Vilia Ciputra

I used to think a year means nothing. I was skeptical of how much could I change or grow in a year. Now, even a month, matters a lot. The pictures show more. Pic 1 was me at my highest bodyweight at Oct 2015 VS me now April 2023. But let's look at a closer gap time. Pic 2 was me last year May 2022 VS me last month March 2023 (10 months gap) Pic 3 was me last month March 2023 VS me now April 2023 (1 month gap) Pic 4 was me last year May 2022 VS me now April 2023 (11 months gap - less than a year) My weight doesn't change much from last month, but my body's proportion and size does change quite a bit. Some clothes that fit perfectly last month, started to loosen up a bit here and there. Now, even a week matters a lot, cause I stabilized my cholesterol, uric acid, and glucose level in less than a week. What I eat and what I do daily, matter a lot. I am not posting this here to brag, or to boast, or to be congratulated, and not even to encourage or inspire (but yes that would b...

Finally. I've been working hard and waiting to see this number pop ups for few weeks. Just like how swimming 20 first laps are piece of cake, and finishing the 60-70 laps feels like forever, I feel the same here. The leaner I am, the harder works and efforts that I have to put for results to be achieved, especially on weight. It is not even enough to just work hard these days. I really have to do things smarter; paying attention on my sleep, macros, tricking my metabolism, IF, carbo-protein fasting, etc Size went down pretty stable (that's probably why most health coach told us to rely on size more than weight), but still weight is one of the numbers that I wanna change. Size, visceral fat, muscle mass, and weight numbers to be exact. My visceral fat has been going down 4 points, yet I still have to go lower 2 points more to be at normal level. I am nowhere near my goal, still have a long way to go, and I know it will only get harder. But, I'll be there. 🖤 If you are on th...

These three weeks I learnt quite a lot about the importance of knowing my own sweet spot on managing weight, food, fasting, exercise, and health. I've been testing uric acid (UA), cholesterol(CL), and glucose (GL) bi-weekly to monthly before, to maintain their numbers. But these three weeks, I tested UA and CL everyday, while GL weekly. It was started when I tried to raise my Intermitten Fasting (IF) ratio time from 16:8 to 22:2, and my Uric Acid went up. 18hrs IF - 5.2 20-21hrs IF - 6 22-23hrs IF - 6.9! I was panicked when I reached 6.9, but I managed to lower it down by finding my sweet spot IF ratio as 16:8, and now UA at lowest 3.5/5.5. I also learnt that my body turns out to be sensitive towards beef meat. No matter how little of it that I ate, it raised my UA up to 0.8-1 point. So, I shall make sure my UA at low point, and go straight for 150gr grass fed beef steak rather than just go for bulgogi kimbab, and I know to limit my beef intake in bi-weekly basis. I'm not too s...

"I am not who I am, with only my lights and without my darkness. I need my yang to balance my yin. And I'm like Cal; I want to live, at least until now. And not just live, I want to be alive. And that requires me to unleash my darkness. That's the only way for me to be my true self. To be alive means to feel and experience the life from a lot of (if not all) spectrums, to notice the multifaceted of it. I know I can only achieve that when I give the same amount of space and respect, towards every aspect of my life and to each side of mine. And only when I accept my whole self, I can be in my true nature, and be my very best self. It might sounds complicated, but it's actually simple; Fire wants to burn Water wants to flow Air wants to rise Earth wants to bind Chaos wants to devour And I want to live life." --------- - Aim for a better tomorrow through healthy lifestyle, diverse insights, creative arts, and minimalist living. -  ViliaCiputra.com Thank you for suppor...

There are lots of versions about minimalist eating, and about minimalists' view on food and diets. You may agree or disagree with mine, and these points might won't work for you the same way they do for me. I might add or eliminate some of them in the future, too. However, these are few things that I am currently doing, and work well for me. 1. Eat Wholefood • Minimal processing, better nutrients, healthier. • Minimal packaging, better for environment. • Minimal effort, maximal energy and time use. 2. Eat Local • Minimal travel time, fresher and healthier for the body, better for the planet.  • Minimal effort, maximal impact on supporting local businesses.  • Minimal cost expense, better financial stability. 3. Eat Simple • Minimal ingredients, maximal options. Imagine egg and how versatile it is to be cooked differently. Find few more ingredients that are as that versatile, build an all-stars team.  • Minimal variation, easier travel adaptation. Find food that's availabl...

So, the last two weeks was actually a test and trial period for me. I've eliminated fried food almost half year, but intrigued to know whether there is a difference between fried food at home VS fried food at good restaurant chain VS fried food at street hawkers, on my cholesterol level. The result on me was; yes there is a HUGE difference between them. My cholesterol level was barely affected when I do pan fry (not deep fry) at home with olive oil (146/200) VS raised a little when I ate fried food at a good restaurant chain (165/200) VS a huge spike when I ate fried food at street hawkers (211/200). So, clearly the oil that we use, how many times it was being used, and how we cook, matters. I also got insights on my uric acid level. While my cholesterol level wasn't affected much, my uric acid level is a completely different story. My uric acid raised almost 0.5 - 0.8 points every time I dine out, even when I didn't eat red meat/ high purine food. My guess was; either the ...

Exercise and healthy eating could be overwhelming, and many people like me back then, didn't have a clue of where to start and what to do first. These are not the most complete guide to have a healthier life, but these are the simplest and most useful steps to begin with. Here, I tried to give a No BS steps that I myself follow all these months to get healthier, have more muscles, and lost 24.5kg (yes, it is still going down yay). 1. Get a Medical Check Up The first step to improve everything is to know your current data and situation. So, to improve your health and activity level, start with knowing where you are at now, and get the real time numbers, as simple as that.  2. Find One Thing That You Like And Can Do Daily Step 2 is to find one exercise and one food (for breakfast) that you enjoy, can do or make everyday with minimal effort, and suitable for your daily routine. Just start and stick with it for 3 months, the rest will follow.  3. Get A Tracker Tool  It can be...

This year's Ramadhan fasting marks the first year of us celebrating it without any kolak, sweet timun suri, or anything sweet other than fruits. Savoury food, vegetable, and fiber first. Today also my first time ever to try 23hrs fast, which I doubt to have the power to make it sustainable to do in daily basis 😂. I didn't feel hungry, but I guess that's because I didn't exercise today. Happy break-fasting, everyone. Stay healthy. --------- - Aim for a better tomorrow through healthy lifestyle, diverse insights, creative arts, and minimalist living. -  ViliaCiputra.com Thank you for supporting  my intention  through owning  my artworks , reading  my writings , and following  my Instagram . You could also support my page with buy me a coffee at the link below. 

So, I tried to improve my sleeping habit by reading more books about health and sleeping. I basically summarized all of the points that I got from those books, tried them one by one, and keep what works for me.  So far, my sleeping score has been improving to >80 and my face skin has become very moist and plumpy somehow, just by changing my sleep routines. It's a nice bonus lol. I still have some days when I found it hard to fall asleep and feeling not so well-rested when I awake, but as long as things are improving, 80% of good sleep and 20% of bad sleep, is good enough for me.  Turns out it wasn't only me who have trouble sleeping. My own family and my close friends all have trouble sleeping. So, I shared them my tips, and here I post what works for me, I hope it helps a bit should you also have trouble with sleeping.  Pls note that what works for me may not works for you, and you may have different things that work for you, so for complete info pls read books about ...

I am updating this post with some new knowledges that I have now. My highest total cholesterol was 254/200 with LDL 187/100 on August 2022. I was prescribed a cholestrol med at a medium dosage and start my healthy diet, along with managing my uric acid level. It went down to total cholesterol 184/200 and LDL 118/100 on December 2022, and the result on the pic goes down again to 153/200 at the beginning of Januari 2023.  Then I was a bit curious, I thought; hey my cholesterol is low now, I wanna try to eat fried food and see how it goes.  Do note that I do self blood test weekly, do regular medical checkup monthly, journal everything I eat everyday, and I mostly eat the same food at the same amount almost at the same time. So, any slightly difference in my numbers, I will instantly know what food intake that caused the changes.  I took 2pcs fried risoles and 1pcs of peyek teri while I was eating pecel the next day, and my cholesterol went up to 239/200 when I took the test...

I am at that age, where having regular blood test is normal, especially on uric acid and cholesterol (Yes, I'm old lol). On this post, I will write about Gout and Uric Acid only, and will talk about Cholesterol on next post. After 5 months since my first Gout attack, reading lots and lots of medical journals and health books, doing so many trials and errors, I can safely say, I now have figure out how to maintain it below 5.5 while still consuming enough protein to support my strength training. I've taken note of my daily food for months and measure my uric acid level in weekly basis to check the reaction I get from each food that I eat (everyone has different reaction towards food), and maintained my uric acid below 5.5 since then. Most labs and doctors actually take 6 as the normal uric acid level for female and 7 for male, but according to some health book that I read, below 5.5 is the best either for male and female. (*1) PLEASE NOTE Here, I will share what I have found an...

16kg lost, 4-5 sizes down, 7.5 - 20kg raise on strength training, 3.5 speed raise on walking, and beating my best record 2.7years ago on (endurance training) swimming session 6.5km in 2hrs 13mins, all in 4 months. Not a bad result, but I'm actually more proud of myself for being able to make up my mind, showing up, strengthening my discipline, and doing my best through all of the ups and downs, regardless of the results. It almost feels like creating and shaping a whole different person, a better and bulletproof one I hope (physically and mentally). Some people have told me of how different I look like now. However, since I see myself everyday, I didn't really realize it until I took this photo. And I only really feel the excitement when I tried my old clothes that didn't even fit me years ago, and now all of them are loosen up, lol. The (little bit) sad part is; I have to let go so many of my fave clothes that are too big for me, now. Posting this here not to brag, and not...