Update, Week 4 March 23, 2007
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Weight (kgs): 65.1 kg No change
BF %age: 33.8% (33.4%) +0.4%
Fat weight (kgs): 22kg (21.7 kg) +0.3kg
Lean body mass (kgs): 43.1kg (43.4kg) -0.3kg
Waist, bellybutton (inches): 36 3/4″ (37.5″) -3/4″
Hips (inches): 38 3/4″ (39″) +1/4″
Bum (inches): 39 1/2″ (39 1/4″) +1/4″
Thigh, widest (inches): 22 1/2″ (22 1/2″) No change
Arm (inches): 11 1/4″ (10 3/4″) +1/2″
Chest (inches): 33″ (32 7/8″) +1/8″
Midchest (inches): 40″ (40″) No change
Day 1 + 2 February 27, 2007
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Things have been going great so far. I’m slowly adjusting to the food, though sometimes things crop up that keep me in school longer, and it’s difficult to find suitable eatings outside if i’ve not brought them myself. but there’s not been too much off program eating, and what there’s been has mostly been fruit.
workouts have been good! rejoined the gym, and did the UBWO yesterday, and my arms have been aching like crazy today, but it’s a good ache. or so i keep telling myself! the free weight moves will take a bit of getting used to, in the morning my gym is full of buff guys intently going about their weight lifting, so i get a bit intimidated and prefer to stay off in the corner on a machine rather than front and center with the free weights. but i shall persist!
this morning’s cardio wasn’t bad either, and it’s not so much the 10′s that’s the problem, but the several 9′s beforehand! the 10 itself was faaabulous, (or rather finishing it was!) and after that i felt pretty awesome for the rest of the day. 
tmr is the first lower body workout, and since i have class really early and can’t get to the gym and to school on time, i shall be trying out the school’s gym. which i’ve been avoiding like the plague.. since it’s full of school people. bah. oh well. if i want to do the workout in the morning, it’s going to have to be in school, so i shall have to suck it up, hope it’s pretty empty in the morning, and deal with it!
Body For Life February 25, 2007
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Flip, flop, flap. I seem to be seesawing from program to program like it’s going out of style. However! Thanks to my local library finally getting the book for me, I think that the next 12 weeks are going to be spent on the BFL program. The book is good, and the results that can be seen, not just on their promotional thingies, but also all round the web, are very impressive.
It’s going to be quite er.. challenging, since I’m just heading into the heaviest part of the school term, and am pretty much spending the whole day in meetings or studying for my midterms next week. And 9 weeks into the program I am leaving the country for 4 months! But, this time I’m determined to make it happen.
So, here goes.
Within the next 12 weeks, I will:
1. Lose 5 kgs of fat.
2. Fit into a UK size 12 again.
3. Reduce my body fat %age by 5%.
4. Get back into the healthy BMI range for my height.
5. See muscles in my arms!
Reasons:
1. I am sick and tired of always being the ‘fat friend’, surrounded by skinny minnies, and I want to feel less apologetic for being present, and daring to be loud and -there-.
2. I’ve had the same clothes for a while now, sticking to very few items, waiting for some weight loss to actually occur. Now’s the time to make the weight loss happen! I love clothes, and I want a chance to wear all the lovely things that I can’t fit into right now.
3. I will be in Hawaii in August, and I don’t want to feel self-conscious on the beach. :p
Starting Measurements:
Weight (kgs): 65.1 kg
BF %age: 33.4%
Fat weight (kgs): 21.7 kg
Lean body mass (kgs): 43.4kg
Waist (inches): 37.5″
Hips (inches): 39″
Bum (inches): 39 1/4″
Thigh (inches): 22 1/2″
Arm (inches): 10 3/4″
Chest (inches): 32 7/8″
Midchest (inches): 40″
whoops. February 18, 2007
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i’m really not very good at this daily posting thing yet, am i? bugger.
one thing i have noticed this time around though, is the effect one meal can have on the rest of the day, (and even the next). i’ve read about people who cut out wheat, and then have huge bloatedlinessgrossness very soon after eating a bit of it, but nothing’s really ever impacted me that way. maybe cos i wasn’t paying attention. hm! anyhow, after a few days of relatively healthy eating, (barring a lovely chocolate cupcake on valentine’s day), i went out for drinks with a few friends, and ended up having a share in 2 HUGE baskets of fried chicken, and fries. gods. i felt awwwfulll that night. just disgusting.
but did that teach me anything? apparently not. since the very next day i allowed it to keep me off track and grumpy and ended up grazing the whole day, and not on grass. :S with it being chinese new year, there’s a gadzillion snacks strewn around my house, and none of them are healthy. pineapple tarts are the worst. little, and snackish, and moreish, and the amount of butter in one of them could probably kill. and then there was the reunion dinner last night. please don’t ask how much coconut milk i had with the sago gula melaka. gods. deeeesgusting.
but! today will be a better day. have spent the morning catching up on the weight loss blogs that i read, after having neglected them for months, and am feeling relatively motivated again.
so, with my trusty bottle of water, it’s off into the jungles of schoolwork that needs doing, to the tunes of Pandora. and later, i swear i am going to take a half hour walk to the grocery store, to pick up some yoghurt for breakfast this week. and some milk to make some chai tea. mmm.
eta: i did take the walk, yay!
breakfast: 1 pack saltines, 3 slices cheddar cheese
lunch: 1 bowl yong tau foo
dinner: 3 small pcs of roast chicken, 4 leaves romaine lettuce, 1/3 tomato
other: 0.5 bowl yong tau foo, 2 chiku crisps, 2 oranges, 1.5 cups low fat milk, 2 cups rice, 2 pineapple tarts.
exercise: 1/2 hour walk, climbed 10 flights of stairs
Today.. February 13, 2007
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so today went.. ok. haha. managed to haul myself out of bed at 6.30am, with much grumbling and cursing, but motivated myself by thinking of how pleased i’d be with myself if i actually managed to do it. then danced around a bit while i brushed my teeth and got dressed, as a sort of pre-warmup, and then sprinted up 5 flights of stairs and trotted back down again 3 times. the sprinting was hard. :S
i think though, that the idea of working out in the morning may not work out. perhaps it’d be fine if i didn’t live in the tropics, but i get back, take a cold shower, and still am overheated for the next hour or so, which makes doing my makeup, and straightening my hair, a real pain in the arse. i’m overheating, perspiration dots my forehead, and i’m trying to powder my face. ew. and then add the heat from my GHD straightener to the already rather warm temperature (even at 7am!), and the bathroom begins to feel like the 7th circle of hell. sigh.
so yes, perhaps evenings would be better, if i manage to push myself to go running after i trudge home.
eating wasn’t so good, ended up mindlessly having 2 chocolate digestives from marks & spencer, after my friend bought a pack. stayed away from beer or other alcohol though, had a diet coke instead. yay me. was trying stuff on there though, and i’m now a size 16 on the top. :S when i was living in the UK i was a 10/12. so this is.. kinda horrible. i feel horrible. and then trudged around feeling disgustingly unattractive. sigh.
but that, in turn, prompted me to walk up 10 storeys when i got back home, so at least it wasn’t all for naught. :p
and yet another restart.. February 12, 2007
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..this is getting ridiculous.
however, i’m currently at my highest weight in about 10 years, which has sort of shocked me out of my inertia. uni is just starting its inevitable shift into high gear, which is annoying, but i really, really must do it this time.
especially since i’ll be in hawaii in august. :D:D
will be working in the US for about 3 months for a work & travel program, and on the way back i plan to spend a week or slightly more in hawaii. which means… swimsuits. the horror! so yes, much motivation this time. hee.
workout wise, will be trying out the HIIT 8 week program. 3 days a week and 15 minutes tops a day should be doable. of course, the main problem is that because of my slightly dodgy knee i’m going to probably need far more than 5-10 minutes of warmup, which ups the time a bit, but as i’m planning on doing stair climbing just outside my house, hopefully it shouldn’t be all that bad in the mornings.
though i am notorious for being unable to ever wake up on time. eek.
tracking wise, for food i will prolly still be using sparkpeople or calorie-count, but only in order to enter it into my page at traineo, and there should be a handy little button up some time soon. whee. am quite excited about this now. and traineo looks reallllly awesome. the site is so pretty! even though i’m kind of missing the point since i haven’t actually entered anyone as a motivator. oops. haha. but i don’t really have any friends that aren’t lithe and skinny, and i’m a little insecure about this whole issue, so it shall just have to stay as such for the time being!
August 23, 2006
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today’s the ultrasound day, wondering now how i’m going to drink that much water, i do hope that a) they have a watercooler, and b) i’m not kept waiting too long!
just got back from a beach holiday as well, it was loads of fun, but i did get very frustrated at how i looked in a lot of the photos. 
especially next to my long, lean best friend! sigh. ah wells, i ate the food in the first place, now i’ve got to get it off. was a good time though, very relaxing, and though i didn’t eat very healthily, at least i know i got a lot of exercise! we snorkelled so much, and swam more than i thought i actually could. so yay!
and now it’s back to school. bleh. and the line on my weight chart is going up, for the first time since i started. which isn’t really surprising, considering the amt of snacks we brought, and the buffet style food at the resort. have to make sure that the school schedule doesn’t keep everything off balance. speaking of which, i’d better get ready, going to pop by there before going to the hospital.. picking up a textbook to read while i wait! :p
oh dear. August 17, 2006
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well. i did end up going to the doctor’s to check my knee out. and decided to bring up a couple of other things, like my insanely irregular periods. hello, PCOS! bleah. it’s only a suspicion at the moment, but i’ve had a blood test, and the ratio of FSH and LH is kinda out of whack, but all is awaiting the ultrasound next week. but after reading up on the syndrome, it’s amazing how there isn’t one agreed upon way of diagnosing it, and how there’s no real way of knowing if you have it except by the process of elimination. anyway, we shall see how it goes.
and as for the knee? apparently i may have overworked some tendons or something behind the patella, as the pain is along the joint.. (??).. or something. i don’t pretend to understand it. so i was given painkillers and a topical NSAID, and told to rest it. which really does NOT help, since this has been bothering me on and off for over a year, and i’ve not been running during that time at all, to try and rest it. which then makes me wonder what ‘resting’ it would entail. not walking at all? better shoes? the second doctor i saw (a government one, so the referral for the ultrasound would be subsidised) did recommend trying to strengthen my hamstrings, as sometimes that helps the joint track properly.
erm. i don’t know, but i shall be trying all of the above, (except the non-walking :p), including a knee brace when i’m wearing pants or jeans. fingers crossed! (especially since i just ordered an enell sports bra from amazon yesterday, after agonizing over the cost for ages. i’ve not had a good sports bra since i was 16!)
August 7, 2006
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yay, am now down in the low 63s! 63.1kg this morning, and my excel trend has just ticked down into 63.9kg. so celebrations all round! this weight is coming off very slowly, but i’m grateful for every 100g that goes. though actually, come to think of it, 3 weeks to lose a kilo isn’t all that bad. i didn’t keep track of how fast i lost weight either of the prior two times, mainly because at the time i wasn’t trying to lose weight, and it was only after i slimmed a lot that i really began to notice. the first time i was waitressing at a bar just after graduating, while also working a day job related to my field, so i spent 8 hours running around a lab saving students from their own folly, and then 8 hours running around the bar at high speed. no wonder i lost weight, even though the eating patterns didn’t change. and then i moved to another country to do a bit of the old work and travel, and spent the first 3 months working my arse off in an inn, doing housekeeping, waitressing etc. cue more running around, and since it was in the middle of the countryside, lots of walks on my days off too.
unfortunately, where i am right now doesn’t allow me nearly that amount of daily exercise, so i’m finally having to examine my eating patterns, and face up to exactly what i’ve been ingesting every day. i’d gotten a good start on it while in the UK, where i bought my own food, and couldn’t afford to eat out, but since i’ve been back i’ve been eating out every day because it’s so cheap, and there’s only a little hotplate in the tiny kitchen, which doesn’t make me feel enthused about cooking at all. cue the pile on of the freshman 15. except it was 10, and it was in kilos. sigh.
however, i’ve found a good site that lists the calorie content of a lot of local dishes, (it’s amazing how many calories some of them contain!), and i’m beginning to get a handle on that. so today i shall be addressing the exercise component, and heading to the doctor’s to find out what’s wrong with my knee. i’ve not been running or doing anything high impact for a while because of it, and i’d really like to try out the couch to 5k plan. also, it’s been bothering me for well over a year, and it really should have been seen to before this.
also, congrats to Michelle on her Big Reveal! I loved the photos, and the dress was really lovely! it looked like a lot of fun, and i love that they’re going to follow up in 1 year’s time, gotta keep piling the pampering on. 
August 2, 2006
Posted by asphodel in eating, gym, hwl, Uncategorized.2 comments
just a quick update, the plan’s working great so far. i’ve stuck to the meal plans i’ve made, even cooked last night for the very first time since i moved back from the UK! am still amazed at how few calories veggies have for their bulk. and bemused at how many calories one simple rice dish can set me back. there’s naught to be had BUT rice in some food courts here. pah.
but! haven’t really been feeling the hunger pangs that he warned of, but today might be the first time, as it’s just past 1pm, and i’m getting hungry. no snack planned til 3.30! but my cup of tea sweetened with equal will get me by til then, i’m sure.
on the exercise front, things have been going well, the night before i made it to the gym for half an hour of cardio, then walked to the supermarket that’s furthest away, and back. also swam 10 laps last night, and i’m very proud of this, cos last night after swimming my friend dragged me to mcdonald’s for dinner, and i stuck to my plan and just had an ice cream cone, while she finished a whole meal in front of me! whee. (well, i ate some fries, but i didn’t go and buy myself a meal, though i was really hungry by then. i knew i had my dinner at home, so i persevered!)
so yea, faaabulous week so far. and my brand new weighing scale is showing it too. down to 63.2kg!
