Day 41, 42, 43: Pre- Summer is Here!!

Weekends do come in a roll eh? :D and really too short..

Pre-summer is the best time to go out, enjoy the beach and work out that lovely tan, as when summer hits, we are looking at a 55degree weather :-O

Day 41-43: DV free!



Day 41

Weighed in this morning after 10days, and I lost 1.3kgs

Weight loss is slowing down. But size wise, I think Im still going down. So thats ok..

Im feeling sick today but I braved it through. Didnt take any medicines, and went home early, then slept and slept and slept

I decided to cook tomorrow morning.

All meals intact. Had a mango smoothie for breakfast. All meals, vitamins taken on time. 1 DC for today.

Day 42

The reason why I slept so much yesterday was to prepare myself for today!! :))

My friend and I did some volunteer work at a cat shelter in the morning. The shelter houses 200 cats and we did a proper cleaning of everything in one of the cat rooms. It was tiring but it was expected. Went home for a while to have lunch and rest then hit the beach at 4pm.

We wanted to inquire how much it would it cost us for surfing lessons, got the info and hit the beach for some late afternoon tanning. Figured sun is safer at this time.

After the beach we went to my friends apartment for dinner, to shower, change and get ready for a hawaiian themed party. It was so much fun! We had a free drink, played limbo rock, the bar was playing some good tunes, it wasnt so crowded, and we got our own goodie bags! :))

I love this day!

All meals intact and taken on time. Just had a DC at the bar and water the rest of the evening..

Day 43

THOSE MASALA SHRIMPS.. made..me.. crumble.. almost..

Okay, today is another beach day. But I started the day at 10 as I slept around 3 am. Had breakfast, went to shop for some staple make-up and then groceries (finally found a low fat cottage cheese!!). Reached home weighed my proteins and veggies for 2 days, and headed down to the beach.

Tanning +  beach volley = tired and hungry.

So all of us headed down to the local outdoor joint of fresh seafood. There is nothing posh about this place, but you can find all tourists and locals of different nationalities, waiting in line outside for more than 1hour for food. There are only 2 dishes- fish (hammour, pomfrit and sherry) & shrimps with curry sauce serving on the side, served with koboos or parathas and salads.

Waiting to order for almost an hour, they got their food 30mins later. They ordered 1.2kgs masala, deep fried shrimps which are my favorite. I was literally holding off all the drool forming in my mouth!!!!

Being a good girl, I ate my beef cauli rice + apple, while they ate all those delicious, deep fried, SPICY, food..

What to do eh?

Reached home, cooked my next 2 days meals, crashed.

Day 40: Out with the Old, In with the Very Old

Its been 40 days! waw cant believe its been that long that Ive been eating clean.

Today is the same ate all my meals on time, ate my fruits and crackers, vitamins, and had 2 DC's today.

I received a surprise in the mail today. Im still tight with my friends from Uni days despite being away for about 6 years now, just an occassional 2wk vacations back at home per year. So, every year, she collects these starbucks drink stamps to earn their very nice Starbucks Planner and for 3 years, she has been collecting for both of us.And I received my planner yesterday!! Im so happy. Ive been collecting these since 2004 :D Although late, I am still glad I have it.. And she included a nice note for my birthday

Got invited by Hyatt Regency for a site inspection which usually ends in a nice dinner in one of their restaurants. I just told the guy I am fasting because of lent (food fast) but Im ok for some coffee and water. Imagine his shock :D most people accept invitations from hotels (and that too a 5 star) for the sumptuous lunch /dinner offered .. We did end up having a great 2 hour conversation though. I just had to tell him I had to go coz it was 9 (and I dont want to miss my dinner!)

Upon reaching home, I decided to dig out ALL the old clothes I have in storage. The ones I brought with me when I moved here in 2008. EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE FIT ME NOW and some are totally lose/baggy that I have to place it either for donation or for repair.

Just wowed at it. I suddenly have "new" clothes to wear.

Now I just have a run through my closet on what I can remove so I can place the old clothes back in.

PMS is kicking in though, feeling a bit rundown quickly..throat is a little scratchy too. I just got my electric cigarette. I dont smoke cigarettes, but I do smoke shisha. I like flavors that it comes in, and I had the 6mg nicotine ones.. I had just a few puffs and my throat became scratchy and I felt parched.. But I still like them. Its my Shisha in A Pocket

All is good. I am looking forward to busy weekend! :)

Day 40, DV free.

Day 39: No Sweat

Yep. I think I got this now.. The Cohen diet part. Its all good here..I feel like I can go on with this eating habit as a part of my daily grind. I've gotten a hang of it already.. which is good..

Honestly, despite the smaller portions and no starch thing (rice or bread), I do not feel hungry. What I do feel is that I miss the taste of the bad foods, but I am not hungry. The program is really designed to keep you full until your next meal, placing an option for snacks in between.

And as I am 10kgs away from goal, the time with which it will take to reach.. well Im giving it a maximum of 2 months as my losses are realllllyyyy slllllooooowwww nowadays.. I've started to distract myself and at the same time to prepare myself by looking at what's ahead of me.

I've read a few of the maintainance diaries because I want to brace myself. I've read, seen and heard that people are having difficulties in maintaining and then getting back on plan to lose what was gained. The freedom and the options for bad food are too much to handle.

In earlier days in the program, the most pressing issues were:

a) to keep cooking Cohen friendly
b) say no to deviations
c) keep cooking and eating on plan

But what was looming at the back of my mind is how will I deal after refeed. I mean, HOW?

----> I know when I taste that chocolate, I would want to have the whole pack OR TWO :-O

----> Or when we order KFC, I would say I would eat a 1 pc chicken only, but what actually comes to mind is 2 pcs and a cup of rice.

----> How will I handle the daily temptations in the office?!?!

Whats so different now and the future? Why can I not do the same thing that I am doing now?

Well in the future, in maintenance land, I would be in my ideal weight, so the pressure to lose is not there. Its a comfortable place I reckon. Im sure I will be in such a happy place that it is easy to give in every now and then. Reward myself.

Comfortable could equal to Complacent.

It can all snowball from there.

I need to know what to do by that time. To start with:

First, I honestly think that 57kg is too skinny for me. I have determined my acceptable weight to be at 60-63kgs.

Second, my goal is to be lean. I will definitely need to eat more so I can train more. What do I mean by more? More healthy food (and more healthy food options in Zone), with a bit of outside food every now and then.

Third, I accept that I need to be very careful during the time when I am experimenting between food and exercise. I NEED to keep track of everything. Not overdo one thing that will compromise the other..

And I am giving myself 3 months after refeed to determine this, and fine tune it before the year ends.

I just need to read up, prepare and create the right mindset for maintainance with exercise. The rest will be handled there.

Im writting this now so I can remind myself from where I have started, where I have come from, and to keep me in check in the future.

----

All meals intact. Had a nectarine right after my beefy lunch, yummy and made me feel so full. Decided to back off balsamic vinegar for now. Vitamins taken. 1 DC today. In the evening, I went for power yoga (whew), collected my blood results, got to eat dinner at 9:45pm and I had half a mango.. delish!

I am not sweating at all though. When I workout, the maximum I get to is being misty.. Why?

Day 39, DV free.

Day 38: Adding Coal to the Fire

 health-bent.com

I am tensed up to my ears right now:

Weightloss:  Back to 68.1kg.. since Day 32, I had lost 700gms and then gained them all back as I weighed in this morning. Is it the lack of sleep? the stress? 10days before TOM. I dont know! All I know is that I am deviation free

Solution: ?

Incentive:  My Barcelona trip is not going to happen. Leave not approved.

Solution: Keep the France trip alone and move the dates.

Sleep: Not getting enough. My old habits are coming back. Plus, my cat wakes up so early and keeps on meowing, disrupting my sleep. If I shut her out of my room, she keeps crying.

Solution: Will earplugs save me?

Dark circles under my eyes becoming prominent. Everyone in the office and at the gym is saying so. I drink enough water

Solution: Sleep more and I need to find a good concealer

Work: Its going to pile up soon on me now.. Im a too lazy to do this. I should also be job hunting right now, which Im not doing.

Solution: STOP BEING COMPLACENT!!! WORK YOUR ASS OFF!

Overall Mood: I feel like I am PMSing, its just a wk before the expected TOM date.

Solution: Ride it through.. Sleep..

Whew.. in times like this, I try to find a solution for every problem. Only issue is if I will follow through this solution..

"Let it gooooo.. let it gooooo..." :D


Its time to add coal to the waning fire..
(so soon?? :D )

I decided to start reading up for the REBUILD phase of my plan. But, I found out that there will be a short MAITAINANCE part in this rebuild plan. Sort of breaking in to Rebuild.

In my earlier posts, I mentioned that I want to follow a Zone living. I read 2 of Dr. Barry Sears books when I was in the Uni and was convinced with this way of living. The Zone style of eating comprises of 30% protein, 40% carbs and 30% fat in each meal. What got me sold on this eating plan is this:

What is the Zone? Simply put, its the metabolic rate at which the body works at peak efficiency.

I downloaded all his books and will slowly determine my eating strategies after Refeed. As for the exercise part, I need to start slow and so I will go to the basics of weights training and some HIIT cardio, which I can get from my trainer. I already have Visual Impact for Women by Rusty Moore as a start off point.

All meals taken today on time. No DCs for me today so yay! Took my multivitamins and my hunger and cravings were under control. I tried nectarine today.. Yummy!!

Went to get my 2nd set of blood test done and went straight home to cook for the next 3days worth of meals. hit the sack by 11:30pm.

If my sweet cat wakes up at 6 and decides to wake me up, then I would have at least 6.5hours of sleep. Besides, there's Yogilates at 7am at the gym tomorrow.

Oh! 2 of my friends got accepted to the program, so double yay!!

Day 38, DV free.

Should I Just Give In?

Sorry but most of my post contains thoughts of deviating.. i keep saying that everyday is a battle inside my head.. a battle against my willpower to say no, against lethargy in preparing meals, against office treats, against slipping for the "reason"..

Everyday is a battle..

Should I just give in this one time and learn the lesson first hand? I havent deviated intentionally (yet) as I've read in posts in the forum that deviating is not worth the setback you are putting yourself into..


Really? As they say, today I may lose the battle but not the whole war...

Just one deliberate deviation.. that crispy chocolate espresso ice cream, those kinder bars, a whole tub of pringles salt, dahl fry, aloo paratha or those bonchon wings and garlic fried rice.. all in just one day.. like a cheat day...

Sigh.. I know this is all wishful thinking.. I will not let myself fail by giving in..

These two in my head:

Angel: Good girl!


Demon: Chicken shit! :D