Long Holiday That Should Not Be

I am still reeling back from having tea squirt out of my nose when I choked while watching 'Sonny with a Chance'. It's incredible, really, since I already watched that episode. The one where Chad Dylan Cooper was making a movie about himself but did not want to cast Sonny as herself in his movie. Instead he invited Selena Gomez to play Sonny. The ending where Chad said "So you think I have sparkly eyes?" was what got me. Man. My nose tastes sweet. Also, the Camp Hip Hop parody and the 'Jonas Brothers' at the end was hilarious.

Anyway, I noticed that I need to type in shorter sentences. Thus, shorter paragraphs. It makes my point clearer. And gives more impact. And I need to stop starting sentences with 'and'.

I asked for the week off from work due to JLPT this Sunday. I kept forgetting that I was taking two levels which meant I had to be there at both the morning and afternoon sessions. Sighs. I am not even sure of the exact location. At least everyone knows where UPM is. Far thought it may be. I supposed it's better for it to be in KL itself. Closer to home. And no, I have totally not been studying. I just had a test last Tuesday. Studying is the last thing on my mind. Though I supposed I should endure some anime tonight to redeem myself. It's good practice for the listening test.

Physically, I have been exercising for a full two months. I started early October, seemingly out of the blue, but really, there were several contributing factors. As I'm sure you people are interested to know.

REASONS WHY I STARTED EXERCISING AGAIN:

1. I picked up reading SHAPE magazine again. And that is always a motivator to start working out. No arguing there.
2. A colleague I label 'funny-looking guy' (F-LG) went on the Penang Bridge Marathon and I'm jealous. Therefore I decided I should join a marathon next year. F-LG made a comment where it's just so easy to just change into your running clothes and run at the KLCC park after work. Well excuse you for your ignorance. You don't have to wear a sport's bra. And of course, I told him that to his face. Hmph.
3. Since I made the decision to join a marathon next year, okay, more like a 10km run, since all marathons usually have a 10km event. I asked sensei to join me. He said yes and asked when. I said every month next year so he should start preparing. Since you know, there's always an event every month. And he lives in the neighbourhood so it's easy to meet up. So now that I have a marathon buddy, I have to train for a marathon, which includes losing weight. You can't train for a marathon and not lose weight, really.
4. Because people have been mistaking me for colleagues who wore at least two uniform sizes bigger than me! And they laughed as they said it, as if it was funny. Well of course they found it funny. Funny how I don't. I'll say more about this later.
5. Because it's cool. The scale hadn't budget much, since I got a new electronic scale that weights to the grams, I wouldn't call it a change until I could keep off 1 kg for two weeks straight. I am not expecting anything until the end of this month.
6. Because I just want to lose weight! And not complain that my uniform is getting too tight. It's not.

Going back to point 4, yes, it was insulting when people mistook me for someone who was fatter than me because I know I'm not the skinny type. Even when I lost 10kg, I was still curvy because I was made that way. What differentiated me from those people is that I'm taller than them. So even though I'm not as broad as they were, when I sat down I looked broader. I want to say that I'm not complaining, and I do like the way I'm built, but if I was happy with my weight I wouldn't be trying to lose them would I? Also, it must be said that it's very offensive and insulting and it hurts my feelings when people, even in good spirit, commented how "cuter" you look after they haven't seen you in a while. DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO MAKE COMMENTS ON HOW FAT PEOPLE LOOK EVERY YEAR YOU SEE THEM!?!?

If you have been at the receiving end of this comment before, you know how it feels. You try to just brush it aside and focus on how happy you are to see your friends/relatives and not concentrate on how fat they think you are. Now that you know, from now on, stop making such comments to other people. I don't. I used to do that just to annoy that person, but it's such a habit to these people now that they just do it without thinking. Now start thinking. Don't do it. Find something else to comment about! Their hair, their clothes, anything!

On the subject of fitness, everyone has an opinion. Even people who have only been jogging for half a day fancy themselves fitness expert. For example, some time ago, there was a jogging phase at work. I saw a few cashier staff changed into their jogging gear and went jogging at the KLCC park. After a few days I asked what's up and they explained just that. So I asked them where do they put their bags when they jog. One girl said they put them in a colleague's car before they set off. So I nodded my head and said 'I see'. After all, when going jogging you want to be as light as possible, right? and then this bimbo just had to say something so stupid as:

'or we just bring them along sometimes'.

I was flabbergasted. "But they're heavy!"

"Itu bagus lagi lah!" (that's even better you know!)

I stared at her, bug eyed, as I received a lecture on the benefits of carrying a one-shoulder bag on your run. Of course, I didn't even get to bring up the point where you will only strain your shoulder and ruin your lower back due to the uneven weight, because they left soon after, bags and all. Like I said, experts. The jogging fever lasted for only two weeks. :P

And they were still fat.

I'm not calling myself an expert, but I have enough experience and enough knowledge to know what is safe to do, at least for my body type, weight, and sex. And if you know as much (or as little) as I do, you'll know that you have to be a certified expert to be imparting fitness knowledge on other people. So if you have enough sense in your head, you wouldn't be imparting fitness knowledge on other people. You can advise them on what is generally safe, but for anything further, you must refer them to the experts.

Now, if you really want to know the basics, as a female, here are a few things I vouch for:

1. Never run alone at a secluded or non-populated area. It's dangerous.
2. If you do have to run alone, do not use ipods or anything similar. When alone you need to keep your ears peeled for possible perverts or attackers.
3. Wear light clothing. Bags, unless they are small hip pouches to keep your essentials ie car keys, cellphones, etc, are not necessary. You may think you are losing extra weight by carrying those weight, but you're doing it at the expense of ruining your muscles and doing permanent damage to your back. Some people run with leg weights or arm weights. Do not do so if you're an amatuer. Women have more tender muscles than men. The weight could tear your muscles easily.
4. Wear suitable shoes. If you've been running for a month, and enjoys it, then go buy yourself a good pair of running shoes. The shoes must be labeled 'running' shoes. Cross-training shoes are ok too, but never substitude them for those plasticky-soled shoes meant for mall hopping rather than sports.
5. Wear socks. No argument.
6. SPORTS' BRA! Unless you're an A cup, then forget it.
7. Let someone know where you're going for your run and what time to expect you back. So important when running outdoors.
8. Stay hydrated. Drink before, during and after your run/jog. And it must be water. Not sports drink, carbonated drinks or lemonade. Drinking water does not cause that tightness at the side. Nobody knows what causes it, so drink up.
9. STAY SAFE. And enjoy.

I've met my share of perverts outside that's why I prefer doing my exercises indoors.

My Kujong has finally kicked the bucket and swallowed my FF12 DVD. He will be retired. Although I'm planning to get a ps3, I am still getting another PS2. A small silver PS2. I've always wanted one hehehe. Right, now time to endure some anime. Uuugh. I don't know just what sort of anime interests me anymore these days.

Wish me luck! Ta'ra!

Milk

Say what you will about milk, but one thing remains the same: It is the BEST source of protein for the human body. You can argue that there are soy and egg and fish, but what is the first thing they feed you when you were born? That's right, milk. Enough said. Unless you're alergic to milk, please source your protein elsewhere.

Anyway, when I was in kindergarten up till primary 2 or so, my dad would ensure that we drink milk after every swimming lesson; which was everyday. Even if we were eating out after swimming, he would stare us down until we order something containing milk. Yes, my dad was that strict. I'm sure there were other parents even stricter than ours, but please don't tell me about it. (Which is why I find ADHD crap. Drugs to treat insolent behavior in children? Pfft! You stupid ang moh! There is already a very affective cure for insolent children here; a cane.)

When I was 9 I broke my wrist and stopped swimming so my milk streak ended too. After that I still like milk, but I don't drink it regularly. This is because anything milky in the morning upsets my stomach, and we only had the cold ready-to-drink milk available because my mom no longer buys the milk powder for us adults. Cold drink early in the morning? No thank you! :x

I read somewhere (everywhere) that when you're in you're 20s your body is still gathering bone mass thus needed to store up on calcium. At 30 your body stops gathering bone mass and starts using it. So it is essential to get as much calcium as possible to ensure you have a strong body as you grow older. I started exercising after I finished high school and drank milk everyday; the low fat kind. To make sure I had two glasses worth a day I had it with cereal. So cereal became my breakfast. After that one year dedicated to fitness it became a habit to drink milk everyday. Besides, it is quite filling which makes for a good and quick breakfast.

Before, I would go out and buy the milk on my way to work/class so if I don't have work/class I don't drink milk. I don't keep them around at home due to the short shelf life. I only keep a small bottle of full cream milk to drink with tea and even that often gets thrown out halfway. So now I made it a mission to drink at least 2 glasses of milk a day. A regular glass I take it. How many mililiters I have no idea. So the other day I went to the supermarket and saw powder milk! Thus my dilemma began.

So this Dutch Lady milk powder has 3 flavours: full cream, honey and plain. Full cream is out because it has too much unnecessary fat, and my stomach could no longer handle it. Honey is good not just because it tastes good. Drinking hot milk with honey before bed helps in flattening your abs if you're into that. And it did work, mind you. So I was left between honey and plain. For every 230ml, which was one serving, plain has 147 calories while honey has 149. It was only 2 calories, but I took the plain one, in case I get bored of the honey taste. I can always add honey if I want to.

Now, when I bought the milk powder, I have one and a half carton of low fat milk in the fridge. I went to check the calorie content; for every 250ml, it has only 120 calorie. Calorie-wise, the plain milk powder has 27 more calories than the low fat milk. It looks like an obvious choice to just stick with low fat milk than to change to milk powder and took on the extra 27 calories. But I didn't change. I simply varied them.

Eventhough the milk powder has 147 calories, it contains pure milk. The lowfat milk on the other hand, contains flavoring to make up for the loss of taste due to its fat being trimmed away. Now, I am not against flavoring, but I do agree that less flavoring is better, being artificial and such. I used to put the milk into the microwave to heat them when I want it hot, but it's so complicated. So with milk powder I just add hot water and sugar and have myself hot milk just like the old days! xD

So. Milk, or milk powder? I say both. Why limit yourself? After all, my fitness goal is to be fit and stronger and healthier. I will eat healthier but it doesn't mean I will eat only healthy things xD. Life and food needs to enjoyed. In moderation. As you become fitter, the weight would go away on its own.

Now, I need to shower and study at least one chapter for the test this Saturday. Tonight I will go to Kino with sensei and Totchi to check out the new JLPT books. I am determined! xD and besides, sensei has those vouchers he got for teacher's day. He needs to go shopping now!

Ta'ra!