Archive | Nature & Health RSS feed for this section

On Track

11 Mar

It’s been two weeks on count if I consider 25th February as the official start date of my challenge to shed some pounds. There were temptations and distractions along the way but I stayed focus.

But in order to achieve my goal, I adopted the 16/8 Intermittent Fasting, an interesting and easy diet to follow. I don’t have to eat certain food or avoid my favorites to achieve what I want to achieve.

It basically involves an 8-hours window to eat and fast the remaining 16-hours. The hours one sleep are considered as part of the 16-hours. Not that tough to follow, isn’t it? And there are tons of explanation on this out there on the internet.

So the whole of last week, I brought salad lunches to work and kept to the 16/8 formula and I could see the difference visually – on the tummy and waistline.

For comparison – on Week One, with all those dinner occasions in a row, my weight fluctuated but did not increase because I was mindful. By the end of Week Two, despite a missed gym session, I lost 2.6lbs because of the 16/8. It was very encouraging.

Over the weekend however, I did not follow the 16/8 as I don’t want to be such a stickler with a regimented routine.

During the two days – I had lunch with the family (on Saturday) and a game of golf (on Sunday) followed by the usual after game meal plus some whiskey. This resulted in a slight increase in weight by Monday morning. But I’m not worried because if I stay disciplined, I am on track to achieve my goal.

Tonight at gym, I will continue my weight routine with the ten pounder.

Tags: , , , ,

A Hiccup on the Challenge

8 Mar

It’s unfortunate that my challenge mission was interrupted on Monday. A minor hiccup because work was on a tight deadline. And as much as I wanted to do gym to rid myself more of the guilt than anything else, we couldn’t finish the artwork and get home on time. Oh well…

But I don’t feel so bad because this whole week, I made super healthy lunches for the both of us. Lots of greens, bell pepper, baby tomatoes and chick peas (and tuna was added for two days subsequently). The salad lunch was oil-free, fibre-loaded and enough to fuel us until dinner time.

It may be only a few days but I do feel better and not so heavy. I am sure if I keep at this for another week or so, coupled with gym and golf, I will shed (the pounds) effortlessly. A positive sign and on track on my challenge to lose the extra weight piled on me by the bathroom scale.

Tags: , , , , , ,

The Challenge Threatened

4 Mar

I seem to be setting myself up for failure. I thought the week before with dinner engagements three days in a row was bad; this past weekend, it’s four days of (three) dinners and one lunch engagements, starting with Thursday right through to Sunday, there’s hardly a breather. Die…

img_0669

Thursday’s vegetarian Thai threesome dinner

img_0670

Friday’s foursome dinner after golf

But when the opportunity to catch up with girlfriends of yesteryear, golf buddies and celebrating a good friend’s birthday, how could I refuse? Being with these people are important to me and well, I would be silly not to eat because the occasions happened during meal times.

img_0701

Saturday night’s dinner (& desserts) for five included a bottle of hand crafted wine

img_0715

Sunday’s lunch for eight after golf with half a bottle of whiskey

The challenge to lose weight is now under threat. Tonight I have no choice but to continue with the ten pounder at the gym to work it all off. Die…

Tags: , , ,

No Pain, No Gain

1 Mar

For two days, my upper body was in pain after Monday’s gym session. Looking back, it did not seem like a Herculean effort to use a ten pound weight as I knew I could manage. Despite stopping gym for sometime, I took a chance and pushed myself to the limit. Maybe a little too much. The consequences thereafter showed that the body was unable to withstand the intense workout.

The pain level reminded me of the time after the Laparoscopy Surgery I underwent last year. I was so bloated upon discharge with all that gas still stuck in my abdomen, making the upper body so uncomfortable especially to breathe and this after-gym effect is almost on par.

By the third day, thankfully my aches and pain reduced. Well, there’d better be some gain for all this pain endured. I play a round of golf later today and hopefully, whatever remaining discomfort won’t affect my game. Come Monday, the cycle repeats itself.

Tags: , , ,

The Challenge Begins

26 Feb

Last Monday, we finally went back to gym after almost a month’s break. Thank goodness I did not feel sluggish after so long. The past month there were all these reasons to skip gym – valid reasons though – M2 leaving for Ireland, preparing for Chinese New Year, leaving town for the Reunion Dinner and all. But now, with all these out of the way, there’s no more reasons to miss gym anymore.

And last night we hit the gym again because last Friday, Saturday and Sunday was packed with dinner dates, making me guilty, so all the more not to skip.

The determination to want to lose that awful added weight made me rather pumped up. And like last week, I used one ten-pounder weight for some of my routines, a big jump from my usual two four-pounders.

img_0362

My serious ten-pounder

Although gym session is only once a week, I think I am off to a good start on the challenge especially with the solid program that my trainer has drawn up. Besides working out with her, there’s also golf to burn some calories too. I just need to stay more disciplined with the food intake, after all there’s a whole list of things I avoid due to Endometriosis, then I will do fine. I hope…

Today I am sore to the core and it will be worse by tomorrow. The challenge is on.

Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

What to Name Your Caterpillar

22 Feb

The more I researched about caterpillars, the more fascinating it became. I thought about giving my caterpillar a name and would you believe it, there’s such a topic on the internet – What to name your caterpillar! It’s amazing what people talk about out there.

From websites like Reddit, Yahoo and Answers, there’s even a write up on ‘Caterpillar names: the finalists’ on MSNBC.

So what am I naming my caterpillar?

Munch Pot. That’s the name of my caterpillar but sadly, Munch Pot met its untimely demise. I could not find it at its usual spot on the branch yesterday evening when we got home! Noooooo…

img_0477

Some leaves are gone, so is Munch Pot!

It could have been discovered by the maid while she was watering the plants and squished it. So I checked with her and she said she didn’t even know Munch Pot existed. Or perhaps a bird came and swoop down on it? Now we will never know. So much for having it as a pet, a short-lived one.

Tags: , , , , ,

New Pet?

21 Feb

I seem to have a new ‘pet’! It’s a caterpillar.

The inch long critter currently resides in the potted Calamansi Lime tree flanking the left side to the entrance of the house. Hubby discovered it three days ago as it was gnawing on a leaf. For all we know, it could have been there already given its size and stage of being a caterpillar.

Cute little fella. I should give it a name since I intend to keep it as a pet and chart its growth. Hmm…

Caterpillar

And because I now have a new pet to monitor, I did some research on the internet about caterpillars and found some rather interesting facts.

Apparently, moths can remember their caterpillar days, remembering things they learnt when they were at this stage even after the process of metamorphosis turning their brains and bodies to soup! How smart. So, will my caterpillar turn into a moth or butterfly, smart as it is?

The word ‘caterpillar’ refers to the larval stage of butterflies and moths. The last three days, I cannot see its antennae properly – a tell tale characteristic to know the difference, only time can tell. A butterfly’s antennae are club-shaped with a long shaft and a bulb at the end whereas a moth’s are feathery or saw-edged.

Left hanging on this, I did some further research and by now, am convinced that my caterpillar belongs to the Lime Butterfly (Papilio demoleus malayanus) species. Lime Butterflies tend to favor citrus plants like the Calamansi Lime, so it makes sense finding a Lime Caterpillar amongst the leaves.

We bid our time for the next stage of its transformation.

Caterpillar2

Munching away on the leaves

Tags: , , ,

The Chap Goh Meh Challenge

19 Feb

Today is Chap Goh Meh, the 15th and final day of the Lunar New Year. And as always, the family will have a big festive dinner to mark this occasion.

Then after this obligatory dinner, I have decided to do a bathroom scale challenge on myself. Instead of staying aghast with the recent bathroom scale horror, I will work on losing that 15lbs that was added on me. Forget about accepting the initial results with a pinch of salt or not trusting the device, I give myself three months to prove Newbie wrong.

With no more big festive meals lined up, the challenge will be more manageable but still a tough one because the New Year cookies are still aplenty to tempt. Losing 15lbs is a lot…

So stay tuned with me on this! Gotta stay focused and disciplined.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Killer Whales, Part 2

18 Feb
img_0350

The big and the mini vise clamps

A week before Chinese New Year, I bought a bigger vise clamp and put it to good use immediately over the weekend purchase. And in the midst of working on two whales back-to-back, I injured myself. But on the left foot! Huh? Where’s the connection here?

Let me explain…

The vise clamp worked beautifully and held the block well; I was able to shape the block without exerting any strength on the left hand which was good. But in the midst of the carving action, I got up too fast and caught the edge of the table so hard with my left foot. Ouch hardly describes the excruciating agony.

The shooting pain was right on the Lateral Malleolus, the bone bump and it bruised beautifully. What a sight to behold…

img_0355

Top (L): the day after, Top(R): after golf, a week later and Bottom: four days after the knock

 

 

 

Those cute whales are such killer whales I tell you. It was a good two and a half weeks before the bruise subsided. As for the pain, it is still there.

Tags: , , , , ,

I Can’t Go Dutch

14 Feb

I love cheese I must admit and I miss eating cheese because of this darn Endometriosis. These days I avoid cheese if possible because I know I will get an instant bad reaction if I ate it. And the consequences from it is not pleasant, so why subject myself to suffering?

Prior to discovering my problem, I ate cheese on a daily basis for my breakfast. From Emmental, Gouda to Camembert and Brie, I had these choices to my fill, more than Mozzarella, Cheddar and others.

Recently, I was at the grocery store and I saw a pack of cheese which I have never tried before. The big print word “Dutch” caught my eyes more than the small sentence that followed below. Torn between risking a reaction and wanting to try out of curiosity, I bought the pack.

And suffered the consequences when I ate it several days later. Sigh… I can’t go Dutch, it hurts my tummy.

img_0223

Tags: , ,

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →