CARTOON LAGOON: 2015

8 Dec 2015

General Update - 8 December 2015

It's been nearly a month since I had surgery to remove my appendix. I'm still suffering pain here and there in my abdomen. I still cannot carry anything heavy without feeling the strain and there is pain when I get up from a lying down position. I spoke to several people who had the operation (both open surgeries and not laparoscopic) and they recovered pretty normally within a few weeks. Though I am getting better by the day, I can't help but wonder why I am taking so long to recover when compared to others.

This is me today:

8 December 2015

No, I haven't mustered the courage to cut off my long hair yet. I have it clipped up in a messy bun. It's getting too long but I wonder which hair stylist I should go to who won't make me regret cutting my hair! I do feel like chopping it all off but I know I will wake up the next moment and wish I could do the pretty low buns I like so much and of course the regret will set in big time. See, the problem with me is I love how those hair sprayed buns look but I dislike using hair spray. I find it smelly and sticky (when I perspire).

Each time I want to cut my hair, I will tell myself, just another month till Christmas, then it will be Chinese New Year, then some other event. But this time, it's because our 25th Wedding Anniversary is coming up very early next year and I was thinking of documenting it with a professional family photo. Vain moi has not decided if I would like to wear my hair long or short yet! Ah, such life changing decisions to make!

I tried to make a decision based on hubby's answer to my question. I asked him if he would still love me if I sported a really ugly short cut. He asked me if I would still love him if he was bald. Apparently we'd both still love each other regardless of the hairstyle. So his reply didn't help me at all. He did ask me to layer it as he thinks it's too thick and heavy now. I'm thinking I should lose more weight and then cut it short like during the time I was a young teacher.

Anyway, how is my weight loss coming along? It's been stable. That's a polite word for saying it is stuck! Stuck, stuck, stuck! It's not that I have been greedy. It's that I'm suffering from constipation! It's been like that since my surgery. I believe it is because I dare not 'strain' it and so if I'm not having a bad tummy ache, the stuff ain't movin'!

Today is also the last day of work. When I came into this employment, I was still a young woman with two very young children. I remember that my husband once sent my daughter to my office so that I could tie up her hair before he sent her to kindergarten! Well, that same daughter is now a senior at University. That's how long I have worked at this company.

I think God has been good. For whatever reason He had, He gave me the 3 weeks' worth of medical leave to rest and think of little. I had time to not think of work and I have to truthful; it was bliss! I had time to walk really slowly to the supermarket and THAT pleases me much! It takes very little to make me happy and walking the aisles of a supermarket is one of them. The housework well....it gave me a glimpse into what life will be for me from here on and it ain't all that fun when you take into account the cooking and cleaning that has to be done! When one is working, one has the excuse to have slipshod house making skills but when one is a full-time homemaker (well for the moment at least), one really doesn't have any good excuse to not be tip-top in housecleaning and it is definitely tiring (if my weekends are anything to go by)!

By the way, I've been quite distracted lately by Korean dramas (oh no!). Oh yes. It is exactly why I stayed away from it AND books for a long time. Once I get transported into another world, it is hard to wake me up! Hubs and I are a really funny couple. When everything has been said and done for the night, we will retire to our beds to 'relax'. By that, it means he will be watching his Manny Pacquiao matches and me, my Korean dramas. Perhaps that is a common occurrence, except that we both don't like to dorn our headphones! So you have the irritating boxing commentators and background cheering mixed with the beautiful Korean language of my Oppas and Unnis! We're both distracted for that hour or so and we find it so relaxing! LOL. Oh well, to each his own!

Cheers! Hope you all have a great week, peeps.

30 Nov 2015

Post Appendectomy and End Nov Weight Loss Update

I thought I'd do a quick update now that it is the end of November 2015.

End Nov 2015

Post Appendectomy (no exercise permitted)

Total weight loss since mid July 2015

7 to 8 KG (15.4 to 17.6 lbs)

(Depending on where the wind blows!)

I am coming to the end of my 3 week medical leave from work and just had my first post surgery check up. The doctor wanted to extend my medical leave but I declined. I was thinking of the loose ends I need to tie up before I leave my workplace for good.

The external wounds look to be healing well. The doctor removed the 2 layers of adhesive tape (one being a water proof adhesive tape and the other being the surgical tape) from the 3 wounds. The 4th wound cannot be seen because the surgery was done laparoscopically. I felt really uneasy about it and so when I got home, I stuck on 2 waterproof plasters again. One over the naval and the other to the left of it. As for the one sitting right on top of my old C-section scar, I can't see where it it because my belly is hanging over that area! So anyway, I left it alone. My underwear does rub into the wound areas but what I am to do since I can't go about being underwearless!

For the pain, the irony is 2 days prior to my check up, I started to feel a dull ache right where my appendix had been. The pain stretched to my right thigh. The doctor warned me that even though I was healing well externally, that I should know from the pain, how far I could stretch myself in terms of movement and stress. He reminded me that the healing would take time. I asked when I could start exercising and sadly, he said I would require about a 6 week interval AND definitely no jumping. He suggested walking first. Oh well. That really, really ruins all my exercise plans. Anyway, I am to watch out for intense pain and fever to rule out any complications.

This is a life lesson. I had it all planned out nicely. I was going to up my exercise and diet game plan and really lose some weight before Christmas came around. One can plan all one wishes. Apparently, my plans were not to be.

I wonder if God intended for me to just rest. I haven't given much thought about my next job at all. I have just been trying to heal well and fast. I sleep a lot and I mean a lot. I find that my body heals best with a lot of rest. I have not received a clear direction from God about my next path but I am not stressing myself out.

I have been eating well and in fact, I hit another magic number early this week but because I have been eating so well and not exercising at all, that magic number has been elusive and I have not seen it again even though it is still a good reading. I can't aim for inch loss anymore with this surgery. I can only aim for weight loss. I can totally feel the flab coming back on the waist, hips and thighs. Even the arms!!! But I am not too sad. I will say drats to that but hey, as I said, one can only plan but life has other plans so I am just taking it all in my stride.

My appetite has been good and I try to snack on carrot sticks but I am back to eating rice. Not as much as before but I realised that eating the rice keeps me full and seems to help me keep my metabolic rate going. I guess I am not too concerned with my increased intake of carbohydrates because my weight loss is still at 7 or 8 kgs (if you count that latest magic number). Not too shabby if I may say so. I go back to work for a few days this week. We'll see how the diet goes or if it goes out the window!

Meanwhile, I had a few good friends pop by and I really appreciate their love. One really does not need many friends. One just needs a few good ones.

I've had to re-learn to do so many actions so that I am not feeling pain. I can't carry anything that is not light! Anything slightly weighty and I don't mean heavy, I can feel the strain and the pain. I feel tired after a while. I have tried walking to the grocery shop and cannot really carry anything in my hand so I need a trolley basket or if it's light, I need to put it in my backpack. I can't lift a whole basket onto the cashier's table so I've had to take out items one by one. I had to explain my slowmo actions to the cashiers. For a person who is used to walking home with 5 or 6 plastic bags of groceries, I do feel helpless now. I'm pushing my trolley basket to and fro at snail's pace too.

Hubs has helped me buy some groceries but he is the type who won't spend more than 10 minutes at the supermarket so I can't really make him buy everything I need. Besides, I find happiness walking the aisles of a supermarket, looking out for good bargains or buying what I may not really need but think I do!

I am cooking but I can't lift heavy pots and if I need to empty a pot, I need to scoop the liquid out bit by bit. It is torturous!

Oh well, when I tire myself out, I pop back into bed and rest. Sometimes I play catch up with my Korean dramas. Other times, I just snooze. I let my body decide where it wants to go!

Some people who have had their appendix taken out before will probably try to downplay the pain I am experiencing. I don't care to compare. Everyone is different. I've been cut open twice for my kids' births. It was no child's play. Maybe my insides are battered and will take longer to heal. Meanwhile, I will pace myself and not according to what others think!

Here's to a good week ahead, peeps!

21 Nov 2015

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18 Nov 2015

1 week after Appendectomy (surgery to remove appendix)

(Warning: Battered belly button picture below. Stop reading if you're squirmish).

It's been 1 week since I underwent surgery to have my appendix removed.

Although the hospital issued me with 4 levels of pain killers, I have been restricting myself to take only the lowest level and only when the pain seems to be nagging. I am not trying to be a hero but just would like to know how I am truly healing. When I got up from a reclining position this morning, I could feel that it was less painful to do so.

It is a far cry from a week ago when I had to grab the edge of my mattress to drag myself up. Even then, the pain in my abdomen was excruciating. My appendectomy was conducted via laparoscopy. This is also referred to as 'keyhole' surgery by many. It was explained to me that that would be the preferred route but if they weren't able to access my insides for any reason (for example because of the scar tissues caused by my previous two C-section deliveries), they would then proceed with open surgery near the appendix (bottom right of your abdomen).

I thank God that the laparoscopic surgery had been a success. There were 3 incisions. One via the belly button, one to the left of the belly button and one below the belly button (which they had cut just next to my C-section scar).

It's funny that I had taken to blogging about my waistloss the past few months, which in turn had led me to take unglamourous and unabashed selfies of my navel / belly button! Woe is my belly button. It is now battered and bruised! It looks nothing like my original! *weeps*

My belly button before the appendectomy

Laparoscopic Appendectomy

(belly button post-surgery)

I purposely left the brown looking mole so you know it's the same belly button. Haha. The inane things I get up to when I have time to do nothing!

Life has been good. It's the first time in 16 years since I started working at my current job that I have taken a leave of absence for such a long time. I have not had so much nothingness and emptiness in my head for a very, very long time! I mean that in a good way. Empty! My brain (brain fog is taking place, yes. Probably due to the fact that I have gone under GA thrice in my life already!) is not worrying about work, not much about anything else. I rest and I rest and I rest.

The amazing thing is I am awake really early and I make hobble slowly to the kitchen to try to make separate breakfasts for my men. I'll make something for myself and then when they have left, I'll walk very slowly down the stairs to walk the dog. Then I go back into the kitchen, maybe put something in the crockpot or maybe boil some porridge.

After that, I go back to lie down. The thing is, I do feel tired after a while. It is weird. I didn't realise it until I read about the experiences of patients who have undergone appendectomies! Also, despite the fact that people think keyhole surgeries are just making a few tiny holes, it would surprise you to know that it is still a surgery. For me, my navel hurts the most and then second would be the incision on the left. The one below is irritatingly just there AND there is also the appendix wound itself which hurts but cannot be seen. So, there are 4 areas which hurt in the recovery process.

The first time I made it to the toilet in the hospital room, I found that I couldn't lift my right leg without feeling the pain around the appendix area. It was strained and it still is but it is better now. I have learnt that to change my underwear, I have to slip it on the 'bad' leg first. It is much easier to struggle with the good leg thereafter.

For a person who had been exercising nearly every day for the past few months, it worries me that I will lose momentum and will have to rebuild my stamina all over again. Let's not even start about re-gaining all the lost weight. I could dwell on the fact that the appendectomy is a real stumbling block in my weightloss journey but I am trying to look at it another way; God is great!!! He prepared me so that I was a few kilos lighter at the time of surgery! I wa asked so many times if I was on any long term meds and I could proudly say I wasn't! Did I mention Iw as asked my weight and height several times before and after surgery and I also mamaged to keep my head held high as I read out my numbers! I also thank God for the strong arms I have developed! All those nights of push ups have helped me pull and prop myself up when I could not rely on my stomach muscles to get up!

So there. The cup is half full for me.

I've already hit my first mini goal. I'll just watch my diet and bring it down to the next mini goal. I should be much 'lighter' by the time I am well enough to rebound again (yes, of course I will be reboubding again!).

Till then, I'll try to keep myself chirpy!

17 Nov 2015

Appendectomy (Surgery to remove appendix)

It's been a week since I last blogged. Have been missing in action and I am trying to put words to my thoughts but can't seem to finish penning the events of 10th November.

I woke up on the morning of Deepavali to excruciating back ache and abdominal pain. While I will not go into detail about what unfolded thereafter, I will say I had an emergency operation to remove my appendix.

I will find time to write about my experience but meanwhile, I have been discharged from the hospital and am trying to rest and recover. The doctor ordered 3 weeks of medical leave and I ain't complaining. So far, after a week, my abdomen is still very bloated (think 5 months pregnant) and painful to the touch. Basically, I liken it to pain after my C-section deliveries.

Because I have been blogging about my exercise regime and weight loss, I would like to say that although I was solely on liquids at the hospital for 2 days, I had puffed up and put on 2 to 3 kgs by the time I got discharged! It was demoralising to say the least. I have not been back on my rebounder /mini trampoline since the night of 9th November 2015.

By the way, hubby tried to pin my appendicitis on my jumping on the trampoline but the doc said in not so many words that she wouldn't give it such credit. Basically, no. It had nothing to do with the jumping.

It was only about 4 days after the surgery that I was able to move my bowels again (probably cos I had not eaten any solids) and then the weight started to fall off again.

I am back to having a good appetite but am drinking soups boiled in my crock pot and eating porridge with yummy condiments. Because I am at home, I am able to eat small portions whenever I am hungry.

Me being me, I have still been stepping on my scale and whaddya know? I FINALLY hit another 'magic number' this week. In fact, I hit it twice. I am at an all time low, having

LOST
7 KILOS now (15.4 lbs)
since mid July 2015 (4 months).

Am I happy? Yes, except I may be weighing less but am sporting a pregnant look! Hopefully the distended tummy will deflate soon.

I am typing on my tablet and lying down and it hurts so I'm gonna stop here but will check in every once in a while. Meanwhile, I thank God that I came out of that episode alive and will live to tell my tale!

9 Nov 2015

Had a great weekend!

I could barely drag myself up this morning Had makan (food) sessions 3 nights in a row! Started on Friday evening with my Junior College buddies, then Saturday evening with my Secondary School buddies and then last night with the family! Not that I planned it that way it just so happened that way.

Family

Photo credit to family member

Didn't exercise since Thursday! That's 3 nights off so was pleasantly surprised that I hadn't put on as much weight as I had expected over the weekend!

Here I am after a whole weekend munching on noodles of all sorts!

9 November 2015

I looked exceptionally bloated (my face) in my Saturday night photos with my friends because earlier in the day, I had had quite a lot of fried noodles for lunch! I'd stuffed myself with several plates of Mee Goreng! Oh well. So be it. I'm not going to worry myself sick as long as I am still on track with losing some weight. I've still not hit a magic number but I've already shifted 'downwards'. Let me try to explain. That is like saying, you lose some weight and you're now 60 kgs but you eat a lot over a few days and you go up to 63 kgs. Over the course of one or two weeks (it takes me two weeks at least), you may have lost another 1 or 2 kgs, so you're now let's say 58 kgs. When you eat alot (again!) over a few days, your weight increases but now, it only increases to 61 kgs. So you sort of know that if you carry on with your exercise regime AND you are still eating fairly well (with the occasional binge eating or treat), you have now, shifted downwards. In order to shift upwards again, you might have stopped exercising and started eating really much, much more. So yeah. I've not hit another magic number but I've shifted downwards. In a nutshell, your binge eating weigh in has gone down! For me, it's a small motivation to stay on track.

Have a good week ahead, peeps!

Philips Air Fryer - Frozen Pizza

It's relatively simple to make you own pizza dough from scratch but sometimes, when you're in a hurry and the kids are hungry, it's even easier to just pop a frozen pizza into the oven. Yesterday, my son and I decided to try it in our Philips Air Fryer instead.

Our Air Fryer is the XL size from the Avance Collection and even though I'm able to squeeze a whole chicken into it, I wasn't able to fit the whole frozen pizza. That's about the only messy part; trying to cut a frozen pizza into pieces and trying not to spill the precious frozen cheese or salami every where!

Store bought frozen pizza, straight out of the freezer

First, son and I decided to try the setting at 200 degrees Celsius for 6 minutes.

200 Deg Celsius (6 mins)

To me, I felt the charred bits meant it was burnt or over cooked but son said it was cheesy and the crust was just fine. I decided to try 180 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes instead.

180 Deg Celsius (6 mins)

When I took it out, I looked underside and thought the crust wasn't as nice as when it was at 200 deg but that it looked better from the top because it wasn't looking charred. Son said he preferred the ones done at 200 degrees. I guess it's you're preference. I'll probably experiment with 180 deg at 7 mins and also 200 deg at 4 mins just because I'm curious.

Quick and easy pizza option with the Philips Air Fryer

I usually cook our pizzas in the oven. Not that the Air Fryer isn't hot to the touch but I think it's safer for the younger ones to handle the Air Fryer. I believe I have to go stock up our fridge with frozen pizza now, seeing as my son and I have realised it's such an easy method of cooking our pizza!

6 Nov 2015

End of 1st week of Nov 2015 (and pic from the past)

I did a mental calculation and was surprised that it'll be nearly 4 months since I decided to seriously make some changes to my life. If you've just joined me at this blog and you're looking at my pics and wondering if I don't look that grossly overweight, why I am trying to lose some weight, well, this is how I looked like just about 2 years ago. The pic is self-explanatory.

Before weight loss

Back then, I was happy and comfortable in my own skin. I loved to eat (I still do, lah) and I didn't like to exercise. I didn't think my self-worth needed to be validated with a thin self. I still don't think it should be but I made changes because I decided I didn't want to look overweight any more. Primarily, it was to start exercising and bring my blood pressure down. Then I started exercising and making some changes to my eating habits and now I am loving it (especially the exercise bit).

I take my birthday in mid-July 2015 as my starting point in this weight loss journey. I am happy with the results of the hard work thus far.

Here I am today and I mean today, today, this very day!

Selfie from top angle - 6 Nov 2015

And I also snapped it from a low angle:

View from camera placed low

You might recall I took a pic with hubs somewhere in June and my cheeks looked very hamster like. I mentioned that instead of any Botox assistance, I was gonna try to reduce it naturally. Progress has been painstakingly slow. Every night I am huffing and puffing and it's not because of an amorous entanglement but rather because I'm working my *ss off on the rebounder and stepper. The bloat comes and goes as though it has a mind of its own and a very difficult mind to boot!

The weight reading is like a darn yo-yo. Literally. I am actually 1 to 2 kgs heavier than late October. But I think it is because I had upped my caloric intake and also because I have been doing push-ups like mad. Oh yes! I need to mention this. I think my body is accustomed to the stress of the exercise. I am not sweating after 10 minutes any more. It takes me 20 minutes! I am not panting when I climb up flights of stairs (yay!). These are little signs which tell me that I need to push my body further and that's why I've been pushing myself with the push-ups. I must tell you, I have noticed my boobs getting firmer!

My pants are still falling AND I am super duper happy that I am now wearing a size S from my favourite shopping centre brand of clothes. Depending on the brand and cutting, I am probably still a size XXL (some crazy brands with teeny weeny sizes) or XL. But, ahem, I might have mentioned this before, I have actually bought myself a pair of H&M skinny jeans! That says a lot to me. Don't really care what others think. I'm laughing as I type this. Skinny jeans are probably not in fashion already by the time this aunty is able to wear them!

Last night, as I was huffing and puffing on the stepper, hubs entered the room, stopped beside me and teased me. "Why do you torture yourself?" Then sniggled to himself as he plonked himself on the bed.

I retorted, "I WILL lose weight! I WILL do this!!!"

Okay, believe it or not, that was just our way of friendly bantering. Frankly, after 25 years of marriage, I know what I want to do for myself and don't need his (uh-uh, not even my best friend's or soul mate's) validation or support. As HE always tells me, just NIKE it! (Just do it!). So I am. If you want to remain overweight, then that's YOUR prerogative. But it's also within your means to make a change in your own life! Just NIKE it, peeps! Have a great weekend!

4 Nov 2015

Early Nov / Late Oct pic weight comparison

Let's not pussyfoot and just jump into it, shall we? You're probably just here to see the pics anyway!Here's the pic comparison. Looks like I have put on weight on the face, huh?

Pic comparison - Early Nov and Late Oct 2015

(not wearing any foundation by the way)

You know, taking so many selfies, I've just realised that my face is so so not symmetrical. My right cheek is bigger and my neck is slanting more to the right (probably because I had developed a habit of sleeping on my right side since I was pregnant all those moons ago). Darn! I have become conscious of my left lip dropping downwards more than my right when I smile (yah, just look at the picture and you can tell). Oh well, at least you know I haven't photoshopped the way I look. I had simply cropped and put the two pics into a collage. If the pics looks so misty looking, it's because I have a bad front phone camera!

I am slightly heavier now than in late October and it shows on the face. I am still feeling bloated. This morning's weigh in wasn't too bad. Not far from the last magic number but I am still puzzled and disappointed because I had aimed to hit another magic number this week. I'm still exercising but I think I've upped my food intake considerably (not necessarily unhealthily) because I am not smelling the ketone breath so much. I won't elaborate on that but suffice to say, when you reduce your intake of carbs enough, you might start smelling a weird fruity breath. It's not entirely bad breath but google it and you might be able to get a better description of it. Initially, I didn't know about ketone breath and just felt it was such a weird smell.

When I was smelling the ketone breath, I was also feeling a bit weird. Every now and then, I'd feel like I was on a small sampan (wooden boat) and a wave would toss me very, very gently. I did not feel faint or get motion sickness. I just knew it wasn't usual. Together with the weight plateau, I decided I'd up my food intake but carry on with my exercise. Don't wish to fall sick in the pursuit of good health. That would be a joke.

Yes, I've lost sight on inch loss. I seem only concerned about the scale readings. Darn right you are. Although I look puffier, I have not put on any in terms of inches so the inch loss is still good. Phew. Overall, I think I'm not losing all that much weight because I'm not starving myself at all. I am still eating well.

Look at my sample week night meal:

Does that look like a diet meal to you? There's soup, veg, roast chicken and bread! Okay, so the bread and mushroom soup are for hubs. He'll also eat the chicken and I'll also add some to my soup. I'm definitely not eating too little for dinner. The reason I eat heartily for dinner is when I did eat very cautious dinner meals, I'd feel famished after exercising and crave for a snack (no, not a cucumber or celery stick snack). I know I should be eating AFTER I exercise and though that would be preferably, this is real life; for now, my schedule doesn't permit it.

Early Nov soup dinner

Dinner last night was a watered down minestrone soup in which I had added some pasta. I had pre-cooked a pot of relatively thick minestrone soup last Sunday so I just scooped up some of the sauce and contents, thinned it with water and added in some pasta. To be honest, it was too much for me. I was full halfway through the meal. Anyway, I had a good work out on the rebounder and stepper thereafter and like I said, woke up to a relative decent reading.

Losing weight can be so complicated with the many schools of thought thrown as us. Of course, we all want to look at pictures of people who have lost weight on the internet and learn from them because it seems more tried and tested. I am taking a really long time to shed the pounds, peeps. I won't give up on myself so don't give up on me just yet!

2 Nov 2015

Philips Air Fried Whole Chickens

Hubs and I went to Ang Moh supermarket on Friday evening because we needed to buy washing detergent. I had told him that if he was going to Ang Moh, I didn't mind walking with him but if he was going NTUC, I'd give it a pass (because my hair was in need of a good wash!). The reasoning is simple.The route to Ang Moh crosses a dark park and anyway, the people there are pyjama wearing Aunties and singlet dorning Uncles. Haha. There was a good deal on chicken. Ended up buying a packet of frozen drumsticks (about S$6 per packet) and 3 frozen chickens (3 for $10!).

Woke up early Saturday morning (7.30am is early to me for a weekend morning) to walk the dog, do the laundry, mop the floor, clean the kitchen and then stare at my thawed chickens. Decided that I'd use the Philips Air Fryer on all the chickens. Minimal oil equals a happy me because the kitchen floor stays clean.

While I was cleaning the raw chickens, hubs came home (to my surprise) and presented me with Lor Mee (a yummy braised noodle dish with pieces of meat and lard!) for breakfast:

Hubby's gift of love: Lor Mee Breakfast

To be honest, I felt torn between two 'lovers'. The love of my life had just presented me with a delicious bowl of Lor Mee, which I knew was filled with yummy but decadent fried pork lard pieces and there I was, thinking that I would LOVE to eat clean this weekend to really bring my weight down. Sigh. Hubs won me over, hands down. It was too touching that he had driven all the way back home from Bukit Merah to give me the Lor Mee. It didn't help that he had come into the kitchen to kiss me either, one hand holding me, the other hand holding the Lor Mee!

My knees went weak.
Lor Mee 1. Diet 0.

Slurped up the Lor Mee and told myself guiltily that I'd skip lunch since it was such a heavy breakfast. Notice how the guilt only sets in the minute you finish eating.

Seasoned the chicken drumsticks with turmeric and salt to serve 2 big bowls of this for lunch:

Air Fried Chicken Seasoned with Turmeric and Salt

Once I served it with rice and Nando's Extra Hot Chilli, my knees went weak again. I'd just have one. Then two. So this is how it goes. It's a reality. So much easier to put on weight then to lose it!

Anyway, I still had my 3 chickens to cook. Decided to do meal prep for the rest of the week. Did a black pepper chicken in the Air Fryer:

Air Fried Chicken Seasoned with Black Pepper and Salt

Air Fried Chicken Seasoned with Soya Sauce and Black Pepper

When I had bought the 3 chickens, hubs had said they looked tiny. But looking at their size, I think they are comparable to the roasted chickens sold at NTUC. NTUC sells their roasted whole chickens for S$5.80 ea with different seasonings. I basically saved S$7.40 by buying 3 chickens for $10. Aiyah, of course the savings is negligible when you think of the electricity required to roast the chickens myself. But it's irked my interest to find more creative seasonings. I think I'll hop over to Ang Moh tonight to see if they have any birds left on sale and just buy and freeze them.

I'm not sponsored by Philips to say this but man, I love the Philips Air Fryer. I'm so scared I've overworked it and that it'll konk out on me soon. Philips Singapore, if you happen to chance upon this post, I'd welcome a new complimentary Philips Air Fryer with open arms! I advertise for you, free leh.

I mean, it's a really easy contraption to use. The good thing is, I can go about doing other stuff while it's cooking. I know you could do the same with an oven but I think this works well especially for older kids who would like to air fry some chicken nuggets or sausages themselves. I wouldn't want any kids near an oven but the Philips Air Fryer seems easy enough for the older kids to handle. The BEST part is, my chickens had cooked in their own fat. No oil required.

Just in case you're wondering what I did with the 3rd chicken, well, it ended up in a pot of curry which we had for lunch on Sunday! I'd also cooked a pot of my minestrone soup on Sunday evening but this time I excluded broad beans and added barley to it. Daughter loved it so much, she had two bowls of it as soon as it was done.

Although I had used raw tomatoes, I had also added a can of tomato paste and something happened the minute I lifted the can lid. As I flipped up the can lid, I felt a quick gust of air from the action of my lifting up the lid, blowing in the direction of my neck and I immediately felt a stinging sensation. Although I had not yet taken any soup, I developed a rash from that spot, down to my neck that night. This is not the first time this has happened and I am praying that it is not true. I love tomatoes too much. Please God, do not let me be allergic to tomatoes or worse still, to food from the nightshade family!!! Urgh!!!

The thing is, I had handled the raw tomatoes before that and had had no reaction. I wonder if it is something in the canned tomatoes.

Anyhoo, because we were out to buy something at dinner time, we ended up eating Fried Saba Fish and Korean style chicken quite late for dinner at the food court. A yummy and hearty meal. Hubs couldn't finish his rice and I ended up being his human vacuum cleaner again. After pushing the rice to me, he still had the cheek to say I was overeating! Major sabotaging going on here! LOL but yes, my weight did go up over the weekend. Suffice to say, I went home and worked my *ss off.

I just had to add this. Although I was well aware that I'd been eating quite a lot over the weekend, my tights were falling off my hips as I was walking around with the family on Sunday evening. It was awkward because I had to keep tugging at it to pull it up again. I told son and he said I should take it as good news. I agreed but I told him, the problem was, I had several pairs of tights in the same size!

Would be such a waste if I can't wear them anymore!

Here's to a wonderful week ahead, peeps!

30 Oct 2015

Weight loss after eating more than usual

For breakfast, I had a sardine bun.
For lunch, I had tofu and 3 varieties of vegetables.
For dinner, I had 2 chicken pies AND because I was greedy, a small packet of nasi lemak (coconut flavoured rice).
I weighed myself, grumbled at the reading and plopped down on the bed.
I wanted to kick myself because after eating so much, I felt sleepy.
I asked hubs to walk the dog.
I fell asleep.
I woke up at 11.30pm and wondered if I should exercise or just rest.
I weighed myself and discovered I had lost more than a kg (2.2lbs) during the nap!
I took a bath and tossed and turned but finally fell asleep again.
Woke up, weighed myself and found that it hadn't been a dream after all.
I did loose weight while sleeping!

My guess is by eating more, I let my body know that I wasn't in starvation mode and by resting, my body had time to heal. To be honest, I have been feeling very uncomfortable with not exercising. It's like I expect to wake up to find the little weight that took so much effort to lose over a few months, would find its way back to my body again. But I've realised that it's an unfounded fear. I may put on after eating in excess of my 'usual' but it's unlikely to shoot back to ground zero unless I totally go back to my old ways of not watching my diet and not exercising.

My flabbiness is back with a vengeance. Ever since I stopped carrying the wrist weights, I realised that I am not looking as toned as before. Even my cheeks and jawbone area have turned chubbier. Anyway, no side tracking. I am still aiming to lose at least another 5 kilos (11 pounds) before I start carrying the wrist weights again. My stomach has flattened more this week so that is a good thing. It's okay with me if I don't look so toned....yet. I will be once I have lost some more weight and start to tone up. Meanwhile, I'll just continue to do what I do.

Chubby cheeks again (End Oct 2015)

It's Friday peeps and I'm always in a good mood on Fridays! I'll probably get back into my exercise groove this weekend AND I'm unlikely to be going on a food binge. I want to hit a 7 kilo weight loss by the end of next week and I need to remind myself that only I can do this for myself!

I love myself enough to say that I want to be healthier and one way to be healthier is to be less overweight so that I put less stress on my heart and other parts of my body. I cannot guarantee that by changing my eating and exercise habits, that I WILL get healthier but at the very least, I know that I tried to do something about it. It's taken me so many years to wake up. I hope that you will see the light sooner than I did. I only pray that God will be merciful and give me enough time to make positive changes to my body (and my heart)! My father suffered his first stroke in his late 50s. No warning. He was seldom sick and always looked healthy. That day when I sat in the doctor's office at the Polyclinic and Dr T had asked if he should start me on High Blood Pressure meds, I told him to give me 3 months. I promised him I would try my best to bring my BP down. It's not phenomenal but I think I have succeeded in lowering it a bit. From my post on my recent blood and urine tests, the results have proven that my new lifestyle is showing positive outcomes. Hooray! Hurray! Hoorah! Yay!

I have a long journey ahead of me but as I always tell hubs, better to be struggling with the exercise while we are still able to, rather than after a stroke hits. That moment when it strikes, you will be filled with regrets and definitely be kicking yourself for not doing something earlier to avoid it. But it will be too late then.

It's not easy, peeps. You need willpower and heaps of motivation. The best motivation is the image you see reflected in the mirror. The flab, the fats, the thunder thighs and jiggly butt! I'm all for loving myself, come what may and in whatever state of size or health but look deep within your heart and ask if that is what you really want? I know I tried to deceive myself into believing it. I had the love of my husband who loves me whatever size I am. He's full of praise of my determination and stronger arm muscles (yes, cos he asks me to pull him up from the bed. hehe) but I doubt he loves me more now that I am slightly less fat. Also, would I really want a man who loves me more just because I became thinner? Nah! So though it helps to have people support you despite your heaviness, the question to ask is how much do YOU love yourself?

Make a change and have a good weekend, peeps!

29 Oct 2015

Weight - very slow progress

It's the end of October 2015 and so I thought I'd post some pics:

Looking like crap without foundation make up

End October 2015

I've been trying to give my skin some reprieve by going foundation free the past week. I think people around my office building must think I am sick or something. I suddenly have 'no coverage'! No moisturiser, no sunblock, no foundation. The only thing I have done is line my eyes and lips (all using eye and lip liners). I didn't like seeing those funny comedones popping or rather squirming out from my pores so I am trying to let my skin breathe. Well, actually without a job and turning into a stay-at-home-mum, I should be able to go make up free very soon!

Yes, I need a hair cut and a dye job. I have strands of white popping out at my fringe area of all places. Not so much anywhere else. Urgh! The thing is, with hair this long (past my bra strap now), I am just too lazy to dye my own hair. Okay, I might do it tonight. It cannot be that difficult. I'm also contemplating if I should go for a shorter hairstyle. Hubs suggested I go for more layers. He wonders why I am keeping my hair so heavy. He thinks I'll feel better with layered hair. Okay, I might just go for that although I know I always regret after the cut.

End October 2015

This is a dress which I had bought in Bangkok, Thailand. BTW, I love polka dots (especially after seeing THE brown Pretty Woman dress all those moons ago)! I could wear this dress before I had lost weight but I was bulging in all the wrong places. I looked really fat in it. I loved it so much that I kept it and refused to give it away. On one or two occasions, I had let my kid wear it. It was a bit too loose for her. She is probably a UK 8 (or maybe 6). When I slipped this on, I was surprised that there were no terrible looking bulges and the wrap around skirt didn't fall obscenely around the thighs.

End October 2015

I'm not expecting the loss of a few kilos to mean I am going to look thin and waif-like but at the very least, I should be looking less rotund in my old clothes! I easily have another 10 kgs to lose but at the moment, tight fitting clothes don't look as bad as they used to on me. For that, I am grateful.

I didn't expect to reach a weight loss plateau so fast. Not just at 6 kgs (13.2 lbs) down! No, please! Aaaarrrrggggh!

I am seeing no new magic number. Have not seen one since about a week back! Sigh. Is it easy keeping to a new lifestyle change? Well, for the meals, it hasn't been so difficult. I like veg and soup anyway. I'm just cutting down on rice, noodles and bread. I still eat my chicken, pork and beef but perhaps not as much as before. I cut out sugary stuff including cakes and it hasn't been that difficult because I do not crave for sugary foods or cake much anyway. I did sneak in chocolate Glico Poky last night! Two packets' worth! But, oh heck. One has got to live. To answer the question, it's not easy but it hasn't been as hard as I thought it would be.

As for the exercise, I took 2 days' worth of rest so far this week. Why? I am retaining water. I know my body. The reason I am hitting a weight loss plateau is probably because I had been exercising every single day the previous week and I had been keeping to a lean diet for the most part. My muscles need to rest and repair and I need to kickstart my metabolism again. Even on my rest days, I was able to see a slight drop on the scale so I don't feel so bad. It's just that today, I'm 500gr above my last magic number. Now, why is that? With the lean eating (okay, excluding the Glico Poky) and the daily exercise, I should be hitting another weight loss magic number by now. Why am I not?

Drats! It just occurred to me while I am typing this! The only thing I have done different is I have upped the number of push-ups I do! I mentioned before that I have been doing push-ups every day. By the way, I keep my knees bent so I am still not a push-up pro but it is enough to give me a good work out! I have been pushing myself to do 50 each time and I now do 25, stopping for about 5 seconds before continuing the rest of the 25. I have also been stepping on my old Twist N Turn machine for about 100 steps. I still rebound and I have kept my rebounding regime to 20 minutes because any longer than that, I think realistically, I won't be able to maintain on a daily basis. Not because I cannot 'tahan' (tolerate) one hour on it but because I don't think I have the time to spare on a daily basis. Besides, doing a short high intensity work out is just as effective or if not more than dragging one for hours.

So, back to what I was saying. The reason I have not been losing as much weight this past week is perhaps due to the fact that I have been strengthening my body and as such, stressing it. That could account for why my body needs to hold on to the additional water! Drats. Really, never thought I'd hit this Eureka moment while blogging. LOL.

28 Oct 2015

What do I want to be when I grow up?

I am being retrenched. The end of December will see the end of the job I have worked at for the last 16 years.

So, how am I?

I have never felt healthier in my life, am in good form and am in high spirits. A part of me is excited that the old door is shutting. I am looking forward to God opening the new door for me. I am waiting upon Him. Yes, there is anxiety but I have just spoken to some Christ-loving women over lunch and they, have reminded me to cast my anxiety aside and trust in Him. We all need good people like them in our lives and I am grateful for them, although our paths may never cross again once I leave my workplace. I thank God that however fleeting, He has allowed me to meet such good people. This is a good example of how we can be Christians in our every day lives.

It is probably a strange reaction but I thank God that He has allowed me reach this point in my life. I am feeling peaceful. At peace, probably not so much and not yet but definitely feeling peaceful. Why? One of the ladies I had spoken to hit the nail on the head when she said that it's because I am tired and I need a break and I am looking forward to the break! So true and so accurate!

Beautiful park at Nanyang Technological University

What do I want to be when I grow up?

Yes, this question is probably 40 years too late but the truth is, I have only just realised it.

26 Oct 2015

Weekend Carb Refill

It's no wonder I look bloated today.
The weekend started with me frying Mee Goreng for breakfast:

Home Fried Mee Goreng

I didn't eat that much. I had cheekily placed it on the brown paper and tray like how some hawker stalls serve fried noodles and served it to my son who was rushing off for a school event. I used a tiny plate and had some.

Then after a whole morning and afternoon of cleaning house, I went and did my exercise:

Feeling Bloated (Saturday afternoon)

I hadn't put on much weight that day (since the day before, LOL yes, I am pathetic) but I could definitely feel my face, shoulders and arms feeling puffier. Also, I wasn't peeing as much (of course you can tell, lah). So I was definitely retaining water. I had just finished my erm, monthly cycle so I wonder if it was just part of the 'cycle'.

Sunday morning before church, I had prepared some vegetables and boiled some pasta. Upon returning home from Mass, I put together my version of a minestrone soup:

Minestrone Soup

Family seemed to like it (they said it was nice) and daughter told me to cook it every weekend. Haha. I'll have to be creative with the ingredients so that they won't get tired of eating the same thing. Seems like soup is a big thing with the family and I've been scouring my soup cookbooks for ideas. For this minestrone, I had put in onions, tomatoes celery, carrots, garbanzo beans, red kidney beans, zucchini and pasta. I found it really easy to make although I had fried the veg first before creating the soup (and of course you have to cook the pasta separately).

That evening, we headed to our new favourite hangout; Kallang Wave for some look-see, some buy-here-buy-there and dinner.

Sunday Dinner

This is exactly what I meant when I had told my doctor 'don't worry, I eat alot'! I wish he could have seen how much I had eaten yesterday. But the pasta at the restaurant was quite disappointing for me. When I give up my 'diet' for sub-standard food, it's sad!

So, that brings us to Monday and I'm looking a tad too chubby for my liking. It's back to diet mode again for breakfast and lunch today because I'm going to be having a makan (eating) session tonight with friends and I'm intending to give my body a rest day today from exercise. I haven't had an exercise rest day in more than a week. My body retaining water is telling me something and so I'll have to give myself a rest day to recover even if I don't feel like it.

Just in case you're wondering, I had put on 1kg from the whole weekend's carb refill. It's depressing when I step on the scale but then again, I was eating with family and really, who wants to have a wet blanket dieter eating with them? I also like enjoying my food and I think as long as I balance this crazy binge eating on the weekends with conservative eating on the weekdays, I should still be on track with my weight loss goals. I am also aware that the 1kg increase is only temporary as the body adjusts.

By the way, I was not kidding when I said that I had lost my weight after giving birth to my younger kid (son is the younger one). Here's a comparison pic of the time when my kids were tiny and well, it's been more than 10 years and 10 kgs with the up-to-date pic!

Younger/Lighter and Older/Heavier

Hopefully, I'll have another pic some time soon which will show me older but lighter again!

23 Oct 2015

Tested positive for Ketones!

It's a happy day for me so let me start by showing you the delicious lunch I had today :

Yummy Lunch

Yes, the shop served it in paper on a mini tray to me. Now that I look at the pic, I think back and realise that others were eating off plates! OK, I over ate because there was a cause for celebration. I had gone to the doctor's yesterday for the results of my blood and urine tests done a week ago.

Practically every reading has gone

DOWN!!!

I say 'practically' because although the doctor didn't think it was alarming enough to point it out to me, I noticed that my potassium level has gone up. I should try to look into this and see what is causing it. As a typical quack-internet-doctor-wannabe, I googled it and saw the word 'kidney'. OMG.

Also, the thing that my doctor DID point out to me (and he was genuinely concerned to ask me what I was up to) is my KETONE level. I registered a positive 2 reading (+2). He said that in itself is not cause for concern but he asked me how long I had fasted the night before my blood and urine tests. The tests were done in the morning and all I did was have dinner and not snack any more until the tests were over the next morning. He pointed out that it was usually an indication that I was dehydrated. Actually, when he had pointed to the word 'KETONE', I was jumping for joy inside. I'll explain why but let me finish with the doctor first. I explained to him that I was eating 'normally' and he insisted I tell him examples of what I was eating. When I mentioned that I sometimes had salads, he wanted to know what else I was eating. I thought of the first word that came to my mind and said, 'Chicken'. LOL.

I think he was concerned enough to find out if I was starving myself. So I blurted out that I was trying to lose weight and I was exercising and limiting my carbohydrate intake. He sort of relaxed then and took a look at my records in his computer. He did a quick calculation and was surprised that I had lost 5 kgs since my last visit (ok, 5 and not 6kg because although my 'magic number' had hit a new low, meaning I have lost 6kgs it is still in the 'fluctuating' mode and has not settled completely in the low number! That process should take 2 weeks). The doctor said that was very good because it was no mean feat to achieve that. I told him that I was very happy that my BP Diastolic reading was in the 80s that day. I said I'd been trying to bring it down from the 90s. So I was happy.

Generally, I left the office feeling very, very happy. Ok, let me explain about why I was happy to see a positive reading on my Ketone level. In simple layman terms, my body should be burning carbohydrates to draw energy. However, because I have been restricting my carb (my usual rice) intake, my body is drawing on fats for energy. So, for the moment, I am well-pleased. Hehe. I know it sounds crazy to have a 'bad' reading from the doctor's point of view but if you're on a journey to lose weight, you will know, it's not such a bad thing after all. I know for a fact that I'm not registering a positive 2 (+2) Ketone reading because of any other disease. I did not register a positive on the Ketone reading in my previous blood and urine test done 3 months ago. So it coincides with my new eating and exercise habits.

On the other hand, my potassium level has gone up. It was already high at my last test before I had actually started to exercise seriously and now, it has gone up a bit. If it goes up again, then I will be over the threshold and that should be a cause for concern. I don't know why the doctor hadn't pointed that out. Could be because it was still within the desirable range.

Apart from the 2 readings mentioned above, my blood and urine analysis say the readings are in the optimal range. Not just satisfactory but in the optimal range. Yay! Good job, me!

My cholesterol was already in the desirable range (4.69 mmol/L) and it was lowered yet again (4.13). My triglycerides were lowered considerably! (from 1.51 to 0.96). Then a bunch of medical jargon I have not bothered to figure out but HDL-C (1.23 lowered to 1.22), LDL-C (lowered from 2.80 to 2.50). Chol: HDL Ratio (lowered from 3.83 to 3.39). Glucose fasting went from 6.1 to 5.3.

Ok, so there. It makes it all worthwhile, the very many nights of exercising when all I wanted to do was pig-out. I took all this information home to share the joy with hubs and I could see that it did affect him (a little). His dad was in hospital a few days ago and hubs said that a young lady (who looked like she was in her 20s) was crying in her bed the whole night. She had suffered a stroke. I felt really sorry to hear that. Hubs said the young lady was obese. We all think the same way don't we? That the obesity probably caused her to have choked arteries or choked something and lead the way to the stroke. The thing is, my father (and now my father-in-law too), had suffered not one but two strokes. There is no turning back the minute it happens. You can improve the situation with a steely determination and therapy but you can never get back to the state of health prior to it. There is no reversal. So if you think I am trying to lose weight because I want to look nice, well yes. That is true but it was not the reason that I felt compelled to start my weight loss journey. It's because I worry about bleeding internally too. It's not that a less fat person will not suffer a stroke but all that I can do is make myself healthier and try to prevent one. The rest, I leave it to God.

Have a good weekend, peeps!

21 Oct 2015

Magic Number again! (Weightloss / Inchloss Journey)

It's a new week and I've managed to hit a new 'magic number' on the weighing scale. So now, as a total, it's

6 kilos (13.2lbs) down!

Yippee! I haven't been starving but instead of eating balanced meals, I've been balancing my meals, if that makes sense. In a nutshell, eat a little more here, eat a little less there. Eat a little less here, eat a little more there. By the way, I've had to delete MyFitnessPal app from my phone because my phone has limited space left. I may reinstall it on my tablet but I think I now can more or less gauge my daily food or caloric intake without actually counting my calories. It's all about moderation. You don't want to starve or stuff your sick. Complement that eating habit with an exercise regime and it should shed some pounds.

My lunch at work last Friday:

Friday lunch (16 Oct 2015)

I didn't take any more pics of my meals for the rest of the weekend except for Sunday evening where I definitely over ate. Even snuck in a Coke Float!

Sunday Dinner (18 Oct 2015)

As usual, my daughter couldn't finish her meal and I acted as her human vacuum cleaner. Bad, bad mummy! It had been a tiring day and I couldn't even make myself exercise that night. Still, the food intake over the weekend must have been what my body had been waiting for because I managed to weigh in a new low (what I call magic) number when the new week started!

Excited that I'm only a few hundred grams away from my first mini-weight-goal, I was determined to really up my game this whole week. That is until I ended up in one of NTU's canteen slurping the delicious bak kut teh (pork rib herbal soup) and a whole plate of vegetables! I know I could have told the Uncle, 'no rice' but come on! What's bak kut teh with no rice? Okay, I was sooooo tempted to whip out my camera to take a pic of the claypot bak kut teh but really, the canteen was filled with hip undergrads. This out of place Aunty really didn't need to look even further out of place taking food pics! Thus, I resisted the urge. However, my kid was late meeting me so I took a stroll to another canteen and since it was quieter, I snuck out my camera to take a pic of my indulgence:

Honey Sea Coconut!

It wasn't too sweet and was quite refreshing. Only the pathetic, wrinkly, yellowing lime sort of spoilt the experience for me! So anyway, as an example of how I eat nowadays, since I had indulged in a very heavy lunch, I had a simple salad for dinner. Just rocket leaves and a sweet Korean apple cut up in chunks. It kept me full until midnight when my stomach started growling. I must say, I really, really, wanted to have chocolate last night but managed to just drink water and go to sleep. I told myself, I could cave and eat the chocolate and then regret it the next morning or I could just close my eyes and imagine eating the chocolate. I was a good girl and did just that.

I'm so excited with the way the weight is slowly dropping off. I'm rebounding 20 minutes, doing about 50 push-ups and then doing a short routine on my old twist-n-turn stepper (yes, I dusted out the cobwebs). You could say I have a mini-circuit going on at home now! I kind of wish I had a treadmill too but it would be just too bulky to squeeze into my mini-gym!

Meanwhile, my kids and hubs are making fun of me, saying I photoshopped my October photo (refer to my previous post). Bah! I told them I barely know how to insert pics into those frames, much less photoshop my face! I know they are only teasing me. They did say in all seriousness that they could see I have lost weight! Well, it's about time!

19 Oct 2015

Comparison Pics (July, Aug, Sept, Oct 2015)

They say, a picture paints a thousand words.

16 Oct 2015

Exercise Update - Mid-October 2015 (pics)

Taking my 47th Birthday in mid-July as the start date of my new lifestyle change, it is now 3 whole months (mid-July to mid-Oct) that I have been monitoring my food intake and my exercise regime.

Mid-October 2015

I wake up in the morning and I feel so good! I go to bed at night and I feel so good! Generally, this new lifestyle has made me healthier and happier. To be honest, happiest of all when I see myself shrinking day by day. I hold my own waist or touch my own chin and can tell just by touch that my body has changed for the better!

Generally, I am down another inch or less here and there. I don't think I made a great leap in terms of weight. I am down 5kgs (11pounds) from where I started in mid-July. My 'magic number' (read about it in my other posts) has been hovering at about the same place for the past week. I hope that by this weekend or next week, I can bring it down to another 'magic number'!

To someone who has been slim all their life, I may still look grossly overweight but really, what you think of me doesn't bother me because I am monitoring my own progress and I know the effort I have been putting in and the results I am seeing!

Side view. Mid-October 2015

My tummy is shrinking. Slowly, yes but definitely shrinking! Yippee! Yay! This is taken the day after I had a rest day from exercising and a day of noodles and rice! I am definitely not starving! I had my favourite hawker fried noodles in black, sweet sauce, topped with a generous portion of cabbage and long beans.

Yellow noodles fried in dark sweet sauce

Then for dinner, I had a yummilicious Malay dish of curry mutton, spicy french beans and tofu! I even ate up hubby's fried rice because it was too much for him (apparently not too much for me! Hehe).

Mid-October 2015

My BMI readings according to the polyclinic says that I am still above 15kgs overweight. The computer printout was very 'kind' and advised me that I should aim to lose another 5kgs by April of 2016 first. Well, duh! It's a good gauge, these readings but I'm not really bothered by it. I feel encouraged by the weight and inch loss and will definitely be striving to improve my eating and exercise habits even more. And actually, I hope to lose MORE than 5 kgs by the time April 2015 pops around!

By the way, the cranky digital weighing machine hubs had bought for me was really quite accurate compared to the polyclinic's! It was only off by 0.1kg and I can't say for sure which machine has been more accurately calibrated! The only thing about hub's scale is it sometimes registers the previous weight and unless you step on it a few times, you will keep seeing the previous weight. But it's okay, I don't really need another new weighing scale to clutter up the house so I'll keep it and use it (because I already have another old Ikea manual weighing scale lying at home gathering cobwebs).

I really didn't realise that it's my 3rd month 'anniversary' and so I measured myself. I'll just say that I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had again recorded inch loss but not so much. Remember I said I was not going to carry the weights again until I had reduced my weight a tad more? I am sticking to that and I found that my body has turned slightly flabbier. I'm not concerned about it because I've decided I want to be much lighter before I start to tone my body parts. Meanwhile, I've stashed away my simple weights until I've lost a few more kilos! Some people may disagree and think it wiser to tone your body while you are trying to lose weight through lower caloric intake. I don't think I would prefer that. I tried it and it was a struggle to bring the weight down. It can demoralise a person and I know it did me. For me personally, when I see the weight coming down, I feel re-charged and re-energised to continue to move in the right direction. If the reading of the scale remains stagnant, I feel down and demoralised and feel like nothing's working even though I am exercising my butt off. So there. This works for me and I will keep doing this.

What I am doing is reducing my caloric intake on week days. My lunch often times looks like this:

Lunch

The canteen stall lady obviously disapproves of my food choice. Without fail, she will try to ask me to have at least two spoons of rice with my meal or some meat. She's not much older than I am or she could even be younger but she's very motherly and does this out of kindness. I caved on a few occasions and had my rice. I have now come to tell her gently that I have not totally gone off rice and that I do have rice in the evenings when I cook for the family. Here's an interesting thing. When I did have the meat or the rice she was trying to push me to include, I did feel hungry later, more so than on days when I just solely chose to eat the veg dishes. Interesting huh?

Have a good weekend, peeps! Cheers!

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