happy birthday mummy!

went out for dinner with some relatives for an early celebration yesterday. my aunt baked a yummy (and relatively healthy) spicy carrot cake. my mum is the reason my family is still functioning. she just an incredible person and i'm so grateful to be blessed to have her in my life :) the family was colour co-ordinated yesterday even tho we didn't plan on it. haha.

was planning to go for a run but it looks like its gonna rain. damn. hopefully later at night or else i'll get my ass down to a neighbourhood gym. did lunges after a long time on friday and man oh man am i sore. but it doesn't seem to have adversely affected the knee so i'll prolly be adding it back into my weight training routine. i'm back to being 65 but it may possibly be water weight seeing as how i just got my periods. which in itself is good news cos my cycle has kinda been off the last coupla months. monday is around the corner and i'm dreading going back to work. but i'm glad that i'm back taking the morning kids cos i had such a tough time with the little afternoon tyrants last week. well i guess that which does not kill you only makes you stronger...

the kind of wisdom i could do without

after several days of religiously taking my anti-biotics and vitamin C i finally feel pretty human again. in fact made it to the gym for the first time since sunday. did cardio today. on the way back a hot, built, indian dude sat beside me. but i tell u ah these indian men are not very considerate lah (MCPs most of em i tell ya)...he spread out his legs so wide that he took up most of the room. and not mention his bulging biceps la...plastered on me for the entire ride. luckily he was not one of those who are averse to using deodorant. so other than a rather stiff neck from the trip home i'm pretty happy with today's workout. also got back on a machine i haven't used in a while...it's called the pre-core, kinda like running up steps...very tiring man, 15 min and i was done in.

since yesterday i've been having a wee bit of a toothache. i think it's my upper-right wisdom tooth. when i told my mum that i may have to have this one extracted as well, she responded looking rather concerned, "but you'll have less and less wisdom no(not meant literally, but just an indian figure of speech) darling if u keep taking them [the teeth] out." my mother is quite funny lah, she could give jessica simpson a run for her money.


Food:

B'fast
walnut n raisin cereal and 1 glass skim milk

Lunch
1 bowl rice
1/2 serving sambal kang kung
1 bowl herbal chicken broth with squash, carrot n chicken

Snack
1/2 donut dusted with icing sugar

Snack
1/2 guava
1 cup coffee

Dinner
1 tuna, tomato and mint sandwich

Snack
1 cup horlicks

Exercise:

30 min treadmill (7.9-11)
15 min 'pre-core'

*sniffle*

exercise has been put on hold for the time being as i try to recover from a bout of flu. all i wanna do is drink warm chicken soup and snuggle in bed. but alas i've gotta get my butt to work. sigh.

unexpected surprise

am just back from a session at the gym...so that's another 4 workout week. if i can keep this up i'm sure achieving my goal of losing ten more kilos will be do-able. anyways i have mentioned that my weight has kinda been hovering between the 65-66 for the past month now. so imagine my surprise when the scale read 64.9 today. ok technically i know that's not much different from 65, but hey that's the first time i've seen a '64-point-anything' on a scale since i was fourteen probablly, so pardon me for being excited...i guess the sessions at the gym have paid off.

on a side note i notice that weight-training sessions leave me feeling so much more fatigued than cardio. and a tad bit light headed. need to add more red meat in my diet(the pasta i had didn't have very much beef in it, only occaisional shreds). but on the positive i notice how doing weights has begun to have an effect on my body physically...my shoulders have dents in them that weren't there before, my back too is looking a lot more sinew-y and my arms are just a wee bit less flabby. at the moment i do about 7 exercises which i remember din putting me thru. i know that at a certain point my body would have adjusted to them and i'm gonna have to change it up a bit. i have to read up on other exercises to work the same muscle groups. hopefully sometime next week. ha. who would've thought this'll be me. what a year can do. well onward and upward i say, as long as its not in terms of weight. haha.

Food:

B'fast
home-made pasta with tomato sause, beef, carrot and cheese
1 glass skim milk

Snack
1 cup coffee

Snack
15 almonds

Lunch
pasta
1 cup horlicks

Dinner
1/2 bowl rice
1 tbsp sambal goreng
1 tbsp paru sambal
1 tbsp bean sprouts n ladies fingers

Snack
1/2 cup milk tea
1/2 cup green bean soup


Exercise:
1 1/2 hr weight training

Okay these pictures are just about one week late. hehe. have been so dead tired after my 9hr days have been too lazy to get the old diggy cam outta my bag. neways better late than never right... these are from one our lepak sessions last sunday....in honor of shaz's (albeit temporary) return to our shores.

the brother is back for the weekend. have been spending some family time with both him and mummy dearest. went shopping with cheryl and grace for a while this afternoon, spent 65 bucks on two pairs of pants and one skirt...dirt cheap right?? all thanks to grace and her mum, and their crazy bargain-hunting skills, for finding this place in the first place.

oh and i also traded in my trusty motorola v3 for the motorola RIZR, pronounced riser. happy days...

a very intense-looking shrek n me

with the very photogenic mai :D

sharm,shaz,shrek,mai n me...all smiles after some good ramen and an even better chocolate sundae

a very tired brother back from a week in camp. he's got three pt sessions a day, comprising of runs, pull-ups and other such gruelling exercises. he's already lost two kilos this week!

Food (thurs)

B'fast
muesli with 1 glass skim milk
1 guava

Snack
1 guava

Lunch
1 bowl fried rice with peas n carrot
1 bowl seafood soup

Snack
1 bowl seafood soup
1 cup coffee

Dinner
1 tuna, tomato and parsley sandwhich

Exercise (Thurs)

45 min cardio (20 min run, 25 min walking at increasing inclines)

Food (Fri)

Bfast
Muesli and 1 glass skim milk
1 guava

Lunch
1 bowl rice
1 serving sambal beans
3 fried chicken drumlets

Snack
1 guava
1 cup coffee

Dinner
3 slices home-made tomato,chicken n cheese pizza

Exercise:
Nil

Food (Sat)

Bfast
Muesli and 1 glass skim milk

Snack
1 slice home-made tomato, chicken n cheese pizza

Lunch
a few bites (approx 1/4 serving) seafood noodle soup

Snack
custard-filled pastry

Dinner
1 fish-o-fillet w/o tartar sause
3-4 wedges
3-4 bites subway meatball marinara

Exercise:
Nil

the usual mid-week mayhem

i was supposed to work frm 7am to 2pm for the whole of this month but i guess it was just too good to be true...have worked frm 9-6 instead most of this week. went to the gym today as well to get in a session of weight-training. i prolly strained a muscle in either my neck or back n have been suffering from a dull head ever since. nothing seven hrs of sleep couldn't set right tho. i plan to do a session of cardio tomorrow and then rest on friday so that i can have dinner with mum and the bro, who will be back from camp(yay!)...am looking forward to meeting up with cheryl and grace over the weekend to do some bargain hunting....nothing like some retail therapy to make you forget a particularly tough week.

Food:

B'fast
wholemeal sandwhich with turkey ham, tomato, parsley and 1 tsp mustard
1 cup coffee

Lunch
1 bowl rice
1/2 cup sambal kang kung
1 bowl herbal chicken soup

Snack
1 banana
1 yakult

Snack
wholemeal sandwhich with turkey ham,tomato,parsley and 1 tsp mustard
1 cup coffee

Dinner
wholemeal sandwhich with turkey ham, tomato,parsley and 1tsp mustard
1 glass sugar-free soya milk

*yes, i did have the exact same thing three times today, and i enjoyed it each time. my mummy would prolly say it was all the love she put into making them for me this morning, but well i guess i'm easy...

Exercise:

1 1/2 hr weight training

he da man

i just came across a picture of din, my trainer, during his body-building days. he obviously knows what he's talking about. i knew he was some national and regional chamion but i had no clue he used to look quite like that! though bodybuilders are a little too bulky for my taste, i admire the lengths they go to to push their body to the best it can be. i have a friend who's a body-bulider and he once said to me, "its a sad thing for a man to die before discovering all that his body is capable of being." that got me thinking, what will my body look like when its at its physical peak? what is it capable of achieving? i have spent almost my whole life being obese, where these questions couldn't be further from my mind. but i'm glad for this new-found respect i have for my body. i don't wanna be thin and slight, i wanna be a hardbody. two problems with that though... firstly being so overweight all those years has really done a number on my skin; its so stretched out in areas like my arms and abdomen that i'm not sure anything other than a scalpel can amend the situation. secondly one's ability to develop muscular definition is dictated to a large extent by one's genes. so i may not exactly be able to become truly 'cut' but i am excited to see what my body may look like. i want my own jemina j. moment basically. and if at my peak my body is still comprised of flabby bit, then that's ok too.

my food and exercise log hasn't really been too successful so i'm gonna include it here along with my regular posts...

Food:

B'fast

1 serving spoon of baked pasta with cheese and ground beef

1 cup coffee

Snack

1 cheese sandwhich

Lunch

1 cup rice

1/2 cup steamed carrot n wintermelon

2 small pieces (approx 4 oz) sweet n sour fish

Snack

1 boiled egg

1 kaya toast

1cup coffee

Dinner

1/2 portion of stewed beef noodle

1 slice papaya, 1 slice watermelon

Snack

1 small iece of homemade brownie

Exercise

20 min stationary bike

25 min treadmill, walking at inclines 1-8

i have finally begun getting myself to the gym again. i've gotta start making healthier choices for breakfast and my mid-morning snack. and have my desserts in the earlier part of the day...

getting back in the groove

hit the gym today for a session of weight training. felt really good bout it cos i felt i was challenging myself throughout the session. even checked with the heart rate monitor on the stationary bike to make sure i was pushing myself. once again did mostly upper body with some hamstring exercises. the machines are getting less intimidating the more i use them.

this is the first week in probably months that i've worked out four times; mon-outdoor run, thur-weight training, sat- 40 min stationary bike, sun-weight training. hopefully i'll be able to keep this up.

i'm sure most of you can relate to the fear of re-gaining. so whilst i try to get the last ten kilos off, i'm trying to not let this fear get in the way of my sanity. i know i've gotta remind myself that this is a long-term plan to a lifetime of good health. sure the new clothes and all the compliments have been great but i think i'd enjoy being older and yet medication free even more. i come from a genepool that's got a history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high colesterol and diabetes. my dad's sister, a doctor mind you, was blind in her late 40s due to severe diabetes, around which time she suffered her first heart attack. another such attack claimed her life at 53. i'm quite attached to my sight, thank you very much, and this will have to be the way i live from now on.

on a side note i felt a little light-headed post workout. i had ice-cream immediately after cos i thought perhaps i hadn't had enough sugar. but alas to no effect. my friend grace said to have some red meat, which i did for dinner and feel much better. i didn't realise how i had abstained, not intentionally, from red meat for so long. i know for a fact that i don't consume enough protein. am thinking bout incorporating a protein shake into the diet. much easier than the egg whites i think. my friend cheryl was saying how there's one that's available here that's not too bad-tasting. will post in greater detail when i try it...

sore is just a state of mind

finally got my butt to the gym on thursday and did weight training. didn't work the legs tho, other than the hamstrings on a stability ball, because i didn't wanna stress the knee. speaking of the knee it's still hurting but less so. remind me again to never give in to vanity.

am really feeling the effects of the session now. everything is sore. but its a damn good feeling cos it means i really worked 'em muscles. heading to the gym in a bit to clock in a cardio session. am thinking either the bike or the cross trainer/eliptical. definitely no running for now :(

oh and i've been hovering around 65-66 kg for almost a month now. these plateaus are getting harder and harder to break. hopefully when i start exercising more regularly again thinks will get moving in that department. but other than that am feeling pretty happy and healthy. not to mention am rockin some majorly impressive triceps :)

my name is liza and i'm a shopaholic

ever since i discovered a place that sells decent stuff that i can get into at really great prices i've been hooked! this was my loot in a mere 2 days, oh including the purple dress i wore on my birthday. help! i've obviously got a problem and i'm gonna deal with it in a rational mature way... i'm gonna leave all my plastic at home and carry a minimum amount of cash to sustain me thru each day.

i haven't been to the gym since last friday. have been resting both today and yesterday cos my knee has been hurting. hope to do a weight-training session tomorrow after work. oh i went for a run day-before yesterday. the diet's been better though, with the exception of my birthday that is. i find that desserts are my undoing, so instead of driving myself nuts trying to deprive myself i find it more effective to allow myself a bit of something everyday. today it was four small squares of dark chocolate. moderation is the name of the game.

he's gone away..to become a fireman

whatcha lokin at?

mum, bro n sumz... aren't they a cute couple?? height is evidently not in our genes :)

a family shot

love ya baby brother

my younger brother became an enlistee to the civil defence yesterday. he'll be serving for two years (!) afterwhich he plans on signing on. we've had our differences over the years but i love the guy and miss him already! he'll be back this weekend tho. lotsa love to his girlfriend sumz ] cos i know she's missing him dearly as well. don't worry babe friday is around the corner...

23rd birthday!

i know i haven't posted in a bit. mostly because my old knees have not quite recovered from an entire day spent in four inch wedges. seriously, i've been on pain-killersfor the past two days. but enough of that. i turned 23 on the 7th and spent the day with the people who mean the world to me; my friends. met up with azz, mai and sharm for lunch, which started at two and stretched till half past four. the menu included some garlic prawn pasta, some wasabi prawn salad, mudpie and fondue! as u can tell we weren't really counting calories...

we've been friends for ten yrs. god we're getting old. but u know at least we're way cooler now :) you babes make me laugh and have been there for me during the toughest of times during this past yr for which i'll always be grateful. almost as grateful as i was for not having made to wear the very naughty bit of lingerie then and there :) definitely something that'll motivate me whilst doing those dreaded lunges, those knickers...

23rd birthday (part 2)

met up with cheryl n grace for dinner. had a fresh pomelo n squid salad (very refreshing)followed by a sinful mudpie(my second for the day) for dessert-which i shared with cheryl thankfully- as well as some of grace's decadent double choc cheesecake. i.need.to.get.my.ass.to.the.gym.PRONTO.

oh thanks guys for the super cute pink nike waterbottle. i'm gonna keep it safe frm the kids and their stickers i promise :)

23rd birthday (part 3)

this two pics were taken exactly a yr apart. i am blessed to have some wonderful friends and its always great to spend ur birthdays with the people who enrich you're life. i've lucked out that way for i know i have friends that love me and would be there for me no matter how i look. but seeing how i looked on my 22nd birthday was kind of like a wake up call. i have so much to grateful for this year but most importantly its given me back my self-respect and made me see that impossible is just a matter of perspective.

happy 2007!

since this is my first post of 2007, i thought i'd start the year with a series of photos to show how my body's changed over the past year. i sometimes still have trouble believing that this time around i've actually come so far! i just found out my ideal body weight is 58kg. i hope in 2007 i'm able to reach that, but more importantly that i'll be able to attain a healthy body fat percentage. i know if i keep doing what i'm doing i'll get there. i want to thank all my fellow weight-loss bloggers for all their encouragement. you guys are inspirational and if i ever had to be glad for being overweight it'd be cos it's brought such strong women like you into my life. keep fighting girls and we'll reach our goals together!

Feb '06 (90kg)

June '06 (79kg)

Oct '06 (69kg)

Dec'06 (65kg)