I came, I saw, and I conquered Mount Kinabalu

Me at Mount Gorilla (face of Gorilla on the mountain)

Me at Low's Peak...

At long last, after weeks of training, at 545am April 15, I reached Low's Peak (aka the highest peak of South East Asia at 4,092.5m above sea level) with 2 of my team mates.

What was the feeling? Of course GREAT! The scenery was magnificient. Things like this makes you appreciate Mother Nature for her beauty and serenity.

Kinabalu Park (the base of Mount Kinabalu) and its surrounding is such a beauty. Fresh air, scenic views, fresh fruits and vegetables. I just felt healthier being there!

Nevertheless, this trip to Mount Kinabalu is such an eye opener to me. I got to know my friends better (I think the jokes from this trip will be a legend among us), I got to know myself better and I truly enjoy outdoors.

All the way up to the summit and down, I was constantly sipping FitLine Fitness Drink. And I can honestly attest that it REALLY helped. I wasnt as tired as the rest and able to keep up my pace and momentum to reach the destination in almost record time.

Initially, my team mate, KT, refused to drink the Fitness Drink. She was happy just having plain water. I respected her decision. Half way through the 6 hours trek, she felt exhausted. She then relented to having Fitness Drink. Almost immediately, she felt the surge of energy and rejuvenation! Haha...only if she had taken it earlier. Both of us arrived hours ahead of the rest!

Now that Mount K has been conquered, I will need to conquer the next item on my list...

Assume = Making an ASS out of U and ME

Since I will be climbing Mount Kinabalu next month, I have been training very diligently daily. I plan to make it to the summit and enjoy the journey. So, my daily training is either the 1 hour 15 minutes trek at Gasing Hill or 70 floors staircase at my condo, both laden with 5 kg of water in my backpack.

Somehow, training in natural jungle and concrete jungle is just different. I dont get the same workout at the staircase, compared to the natural jungle, ie Gasing Hill.

So, whenever opportunity arises, I want to go to Gasing Hill. However, being outdoors, I am subject to the weather. If it's raining, I cant go. The trek is very slippery. The weather these past few mornings have been very unpredictable. Thus, when it's sunny, I know that I will get my Gasing Hill workout.

Normally, I will go to Gasing Hill with my trekking buddy. Somehow, this morning, there was miscommunication. I assume that my buddy knows we are trekking this morning. On the other hand, my buddy assumed that since there was no text from me to confirm trekking, we are not trekking! (The assumption arose from our previous conversation, where it was implied, if it's fine weather, trekking goes on)

Talk about communicating without communicating! So, there I was at Gasing, all ready to go, when my buddy didnt know we are trekking! Since I was there, all dressed up in my gear, I just went trekking alone. It's definitely very different, trekking alone and with someone.

During the trek, I kept on thinking to myself. We assume too much in life. That is where miscommunication arises. Thank goodness this is a minor miscommunication. What about those situations that go out of hand due to major miscommunication? Gosh. I better make sure it doesnt happen to me.

Like in FitLine, whenever I communicate with my business partners, I always repeat myself to make sure I understand what is asked of me. And I find that, by repeating, the message is clear. So, dont assume!

From 75kg to 59kg...

The old me, at 75kg

The new me, at 59kg

The other day, met up with this prospect to share about FitLine. She is about 10kg above her ideal weight.

Since my greatest testimony with FitLine is my weight loss, I automatically fished out my 'before FitLine' (75kg) and 'after FitLine' (59kg). She immediately said to me that she is happy with her weight. OK. fine. looks like someone is in denial, like how I was for the many years before I finally decided to lose weight.

Well, that's the thing about weight loss and many other things in life. First things first. Need to admit that we are overweight.I was heavy and I was fine about my size. Losing weight was too much work. Exercising is not in my vocabulary. I love to eat. And when it finally hit me, I had to do what I had to do. So I decided to shed the kilos. Wasnt easy. Took a lot of determination. But most importantly, lifestyle change.

Now I enjoy exercising. I do it daily. Heck, I'm even going up Mount Kinabalu next year! I still love to eat. But I watch what I eat. Cut down on fried and oily food and lots of fresh fruits and vege. And I have maintained my weight since May 2008.Weight loss is a lifestyle change. Not a 3-4 months change.And the best part of showing my pictorial testimony - "Was this YOU???" Love that moment :) And yes, the pictures in this post are ME.

So wanna know how I did it? Just drop me a line. If I can do it, so CAN you!