Weight Loss Progress

It's been a little over a  month since the start of my weight loss journey so it's time to have a look at the weight loss progress.

Started 8th May 2016 at 155 pounds
Today 11th June 2016 at 147 pounds
Total Loss = 8 pounds

Despite losing 8 pounds, it is hardly noticeable. I would say the progress in terms of fitting into clothing is something like this. I still have a lot of items of clothing hanging in my closet which I cannot fit into. A lot of pants too. However, for a couple of the larger sizes pants, the fit has changed like this. From totally unable to zip up (even when lying in prone position and breathing in) - See BEFORE drawing, now upon lying down in prone position and breathing in, the trousers can be zipped up but it is tight with lots of crease lines and belly flopping as you can see in the AFTER illustration. (Do excuse the poor illustration - the hands in the pocket looks out of shape just like me still).

Still, if I may say so myself, I am quite happy and proud with the progress. So going to give myself a pat on the back and say "YOU GO GIRL!" and on with the diet!

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It's Easy To Lose Weight But So Hard To Lose It

As at 12 pm yesterday, I checked the health app on my phone, the one with a little red heart on it and found that I had walked 11,399 steps for the day or equivalent to 7.46 km. This was from our 5 km jungle track (pictured above) with the kids and grocery shopping after that. Wow! Mall walking takes up 2.5 km. I think I should go shopping more often. On Saturdays, I walk about 90% for the rest of my week where I remain pretty sedentary. Boo!

Today's weight is 149. Yay! I managed to say bye bye to the 150s..... It fluctuated between 149 point something to 148 point something. So losing say 1 pound is nothing because it could merely be the weight fluctuations throughout the day. For example, the scales read 149.6 after dinner last night and 148.6 before breakfast. I also found out that my jeans weigh 1 pound and a so too does the towel I use to wrap around my wet hair because of the weight difference with or without them. Ok. I admit. I'm currently obsessed with my weight, so I check it pretty often.

When I say 149. I mean 149 pounds. I prefer to watch pounds than kilograms because it is more satisfying to say, I have lost 6 pounds since I started compared to I have lost 2.72 kg since I started. I like 6 better. Makes me think my effort is paying off much better compared to 2.72.

Having lost 6 pounds since I started does not feel any different at all. I still have difficulty fitting into my clothes. Take a pair of old trousers for example. At 155 I couldn't even get into them. Now, I can get back into them but I can only zip it up in prone lying down position. Arrgh! I cannot weight (I mean wait. See? I'm weight obsessed) for them to fit better. I shall have a gala time taking out every dress in the closet to try them to see which one fits again. At the moment, my wardrobe has been strictly limited to wearing just a handful while the rest hangs on racks in the cupboard untouched and unwearable.

Fortunately I started on the diet. Enough is enough! The slide down to weightiness is an easy one but difficult to climb back out from. It's easy to lose weight but so hard to lose it.

My next target is 145 in a 2-3 weeks hopefully. Even then, 145 used to be my peak weight and which I had great difficulty losing to 135. My gosh! It will be like starting over again once I reach 145. I remembered telling myself the second time I reached the peak of 145 that I was going to lose it but then instead I ballooned to 155. I blamed it on menopause but then really, besides menopause, there was Christmas and holiday bingeing followed by the Chinese New Year, then one birthday celebration in the house after another and you just gotta have cake for celebrations don't you? Oh, and I started trying my hand at baking. I baked buns and breads and cakes and..... Anything freshly baked smells so heavenly. I ended up finishing them most of the time!

The hardest part I find about being a mum and dieting is the food preparation part. Preparing yummy foods and not eating them is real hard. When the kids commented on that, I told them "Now, that's what you call will power." When  you want something, you have to work really hard to make it happen. I will work really hard to make this happen.

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Its Okay To Declare A No-Diet Day

Weight: 150.4 pounds

This week started off really slow. Despite eating about just one quarter to half of what I normally eat each day, I was stuck at 151.6 till Wednesday. On Friday, I celebrated my 15th wedding anniversary so I declared a No-Diet evening when we went out for dinner. I wanted to enjoy my dinner with cocktails and all. I didn't want to be salad picking and I think that's okay too. One does not have to be extremely rigid about the diet as long as you get back on track. The next day, I was back on track. Even the kids noticed the next day and said "Mom is back on her diet."

Despite that one No-Diet evening, I was happy to see the weight leaving the 151.6 station. Now 14++++ is within site. I'm so excited. Soon I can say bye bye to the 150s. The funny thing is it was so easy to move from 140s to 150s, I didn't even notice it. It happened in the blink of an eye. To reverse that is tough! I remember when I was 140, I told myself that I would reduce to 135 but then it was Christmas and Chinese New Year and one thing food led to another and soon I was at 155. Geez.

I could have done it if I had worked at it harder. Its not very hard to reduce 5 pounds. Now I have to reduce 20 because of letting myself go.

That's it for this week. Hope to leave 150s next week. Pin It

Weight Loss Journal Blog Update

I was hopeful to go below 150 pounds this week but alas .....

I started at 152 pounds from last week and did everything the same as I did in terms of food reduction. No more teas or snacks, no rice, and salads instead of full blown meals for meal replacements. I did not overdo it. Meal replacement would be only once a day, either lunch or dinner.

The lowest I went for the week was 150.2 pounds but all it took was my a birthday in the house and a slice of cake and eating out to slow me down. I skipped the rice too when eating out and exercised lots of self control too. Hmmm....

In terms of extra activities, I was very busy this week. I managed to go for my once a week 5km walk but other than that it was no go and I spent hours sitting instead of moving around. I downloaded an exercise app which I shall share next time as I only used it once this time round.

I've lost 3-4 pounds since I started 2 weeks ago but there's no sign of it yet. All the clothing are still tight and am still unable to get into many at this time. Double Boo Hoo.

That's all for this week. Not an encouraging week despite feeling hungry most of the week but I shall PERSEVERE. I can do it! AND I shall do it the natural way, without supplements or starving myself too much, slow and easy. Pin It

Weight Loss Diary - I Downloaded A Weight Loss Tracking App

I started on my weight loss journey last week with the goal to lose one pound a week. Let's see how I am doing. Last week I was 155 pounds. This week 153 pounds. Tadaa! It's been hard. I was hungry. I tried not to get too hungry though, eating slowly and taking snacks whenever I felt hungry. I had lots of salad, soups and shared foods of others so I won't overeat.

In terms of activity, I did more housework but not quite enough. At the moment, I take a 5km walk once a week but that is as far as I go in terms of exercise. My goal this week is to increase my activity.

The weight loss tracking app is called Fitter Fitness Calculator & Weight Tracker. It is supposed to help you measure your BMI, BMR (whatever that is), Body Fat % & Waist to Hip Ratio. I don't care about all that. I only care about my weight loss. The rest will adjust itself.

There's this tracker page where I can key in my goal of 1 pound a week, my start weight and it will calculate how many days I will need to take to reach that goal. My target is 125 pounds. 125 is a tough target for me. I've never seem to be able to get below the 135 pounds barrier in recent years.

The weight tracking app says I will take 189 days to reach that target. Ooooohhh. There is a progress chart too. At the moment all I see is a straight downwards line. That's good. Down is good.

I've got the whole family in on this. I told the man "In a few month's time, you will have a cleaner house and a thinner wife" to which he quipped "a not so fat wife". Men!

My sisters said that I should cut out a picture of me wearing my wedding evening gown and paste it somewhere I can clearly see it frequently to motivate me. I told them I didn't need that. Walking pass the mirror and seeing the me now is enough to motivate me!

My son said "Mom, I am surprised you don't feel stressed". "Stressed about what?" I asked him. "Stressed about preparing food but not eating it. This was said after I laid out the subway sandwiches and cookies for them for lunch. The thing about dieting is, it is harder for someone who has to prepare 4 meals a day, breakfast, lunch, tea and dinner for the family. Especially the tea part where I sometimes bake muffins or prepare pancakes with ice-cream and fruit. No snacking while cooking. That's hard! These days I just prepare marmite toast or garlic bread for them for tea.

I've been telling my kids to organize their school bags so they don't have to carry all that extra weight to school each day and here I am with extra baggage stuck to me which I carry around all day! Tsk! Tsk! That weight is not good for my knees, my back and my heart plus overall health. Better do something about it before a health scare.

My brother in law showed me the iphone health app which shows that I walk about 10,000 steps on Saturday and just 1000 steps on other days.

I was thinking of buying myself a dress I like in a smaller size and working towards wearing it but I don't need to do that really. There's plenty in the closet waiting for me to fit into them again. I'll do the buying part as a reward later on.

That's my weight loss journal for this week. Next week, I start anew at 152 pounds.


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The Start Of My Weight Loss Journey

Yesterday was 8th of May 2016. It was Mother's Day and the day I officially declare as the start of my weight loss journey. I will be 50 next month and I weigh 155 pounds. My target is to lose 1 pound a week up to 20 pounds. I am writing this down publicly so that I will not waiver.

At 155 pounds and at 50, I feel the effects of my weight. A little of activity makes me sweat a lot. I am hot, tired, lethargic and my bones creak in the morning or when I sit in the same position for some time. I also have pulse, pant when I walk up the stairs and a wardrobe of clothes that no longer fit. When I go shopping, its hard to find clothes that fit. It seems that nice clothes are only made for thin people. So, I can only admire clothes, not wear them.

I have gone on a slow weight loss journey about 2 years after my second child, losing 10 pounds in 6 months. This time my target is higher. Well, you aim high so that if you fall short, you still lose. I will adjust it later if I find it too hard.

My weight seems to increase by 10 pounds for each decade. In my teens I was 105 pounds. In my 20s, I was 115 pounds, in my 30s, 125 pounds, in my 40s 135 pounds. In my early 40s, I went up to 145  pounds which was my highest at the time and it was 2 years after my second child. I managed to lose it and went down to 135 pounds and it stayed that way but now, I'm headed towards my 50s starting at 155 pounds. I have ballooned. It must be due to inactivity or sedentary lifestyle, lower metabolistic rate and menopause.

I remember during my previous diet, I felt hungry quite often. It was hard. This time, when I feel hungry, I may take small snacks of fruit, vegetables or a small cup of cereal. Otherwise it will be hard to keep up and not good for the body.

I often look around at the other women around me and I realize that many are a lot fitter and in better shape than me. I have gone over the edge to the other side.

I'm going to document my weight loss journey here as a reference for myself. I actually started 2-3 days before the 8th by watching and being mindful of everything I eat. One meal a day may be replaced by salads. No more eating the teas that I prepare for my family and eating less of everything else that I like. I will also increase my activity by doing more housework for a start. Instead of losing, I actually gained 2 pounds going from 153 to 155 pounds. I am not disheartened. I will just have to keep at it. Sometimes our weight fluctuates by 1 or 2 pounds due to water weight etc.

Strangely eating less makes the food more tasty and enjoyable. That's it for today. Pin It

She Has Uneven Waist And Scoliocis

My girl has an uneven waist. One of her hips appear to be higher than the other.

When we brought her to the orthopedic or spine doctor, he first asked her to bend forward to see if any part of her back protrudes out. Then he took an X-Ray of her back and legs too.

The X-Ray of the back was to see whether her spine was actually curved as those with scoliosis have. The X-Ray of the legs was to ensure that the legs are of equal length. The X-Ray revealed that her legs were the same length but her back was curved near the top.

The doctor said that she has scoliosis. You can go here to find out more about scoliosis of the spine with video and images including the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options.

He measured the angle of curvature shown on the X-Ray. According to him, it was between 8 to 12 percent. He told us that we had to go back every 6 months to monitor whether the curve was getting worse.

However, when he heard that she had already got her menstruation or period for 2 years, he said that was good news as most of the growth spurt occurs within 2 years after puberty. So, he told us to go back once in a year instead of once every 6 months to have a check up.

When we asked him whether the condition was due to her carrying heavy bags to school, he said there are no proven studies to show that. However, he said we can buy her a trolley bag if we wish to lessen her load. Although he has said this, I still feel guilty as a parent watching her carrying loads to school during her growing up years.

He said we could get her to do some exercises like swimming to strengthen and make the back more flexible. I hope that all will be fine in a year's time when we bring her for a follow-up check up.




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