Do you see the light?

Finally did my weigh in today. My last weigh-in was in July so it’s been 3 months now. I haven’t lost much as i suspected but there’s still little bits of things to be happy about.

1. Lost close to 2kgs in real weight since last weigh-in (if only you knew how much that 2kgs fluctuated over the last 3 months!)
2. I got my stats wrong all along. My body fat % started off at a whopping 41%! And here I thought I was at the low-30 percentile region. wtf! So off!
3. My body fat % now stands at 36.1% according to the machine. Been told that it’s not that all accurate and that I shouldn’t beat myself up for it . Looks like I’ll have to run the 21km marathon next year as “punishment” for not achieving my targets! Haha, the body fat % and weight targets are way off, at least for the second milestone :\
4. There’s this other indicator called Fat Mass – I can’t recall where I started but according to the boss, I’ve lost 3kgs in Fat Mass since July.

Too many stats, hehe but better than none. I have not taken into account on the body changes which has been positive (read: I can finally buy clothes now) so far. So baby steps I guess? LONG way to go but I do see some light now, albeit not a very bright one.

Happy weekend folks. On a separate note, I now have a HOME!

Been thinking … (again)

So I’ve been thinking again about my weight. Thoughts have been floating in and out of my head wondering what I could be doing wrong. I find myself dropping whatever that I’m doing midway and start flipping my food log furiously wondering if I did something wrong. Have I found an answer? No. Have I found alternatives? Plenty after reading them on the internet, too many in fact that I don’t know where to start.

A friend who’s also a trainer chatted with me and after sharing my problems and stats, he mentioned that my ideal weight could be in the 65kg – 70kg range. I think I almost fell off the couch when I saw “6″ as the front integer. Frankly speaking, hitting the 70 range would be such a huge accomplishment for me but I’m nowhere near that. I have been struggling to even have “7″ as the front integer over the last 4 months! Trust me, I’m really not THAT far off but it’s like a frigging mountain that I’m being asked to climb.

I had this strange epiphany when I was showering just now (funny how it happens at the strangest places?). I proceeded to tell myself that maybe I should just do this — “no wedding banquet unless you reach 70kgs”. Harsh? Maybe … but that should drive me towards it no?

It might just be an idea to consider … I get my house keys tomorrow so that’s a whole new commitment going on there (financially that is) so perhaps giving myself a bit more time (rather than rushing) to prepare for the BIG day and looking fabulous isn’t such a bad idea? Although it might be unfair to Pa to have him wait :\

Sigh

Sigh, I think I sometimes push myself too hard and have too high expectations.

Turning 29

I turned 29 on 28th October 2009. It was a low key affair but I would have to say it was the best day of my life notwithstanding the fact that I’m 1 year closer to the dreaded 3-0 but the day couldn’t get any better! Here’s a few things that happened.

1. Went for PT with Adrian early in the morning. When I checked out of the gym, the ladies at the counter wished me ‘Happy Birthday!’ – nice way to start my day!
2. Started receiving a couple of sms-es, emails, twitters, calls and bbms wishing me happy birthday. I smiled pretty much the whole day – some probably thought I had a silly grin on my face.
3. CK sent me a huge bouquet of flowers which came with a very cute teddy bear
4. The department sang Happy Birthday and I cut my cake – had 2 small slices (Eeps!)
5. Had 2 bananas in the afternoon as snack to prepare for RPM Challenge (yes, I did RPM on my birthday when I should be out celebrating!)
6. Got another surprise birthday cake from the KL-gang – am so touched! I miss those guys.
7. Checked in at OUB Fitness First, the 2 lovely ladies at the gym greeted me with a big ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY’ before giving me my towels. I was smiling alright
8. RPM – had a blast although my calves started hurting after the class ended. This was a special class – Fitness First was raising money for the victims of the Philippine typhoon where some of their staff members were also affected. So to join the RPM class you basically gotta donate a min $10. I chipped in $100 to get tortured and it did me well ;P Tommy wished me happy birthday a number of times, I lost count. haha.
9. Got home and was so hungry. Since it’s my birthday and by right I should just eat whatever I want since this day is not suppose to exist in my food log. So what did I have? Korean cup noodles – I SWEAR it was the best noodles I’ve had in a long time!! Shows you how long I’ve stayed away from all this but damn, it was so good that CK said I was guarding the bowl with my life!
10. Cut the cake again for the second time with CK, Yin and sis around + ice cream (only a tablespoon size each)! What a way to cap of the night.

It’s been one helluva ride for the past 9 months. Though I’ve plateaued for the longest time I’m not really gonna gripe about it. I’m very happy that I got this far but it doesn’t mean I’m giving up at all. So here’s some progress photos:

Have a great weekend folks!

Nike Human Race 10k

So I ran with the world  this morning. It was alright, pretty flat terrain except for the 8th km where there was a little hill and that’s where the running stitch came back to haunt me. I’m happy that it’s not haunting me at the early part of my run (previously it usually comes at the 3rd – 4th km). Anyway, the crowd at today’s run as everyone expected turned out to be very big. So there were moments of walking because the running lane was so small and there were people walking in 1 line across the running lane :\

For me, it’s an achievement to complete it .. timing doesn’t really matter at this point of your life where you’re just learning to run, literally. I managed to shave only about 5 minutes off my Standard Chartered KL Marathon time,  but that’s also partly because I haven’t really been running of late.

I have another marathon next weekend and I’m starting to feel my knees giving way, bah! I also paid a huge price for today’s running – chaffing! OMG, you have no idea how painful chaffing is until you get it. I only realised I had it after the run when I was walking to the bus stop and I felt some slight burning sensation, I looked down and I was right. Try showering when you have chaffed thighs, man its like you’re stung by a jellyfish! Argh, I should revisit the running shorts thingamajig, time to look into running tights to prevent chaffing.

Funny

Sorry for the lack of updates, been swamped with work and the house. I wonder when I’ll see the end of the tunnel to my housing matters … I just wanna move in so I can start cooking and eating healthily. Right now I’m eating a lot of crap as a result of eating outside everyday .. bleh.

Thought I’d share something funny. Adrian reads my food log every now and then and would scribble notes here and there, clearly I haven’t been eating clean enough so that explains the scribbles. But this one (see dinner part)  got me laughing at the changing room 2 days ago … he must be quite appalled by my eating habits  

Food Log

For the record, I didn’t mix Jello with my rice. I ate them separately but I just thought it was very funny. I guess with my eating habits, one can easily assume that I would mix it .. hur hur, wonder how that would taste like. Hmm

Thyroidism

Finally! Jillian Michaels, famous trainer of Biggest Loser wrote this great article which I thought was worth sharing. Anyone with thyroid condition (me included) will know what kind of battle we are constantly faced with. Reading it definitely struck a chord with me and it made me realised how far I have come in my weight loss journey over the last 9 months and despite the “odds” stacked against me as a thyroid patient, I made it somehow.

The last leg of the journey will always be the toughest so I will just have to continue fighting and not give up even if I don’t meet the 12 months timeline. Kinda like a cycling competition … You push yourself towards the finishing line. Who’s with me!? Afterall I have to raise as much money as I can for Seeing is Believing.

Read Jillian’s article: http://www.jillianmichaels.com/fitness-and-diet-tips/master-hypothyroidism

The weighing scale lied …

I should really ditch the scales. No wait, scrap that, I should stop weighing myself so often because I end up beating myself over the plateau. One thing I know for sure, despite the non-movement of my actual weight, my clothes size have been dropping. I think it’s time I start looking for new work pants. The one I’m using now seem to be dropping further and further.

It’s a good “problem” to have and I’m not complaining but me being anal about things, I just wish I can go past my resistance level

It’s very hazy today for some strange reason, probably not a very good idea to go outdoor RPM to breathe in the smog. I just got back from a 1 hour and 45 min workout, my legs are burning from all that workout.

I’ve also been thinking of getting myself a bike to start outdoor cycling. It’s been on my mind for a long time now. My birthday is in 28 days time … wonder who will be my Santa this year. But before I jump in, I need to do a bit more research on this.

Bad hair decisions.

What a weekend! The long weekend was meant to rest, rejuvenate and relax but it turns out that I need another holiday to recuperate from this short one. Call me mad but I was hanging out at the gym most of the time during my weekends, spending on average 1.5 hours – 2 hours minimum at the gym. RPM back home is fun, the class participants make it very fun – you hear people grunting and going “Woohoo!!” …  it’s all very fun and amusing at the same time. You don’t see that happening in RPM classes here in Singapore, people are relatively subdued? The RPM instructor in Fitness First KL was Eric C., and Tim told me he’s a lawyer. He looks like Mr Incredibles, that’s some body there

Sunday night was a good friend’s hen’s night. Was feeling rather sick-ish but I went ahead since I promised to be there. A small group of us with one too many alcohol consumption! Not a good idea when you’re on a diet but dancing works it off? I ended up getting home only at 5am and driving home was such a struggle because my head was pounding so badly from all the music and drinks. We stopped by at Chinatown for a quick supper but that didn’t help. Should have known better. Once I got home, I showered and crashed until 6 hours later, I dragged myself out of bed and drove to get my haircut.

Not a good idea.

When you have a massive headache and hangover, it’s not a good idea to go and cut your hair. Chances are, you would give your hairstylist free reign with her scissors and that’s what I did. She took a good 6-7 inches off from my long mane (about time!) and after the wash and blow, I felt light-headed. Like literally!! My head feels so much lighter. Since I have thick hair and so much hair was taken off, can I now safely say that at least 1kg is off me now? Hur hur hur …

I’m alive

So we finally moved to a temporary service apartment which explains why I haven’t been writing the past 1 week plus. I’m glad the whole shifting is over and done with but I would need to move again in another 2.5 months time but it shouldn’t be too hard since majority of our stuff is packed up in boxes and stored at the storage area.

Diet’s been hell. I’m still in a plateau mode and it’s not funny because it’s coming to my 4th month I blame it all on my weak eating habits. Old habits are haunting me.

So I’m back to making Jello again which I haven’t eaten for a few months now and it taste just as great as I’ve tasted them before.

Sugar Free Jello

I’m flying home for the long weekend tomorrow night and I’m swearing off all my favourite foods. If anything I should be shuttling between my house and the gym, nothing more. I’ll bring Pa out for lunch/dinner but I would control my eating habits and not gorge myself silly. Going back on such weekend trips can be dangerous ….

Til then have a great weekend all!

Feeling High!

It’s Wednesday and we all know what Wednesday means – Tommy’s famous 90-min gruelling “Precision Cycling” session. In keeping to what I said in my last post, I’ve been working my butt off this whole week and having an eagle eye on my food intake. Work has backed off a little bit although there are still some teething issues but at least I have my temporary accomodation off my mind for now. I’ve been working out twice a day since Monday and my body’s feeling a little sore now.

Anyway, back to the cycling session, I got there a bit early today and did a bit more stretching than I would normally do. Since my arms and back are not exactly feeling that great, I thought it was best to get it all stretched out. I’m very excited to blog this because mid-way through class, I experienced a sudden high – a feeling as if I’m on top of the world and that I’m not feeling any pain at all when I should be. It’s usually at this point where the body would just rebel against you and scream bloody murder for the torture that you put it through. But not tonight! I felt no pain during that period, I didn’t feel breathless, I think my heart was racing but I definitely didn’t feel that it was. And best part was, I notched up on the resistance level whenever I could. Wahh, I love that feeling of sudden euphoria!! The rush I felt made me wanna cycle harder. The music that was playing definitely helped and I caught myself nodding to the beat a few times

Runners experience “Runners High” – something which I’ve never experienced and will probably never experience it unless I can consistently run long distance, which at this moment doesn’t look like it. However, I think the “High” also applies to other activities and biking is probably one. I googled a while ago and there are people who have come across this experience as well.

I’m feeling happy .. hee hee. My left hand wasn’t numb too. After class, Tommy came over to say that I did well during class today and I felt on top of the world! Hahaha. I highly recommend spinning/RPM classes – it’s the best workout and you’ll feel great after class.

On a side note, apparently the shortlisted participants for Biggest Loser Asia have been chosen and contacted. I didn’t get any calls so obviously I’m not in but that’s again, very much expected! For those who didn’t get chosen and if you’re reading this, please don’t be sad and beat yourself emotionally over it! Instead do something with your life, START TODAY and not delay! You control your own destiny and life path, if you’ve taken that one step to audition for Biggest Loser Asia, then take the NEXT STEP to change your life forever – start exercising, be healthy and live your life to the fullest! You can do it!! If anyone ever needs a running partner or even to go RPM classes with at the gym, drop me a line and I’ll be there