Please remember when it comes to your flexibility listen to your body!  Everyday is different and just because you were able to split yesterday doesn’t mean your body will allow for it today.

About a month ago while I was in class I pulled a hamstring muscle because I was so use to pushing my body to a certain point even though it wasn’t ready for it that day.  Now for the past month I have been nursing my left hamstring and it really sucks!  So please remember to be careful every time you work out, and listen to your own body!

The day I did this shoot my body wasn’t allowing me to go into a split.  It just wasn’t ready for it and since I didn’t workout before hand my muscles were not warm enough.  Trust me, I really wanted to for a great photo but I couldn’t and I didn’t because it’s not worth injuring myself.

“eat clean stay lean”

~ helen su

It’s no longer about being skinny, it’s about being strong!  And with strength comes confidence.  Nothing is more attractive to me then to see a woman who is confident, strong, toned, intelligent, and hard working.  It is extremely hard to be all those things, but anything is possible with hard work and the right mind set.  People who always say they can’t, will never.  People who know they can will always succeed.  Their is nothing in my life that I ever really wanted and was not able to achieve as long as I worked my butt off, and staying fit and healthy is no different.  It’s not easy, but it was/is absolutely worth the sweat, pain, and once in awhile tears. (what can I say? I’m a cry baby! LOL).  Juggling everything life throws at you is overwhelming at times, but it is so important to make yourself and your health a priority.  For me, If I don’t feel good about myself all the work I do elsewhere will result in “not my best”.  And NOT MY BEST is just not good enough.

(photo credits go to Andrew Ho from Blue Dawn Studios) (Just a few of my favs from a week ago, no photoshop and no filters!)

Stay strong and feel sexy!

~ helen su

Welcome Spring!  Welcome to the days being longer! And welcome Spring Cleaning!

You know that feeling you get when you clean your house? The feeling you get when you just washed your car?  Feels amazing right? I don’t necessary like doing the cleaning, but once it’s done I feel so much better.  Well… it’s the same with your body!!!  Take this opportunity to cleanse your body and start eating right if you haven’t already and for those of you who already have, keep up the good work! Not only is eating right great for your body, but it does wonders for your skin.  My fiance the other day was sitting across from me during lunch and randomly told me how nice my skin has been looking.  And for a man to notice?  You know it has to be a big difference! =)  I definitely use my fair share of beauty products, but nothing beats what you put inside your body.  If you want beautiful skin you gotta eat healthy foods and drink tons of water.

(no makeup)

~ helen su

Yay!!  I finally moved my blog back to my original site!  So please save www.helensu.com on your bookmark!

I’ve been super busy lately.. what’s new?  The new house was under renovations for about a month, still some things here and there that need to be fixed but overall I think I did a great job with my first house renovation!  I never knew how much work it would take, but it was so worth it and I can’t imagine living in another house.  And because I moved from Singapore back to California with almost nothing, buying everything from scratch and I do mean from scratch (I didn’t even have a fork) has kept me super busy.  On top of that I am also getting married in two months in Bali which has been drama and tons of work.  I’ll give a quick recap of everything else through photos.

1. One of my dogs.. Winston (looks cute right?) decided to eat a king size bag of M&M’s this weekend.  Needless to say he had to be rushed to the emergency room and stayed there for the next day.  He’s okay now, Thank GOODNESS!.  I don’t know what I would have done if anything happened to him.  We’ve had a few doggy scares since arriving in the U.S.  Winston a couple months ago had to go to the vet because he ate something bad in the street.  My other dog Google had bladder stones and also has surgery in January for that as well.  The dogs have been a handful lately, but I love them to death and as long as they’re okay I will do anything for them.

2. Eating healthy.. still and because I’m on the wedding dress diet I’ve significantly reduced my carb intake.  So far I’ve lost 4lbs and I have still retained my 22% body fat percentage meaning I’ve only lost fat and not muscle.  Woohoo! Here are some healthy foodie photos!

steak salad (I don’t even use dressing anymore, I feel the flavors in the steak and cheese is enough for me)

Beet root and ginger juice.  One of my favs, but I try not to drink it too often because beets are naturally very sugary.

No carb tacos!  Just fantabulous!!  If you know me, you know I love my mexican food!

Octopus salad and a side of cauliflower soup.  I tossed the bread and once again did not eat the dressing and picked out all the potatoes.  I go in for my first dress fitting in about a week =0

Raw almond milk.  I drink this at least once a week as a post workout meal.  Very filling I promise.

3. It’s been great catching up with friends and just being able to see everyone on a consistent basis.  Meet Janet, Janice, and Janette.  They’re sisters and I am the 4th unwanted sister. LOL

4.  I finally figured out how to wear red lipstick!  This is very very big news (joking, but not really).  I’ve wanted to wear red lipstick for so long but always thought it looked funny on me, but I did it and I loves it! The key for me is to go very plain with my eye makeup.

5. Go pick up the new “girls of the hawaiian islands” calendar which can be purchased at any ABC store in Hawaii.  I’m Miss March.

6. Did a test run for hair/makeup for the wedding.  I like this look.. whatcha think?

Ciao til next time!  And remember to keep pushing along at the gym and what you put into your body.  Bikini season is literally right around the corner!

~ helen su

Can you believe it’s almost March already? Which means Spring is just around the corner and bikini season is almost here!  And for me and the rest of you spring/summer brides this year, fitting into that wedding dress is no small ordeal.  Regardless of size, everyone on their wedding day wants to look their best and 99% of the time that means being skinnier.  Sucks to be a girl right?  I’m pretty sure 99% of grooms don’t watch their food intake as much as us ladies.  I start my dress fittings on April 8th, and they told me its important to be my final size by the first fitting or else additional alterations will need to take place which in turn will cost more.  I’m very close to my target weight, it’s only a few vanity pounds for me that I want to shed.  I’ve been keeping up heavily with my workouts, but I’ve decided to drop boxing for a couple months because my hands/fingers were hurting so bad.  Right now I’m mostly at Bar Methods Brentwood, West L.A., West Hollywood, Marina Del Rey, or running by the beach! Yesterday I actually did two classes and today I only had time for one because I’m leaving on a plane to Seattle very soon! After my Brentwood class today I have one of my favorite post workout meals!  Raw Alomond milk!

In addition to that I’ve been super busy running house renovations and wedding planning.  I can’t wait to show you guys the finish product of the house!  I’ve put in so much work and so much of my time.  I never knew how much work it would be but its coming together beautifully and we are moving in next next monday!

Last thing!  I helped out a friend of mine with his music video a couple weeks back.  His name is Paul Kim and you might recognize him from American Idol.  He was a finalist!  Check out the new video, I’m the feature girl in there! =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YDWj_4hYmEE

~ helen su

Happy belated new years everyone!!  Hope you are all getting a great start to the new year, for me?  So far, so good. =)

I’ve was doing allot of traveling for the month of Dec.  I spent about one week in Vegas, one week in New York, and also about a week in Denver to visit my family for Christmas.  And of course I tried to keep up with the workouts during my travel, but wasn’t very successful.  I think for the month of december I probably only averaged 1 workout a week, which is terrible and I also ate everything in sight.  By the time it was New Years Eve and I had to fit my butt into my dress I was more than dissatisfied with the way that I looked, which I’m also sure allot of you felt the same way.

But for the past few weeks I have been going HARD!! And since I’m still looking for a barre job I’ve decided to double up on my workouts combining barre, boxing, and Bikram (MY 3 B’S).  Mon (barre & boxing), tues (double barre), wed (90 min bikram), thurs (barre &boxing), fri (bikram & barre), sat (run or boxing), and sun (rest day).  I have never worked out so hard and so much in my life and my body is still getting use to the intensity and the amount of hours I am putting in almost everyday of the week.  It’s hard work but it’s paying off and I am sleeping like a baby! =)

And of course working out is nothing if you don’t combine it with eating healthy.  If you want a long, toned, and lean body, diet is a majority of the work! Between 60-70% depending on your metabolic rate.

Here’s what I’ve been eating lately:

Lots of raw vegan food (The west side has tons of organic vegas restaurants, and yes it does also taste good)

Raw vegan pizza

Raw Vegan Enchilada (my favorite so far, it was also a bit spicy which I loved)

I also tried another mexican pizza which was great, and a nori coconut roll which is nasty!  They all can’t be winners right? =) My fiance likes the kelp noodle pad thai.  And trust me, like most men he was completely against eating raw vegan because of course it doesn’t sound very good, but he likes it.  And now we eat here together about once a week.

Of course I can’t forget my raw fishes because it’s my all time favorite healthy eats.  I love it so much that it really doesn’t even feel like I’m trying to eat healthy.  A few times a week after class I go to the japanese grocery store and grab some albacore sashimi with ponzu sauce (photo below)

I also found a great sushi joint near one of my barre classes that serves a bunch of no rice rolls, which is perfect for me. (spicy tuna cucumber roll below)

On top of that I also eat allot of grilled chicken breast, and drink allot of my meals.  Lots of organic pressed juices and organic raw almond milk.

I know depending on your schedule and where you live it might be really hard to replicate my workout schedule and my meals, but always make time for your health because you only get one body and one life to live.  Look around your grocery store and be conscience of what you buy.  I don’t buy junk food too often because I know if it’s around I’ll eat it.  My cabinet is full of beef jerky, seaweed, raw nuts, and smart water.  If you have a social life and you’re constantly going out with friends to restaurants, try and order the healthier option on the menu, and no that doesn’t mean always eating a salad because most of the time the dressing that comes with the salad is ridiculously sugary, creamy, and fatty.  Instead order the grilled chicken breast, the fillet mignon, or the grilled fish paired with some steam veggies not the baked potato or the french fries that come with it.  You also don’t have to eat like this everyday of the week, I sure don’t!  Just the other day I had fried chicken and apple pie because I was desperately craving for it!  I would say I eat healthy 70% of the time and 30% not healthy.  Everyones body is different and maybe for your body the ratio will also be different so you have to see as you go!

And below are some random photos and a photo of my ombre hair I said I would post awhile ago!

I have a very natural looking ombre which is exactly what I wanted.  I don’t like it too drastic because then it doesn’t look very good if you have your hair straight and their is no way I can curl my hair everyday! The ombre is great and low maintenance!

The same salon that gave me my ombre also cut my hair (chop chop hair salon).  I love them and they did a great job.  I love tons of volume and bedroom hair, so the layering they did was perfect.

And of course I can’t end this post without some photos of my two beloved <3

And a photo of Winston in Denver and the first time he has ever seen/touched snow. soooo cute!

Good luck with everything everyone!  Don’t hesitate to ask me questions here about work outs or diets! Or if you want you can always ask me privately through email here: helensu.com@gmail.com.  Just give me sometime to respond because it’s been very chaotic here for me with wedding planning, job hunting, and house renovations.

~helen su