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Fresh Supply

21 May

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I am in wood heaven! Two weeks ago, I received two boxes of freshly cut Meranti wood to continue with my carving. And carving I have been doing.

I realize now that carving Whales do not hurt my left wrist compared to Gnomes. It is the size – Gnomes are smaller than Whales, and how I grip the wood tightly (when carving a Gnome) causing a strain to the wrist. Add in the many angles of a Gnome, that’s why the tender area of the wrist would flare up if pressure and the repetitive action is applied constantly.

I have stopped carving Gnomes and Citizens of Gigglesville for the time being and just focusing on Whales which are much easier to handle. Anyway, the Gnomes and Citizens are decorative, cute and fun but the Whales are more than that, they are useful – being a smart phone holder.

The best part, I can still play golf without pain and the Whale population has been growing steadily. Yay.

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Minor Setback

17 May

So it’s Friday again. And time for the weekly weigh-in. How fast time flies. After some gains the first two days of this week, I stared at the numbers on the bathroom scale this morning. Hmm… a minor setback – that little reprieve on Wednesday.

While I may have burnt some calories playing golf, it was the meal after the game that lasted beyond 9.30pm that caused this setback. The dinner went past into the window that I’m not supposed to eat. Oh well… friends and making-merry was more important and I chose to do it.

I shouldn’t obsess too much over this because past record has shown that I have fluctuated on my track to shed some pounds. And sometimes it’s not the food I ate but the timing of when I ate that is beyond my control. I should be fine by next week.

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Target Achieved

10 May

Pleased to update that I have achieved my target goal weight! In fact, I reached the target twice before this morning’s weigh in – once being last Saturday, surpassing the mark by 1.3lbs before going back up a little. Then yesterday, down again. This morning, when I stood on the bathroom scale, the numbers showed 0.1lbs past the mark. Yay!

Now remember this is all on Newbie, the new digital bathroom scale. Trusty is still there but showing the exact same reading even though my weight can fluctuate up or down. Sigh…

I am so proud of myself being disciplined on this challenge. How did I do it?

It’s basically sticking to the 16/8 diet. During the 8-hours window when I have to eat, I stuck to a meal plan for my weekdays. Tea for breakfast, high fiber/low protein lunches, dried fruits and nuts to munch if I have to work my jaw muscles after lunch, lots of liquid (tea mostly) and light protein/high fiber with low carbs for dinners.

It may sound restrictive or even boring but I must admit, I do eat a chocolate or two sometimes within the 8-hours. But when the 16-hours window kicked in, no solids at all, only water.

During weekends, it’s a different story with flexibility and no restrictions on intake. I even drink whiskey and an occasional beer or two after the weekly golf game. But I find myself eating small portions because I have gotten used to the 16/8 cycle. Even if I indulged, it wasn’t excessive. By Monday, the meal plan routine resumed.

All in all, it took me 11 weeks to achieve my target goal weight. And if I take my peaked weight recorded on March 1st and compare that to today’s weight, I have lost a total of 8.1lbs. I am happy with the results.

So now that I have achieved my target goal weight, I am setting a new mark which is to lose another 2.0lbs which should suffice instead of my earlier intention to lose 15lbs in total because at this point, any further loses, I would have to change my entire wardrobe!

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Back On Track

3 May

Now that the month of April is over for all the birthday celebrations, I am back on track to continue with the 16/8 diet to achieve my target goal weight. Last week when we went away to Awana Genting to celebrate my birthday, there was a lot of eating and drinking. But there was also a lot of exercise and activities to offset the intake; so the weight gain was only a 0.2lbs increment. Minimal I’d say.

In fact, it was the week before the getaway that the weight spiked. Thanks to my beer intake when we visited the Carlsberg brewery. Sigh…

I was skeptical this morning when I stood on the bathroom scale, thinking I wouldn’t do too good this week to shed all that weight gained. Up to last night, the numbers didn’t look encouraging.

So it was indeed a pleasant surprise when the numbers showed a mere 0.3lbs away from my target goal! Oh yay. This is even better than the last good achievement, which was 0.7lbs from target. I actually lost weight, a net loss of 1.6lbs after deducting the 0.2lbs gained at the start of the week. Awesome.

I attribute this achievement to total discipline this week, eating healthy lunches, snacking on nuts and not cookies, lots of water and light dinners. Plus a golf game on Wednesday morning because of the Labor Day public holiday helped burn some calories. This is so motivating.

So if all goes as planned, I should be able to achieve my target goal weight next week. Discipline is the key here. Then I will reset with a new target to lose another 6.0lbs before the end of the month. I can do it!

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The Tea Drinker

30 Apr

Ever since I stopped drinking coffee last year due to Endometriosis, I turn to tea and drink it more than ever. Decaf Earl Grey for breakfast, Green Tea throughout the day and sometimes, Camomile in the evenings before bedtime. All these choices using tea bags though.

Occasionally I’d brew a cup for variation. And being a somewhat serious tea drinker, I do have some gadgets to ensure it’s a satisfying experience. At the office, I used to steep loose leaf tea for my cuppa with a tea ball infuser. But I find the holes of this device too big and some of the fine tea crumbs or dust end up in my tea. So I stopped using it and use the bright pink strainer purchased from Lane Crawford in Hong Kong two Christmas’s ago instead.

The tea infuser strainer is perfect to steep the loose leaf because the tea dust do not escape into the brew. And it’s a refreshing change from the daily Green Tea.

At home, the mesh ball with handles is the go-to gadget to use if I don’t fancy brewing with tea bag.

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My tea infusing gadgets

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A Behemoth Munch Pot, Part 2

23 Apr

Yesterday was a typical morning like any other as we got ready for work except that we had a caterpillar to check on. We looked for our behemoth Munch Pot, straining our necks upwards to look at the branches of the tree in front of the house. And we couldn’t find it! It was there on Sunday night. No… nooooo……

 

Just when we thought something so monstrous in size could thrive, being so hidden under the leaves, tragedy struck? But hubby said, there was poop evidence on the lawn, so perhaps it’s still around but just not at its last place we saw the day before.

Last night when we got home and checked again, nothing. Even with the flash on the iPhone XR to take a picture, there was no evidence, compared to the picture taken the night before. Oh dear…

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The glow on Sunday was a giveaway on its position, but no glow on Monday

Perhaps it has reached the pupal stage and we should be looking out for a cocoon instead of the four inch fat caterpillar.

This morning, lo and behold, we spotted a cocoon! Thank goodness. I had to climb up the ladder again to take the picture. So now it looks like our behemoth Munch Pot has safely reached its next stage, and it will stay like this for a month.

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A Behemoth Munch Pot

22 Apr

I couldn’t contain my excitement when hubby told me he spotted a huge caterpillar on the branch of the tree in front of the house. I didn’t realize how huge it was until I saw it with my own eyes. Dang! It was gargantuan. All the earlier ones we found on the Calamansi Lime tree were puny compared to this fella.

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Utilizing the zoom-in on the iPhone XR

 

I had to get the ladder to climb up close to see. And standing two-third high on the nine-foot ladder (the ground wasn’t even to be higher safely without falling), we figured the big fat fella’s at least four inches long. It’s a stupendous sight and discovery indeed!

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This may sound disgusting but even its poop was big, peppering the front lawn untidily, as I took my ruler to measure – one centimeter wide. Eeesh…. Eeeesh. This is the real munch pot!

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The behemoth creature was proving to be a delight in other aspects too. We discovered that it sort of glowed in the dark. I took a picture of it in the evening and it stood out with much contrast from the foliage. Pretty cool.

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We are no caterpillar experts and had to google to find what species it might be because the features are not similar to the earlier Munch Pots at the garden. The exceptional features were the long tubercles on the body and no other color markings. As I researched, I found some interesting caterpillar facts and eventually, managed to identify my behemoth Munch Pot.

It’s an Atlas Moth caterpillar. Wow.

And looks like I will be monitoring the branches the next few days because eventually it will morph into its next stage. I just hope it can last till then because these fellas, being at the bottom of the food chain are easy meat for predators if discovered. So far, it’s survived well to reach this size, hiding under the leaves and branches to eat and eat and eat.

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Quite a sight this behemoth caterpillar

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The Dinosaur Who Eats Like a Rabbit

12 Apr

This week I have been very disciplined to stick to the 16/8 diet with salad lunches for four days in a row. So much so, I felt like a dinosaur that eats like a rabbit though. Perhaps I should have had a herbivores Brontosaurus tattoo instead of the carnivorous T-Rex to depict the current situation. Heheh…

But it’s been a good and focused week. This morning’s weigh-in showed excellent results and I am pleased. A loss of 1.6lbs and I am now a mere 0.7lbs to reach my target goal! Woo hoo!!!

However, three nights ago, I had a chunk of my molar tooth chipped off whilst chewing on a mouthful of vegetables for dinner! Goodness gracious… And it made me wonder do real dinosaurs actually chip their tooth too over a meal? What more vegetables?! Hmm…

No salad for lunch today to take a break and I will see the dentist next week to fix up the molar.

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Win-Win-Win-Win Situation

11 Apr

This 16/8 diet seems to be really good for me. So far, coupled with my activities, it’s been effective – I feel good and there’s more to this. That’s why I call it a win-win-win-win situation.

The 16/8 is strictly on weekdays but I have lost weight. Win number one.

On weekends, I play golf. Win number two. And after golf, a nice lunch where I would eat and basically don’t restrict myself. I only avoid food that can cause discomfort due to my Endometriosis. But as I now eat at a 16/8 time frame, my tummy has shrunk and no matter what nice food are on the table, I don’t eat a lot.

The best part, I also drink during lunch. Win number three. A couple of whiskey shots, not necessarily excessive but enough to feel good. Sometimes at home at night, a glass of wine to relax. Alcohol, I must admit is one thing I can’t give up. I should stay away from beer though because unlike, wine and whiskey, I tend to drink more and that’s not good.

And I wouldn’t say I eliminated sugar totally as I do find myself snacking on some candies and cookies occasionally during the window to eat. Win number three and a half?

For the final win number four? Carving of course! I have turned to balsa for now because the existing stock pile of Meranti wood are not the right sizes for carving any Whales or even Gnomes. Basically a lot more work is needed to cut them to size and I avoided this to preserve the wrist prior to the Iron Challenge golf tournament.

But now that the tournament is done and over, I am in a good place to go back to carving, first with balsa to increase the population count of my Citizens of Gigglesville and eventually back on Meranti. What a win-win-win-win situation indeed.

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Beer’s the Culprit

8 Apr

I am semi-convinced now that beer is the culprit on my weight gain the previous weekend, having down three glasses. This week, despite two big birthday dinners, a little champagne, wine, whiskey and cake but no beer, there was no weight gain which is good. In fact, I am starting the week with a slight 0.2lb decrease from last Friday’s weigh-in. Yay!

If things work out this week and looks like I am back on track, I anticipate a couple more pounds can be shed by this Friday. Stay tuned for the weigh-in then.

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