Is It True That Exercise Won't Make You Thin?

Today is Wednesday, which is a cardio day. I'll spend five minutes warming up on the VersaClimber, a towering machine that requires you to move your arms and legs simultaneously. Then I'll do 30 minutes on a stair mill or if I'm up to it, it's 45-minutes RPM cycling. On Thursday, it's a 5.5-mile run, the extra half-mile - my grueling expiation of any gastronomical indulgences during the week. If I'm in the mood, I'll join the "body wedge" class, which involves another exercise contraption, this one a large foam wedge from which I will push myself up in various hateful ways for an hour. On Friday a personal trainer will work me like a farm animal for an hour, sometimes to the point that I am dizzy — an abuse for which I pay as much as I spend on food in a fortnight.

I have exercised like this — obsessively at times and a bit grimly — for years, but recently I began to wonder: Why am I doing this? Except for a two-year period at the dramatic end of a pointless relationship — a period when I self-medicated with lots of oily mamak food and the company of girlfriends — I have never been overweight. One of the most widely accepted, commonly repeated assumptions in our culture is that if you exercise, you will lose weight. But I exercise all the time, and since I ended that relationship and cut most of those mamak food, my weight has returned to the same 128 lb. it has been most of my adult life. I still have baby fat here and there eventhough it has been more than 30 years since I was last called a baby. Why isn't all the exercise wiping it out?


It's a question many of us could ask. I read somewhere that more than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club, up from 23 million in 1993. They spend some $19 billion a year on gym memberships. Of course, some people join and never go. Still, as one major study — the Minnesota Heart Survey — found, more of us at least say we exercise regularly.

And yet obesity figures have risen dramatically in the same period: a study revealed that a third of Americans are obese and in Malaysia, the rate has more than doubled in the last 6 years! Yes, it's entirely possible that those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigh even more if we exercised less. But like many other people, I get hungry after I exercise, so I often eat more on the days I work out than on the days I don't. Could exercise actually be keeping me from losing weight? Or has the role of exercise in weight loss been wildly overstated?

The basic problem is that while it's true that exercise burns calories and that you must burn calories to lose weight, exercise has another effect: it can stimulate hunger. That causes me to eat more, which in turn can negate the weight-loss benefits I've just painstakingly accrued. I'm about to reach a conclusion where exercise doesn't necessarily help us to lose weight. It may even be making it harder!

But still, I won't stop exercising since doing something about it is still better than sitting around complaining to your girfriends over a chocolate chip mocha frappucino with whipped cream and two servings of American cheesecake.

What Is Your Favourite Smell?

Last weekend had been a terribly busy weekend for me. Usually when I'm away from home for several hours, I'll make it a point to re-apply few dabs of my pefume. But last weekend I forgot, and I feel less human.

Do you remember what was your first perfume or deodorant? Well I know of friends who had started wearing deodorant since 13. I only started using them last year. Not because I have suddenly developed B.O. at this stage of life ( I think), but because I have been spending extended hours away from home everyday. I became very conscious of how I smell at the end of the day, especially with my fiance being around. :-D

I first fell in love with those perfume concentrate variations released by The Body Shop in tiny rounded bottles during high school days. I liked most of them except Dewberry. Somehow the smell identifies with erm... "bohsia" who hung out around Pertama Complex during those days. No offense. I still remember how I would dab just a teeny-weeny bit of these concentrates because the smell can be really overpowering. But even the tiny dab lasts a really, really long time....

The obsession carried on thoughout college and university, thanks to the media exposure and peer pressure . So every now and then, chunks of my MARA scholarship was spent on designer perfumes - Acqua di Gio, Hugo Boss (where the bottle resembles a grenade - what can I say, those were the rebellious years), and when I was about 17, my father who is allergic to perfumes went to Paris and presented me with, urmm..... Dolce Vita by Christian Dior. It was so sweet of him, but I don't wanna be smelling like Eva Peron going to school. So I kept it, until now.

Working and earning my own keep has definitely heightened my sense of smell, literally. I fell in love with Sensi by Giorgio Armani, Stella by Stella McCartney, Burberry's Brit, Calvin Klein's Eternity, Armani Mania by Giorgio Armani and White Diamond by Emporio Armani.

I believe every girl is destined to find their one true perfume. One that perfectly complements her and makes her feel ready to take over the world every morning. I swear to God that Sensi by Giorgio Armani is my true perfume. Alas, it is no longer in the market. Right now, it's a tie between Armani Mania and Stella. So babe, now you know what to get for my birthday in many, many years to come. :-)

An Afternoon With GMD

Today our Group Managing Director called me up to his office. As it was my first time setting foot in his plush office, naturally, quesiness sets in.

It turns out he actually wants to hear firsthand on why I am leaving the company. So there I was, considering whether I should be flattered that he showed his concern or annoyed as he is aware that his new policies were actually driving good people away.

I tendered my resignation on 7 August 2009 after being with the company for almost 7 years. Some say it's the 7-year itch. Whatever. But I don't know what is it about resignation that makes me feel uncomfortable. Maybe because it feels like you're 'dumping' someone. Of course in this case, it's the company, a non-persona, but still the thought of leaving my wonderful friends and colleagues of 7 years stirred my emotion.

With the GMD, we went through the whole why-are-you-leaving, the-company-has-a-lot-of-prospective-careers-for-people-who-are-dead-bored-of-their-jobs, we-are-in-a-good-shape-despite-the-economic-slowdown, yadayadayada. And then when the so-thought 'right' moment came, the line "the pay the company offered me is not competitive" got stuck in my throat.

Yup, I, the notorious motormouth, chickened out.

2 hours later, sitting back behind my desk, my mind played reruns of my discussions with him. I was somewhat relieved that I didn't raise the issue about the pay. Somehow, it looks very petty now and in retrospec, it seemed like a more mature thing to do by giving him the insights on my future plans. Even then, I tiptoed with my words around him. I wouldn't wan't to ruffle the feathers of a very influential guy who might be offering me a job in the future now would I?

The truth is, I'm leaving because I need to put myself back into the market to catch up on my 'market value'. I know some companies gave substantial and impressive adjustments to their key personnel to keep them interested, but sadly that doesn't happen in my current company. In order to preserve the good rapport I had with my boss the CEO and my ultimate boss the GMD, I also told them that since I'm not leaving with a bitter taste in my mouth, I am not denying any future possibilities of re-joining the Group. But at that time, it will totally be on my terms. Insya Allah.