Tag Archives: Diet

It’s All About Food, Part 2

17 Sep

Now that the three long weekends are over and done with, it’s back to work. Sigh…

Over the weekend, we took Friday off again, this time to stopover in Ipoh for a round of golf and a full blown three meals of yummy eats prior to driving up North to see hubby’s parents.

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Nasi Lemak breakfast at the Agromall along the Plus highway

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A little hazy but it didn’t stop us at Royal Perak Golf Club

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Felt like a glutton doing Nga Choy Kai with Hor Fun AND Char Siew at Lou Wong after golf

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Amazed at the White Rabbit sizes! Humongous or Large anyone?

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Had to eat Nasi Kandar before reaching the house

Honestly, the weekend was also all about food, and golf too. And yes, the 16/8 diet was put aside as well. There was a variety of local fare we ate this time, mostly spicy but just as enjoyable.

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Caffe Diem in Pekan Cina was very hip with the decor and ambience

 

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Had dinner with an aunty. Cakes were really good

And the two rounds of golf, at Royal Perak Golf Club (on Friday) and Darulaman Golf & Country Club (on Sunday), was equally enjoyable with both games finishing in three and a half hours as we had the courses all to ourselves. Nice. However, the golf elbow flared up this time! Uh oh… I had to Salonpas it to reduce the pain.

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We had the course all to ourselves!

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After the game…

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After game lunch was a Kueh Teow goreng (top) and Pasembur (bottom)

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Dinner was a Fruit Rojak (top), Nasi Ulam (left) and Thai Kueh Chap (right)

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The Apom was nice while the packet of Nasi Lemak was very little but enough

Well, rest should fix the elbow and no more breaks until October. This has been a good break too like Club Med but the same cannot be said for the drive back this time.

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It felt like a Chinese New Year exodus drive. So tiring!

It was an unbelievable eight hours and 15 minutes to reach home! Very unusual for a typical 4.5 hours journey. Then again, when there’s a long three-day weekend, others are bound to take advantage of it as well, just like us.

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Gains and Losses

9 Sep

It’s obvious when we went off to Kuantan and Cherating for the anniversary trip, the 16/8 diet was not followed and therefore, we gained some weight.

Although we didn’t eat much in Club Med, we did try almost everything albeit small portions and it was enough to do us in. The frequency of eating in a day made our system haywire as there was breakfast, lunch, tea, pre-dinner snacks and dinner and the offerings were always loaded and very rich. In comparison, our typical meals consist of no carbs/high fiber for lunch and low protein/some carbs/fiber for dinner plus some snacks in between. Suddenly the 16/8 was more like 16 hours of eating and just eight hours of fasting instead.

And add in all that free-flow alcohol, the weight gain was inevitable. Remember I had seven drinks on Day One, hubby had one less and on Day Two, I had 12 drinks while hubby, I think had a couple less; I lost count on his intake. All that sugar in the cocktails… tsk! tsk! Thank goodness I didn’t have an endometriosis cramp attack with all that alcohol consumed.

When we returned, gain we certainly did when we stepped on the bathroom scale that evening. But by Tuesday, we were back to our 16/8 routine and at the end of the week, we lost all that weight gained and was back to normal. Phew.

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Happy Anniversary to Us, Part 2

2 Sep

All good things must always come to an end. Our anniversary trip this year has just been awesome as we did everything from ‘A’ right through to ‘G’.

A good drive, hardly any cars

We left town on Friday for a round of golf at Royal Pahang Golf Club in Kuantan. A leisurely but fast-paced three hour round as there was hardly any other golfers. And dinner that night was at the famed Ana Ikan Bakar Petai for some cholesterol-laden seafood, a little indulgence. Obviously the 16/8 diet is out the window these few days.

Prawn, squid, stingray and the local ‘otak-otak’

The next day, we did the unthinkable, visiting the local mini zoo! Hahaha… but it was quite fun as we enjoyed the animals and the walk around the place, taking away some of the dinner guilt. When it was time to check in, we headed for Club Med in Cherating.

And the drinking, I mean fun began.

Drinks on Day One

Day two was a day of more drinking and activities. I managed to get some sun to even out my tan. And I chalked up 12 drinks. Pretty good with the first (beer) at 11.00 and the last (cocktail) 12 hours later, the bulk of it from 5.00pm onwards.

The one beer and 11 cocktails on Day 2

Rock climbing, sun tanning, hiking

Happy Anniversary to us! Cheers

We wrap up our getaway today and head back to reality. Hope the drive isn’t too bad. I look forward to what we will do next year when we celebrate the 25th milestone! Happy anniversary to us again.

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Suddenly It’s Too Big

23 Jul

Last year we planned some family time with M2 before she went off to Ireland to study. Since we decided on a beach outing in Penang, I dug up my old Sunseeker bikini. But guess what? As it had not seen much action the last few years, the rubber had hardened, thus no more elasticity and was out of shape. I was aghast, my favorite set.

So instead of fixing it (there wasn’t enough time), I decided to buy a new set but something different that came with underpads for the top piece. Now this was in December before I knew of this 16/8 diet.

Towards the end of February this year, I started the 16/8 diet and it’s been almost five months that I am at it and have lost weight generally, save for the couple of pounds gained lately due to a disrupted eating schedule. Two weekends ago, I pulled out the new set to try them on because a beach trip is coming up soon. And guess what? This time, the new set felt at least one size too big now because I, err… couldn’t fill them up!

Well, I certainly don’t want to grow back into it, now or ever, so I may have to buy yet another set (without underpads) or perhaps get the rubber fixed up on my old favorite set. We shall see…

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New Objective

16 Jul

I thought I needed to set a new objective all over again as far as the 16/8 diet is concerned. Although I gained only a pound from the recent US trip, the weight fluctuated the last two weeks and hoovering mostly on the up side. It felt like a set back–my Uniqlo jeans was a tad too snug–gaining weight back home and not from the vacation. Ugh.

There could be several reasons for this, number one being my leftover jet lag and number two, my eating habits.

The first week when I was back, I was eating breakfast when normally I don’t. By the second week, this need was overcomed but I found myself eating more and bigger portions for the two meals that I ate. Hmm…

Then last night, I went to the gym despite a cough developing. But it was a good workout as I sweated the excess water retention. And this morning as I stood on the digital bathroom scale, the weight has gone back to normal. Yay.

Having said that, I still have to be disciplined and have an objective. With my eating schedule back to normal, the new objective should be about fitting into another outfit rather than that Zara dress that I wore for M1’s Commencement.

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All Good on the Home Front

5 Jul

Now that the bag delay issue is settled, there are other matters to tend to.

Official pet number one, Rooney, was confused then happy to see us when we got home. Generally all was good on the home front except for two things – the Marimo Moss balls and the cocoon still hanging on the tree in front of the house.

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He loved his new chew toy

The moss balls would need some serious TLC to recover as they have turned brown but this wouldn’t be an issue to revive them. The cocoon is quite a challenge though. It’s been too long at this stage. Did we miss the emerging moment and deceived by the cocoon shell, still hanging up there? Maybe I should brave climbing up the tall ladder to have a closer look. Hmm…

I’m glad I didn’t gain too much weight, only a pound. I thought it would be more considering the 16/8 diet was thrown out the window the minute we arrived at KLIA and had a beer and indulged in snacks at the Premier Lounge before we boarded.

It wasn’t just the things we ate in the US but when we ate which was always late dinners past seven and sometimes even nine or ten at night, hardly at five or six like we normally do back home. And I ate breakfast constantly eating because it was cold and I needed food to fuel the body to keep warm.

Being back means being back to routine and I am pretty sure that extra pound will be shed in no time especially once I get over my jet lag. So it’s great that all’s good on the home front.

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Pushing Myself

7 Jun

Last week, I pushed myself on my activities. After playing golf in the morning, I was back in the office in the afternoon. Then in the evening we went to the gym. I told my trainer to go easy on me because I had done more than 11 thousand steps already, more than the quota for the day.

So she put me on the lighter weights instead of the ten-pounder that I have been using the last few sessions. And certain routines, I jumped, lunged and turned less than hubby. I managed and survived the workout session.

And towards the end of last week, my weight dropped even further! Now that’s motivation to push myself. I was down to a mere 0.3lbs away from my new revised target. Woo hoo…

This week, it was the same for Monday – golf then office. However, gym was cancelled because it’s two days before Hari Raya. And it’s only sensible to give my trainer a break from fighting with traffic (like last week) to make her way over to us. It can be very aggravating to be on the road with so many cars for their last minute errands and what nots. Not a good feeling to have before the festivity and holiday.

With Wednesday and Thursday being public holidays again, focusing on the 16/8 diet was a challenge because our routine and menu had to be adjusted.

In fact on Tuesday, I literally pigged out when I met up with my girlfriends dining on a sumptuous porky spread. That evening we talked, laughed and ate passed my eating window. Forget the 16/8 as it was a great night catching up. And after an eventful week, the weigh-in this morning, to my surprise was 0.8lbs beyond the new target! Double woo hoo…

Now I know why I push myself and not sit on my laurels. It sure feels good! Maybe at this point, I will go for another 0.2lbs just to round up the number. From then on, it should be about maintaining the weight as is because my target, twice, has been achieved. There’s no need to set a third new target weight.

To recap, I started this 16/8 diet on 25th Feb and had a horrendous weight spike at the end of that week. But perseverance and discipline paid off over the months. Today, officially on record, I have lost a total of 10.8lbs. So proud of myself.

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Craft Beer

6 Jun

Of late, I find myself wanting to drink beer rather than whiskey although it should be a big no-no for me given the 16/8 diet that I am on and knowing full well the after-effects of having two pints or more. But the resistance is weak especially when it comes to Kronenbourg 1664, a sweet, crisp and fruity beer.

Several weekends ago, hubby and I decided to venture into the city centre for dinner, taking the MRT instead of driving. Stopping at Bukit Bintang, we went to Isetan at Lot 10 for Japanese and then, had some craft beer within the same premise.

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Amber, Elvis and Espresso

The counter offered a beer tasting platter with three choices of an amber ale, an IPA and a stout. I liked the IPA best, a mild grape fruit after-taste but didn’t like the other two as much. Looks like I am more into the fruity beer types, what with Kronenbourg and this. Hubby, on the other hand being a stout man, liked the stout best. The amber ale…. meh.

The glasses were small and just enough for a flavour experience which was nice. Would we drink these again? Maybe as a whole pint of the type I like and not necessary a tasting platter again.

Craft beer is still new for us and it takes practice to appreciate them.

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Changing My Profession

24 May

It’s been an unusual week with more play than work. As many know, Malaysia has a lot of public holidays. In fact, too many. This week alone we had Monday and Wednesday off, so the masses took Tuesday off as well to maximize their long 5-days weekend to go out of town or abroad.

We did neither but just stayed put to play golf this whole week. So much golf, I think I should just change my profession to full-time golfer and part-time Graphic Designer instead of vice versa.

There were games on Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, and this Saturday as well. This morning I was supposed to have a game too but at the last minute, it was postponed to the coming Monday. With so many golf games, the 16/8 diet had to be temporarily halted because of timing. There’s simply no proper window to stick to a regime and regular menu.

But I figured it’s okay as there’s exercise and calories burnt during these outings, there won’t be any weight spike even after a hearty meal (after every game) to replenish the energy. In fact, today’s weigh-in more than recovered from last week’s minor setback as the numbers improved. And it’s even better than the target weight achievement two weeks ago. I am now 1.5lbs away from the new target weight. Yay!

Come Sunday, thank goodness I had scheduled ahead a full body massage knowing very well, the tired and battered body would need this deserving therapy to rejuvenate before going at this golf binge again next Monday, and possibly Wednesday and most definitely Saturday. Oh yeah, and sandwiched in between, I guess I should also work…

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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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