I am not making any New Year resolutions for 2013. I have made resolutions over the past years, but this time, I don't feel like I want to. Instead, I've decided to make myself a New Year promise.
Firstly, after my recent success with my 28 Day Diet, I am confident that I have figured out what I should do to have my weight under control. My biggest challenge is carbs. Therefore, this would be my main focus in managing my diet. As I find it easy to skip rice during my main meals, I have decided to only have it a couple of times a week, if I must. Other carbs like bread, pasta, etc. will be managed by controlling it's portions. Basically, I will manage my diet better this 2013.
Secondly, I am thankful for whom I have in my life. I am who I am today because of my son. Being his mother has been the greatest gift he has given me. He is my life, my soul. I have cherished him from the moment he was conceived and he will always be my precious baby.
My hubby and I have shared a lifetime together. We have been in each others lives for 23 years and we will be celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary this year. You can imagine the many, many things we have gone through together, both wonderful and difficult. I am grateful to him for everything so far, and look forward to many more years to come. I love my precious little family and thank God each and everyday for them. On a slightly broader circle, I love and cherish my parents, siblings, darling neice and others who make up my wider beloved family.
Finally, 2013 would be a milestone for me, as I would be turning 40. I simply can' t wrap my mind around it yet. The big 40! I somehow don't feel as if 40 years of my life has gone by. All my memories feel like it just happened yesterday. Maybe I should be glad I feel this way, as it could indicate that I am still young at heart. Whatever it is, in 2013, it would be even more important for me to focus on my mind (reading, learning and exploring new things, discovering something new to enrich myself), body (exercise, diet, general well-being), and soul (peace of mind, faith).
Wishing you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2013 everyone!
December 31, 2012
December 22, 2012
Our Phuket Holiday, December 2012
10.45 a.m. : Our lives are never without drama. We are to leave for our long awaited vacay on the 12.40 pm flight this afternoon. Its 10.45 a.m. now and we are racing in two cars to the airport as the van transportation we pre arranged to pick us up from home at 9.30 a.m. never showed up. After numerous phone calls, panic attacks and temper flares later, we decided to jump into our own cars and head to the airport ourselves. We are stuck at the damn toll now. My son sitting at the back seat is so upset that we may miss the flight. Keeping our fingers crossed.
11.55 a.m. : We are in line at the check-in counter at the LCCT. We have made it on time, thank God. It's pretty crowded here, as it's the holiday season and there are numerous flights taking off to the four corners of the world. We are making a dash for it.
1.05 p.m. : We missed the flight! Damn it! We are all so upset. Especially the kids. It's all because of the transport guy this morning. We now have to check into the next flight. More running around to get the flight tickets changed. Drama.
3.15 p.m. : We have changed our flight tickets to the 6.10 p.m. flight. We have claimed our bags from 'Lost and Found' as they had to unload it from the orginal flight that we checked it into. Then we repeated the whole process we did when we got to the airport this morning. My feet are killing me as for some reason, I decided to wear heels. It's still very early for our next flight, but I've parked myself at the waiting area in front of the boarding gate with my book. I pray, no more drama.
9.35 p.m. : Well, there was a bit of drama, i.e., the flight was delayed by about a half hour. Nevertheless, we are finally here at the Marriot Vacation Club, Phuket, Thailand. In the end, we had a beautiful surprise waiting for us when we got here. They upgraded us from the second floor villa to the first floor villa. The difference? It comes with a beautiful garden and an attached pool. Yeah! Perfect ending to a drama filled day. Here's to a wonderful time in Phuket!
December 16, 2012
28 Day Diet - Day 27 & 28
I have completed my 28 day diet! This is an amazing feat as I have never stuck to a diet for this long. My style is often erratic where, I do watch what I eat, but at the same time, I have days I let myself indulge. Sometimes these days of indulgence becomes too frequent. The end result is that my weight fluctuates just as erratically. This is the longest stretch I have ever completed and so, it's a memorable milestone. The second news to celebrate is that I have lost 3kg's! I knew I'd loose some weight, but 3 is an awesome number.
Looking back now, being on the diet wasn't so bad. I never had to starve myself and the alternative meals I choose to have were pretty tasty. The only thing I completely eliminated from my meals was rice. 28 days without rice has really made a big difference on my weight. Rice is such a main part of our diet that it's very easy to over indulge. We have such a wide variety of dishes in our culture and a large percentage of them go with rice.
To add to the guilt, alot of these dishes are rich as they are cooked in lot's of oil, fat, coconut milk, etc. With such ingredients it's no wonder they are all so delicious, especially when eaten with rice! So it's very easy to put on weight when such meals are a norm. It's not that I cut out carbs completely. I've enjoyed my bread and noodles among other carbs during these 28 days, but in smaller portions.
Anyway, I am happy my diet was successful. I am happy with the way I feel. And I am very happy that the whole process wasn't as difficult as I feared it would be. I will continue with this diet plan, i.e., I would watch what I eat, never over indulge and rice would not be a staple in my diet.
Looking back now, being on the diet wasn't so bad. I never had to starve myself and the alternative meals I choose to have were pretty tasty. The only thing I completely eliminated from my meals was rice. 28 days without rice has really made a big difference on my weight. Rice is such a main part of our diet that it's very easy to over indulge. We have such a wide variety of dishes in our culture and a large percentage of them go with rice.
To add to the guilt, alot of these dishes are rich as they are cooked in lot's of oil, fat, coconut milk, etc. With such ingredients it's no wonder they are all so delicious, especially when eaten with rice! So it's very easy to put on weight when such meals are a norm. It's not that I cut out carbs completely. I've enjoyed my bread and noodles among other carbs during these 28 days, but in smaller portions.
Anyway, I am happy my diet was successful. I am happy with the way I feel. And I am very happy that the whole process wasn't as difficult as I feared it would be. I will continue with this diet plan, i.e., I would watch what I eat, never over indulge and rice would not be a staple in my diet.
December 14, 2012
28 Day Diet - Day 25 & 26
My neice and nephew left today (Thursday) after spending a wonderful week with us. My kids throughly enjoyed themselves as they only get to meet their cousins once a year. Nevertheless, they have managed to remain really close. I enjoyed watching them interact and have fun too. I liked seeing them share all their stories and memories of the past year. Even their little quarrels were sweet as I watched them take sides at first, and then, make up.
The only downside was that it was challenging on my diet. When I think back to the meals we may not otherwise have had, I wonder if it would have made a difference to my diet. We ate out quite a bit. There was also the fast food and junk food. Ok, honestly, there will never be a perfect scenario for anyone on a diet. Whether or not the kids were down, there'd always be situations that pose a challenge to dieters like me. However, I believe I had my meals under control and really, I would rather have the kids down anyway.
So these last couple of days I've managed to keep my meals light and nutritious. In fact, I went over to my sister's place yesterday and stood on her weighing scale (mine broke a couple of years ago and I've yet to get one) (no, it wasn't because of me). Let's just say, it's looking good ;)
The only downside was that it was challenging on my diet. When I think back to the meals we may not otherwise have had, I wonder if it would have made a difference to my diet. We ate out quite a bit. There was also the fast food and junk food. Ok, honestly, there will never be a perfect scenario for anyone on a diet. Whether or not the kids were down, there'd always be situations that pose a challenge to dieters like me. However, I believe I had my meals under control and really, I would rather have the kids down anyway.
So these last couple of days I've managed to keep my meals light and nutritious. In fact, I went over to my sister's place yesterday and stood on her weighing scale (mine broke a couple of years ago and I've yet to get one) (no, it wasn't because of me). Let's just say, it's looking good ;)
December 12, 2012
28 Day Diet - Day 22, 23 & 24
It has been a crazy few days. It started with a second trip to the Big Bad Wolf bookfair on Monday. My sister (another avid reader) and I managed another haul of wonderful books. Between us, we bought over a hundred books! I am telling you, we were literally salivating and couldn't wait to dive into the books even before we left the place. To think we had another equally large collection from our first trip at home. Yummy.
Anyway, after all that hard work of lugging the books around, we were understandably exhausted and starving. The only place close enough to grab a bite at before we dropped dead on our feet was a McD's. I confess I throughly enjoyed a Value Meal consisting of a McChicken burger, medium fries and coke. Only when I demolished the burger and fries did I feel guilty. A little bit. To make up for it, we had steamboat with the kids for dinner.
Tuesday was good. I managed to have the multigrain bread and eggs for lunch. We took the kids to dinner at Chillies and while everyone else had their burgers, steaks and chops, I had a grilled chicken salad. The funny thing was, I felt like everyone at the table was a little sorry for me as I was on my diet. Truth be told, I throughly enjoyed my salad and had no regrets about my choice. One of the things about this diet is that I learnt that I like feeling good before, during and after my meals.
Wednesday was my mother-in-laws birthday. We had her favourite Nasi Lemak for dinner. Nasi Lemak literally translated means fat or really rich rice as it's cooked in thick coconut milk. Served with it were a variety of condiments such as fried anchovies, fried chicken, fried groundnuts, boiled eggs, a thick anchovy sambal and spicy chicken curry, both cooked with coconut milk. You get the picture, right? Infact, the only vegetable served was sliced cucumbers which is the norm with this meal as it helps cut the spiciness of the food. Well, as you may have guessed, I skipped the rice as usual and had a small serving of the condiments, especially the eggs and cucumber. It nevertheless was a delicious meal as I happen to like Nasi Lemak as well.
Anyway, after all that hard work of lugging the books around, we were understandably exhausted and starving. The only place close enough to grab a bite at before we dropped dead on our feet was a McD's. I confess I throughly enjoyed a Value Meal consisting of a McChicken burger, medium fries and coke. Only when I demolished the burger and fries did I feel guilty. A little bit. To make up for it, we had steamboat with the kids for dinner.
Tuesday was good. I managed to have the multigrain bread and eggs for lunch. We took the kids to dinner at Chillies and while everyone else had their burgers, steaks and chops, I had a grilled chicken salad. The funny thing was, I felt like everyone at the table was a little sorry for me as I was on my diet. Truth be told, I throughly enjoyed my salad and had no regrets about my choice. One of the things about this diet is that I learnt that I like feeling good before, during and after my meals.
Wednesday was my mother-in-laws birthday. We had her favourite Nasi Lemak for dinner. Nasi Lemak literally translated means fat or really rich rice as it's cooked in thick coconut milk. Served with it were a variety of condiments such as fried anchovies, fried chicken, fried groundnuts, boiled eggs, a thick anchovy sambal and spicy chicken curry, both cooked with coconut milk. You get the picture, right? Infact, the only vegetable served was sliced cucumbers which is the norm with this meal as it helps cut the spiciness of the food. Well, as you may have guessed, I skipped the rice as usual and had a small serving of the condiments, especially the eggs and cucumber. It nevertheless was a delicious meal as I happen to like Nasi Lemak as well.
December 9, 2012
28 Day Diet - Day 20 & 21
This is the third weekend on this 28 day diet. Unfortunately, I am feeling pretty stuffed as I write this. My kids and their two cousins have spent this whole Sunday tearing through the house and hitting the pool. With all that energy spent, they were starving at dinner time and wanted pizzas. Personally I'd have gone for a lovely salad, but who's going to argue with four hungry kids. So pizza it was and the spread they had was impressive. They polished off every single slice that had names such as Aloha Chicken, Meatasaurus, 7-Meat Wonder, BBQ Chicken and a couple dozen grilled chicken wings. Not a single child, hubby included, ventured near my thin crusted Veggie Galore.
Saturday was not too bad other than the fact that I had my fill of protein. There was grilled steak sandwich for lunch (I pushed aside the white bread and had the steak with the side of salad served with it) and for dinner a lovely tender grilled lamb with a generous serving of steamed broccoli. They were both filling and very satisfactory meals.
Saturday was not too bad other than the fact that I had my fill of protein. There was grilled steak sandwich for lunch (I pushed aside the white bread and had the steak with the side of salad served with it) and for dinner a lovely tender grilled lamb with a generous serving of steamed broccoli. They were both filling and very satisfactory meals.
December 7, 2012
28 Day Diet - Day 18 & 19
I am beginning to appreciate multigrain bread. This week I've been having a generic off the shelf brand. Every bite has a nutty, grainy texture which is lovely, especially when toasted until it's a little crispy. Other than for its taste and texture, I also like how just two slices makes me feel full and takes longer to digest. Each slice is about the size of my palm, and I've pretty small hands. So I don't feel so guilty about the carbs as that's the only carbs I have for the day. As usual, I don't butter it either, but have it with a slice of cheese or a tuna spread. It definitely makes for a satisfying meal.
As a norm, I've always gone for brown or wholemeal bread compared to plain white bread. I have also given it to my son who does not have a problem with it. He especially loves to dunk it in half boiled eggs. However, my hubby has a whole different philosophy about it. He says, "If you are going to eat bread, eat the real thing and enjoy it." "Real thing" meaning white bread.. I can never convince him otherwise as he has the same philosophy for all his food. That's why, at our home, you will always find two kinds of bread.
Anyway, getting back to my bread story, I've decided to visit the bakery this time around to get freshly baked multigrain breads. They have a better selection. Plus, they come in smaller loafs so I can choose more than one type, and I can buy them fresh whenever I run out.
With all this talk about bread, you can safely conclude that that's what I have been having over the past couple of days. And I am not feeling nutty nor grainy either.
As a norm, I've always gone for brown or wholemeal bread compared to plain white bread. I have also given it to my son who does not have a problem with it. He especially loves to dunk it in half boiled eggs. However, my hubby has a whole different philosophy about it. He says, "If you are going to eat bread, eat the real thing and enjoy it." "Real thing" meaning white bread.. I can never convince him otherwise as he has the same philosophy for all his food. That's why, at our home, you will always find two kinds of bread.
Anyway, getting back to my bread story, I've decided to visit the bakery this time around to get freshly baked multigrain breads. They have a better selection. Plus, they come in smaller loafs so I can choose more than one type, and I can buy them fresh whenever I run out.
With all this talk about bread, you can safely conclude that that's what I have been having over the past couple of days. And I am not feeling nutty nor grainy either.
December 5, 2012
28 Day Diet - Day 15, 16 & 17
It has been a week of pretty light fare for me. As it's the school holidays now, we tend to go out alot and so hardly any cooking has been done except for on Monday.
Day 15 - We had gone to get groceries the evening before and my son found some shellfish (Lala) which he has recently acquired a taste for. So I cooked the shellfish in some chicken broth, red onions, minced garlic and dried red chillies. I kept the veggies simple, but a generous portion nevertheless, with some broccoli and cauliflower cooked with garlic and chicken broth.
Day 16 - We had bought tickets to watch the musical Beauty And The Beast at 7pm. So I decided to give my son a hearty lunch which was essentially a breakfast menu. He had sausages, eggs, baked beans and buttered toast. He loved it so much you would have thought I cooked something gourmet. Anyways, I had a smaller portion of eggs, sausages and unbuttered multigrain toast. The show ended pretty late and the kids were starving. So we took them to have their favourite chicken rice with the whole yummy works. I skipped all the 'yummy works' bit, especially the lovely fragarant rice cooked in chicken stock and concentrated on the tender steamed chicken and crispy beansprouts.
Day 17 - My hubby buys dinner as a norm on Wednesdays as it's the busiest day of the week for me. So I kept cooking to a minimum and decided to prepare my son's all time favourite meal. Cheese burgers. For myself, I made a tuna sandwich on multigrain brown bread. For dinner, I had my standard Wednesday fare of steamed vegetarian springrolls.
Day 15 - We had gone to get groceries the evening before and my son found some shellfish (Lala) which he has recently acquired a taste for. So I cooked the shellfish in some chicken broth, red onions, minced garlic and dried red chillies. I kept the veggies simple, but a generous portion nevertheless, with some broccoli and cauliflower cooked with garlic and chicken broth.
Day 16 - We had bought tickets to watch the musical Beauty And The Beast at 7pm. So I decided to give my son a hearty lunch which was essentially a breakfast menu. He had sausages, eggs, baked beans and buttered toast. He loved it so much you would have thought I cooked something gourmet. Anyways, I had a smaller portion of eggs, sausages and unbuttered multigrain toast. The show ended pretty late and the kids were starving. So we took them to have their favourite chicken rice with the whole yummy works. I skipped all the 'yummy works' bit, especially the lovely fragarant rice cooked in chicken stock and concentrated on the tender steamed chicken and crispy beansprouts.
Day 17 - My hubby buys dinner as a norm on Wednesdays as it's the busiest day of the week for me. So I kept cooking to a minimum and decided to prepare my son's all time favourite meal. Cheese burgers. For myself, I made a tuna sandwich on multigrain brown bread. For dinner, I had my standard Wednesday fare of steamed vegetarian springrolls.
Mixed Vege: Broccoli & Cauliflower
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| Spicy Lala |
December 2, 2012
28 Day Diet - Day 13 & 14
I had another good weekend. There was no craving for fried chicken wings or the like. In fact, I had a craving free weekend surprisingly, given the fact that I was surrounded by so much food.
It's so daunting living in a place like mine where there are mind boggling varieties of food everywhere you look, 24 hours a day. More nerve wrecking is that they are all mostly delicious and most definitely NOT diet food. Add to this mix a hubby who is perpetually hungry all the time and I have a huge challenge.
Come weekend, all he thinks about is planning his next meal, while eating his current one! He definitely is the ultimate foodie in my book. Mind you, surround him with varieties of fruits, salads and all things healthy and his hunger bug miracelously disappears. So I guess that makes him a selective foodie.
Anyway, I was lucky I was not craving anything, nor was I tempted by my devilish hubby. In fact I did not really have an appetite. So over the weekend, my diet consisted largely of salads and sandwiches like the one pictured here.
It's so daunting living in a place like mine where there are mind boggling varieties of food everywhere you look, 24 hours a day. More nerve wrecking is that they are all mostly delicious and most definitely NOT diet food. Add to this mix a hubby who is perpetually hungry all the time and I have a huge challenge.
Come weekend, all he thinks about is planning his next meal, while eating his current one! He definitely is the ultimate foodie in my book. Mind you, surround him with varieties of fruits, salads and all things healthy and his hunger bug miracelously disappears. So I guess that makes him a selective foodie.
Anyway, I was lucky I was not craving anything, nor was I tempted by my devilish hubby. In fact I did not really have an appetite. So over the weekend, my diet consisted largely of salads and sandwiches like the one pictured here.
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| Thin Crust Onion & Mushroom Pizza and Salad |
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