Tuesday, January 25, 2005

I Love You

When you are only 5 years old, I said "I love you".
You asked me, "What is it?"

When you are 15 years old, I said "I love you".
You blushed..
You looked down and smiled..

When you are 20 years old, I said "I love you".
You put your head on my shoulder and held my hand..
Afraid that I might disappear..

When you are 25 years old, I said "I love you".
You prepared breakfast and served it in front of me, and kissed my
forehead and said, "You better be quick, it's gonna be late."

When you are 30 years old, I said "I love you".
You said, "If you really love me, please come back early after work."

When you are 40 years old, I said "I love you".
You were cleaning the dining table and said, "ok, dear.. but it's time
for you to help our child with his revision."

When you are 50 years old, I said "I love you"
You were knitting and you laughed at me

When you are 60 years old, I said "I love you"
We sit on the rocking chair with our glasses on.
I'm reading your love letter that you sent to me 50 years ago.. with our
hand crossing together..

When you are 80 years old, you said you love me..
I didn't say anything..
But cried..
That day must be the happiest day of my life..
because you said you love me

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 1:58 AM with 0 comments

Wednesday, January 12, 2005

I Got Flowers Today

I got flowers today...It wasn't my birthday or any other special day. We had our first argument last night, and he said a lot of cruel things that really hurt me.
I know he is sorry and didn't mean the things he said because he sent me flowers today.

I got flowers today...It wasn't our anniversary or any other special day. Last night, he threw me into a wall and started to choke me. It seemed like a nightmare. I couldn't believe it was real. I woke up this morning sore and bruised all over. I know he must be sorry, because he sent me flowers today.

I got flowers today ... It wasn't Mother's Day or any other special day. Last night he beat me up again and it was much worst than all the other times. If I leave him, what will I do? How will I take care of my kid's? What about money? I'm afraid of him and scared to leave. But I know he must be sorry because he sent me flowers today.

I got flowers today ... Today was a very special day! It was the day of my funeral. Last night, he finally killed me. He beat me to death. If only I had gathered enough courage and strength to leave him, I would not have gotten flowers today.

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 4:37 PM with 0 comments

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

About Guys & Gals & the Internet

The Internet is a big blob of mess with all sorts of people using it for all sorts of things and all sorts of agendas. I have no time to entertain or be entertained by them. Besides being in the name of fun and boredom, its also in the name of "making friends". Frankly, no one can really tell except they themselves.

I met someone recently.

There is only 1 phenomenon that happens there. Guys will message gals and gals will message guys. No exceptions unless you aren't straight or they happen to be your personal friends and/or aquaintance and/or colleauges. I'm a gal myself, so I will never know "what's wrong with the gals" unless a guy tells me. But I definitely don't know what's wrong with the guys. I'll attempt to tell you what's wrong with them.

  1. They think the reason why we gals put our profiles up is to know more guys.
  2. They think gals dress up, to attract guys.
  3. They think their opinions of how we look matter more than that of a gal.
  4. They think gals there are desperately looking to get attached
  5. They think gals all like shopping and makeup, be sweet and demure.
  6. If you haven't got a picture, they ask you for one.
  7. If you haven't stated your marital status, they ask for it.
  8. At some point or other, they definitely want to meet.

This is my stand as a gal.

  1. My friend invited me.
  2. I dress up, because I want to and I feel like it or I have to.
  3. My opinions matter the most. I like what I see in the mirror. Good enough.
  4. Being attached is as great as being single. A boyfriend is a heavy accessory I have to think twice about.
  5. If I like what I see in the mirror, who cares about what you think.
  6. If you're looking for Babe, go to the zoo.
  7. What happened to "make more friends"?
  8. Why should I meet you because you want to meet me? My time is more important than yours.

This group of guys, have apparently spoilt the name of guys for all the guys out there. At the end of the day, I still think such "online networking solutions" are still one word. CRAP.

Get A Life.

I have an attitude problem. So what?
Don't come near me, I bite.
I'm a feisty tyrant. Period.

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 5:27 PM with 0 comments

Monday, January 10, 2005

Strength & Conditioning Professional Gym Series

I found this through some newsletters. Very wide array of gym exercises although I hardly understand half of them :P

Strength Training Exercises



Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 3:46 PM with 0 comments

Women Do Need Strength

Over the last decade, researchers have made extremely compelling arguments for the benefits of weight training for women and those over the age of fifty. Still, the number of women who take this recommendation to heart is still quite low. Most women who exercise are spending most of their gym time on cardiovascular exercise. Whatever your reasons for avoiding the weights, if you are a woman, here are ten reasons why you need to take strength training seriously.

1. You Will Be Physically Stronger.
Increasing your strength will make you far less dependent upon others for assistance in daily living. Chores will be easier, lifting kids, groceries and laundry will no longer push you to the max. If your maximum strength is increased, daily tasks and routine exercise will be far less likely to cause injury. Research studies conclude that even moderate weight training can increase a woman's strength by 30 to 50 percent. Research also shows that women can develop their strength at the same rate as men.

2. You Will Lose Body Fat
Studies performed by Wayne Westcott, PhD, from the South Shore YMCA in Quincy, Massachusetts, found that the average woman who strength trains two to three times a week for two months will gain nearly two pounds of muscle and will lose 3.5 pounds of fat. As your lean muscle increases so does your resting metabolism, and you burn more calories all day long. Generally speaking, for each pound of muscle you gain, you burn 35 to 50 more calories each day. That can really add up.

3. You Will Gain Strength Without Bulk
Researchers also found that unlike men, women typically don't gain size from strength training, because compared to men, women have 10 to 30 times less of the hormones that cause muscle hypertrophy. You will, however, develop muscle tone and definition. This is a bonus.

4. You Decrease Your Risk Of Osteoporosis
Research has found that weight training can increase spinal bone mineral density (and enhance bone modeling) by 13 percent in six months. This, coupled with an adequate amount of dietary calcium, can be a women's best defense against osteoporosis.

5. You Will Improve Your Athletic Performance
Over and over research concludes that strength training improves athletic ability in all but the very elite athletes (See Article). Golfers can significantly increase their driving power. Cyclists are able to continue for longer periods of time with less fatigue. Skiers improve technique and reduce injury. Whatever sport you play, strength training has been shown to improve overall performance as well as decrease the risk of injury.

6. You Will Reduce Your Risk Of Injury, Back Pain and Arthritis
Strength training not only builds stronger muscles, but also builds stronger connective tissues and increases joint stability. This acts as reinforcement for the joints and helps prevent injury. A recent 12-year study showed that strengthening the low-back muscles had an 80 percent success rate in eliminating or alleviating low-back pain. Other studies have indicated that weight training can ease the pain of osteoarthritis and strengthen joints.

7. You Will Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease
According to Dr. Barry A. Franklin, of William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, weight training can improve cardiovascular health in several ways, including lowering LDL ("bad") cholesterol, increasing HDL ("good") cholesterol and lowering blood pressure. When cardiovascular exercise is added, these benefits are maximized.

8. You Will Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes
In addition, Dr. Franklin noted that weight training may improve the way the body processes sugar, which may reduce the risk of diabetes. Adult-onset diabetes is a growing problem for women and men. Research indicates that weight training can increase glucose utilization in the body by 23 percent in four months.

9. It Is Never Too Late To Benefit
Women in their 70s and 80s have built up significant strength through weight training and studies show that strength improvements are possible at any age. Note, however, that a strength training professional should always supervise older participants.

10. You Will Improve Your Attitude And Fight Depression
A Harvard study found that 10 weeks of strength training reduced clinical depression symptoms more successfully than standard counseling did. Women who strength train commonly report feeling more confident and capable as a result of their program, all important factors in fighting depression.

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 3:32 PM with 0 comments

Conditioning Myths and Half-Truths

Conditioning Myth 1: No Pain, No Gain Exercise does not need to hurt to be good for you. In fact, if it does hurt you’re probably doing something wrong. Some soreness is common for a first time exerciser, but if that continues, you are pushing way too hard. Delayed onset muscle soreness, in which pain occurs up to 48 hours after exercise, results from inflammation and microscopic tears in the elastic tissues that surround muscle fibers. To give muscles time to adapt, don’t do much too soon, or you will risk injury.

Conditioning Myth 2: Excessive Sweating While Exercising Means You’re Not Fit In fact, it's just the opposite. Sweating during exercise is a sign of an efficient cooler. An athlete who has adapted to keep the body core cool during exercise will shunt blood to the skin’s surface more quickly and release heat from the body. At the same time, the sweat glands increase their output and thus cool the body during sweat evaporation. While fit people produce more sweat than sedentary folks, they lose less sodium, because more of it is reabsorbed by the body. The result is a more efficient cooler.

Conditioning Myth 3: To Build Muscles, Eat High-Protein Foods There is no scientific evidence supporting the popular belief that athletes require massive amounts of protein. According to Dr. Suzanne Nelson Steen, head of the University of Washington Huskies Sports Nutrition Program, strength athletes require high carbohydrate and adequate glycogen stored in the muscle. She points out that all high intensity, powerful muscle contractions (such as weight lifting) are fueled with carbohydrate. "Neither fat nor protein can be oxidized rapidly enough to meet the demands of high-intensity exercise. Adequate dietary carbohydrate must be consumed on a daily basis to restore glycogen levels." To build more muscles, you simply have to follow a good weight training program and eat a well balanced diet consistently.

Conditioning Myth 4: If You Stop Exercising, Your Muscles Will Turn to Fat Fat and muscles are two different tissue types. One can not convert to the other. The truth is that muscles atrophy when not used. Therefore, if you continue to eat as you always have, but stop exercising, you will see an increase in body fat and a loss of muscle mass. Of course, the real question is "why are you stopping exercise in the first place?"

Conditioning Myth 5: You Can Increase Fat Burning By Exercising Longer at a Lower Intensity It really isn't important what percentage of energy during exercise comes from fat or carbohydrate. What matters at the end of the day is how many total calories were expended. The higher the exercise intensity, the more calories are burned per minute. Many new exercisers, however, are encouraged to exercise at a lower intensity because high-intensity exercise is difficult to sustain, and safer.

Conditioning Myth 6: If You Exercise, You Can Eat Anything If you try to make up for poor nutrition by exercising, you are going to be disappointed. While eating poorly and not exercising is far worse for your health that eating poorly and exercising, you will get the most out of your workouts if you fuel them with high quality foods.

Conditioning Myth 7: If You Don't Work Out Hard and Often, Exercise Is A Waste Of Time Nothing could be farther from the truth. Research shows that even moderate exercise, such as walking and gardening a few times a week, can have tremendous benefits. One study found that gardening for as little as an hour a week reduced the risk of heart disease.

Conditioning Myth 8: Exercise Can Fix All Your Health Problems While consistent exercise can make a huge difference in quality and quantity of life, it can't fix everything. Individuals with other health issues and diseases still need to follow a physician's advice when it comes to disease management protocols. And although exercise alone can not guarantee your health, or cure you of illness, regular physical activity has been shown to help everything from arthritis and heart disease to asthma and diabetes.

Conditioning Myth 9: Weight Training Will Bulk You Up Many women use this excuse to avoid weight training. What they don't realize it that weight training is often the easiest and quickest way for women to lose body fat and increase muscle definition.

Conditioning Myth 10: The More Exercise The Better Of course you can get too much exercise. Many top athletes give in to this myth, and many pay the price with injury, illness and depression. When it comes to exercise, you need an appropriate balance of training and rest in order to perform optimally.

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 3:26 PM with 0 comments

Principles of Sports Conditioning

I copied the following from About.com... :)

How to get the most from your training plan
There are several universally accepted scientific training principles that must be followed in order to improve conditioning and performance. These principles include:

1. The Principle Of Individual Differences
Because every athlete is different, each person's response to exercise will vary. A proper training program should be modified to take individual differences into account. Some considerations:


2. The Principle of Overload
The principle of overload states that a greater than normal stress or load on the body is required for training adaptation to take place. The body will adapt to this stimulus. Once the body has adapted then a different stimulus is required to continue the change. In order for a muscle (including the heart) to increase strength, it must be gradually stressed by working against a load greater than it is used to. To increase endurance, muscles must work for a longer period of time than they are used to. If this stress is removed or decreased there will be a decrease in that particular component of fitness. A normal amount of exercise will maintain the current fitness level.

3. The Principle of Progression
The principle of progression implies that there is an optimal level of overload that should be achieved, and an optimal timeframe for this overload to occur. Overload should not be increased too slowly or improvement is unlikely. Overload that is increased too rapidly will result in injury or muscle damage. Exercising above the target zone is counterproductive and can be dangerous. For example, the weekend athlete who exercises vigorously only on weekends does not exercise often enough, and so violates the principle of progression.

The Principle of Progression also makes us realize the need for proper rest and recovery. Continual stress on the body and constant overload with result in exhaustion and injury. You should not (and can not) train hard all the time. Doing so will lead to overtraining and a great deal of physical and psychological damage will result.

4. The Principle of Adaptation
Adaptation is the way the body 'programs' muscles to remember particular activities, movements or skills. By repeating that skill or activity, the body adapts to the stress and the skill becomes easier to perform. Adaptation explains why a beginning exercisers are often sore after starting a new routine, but after doing the same exercise for weeks and months the athlete has little, if any, muscle soreness. This also explains the need to vary the routine and continue to apply the Overload Principle if continued improvement is desired.

The levels of adaptation are quite complex. A more detailed explanation can be read here.

5. The Principle of Use/Disuse
The Principle of Use/Disuse implies that you "use it or lose it." This simply means that your muscles hypertrophy with use and atrophy with disuse. It is important to find a balance between stress and rest. There must be periods of low intensity between periods of high intensity to allow for recovery. The periods of lower intensity training, or the rest phase, is a prime time for a bit of crosstraining.

6. The Principle of Specificity
The Specificity Principle simply states that training must go from highly general training to highly specific training. The principle of Specificity also implies that to become better at a particular exercise or skill, you must perform that exercise or skill. To be a good cyclist, you must cycle. The point to take away is that a runner should train by running and a swimmer should train by swimming.

While there may be other 'principles' of training you will find on the web and in text books, these 6 are the cornerstone of all other effective training methods. These cover all aspects of a solid foundation of athletic training. Once put together, the most logical training program involves a periodized approach which cycles the intensity and training objectives. The training must be specific not only to your sport, but to your individual abilities (tolerance to training stress, recoverability, outside obligations, etc). You must increase the training loads over time (allowing some workouts to be less intense than others) and you must train often enough not only to keep a detraining effect from happening, but to also force an adaptation.

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 3:04 PM with 0 comments

Beyond Your Comfort Zones

How many things can we possibly learn in our entire life? We come to this world with nothing, we also leave with nothing. In between, its how you fill up the time that makes life a fulfilling one.

Life is an adventure isn't it? Yes. Now, what is adventure? Does it mean being an expert in something like adventure sports and excelling in it? Or is it the ability to handle the multi-facets of life, indoors or outdoors? Are you great when you are 100% good at 1 thing, or are you great when you are 99% good at a few more things?

Adaptability. Whether you're a fitness freak or a couch potato, being adaptable generally does no harm. The ability to take life as it comes, the ability to throw back whatever life hurls at you is truly a valuable asset.

So, what do you do when you are faced with something unfamilar? Sulk and cry? Or accept it with grace knowing while it may be a little out of reach, it is worth a try? Of course, if you're so damn (over)confident, you can always attempt to reach for something extremely out of reach.

Back again to my philosophy of stupid people. I have often heard, There are no ugly women, only lazy women. I think it applies to everyone. Its the stupid people who do stupid things. But, there are no stupid people, only lazy people.

So you are stumped by something. Well, you have a brain don't you? And you have a mouth. Can you learn? Can you think? Don't know something? Find out. The crux of it all lies in whether you even botther to try before giving up.

Life is really not about spoonfeeding at all. That's the problem with the education system in Singapore. You are spoonfed almost all your schooling years. To a certain extent, its good because you know all the right ways of doing things, maybe even systematically and methodically. But what happens when something goes wrong? I don't remember being taught how to make a wrong right!

Do you learn more when you're spoonfed a.k.a. nice, cushy, comfortable and you get it right the first time? Or do you actually learn more when you end up learning things the hard way, when situations are trying and the environment is harsh and demanding? It's really about learning curves vs the time spent. I'm pretty sure we do not want to spend a tremendous amount of time learning everything we want to learn. It helps by leaps and bounds when you have a mentor. Still, "hitting the wall a few times" is still pretty much a tool needed to mould your character.

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 10:08 AM with 0 comments

Tuesday, January 04, 2005

10 Traits Men Look For In a Girlfriend...

I was casually surfing and multi-tasking again as usual when I chanced on an online article about the 10 traits men look for in a girlfriend.

She does not take any crap -- from anyone. A good woman never
accepts bad behavior. Guys respect women with whom they can't get away with anything. If he knows there's a penalty -- like getting thrown to the curb -- for a serious violation like cheating, he'll respect you more, and he will be far less likely to do it. You should also never even bother to date married men, those who already have girlfriends or anyone who verbally or physically threatens or abuses you. Period.
I can't agree more, perhaps not with the logical explanation but rather, nothing radiates stronger than a girl full of confidence, knowing what she wants.

She never makes the first move. This issue has been debated to death, and there is no true consensus. But Daily says that she strongly believes women should never, ever pursue a man. Instead, she suggests waiting for the man to initiate and plan dates. Her reasoning: If the woman is always the one calling, she will never know if he is really interested in her or if it's just convenient for him. She may find herself questioning the relationship every step of the way. Men simply aren't programmed to think like that and therefore are better suited to the chase, Daily says.
I cannot help but feel puzzled..I thought men constantly reminded women that, we live in an era of equality between the sexes. And male friends of mine have told me, how they wished the gals will take the chore of making the first move away from them.

Equality? I think equality between the sexes will never happen. At least, in my lifetime. Women still crave for that knight in the shining armour no matter how much they say they don't need one. Men, I'd say, its about ego and feeling good. At the end of the day, boys, opps, men will still be men and gals will still be gals.

Posted by LiTTle-FooT at 2:47 AM with 0 comments