65 to 55

One fateful day, a few months ago, while accompanying Jasmine to Cecilia's house for video filming, I found Cecilia's weighing scale. I stepped on it and it showed 65kg. I was perplexed. She then disclaimed that it was faulty, and showed me her accurate digital one.


Turns out that I was 65kg, after all. My all-time heaviest. My friends thought I was pregnant. I had noticed that I had put on weight, but I didn't think it was that much. Cause? Eating. Eating. More eating. And after eating I usually just sit in front of the laptop doing random stuff. And I tended to snack in the middle of the night.\


I'm the kind of person who would automatically go for all the high-calorie foods - processed food, sodas, creamy desserts, rich cakes, red meat. I'm not a veggie person, to be completely frank. To call me an omnivore would be an understatement - I consider myself more of a carnivore.


A good example would be the bowl of beef noodles I had at Dami - in the bowl there's the noodles, the few pieces of beef, a cut of carrot and radish each, and two stalks of bai cai (the more common "American" term for this would be "bok choy", but I think it sounds kinda stupid). I found myself having half a mind to ignore all the veggies and just dig into everything else.


Anyway, when the Taylor's Uni Gym opened, it was practically a call of fate. My entire family (and my boyfriend) has time and again reassured me that I looked good enough (though my boyfriend did imply that I would look better with a little less weight), but I was insistent.


I've always been gym-shy - I would be extremely awkward with all the equipment (and all the fit people around me). Instead of going on a long, slow workout on, let's say, the treadmill, I would sprint for 15 seconds then move on to the bicycle.


Fast forward to NOW. Just this morning (before an entire chocolate bar), I weighed myself on my mum's ancient weighing scale (which isn't accurate, like her kitchen scale) and it showed about 55kg. I mentally shouted "YES FINALLY IT @#$%^&* WORKED!!!"


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Diet?

There wasn't any. I basically ate what I wanted, when I wanted, and usually I ate most at dinner. My pre-gym meal would be a cup of coffee or tea, lunch at campus (rice or noodles), then whatever my grandmother cooks up for dinner.


And for some reason, the past few weeks have been packed with delicious food. The key is moderation. Have some self-control, but don't deprive yourself to the point that you just take a single bite. Eat it slowly, so that you savor the taste, texture and flavor.


Word of advice, though. Be a procrastinator when it comes to desserts. I mean, who doesn't want a giant slice of cheesecake or a giant serving of ice cream? Just tell yourself, "I'll have some tomorrow". And when you do, take a little bit, and slowly savor it, rather than wolfing it down.


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Exercise?

I try to kill myself in the gym. My aim is to sweat more than any other guy in the gym, do long cardio workouts, and have every muscle sore the next day. And trust me, this isn't a good aim, but it works for me.


When I first started out at the gym, it was basically random - maybe I'd do the treadmill, then the rower machine, etc. Then I set goals for myself - 1km/15 minutes on the treadmill (burns about 120 calories, depending on your inclination percentage), 100 pulls on the rower machine, 5km on the bicycle, etc.


I then started using the muscle-toning equipment. I spent more time doing cardio on the treadmill than the bicycle, toning my arms, and flattening my tummy via a technique called the plank, which was taught by a kind Uni Gym trainer.


Get an exercise mat, and lay flat on your tummy. Prop yourself up on your elbows and press your palms together, fingers intertwined. Let your toes dig into the mat (think push-up position, the guy type), your feet slightly apart. Lift your whole body and support the yourself on your elbows and toes. Balance the entire frame with your core (abdominal) muscles. Keep this position for about 30-40 counts. You should feel yourself shaking by the 10th count, if your abs are as weak as mine.


I aim to go to the gym about 3 times a week, each time spending about an hour, or until my muscles can't take any more workout. My favorite Youtube chef Laura Vitale made a video on how she keeps fit even through all the food she eats that she cooks on her show.


Her key is portion control, and working out 6 times a week. The trainer who taught me the plank also went to the gym 6 times a week, 4 hours a day when he was overweight. I find that 6 times a week is too much, but then again after starting to go to the gym regularly, I don't feel as lethargic or unreasonably exhausted as I would have felt for the past few months.


However, I've gone back to my old bad habit of going to sleep at the wee hours of the morning, then waking up feeling like a zombie. And I'm back to drinking lots of Fanta Orange.


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Motivation?

I feel great (though exhausted) after a workout at the gym. I actually feel contented. This is how I think about it: I did something that has burned calories and fats. I'm gonna be slimmer tomorrow.


And I also want to fit in hot, cut-out, sleeveless, off-shoulder, revealing, body constricting dresses without having to worry about my tummy and whatnot. So my current aim is to get a dress with a cut-out lower back (to display my tattoo~). My target weight is now 48kg.


My tummy size has been going up and down for the past few days. Maybe it's because of the food. What I have to do is cut down on my dinner portions, or just plain have dinner earlier.