physical activity e.g. exercise, 10’000 steps
- Go for activities that allows you to “take it all off” – e.g. Muay Thai, vigorous fitness classes that give you a good sweat and pump.
- Fear increases cortisol levels. Regular physical activities will elevate moods and reduce fears via increasing self-confidence.
- You can also do a couple of short sessions in a day. Try parking further than usual, take the stairs and stretch/do 10 push ups every hour.
- Laughter and Fun
- Having fun and laughing reduces stress. Try to find a group of people whom you enjoy their company and that can make you laugh – without you feeling socially awkward.
- Music
- Listen to music that you enjoy – that fits the mood that you are in.
In conclusion, stress is something that we can handle by ourselves. Identify the triggers and take immediate action before cortisol builds up and destroys the rest of your day/week. Sometimes, we all just need to love ourselves a little bit more than usual by pampering and accepting ourselves.
The Secret to a Faster Metabolism
Eating carbohydrates makes you store belly fat. Eating protein puts on muscle. Most people know that. But a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that when you over eat on a low protein diet, you store bad fat around your organs including the liver, kidneys and pancreas. But if you eat a high protein diet, you add muscle and increase your resting metabolism and muscle mass. Since muscle burns seven times as many calories as fat, that’s a good thing.
Carbohydrates and protein trigger produce very different chemical messages in the body independent of calories. Carbs lay down the fat, while protein lays down muscle. 4
This study on protein adds to a whole slew of research that proves that higher protein diets (25%) does all sorts of obesity fighting things to your body and your brain.
- It makes you feel more full than an equivalent amount of calories from carbs.
- It leads to more weight loss in “free-living” humans as compared the ones who were force fed extra calories.
- It prevents gaining weight back after you have lost weight.5
- It speeds up metabolism and builds muscle so you burn more calories all day long and even while you sleep.
Reducing belly fat and building muscle is quite simple. And it is not just about the calories you consume. It is about where those calories come from.
Here are a few simple tips to speed up your metabolism and get rid of belly fat.
- Skip the sugar – in all of its forms. Especially liquid calories from any source (soda, juice, alcohol) all of which store belly fat. Be on a mission to get high fructose corn syrup out of your diet, it is especially good at laying down belly fat.
- Ditch the flour – wheat flour, especially, is just like sugar. Did you know that 2 slices of whole wheat bread raise your blood sugar more than 2 tablespoons of table sugar?
- Start the day with protein not starch or sugar. Try whole omega-3 eggs, a protein shake, nut butters or even kippers! Skip the bagels, muffins and donuts.
- Have protein with every meal – try nuts like almonds, walnuts or pecans, seeds like pumpkin, chia or hemp or have beans, chicken or fish.
Excerpt taken from: http://www.ultrawellnesscenter.com/ (Dr Mark Hyman, MD)
Losing Weight With Sound Nutrition
If you are trying to put on muscle mass without putting on fat, here are some tips on how to go about it.
- Add 2 calories per pound of body weight to your daily caloric intake.
- The added calories should be mostly protein and some complex carbohydrates (sweet potatoes etc), with no added fat calories.
- Spread these added calories equally among your 5 meals daily. For example, a 150-pound(70kg) person should add 300 calories per day to their diet; over 5 meals. This equals about 60 calorie increase per meal. With intense weight training, the additional 300 calories will result in a gain of approximately 1-2 pounds of added muscle a month.
General tips of nutrition for muscle mass gain include:
- Eliminate junk food.
Most fast food restaurants along with most pastries and processed foods contain high amounts of fat, sodium, and sugar (usually simple sugars). The consumption of these foods will do little for your energy, except promote a high then a low in your blood sugar levels. In addition, they offer high levels of fat, usually of the saturated type. and they quite often contain large amounts of water-retaining sodium (salt). None of these qualities are beneficial to any type of athlete. - Drink 8-10 glasses of water each day, or more.
This ensures that you replace lost fluids during exercise. Don’t wait till you are thirsty. By then, you are in a depleted state. Drink these glasses of water consistently throughout the day, not all at once. - Determine your daily protein requirements.
Proteins that include the essential amino acids, that your body does not manufacture, are of utmost importance.Protein powder provides a great means to obtaining additional quality protein. Remember, protein are best assimilated when accompanied by some carbohydrates. - Consume high fiber foods.
Not only does high fiber in your diet help in the reduction of cholesterol; it also makes fats less likely to be absorbed into your body. - Exercise!
You need to increase your lean body weight. The more lean weight you have, the more efficient your body moves and the higher your metabolism, even at rest. By increasing your lean body weight, your bones become more dense and your muscles, tendons and ligaments become stronger. The great side efffect of all this is that it’s easier to avoid getting fat. Remember, bigger muscles burn more calories than little ones!
To be the best athlete you can be, is to know how to train properly, how to rest and recuperate adequately, and know how to choose the right foods, how and when to eat them, and when supplements are needed.
Happy training!
Wednesday , Nov 13
10m AMRAP:
7 Burpees
15 DU
Result: 6R+7
3Rounds:
Run 200m
21 Wall Balls @ 4kg
12 Pull Ups:
Results: 12:05
Launch Day!
On the 31st of October, 2013, almost 60 people gathered at Kitchen Creatures, Centrepoint to celebrate the launch of my book, “Lyn Kong’s Guide to Fitness for Busy People”. Gym friends, school friends and my family got together and had a fun time.
The Guest of Honor, Ms Rafidah Abdullah officiated the launch whilst accompanied by our special guest, Jonathan Wong. 
For more pictures friends who turned up and of the launch, click here (pics by Sze Ning) and here (pics by TriStupe).
I would like to say a big “THANK YOU!” to all that came on that day despite the heavy rain , MPH Publishing for helping to shape up this event and publishing my book, and friends all around the world who “virtually” celebrated with me, in one way or another.
And finally, to my parents and sisters who were always there by my side, thank you, I love you all very much.
Lyn Kong’s Guide to Fitness for Busy People (MPH Masterclass Series)
The MPH Masterclass Series is a line of “how to” books on a range of popular topics written by Malaysia-based authors. Every book in this series offers proper steps and explains the right attitude needed to achieve success in the areas concerned.
Fitness has never been as popular as it is today. However, most people simply acknowledge the importance of exercise and fitness without taking action. One key reason for this is that they are just too busy.
Lyn Kong is a certified CrossFit trainer and fitness coach with more than 15 years of fitness training experience. Her varied client base has required her to identify the right exercise and training programmes to cater to different needs and requirements. This is what makes her the ideal person to write this book, which is filled with facts, tips and instructions on how to incorporate fitness into a busy schedule.
Lyn Kong’s Guide to Fitness for Busy People
Especially for busy people with no time to exercise, eat healthy or even have enough rest – this guidebook is for you. Filled with exercise and nutrition guide, and topped off with tips on better living. Take the 30-day fitness & health challenge!
What? Warm Up? Don’t waste my time!
No, don’t bother warming up.
Pull a muscle, feel your heart palpitate and fall down.
….
Now, we don’t want that to happen…do we?
Whatever your goal is, you MUST MOVE WELL.
Warm-ups are non-negotiable components of your training. Prepare yourself mentally and physically to reduce the potential of injury. Get more blood flowing through your tissues so your muscles can be ready for action. Get oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and brain.
The type of warm up has to relate to the exercise/activity that you are about to embark on. If you are doing strength training, ensure the muscles around the joint and the muscles that you are working on – is properly lengthened and supple. Mobilize the joint area so that you have proper range of motion. Do dynamic stretching that imitates the movement pattern and also some isometric holds e.g. planks, 5 min squat test or even dead-hang pull up holds. Running 5 mins around the block just to warm up, won’t help your body be ready for squats. It elevates your heart rate so that your blood is pumping more than your static state.
By the end of your warm-up, you should feel all ready to go!
Check out the video below. It’s a 8-minute warm-up that maximizes your full body movements in all movement planes (transverse, saggital, frontal planes).
Warm up exercises: Jumping Jacks, arm swings, lunge and twists, lateral lunges, torso swings, inchworms, shoulder circles and shoulder rolls.
Try this out the next time you train.
Post-Workout Nutrition For Runners
How much nutrients should you be consuming after your run?
Do you know?
Firstly, you need to know how much carbohydrates that you need to replenish. For every pound of bodyweight, you will need 0.5grams of carbohydrates.
E.g. If you weigh 140 pounds, you need 70 grams (280 calories) of simple carbs within 30 minutes.
Once you have consumed your carbs, add in some quick-digesting protein so that your muscles will repair quicker. Within an hour, you will need to consume a meal with a carb-protein ratio of 4:1 so that your glycemic levels can improve and get back to normal levels.
Do note that the longer you run, the blend of protein and carbohydrates will differ. If you are running shorter routes (less than 20minutes), you won’t need that much proteins as compared to a long distance marathon runner.
Some ideas of meals post-workout are, grilled chicken avocado salad, smoked salmon and sweet potato mash and also a fruit salad after a beef-vege broth.
Lyn Kong 