BFF Fat Loss Challenge - Lose Weight with GLOW™ IGNITE 2.0

This is going to be repetitive for those of you who have not read my earlier posts this year about wanting to be fit, healthy (and of course, eh hem, sexy) for 2013 and beyond. 

I was a nice 53kg for the past few years, though it's not exactly what my ideal weight is. I dream about the day when I finally get a slim, svelte body I can confidently show off on the beach without the jiggly bits. Then sometime late last year, I got into a pretty blissful stage of my life where I was happy, well-fed, and only cared about doing my own thing and snuggling with either the bf, or the dog. And when I weighed myself in on the January 5th of this year, I was upset to find that I have gained a total of close to 6 kg to become a hefty 58.7kg. 

That was almost as fat as me when I burst into the entertainment scene in Project Superstar in 2005, totally unprepared for widescreen tv, and kinda chubby. 

True, they say muscle is heavier than fats, but I seriously think that apart from the baby fat I have lost on my face over the years (and then put some back on), everywhere else is just fat. I haven't exercised in almost 6 months before my wake-up call which was the discovery of my new weight, for goodness sake.

Explains for the January resolution starting with health and fitness? Alright yes, I want to be sexy too alright? I've never been a sex bomb, never seen myself as one anyway. But for something in my mid-late twenties, I think I don't wanna be the "cute" girl anymore. Chubby is cute too. Bleah.

So I have been exercising with a personal trainer since mid January. And coincidentally, Cheryl sent me a text out of the blue.

Whoahoh~~~ All the help I need! I'm already exercising, but if it's a healthy no-harm's-going-to-be-done pill that will help me shed those extra kilos I gained eating too many xiaolongbaos, I'M IN!!!!!!

So she hooked me up with GLOW™, the people behind this programme which they call the BFF Challenge. How apt! 2 best pals wanting to lose weight together! It's actually called Berry Fruity Fatloss Challenge, and I think it ties up with the BFF theme very well. Weight loss is better motivated when you have the support of friends right?

I fixed an appointment with Rachel, the nutritionist in charge of the programme, and after understanding the requirements and the product, GLOW™ IGNITE 2.0, I took little time in confirming my participation in the challenge. As long as the product is good and it's useful for me, I'll do it. Plus, I'll get to share my experience with you guys. ;)

So what is GLOW™ IGNITE 2.0
I have to try really hard not to chuckle each time I read 2.0 cos it somehow reminds me of Justin Bieber 2.0. Lol~



If you are someone who, like me, enjoys scourging the supermarket and regular drugstore shelves just to look-see, you would have seen GLOW™ around since last year. The people at GLOW™ claims this:

"(We) advocate deep scientific research, heavy product testing, reliable sourcing and quality assurance done on each and every ingredient that makes up a GLOW™ capsule. Our belief in targeting safe weight management with a synergistic, whole body approach translates to everything we do, the brand ambassadors we choose, even to the staff we employ."

My key thing in fitness this year is to do it the healthy way, thus my exercise regime. And if the makers of this pill advocates doing it the right, healthy way too, I think we're on the same track.

GLOW™ IGNITE 2.0 is basically a more potent formula than the very first version of GLOW™, which already sold thousands of bottles here and is the NUMBER ONE BEST SELLER IN AMERICA. GLOW™ was sold out in Singapore last year!!!!

I think that's quite a feat to achieve, and if something doesn't work, I doubt it will do well. GLOW™ did a Blogger challenge sometime last year and a few bloggers, Daphne and William, actually did lose a healthy amount of weight while on the programme.

What's in it?

It's key ingredient is raspberry ketones, the thing in red raspberries that gives it its smell, and increases the body's metabolism by increasing the level of 2 hormones - norepinephrine and adiponectin. Microbiology students should be familiar with these. Those of you not, you can read about it here.

Dr Oz speaks about Raspberry Ketones in his talkshow:

90 pounds of raspberry ketones is about 41kg. What GLOW™ does is compact 41kg of raspberries into 100g of raspberry ketone extract that is in each capsule.

What is also in the same capsule is this thing called Svetol®. You know when people say they need coffee in the mornings to wake them up and that you should drink coffee (no sugar) if you want to lose weight? I just learnt that it's not the caffeine in coffee that does the magic.

O.O
*thunder and lightning strikes*

Yeah, nope it's not caffeine. It's this thing called chlorogenic acid which is also present in coffee. Svetol® uses a method of extraction of cholorogenic acid in a well-balanced composition to give you the fat-burning and waking up effect, minus the stimulants and side effects (I tend to get the runs after coffee, good only if I've been constipated for a few days.)

If you're unfamiliar with Dr. Oz, it is an American talk show with a whole medical unit of full-time in-house researchers, medical producers and physicians. This unit works every day with Dr. Oz and the producers of the show in making the show. Basically they evaluate and then approve all the products that appear on the show. Pretty impressive! And I would say they should be legit. =)

I think they have aired on Channel 5 too. Not too sure when though.

I think watching these videos are easier for your understanding than if you were to read my writings about all the scientific terms. So here goes...



(If you want to watch everything in between - parts 2,3,4, you can find them here)

Amongst the ingredients in GLOW™ are Svetol® with 45% chlorogenic acids, and GCA®! Woots! Though the dosage is 300mg instead of 400mg, I think the rest of the ingredients boost up its efficacy further than if it's just pure 400mg of Svetol®. And if you can lose weight without doing anything different other than taking the capsule 30 minutes before your meal, wouldn't it be nice?

Apple cider is known to help in weight loss, so is green tea, acai and grapefruit. (You can read about all of them here.) Combined, I think this makes a pretty potent formula. 

Also, this is a full vegetable capsule, which is an improved version of the first GLOW™ capsule made of gelatin. If I understand correctly, Muslims can't really take gelatin. This means the 2.0 version can be taken by Muslims, vegetarians, and the lactose-intolerant (cos there's no dairy).

So after having exercised with my own personal trainer for 2 weeks, this was me at the beginning of my GLOW™ BFF Challenge:

Weighing in at 56.1kg, with a BMI of 21.6 (I'm working towards 19), body fat % of 30% (O.O) and a muscle mass of 24.5%. I once heard someone say losing weight is a woman's lifetime career. I don't have a terrible lot to lose I guess, cos skinny is not sexy, but I think I don't mind 4-5kg. That's going to be a little challenging though, with CNY AND Valentine's Day in February. (I think I fared well other than the fact that I forgot to bring it out sometimes.)

Picture credit: Cheryl Tay

Me & Cheryl at the beginning of the challenge. I look super auntie OMG~~~ 

How to tell if I've put on weight - my face isn't quite as oval/sharp, and I start looking aunty-ish. Lol~ Yes you'll argue and say my face is sharp already, but if you compare my other pictures (pre-weight-gain) you will get what I mean. 

My very own box of GLOW™ for me to take in February. Very useful as I think this is a very dangerous month with too much food. Lol.

How did I feel while on GLOW™ IGNITE 2.0?

I thought I felt fuller faster, and I didn't have any urge to snack AT ALL in between meals. Food just didn't seem to be able to tempt me as much, which was good. I had a couple of bak kwas and pineapple tarts for CNY, but I think overall there wasn't any compulsive urge to snack. I would walk to the snack table, look, and not get interested in anything. Felt weird at first, but gradually I stopped walking to the table. Lol. 

I do feel more energetic, apart from this week when I'm having my period plus I've caught a little cold. Double whammy, but I think I generally feel good though. I feel kinda guilty that I haven't been able to join the group exercise sessions with the other bloggers due to CNY busy week and me and my bf's sudden decision to fly me over to Shanghai for Vday. But trust me, I have been exercising. Not in the way you're thinking (okay not just....), but like hiking and going to the gym...stuff like that.

Less than 2 weeks to end of challenge. I'm actually kinda nervous and excited. I didn't do too much changes to my diet because I generally don't eat a lot of fried/oily stuff. But I haven't really been curbing myself whenever I crave anything, though that doesn't happen much. If I still lose weight, I'd really have to credit this little pill.

And me and Cheryl agreed that should we manage to achieve our target weight (not necessarily in February though, as our target is set kinda high), we will do a girly trip to Darwin! Let's make that happen baby~

Till my next update!

For a list of common questions and answers, please refer to the FAQ page on the GLOW™website. I have to declare once again that I am not paid to do this write-up and suggest that you consult your doctor should you be unsure if you can start on a weight-loss campaign.