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.

Mastercleanse Day 6

Today was easy in the sense that i didn't do much of anything that was work-related.  i attended my daughter's family day activity in school and then came home with them early afternoon;  cooked my thankfully-not-over-cured-ham, which i was supposed to cook two days ago; and set the table for a dinner of take-out roast chicken [Chooks-to-go, the kiddos' favorite!]

It was also easy food-wise.  until now i marvel at my ability to say no to every food item that came into my path today.  For example, the lunch buffet, which i had to get for Ate Kat and my son and daughter, was: steaming hot rice, chicken cordon bleu, baked macaroni, pork barbecue, and an array of other dishes i opted not to get.  Oh and did i mention there was lechon also?  i sat with them, fed my daughter, Guela while Ate Kat tried to feed my son, Maxie.  I watched as all the other families partook of the delicious fare.  I sipped my juice contentedly amazed at how my mouth kept from bubbling over with envy.  =P

Didn't i want to eat?  of course i did.  Did i not find the sight and aroma of food tempting?  of course i did.  so what gives?  i had not eaten for 6 whole days!  i must be starving! but i wasn't.

as i try to reflect on my self-control, i am reminded of moments in the past when i see skinny women naturally pass up all the delicious food in front of them and contentedly nibble on greens or sip on hot tea.  and i think to myself, so this must be how easy it is for them.  so this must be how they feel when turning down food being offered to them. without batting an eyelash.  a friend told me this afternoon, as i was telling her about my disbelief at my own self-control, that i was simply determined.

maybe i am.  just that.  determined.  maybe i really am really sick of a bulging belly.  maybe i am really already tired of having to drag around my heavy body.  and maybe i also am sick and tired of looking at the mirror and hating what i see.

i wonder now if i can carry this through.  i actually dread when day 10 comes.  when i have to start eating again.  i honestly never thought i would come this far.  but probably the shame of giving up and failing again [for the nth time] was as much of a motivation to push on.

i know when i started this Mastercleanse i said i was doing it to detoxify my body of all the toxins i've accumulated over the years.  but one strong factor was that it promised weight loss.  and that it was a very good jump start to finally lose some serious excess weight.  i chose this among other ways because i found that everything else i did: exercise, no-rice diet, no sodas just did not work out the way they did when i was much younger.  so i needed a big change, a sort of major-start-over strategy.  hence this.

i still have much to lose in terms of weight.  and i know that one wrong move will mean regaining everything i lost so far in no time, and put me back to square one.  but i do not want to go back there anymore. ever.  right now i feel strong and in control.  what if after this cleanse i will lose all will power and just surrender to my weakness - after all, i am actually one of those people who LIVE TO EAT.  Food is the highlight of my day.

i guess only time will tell.  Day 7, bring it on.

Mastercleanse day 5

Hello Day 6!  it feels great to see you!  =D

Again, i wasn't able to update about Day 5 last night because i came home really late and was too tired to even start up the pc.  It was a day that started at 6am and i had accomplished quite a lot, thank you very much!

So let me start this post with a summary of my weight stats!

Day 1 - November 28 - 165.8 lbs.
       2 - November 29 - 162.4 lbs.
       3 - November 30 - 160.4 lbs.
       4 - December 1   - 161.2 lbs.
       5 - December 2   - 159.8 lbs.

and today, Day 6, i weighed in at 158.4 lbs.  Congratulations self!  Welcome to the 150's! [again!]  The lowest i've been since being on this journey, if i remember right was 157 lbs.  i squandered all the effort i gave to it on the vacation that followed last summer. food trip galore! =P

well i plan to not be as idiotic this time and finally find the perfect balance for myself. [crossing my fingers and  pleading with the scale gods, ha ha]

So, even if i've not been doing a good job of my supposedly day-to-day account of the mastercleanse experience, i really have to say that it is something that changes how you look at food, the act of eating, and your ability to control the urge to eat.  it's difficult to put it into words but i find what i go through, during the process of opting to pick up my jug and drink the juice instead of eating every plate of food i come across with or is presented to me, amusing, enlightening, and purifying all at the same time.

many times during the day, i want to stop for a moment and write down my realizations and discoveries, but the problem is i don't have the time to sit down and write.  anyhoo, i will have to content myself with what comes to mind when i do have the time.

till then...  Day 6, i'm ready for you! =D

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 2

of my 30 day challenge.

Today started really great.  i had what i call the breakfast of champions because i actually copied it from the blogs of some of my fave weight-loss champions, Ben and Theodora. 

breakfast of champions

i had it at 6:00 am. can you believe that?  if i did not actually eat them, i wouldn't have believed it myself, lol.  once upon a time i was the kind of person who did not eat till lunch time.  well, sometimes i'm still like that.  but this morning i had to arm myself because i was going to be stuck in guela's school and the canteen serves mostly starchy and fried food.  so i decided to try the banana and peanut butter on whole wheat toasts which i often see in my champions' blogs.

i also brought with me a quarter of a cup of corn grits which i ate with guela's left over chicken nuggets at 10am.

i returned to my pilates class after a week-long absence and was happy that i aced all but one of the routines.  my shoulders were weak today and i could hardly finish one of my arm exercises.  but i sweat buckets so i declare the session a success, ha ha.

i had late lunch with the hubby at 2:30pm and had a cup of corn grits and something we call picadillo over here.  it is ground pork cooked with diced potatoes, peas and raisins, and it was good.  the downside was it was a bit too oily. =(

before heading out to the supermarket at 6pm i had a banana and a handful of peanuts.  i did this to stave off hunger so i wouldn't go berserk at the mall and order the first sinful thing i laid my eyes on [it worked!]

for dinner at 8pm, i had my last cup of corn grits for the day [shoo, go away cholesterol, shoo, go away evil sugar in my blood!] and the left over picadillo and 1 cheek of a ripe, sweet, juicy mango.

today was a big improvement to my usual convenient but really-bad-for-you choice of food.  i also bought more veggies to make our meals healthier.  i also chucked my plan of preparing fish and chips tomorrow and instead serve baked fish and german potato salad, the recipe of which was recently shared to me.

i hope to be able to make it to the gym tomorrow.  there was lightness in my step today.  maybe it's the excitement of taking on a challenge.  maybe it's the good feeling you get when you know you did right by yourself.  whatever it is, i hope to keep it up, so that the lightness i feel inside will be reflected on what is seen on the outside. =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. 

committed and hopeful

it's so easy to brush off your work-out schedule when all the other aspects of life demand your time and presence.  it's so easy to say that worrying and stressing about all your activities coming one after the other because there aren't enough hours in the day is a VALID REASON to put off working out for yet another day, [again!].

i did that last week.  and i let it happen the week before that.  in fact, i've been doing just that for so many years now.

and now, i see what years of neglect has done to me.  everyday, i suffer the consequence of having so many excuses not to exercise. i have to look at the mirror too you know. =P

but this week i put my foot down.  i stuck to my plan with all my might and i treated each work-out session as if it was the most important thing i was going to do that day, not the meeting with my colleagues, not the errands, not even relaxing time with my newly-arrived hubby. [yes, and i am sure he is OKAY with it. he he.]

i did not cancel on myself.  and i am happy, and proud, and hopeful.

i am hopeful that the image looking right back at me from where i run on the treadmill will not look as sorry ass it did today.[lol, i couldn't help it. =P]

i am hopeful that someday i will float and stand like everybody else in spinning class and not have to endure the pain of the seat pushing against my butt [seriously!] because it is too heavy for me to lift[my butt, not the seat].

and i am hopeful that as the weeks pass, each day will get more challenging but not pathetically so.

tomorrow i have pilates.  and on saturday, my third gym session for the week.  i am indeed hopeful.

i survived...

...my pilates class.

it was tough for 2 reasons:

1. i return from a week of absence.
2. i only had 4 hours of sleep, and i need 8 to not turn into princess fiona. 

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.

so sue me.

go ahead. snicker.  laugh you arss off.  say i'm a liar.  never, ever believe me again.

but i did try.  i tried my best.  it just wasn't enough.  the health gods are conspiring against me, i think.

i did go to bed before it struck 12 last night.  and i woke up at 6am sharp.  i was raring to go.  but then, mommy life got in the way - i nebulized maxie even before i had the chance to wash my mouth.  housewifey-life got in the way- i had to prepare my second batch of vigan longganisa, it needs to cure, so i timed it for hubby's arrival on the weekend.  and lastly, work life got in the way.

i thought i could still squeeze in an hour of gym time before the admin. meeting we were having at noon.

the latter got so much in the way i had to ask my parents to do carpool duty so Miguela could go to school.  i even had to chew on my lunch of brown rice and meatballs while presenting performance appraisal forms to my colleagues at work.

when morning passed, i promised myself to go to the gym right after the meeting.

but a student arrived at 4pm asking to speak with me, then i had to wait for an instructor to finish his class at 5pm, and discuss the student's problem with him.

then i thought of running a few laps at the nearby park oval before it got too late.

but requests and vouchers needed to be approved one after another, emails needed to be sent, and so i did not see day turn into night.  i struggled to finish work that piled up in my inbox, and on my desk, and overflowing from my desk drawer; the result of a week or two of dedicating my time to mommy duties and home organization.

i finally started for home at quarter before 9pm.  if the gym wasn't gonna close in fifteen minutes time, i would have still gone to do an hour's worth.  but i instead headed home, vowing not to eat dinner on days when i miss working out.  like TODAY. 

valid excuses or not, i lost my one chance today.  but tomorrow is another day.  another chance at fighting this battle with my weight and everything that conspires with it.

so laugh if you must.  i know i'm gonna win this,  one day soon.

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

motivation vs. failing miserably

i learned something about myself today.  i've been wondering why i often slide back to bad eating habits once i see a bit of an improvement in my weight.

it's like i'm rewarding myself with food, which is stupid of me, i know.  but food, to me, equals happiness.  and the sad thing is, my idea of great food covers the span of starchy food whether savoury or sweet, or even bland; heavy-weights such as pork meat; the delicate fruits of the sea; and all things chocolatey and comforting.  i've even grown to love tarts and pies ever since my sister learned how to make them.

so do you see my dilemma?  and don't try suggesting other forms of reward because if i have not made it obvious yet, food trumps them all.

what is comforting right now is that i have realized [and hopefully  it's not too late now] what motivates me to lose weight some more, and gain back my health and  achieve a fit body.  i noticed that i tend to have self-control when i intentionally get physically active, or when i take supplements which claim to help me lose weight.

maybe it's the money i spend, or the effort i give at working out, or both.  whatever.  so now i will WILL myself to concentrate on the amount of time i spend working-out, the suffering i endure [ha ha, so the dramaqueen], and the money that goes into it.

i NOW believe in this:

Exercise is a high life priority, so this a worthwhile place to spend some money if that helps.

and then try not to gloat at the measly progress i am making right now.

am i a strange person or what?

struggling positively

this is where i am right now.

and i'm glad i found these tips:

Eleven Tips for Exercising Regularly

1. Always exercise on Monday. This sets the psychological pattern for the week. Along the same lines …

2. If at all possible, exercise first thing in the morning. As the day wears on, you’ll find more excuses to skip exercising. Get it checked off your list, first thing.

3. Never skip exercising two days in a row. You can skip a day, but the next day, you must exercise, no matter how inconvenient.

4. Give yourself credit for the smallest effort. My father always said that all he had to do was put on his running shoes and close the door behind him. Many times, by promising myself I could quit ten minutes after I’d started, I got myself to start—and then found that I didn’t want to quit, after all.

5. Think about context. I thought I disliked weight training, but in fact, I dislike the guys who hang out in the weight-training area. Are you distressed about the grubby showers in your gym? Do you try to run in the mornings, but recoil from going out in the cold? Examine the factors that might be discouraging you from exercising.

6. Exercise several times a week. If your idea of exercise is to join games of pick-up basketball, you should be playing practically every day. Twice a month isn’t enough. 

7. If you don’t have time to both exercise and take a shower, find a way to exercise that doesn’t require you to shower afterward. Twice a week, I have a very challenging weight-training session, but the format I follow doesn’t make me sweat. (Some of you are saying, “It can’t be challenging if you don’t sweat!” Oh yes, believe me, it is.)

8. Look for affordable ways to make exercising more pleasant or satisfying. Could you upgrade to a nicer or more convenient gym? Buy yourself a new iPod? Work with a trainer? Get a pedometer to keep track of your walking distances? Exercise is a high life priority, so this a worthwhile place to spend some money if that helps.

9. Think of exercise as part of your essential preparation for times you want to be in especially fine form—whether in performance (to be sharp for an important presentation) or appearance (to look good for a wedding) or mood (to deal with a stressful situation). Studies show that exercise does help.

10. Remember one of my favorite Secrets of Adulthood, courtesy of Voltaire: Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good. Don’t decide it’s only worth exercising if you can run five miles or if you can bike for an hour. I have a friend who scorns exercise unless she’s training for a marathon—so she never exercises. Even going for a ten-minute walk is worthwhile. Do what you can.

11. Don’t kid yourself. Belonging to a gym doesn’t mean you go to the gym. Having been in shape in high school or college doesn’t mean you’re in shape now. Saying that you don’t have time to exercise doesn’t make it true.

i'm crossing my fingers that i have new updates regarding additional exercises on my very next post. =D

pathetic

yes.  that's what i think i am. right about now. and most probably up until i finally lose a respectable number of pounds in a respectable amount of time.

and to think i was in a self-congratulatory mood as i updated my stats to the right,  yes, i lost an additional 3 lbs, the weighing scale said.  but when i was looking over this blog, some facts dawned on me.

1. that i started this blog a year and a month 2 months ago, July 6, 2009; and
2. that i pegged my starting weight from about the time i gave birth to maxie; and
3. that i've written 40 crappy posts about this pitiful journey to fabu-loss-city or should i say Loser-ville with the capital L across my forehead; and [yes, i ain't done yet]
4. that if i computed the average, i just about lost a whopping 1 POUND PER MONTH. SHEESH!

what's worse is i think i'm the last to see how pathetic i've been.

needless to say, i am beet red with shame right now.  and for the record, i just want to declare that i'm not just pathetic, but that i am a fake.  a pathetic fake.  if someone will call me anything worse than that, i'm it.  i admit it.  what a loser! or should i say gainer!!! blecchh!

so i'm gonna get off my sorry a$$ now, and start doing something respectable so i can write something worth posting the next time.

note to future-self:  for the record, this post has nothing to do with my seeing pictures of my skinny self way back when i was not a fake. =P

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. 

i got noticed

somebody finally noticed that i've lost a bit of weight.  maybe because i wore something not so loose and figure friendly and not to mention dark-colored. =P

of course i was happy.  it was confirmation that it wasn't just my imagination, playing tricks on me.  nor was i imagining that my 3 pairs of jeans have become really loose, i don't like wearing them anymore.

so brown rice did its work, the zytrim, at 15mg a day dosage helped a lot too, and so did the twice weekly pilates sessions. and maybe consciously saying no to empty sugars, stopping eating when i am short of feeling full helped too.

so yay! i'm kinda doing cartwheels in my head right this minute. =D

laziness and a black ruffled blouse

i'm a lazy blogger,  yes i am.  and a lazy dieter, lazy gym-goer, lazy dresser. lazy, period.

but mind you, i have been everything but lazy in the weight-loss department this past week or two [or since my last post to be exact].  my visit to the pedia [where i started weighing myself] 2 weeks ago confirmed my worst fears.  i gained weight, 5 pounds to be exact.  i thought i could get away with my pill-popping and erratic work-out schedule, who was i kidding???

so as of 2 weeks ago, the scale read 171 lbs.  My next visit to the pedia [for maxie's  flu vaccine] is on July 6 and that's this tuesday already.  i hope to be atleast back to 169 lbs.  i've been faithful to my no white rice promise, and i've also been very conscious of my food intake.  and i've been consistent with my twice-a-week pilates sessions [the moves are getting more and more challenging!].  i'm still trying to see how i can fit in gym-time into my new role as a mom of a pre-schooler.  if that's not going to be possible, i think i'll force myself to do some walking in a park, atleast twice a week too.  and then maybe some video work-outs while maxie is taking his noontime naps.  woohoo!  am i on a roll or what. he he, that's just wishful thinking for now.

but i do have some good news. =D  i bought a blouse online last May.  i tried it on the minute i got it.  it went past my shoulders and my chest, but it felt like i was going to burst at the seams.  so i hung it in my closet, thinking it would just end up in the charity bag, like all my 'illusionada' buys of the past.  well guess what, i tried it on this morning and was happy to be able to breathe comfortably in it.  i wore it to work today. =D  that's something major, if i may say so myself. =D

here's me, wearing the blouse, and Maxie  who was busy watching barney [but posed for mama, anyway =D].

  i'm still BIG,i know.  but at least not as big as i was a month ago, he he.  here's to seeing the scales tip in my favor next week!

eating healthy, food diaries, and updates

for the longest time i've stayed out of diets and special meal plans.  i've tried most if not all during my younger days and i was sure to revert to my regular way of eating.  i knew what i needed was a change in the way i ate, and not necessarily what i ate.

the only time i was really happy with my weight was when i wrote down everything i ate and the calorie equivalent of each item. i'm o-c so i had to be that particular for it to be effective.  the thing now is, i don't have the time to look the equivalency up nor the patience to compute everything so i'll try what many of you are doing out there.  i will try to write down or more appropriately post everything that goes into my mouth.  nevermind if there is no calorie equivalent in most items. =P

i've been proud of my self-control lately.  maybe, because i had a grand time eating in my 1-week stay in manila [the reason why i've been lazy at posting], i decided to really be conscious of what and how much i ate since i got back.

so here goes today so far:

breakfast: 9:30am

• 1cup brown rice - 218 calories
• 2 small tortang talong with giniling with 2 ketchup packets
• water

lunch 12:45pm

• 3 pcs Montaño Spanish Style Sardines - approx. 125 calories
• 3/4 cup brown rice - 164 calories
• Nature's harvest FAB apple juice drink 80 calories

 --------------------------------------------------

other updates:

i'm back to zytrim, took it while in manila to compensate for all the dining and drinking with friends and relatives [mostly relatives =D] and am now pairing it with L-Carnitine.  Here's the tip i recently got.  Sibutramine [generic name of zytrim] is more effective when taken with L-Carnitine.  and L-Carnitine is most effective when taken just before exercise, so you can sweat lots.

re the corn husk tea i posted about, i finished the whole box but did not get any lighter so i guess it is only effective with korean new mommies, he he.

i'm trying out MX3 Tea.  someone gave me packet some time ago and when i ran out of corn husk tea, i took it.  i liked the taste and got a pleasant surprise the following morning: an easy time doing number 2.  so i bought a few more packets today to see if it will be my liberation from constipation, i'm so gross, i know. =P

so here's to finally getting off this stagnant rut of not losing anymore pounds.  i seriously need to re-check with the weighing scale as my pictures of late are getting more and more disgusting to look at. blecch!