An Adventure Within Another Adventure!

I will be going away for my annual retreat in Mendocino via San Francisco and Napa Valley! I've not really explored San Francisco, not sure if we have the time but still I will see what I can squeeze in and I've not explored Napa Valley either. And even though I've been to Mendocino 3 times, there's always something new to discover!

Now whenever it comes to travel, I find it a little bit challenging having to figure how to eat this and that, getting the portions right, making sure I still have a variety to eat etc... in that sense it's an adventure because you just have to keep on trying and doing your best to stick with the program!

There will be one thing I will miss which I can't have while I am away on my travels and that is the YUMMY hot chocolate with whipped cream on top. At least I save US$3 during breakfast and dinner!

The Biggest Loser

I heard a lot about The Biggest Loser Asia and I managed to catch one episode the other week which was the first episode where they were choosing the 16 contestants out of 30. As the group of 30 went through the physical challenge which involved 3 minutes of a variety of exercises, I could feel the level of emotion that was surging through the TV screen. I could FEEL with them, the pain they were going through, how hard their hearts were beating, the sweat pouring down their faces, how they were aching from the sudden surge of physical activity... When I saw the contestants cry, I wanted to cry too. I KNOW what it is like. I've been there.

This thought has been going through my mind, about when people ask me HOW do I lose weight. Actually everyone has a pretty good awareness about what they need to do to lose weight. They understand it's a combination of watching what you eat plus exercise. In the hopes of asking this question though, I become aware that they could be looking for a MIRACLE. How can it be done painlessly and quickly? Of course the obvious answer is that there's no such thing and everything is a matter of perspective. If you think it's painful, then it's painful. How do you define the word "fast"? It's all relative.

I went to check The Biggest Loser website - http://biggestloserclub.asia and you sign up for a monthly membership. It's similar to the Adventures in Weight Loss (http://www.adventuresinweightloss.com) I'm on and requires a one time payment. The Biggest Loser looks at a combination of food and exercise together. Adventures in Weight Loss looks at a customized food plan based on your blood profile and encourages exercise too. The tools they use (food diary, menu plan, exercise plans) are almost the same except it's all online which I like because I am becoming an online girl.

However, the key to making anything work and perhaps I have stressed this before is really about commitment and discipline. With commitment and discipline, whatever you do can go a LONG way! It does not matter what weight loss program you sign up for so long as you have commitment and discipline. One reminder is, don't sign up for something that will hurt you in the long run. It is meant to help you, not deter you for living a great life. Figure out what will work best for you in terms of money, time and the level of effort based on the time that you have and the complexity of the program. So starving yourself is not going to help. Exercising until you hurt a body part is not going to help you. Be sensible about this. It took you so long to put on the weight, so shedding it is going to take some time too. Have patience. I tell myself that everyday... (right now fighting off many cravings!)

The miracle will be discovering that deep down inside, you have that commitment and discipline! You can do it! If the contestants on The Biggest Loser can do it and show their will and determination to millions of viewers and at the same time reminding us they are still human, so can YOU!

You lost 6kg right?

I attended a wedding over the weekend and I have comments from friends who say I keep on shrinking. I am not too sure or very conscious over the shrinking factor. All I revel in the fact is that my baju kurung that used to show my shape is now looser and I enjoy the extra space!

I was happily eating the food prepared (of course in accordance to the food plan or at least "close to" it) and one my table companions said to me, "You lost so much weight!"

And I said to her, over a piece of fish, "Yes, I have."

She then replies, "You lost 6kg right?"

I put my piece of fish down on the plate, paused and turned to look at her. I see she was holding her spoon after scooping some soup and held it there until I answered. I replied, "Errr... actually I lost 23kg."

She puts the soup spoon down, "Wow! 23kg! How did you do it?"

I was amused. People didn't think I was that big or that heavy in the first place because of my height. And also, it's hard to comprehend to actually hear that someone has lost more than 10kg! Losing 5kg IS already an achievement, a celebration when it's 10kg but a great party when it's 20kg! It should probably be declared a public holiday when I lose 50kg!

Another reminder not to take it for granted how far I've come. I've been fighting cravings over the long weekend. And when I stepped on the weighing scale this morning, I'm now 94.9kg. That's a total weight loss of 24.2kg!

Shane & Mio Ting, if you're reading this, I can't find my measuring tape!

Re-Training the Taste Buds

I took the opportunity to take my mum out for lunch yesterday. We went to a Japanese restaurant where the food choices I feel are suitable for this adventure. Of course you have to know what to order and how much to order. Also being mindful they might use MSG in their cooking.

I had been craving for sushi the past few days. (Blame it on the hormones!) I thought I would allow myself some. All orders made had NO rice.

But as my mum and I sat there eating, she said, "It doesn't taste as good as it used to." I thought about what she said and I wondered, am I eating the food for the sake of eating or am I really tasting it? And the sushi tasted just tasted "ok". Nothing spectacular. No fireworks. 

In the evening, I had dinner at home and I ate steamed tofu with a spicy sauce and stir fried green vegetables and it was super YUMMY! It was so simple yet very refreshing. 

I think one of the great things about being on this adventure is, as you learn to eat healthy, your taste buds are very sensitive and you can just experience the flavours, the freshness, the real taste of the food. It's not camouflaged in artificial flavours. You are getting the real deal! 

I can now appreciate different types of tea - the flavours are amazing, the smells are intoxicating... I really love a raw salad where the crunchiness, the freshness and the lightness of it all combined together makes me happy! I crave for grilled chicken with microwaved broccoli sprinkled with cracked black pepper...

It's a really different appreciation of food and I am liking it very much!

Feeling Dry

I've not been drinking enough water. My cheeks are so dry! And on Monday I actually had a sore throat from lack of water intake.

Imperative for optimal weight loss and for the removal of toxins is to drink at least 2 litres of water a day which is a habit I have not yet solidified.

I remember I once went to this holistic clinic in Singapore and that time it was a different kind of diet that I went through which I was not too successful because probably that time I was not ready. After filling out a long application form, one of the prescribed ways to lose weight was for me to drink 3.2 litres of water a day! I worked it out to be a mug of water every hour.

I didn't sustain in doing so because it meant I would keep on going to the bathroom which I did in the beginning but I read somewhere that your body will adjust after 6 months and that you will go to the bathroom much less.

I remember my friends used to say, "Love yourself, make sure you go when you need to go! Don't hold it in!"

It's funny they say that but it's so true! Taking care of your body as unit requires so many other parts in order to make it all work together!

What have you done for yourself lately?

I was speaking to one of the adventurers today and she said to me that her husband is really proud of her for choosing to go on this adventure. It's not so much about the actual weight loss but it's more of acknowledging that she is doing something for herself and it's something really good for her too.

She is a full time mum, wife, daughter, sister and employee (and other roles). A person can get so caught up fulfilling all these roles that the one person they least pay attention to is themselves! The people in your life are important, definitely! But you are just as important too!

I recall a conversation I had with a close relative of mine. I was encouraging her to go on this adventure but she said that things at work are just too much and she wouldn't be able to cope. Work will always be there and you take care of your work but will your work take care of you? If you are not well, you will not be able to do your work. If you are not well, you will not be able to be the best of mums. If you are not well, you will not be able to take care of your husband. And so on and so forth...

Will you do something for yourself one of these days? A small step can go a long way. It's about acknowledging the greatness and the potential that you possess. I got this quote from Linda:

"Do not fail yourself by failing to act on the greatness in you. 

Learn to live a heroic life!"

And you will be able to do so much more for yourself and for others!

It Feels Good...

Truth be told, I've not done any physical activity for awhile. Perhaps a contradiction to one of my earlier posts about having more energy... I'm just choosing to use my energy for other things! And I'm human after all but today, after a 2 or was it 3 week hiatus, I've finally gone back to dancing with a different teacher. My first two teachers have left Brunei and I had to make a choice who I wanted to learn from. 

I'm back to learning latin dancing and some social dancing and I really like this dance instructor. It felt really good to be twirling and spinning on the dance floor and having that feeling where I don't have two left feet. Joel was perspiring more than I was! I'm sure my sweat glands will be working again. In the middle of doing the cha cha cha, because I had to get the footwork right, I could feel cramps in my calves! Luckily it went away and I survived 1.5 hours on the dance floor!

Unfortunately his schedule is quite packed, so I can only see him once a week which means I will need to figure out what else I can fit in. There's all the breathing exercises I've learned from voice class and that should work on flattening my tummy!

I've been feeling quite tense the past few days and doing physical activity definitely helps to release all this tension! I sometimes wonder what takes me so long to get back to doing things which I know is actually good for me. Another lesson to learn as I go on this adventure!

I look forward to my next class!