Anne Mahlum - CNN Hero of the Year

I was watching CNN tonite and impressed with Anne Mahlum who was named one of the CNN Hero of the Year in US. She is the Founder and President of Back On My Feet organisation is a non-profit organization that promotes the self-sufficiency of Philadelphia's homeless population by engaging them in running as a means to build confidence, strength and self-esteem.

So running is not just for promoting health to ourselves but also can help others, I wonder there's such similar organisation in Malaysia? In fact I think there are many as I remember there's one that in Penang where they organisation a 24-hour delay challenge run around Penang Island to raise fund for the underprivileged. May be I should participate in the next run in 2009.

A real pain - Is smoking really such a pleasureable activity?

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), in the 21st century alone, tobacco is expected to kill 1 billion people globally whilst its consumption is on the rise in developing countries.

"Smoking has often been wrongly depicted as 'cool', 'fashionable', 'trendy' and in certian societies, it is part of the social norm," said Dr Zarihah Mohd Zain, a 16-year veteran epidemiologist who specialises in smoking-related issues. "Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death. Smoking resulted in nicotine dependance & causes fatal and disabling disease. Half of all long-term smokers will eventually be killed by tobacco, and of these, half will die during productive middle age, losing 20 to 25 years of life.

Smoking is one of the key risk factors of many chronic diseases (cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic lung diseases & diabetes) which are major cause of death worldwide. The global prevalence of all the leading chronic diseases is increasing, with the majority occurring in developing countries and projected to increase substantially over the next two decades.

Weight-watching aid in New York city

Although we know that the daily recommended calorie intake is 2000, but it's impossible to ascertain how much is the calorie of curry-mee, nasi-lemak, humberger, etc. Now NYC is doing something to battle their obesity problem, soon more US states will follow suit.

I will add that it's highly recommended to split your 2000 calorie intake into 5-6 small meals rather than 3 big meals. Your body will work more effeciently to digest 5-6 small meals. With 3 big meals your body will tends to store moe fat which you don't want.

Whole Grains Fight Belly Fat

I have learned that eating whole grain bread & cereal is healthier than white bread, so I have been on such diets for long time. However I have also put on quite a lot of belly fat which I attributed to the following factors:

• Lack of exercise


• Poor diet habits (wrong portion size, wrong time, etc)


• Basically, caloric imbalance (Calorie Intake > Calorie Burned)


• Total lack of understanding of belly fat (visceral fat) and it's risk

When I realized my high body fat early this year, I became quite worry and started lots of reading on its risks and learned how to combat it (in theory). I believe I have put the theory in good use and good effect, albeit slowly.

In short, combating belly fat is very important if we want to lower our chance of developing heart disease, diabetes or even cancer.

I like to share these 2 useful articles, read the study carefully:

• Belly fat in men: What you need to know
  Learn why belly fat is unhealthy — and what you can do to lose the extra pounds.


• Whole Grains Fight Belly Fat
  Study Shows Whole-Grain Diet Good for the Waistline and the Heart

The passing of a Malaysian Son

I saw this from Haris Ibrahim's website (The People’s Parliament) entitled The passing of a Malaysian Son dated 18th Dec. And I am quite curious to know how he died? Is it related to heart attack??

Now read this from Malaysia Today's REST IN PEACE, MY COMRADE (dated 17th Dec), passed away in his brother's house, seemingly from a heart attack. See some of these websites, pay special attention to Shukree's waistline, the warning sign is very clear to me. Don't you agree?

• ricecooker


• zorro-unmarked

My condolences to Shukree's family. The threat of heart attack (timebomb) is very real. If you love your family, take good care of your health. We are all only human, we only live once.

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However, I MUST warn you that I have also seen many skinny people with heart problem - blockage of 3 arteries! So don't assume that you are OK and have NO heart problem just because you fit all the stats of good health as in my other posting (My body fat of Dec'08 & Ticking Timebomb).

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Remember, we are NO DOCTOR, it's necessary to regularly consult your doctor whenever you have any doubt about your health.

Understanding Body Fat, Cholesterol & Blood Pressure

This is a simple sheet of information on Body Fat, Cholesterol & Blood Pressure

My Body Fat % in Dec'08

During Apr'08, I have the following figures - very unhealthy for a guy with small frame & height of only 166cm. Basically the figures screamed that I am OBESE and I didn't know anything about it.

• Waistline of 38 inches (By Waistline std I am OBESE)


• Body weight of 67-68kg


• BMI of 24.5 (By BMI std I am OVERWEIGHT)


• BF% of 30-31% (By BodyFat% std I am OBESE)

At the time that I started my blog in Oct'08, see my 1st posting on this blog. I have the following numbers

• Waistline of 34.5 inches (I have lost 3.5in on my waist. By Waistline std I am still ok )


• Body weight of 61kg


• BMI of 22.1 (By BMI std I am NORMAL)


• BF% of 25-26% (By BF% std this is BORDERLINE)

During Oct'08, I set the following Dec'08 target

• Waistline of 33.5 inches or 85cm (this will be the hardest to achieve!)


• Body weight of 59-60kg


• BMI of 21.6


• BF% of 23-24%

So, what is my ACTUAL result now in Dec'08? It's as follow

• Waistline of between 33.0-33.5 inches (so I achieved my target!!)


• Body weight of 61.4kg (didn't achieve target, but this is still good weight)


• BMI of 22.3 (By BMI std I am NORMAL, ok)


• BF% of 24.5% (By BF% std this is ACCEPTABLE, ok but could be better)

As you can see from the printout of the Tanita Bodyfat Analyzer TBF-401. I have got the following results for July08 & Dec08. Over the period of 6 months, I have lost a total body weight of 4.4kg (65.8-61.4). From the printout, I have lost 4.7kg (19.7-15.0) of body fat and gained 0.3kg (from 46.1kg to 46.4kg) of Lean Mess (muscle). But my body fat of 15kg is still outside the desirable range of 7.6-13.9kg.

Now I have another 1.1kg of body fat to lose, that will be my target for the next 6 months. My next target is to archieve

• - bodyfat of 20%
• - 32.5" waistline
• - body weight of around 62kg.

Thus, it's possible to lose weight and stay healthy if you put your mind to it and be persistant. Why don't you follow my example?

Ticking Timebomb - Know your Health Risk Factors

Lately we have seen a few politicians died of heart attack, they are from UMNO, MCA & Gerakan. I am sure there are many others non-politician Malaysians die everyday of similar ailment, without warning. All their friends said the deceased looks so healthy and don't see any warning signs. This is because most people don't understand the health risk factors of their body. For example, when I look at people with the body size & waistline like in these photos, I really sweat for them as they are having such high health risk factors from heart attack. Overweight & Obesity is a real problem in Malaysia. Big belly & huge waistline is no-no as it invites heart trouble, it's a ticking timebomb (heart attack) waiting to explode, good luck to both of them!!

See these reports from

• FoodConsumer.org - Belly fat linked to high risk of diabetes, premature death
• CBS News - Belly Fat Doubles Death Risk

And to complicate matter, when the bomb exploded, the person only has less than 5min to be rescued, waiting for Ambulance is equal to waiting for coffin car to arrive. Most victims don't have the luck of having people who know Basic Life Support (BLS) or have passed BLS course around them. So prevention is better than cure - take good care of your heart!














Don't become this sad statistics, learn to understand what health risk factors are, it's not difficult & certainly not rocket science. Without warning is definitely NOT TRUE. Just like science that based on fact & figure, you need to watch your fact & figure (Health Risk Factors) of your body. For me, I will watch the following figures as a warning signs of my health

1. Waistline - make sure your waistline is NOT larger than 35" (asian) or 38" (westener)


2. Body Fat % - make sure you are NOT obese


3. BMI - make sure you are NOT obese, but it is not very reliable as a perfectly fit bodybuilder will have high BMI (obesity) and a tiny guy with huge gut will have perfect BMI (when he's actually obese)


4. Watch your cholesterol level, make sure it's not high, try to do annual madical checkup


5. Watch your blood pressure, make sure it's 120/80, to avoid high blood pressure


6. Watch your sugar level to avoid diabetes, a terrible disease


7. If you want to, you can also watch your pulse rate, it should be around 60 to 100, preferably 60 to 80 which mean you are fit

You also need to watch your life style and your food intake

1. Make sure you always have enough rest, which I always did badly
2. Be Active, Get physical, have regular exercise regime like walking/running - no harm to do marathon regularly, just kidding :-)
3. Make sure you eat balance foods - eat lots of leafy green veg, fruits, nuts; and very little meat, watch what is on your plate.
4. Not just what you eat, eat well, good diet & good food combining
5. Avoid certain junk food too
6. Learn about Metabolism to improve your health
7. Eat healthy cereal - healthy cereal, healthy muesli, high fibre good; don't eat junk cereal - no coco-crunch please!
8. Don't smoke or cut down smoking, it's a stupid habit
9. Do body detox if possible

That's all for now.

Old Trafford

After visiting my nephew in Manchester University, my bro took me to Old Trafford. Even though I am life long LFC supporter, visiting the Threatre of Dream is still a dream come true. We didn't do the stadium tour - sorry guys, no photos inside the stadium. May be next time :-)

Now, how about Champion Luegue 2007/2008 group match between Liverpool vs Porto, played in Porto? That was a huge experience! The sound effect of the Champion Luegue music still ring loud in my ears. Fancy any photos? Coming up next ...

Stadiums visit

Unlike Anfield, I didn't do the same stadium tour in other FCs, so I don't have the same amount of photos like in LFC.

Stanley park - Everton

This stadium is really within walking distance of Anfield. Stanley Park is at the foot of the small hill and Anfield is at the top of that small hill.

Reebok Stadium - Bolton

We stayed in the motel right across the stadium. We were on our way to Manchester.

Why Diets Work?

I read this article from MenHealth magazine last month, under the Weight-loss Bulletin.

Even lots of exercise is no match to bad eating habits. According to one study from University of Missouri, people lost their guts with a strict diet & a vigorous 5day/week workout. Then they are split into 2 groups, 1 with no exercise another keep exercising. However all ate an average of 500 additional calories/day.

Result? Belly fat returned for everyone! If you take more calorie than you burn, fat return whether you exercise or not. Scary huh? But it's very logical.

Remember, try to eat 5-6 light meals a day rather than 3 heavy meals. Your body will use more energy to digest heavy meal (which will make you tired fast), yet can't do a good job of digesting. It will turn some of them into body fat. And not just the amount, what you eat is also very important, read my other articles here for this.

It's MAKAN Time - Digest this!

With year end holiday & festivals coming, it's makan time again & again! So if you are watching your diet and waistline, this is going to be a trying time. It's definitely true for me, how do I achieve my year end goal of 33.5" waistline? I only have 1 month to go :-(

Anyway, I think this is a good article to read if you have indigestion due to too much food.

SHAPE UP for GOOD HEALTH

This is an article with good tips on how to shape up.
Coincidentally I was doing some of it with good success

• Wake up 1 hour earlier to hit the gym every morning (Mon to Fri)
• Make exercise a priority
• Pack a change of clothes to work everyday

Liverpool Football Club

Lets take a break from the healthtalks. During my visit to England late last year, my good bro took me to my beloved LFC stadium. Enjoy!!
Details of tour & museum visit

"The Kop"


Home Team's Changing Room


No, I will not repeat what he's about to said to the self-confessed MU supporter beside me...


How many times you have seen Steven Gerrard spoke in front of that?

After yet, another man-of-the-match performance.

Notice how small is that space? Actually Anfield is a small stadium, unlike MU.


This is the world famous "This is Anfield" sign! At last, we are entering the field.

THIS IS ANFIELD!!! And from the KOP end!

A visit to Anfield include the museum visit

Bill Shankly & the rich history of LFC

After the guided stadium tour, we arrived at the stadium shop

Yet to come ... The Stanley Park, Reebok Stadium and Theatre of Dream

Penang Bridge International Marathon 2008

I have crossed the Penang Bridge (PB) thousands of times, via driving. Today, I had a new experience - running across it during the half marathon run (25kms). Did I enjoyed it, you may asked? I didn't as I had to fight back muscle cramp many times and had the dreadful experience of running past one fine young secondary student who passed out. Luckily there were a few true gentlemen who stopped to help him, shame on me! I prayed that he's ok. Like many who didn't stopped (although I slowed down, I suspect he pushed himself too hard, over-estimate his physical ability), I trained hard for this and really want to challenge myself with a good time.

Before the race, I was all alone, unlike many who came in group, so I feel a bit intimidated by many season runners, who has the characteristic of well tone body, huge culf muscle from years of running. Muscle is the last thing you associate with me, :-). Anyway, I calmed myself and decided to just set up to do my job, run my own race at my comfortable pace. But I did push myself a bit by setting my eyes on a few runners and kept pace with them, we all need target in life if we want to achieve something, it's the same during the run. I also choose to run in shortest straightline on any curve stretch to conserve energy :-p

I realized I was doing good race & above my pace when I ran past mid-span towards Prai and will arrive in Prai in less than 1.5hrs target time. After rounding the Prai Toll and ran back to Penang Island, the ill-effect of my higher pace gradually set in, could feel the danger of cramp many times. It didn't help when the sky was overcast and there's hardly any breeze, I was sweating so much and my body temparature was so hot! I kept glancing towards Queensbay Mall from the PB, why still so far? It was a real struggle during the last 5kms. I didn't want to stop running and turn to walking, otherwise my good effort during the 1st 20kms will be negated, as many will overtake me. I was at turtle-pace during the last 2kms as my 2 legs were just NOT responding :-(

The cut-off time to get a cert & finisher medal for half marathon is 3.5hrs. I was quietly confident before the race that I might be able to do 3hrs-pace and arriving at finishing line at around 7.30am, baring any mishaps or my chronic upper back bone didn't trouble me. But I got home in 2hrs 33min xxsec, arrived around 7am. Unfortunately I didn't asked for my position at the finishing point, but I believe I got around #100-120. Not bad huh? My time translates to just over 6min/km for 25kms race, I reckoned this is ok lah for a 1st timer! That's the end of good news.

View the youtube clip of this morning run

Now, my knee joints REALLY sore, can't bend it easily without any pain. I hope I didn't permanently damaged my vulnerable knee joints, otherwise I can kiss goodbye to my running exercise. Man! Give me more Glucosamine Sulfate now!! Being a left-hander, naturally my right knee hurts the most. CM, Mr Lim said next year's PB run is 29th Nov 2009. Will I return? I don't think so based on current prognosis.

Update on 17th Nov, 8pm: After a knee x-ray, a visit to orthopaedic surgeon & physio, my knee is not as bad as I first feared - no bone crack, no tendon or ligamen tear. There are slight swelling most likely due to the punishment of the race. I can bend my knee better but still with pain, hopely it will settle within a couple of days. Hurray!

Update on 23rd Nov, 5pm: After nearly one week of resting, I am back to brisk walking yesterday for 3kms and suffer no ill effect the next day. So I am back!

Energy-dense foods and cancer