Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It is a day to remember the blessings in our lives, to remind ourselves of all the good things that we have and how lucky we are.

I am thankful to God for blessing me with a loving family, a wonderful husband, a great job with a steady income. I thank Him for his daily blessings, his protection over me and my loved ones and his constant presence in my life - even when i neglect him.

I am thankful for the friends that I have and the many opportunities He has given to me in this life.

I am thankful that I have a roof over my head, good food to eat, warm clothes, money to spend, people to love and be with.

I have many things to be grateful for - and not only today but everyday, I need to remind myself that I have so much more in my life than some people out there and instead of whining about what I don't have, I need to focus on the good things in life and be a blessing to others.

What are you thankful for?

Have a happy blessed Thanksgiving and enjoy your Christmas preparations!

Back to work

It was nice to be back to work yesterday after a 2 week absense. I must sound crazy but then if you are stuck at home, unable to do much, you would feel the same way too!

I missed quite a few people at the office, so it was nice to see them again. And nice to be out of the house and doing something fruitful at work.

I got a couple of belated birthday presents from a few people at the office. A notebook and a bottle of lotion from Marks & Spencers. Other than that, yesterday was very normal; filled with meetings and other preparations for next year.

On another note, I read with great interest a few articles related to "cheating" on a diet. This has been made popular by Joel Mason and has been endorsed by quite a few health professionals as well as other personal trainers.

Basically, what it says is that when you diet, your metabolism tends to slow down because it senses the reduction in calorie intake so it starts to save energy. So, to counter this, you should have "cheat" days in between the diet period so as to trick your body into believing that you are not starving it so that it maintains it metabolism at a proper level. Cheating would be to enjoy the foods that you like for that day.

This actually helps one to stay on a diet because you don't feel deprived as you can look forward to that one day of enjoying your favourite food. And you don't beat yourself when you cheat because you are technically not spoiling the diet!! How nice!! :-)

So I am going to try that out. I had my cheat day yesterday. Ate pretty well for breakfast and lunch. For breakfast I had Low fat Milk and drank Green tea until lunch. For lunch, I had tofu, chicken, vege and ikan bilis (no rice). And for dinner, I enjoyed steamboat! I go back on my 5 day diet today.

Let's see how this works out for me

I did It!

I finished the 5 day diet without cheating! Yay!! Glad I made it through.

One month ago, when I weighed myself, I was shocked to realise that despite going for bootcamp I had put on so much weight and I weighed in at 99.3kg! I was really upset that I let all my hard work go because of having a lot of alcohol, and too much of "good food". A few months ago, I had brought my weight down to 92kg... sigh.

So I started to cut my food a bit here and there and going on these diets - 3 days for the past 2 weeks and 5 days this week. I am happy to say that this morning I weighed in at 94.9kg which means that I have lost 4.4kg.

Now, the hardest part. Make sure that I don't put on what I lost and keep losing.

Last November (2008), I weighed in at my heaviest at 106.2kg. I started 2009 weighing less than 100kg (ie. 9xkgs). Now, I want to start 2010, weighing less than 90kgs - which means I need to at least be 89kg on January 1st 2010.

That leaves me with 6kg more to lose and not gain back by the end of this year.

It's going to be hard to do it without exercise but I will persevere. And I hope to be able to start walking on a treadmill in at least 2 weeks so that I can burn some calories along the way.

I am going to need all the help I can get.

Any thoughts on what else I can do besides watch my diet?

Counting down the days

Christmas is coming! As usual I am super excited. Nothing like Christmas to bring the child in us right out, isn't it?

My family (meaning extended family) will be doing Secret Santa again this year; which means instead of every family buying presents for every other person in the family, we each pick a name and buy one present. Which is a big relief on our wallets since we have more than 30+ people celebrating Christmas together! (Although I do miss shopping for endless presents and opening many of mine as well:-) )

This year however, would be the first year in my life that we would not be spending Christmas with the entire family. This year, the 6 of us (which means hubby, mom, Rayna, Shayna and KP) will be celebrating Christmas at the Portuguese Settlement in Malacca. We of course wanted the whole extended family to come along as well (time for a change of venue) but unfortunately, too many problems so its going to be just the 6 of us.

It's going to be weird not having everyone around, and not having the usual David/Sebastian/Naidu/Saini unharmonised Christmas carolling, hearing Uncle Anthony's words of wisdom, eating, laughing, playing games and then counting down, hugging and kissing and jumping in to open up the presents. I am going to miss that.

But I feel that while we maintain old traditions, I would like to add in some new traditions; traditions that I will be sharing with my kids someday (when I have them, that is). So it is going to be an exciting time; and from what I have heard from many people, Christmas eve at the Portuguese Settlement is great and the Spirit of Christmas is so alive in the air. So its going to be an interesting experience.

What is everyone else doing for Christmas??

Only 35 days left till Christmas!!

WOO HOO!

Low Calorie Diet

I am on a low calorie diet at the moment; which according to the source, should not be done for long periods. It is not the best of diets, but because I can't exercise, I need this to help me lose some kgs.

The good thing about this diet is that I can have a scoop of ice cream as dessert after dinner, so I don't feel so deprived.

Last week I did it for 3 days and this week I am doing it for 5 days. After which, I will go back to regular foods, but I will have to ensure that I don't overeat after that.

There are so many diets out there, so many fad diets, all promising quick weight loss; but of course those are just short term. In the end, each of us have to change our eating habits permanently and not just do it one off.

Eating healthy is a lifestyle and I am still learning how to do that.

It isn't easy - it really isn't. So the best thing to do is to make small adjustments at a time and bit by bit, slowly but surely, I will make it

Here is to eating healthy!

Reflections on Turning 30

Happy Birthday to Me!!

I turn 30 today. Looking back on my life, I ask myself : what have I accomplished in my 20s? What special or significant things have I done in my 20s that make the transition to the 30s easier on me?

Honestly, I would have to say Nothing. I had set out to do so many things before I turned 30 but unfortunately, due to laziness and procrastination and fear, I didn't.

Turning 30 was something nagging on my mind the whole year. I didn't want to turn 30. I don't want my skin to start looking old, I don't want to start seeing wrinkles, and having more aches and pains (though I have had a fair share of those these past few years), I don't want children to call me Aunty or others to call me Madam.

I want to stay youthful, feel youthful and be youthful.

But I know that I can have all the above. Its mental and physical. And that's why the weight loss is so important.

Even when I was in my 20s I felt like I was in my 60s (and that was what the weight counsellor told me my body age is!!). So in order to feel like a 20 something, I have to lose 35kgs, build up my stamina and endurance, get my health back in order and train my mind. And then I need to accomplish all that I wanted to do but haven't done.

So here is being 30 and starting a new chapter of my life and making changes for the better.

Cheers!

Passing time

So i got myself into a spot again last week. After work on Friday, I changed into my bootcamp clothes and was happily walking to the car where my hubby was waiting for me when a girl accidentally knocked into me (while i was just going down the stairs). I of course lost my balance and went flying together with all the bags in my hands.

I couldnt move. My foot was in so much pain I saw stars. Some people came to help while the stupid ass girl who knocked me down stood there with her friend saying over and over again: "Im sorry, can I help, im sorry, can I help".. Help already you idiot!!!

Anyway to cut a long story short, xrays at SJMC showed that I had a torn ligament in my ankle. Was admitted for one night. Since I couldnt move, I had to use the bed pan throughout the night which was the most humiliating thing ever!

Anyway, am now at my moms place since stairs are out for me. I am so bored!

My highlight of the past few days : helping my family put up the Christmas tree and decor at my moms place. My hubby put me in a rolling chair so I could roll around the tree hanging up ornaments :-)

Anyway, no OBC for a couple of months some people say. I was hoping to rejoin the Dec intake but looks like i am going to have to put that off for a bit longer.

So with no chance of exercising, how do I lose weight before Christmas?

I am counting calories now and trying to be a good girl and resist temptations. Other than that, tried doing some sit ups on the bed but without both feet to support me, thats a bit hard. Still trying to work that out. And will be doing arm exercises so that at least one part of my body gets a bit of exercise.

Hope the pain reduces immensely soon so that I can at least go for walks! Will be on MC until Monday. I'm actually looking forward to going back to work. If I was off from work and could do whatever I want, now that would be a different story all together!!

Have a good day people!

New month

Yesterday was OBC's fitness assessment again. Sadly, I performed badly. Last month my time was 16 minutes and 32 seconds. This time is was 16 mins and 04 seconds. I only knocked off 28 seconds!!!! That is sooo embarrassing!! :-(

We didn't do the 2nd assessment due to the lightning. I doubt I would have performed well in that though... sigh

But no worries. Will work harder this month. I want to make try to complete it in 15 minutes, so hopefully I can achieve that.

On a happier note, CHRISTMAS is coming! I love Christmas! It's my most favorite time of the year. Putting up decorations, putting up the tree, listening to Christmas songs. The most magical season ever!

I am such a child when it comes to Christmas :-)

So now, I have to work extra hard to fit into my new dress I bought for Christmas - its too tight right now!