Medicard Clinic in Makati

Five weeks, 35 sachets of C-lium Fibre, and one Crossfit session after, I’m still alive; and healthier too! 🙂

September 7 came when we had to undergo the second blood test and stress test at the Medicard clinic in Makati  The activity intends to measure the results and difference from whence we started to include C-Lium Fibre in our diet as part of the ‘C-Lium  Lose More Live More Journey‘. To get accurate results, we had a light dinner the night before of the Laboratory examination ( 10–12  hours fasting ).

We had a weigh-in followed by a nutrition  assessment and counselling.

Weigh-In

Nutrition Assessment: Lost 2 lbs, lost 2 inches from waist, light diet @ 2200 kcal/day

Regular Exchanges of Food / Day

Treadmill Stress Test

All was going smooth but I was already in a hurry during my Treadmill Stress Test because I had an academic class to catch by noon somewhere in Quezon City. My students were waiting for me as I am also an IT instructor, aside from being a social media consultant and blogger.

The tests were the same as before where the treadmill started at a slow pace whose speed gradually increase in time. The incline also increased as the test progressed while a medical doctor observes on the side. (top photo)

Treadmill Stress Test

Blood Serum

Blood Test Results

A few days later, I got the blood test results.

In summary, the general outcome of my blood test were well within the normal ranges. The highlight of which was that I lost about 2 more pounds from the initial 63.4 kilos a month ago.

Little did they know that I have a belly problem (love handles). It’s getting some mass and I want my 6-packs back! 😛

With my slim built, the others were kidding that they were surprised I actually had something more to loose. 🙂

Blood Test Results (from 1st examination)

I myself was surprised. I thought I might have gained weight since even though I was taking C-Lium in the mornings. I was generally still carefree of what I eat during the day and just a bit conscientious of my carbohydrates intake at night.

To put it visually, here are some of my before and after photos.

‘Before‘  (in Singapore King Crab) and ‘After‘  (in Legoland Malaysia) Photos

As per the insights I have gained in participating in this activity, blood results aside, I can truly say that C-Lium has improved my digestion and daily bowel movement.

With regards to continuing the ‘Lose More, Live More‘ with C-lium, I suggest you continue on this daily morning breakfast routine:

• Take one sachet of Clium Fibre Husk daily (best time to take it is 30 minutes before breakfast)
• Hydrate! Drink at least 10 glasses of water throughout the day (we are a tropical country, the 6-8 glasses work for the colder countries)
• You may mix C-lium Fibre with your preferred beverage (water,juice, coffee etc.) and you should drink it immediately.
• 

  C-Lium Fibre Breakfast 

  Other drugs, medicines or vitamins are preferably taken in separate administration times from Clium Fibre.

• Check out more C-Lium Fibre information at  http://www.clium.com.ph/LM/faq/Faqs.html, Facebook facebook.com/Clium, and Twitter twitter.com/cliumfibre

Thank you to C-Lium Fibre for accompanying us in this journey and to Medicard for making sure everything was going well from the inside. I hope this series of Live More-Lose More Journey was able to inspire at the very least, some of you, in living the healthier life while enjoying it as well!

C-Lium Brand Ambassadors

I was not able to realize the intensity of the Crossfit Work Out session care of C-Lium until the big day came when we were actually at the Philippine Army Gym. The Crossfit workout featured the exercises that they adapted in the C-lium Lose More Live More website.

My shortcoming was I did not do a prior research on what Crossfit was all about and what we were to undergo. I had much confidence that I will be able to do it whaterver it will be.

C-Lium Brand Ambassadors @ Philippine Army Gym

I was both right and wrong. 😛
After a bried lecture from our coach on strength strength & conditioning in contrast to mere bodybuilding, we were oriented on what we are about to do:

• 7 Wall Balls
• 7 Push Ups
• 7 Box Jumps (High/Low)
• 7 Burpees
• 10mins AMRAP

Crossfit Gym

Crossfit Program and briefing

They all sound new to me except for the push ups. Even after his demonstrations, they didn’t really looked that hard.

But then he had to give time limits such that we should do each of the above-mentioned exercises for a certain number of repetitions within a limited period of time – that is when things started to get nasty and muscles began to complain. 🙂

In the final round, we had to do all 4 sets as many times as we can within 10 minutes. We had fellow program partners who we counted for and counted for me as well.

Crossfit Workout Participants

Crossfit Push-ups

I was more than satisfied with my performance having finished 4 rounds of the complete 4 sets within 10 minutes. Itwas beyond my expectations; perhaps taking C-Lium everyday was a factor (naks). 🙂 Kidding aside, the better digestion, regular bowel movement, lower cholesterol, and decreased weight, of course, did help in having one’s physical tone prepared; albeit C-Lium is not a strengthening vitamin but a fiber supplement, just to be clear.

Crossfit Aftermath: Food

After the Crossfit work out, we also had lunch at the same time a mini-seminar with a nutritionist who shared how to deliciously combine C-Lium into one’s diet and into good-tasting dishes. One of which was a healthy soya-nacho serving and after-workout juice.

C-Lium and Good-Tasting Food

Soya-Chips / Nachos with C-Lium

Benefits of Crossfit

What was good about this whole basic crossfit workout program was that the 4 sets of exercise targetted different muscle part of the body. The ‘Wall Balls‘ was for the upper arms, the push ups for the chest, the ‘box jumps‘ for the legs and abs, and the ‘burpees‘ for the overall body tone.

Our thanks extend to Crossfit, C-Lium, and our trainer for introducing us to the Crossfit workout and C-Lium which became a good supplement to their exercise program.

Diet with Exercise

Onwards to the third week of my “Healthier Me” journey, the C-lium-based breakfast diet continues as I took it every morning with my drink. Now it’s time to focus and learn more things about fiber and its association in losing weight. Allow me to share some interesting facts about fiber from clium.com.ph.

Here are some fiber facts:

Fiber promotes healthy digestion

As I have mentioned in a previous article. One of the major and immediately visible effects of taking C-lium fiber is a regular and comfortable bowel movement. More than just making your visit to the toilet more regular and consistent, you would notice a softer stool (pardon the graphic description). 🙂

Moving on, the site also mentions that a high-fiber diet helps reduce the risk of digestive track related diseases.

Fiber for healthy digestion

Fiber helps reduce the risk of heart disease

The C-lium website indicates that fiber has the ability to bind with bile acids, which is effective in absorbing fats. These then demand more bad cholesterol to be converted to bile acids and are excreted.

The explanation is actually a bit technical for me, but somehow we do get the picture.:)

Sources of fiber include a cereal drink like the new Milo Overload, apples, oatmeal, brown rice, and of course, C-lium Fibre whose one sachet serving gives the most fiber! 🙂

C-Lium FIber Health Journal and Exercise Tips

Fiber Sources

Daily Fiber Requirements

We always hear about marketers and encouraging words from heath gurus about how good fiber is for our health.

But just how much fiber do we actually need or should have?

For good health, an average of 25-35 grams of fiber daily is the recommended dosage. However, a regular individual usually only consumes about 15 grams of fiber per day.

Here are some tips on how to increase your fiber intake:

1. For breakfast, having a slice of wheatbread is a good start!
2. Eat fruits
3. Include more clean raw vegetables, salads, and greens with your meals
4. Eat brown rice instead of white!
5. Add a sachet or tablespoon of C-lium in your daily fiber intake.

*Fiber facts and iformation  source: C-Lium Website

What’s Your Fiber Diet?

We’re midway in this C-lium Fiber “Healthier Me” journey. I’m excited for the upcoming check-up this September to discover some medical health findings on how much I have improved after a month. 🙂

C-Lium Fiber Box 30s

If you’ve read my article a few weeks ago on “Starting My Journey To A Healthier Me,” this is the second in the series.

And so I started taking C-Lium by mixing it with my morning drink which is either milk, coffee, or a chocolate drink. I tried a beverage mix with oats initially, but I found it in excess when mixed with C-Lium fiber so I settled only with the first three.

I belatedly learned that once C-Lium has been mixed with the beverage, it should be immediately consumed as the small fiber granules expand with time. Personally, I didn’t mind even if the granules has thickened already because they’re still soft; even chewy. 🙂

Reading the label is also a good practice to know the actual contents of whatever you take into your body. C-lium’s Nutritional facts label indicate that dietary fiber is C-lium’s main component being made 100% natural from premium Psyllium fiber husk.

C-Lium Fiber Labels

C-Lium Fiber Health Benefits

It doesn’t have any bad side effects, but on the other hand, can lower ones bad cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and remove excess weight.

Although 1 week of use (during the 1st week of August) may be too short a time to conclude on the above-mentioned effects, what I immediately felt was my softer bowel movement. I can’t say it became regular because I already have a regular bowel movement ever since. What I really noticed is the softer stools, which is good (pardon the visual imagination you are currently experiencing).

C-Lium Fiber Sachets

C-Lium Fiber for My Breakfast

C-Lium Benefits

I just take half to one-pack of the 5g sachet of C-Lium a day which is equivalent to one tablespoon. I heard others can take as much as 3 sachets, perhaps distributed to all the day’s meals. I say try it first with one sachet pack and see how your body responds to it and adjust accordingly when necessary.

How about you? Have you tried C-Lium Fiber on your breakfast as well? Feel free to share your personal stories in the comment section below.

NomNom stretching

People has been always telling us food bloggers how lucky we are to get invited by restaurants to try their food and get first dibs on the latest menu offerings. Then there’s food tasting all over the metro and trying on the newest flavors of ice cream released in the market (sometimes, even before they are out in the market).

But there’s also a downside – food blogging is fattening! We take on the sacrifice of accumulating all those calories just to review all those dishes for the readers’ benefit! 🙂

It’s good that genes gave me a naturally slim body to begin with, but age and frequent food escapades has been taking its toll on me and it has started to show on my belly and love-handles.

C-Lium Health Journal

C-Lium Lose More Live More Challenge

Although I have been regularly doing my personal exercises and stretching in the morning, it isn’t enough so I have long been wanting to have my jogging routine back for so long as I can remember. While that remains to be accomplished, I had resorted to doing something easier – joining the “Lose More Live More” challnege by C-Lium Fibre!

When C-Lium Fibre offered the opportunity to take on the challenge, I have resolved to act on my weight-problem-to-be before it’s way too late. I actually started a week ago and will be sharing some updates and developments on another blog post soon.

For now, let me share the free medical checkup care of C-Lium that I underwent at the Medicard Clinic in Makati a few days before I started taking C-Lium. I had the preliminary tests last July 26, 2012, to be exact.

Medical Tests @ Medicard Clinic in Makati

Treadmill Stress Test

I had my Body Mass Index (BMI), Cholesterol Screening, Fasting Blood Sugar (FBS), and Body Circumference Measurements. The more challenging part was the Treadmill Stress Test wherein the treadmill incline was increased every minute. I was able to last four minutes and a few seconds before I got exhausted and called on a halt.

MEDICard Philippines Test Results for NomNom

C-Lium Lose More Live More Promo

It’s a commitment to health!

A few days after, and the results were out. Everything’s in normal levels except for my HDL which is just a bit below normal range.

I encourage you to take on the “C-Lium Fibre Lose More Live More” Challenege at www.clium.com.ph/losemore just as I did! Simply create an account to enjoy the benefits of looking young and living young with C-Lium Fibre. Check out my Twitter and FB updates with #CLIUMlosemore soon!