My HIIT Journey

I have been a weekend workout warrior, usually consisting of gym treadmill and cycling over Friday to Sunday. An additional day may be added if there is a PH. I don't really love the treadmill but it is a quick and dirty workout, all done in 30 mins.

There had been weeks where I get to exercise almost every day, mostly the treadmill or elliptical on top of the cycling routine. By the end of the week, my physical (or maybe it was mental) state flops. I felt more tired than strong.

If there is anything good out of the CB, it must be my level of physical activities. Bcos I now have time before work, I had been exercising like 5 to 6 days a week. I hate running and still do. Cycling had been cut down too as it is so boring to ride alone.  Fortunately, I found another quick fix - HIIT. Hohoho.

When I 1st started, a 15 min HIIT workout left me dying. Then, I discovered the world of  YouTubes HIIT workouts. There are so many of them with different durations, intensity and variations. It is like doing online shopping. Hohoho.

As the days progress, I was able to step up on my HIIT workout and usually opt for 30 mins videos without repetitive sets. My favourites are the ones with 45s activity, 15s break and with clear clock counter so that I can count out amidst the huffing and puffing.  Once the workout starts, there isn't much time to really think about anything else. Time passes quickly and after a short pain, I am done. Woohoo!

Interestingly, the short workout never fail to land me in sweat. I absolutely am loving it and am thinking how I can incorporate them into my routine after work resumes.

The best part about HIIT? There are so many different activities within one workout, targeting different muscle groups. I often wake up the following day getting muscle aches at different parts of body and knowing that I had done a good workout.

While I am working out for sure, unfortunately it doesn't translated equally to weight loss. Zzzzzzz. I think I am eating way too much during this CB. We all have become rounder; the temptation of food and snacking is too real. S**t.... Hahaha.

Mummy Lim

Circuit Breaker 7th Weekend: Long Weekend!

The long weekend is always welcome, circuit breaker or not and I was thankful that there were 3 PHs during the CB period. It makes WFH a lot more bearable. I never know that I will miss taking the MRT and physically going to work so much. Lol.

However, we cannot deny that we are all getting really bored. So much so that somebody arranged the soft toys and another somebody ransacked my drawer seeking "treasures".

A little perk that came during the long weekend were the little cupcakes from the company as a little encouragement. The kids can testify how delicious they were. All gone.

We also managed to exercise a fair bit. Daddy Lim and I managed to ride on 2 days.

I also brought the kids out on Sunday evening for some brisk walk and scooting at the park. They needed to sun off the growing mould. Haha.

It must be really nice to embrace nature again, the kids were stopping here and there to look at flowers and disturb the mimosa.

Zaky was so excited to find wild grass that had grown taller than him during the CB. It does look like it will take a while before Singapore goes back to norm.

It had been many weeks since I last clocked 20k steps on my Fitbit. Trying to clock 10k every day had been a struggle, requiring many "walks" around our tiny house at different times of the day. I get dizzy sometimes walking in too many circles. Haha.

We cant wait for the CB to be over. One more weekend to go! Even Zaky's baby molar cant wait and decided to drop while his was having his tea. Haha.

Mummy Lim

Circuit Breaker 6th Weekend

I can't deny how quickly time passes. In a wink of eye, we had spent 6 weekends confined at home and there are only 2 weeks left to the CB. When it comes to the weekend, it is even more scary how fast time flies. Without realizing, Saturday was already over. What happened?

Sunday was a little bit more fruitful. Truth be told, I got bored. I cannot imagine how the kids can stay at home the entire school holiday month and are constantly on their phone. Don't they run out of things to watch on YouTube?

I got up early on Sunday morning and embarked on a solo ride. It had been a while. I didn't forsake Daddy Lim, he wasn't keen. On my own, I could go a little bit further and faster with I presumed still heathy lungs. Hoho.

The roads were empty and it was boring riding alone. I had a little fun trying to draft other cyclists (from a distant) along the way. I made it to LPS and back.

The bonus for the weekend must be the MacD bfast. Finally, we got to eat MacD again. Hoho. Maybe it was early in the morning and there wasn't much Q. I wasn't brave enough to try for lunch or dinner yet.

I seriously got too bored. What better to do than bake when boredom sets in?

We are seriously getting so good at this. I had a hard time resisting the cookies.

We are almost there. Hanging, hanging.

Mummy Lim

Happy 12th Birthday to our Not so Little Baby

When I celebrated my bday in the midst of the CB, Lil Shauna was hoping that we would be "released" so that she could celebrate her birthday in style. Unfortunately, it was also "home-styled" with the extended CB. Hoho.

In celebration, we had Popeye for lunch, courtesy of MumDelivery.

In the very least, there was some relaxed of the restrictions and the cake shops were opened on her birthday and we could get a proper cake. She was hoping for an ice cream cake but the Swensen staff said that we will have to wait until at least June.

We ended up with a very chocolatey cake. It was very rich.

She was craving for MacD and we contemplated getting that for dinner but it wasn't a good choice on the 2nd day that MacD reopened. At the JP MacD, the restaurant was empty except for staff but a crowd of people was waiting outside the restaurant. There wasn't much of an instruction but I overheard a staff mentioning that it was better to come back 30 mins later as they would only allow 8 people to enter at a time. There were definitely more than 8 people in the crowd and nobody was queuing perse. I suspect it will be the same scenario 30 mins later.

Prezzo earned our dinner $$ instead.

Dinner was followed by a simple cake cutting ceremony.

Don't wish for a dog or any 4-legged animal bcos it will not happen. Try wishing for 260 for Psle instead and mummy will fulfill our promise. Hohoho. The kids must be really desperate that they almost wished for a 3-legged dog. Zzzzzzz.

While the celebration was without the usual extended family gathering, wishes came across virtually and "physically". My brother's family sent over bubble tea after knowing how long it had been since Lil Shauna had one and she was definitely craving for it.

It was a bday party without much fanfare. We will definitely again when this CB is over. I also want a re-celebration. There was no present (how to buy?) but at least no SA1 as well that usually falls on her b'day.

Happy Birthday Baby! May the Lord bless you with good health and send you plenty of people who will love you unconditionally. While this growing up period has been really tough for all of us, you will definitely blossom to become a strong young lady. We love you to the moon and back.

Mummy Lim

Circuit Breaker 5th Weekend

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that last Thursday was a PH. I didn't realise until Wednesday afternoon and you can imagine how pleased I was. Hoho. No wonder my work calendar was empty on Thursday.

Bcos there was time and Lil Shauna was bored, we baked simple honey cornflakes.

The recipe that we found online called for honey, sugar and unsalted butter. With these kinds of ingredients, anyhow mix also won't go wrong.

The "take-up" rate is slow though bcos Zaky is not a fan. Only Lil Shauna eats a couple every now and then.

I also tried the raisin bread recipe that was given by the ex-colleague. While the "bread" didn't quite rise and still very much looks and tastes like scones, they were much more delicious and fragrance this time.

I downsized the ingredients to make only 2 buns/ scones in case the flavor department fails to meet up to expectations.

Taste wise is definitely a pass. I have no idea how to make it lighter or rise more. Never mind. Haha. Auntie S asked me to bake and bring to the next duno when gathering. Never mind again...it is too much hard work.

The weekend was lazy like the other 4 weekends during the CB. One new thing that I did do is to learn how to play Call of Duty mobile. We had been teaming up online and playing as a family on several occasions.

While it is good fun, the game burns my HP battery like crazy and not to mention how I get a headache after staring at my screen while my character runs. It is like watching Blair Witch project... Cue: Merlion dance.

With that, it marked the end of the 5th CB weekend. We can't wait for the CB to be over.

Mummy Lim

School Holiday Starts

Finally! The 2 over weeks of HBL has finally ended. While Lil Shauna had been largely independently (just very much a computer dummy), Zaky had been getting more and more whinny. He whined about the amount of homework and he whined every time he has to do his Chinese work. I am starting to hate Chinese as much as he does.

I don't think a lot of teaching took place over Zoom during the 2 weeks. The only time that I heard Zaky spoke over Zoom was to ask the teacher when the lesson will be over and to bravely complain about the amount of homework. He must be teacher's nightmare student.

It is a smart move for the Government to bring forward the school holidays. This will give the teachers, parents and kids a good and much needed breather.

This was Zaky during one of his last zoom sessions y'day. Imagine if HBL is to continue...

Lil Shauna has quite some bits of school holiday homework. I have also assigned past year papers and revisions to the kids. It cannot be I being the only person working and the kids have endless screen time, right? Hohoho. Let's suffer together. After this school holiday, I am quite sure the kids wouldnt want Mummy to be home for future school holidays. Hahaha.

Last night, the kids and Daddy Lim reminded me not to wake them up this morning bcos they have no school and work. Chey, win already.

Mummy Lim

Circuit Breaker 4th Weekend

It was a long weekend. In a normal circumstances, we would be planning meet-ups or even sneaking across the border. This "special" long weekend, we were confined but I was actually happy to have an extra day to do nothing. It looks like I have adapted very well to weekends of doing nothing. Hohoho. *Scroll dramacool to see which k drama to watch next*

Despite the weekend, I opted to wake up early. I realised that sleeping in makes the weekend feels short even when compensated with sleeping late. I know, it is psychological but I would do anything to make my weekend feels longer and wish I could do vice versa with the weekdays.

The weekend wasn't much different from the previous few. I workout.

We baked cookies and are getting so good at this cookie baking business.

We baked quite some to fill 2 big containers. Chocolate chip cookies are always a favorite and they didn't last very long. It is so easy to pop a few into the mouth every now and then.

I also stole this instant prata pastry recipe from the web. It was so easy just that the baking takes a while. The end results not only look good but also taste fantastically good. Daddy Lim thought I baked the fr scratch. 我没有这么厉害, otherwise I can start planning for a second career a long time back. Haha.

The girls arranged for a zoom call to catch up too before lunch. It was nice to have some social touch despite the isolation.

The kids and I caught several movies on Netflix as well and also a game of Monopoly.

With that, we marked the 4th weekend of the Circuit Breaker. Fighting!

Mummy Lim

Cheated!

Daddy Lim said that we bought the mega heavy gaming laptop when we shifted into Centris. That was about 4 years back. I have totally no recollection.

There was a period of time where he stopped gaming and was distracted with other forms of entertainment. With his long MC, he picked up gaming again and I almost thought he was going pro gaming. Zzzzzz. When HBL comes into the picture, he even  fought with the kids over the laptop. Seriously?

Then, Zaky managed to convince him to play Fortnight and they are now teaming up; one using the laptop and the other using the PS4. So in addition to the duno what character that he is trying to groom in his own game, he now have to find time to play Fortnight with Zaky. So busy. Faint.

Recently, he had been complaining that the laptop's battery is failing. Not only does it fail to charge, it sometimes doesn't work even when plugged in. We can't tell if the battery is screwed or the charging cable. Luckily, the kids were able to rely on his work computer when the home gaming laptop act up.

While the HBL issue is resolved, the gaming problem isnt. There is only 1 way out: a new gaming laptop. While I rolled eyes - he is supposed to be "back at work" soon with the ending sick leave and he doesn't have time to game - Zaky was very encouraging so that Daddy Lim can continue to play Fortnight with him.

When such purchases are in view, I am always amazed at how efficient Daddy Lim is. Even with all the shops closed during the CB, there is still online shopping. Daddy Lim said that the purchase must happen, he is merely keeping me informed. How polite.

Within a week, we have a delivery right at the door.

It wasn't long before the new laptop is put in operations.

Guess what? The moment Daddy Lim puts in the purchase, the old gaming laptop had been working perfectly while plugged in. While the battery still doesn't charge, it worked fine plugged in.

I feel cheated. Zzzzz. I need a teh to calm down. The little luxurious comfort during the CB.

Mummy Lim