Interloper View

Fitbit Charge 3 Honor Band 5i Step Count Honor combines phone and band and provides a composite count. so it tends to provide higher step count Heart Rate Fitbit shows a higher hear rate count compared to Honor Cardio Fitness Fitbit provides a cardio fitness range if there is GPS assisted run otherwise it provides a range. Not available Sleep Fitbit detects higher waking time. (Apr 30 claims I was awake for 50 minutes) Provides higher points. (93) Reports Estimated Oxygen Variations Honor claims I was only awake for 5 minutes (Apr 30) Gave me lower sleep point (74) Does not report Oxygen Variations Total sleep hours visible on the band. Naps Yes Yes Notification/Messages Ties to the phone, if you swipe away on the phone lock screen, it dismisses from the band. Will appear on the band when it reconnects to the bluetooth range even if it came when your band is out of range. Have to manually remove from the band. Messages on the phone when the band is out of range wil...

Fitbit finally added sleep score feature into their app on Wednesday, Sep 04, 2019. This feature was available for beta testing. Still not too sure of the usefulness of this feature but so far most of my sleep score is more than 80 (which is considered good). When this feature was enabled, some of my historic sleep data were also scored but some were not. Not sure why, but the note claims that it is due to insufficient information such as: Slept in a position that prevented consistent heart rate reading. Less than 3 hours sleep Device battery was too weak My device does not have SpO2 sensor. I don't think any of the above applies but I am not going to worry about it. It is just another number that is nice to know about myself.

I started drinking coffee black a few years ago in the attempt of reducing my calorie intake and to better appreciate the taste of coffee. Initially I did not like the bitter taste but after a while I enjoyed it. I prefer instant coffee since I did not always have a coffee maker handy and did not want to make a whole pot just to enjoy a cup. There are many brands of coffee in the market in various packaging. All the different brands were derived from Arabica coffee. The price of the coffee was almost the same and the taste were also almost the same. Even the ones I had from restaurants taste almost the same. Recently, a colleague of mine gave me three sachet of Starbucks VIA Dark Italian Roast. The taste was very different from all other instant coffee I have tasted before. It is much richer and sweeter even without adding sugar or cream. It also provided a stronger caffeine effect on me. Not sure if this will continue since it is the first one I had. I had Starbucks coffee before b...

Recently I came across a call to keep healthy by walking 10,000 steps per day. Initially I thought it was relatively easy to achieve. I decided to give it try. I have a pedometer but decided that since I have my phone with me most of the time, I might as well get an App to make my phone a pedometer. Widget Screen I looked at a few apps but found AccuPedo to be the one most suitable for me because of the following reason: It provides both steps as well as a calorie count. It has a widget which makes it easy to switch it to pause mode. You need to do that when driving in order to avoid counting the movement of the car as steps. The battery usage on my phone is minimal. It counts my steps with minimal intervention from me. I just need to make sure that the phone is in my pocket when I walk around. After trying this for a few days, I found that I only managed to exceed the 10,000 steps threshold when I ran on my treadmill. I used the nike plus app at the same time ...

The article, published in Obesity Reviews (Vol. 13 Issue 6), explained that cardio doesn't work for FOUR reasons : a) Some people eat more when they start a cardio program b) Calorie burning at rest often decreases with cardio c) Calorie-burning lean tissue is often lost d) Cardio programs cause you to do less activity over the day

Received this from a colleague: WE all accept that getting older is inevitable, and now leading clinicians have revealed the exact age when different body parts start to decline, most alarming being the brain and lungs. French doctors have found that the quality of man's sperm starts to deteriorate by 35, so that by the time a man is 45 a third of pregnancies end in miscarriage. Here, with the help of leading clinicians, Angela Epstein tells the Daily Mail the ages when different parts of the body start to lose their battle with time. BRAIN - Starts aging at 20 As we get older, the number of nerve cells - or neurons - in the brain decrease. We start with around 100 billion, but in our 20s this number starts to decline. By 40, we could be losing up to 10,000 per day, affecting memory, co-ordination and brain function. GUT - Starts aging at 55. A healthy gut has a good balance between harmful and 'friendly' bacteria. But levels of friendly bacteria in the gut drop significant...

I received this from a newsletter from AtoZ Fitness Weekly and thought I would share it here.  Note that I am not selling their products nor am I linked to them. Why Dieting Is A Lot Like a Financial Crisis By Nick Nilsson Learn the parallels between dieting and the biggest financial crisis of our time. And no, it's not because both are painful and leave you hungry! Now, let me be clear right off the bat…if you think I'm going to make a joke here about how your Freddie Mac and Cheese ends up on your Fannie Mae, you're wrong…I would never do such a thing. What I AM going to do is draw some parallels about how the financial mess the United States is in can actually help you understand how dieting affects your body, and in turn, can help you get better results in your fat-loss efforts and, of course, make you millions of dollars richer in the process. I'm going to drift around in between finance and nutrition here - I know, they're two almost identical subjects but, t...

It's been 3 week since I stopped my Fastestman program but I have managed to maintain my weight.   I have been reading the book below and one of the things it talks about is that all the things we do causes us to accumulate various kinds of energy in our cells and overwhelming them. And as a result our cells are suffocating. This in turn causes all kinds of diseases. Energy Medicine in CFQ Healing: Healing the Body, Transforming Consciousness I am not sure how true and accurate this theory is but I know many people believe in them. I have not met the originator of the CFQ healing but know of those who have. What I do know is that I tried to just perform my own kind of meditation in which I just closed my eyes and focus on releasing all the energy within my body - basically think of radiating energy from all parts of my body. This is sometimes very difficult especially when you have a throbbing headache. I do this both in the sitting position or lying on the bed. Just need t...

Not sure how true this is, just received it from a colleague. Do not the recent Chi Jiezi ah! Sichuan this year, the Orange suffered a disaster of the parasite, called Orange maggots and parasites visible to the naked eye. Far from clearing the light orange skin can not see, it is necessary that each of the orange outside of the skin layer is also Bodiao can see! It is said that the Government catty to a few cents of the purchase price of orange fruit in the hands of the disease and then buried, but there is still secretly Caimixinqiao fruit of the disease out of the wholesale orange! So now the market's orange-chuan to be careful! Huaxi Dushi Bao is said to have written this, does not know the truth, but we still pay attention to what you "I Changzhemeda, has not seen in the orange of the flap of meat hidden in so many maggot Yazi, really strange ... ..." 3 pm, the Jiachuan in the town of Guangyuan Wang Cangxian cock of the mountain orchards, Dan Qiaocun Six groups of 67...

I received this in the mail today and had it translated from Chinese using Google Translate: Wan Shui consequences of the state Some people have always had good health, but few stay up late at night in a row, all of a sudden to get up the next day will am very tired, I wanted to sleep with eyes closed, and will be back pains, but a good spirit of the evening up! Do not think this is trivial! According to Chinese medicine's view, is due to fatigue caused by an imbalance of yin and yang organs in the body, is the organ in the body from internal strife, fighting each other, the final result of organ failure and died. Sleep is the body's self-adjustment time, it's time for you aggression, aggression, it's your health, we should guard ourselves to the following rest periods. Night 9 - 11 Points for the immune system (lymph) detoxification, this paragraph should be quiet or listening to music. Night 11 - 1 am, Liver detoxification, to be carried out in deep sleep. The ea...

I received the following article from a friend through email: A way to differentiate between Taiwan made products and China made products, by looking at first three digits of its Bar Code. If the 1st 3 digits are 690, 691 or 692 - China made. If the 1st 3 digits are 471 – Taiwan made I searched through internet and it seems that the article was taken from here .  I did a further search and found that China is actually covered by 690 to 695 - the country look up is found here .

Received this from my friend on how to protect your back: Back Safety Your back is at work 24 hours a day. It takes part in almost every move you make. Because of its workload, your back is prone to injury. Back Injuries Are extremely painful. Are difficult to heal. Are frequently recurring. Affect everything you do. Preventing back injuries is a major safety challenge. For those who suffer from back injury: Only 3% receive training in preventing back injuries. 97% receive medical treatment. In Saudi Aramco In 2005, back injuries caused: 19% of all industrial disabling injuries (IDIs) resulting in 157 lost work days. 9% of all off-job disabling injuries (ODIs) resulting in 212 lost work days. From January 1 to September 30, 2006, back injuries caused: 12% of IDIs resulting in 72 lost work days. 5% of ODIs resulting in 151 lost work days. Learn the Right Moves The best way to prevent back injuries is to learn the right moves: Practice good posture—maintain your back’s natural curve...

Nature provides a lot of wonderful gift to us and it is up to us to appreciate them. One such gift is the aloe vera plant. This is how the plant looks like: When you cut the leaves, you will find within in a transparent jelly like substance. Many companies started discovering its wonders so you can find various skin care products containing extracts from Aloe Vera. In fact, my parents occasionally use for minor cuts, help with hair growth and even make dessert from it. This is my observation but I do not have any medical background so don't take my word, just try it yourself. Only thing I can tell you that so far it works. There are some write up the benefits here - I am not promoting their product!! Some more writeup also in wikipedia .

Living with a flat foot all my life, I was unaware that there are treatments out there. However, recently when two of my colleagues were injured during the running sessions. They went to for physio-therapy. It was then I found out that there are more "flat footers" around me. They were each sold some insoles for support together with the therapy. I decided to visit the therapist to "check it out" and was also sold the insoles - one for walking and one for sports. The one used for walking is 3/4 length and the sports one is full length. The one for walking works in reducing pain in my bunions but the sports one gave me blister instead (but only in one leg). A few things I read from the leaflet from the insoles. Flat foot causes some of the following problems - (also listed here ): Bunions Callous Other pains So lesson learned was: Just because you are suffering this all your life doesn't mean that there is no relieve out there. Your problems is not unique. ...

Reflexology is getting very popular in Malaysia. In Penang, most of the major shopping centers around the country have shops providing such services. The cost is also pretty reasonable - RM30/- for 45 minutes. This compared to Genting Highlands which is RM 60/- for 40 minutes. You have to be very careful, not all the of them are equal. If you are lucky and get one who is experienced and knowledgeable, s/he will be able to tell you what you are suffering from. Most of these shops provide foot reflexology but some will also provide hand reflexology too. For those of you who are interested in knowing more about reflexology, click here . The following was taken from the website. This is the best I have seen. Click the pictures below to access interactive reflexology charts. Alternatively, you can purchase massage machines from Ogawa and Osim. Only word of caution, for those who have not done this before it can be very painful. So far, I found...

IMG415 Originally uploaded by strovek There are various groups performing Qi Gong in various parks in Penang and around Malaysia. This is a picture of the group that does it on Sunday from 8 am to 9 am. The group is very popular and normally break into subgroups during the weekday adjourning at various spots on the island.

The first step was to identify my current calorie consumption. Even though there was a formula to calculate the BMR, it only serves as a guideline. A more accurate way is to find out the actual consumption. This was done by taking note of everything I ate for one week. I did that with the following worksheet: Date Calorie usage Alt Exercise Calorie Consumption Day 6-Sep-04 3268 Monday 7-Sep-04 1699 Tuesday 8-Sep-04 1873 Wednesday 9-Sep-04 2036 Thursday 10-Sep-04 1787 Friday 11-Sep-04 2561 Saturday 12-Sep-04 3135 Sunday 13-Sep-04 2090 Monday 14-Sep-04 1559 Tuesday 15-Sep-04 1193 Wednesday 16-Sep-04 2559 Thursday 17-Sep-04 1543 Friday 18-Sep-04 3822 Saturday 19-Sep-04 2286 Sunday 20-Sep-04 ...

The Challenge Back then I was 80 kg (175 lbs). Based on BMI, my ideal weight should be 62 kg (136 lbs). With this in mind, I set out to bring myself to my ideal weight. I was determined but I knew that it would be hard. So I used the following approach. Make a bet with a friend, I will reach the weight in one year. If I succeeded, she will give me $100/-, otherwise, I will have to give her a treat. I started telling everyone in the office about my "bet". Shedding the first couple of kgs was relatively easy - by slightly reducing food portion and started going to the gym. Then it happened - my weight plateaued after only 1 month into the bet. Luckily, another friend of mine heard about the bet and sat me down and told me that weight gain an loss can be reduced to a very easy equation: Input - output. If you consume more than you expend, you will lose weight. The same with the reverse. It all boils down to calorie intake and calorie use. To lose 1 kg of weight, it wa...