the truth about my 10-pound weight-loss

it really sounds amazing, that i actually lost 10 lbs. [11 lbs. to be exact] in 10 days on the mastercleanse.  but the truth is, most of it was [excess] water weight and that the loss was inevitably temporary, unless i decided to NEVER eat again.

here are the facts [about my experience]:

1. the truth is, it was quite logical that i lost that many pounds.  i was drinking a maximum of only about 1000 calories a day on the lemonade.  so it was but natural that i lost weight.
2. about 2 days after the last day of the cleanse, my tongue finally turned pink and i noticed that i had noticeably clearer skin.  up until now i have rarely used face powder.  i just put on sunblock, [and line my sparse brows] and i'm ready to face the world. well, come to think of it maybe SOAPure Castile Soaps had something to do about why my skin looks better. ha ha, shameless advertising, i know!
3. the moment i started eating, i started to gain weight.  ha ha! nothing surprising there too!
4. it's been 9 days of regularly eating, with no serious effort to watch what i eat.  and i think i've stabilized at 159 lbs.  i hit 159 5 days ago and have stayed there  since.  so yes, what they said about gaining half of what you lost is quite true for me. =D
5. i eat a lot less than what i used to because i take care not to wait till i'm stuffed to stop eating.  when i feel almost full, i stop.
6. i also eat more slowly now.  you gain a lot of respect for food when you miss out on it for 10 whole days!
7. i also pass up on food that do not meet the standards of my tongue, lol.  i don't waste the calories on food that does not please my palate.
8. i don't feel as energized as i did on the detox.  that's the part i miss most about the mastercleanse.
9. i read somewhere that you can repeat the mastercleanse after 2 weeks rest, well i tried to repeat it a few days ago because of all the parties that the christmas season has brought and i wanted to do it for only 3 days.  unfortunately, my attempts were futile.  i was too busy to dedicate time to make the juice and in the end i had to give up as i ran out while still out.  the mastercleanse requires effort and serious planning.  
10. i have also started to exercise, walking mostly, because i do want to keep the weight down.  i will have at it more consistently by january.  my goal is to JUST MOVE EVERYDAY.
11. i WILL repeat the mastercleanse on january but only for 7 days tops.  and i will do it monthly until i reach my goal weight of 130lbs.

i will not be posting [i think] until the holidays are over. so crazy busy these days.  :p

happy CHRISTmas everyone!  

Life after Mastercleanse

it's been 2 days since the day i ended my 10-Day Mastercleanse.  and i'm happy i'm back to eating again. =D

i've noticed that i do not snack mindlessly anymore and that i eat more slowly now.  well, 10 days of not eating does that to you, i guess.  you try to do a slow-mo of each bite to savor the taste of every morsel that touches your tongue. ha ha, such is my never-ending love affair with food!

i also am a bit more discriminating now as tastes have become sharper, i've been finding a lot of restaurant food either a little too salty or too sweet, or in other cases, bland and tasteless.

i've been eating all kinds of food since yesterday, enjoying every bit of the company [my kids mostly] as well as the fact that i no longer have to shun food.   the funny thing is [well, it wasn't so funny at 4pm yesterday] my tummy had a difficult time adjusting and i had to run to the toilet about 3 times!  i felt queasy and for some moments, it hurt a lot.

i deserved it though because i did not follow the instructions of easing into eating again.  i was supposed to take just orange juice on the first day, then soup today and wait till 2 weeks to start eating meat.  "hell no!' my hungry brain screamed inside my head!  so instead, i jumped right into eating and had cheese [dairy is a huge no-no at the start].   luckily, the suffering and discomfort didn't take too long as i am A-Okay today. =D

i also feel satisfied a lot sooner than before, so i try to pay attention to how i feel and stop eating when the "i'm almost full" signal switches on.  this way i stop just at the right time and eat just the right amount.

i know i have to move more because i do not like restricting myself when it comes to good food.  and a little of this and a little of that can mean a lot, so i've been thinking of how to move more without the pressure of going to the gym, waking up at 5am to run, or having to pack and unpack a gym bag every single day!

i remembered i had the 30-Day Shred by Jillian Michaels and so just a while ago i just went and tried it again.   The first time i tried it about a few months ago, i did not get past level 1, heck i did not even accomplish level 1 with perfect passable form.  i had to stop doing it because my weight was killing my knees and my feet.

tonight, i was able to do just 1/3 of the level 1 routine which isn't surprising given my state of being super unfit. but at least my knees do not hurt and my feet did not get shots of searing pain.  maybe i'm not so heavy anymore. =D

let me tell you a bit about the 30-Day Shred and why i like it.  this video has 3 levels which you are supposed to successfully accomplish in 30 days.  each level lasts for 20 minutes only and you are supposed to do it everyday.  this was designed by Jillian Michaels [one of the trainers on the Biggest loser] for busy people who do not have time to exercise.  the routine calls for a combination of cardio, abs, and strength training exercise which you do alternately and successively with practically no rest in between.  hence my being able to only do about 1/3 of the whole thing.

i had an asthma attack in the middle and had to stop for about 7 minutes before i pathetically tried to follow the moves again.  but i ended up sweating like a pig afterwards which was what i was after.

now, my legs are shaking and i'm expecting some soreness tomorrow.  but i feel great! =D

Mastercleanse Days 9 & 10

I'm now officially a graduate of the 10 day mastercleanse. =D Yipee!  But that doesn't mean i will not be doing it again.  I actually intend to do it periodically as it definitely is a good way to purge impurities from my body.


i'm glad i did this and i'm also glad that is finally over.  i can now take on the next challenge of maintaining my current weight.  for record purposes, here is an update:


Day 1 - November 28 - 165.8 lbs.
       2 - November 29 - 162.4 lbs.     -3.4 lbs.
       3 - November 30 - 160.4 lbs.     - 2 lbs.
       4 - December 1   - 161.2 lbs.     + 0.8 lbs.
       5 - December 2   - 159.8 lbs.     - 1.4 lbs.
       6 - December 3   - 158.4 lbs.     - 1.4 lbs.
       7 - December 4   - 157.8 lbs.     - 0.6 lbs.
       8 - December 5   - 158.2 lbs.     + 0.4 lbs.
       9 - December 6   - 157.2 lbs.      - 1 lbs.
       10 - December 7 -  156 lbs.        - 1.2 lbs


this means i lost 9.8 lbs. in 10 days!


November 29 - Starting narrowest waist measurement - 36 inches
                         1 inch above belly button measurement - 38 inches


November 30 - Narrowest - 35 inches, no change in the belly


December 3 - Narrowest - 34 inches, belly 36.5


this means i lost 2 inches around the waist and 1.5 inches in the belly area.


i've read that after the mastercleanse you more or less gain back half of what you lost.  so if it's true, it will put me at 160 lbs.  i hope not.  i was and still am hoping i can stay in the 150's this time.


i have yet to update my salt water flush experience [it was ugly] and my observations, opinions on how to do the mastercleanse in a better way.  i will do it in the coming days.


for now, i think i will just bask in my achievement. =D  finally, i won a major battle! against cravings, the urge to munch and the desire to binge, which did not feel like a battle most of the time. ;)


i wonder what tomorrow will bring.

back where i started =D

apparently, i've come full circle, ha ha.  i really missed this blog.  to be honest, trying to be cool over there with the cool kids at tumblr just didn't work out for me.  ha ha.  well, when you are 40, trying to be cool is totally uncool.  =P

anyhoo, just a quick update.  i'm stuck at 163 lbs, yo-yo-ing between 160 and 165 but mostly at 163.  been here for about too long than i should be [since June 2011, aarghh!] .  so i'm gonna change all that, yep, for the nth time, but i pray to God, with the i-hope-it's-really-gonna-workout-better-this-time-on-bended-knees kind of pleading.

my latest strategy, is not just aimed at weight loss but over-all detoxification. because skipping rice, sugar, softdrinks, for 2 weeks did not work like magic as it used to when i was half my age.  and  i think i need it.  40 years of eating all the crap that tasted oh so good but now feels oh so heavy [mainly on the belly] need to be purged off my system. i'm talking about doing the mastercleanse.  all of the recommended 10 days of it.

but before i talk about it, just to make sure i get this blogging thing straight for whoever is reading, since there are SOME people [i couldn't believe it myself but sitemeter does not lie, right? right?] who still visited this blog even when i stopped and moved over to where the cool kids are at.

why on earth i wanted to join them kids, i cannot think for the life of me now. =P but hey, don't get me wrong.  it's great over there too, and i met really nice people, learned a lot from them and got motivated with their successes and the support and push they gave me.  it's just me, of course.  i decided, i should come back here and finish this thing once and for all. =D

Soooooo, my last post was here where i said i was moving back to here.  but i never did. So, i'm back here. [whew, that was way too many heres.  but i hope you follow. [pun, super intended] =p

and yes, i missed writing long posts and i'm just the kind of girl who likes to round things up, and finish whatever i started.  and i MISS blogger.  because this is where the REALLY COOL ONES are at.  ha ha!

so back to my new strategy.  i first heard about it [yes believe me, i just learned about it, even if it has been existing for longer than i have, more than 50 years they say] from my mom, who gave me not one but 2 newspaper clippings of 2 different women who tried out the mastercleanse aka the lemonade diet.  Gina gave a day by day account of her experience and Lucy wrote about the struggle with food temptations and the beautiful effects of finishing the detox process.

honestly, it took a few days for me to even consider seriously reading about it.  10 days without anything solid seemed an impossible hurdle, especially for a person like me who lives to eat.  it's my most favorite thing to do.  ha ha!

but when my mom urged me to try it, i began researching on it and the more i learned about it, the more i wanted to see if it was really possible.

So last week, 2 days before the hubby arrived, i decided to try it out.  i said i will do it for 2 days, just to see if i can really go on my day normally sans solid food.  and i was amazed with my experience.  i actually went through those 2 days without food --> feeling great!  here's what happened:

• i drank a minimum of 60 oz. of the juice per day.  i used calamansi instead of lemon since they are much cheaper and much easier to squeeze [i do not have any kind of lemon squeezer contraption].  i had nothing but the drink and alkaline water.
• whenever i'd feel hungry, i would drink a glass or 2 of the juice and i was good to go.
• it was not difficult at all.  i even had to supervise a baking class, got presented with irresistible baked goods, but, i had no desire to eat even one morsel.
• the best part? i felt energized through out, i felt light on m my feet, and the first night, i got sleepy early [i'm a night owl] and i woke up early, REFRESHED [something that does not happen at all! i usually wake up and get up from bed reluctantly, with a heavy heart and butt =P]

i know, i know.  2 days are not 10 days, and it well could have been the usual first-day-high.  and maybe being busy with a gazillion things to do got my mind off food.

and Lucy and and a bunch of others say the 4th day is the hardest.  i realize 10 days are not a joke but if the first 2 days were a breeze, maybe i have hope.

so tomorrow, i start on the detox for the long haul - 10 days.  i expect to lose a bit of weight, which i might just gain back when i finish with the 10 days  but i'm more after that great, energized feeling of being healthy.  knowing you're doing something right for your body.  i think it is high time!

i also read that the mastercleanse is a good way to start a healthier eating lifestyle, which i think is what i really need to be doing the most.  i'm never going to lose the remaining 30 lbs. if i do not change my eating habits for the better.  yes, i'm aiming for 130 lbs.  125 seems too far away [read: unrealistic] at this point in time. =D

and i'm afraid to go to the doctor because i think diabetes, hypertension, and a worser case of asthma is just around the corner so i think this is the next best thing to do right now.  maybe i'll  have the courage to get a health check when i've taken better care of my body.  whatever.  i'm just so going to do this.

tomorrow is Day 1.

one strategy at a time

when i decided to get serious about becoming fit and healthy, about the time when i actively began posting again this year, i never thought it would be this difficult.  or maybe it would be better to say, i never thought it would take a lot to stay motivated at exercising and re-inventing my eating habits.

if i look back, not so long ago, it seems like i'm always starting something and never really am successful at maintaining what i set out to do.  and its not like i did not even try because i did.  it is just that i still have not found that exercise regimen which will fit the life i have right now.  and the most difficult of all is to constantly say NO to grazing and binge eating.  i also cannot bring myself to eat all the recommended foods in most [if not all] of the diet programmes i researched on.  because they always involve extra expenses and additional work, both of which is too much for my already full hands right now.

so two things, i GOTTA do:

1. i gotta get a hold of my self-control and not let it fly out the window the minute i see food.  i gotta lick my love for food, specifically my love for starches and pork.
2. i gotta find THAT exercise regimen which i need badly to lose the belly fat, huge amounts of it, i tell you!  i know it should involve cardio/aerobic work-outs but something not hard on my weak knee and does not involve wearing a swimsuit please.

i found/discovered three things whilst staying cooped up in this hospital room:

1. i can exercise at home. lifestyle channel has a 5:30am program daily.  so that means i need to wake up EARLY to join in on the action.
2. Jillian Michaels, that terror of a boot camp trainor of 'who's the biggest loser?' fame.
3. a cool routine tip from discovery no. 2 - exercise with a pack of cards [more on this later]. this is for when i don't catch the early morning show in no. 1

we are going home the day after tomorrow.  i'm kinda excited to start again.  i actually tried some routines last night, i stopped at 5 reps, my arms hurt and i couldn't lift my butt without endangering the hospital furniture.

today is my birthday and i am 39 years old.  and i'm spending it in a hospital room.  with my daughter who is recovering from a severe case of bacteremia.  we were here since oct. 28 and will have to stick it out here for another 3 days.  the antibiotics she is being treated with is only available in vials and can only be administered intravenously.  she is out of danger now.  Thanks be to God!

i on the other hand am in danger of sabotaging my weight-loss efforts.  although i am not [yet] stuffing my self sick with food, i am eating more often and unhealthy take-out food at that.  i blame it on stress and boredom and sleeplessness and pathetic internet connection for now.

so, i hope to get back on track soon.  on a more positive note, i have been able to analyze my fitness persona [or the lack of it] and am now trying to psyche myself into losing girth and weight.  i'm crossing my fingers i finally nail it this time around. 

day 8

of my 30-day challenge.

boy am i glad yesterday didn't count as cheat day because today unwittingly became one.  i did not eat rice yes but i ate a lot.  a little of this and a little of that, ends up a lot.  that i don't, can't, remember each and every item that i shoved into my mouth.

so i won't make a food report.  and yes i'm cheating cause i declare today as my cheat day,  and i'm going to make up for my pigging out tomorrow.  rest assured my binge did not include any dessert, nor a grain of rice.

today's realization:

• i have to find a way to get rid of my clean-plate mentality, and no throwing-out of food mentality.  i can't seem to stand the thought of wasting food even if i am confronted with the most unpalatable dish ever [unless i have an aversion to it's aroma, of course]
• i must, must learn to say no, NO, NO, NO.

Day 7

of my 30 day challenge.

i wasn't able to update last night because i got home really late.  after watching eat, pray, love.  alone. on last full show.  ha ha ha.  i had a silly grin on my face from when i got up from my seat as the credits rolled, all the way to the almost empty parking lot.  but that story belongs to another blog.  so, on with my 1-day-late report.

so yesterday being a sunday was my cheat day.  but because i had my pilates the day before, it didn't really feel like cheat day.  i don't think i made a huge dent on my diet.

i'm feeling good about my self-discipline when it comes to eating lately  so i think it's time to tighten the belt  so to speak [pun super-intended], so i am going to up the ante on this challenge in a while.

but first,

• at 8 am i had the breakfast of champions and my morning coffee
• lunch at noon was a serving of my left over creamy squash soup over a half cup of corn grits and an egg
• i was famished by 3pm, so i ordered myself a heavy mid-afternoon snack of a big cervelat and a small siding of warm potato salad.  i dredged each yummy bite of sausage with their really good mustard [edmond fallot].  and i had another mug of coffee, this time brewed.
• we had a dinner meeting at a filipino restaurant and i am proud to say that it was not difficult to NOT eat rice.  i had salad greens with mango salsa, a small cup of molo soup, mixed veggies, and a few slices of pata tim. i mopped up the sauce with a slice and a half of the bread that came with it.  the bread was heavenly and i suspected calorific so i stopped myself from reaching for more.

what i learned this week:

1.  that it is INDEED good to write down what you eat.  it helps a lot because it makes you aware of what you put into your mouth.  doing it in a blog makes you feel more accountable even if you know not many people read you.  i did not know that saving-face can be a good weight-loss tool.
2. that you can control how much you eat by pacing yourself.  it is very dangerous to let myself get really hungry because i WILL eat calorie-dense food.  my brain will not function when i am that hungry so i will end up wasting all that effort.  and the self-loathing that comes immediately after sucks big time.  i'm glad i had that occasional banana and cereal bar to tide miyself over to dinner time.
3. that if you have a really light dinner, you have to accept that you should drink something hot before going to bed because you will wake-up in the middle of the night with a rumbly stomach.  by the way, i forgot to write this,  that night i slept hungry, i think the other day, the one where i had salad greens for dinner, i downed a handful of peanuts and a glass of water at 2am, or i wouldn't have been able to go back to sleep.
4. that discipline grows on you.  i said no to dessert so many times this week, i lost count.  i wanted to go for seconds many times but i didn't.  i unintentionally ended up with something sweet [i ordered a cold raspberry green tea, requesting the staff not to add sugar/sweetener] to drink with my salad that other night.  i only drank half of it because they forgot my request, and the i found it too sweet.
5. that it's okay to tweak this challenge if it will make it a better challenge. the tweaks i will post later just because. =P

Day 6

of my 30 day challenge.

today was good.  in more ways than one.

let me get the food diary out of the way, i had:

• coffee and the breakfast of champions in the morning
• this for lunch:

creamy squash soup over con grits and sprinkled with chili flakes

• a banana and a cereal bar as late-afternoon snack
• a salad of mesclun greens with parma ham, goat cheese, shavings of parmesan cheese, cherry tomatoes drizzled in vinaigrette.  it was delish!!! [note to self for next time:  ask the waiter to serve the dressing separately so i consume less of it.]

on to more good news:

• one of the pilates instructors commented that i lost a considerable amount of weight from when i first started [a few months ago].  yipee!  and he gave me further tips on how to lose more weight gradually.  he gave me the no-no about not eating carbs, i should be happy, i guess.
• i met an online friend who is my most supportive cheerer in the weight-loss department, and she is the reason i had salad for dinner.  i can just imagine if we lived in the same city, either i'm now as slim as she is or we won't be friends anymore, ha ha ha.  i actually fear her.  i mean that in a good way. =P
•  i did some new routines on the reformer today.  it was really hard but i did not give up.
• tomorrow is my cheat day but i'm deadset on eating right to make up for my challenge booboo.

to be honest i feel a bit hungry now so i'm going to drink a glass of water and hit the bed so i don't end up ruining today. =P

Day 4

of my 30-day challenge.

i had an early morning meeting so i had nothing but coffee for breakfast.  i did not do it intentionally of course, i know it's unhealthy to skip meals, but then some days are just like that.

the meeting took all morning and even till noon so by 1pm i was ravenous.  my hubby asked to order from our fave persian place, Majid's.  so that's what we had for lunch.  at 1:30pm.  and yes, i completely forgot that i wasn't allowed to eat rice today.  this is what i had:

1 goat kabab with loobia and grilled tomato, garlic sauce and hummus
dill chicken and rice [left-over of guela]  which was about 2/3 of the whole serving
1 mango and a half
i remembered not to take juice.

i ran some errands in the afternoon and had a banana at 6pm so i would not be ravenous again at dinner.  we went out to Spirale, an italian resto, as requested by my daughter who made a major booboo just before we went home.  i had:

1/3 serving of salcicce pasta [cream, tomato sauce, assorted sausages]
2 slices Gordo pizza [assorted sausages and prosciutto]
half a can of coke zero

i know, dinner sounds really calorific but hubby is going away again tomorrow so dinner had to be special, salad greens just isn't gonna cut it.


bold note:

• the juice we have here right now is of the powdered kind [meaning: sugar-laden]
• guela went out to play as we were waiting for the bill, picked up a stone and threw it as hard as she could, it hit the glass window of the japanese resto beside ours.  good thing she isn't so strong yet, the stone only made an itty bitty scratch on the glass.  but we scolded her good and she was masulub-on the rest of the way home. ha ha, lesson definitely learned, i hope. =P

updates and hitching a ride on the 30-day challenge bandwagon

i've been putting off posting anything because i don't have any good news to tell.  for this week.  nada.  but i finally thought of something which will make me make the obligatory daily post if i wanna win this battle i have staged.

but first let me give you the lowdown on my 1 week of absence:

• last monday i had chest pains which worried me enough to warrant a visit to the OPD.  i underwent some tests and no they did not approve my plans of going to the gym that afternoon
• on tuesday, i had to undergo more tests and being unsure if i was supposed to still rest, i cancelled my pilates session.  i then got my results in the late afternoon and the results are:

my blood sugar is 6.3, which means i'm .2 points over the highest normal

my cholesterol is on the high side

my kidney is okay

my liver is okay

the doctor then asked me to undergo another test for my blood sugar, this time without the need to do any fasting.  he said i can have it done anytime, no hurry.  and so i didn't hurry and now i lost the prescription. dang it!

 the doctor also said to watch what i ate.  to avoid sweets and fried food and to exercise.  i did none of the above this week, [explanation coming in a while].

• on wednesday my daughter's major exams started.  this meant a change in routine, more exposure to the intense tropical sun [i had to wait for her in the school canteen until she finished] equals, i was totally drained of energy by noontime. and of course i said no way jose to the gym.
• on thursday, the preparations for 2 major work activities were in full swing and i absolutely was not abandoning tasks in favor of the gym.
• on friday, i was up to my neck with work until the sun set so again... you already know what did not happen
• and today, was also work-filled for our BIG monday activity so you guessed it... no pilates!!!  and by the way, yes the left knee is still a problem, but less so.

am i pissed off at myself?  noooo.  to be honest, i don't want to beat myself up about my lack of gym time because i absolutely loved every minute of missing it! ha ha!

sigh.  more and more i see how this gym thingy has no place in my life right now... what to do, what to do??? i asked my self as i lay down my overweight self on my bed every night.

and tonight it finally struck me!  i am going to do the no-carbs/no sweets- if-no-exercise-30-day-challenge!  my challenge title is so lame, i know, but it is what i thought of doing.  i will not allow myself to eat any carbs or anything sweet if i don't spend at least an hour of exercise the day before.  so if i don't work-out on monday, i can't have even my brown rice on tuesday. and so on and so forth.  and of course, my cheat day will be on Sunday, which is tomorrow by the way, yipee!  [am i the luckiest challenge-taker or what!]

i figured that, even if i miss a lot of gym days, i punish myself by not eating "indulgent" food.  so i lose weight either way, by burning calories or by reducing my calorie intake.  so i win any which way right?

if it still isn't obvious how desperate i am, i don't know what more to do.  the other night i just wanted to call it quits.  write down my last post, wave the white flag, and let go of my pathetic attempt to get back in shape.


So,  whaddaya think?  will this love for carbs and sweets make me exercise daily?

this is how it's gonna work:

1. i start on monday.
2. i'm gonna post here everything that goes into my mouth for that day.
3. i'm gonna post if i exercised or not and if yes, what form of exercise i did for the day.
4. i am not going to lie.  i promise.
5. i am going to bore you because i will post the food details and the exercise details every single day
6. i will do this for 30 days so that means the challenge ends on November 18, 2010.

so, i ask you, my dear reader, not to laugh, nor snicker.  i ask you to wish me luck,  pray for me,  be my challenge-police.  be my anything, please, anything that will help me move forward.

if any of you want to join me in this challenge, please speak up so i can be your one-woman-cheering squad, if need be. =D

So help me God.

three things

1. i gained weight instead of losing it.  i gained 5 pounds in 1 week.  this better be pms or else i'm gonna blame it on the cardio work-outs. [of course i can't blame it on the food i've been ingesting]
2. my left knee still hurts, but i'm gonna do the treadmill just the same, tomorrow.
3. i made a deal with the hubby, starting tomorrow, we start eating healthy.  and no complaining allowed!
4. i'm going to go crazy if i gain another 5 pounds when the week ends.

okay, that's 4 things.  i'm just so mad right now.

p.s.  pilates was a breeze today.  of course i still thought i was gonna die after each set but i definitely cursed less. 

finalmente!

sono cosi felice!

I am this happy!

yes.  i finally made it to the gym.  signed up for a month, paid the fee, worked out for an hour.

now for the gory details:

• the gym scale was not on my side [ i prefer the one at my kids' pedia].  but in the interest of being upfront, it read 172 lbs. arrrgh!
• i did 40 minutes on the treadmill
• and 25 minutes on the elliptical, and on the last three minutes i seriously considered hanging my whole body onto the handlebars.
• i got dizzy when i got off both machines, which the gym instructor said was normal.  maybe he thought i was THAT unfit.
• my ridiculous moment for today: i unintentionally suddenly shut down the treadmill at 25 minutes when curiosity got the better of me and i lifted the magnetic thingy which was attached to a string which was attached to the machine.  it turned out to be the emergency stop thingy. hence the ditzyness, i mean dizziness.
• tomorrow i resume my pilates class. yipee-ya-yey!

updates and lotsa links in between! =D

i had a haircut! or was it just a trim... i found her and fell in love with her hair and since i've been meaning to change my hairstyle i went and had my newly found hairstylist, Jules try and make me look like her.  of course i know i don't look a bit like her, even now, when my hair kinda looks like hers.  but i'm lovin' the look of my locks.  i can't won't show you a pic because my face is still fat and pudgy. =P

and i bought my second issue of Women's Health magazine to help boost my growing enthusiasm to move my butt.  i remember, when i was still active, i practically hoarded Muscle and Fitness Hers magazines in the effort to learn how to lift weights the correct way and in proper form.  i was so obsessed with weight-lifting  that i felt the need to read up and learn. Nooo, I never aspired to become muscular nor did i want to look like a she-man, i just wanted to do IT right.  i learned a lot by reading and i even was able to design my own work-out to achieve the muscle definition i wanted, which wasn't really much compared to the women in the magazines. [you can go pick up your dropped jaws now, that story, though true, belongs to my past life]

so, here i am reading up again, a bit sad that i must start from the 'aspiring' level.  but i must start somewhere, and in keeping with my 'new' life as a mother and the fact that i am rushing into the big 4-O, i must have a plan.  I WILL BE FIT AND FABULOUS AT FORTY.

it's not all words you know, the brown rice i've been eating must be something really good because despite the lack of effort at getting more physical in the past few weeks; despite the food binges; and despite the lack of artificial help [read:weight-loss pills], i have not gained weight and quite a few people have noticed the itty bit of weight i have somehow managed to still lose despite all of the above.

so, here's the first part of the plan:

• i continue my twice a week pilates sessions
• i start my thrice a week 30-minute cardio exercises tomorrow; my options being: walking around the subdivision when i wake up early enough; walking on the track at the gym if my free time falls on hot early afternoon hours; walking on the park oval if it falls at dusk. if all else fails, i do my old DVD work-out routine in the living room area.

if it wasn't almost midnight now, and if i did not have a really late dinner, i'd have switched on the DVD and started RIGHT NOW.

i will do this for 2 weeks and  up the ante every two weeks.  i'm loosely basing my plan on the Ultimate Fitness Plan 2010 plan i found on one of the issues of Women's Health magazine.  i say loosely because i do not have all the paraphernalia they require and i don't intend to spend on extras just yet when i know fully well that i can do other routines that do not require buying anything.

i'm writing this down here because this is Ben's number 1 advice.

So help me God.

good night

yep, i'm going to bed right after this post [which is way earlier than usual] because i intend to go to the gym and sign up first thing in the morning.  no more excuses, no more delays.

i think i've said enough, this week just didn't work out the way i wanted it to, like last week and the week before that.  but i'm holding tomorrow by the neck. and by hook or by crook i will burn calories tomorrow. morning.

so, i've been busy with one of my other blogs so you can't say i've been lazy with my postings.  i've finally also put my self to work on my secret obsession [which isn't so secret anymore].   so you see, i have not been lazy.  do you see a pattern here? i'm trying to get every aspect of my life into shape, and i've been documenting it.  i hope i'm not coming down with a disorder or something. =P

and before i call it a night, i would like to share something i read a while ago that made me go, "ENOUGH OF THIS NONSENSE, YOU BETTER START MOVING YOUR BUTT FIRST THING TOMORROW MORNING!"  Go check her out first here and then here.  she just might give you the push you need too.

you can all thank me later. =D

updates, how velcro relates to weightloss, and my bad back

i'm off zytrim for now.  i'll see if i manage to lose some more weight without it.  i'm sticking with the brown rice but to be honest, it takes a back seat when basmati rice takes over the table.  good thing i discovered that basmati rice is actually ideal for diabetics [i still don't know if i am one, though]  because it is one type that has a medium glycemic index.  so maybe if i cook it the long way, the index will go much lower.

i'm now at home enjoying this lazy day because it's a special non-working holiday in our city.  the kids are alternately playing and watching barney.  too bad the hubby has to go and work up in the mountains.  we're hoping he will be back before it gets dark.

i'm happy to report another proof of weightloss.  i'm wearing new board shorts which has velcro as enclosure.  when i first wore it last june, the velcro burst open when sat down, i have not worn it since, which explains why the shorts is still new.  and today, i had to try it on because every other pair is still in the dirty clothes hamper.

it was quite roomy as i clasped both ends together, and did not budge a bit as i sat down.  more importantly, i feel comfy, and not about to turn blue for lack of air.  a sidenote: did you know that your asthma attack can be caused by wearing pants that are way too tight?  i had a friend in college who puffed away at her inhaler through out the day because vanity trumped comfort and well-being.

i missed 3 or 4 pilates sessions for different reasons.  the latest reason is because i have lower back pain, specifically in the 'small of the back' area.  it started a couple of days ago.  and the pain gets bad whenever i bend or try to carry maxie.  he has put on quite a lot of weight lately and i'm guessing the pain is because of that.  how should one carry one's really heavy baby anyway?  is there a proper way to do it?  i'd appreciate tips if any of you have one.

meanwhile, i move like a tired, old lady, stand up from my chair ever so slowly, and wonder if i should go see a doctor.  if this persists come monday, maybe i will. 

worth it

i'm drowning myself on a concoction i invented.  i don't even know if it is a valid mix.  but they are what i have and i wanted to drown fast.  so i fixed myself some bacardi and kahlua with ice.  which filled my coffee mug to the brim.  yes, i used my coffee mug.  don't ask why.

i know, its a lot of empty calories.  but compared to the mess i am in right now.  i know it is worth every bit of it.  not to mention, yummy too.  [ think i put too much of the kahlua].

anyways, on happier note, i discovered that heartache makes me not want to eat.  even if it makes me feel so damn hungry the whole time.  hungry and nervous, i've been in that state since this morning, well up until the cocktail invention kicked in and worked its purpose.

if you are wondering, yes i am intoxicated as i type this.  happily so.  good night then, here's to a hangover-free morning when i open mine dry eyes at day break.... =P

now what?

seriously, what do i write about?

i really don't know what to say right now.  i've refreshed this 'new post' page about once too many and i still can't come up with anything new or interesting to report.

yes, i'm back to 169lbs.  but that isn't really far from the 171lbs i was a month ago.  and i've not added to my exercise routine.  i'm still ONLY doing Pilates twice a week.

what i'm happy about though is that i'm still eating brown rice instead of white, i only take diet soda but ever so rarely now, and i don't eat sweets as much.

and yes, i've upped the dosage on zytrim, taking 15mg now and always with something that has l-carnitine.

my life is so boring right now.