#spmediacomm

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On 30 November 2013, I attended The Purple Parade together with The Writing Club. The Purple Parade is a movement that supports the inclusion and celebrates the abilities of persons with special needs.

Ms Koh and The Writing Club members at Burger King, The Central, before heading to Hong Lim Park for The Purple Parade. The Parade Contingent at the holding area:

It ain't going to rain on our parade

Booths:

with Mr Baey Yam Keng, Member Of Parliament (Tampines GRC)

With injured Navy serviceman Jason Chee

Interviewing Patrick, a 17 years old student at Pathlight School, who was an emcee for the parade

With Ms Denise Phua Lay Peng, Member of Parliament (Moulmein-Kallang GRC) President, Autism Resource Centre Supervisor, Pathlight School Advisor, The Purple Parade Steering Commitee

Interviewing Ms Denise Phua

Its been indeed a stressful and rocky journey so far with its fair share of ups and downs. 

Now, where do I begin? 

When I came into DMC during my first year, it was a very foreign place to me as I never thought that I would ever go to a polytechnic. But nonetheless, I quickly acclimatised to it. The sheer amount of project and work that has to be done was mountains upon piles of mountains, 3 sleepless nights sequentially became nothing but a norm. The uniformed schoolyard system was a far cry from the completely free and independent system in of a polytechnic. Classes were short and few between, however the content taught in these modules far outweighed the content that were taught in secondary school. It was akin to being thrown into a zoo, a social zoo for the socially-capable and the colourful characters who roamed the compounds of SP. Especially in a place such as DMC, a garden of social butterflies. Not one for small talk and aggressive socialising, coming to school is like going to a party everyday. 

Another point is the dressing that is required, it's never an easy task to dress up and decide on clothes everyday so I gradually got smarter and picked out specific sets of clothes that were ready to be worn and mobilised. Much like a specific arsenal of weapons that complements each other, my 2 years here has really improved my sense of style and aestheticism -- dressing well is not a necessity but it speaks very highly of your self-perception and it does influences how people perceive and interact with you. 

The most amazing thing about dmc is the friends you make and the experiences you have -- it is really a one-of-a-kind experience as everybody are so loud and fun, there's never a moment of boredom and silence, always something to talk about and something to laugh about. It is a great party when everyone is around, especially times in The Agency when everybody is gathered, its literally a market of noise and laughter. 

My year 1 concluded on a bang with the DMC harlem shake, in which the whole cohort gathered to do a mass harlem shake party, which was filmed showed to everyone. The harlem shake was a very popular worldwide fad back in the end of 2012 towards the start of 2013. It was really a memorable and enjoyable first year indeed. There is still about 1 and a half year to the end of my DMC journey, looking forward to it with both trepidation and excitement, wondering what internship will bring and what the next year forth would bring. 

Well for this year's SP Open house, I helped to conduct a live TV show and demonstrate how everything worked behind the scenes!

Here are some pictures!

(ignore the huge pimple and my tired face pls >.<)

Behind the scenes!

And that is how it looks on video! Cool eh?

What is bulking and why the need to bulk?

A period of time when the primary goal is to build muscle, gain weight and increase strength/power.

Calorie intake is increased so a caloric surplus is present.

1. How to bulk?

EAT BIG, GET BIG. Carbs are your best friends. Heavy carb sources such as pasta, brown rice,

oatmeal, whole wheat bread, beans and potatoes.

Protein sources – Red meat such as beef, fish, chicken, eggs, nuts or yoghurt etc.

2. How to bulk? (Method of counting calories).

First of all, one has to access his BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and maintenance calories.

I. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/metric-bmr-calculator.php

II. http://www.bmi-calculator.net/bmr-calculator/harris-benedict-equation/

Macro Nutrients

• 1g Protein = 4cal

• 1g Carb = 4cal

• 1g Fat = 9cal

For optimal growth & recovery, the recommended protein intake should always be 0.8 – 1.2g per lb

of bodyweight. (lb = Pound)

**0.8g, 0.9g, 1g, etc, it doesn’t make a difference as studies have proven that 0.8g is adequate for

muscle sparing and muscle building.

Fat macro intake should be a minimum of 0.3g per lb of bodyweight

Let’s have an example.

My recommended calories to put on weight are 2800cal per day and I weigh around 165lbs (75kg).

Recommended Fat intake would be (165lbs x 0.3 = 50g) = 450cal

Protein intake would be (165lb x 1.2g = 198g) = 792cal

Carb intake?? ‡( 2800cal – 792cal – 450cal ) /4 = 390g

*Final figures are all estimated

Do take note, the calories that the calculator has provided may not be 100% accurate. Counting

macro nutrients is a matter of trial and error. One should evaluate their weight every week, in the

morning, before meal consumption and without clothes on (no homo). If you feel that you’re putting

on too much weight too quickly, readjust your caloric macros and decrease your caloric surplus by

100cal. If you feel that you’re not putting much weight, increase the caloric surplus by 100-200cal.

You don't need to eat 6 times a day. You just need to eat enough to fit your daily macros to put on

weight, and that can be in as many or few meals and/or snacks as you want.

Here are some websites/apps that you can use to count your calories.

• http://www.myfitnesspal.com/

• http://caloriecount.about.com/

• http://www.nutritiondata.com/

Supplementation?

I would only recommend supplementation if you can afford it. Well, whey protein = protein.

Supplementation is another word for “additional”. If you are unable to hit your daily protein macros,

do look into supplementation.

The supplements that I strongly encourage that you consume are fish oil omega 3 and a good multi- vitamin. Fish oil actually aids in reducing inflammation of the joints, especially the wrists. The result

is less swelling. When the swelling is reduced, so is the discomfort and reduction of use to the

affected area.

Thank you all for reading and I hope you’ll make it a habit to count your calories or just bulk.

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail." - Benjamin Franklin

“We're all gonna make it brah.” - Zyzz

“Don’t start this shit unless you plan on investing TWELVE GOD DAMN MONTHS before even

Disclaimer: All photos are credited to SP and its affiliations!

So the SP open house event was held over 3 main days, 9, 10, 11 January and it was a relatively quieter event this year as compared to the year before. Nonetheless there was still quite a big turn-out of people. 

The CCA booths were brimming with activity! As you can see from the last picture of the relatively new CCA in SP, "SP Strongman", where the training mostly involves weightlifting and power-lifting, it was quite a spectacle at this booth as many young secondary school boys were all trying their hand at it!

The second last picture of the course counselling booths shows lecturers talking to the prospective students! Welcome to SP in advance (and to 3 years of torture)

Sp is indeed a place where you discover yourself, the friends you make here will be for life and the experiences leaving a lifetime impression. Doubts and uncertainties will definitely arise, but nothing is ever smooth-sailing. What we learn now in SP, be it from the classroom or interactions with friends and people around will be paramount to our working adult life. 

When you first start out bodybuilding, the number of supplements on the market are so varied and wide apart, it can often by rather confusing choosing the right and most important supplements with the limited budget that we have.

That said, we do our research and learn about different supplemets and purposes from the internet. However, there are many articles online exaggerating the importance of different supplements and its effectiveness -- they bend the truth about the real need for many different products as they are all just trying to sell and market their supplements anyway. However, bear in mind those articles could well be there just to promote and advertise some useless supplements that are bought and used merely based on placebo and make-believe. Point being is that; you have to actually purchase and experiment with different supplements itself to see how effective and Important each one actually is. That said, personal experience and experience from trusted acquaintances that are not ambassadors and endorsing any brands are the most reliable information -- people who don't make any money from talking about their experiences provide the most reliable information.

The list of supplements available on the market are endless and new products are being invented all the time, some which are completely pointless and products of marketing hype. 

In my opinion, and in popular consumer opinion -- the 4 MOST IMPORTANT supplements are:

1.) Whey protein

2.) Creatine

3.) Multi-vitamins and omega 3/fish oils

4.) Pre-workout 

Why these 4? 

1.) Whey protein: As said before, the most important aspects of bodybuilding nutrition are the macro-nutrients which are Carbohydrates, proteins and fats. Carbs are easily gotten through any foods that you eat, but the protein which is required at an amount of 1.5g/lb of bodyweight can be hard to be achieved through normal diet alone. Therefore, having a good whey protein supplement can make a drastic improvement to your nutrition plan. 

2.) Creatine: It is a substance found and produced naturally in the skeletal muscle in human body. It is mainly responsible for creating the energy that muscles need to work. By using creatine, strength gains will be the fastest and most obvious benefit derived from it. Next will come the lean muscle gains, the increase in explosive energy, greater mental concentration and focus, greater endurance, energy and boost in testosterone. 

3.) Multi-vitamins: Multi-vitamins are essential for meeting our micro-nutrient needs, don't ever neglect your micro-nutrients!

4.) Pre-workout: A pre-workout is effective but not a necessity. It gives a nice pump during  and significantly increases your intensity and focus during your workout, making your time in the gym far more effective.

At the beginning, life in SP was very strange and unfamiliar. All the numbers for the buildings and the sheer size of the campus overwhelmed me. I always had to find someone who knew the place because I have a terribly poor sense of direction.

Being a vegetarian, I always brought lunch because I never know whether or not I can find anything to eat in the canteens. While I did discover a vegetarian food stall in Food court 6, it sold eggs in the dishes, so I usually avoided it unless I had no other choice.

On days I didnt bring food, I would eat the beehoon with curry vegetable from the vegetarian stall at food court 6 because its the safest. Both the beehoon and the curry vegetable had their own pair of thongs/ kiap kiap-ers, so I was sure they didnt touch the egg-riddled dishes. No egg contamination here!

Either that or I would go to McDonalds to eat their fries, Food court 5 for a veggie delight at subway (always ask them to change gloves before handling my sub), or get some vegetarian-friendly cup noodles at Cheers. 

There is an increase in vegetarian options, such as the new vegetarian stall in Koufu! Rejoice!

Thankfully, my classmates are very caring and respectful to my vegetarian diet. During our class BBQ, which is usually when I eat corn and sweet potato, or one of those, they catered bbq food from a supplier that sold vegetarian satays, so I was a happy kid! I love Satay! :D

So, in my first year of Poly, i experienced barbecuing my own satays. We did it again last year, and maybe we'll do it again this year! Who knows :) Both experiences were fun, even though I did burn like, half the satays during my first BBQ experience...

I hope to see more vegetarian stalls, or vegetarian options becoming available in Singapore Poly. I also hope that other vegetarians in SP will have as classmates like mine who are willing to accommodate my diet, and source out for vegetarian options!