Breaking the barrier!

I counted. I stepped on the weighing scale 5x yesterday after my workout at the gym because I thought I was seeing things. But all 5x reaffirmed each previous weigh-in and I walked away with a silly grin on my face. I finally did it. I broke the blasted barrier, one that has been haunting me for so frigging long! I think the last time I went sub-[insert-number] was probably when I was in university (more than 10 years ago)!

I’m very happy even though it is literally touch and go but I’ll still take it. I’m not sure if its just one of those temporary thing but it’s a good sign nonetheless. I’m now trying to make sure I don’t lose it and continue focusing. I’m that much closer to achieving it even though this whole Project ends today :\ But this whole weight loss journey will not be a one-year event, it will be a long journey for me because I’m rediscovering my life, health and a whole new fitness level!

The next time you see me, I may just have solid 6-pack abs and not a beer barrel. Right now, it’s time to work my butt off because I’m getting registered on 27th March 2010. Need to look hawt on that day, ‘numsayin?

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!

Can I get a Woot Woot?

I did my weigh in today and the scales went down by another 3 kgs. I’m now officially at the halfway mark!! I’ve lost 10kgs since I started! What a greaaaaaaat way to end the week and plus the fact that I’m flying home tonight for the weekend! Janet, if you’re reading I’ll get you the JELLO next round, this is kind of a last minute/rush trip.

Can I get a woot woot?!! :P I will need to maintain this momentum and try for another 2kg if not more next month. I would be out for a week next month in Australia so I really need to have eagle eyes on what I eat there.

Read my previous weigh-ins here:

1. 4th March 2009 – 1st weigh in
2. 20th March 2009 – 2nd weigh in
3. 6th April 2009 – 3rd weigh in
4. 27th April 2009 – 4th weigh in

Edit: No one wants to take a punt on my weight before I started this journey for Jello?? Aww, come on! Take a stab at it here!

Til then, have a greaaaaaaat weekend people, keep working out and watch those carbs

Rhomboid-what?

My dives in Manado involved carrying this mother of oxygen tank which was a lot heavier than usual. I injured my back on my first dive but continued diving through out my trip. Each backroll off the boat was giving me pain on my back and shoulders.

I ignored it until last Friday when I thought the pain was getting a bit more unbearable and annoying. I rang up the Singapore Sports Medicine Centre and scheduled an appointment for today. I met with Dr Ben Tan, the Medical Director at SSMC and explained to him my problems. He asked a number of brief questions and then proceeded to examine the back/shoulder area. My colleague was spot on about him — he identified the EXACT area of my pain even though I can’t pin point the right area and it didn’t take him more than 10 minutes to do so. My answers to some of his questions did give clues and some of the hand movements he made me do gave it away. Let’s just say, when he found the spot, it hurt like hell because he was applying pressure to it.

He mentioned that I have Rhomboid Muscle Strain or Spasms — a common type of sports injury. The only way to get rid of it or least to get rid of the knots was to go for sports massage and he did warn that the first 4 sessions or thereabout would be painful. I’m not one who likes going for hard massages Anyway I’ll have to go for this one since it’s really giving me hell at work and I can’t sit for long without feeling the pain. I’ve also readjusted my notebook and chair position today so that I put less strain on my shoulder area. My next appointment is on 6th May and uhh, I’m kinda scared. The doc also mentioned that if in 6-8 weeks my knots are still undone, he’ll have to adminster a jab to relax the muscles!! I don’t want to go down that route.

I think I now remember having similar problems while playing tennis in my younger days. Tossing the ball with my left hand wasn’t that all smooth. I’m now putting a tennis ball on the left hand side of my back to massage it I also need to improve my sitting posture.

Did my weigh-in today. It’s status quo — hur hur hur! I did lose 1.9kg of fat and gained some muscle mass

What’s the MAGIC number?

I started my PT on 2nd Feb 2009 and its slightly over 2 months now and I’m very surprised with my progress. Nevermind that my body is sore most of the time from all the weight lifting, doing the stairways to hell, lunges and so forth, the pain is probably worth it. No pain, no gain right? Compared to my last PT in KL, I made the most progress here and I am also a helluva lot more disciplined — it’s something which I can’t decipher, why am I more disciplined now than say 1.5 years ago when I started PT @ CF in KL? Getting married was one reason but not necessarily the main/only reason, maybe it was “time” or maybe it was the pleading by Pa to get myself back into shape? Oh well, the progress I’ve made here in 2 months is equivalent to what I achieved back then in 1 year. So I’m very happy.

I stepped on the weighing scale today with no expectations, in fact, I thought I had only lost half a kilo at most because that was what I saw on Saturday afternoon. Adrian said he had good news and bad news … waaaahh my heart sank. So he asked if I wanted the bad news first and I said OK. His bad news was “there is no bad news” .. I think my head didn’t register that for a few seconds! Haha, anyway the good news is … I lost another 2kgs AND 3kg of fat (if i remember correctly about the fat loss part)!

I’m very very happy. 7KGs in 2 months is quite a feat I reckon. So happy that I was dancing in the shower because they played the song (can’t remember the name) that we were dancing to in Bamboo (KL) last weekend.  Hahahaha

I now watch my food intake like a hawk. I remember standing for the longest time at the peanut butter aisle yesterday evening, contemplating if I should buy the 25% reduced fat Skippy Peanut Butter. I read every lable and was grabbing and putting peanut butter jars back and forth to compare – much to the annoyance of this lady who was standing beside me. I had that sudden craving for toasted peanut butter bread with sliced banana. Weird combo but it taste yummy. Anyway, I bought no peanut butter in the end.

Though it’s slightly over 2 months, it kinda feels like I’ve been doing this for a while now. I’m getting used to the routine and I hope I don’t hit plateau anytime soon. Plateau is a dirty word So 7kgs down, 13kgs more to go. I remember going to bed at 1am yesterday after watching the finale of The Biggest Loser, such a tear jerker reality show. Heck, if I was in their shoes, I’d cry buckets also if I managed to lose half my body weight.

I’m also very happy that I have the most supportive people behind me — my fellow pledgors who’s willing to donate money to charity for every kilo I lose; CK who has to bear with my FISH days; Adrian for being the best and most patient trainer ever and all my friends who’s continuously encouraging me. Wah, sounds like the Oscars! But I’m far from achieving my goal … so baby steps

Anyway, Mondays are usually terrible, but not today Gambate!! Now, where’s my oatmeal …

Read my previous weigh-ins here:

1. 4th March 2009 – 1st weigh-in
2. 20th March 2009 – 2nd weigh-in

Is it Gone?

I’ve been telling myself to get a new pair of pants in the interim but I haven’t done it. All my tailored shirts are starting to look like a mess because they don’t stay tucked-in properly. I’m thinking of tailoring another new set of shirts but each shirt would cost me $120 so I think I’ll delay this option. To give you a better idea of how loose my shirts are — see below.

Loose Shirt

When I first tailored these shirts sometime last year, they were … *ahem* fitting (read: tight lah). Anyway, it got to a point where my tummy ballooned really big that I looked as if I dranked a barrel of beer everyday. The shirts are meant to be fitting and not have so much material sticking out.

Loose Pants

This is my pants. It’s probably the most noticable change and I can fit my entire arm into that gaping hole. It now hangs at the hips because it’s loose. and I can’t use any belt because this pants isn’t made for belts. I have another pants which I’ve chucked it aside because wearing it will mean exposing my buttcrack and beyond!

Anywayyyy … moving on, I have a few things lined up:

1. 50m Charity Swim — I donated $200 as part of a fund raising campaign. I’m also paying to get my butt whopped in the pool by a ex-swim team captain in our office OR if I manage to beat him to the wall, he has to fork out another $100. There are 8 of us competing for it and I’m the only girl I should ask him to give me a head start. The last time I did competitive swimming was 14 years ago and back then I could finish 50m under about 40 secs (school records was about 30ish). I’d be lucky to finish it this time
2. Tennis training has been ongoing for the past 3 months and I haven’t  attended a single session. I should go back to train since the games are not too far away.
3. I signed up for KL Marathon (10km) in June. Hmm
4. I’m going Diving in 1.5 weeks time! Hellllllllooo fishes.

It’s gonna be one helluva busy year for me … don’t even get me started on the non-planning of my wedding (huh, what? who? why?)

Quickie

Rushing out for the presentation now. Quick update: Was at the gym at 630am, couldn’t sleep. Did some cardio on the treadmill then started PT early. Weighed myself and …… I lost another 2kg (of which 1kg is probably due me sweating like mad). Fat loss: another 1kg. !!!!

Read about my previous weigh-in here.

Total so far: roughly 5 kilos plus and 3.5kg of fat. Yahoo. And Adrian recommended me a restaurant which would see me saying goodbye to Subway forevaaaaaaaa! Can’t believe how much Subway I’ve been eating the past 1 year, I can become their shareholder, even the lady knows me by my first name and knows what Bread I want. Sheesh. I’ll write more about the new discovery later or next time when I have some pics with me.

1 down, 1 more hurdle to go. I’m off! Wish me luck!

Give me all your fishes!

At about noon today, I rushed to SGH to get my medication as I’ve ran out of it. Normally it doesn’t take me more than 20 minutes to get my medication at the pharmacy. But I waited an hour plus just to get mine! When I got my number, it was like 30 numbers away. Frustrated, I loitered at the pharmacy area. One sales promoter came up to me and asked “Hi … are you a doctor?” I smiled and replied “No”. Then she went “You’re not?”. I was puzzled why she sounded so surprised by my answer so I repeated to her nicely that I’m not a doctor and smiled. She then proclaimed rather loudly how I look like one. And I’m like, how do you tell differentiate a doctor from the crowd?! Then another auntie overhead the conversation and then decided to chip in and said “Yah! You got doctor look!”. I have no idea how this conversation even started or what triggered them to say that. I wasn’t wearing a white coat, only a white shirt and black pants!

I just smiled and thank them (?) for their .. er, compliments (if any). So I waited for eternity for my number to be called! By the time I collected my stuff, it was already 1:45pm and I had to rush back to the office for a conference call at 2pm.

————————-

I got my food log checked today and I’m not eating enough meals. I’m suppose to take 4-5 small meals which I’m obviously not doing. The later part of the afternoon is usually when I’m stuck in some meeting/call but I’m gonna try and spread my meals out and increase my protein intake. Speaking of which I’m starting to get addicted to the myoplex drink. So I’ve been stocking up on canned tunas like a bear preparing for a harsh winter (except I don’t even know if Bears eat tuna).  I’m amazed by the varieties of canned tunas they have here, I bought some plain ones and the light version. I obviously didn’t check my shopping basket properly earlier because I found a chili tuna version when I got home — big mistake! When I popped the can opened, I was horrified. So I drained everything from the can and mop up excess liquid with paper towel and mix it with veges that I have, it tasted good but the tuna was way too spicy . I won’t be buying the chili version anytime soon. Tuna with salads are quite nice but 1 can was too much so I only ended up finishing half the tuna. I also ate 2 boiled egg whites. I think I somehow prefer the latter

I bought tofu and chicken boobies but it was too late to cook so tuna was dinner. I’m gonna stick to tuna in water or brine next time and check before grabbing blindly.

I have a weigh-in session on Friday and I’m not looking forward to it! ugh.

Say what?

I did it! I had my first weigh-in today and …

I LOST 3KGS!!!

And not forgetting 2.5kg of body fat. I have to keep this going and be consistent. I’m targetting 2kg-3kg per month. If this works out, by year end, I’ll be haaawwwt. hur hur hur.

Ok, I seem to be falling sick and I’m having a shit ass cold now. Been sneezing and having all watery eyes since this afternoon. I’m going to bed early. Ta!