I gave up

It sucks. I gave up after just two weeks of eliminating MOST added sugar from my diet. I think I'll just eat in moderation now though. Something like limit it to two cookies a day, and no more sweetened beverages. After the two weeks I lost just over 1.5kilos which i'm happy with but doesn't meet the goal of 2.5kg! -(

I made pinwheel cookies yesterday, and then I used this calorie counter  http://caloriecount.about.com/cc/recipe_analysis.php to let me know the calories in each cookie. (SO USEFUL!) Shocker as there were like 83 calories per cookie which means I basically put on all the calories I burned jogging yesterday! Hmmph. Limiting intake to 2 cookies today.(because I already ate 2 in the morning!) No more tomorrow though! So not worth it. Feels as if all that exercise went to nothing!

I've been doing this power sculpt workout dvd from the biggest loser series. It's supposed to complement the cardio you're doing on your own. Super tiring. Not to discourage any of you readers though. It  just takes some getting used to.
Level 1 - Jillian
Level 2 - Kim
Level 3 - Bob

I'm currently at the level 2 stage whereby a workout would look like this. :
Warm Up - 5min
Level 1 - 20min
Level 2 - 10 min
Cool down - 5min

I try and do this about 4 to 5 times a week. Arms and legs are definitely more toned now but as I remember from when I used to be really fit, running helps me lose weight and tone up really fast. (Just don't stick to a snails pace of a jog by amping it up once you find your runs/jogs getting easier)

I'm learning a bit of Spanish now since I'm going to be leaving for Cuba come September, but more on that in another post. Hasta luego (See you later)  =D

Day 5 of the no sugar challenge!

                                                      
The first 4 days were tough but I persevered. I even bought a pack of almonds to snack on in case I got sugar cravings. (Came in handy!) I went all out: 
1) replacing white rice with brown rice.
2)making a fruit +veg smoothie everyday
3) since I was feeling the 'natural vibe' I even went ahead and made my own yogurt!
4) Baked oatmeal yoghurt bread from scratch.
5) Limited snacking


But then today I messed up!


Note to self: NEVER bake pastries when on a diet (especially a no-sugar one!)


I gave in to greed and temptation and had approx 2 cinnamon rolls today. I had baked them as a Father's Day treat and convinced myself that I had to taste them. One thing led to another and I was on my way to a second piece!
Ugh! Feel so let down! 


                                                    Fall seven times, stand up eight.
                                                             - Japanese Proverb


That quote reminds me not to give up I guess! It WILL pay off. I've been very good about the sweets though. 
Went for a jog-walk with my sisters yesterday. Was too lazy at first to jog at all, but then I remembered what Noel Chelliah wrote in his blog post...(can't remember which) that if you want to lose weight you have to challenge your body and push yourself out of your comfort zone. ( His blog is awesome btw)http://www.dailymuscle.com/ so I did end up jogging /walking and even  threw in a couple of sprints =D 
Tomorrow I will get up and jog in the morning and hopefully be able to get back on track with my no sugar challenge! 

The 30-day no sugar challenge

The problem is.. I <3 sugar...come on who doesn't!

I'm not overweight or anything...but knowing how healthy I used to be and knowing how GREAT that felt...I owe it to myself to get that back! 

Me TWO YEARS AGO: ( sorta) =D ( darker version of course!)

An estimate of what I look like NOW: (It's not me in the pic, but u get the picture)

So I’ve decided to take the One Month No Sugar Challenge (15th June 2011- 14th July 2011)

These are the ground rules:

1. No desserts of any kind.

2. No added sugar drinks 

3. No sweet condiments (not even ketchup)

4. No refined carbs (white bread, white rice etc)

5. No sugar substitutes either

Part two: Must lose 5kgs by the end of the challenge. That's a  sort of reasonable goal I reckon. It's about 1.25kgs of weight loss per week. 

OK if I win this challenge I get to buy...

!!!!

I've seen them at al-ikhsan retailing at about RM80 - 100 and didn't feel I deserved it! ( or could do it justice!)

So that is my treat! and I don’t get it if I don’t stick to the plan!!

Other than that, since I live further from the field where I usually exercise now, I'm gonna be getting up in the morning to follow my dad to the Pandamaran padang for a walk/jog on weekdays since he passes there to send my mum to work. (That's the plan at least). I'll post updates on my progress. If I've been keeping to the rules and what not. 

I’d love for others to join me too.. those are the ground rules, feel free to take your own baby steps to your fitness goal, whatever it be. I’d love some feedback people!

Post SPM results depression

           The past two plus weeks have been depressing. Although as my sister bluntly put it - I don't act like I'm depressed.- suffice to say that I was. The cause of my bout of depression being my slightly above average SPM results. For all you inquisitive people out there, here are my results. I'm past secrecy and being embarrassed already. Let me not delay your gloating any longer. 6A+s, 2As for Physics and Moral, 1B+ for Bahasa and 1B for Bible Knowledge.

           So there! However I'm looking forward to the next phase in my schooling life now. Hopefully  I can make amends then. The past week have been busy with filling in and sending out scholarship applications. The rest  is in Gods hands! Sometimes I'm tempted to do STPM, just because it's tough and I feel like I have to prove something but then the thought of the useless koko activities I'd be forced to attend make me reconsider all over again. Who knows though, intake isn't for a few months!

           On a brighter note, I went to the Times Bookfair yesterday in SS2 Mall. The prices were still kinda steep though IMHO.  However Marc did get a bargain when he bought 3 books for RM20.  I bought 3 books as well but mine came up to RM92! To my defence, all of Marc's were novels while only one of mine was.
These are the books I purchased.

BIOLOGY REVISIONED
(It's supposed to be about looking at biology in a whole new perspective. I reckon it might be a tad advanced for me but I'll give it a shot=D)

My fave chapter in Add Maths! I couldn't resist!

This was a birthday pressie for my younger sis.

My younger sis asked me for a 'tear-jerker'! How on earth would I know which to buy unless I had previously read it and it had brought me to tears!?  In that scenario, I wouldn't buy it as I could probably get it for her for free from whatever source I had gotten the book from! ( Hope you understood that) So anyways, I just bought her the above mentioned book as it was one of the few affordable novels worth spending money on. Hope it's good! She refuses to let me read it first so by the time I get to read it, it'll probably be next year.

      Ah well. Need to get some sleep now. Driving class in the a.m tomorrow... till next time, au revoir!

The Mall by BY JESSICA JENTINK

I Stumbled upon this and I was amazed at how much I could relate to this! I'm sure many girls reading this can too!

The Mall

Posted on November 21, 2010 by thebeheld| 2 Comments

BY JESSICA JENTINK

makes me hate
everything I am
everything I am not
everything I have
everything I have not

makes me want
more than I can afford
more than I need
more than I should want
more than anyone should want

makes me feel
like I should have skipped lunch
like I should have skipped lunch for the past 3 months
like I should fit into their jeans
like I should fit into their designer girl

makes me think
about the kids who look for crumbs
about the kids who are crying
about the kids who are dying
about the shirt I forgot I had

makes me angry
at America for calling me ugly
at my family for not understanding
at myself for being an idiot
at my God for conviction

beauty is value
says the lie
value is beauty
says the truth

the tug-of-war for a heart
her heart

well,
she’s tired of manipulation
she’s tired of fighting it
she’s tired of buying the look
she’s tired of buying the girl
she’s supposed to be

she’s the American girl

so shut up, American mannequin
you don’t work
you don’t diet
you don’t study for finals
you don’t have a boyfriend
or an atrium
or know anything at all
about what it means
to be a girl
because you are fake
fake like their lies

you are not real
pimples are real
wrinkles are real
adipose tissue is real
and it’s okay
if you know it’s okay
to say goodbye to beautiful

to the boys:
find a new beautiful to want
one that doesn’t cost so much
and one that a girl can be
without trying
because she already is that beautiful
underneath her skin

and be happy
that ABC
never gave Miss America
a Mr. America
to make you feel

the way we do

Keep working?

It's nearing the end of  February and Davs and Sindhu are stopping work...idk...they want to sort out college and stuff...hmmph...Dad doesn't see the need for me to keep working since the SPM results are going to  come out....but I'm like so what if  results are out soon, it's not like I'm going to start college the next day! I'll still have to (based on my results) decide which college to apply to...and hopefully apply for scholarships as well!

Mum agrees with my stand on things, so I have  till the 28th to let my current employer know if I'll be available next month. She's fine if we want to leave, but if we wanted to stay she says she would still want to keep us for another month...

I'm hoping I can get a job at a nearby hospital...maybe a nurses assistant or something. Some of  you might ask why a hospital...well it's because I want to study medicine and I think that by working in a hospital I would be able to gain invaluable insight into the job of a doctor. ( That would replace my current job)  I think I could do a good job... Need to look into that today...

On a different note....

Something depressing happened...My cat died last week. While it was missing there was still the glimmer of a chance that it was just lost, but then I had to find it's body in a drain! My heart sank when I turned it's limp body over and saw the rhinestone decked collar I had bought for it wound around it's neck! =( So I dug a hole in my garden and buried it there. I don't think I did a very good job burying it coz  the garden stunk of decaying animal still but I figured it wouldn't be so smelly after a couple of days...I was right.

My cat looked a lot like this when I found it...

My whole exercise craze sort of fizzled out when the soles on either one of  both my pairs of trainers detached and I couldn't go out for about a week till my dad repaired them...I'm getting back into it now...slowly but surely:-)
In Fact I bought a brand new pair of weight to use with my workout VCD:-) Only used them twice so far though but I'm pretty positive I can feel the difference in my body =D

The super annoying pre-SPM-stress pimmples scars all over my forehead were really bugging me! So I went out and bought myself a concealer pencil from Bodyshop. I swear it looks like a jumbo crayon:-)! The shop assistant sort of made me up in the shop but I've yet to achieve the look she created for me myself.....:-( I will get it right though! The concealer doesn't completely hide the scars, but it lightens them which makes them not so obvious which is a billion times better than before! I haven't completely mastered the art of applying concealer though...sometimes it looks a bit cakey....then I have to rub it of and start again....but I'm working on it larh... I think I did it awesomemazingly to work today...but no one said anything...so maybe I was wrong...hmmm

Another item of makeup I've been experimenting with is liquid eyeliner and mascara...:-)
Liquid eyeliner, while the finished product looks better than when using a pencil eyeliner, applying it is sooo cumbersome! I almost always end up applying it unevenly on both eyes(i.e one side too thick, the other too thin)and have to remove it and start again.  Heheh...this is usually the reason I end up making my mom late for work everyday....

College anyone?

Well I've narrowed down my pre-u options to either STPM or A-Levels.

Let's start with STPM :-)
1.I can apply to both local and private unis.

2.Accepted by many universities internationally(including Oxford!)
3. More economical
4.I can stay close to home
5. Plenty of resources available in Malaysia (i.e tutions, revision material)
 but
6. I'd have to go back to school.
7. Oh yeah, it's supposed to be really hard! (think 2nd hardest exam in the world!)
8. Crap...I've run out of cons...!

Ok

A-levels
1. It's recognised in most or all Commonwealth countries
2. I'll be off to college:-) Super exciting!
3. A bit more freedom than the restriction of school.
   ok cons
4. It's a bit expensive. Even the lower end colleges charge around RM15k to  do 4 A-levels. Compared to the few hundreds that STPM would cost....
5. I'd most probably have to stay there if I want to avoid being too tired to study after commuting daily all the way back to Klang.( more expenses!)
6. Local unis don't accept A-levels as a valid pre-u course.




I plan on studying medicine so cost is a decicding factor  on where  I apply to. Can I afford to do it abroad? Uk...close to a million ringgit...No way without some sort of fee waiver or scholarship! IMU's website says I can do it completely locally for RM370k. Much more reasonable!  Local uni... I'm not too sure about how much it costs but half the battle will be gaining admission!

Either way, my SPM results aren't going to be anything to shout about so I have to really plan  my studies well whatever the pre-u course I finally decide on taking. Admission to study medicine is really competitive!

On that note, I think I'll bid adieu to Facebook for the time being in an attempt to get a headstart on the A-levels syllabus. Have to improve my discipline if I want to harbour any hopes of securing 4A*.

I was reading a thread on A-levels on a website and the author of an article stated that the recommended hours of independent study per subject when doing your a-levels were about 6-7 hours! Looks like luxurious afternoon naps are a thing of the past!





On a lighter note, I finally went jogging today! Just a bit more than a km, but I brisk walked about 5km first:-)
Then of all things, my shoe sole came off! Stupid Nike shoes. I guess this is what you get when you buy them from the WAREHOUSE shop in Sunway Parade. ( The same thing also happened to the Reebok's I bout there and my sister's Nikes) I'm pretty sure they're original, but they must just be old. If I get them from the Nike outlet they'll cost what....Rm200- RM300 plus! That's like more than 50% of my monthly salary! see first lah whether I'll get a new pair...

Oh, and I completed the biggest loser power sculpt workout level 1 and 2 back to back.
level 1 is by Jillian and level 2 is by Kim. You're supposed to do level one for  1 or 2 weeks then move on to level 2...
Level 2 is super hard, but it's probably coz it's the first time I'm doing it. It should get easier with practice:-)


Also last week I went shopping with my just received paycheck :-) Went with Davinna and Sindhu:-))) Suuuper fun! Didn't get all the stuff I wanted to, but managed to get 3 items. A floral cloth headband, a longish cardigan, and a pair of flare pants( at least that's hat I think it's called) I think it looks awesome coz I'm so tall:-0

Midnight Workout

Well I skipped two days worth of morning workouts, but I ganti-ed today's morn w/out with a mdnight w/out. (hence the title) :-) Just finished. Tomorrows the official "WEIGH IN" but i sneaked in a few throughout the week...heheh...I'm not losing any weight and I think I discovered why! It's coz I eat loads at work. Davinna, Sindhu and I pack food to work daily and have a mini potluck everyday! GREEDY me!!! From now on I shall bring fruits and eat only that! Hope that works out:-)

On a different note, a loved one of mine recently fell asleep in the bathroom and we were shouting at him/her from outside about 20 times(I kid you not) ! We thought  he/she had died. It's at moments like these that you imagine the worst and suddenly u realise just how much they mean to you.. Scary lah! Broke down the bathroom door and found him/her sleeping! Whew! close shave much!

Am gonna be getting my salary next month! Yay! Shopping time:-)))

How on earth did this happen??!??!??!!!

 

Lets backtrack. In Form 2 I was tall and plump. Then my mum bought this electric weighing scale which had a sensitivity of 0.1 kg.  It could measure your body fat and everything! (now I know that reading is  NOT very accurate coz it's an unsuitable way to measure body fat) Then mum made us all weigh ourselves. Marc first. Stuuuuup was skinny and underweight and had body fat of 4% or something. SUUUPER LOW! Then my turn. MALU  freaking GiLER! SOOO heavy and body fat of like what...21 %!  Then I went crazy and went on this super health spree!

I  thought -hey,what better time to go vegetarian than now since I had ALREADY been thinking about it for some time-

Then I took up running thanks to Sam Murphy's book. "Run for life" AWESOME MUCH!!! Took off my "running career" =D

Last but not least I watched what I ate like crazy. I counted calories at every meal and mentally calculated how I could work off every snack I ate. Snack meaning "water biscuits"(biskut tawar I think they're called), "a slice of plain bread, or a banana. I lost 10 kg by Form 3 helping me win the school cross country and it also helped me achieve whatever success I enjoyed in track events:-)

Then in Form 4 The low cal diet began to become too stressful to maintain with the added burden of new subjects in school combined with my laziness to train which continued into form 5 which marked my worst year in athletics. With the stress of SPM I stopped jogging in the evenings altogether since April to either sleep in, attend tuition and towards the end of the year, to study.

That lead to my current situation of tipping the scales at 60++ kgs. From someone who used to be 55kg it feels awful. Trying on clothes I used to be able to wear in form 4 which now can't even be pulled up to my waist. I kid you not.

So I've started logging in my food intake on http://www.sparkteens.com/ which is this GREAT website which is full of articles and applications to help you with either your weight loss goals or goals to become more healthy, toned... whatever...you get the picture. 

So as of today I have sucessfully lost 0.7kg coz I started exercising and eating properly again. No snacking and eating only enough food so that I'm not hungry anymore. (NOT till I'm FULL) I think it's pretty good for 4days....I WILL lose all 10kgs before a wedding I'm going to attend in Singapore in June:-) 

well I'm off to go cycle now... adieus:-)  

Cycling 10-11.9 mph (bicycling, biking, bike riding), 30 minutes, Burnt: 188 calories. (equivalent to TWO BANANAS)

              =             

How the break is treating me

OOOO....my inaugural post.

The holidays haven’t been quite what I expected it would be.

During the pre SPM study period I told myself these are the things I would do immediately after SPM

1.     1.  Workout Daily( Lose the fat Cik Sakinah never stops pointing out)J

           2. Get through all my driving lectures and exams and be zooming around by January

3. 3. Take a pertolongan cemas course a the St Johns office near my house

4.   Get a high paying job (at least RM 1000 a month lah)

and..................

5.   Volunteer to teach at a kids shelter near my house.

6. Read my sisters A-Level books...

However, thats not exactly how things transpired. Funny how things work out that way..heheh

what actually happened: 

1. Went to the padang and went WALKING about 4 times in the last 30 days since SPM ended.

2. Only completed the 5 hour ceramah. Though in my defence I was sick and thats why I  had to postpone my undang test to next week:-)

3. Haven't even started on the pertolongan cemas thing yet. Must as soon as I can drive there myself lah ah...

4. Instead of some dream job I'm sitting in a classroom of weepy kids who get me SICK intead of a fat salary!!!

5. Haven't asked the shelter owner yet. Keeps slipping my mind...

6. The furthest I got reading the edexel Biology textbook was the third page into chapter 1. Hopeless lah! NCIS and CRIMINAL MINDS and THE BIG BANG THEORY, and HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER keeps me glued to the television and computer screen. 

My dad said yesterday, "eyh, you're still watching tv since lunch till dinner." I was like "No lah...I stopped earlier. I just only turned the tv on again." We both knew that wasn't true. My break was to fix myself a snack during which time the TV was muted to prevent anyone from taking the control which is what would've happened if I turned off the tv. heheh...

Well I'm determined not to let the rest of my break before college go to waste. So tomorrow though I'm still gonna be stuck with the crummy job, I shall take myself to task by finishing chapter 1!:-)

Wish me luck. Gonna need it much!

:-)