mf's diet stories

So I was at tea with C and R the other day. They were both on a diet to lose weight - reduce carbs, no sugar, no cream etc.. C's husband was on it too and he said he could write a book on his one week of dieting!

Well, I thought, I could too! Not a book but a (long) note!

Past diets

I have been on a number of slimming diets before. Which super confident girl hasn't? *excuse*

Going by my childhood photos, I first ballooned when I was 9. My primary 3 class photo showed a chubby mf with short hair which emphasised on my chubby face, all bunched up and squinting against the sun. That year, I sat on the old green scales in my grandpa's provision shop, which they probably used to weigh sacks of rice. The scales literally tipped at 47 kg - I was heavier than my eldest uncle!

This was a later photo - I had that same horrible hairstyle but had lost some weight...


Being tall didn't help. Wearing a super long pinafore in secondary school didn't help. Compared to the other girls, I always felt bigger. But it wasn't until JC that I somehow learnt about dieting. I would ask for less rice when I ordered mixed rice at lunch. The funny thing was that WX would ask for more rice, and she was - and still is - probably half my size *.* Eventually, I went back to a normal portion of rice when I heard from an aunt that if I didn't have enough rice, I would just be hungry for other dishes, probably swimming in fats!

I remember weighing 52 kg when I was 18, a mere 5 kg increase after nine years hoho!! But 10 months out of school, I put on some 5 kg before Oxford. I ballooned more in the first year at Oxford - had to buy new clothes kind of ballooning *.*

After the first year, I went for the 21-day OBS right.. I took a liking to the muesli bars I had during the course, and after it ended, I continued eating muesli bars but for brunch. Didn't think it helped though..

Anyway, after the first year, I had access to a kitchen and could make my own meals. Had fewer kababs :p Things didn't get better but at least they didn't get worse!

When I went back to Singapore to work, the change in my meal choices - specifically, the lack of mobile kabab vans! - made me lose weight without doing much. I did join a gym at one point but I never thought it helped! When I started working late, I stopped having a full dinner. Instead, I munched on cashews and yogurt. Didn't think that helped too! And that was the last time I tried to slim down by changing eating habits.

The next time I ballooned was after getting together with Sito - he introduced me to zi char!! We ate so much in the first year and got fat together! Then with less zi char, we shrank a little.. But I grew again in 2008 during the time when I had dinner at work and then supper on the way home. After the project ended, I had to do something - I knew I couldn't control my food very well so I joined another gym. This time, it helped, I think, mainly because it was a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercises.

So, that was my entire dieting story. I didn't try to lose weight for my wedding in 2009. I even stopped going to the gym cos I had no time!

And now...

Well, I felt something strange when I squatted for the rubbish under our coffee table one day. Something was resting against my thighs... Something soft....

It was my tummy *.*

But I don't want to go on a slimming diet! Seriously, how can I give up rice? Or noodles? Or pasta? Or bread? Or chocolate?! And I cannot have only a spoonful of those either. I need a normal serving. Bigger is good. So the traditional low/no-carb slimming diets are not for me.

Go to the gym? Um, I do pilates and *try* to go to the gym to walk but the latter requires a lot more motivation :p And with my pilates sessions coming to an end today (cos I can't afford it without a salary), I'll need to focus on doing that on my own! No more motivation left for the gym!

When I was 18, a friend told me I could never be thin - my frame wouldn't allow it. I didn't buy it then but now, at 31, I think he was right. I believe that there is an equilibrium for me. I now weigh about the same as when I was 19. So I do have some flab now from a lack of exercise and the winter. But if I eat healthily and do some pilates, I should be able to maintain my equilibrium and improve my form right?

My doc in Sg recommends a vegetarian lifestyle - he calls himself a 6.5-day vegetarian, i.e. only one meat dish a week. I'm less extreme. I like meat :) With Sito at work now, I have reduced my meat intake from twice a day to once a day.

I'm also a sucker for online health tips. So one says that if I get all the nutrients I need at a moderate amount, I should feel full. Which rings true for me, comparing a bowl of chocolate (!) and a bowl of oatmeal, for example..

These days, I wake early with Sito and have my oatmeal breakfast early, at around 7.15 am. By mid morning, I need something to sustain me before lunch time. Instead of chocolate or crisps, I turn to my old friend, nuts! Instead of bringing the pack of nuts to my desk, which could mean non-stop snacking, I grab a handful and that's it. And these are almonds or cashews, healthy nuts recommended in other health tips :p

I try to have sandwiches for lunch - just two slices of bread. Will show pictures later.. It's a significantly smaller meal than my usual when I eat with Sito. But I have found that it doesn't mean I always get hungry mid afternoon. If I do, well, I have Milo, tea or more nuts! I also learn that most of the caffeine comes out in the first min of brewing my Lipton so I'll dump that first brew. Less caffeine for me, yay!

Dinner has lots of vegetables to keep me full. But as I usually sleep around midnight, I tend to get hungry again before I sleep. Sometimes I would have a bite from Sito's instant noodles supper...... But I try to have just half a cup of warm milk - yummy and filling :) Or I try to sleep early.

So I'll see if the tummy flab goes away on its own after a while. If it doesn't, well, I guess I'll have motivation for the gym!!