MI BAND 3

I give second chances for relationships or circumstances to work out. Including things. Cause sometimes I feel if a gadget is deemed not working or useless, it could be because as users, we have yet to uncover its full potential. My husband received a Mi Band a few years ago as a winning prize. He wore it for quite a while but at one point he kind of stopped. I did not really enquire why and to be honest, have quite forgotten about the Mi Band existence until a few weeks ago.

My workplace had this fitness competition going on. We are to track our steps per day and see if the accumulated steps would, later on, translate into a winning streak. Previously, I used my phone as a tracker and bring it everywhere I go. Then, I thought, why not get one of those smartwatches that I could wear and go for my walks instead of bringing the phone with me. I started browsing Shopee and ‘liked’ a few items. For example,

Samsung Wearables – the designs are cute, my problem with it is that I’ll be in the Samsung ecosystem which is not integrated with my BookDoc app. Plus, I use a lot of Google in my daily activities.

Hence, I focused more on Google Fit Tech and stumbled upon not only their Wear Os but other watches from Fossil too. Considering the extravagant functions, the price is steep. I could almost buy a new phone with that price tag.

Having browsed through the options, I decided to give myself a trial period before committing to my very own wearables. I nicked my husband’s abandoned, neglected Mi Band. I found out that the straps have come off, so I bought new, feminine straps from China through Shopee. I charged the watch for longer hours as a colleague said that if it was properly charged, the batteries could last for the whole week. Indeed, it was true.

straps bought from Shopee

I downloaded the Mi Fit app, connected it to a Google fit app which is later synchronized with BookDoc. That’s a lot of steps – I will find a shortcut to this. Still, it worked. Thus, I am more motivated to engage in activities that could increase my basal metabolic rate. I am still parked further from the building’s main entrance. Calorie deficit meals. More water. More salad on the plate. Coffee is still on the menu.

My husband’s Mi Band has been given a new purpose in life – to keep the wife, ME, fit and healthy. I guess the band is here to stay on my wrist instead of his.

Mi band is now mine
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My first bellydance fitness session

Bellydancing is traditionally associated with sensual movement of the hips where the women would expose their mid-rift to demonstrate the shimmies. Egyptian women would entertain the men with fascinating, complex movements of their torso during heavy feasts and such.

Nowadays, bellydancing (BD) can also be a form of fitness for women. something like a cardio workout.

I am very lucky to have known this particular muslimah BD fitness instructor during my blogging days. I call her Kak Syifa. She organizes classes every week at different locations in Bangi and I felt honoured to be invited to one of her special classes today. I was really excited because this would also be my first time meeting her having been cyber friends for more than 10 years. She was everything that I imagined she would be. She had that kind face, bright smile, infectious laugh and voices with many intonations.

This particular BD party is held at Lily Fitness Studio in Bangi Getaway Mall. It is a kids friendly studio hence moms can bring their kids with them too. Walk in fee is RM20 whilst for members it is Rm15. The session is for 90 minutes. The 1st half hour was for us to learn the basics of hip movement. The next hour was a gruelling BD cardio workout with fantastic international music from English to Arabic & Hindi!

The energy throughout the whole session was amazing. When I got there, the ladies were all in hijab and abaya but once the doors were shut, they changed into something more colourful, more revealing (still minding the aurah between women) with a lot of bells at the hips. The regulars were all dressed up and us newbies were in our boring workout attires. HA ha ha.

Our instructor, Zuraiha (my kak Syifa of course) was very very lively, friendly and accommodating. Her passion for this art showed in her choreography and facial expressions. She was smiling all the way while I was huffing and puffing trying to catch my breath and making sure my hips move the right way. In the end, I think I couldn’t make the figure of 8 with my hips as it turned into a 1. Nor could I shimmy and ended up making weird lower body movements instead. LOL

I would definitely sign up for the next session (if any) and will practice my hip movements more at home. Perhaps later I could get for myself one of those belts too 🙂

BD instructor Zuraiha conducts sessions at Fitness Kingdom Studio, Kajang too. If you’re female and looking to be fit the muslimah way, do follow her IG ( setting is of private account) for the latest update. Just make sure you are identifiable as female.

PS : I couldn’t record videos or photographs during the session for privacy reasons.