Treat Day And Cravings..

Today I am feeling much better from my cold. The medication that the doctor gave me worked magic but it makes me so sleepy. I normally don't take naps in the day time because I wouldn't be able to sleep at night but yesterday I had an 8-hour nap in the day time and still fell asleep at 10pm.

Yesterday was treat day and I decided to have RM1 worth of kuih pisang. It's been so long since I've had some so you can imagine how blissful I felt munching on them. Hihihi.. Today I am craving cheese baked rice from a new place in Tuaran, at the former Agrobank. I think it might be  called J&C (or maybe just JC).

Ate there on last Sunday and their signature dish, the Portuguese Chicken is quite nice but the salad has sugar granules in it which was puzzling. Hmm.. Will need to ask them about that later. Ah, will have to wait until tomorrow to have my cheese baked rice.. Sabar Phy, sabar..

I had planned to participate in the Sutera Harbor Sunset 7K run but I don't know where to register and pay. It's being held at sunset too and I'm not sure if I could join since I don't have my own transport.. Huhu..
Hopefully I'll be able to figure things out and am still training for it.

Two Steps Forward And One Step Back...

I wen to Herbalife again on Sunday,cringing at what the numbers might read. I have been exposed to 'naughty' foods since the eve of my birthday (cake), on the day itself and the day after as  well. I didn't get to run on Wednesday because of technical problems and I didn't get to run on Friday as well during the week of my birthday. I tried my best to chose the healthier options and limit my portions (most of the time) and here are the numbers:

Weight: 71.6KGs

% of fat: 39.6 

% of water: 44.2

Muscle mass: 40.7KGs

Physical Level: 3 

Metabolism: 1376

Biological age: 50 

Bone mass: 2.6KG

Visceral fat: 8

All in all it's not really that bad. It could have been worse if I had not controlled myself so I am quite at peace with it. I would be lying though if I say that I am completely unfazed. I did not want to go through the disappointment of losing and gaining weight again so I threw myself into my jogging that evening pushing myself further.

Yes, I must admit that seeing the numbers rise made me think about not wanting to eat another morsel but I try to get past those feelings because it's not good for my emotional health. Not eating will make my body go into starvation mode by holding on to my storage of fat, making it harder to lose weight which I don't want.

I was supposed to go jogging yesterday but it rained and today I came down with fever and flu. I read somewhere that one shouldn't exercise when sick because it exerts the body when the body is supposed to be resting to recover from illness. Argh, it's so frustrating!

This is all for now friends. My next weigh in will be on this Friday I think, insyaAllah... Wish me luck!

Unwrapping The Most Perfect Gift Ever...

I must say, I had planned for my 25^th birthday to be special but I didn't expect things to turn out the way it did.. The plan was that boo and I would have a quiet dinner at a nice restaurant that he picked out. I was expecting somewhere like Upperstar (a favorite place of mine) and had already planned what I was going to order (grilled salmon).

We were on our way to (what I thought was) Upperstar when boo asked me to unwrap his present. It was a big, flat box in a rectangular shape. Heavy too.. I started to tear (yup, I'm un-ladylike that way) the pink wrapping paper. Boo was saying that it was a makeup set. Then he said it was a game.

I finally got to the box and... I saw the word 'Acer' and stopped totally dead. Shock and disbelief washed over me in waves and I turned to see boo smiling. Tears started to fall down my cheeks and I was quite speechless. Boo urged me to keep on tearing unwrapping the gift.

I continued, and the paper revealed the picture of a laptop. A notebook actually. I trembled even more, whimpered and started to bawl my eyes out. Boo was laughing and continued to urge me to open the box. “Who knows, it might be something else,” he said with twinkling eyes.

I opened the box to find pulled out a notebook, but not just any notebook. It was the Aspire One Happy notebook model in pink color! I nearly died then and there. I pulled it out and boo started telling me about the features but only half of it registered into my brain.

It is simply just beautiful, all shiny and new in all its glory. Naturally I was crying even harder. I just felt so touched by all the thought and effort he put into his gift. I had mentioned that I was planning to buy my own notebook so that I can blog (I have been borrowing boo's notebook and going to cc's all this while) anytime I wanted to.

I really didn't expect boo to fulfill my dream of owning a notebook. It is the most perfect present ever. Not only can I now blog from it, it's also so lightweight and thin so I can bring it with me wherever I go. On top of it all, it's pink!

Oh, but the surprise wasn't over yet. Boo turned the car into the Venetian at Penampang. Turned out he brought me to the Venetian's restaurant named the Tasty Wok for my birthday dinner instead of Upperstar as I expected. It looked so posh too and I was pretty impressed. And yeah, I cried some more.

The funny thing is boo told me that when I started crying he thought that I hated his present. Can you imagine? How on Allah's earth could I have loved something that I have been coveting to have for years now? I guess my incomprehensible blubbering didn't help either.

I know I wished for an iPad 2 but with such a presentation, who cares about the iPad 2 now? Certainly not me. I would pick boo's notebook over it and I really mean it.

By the way, the Tasty Wok was excellent. The food is really delicious, even a simple dish like sweet sawi cooked with garlic. The prawns (from the top 10 dishes at RM10) cooked with dried chillies and cashews was reminiscent of a dish I had eaten during my Guilin trip. The Seafood Cheese Omelet is to die for and the fried chicken (also from the top 10 dishes at RM10 list) was really nice.

Great tasting dishes with affordable prices and a beautiful ambience. What more can one ask for right? 

After our dinner we were joined by boo's cousins and some of our other friends. We had a total blast! Like I said, I wanted my 25^th birthday to be special and it really was. The perfect gift, a delicious dinner and being surrounded with friends.. I have not felt this happy in a long, long time. I think I'll take this as a good omen for my future.

Winky the pinky notebook..

Thank you boo, for all the effort and thought that you put into my birthday celebration. You have gone above and beyond. I love you so much.

Phy Has A Report Card...

Yes, I am (almost) 25 years old and I have a report card. A weight report card that is, for monitoring my weigh. I got mine courtesy of Herbalife. Now before going further, I just want to say that I am not promoting Herbalife, nor am I using it as a tool to lose weight. It's just that Herbalife is really big now at the police station and there's a Herbalife club in the nearby area.

I first discovered this club 5 days ago when a friend offered to 'buy me a drink' and brought me there. I have had experience with Herbalife before. I didn't like it because it comprises of drinking a lot of fluids and while that is generally a good thing, I feel that with Herbalife, there are just too much fluids to consume in a day.

I was weighed in on the 15th June 2011 and here's my result:

Weight: 72.3KGs
% of fat: 42.7
% of water: 41.9
Muscle mass: 39.0KGs
Physical Level: 3
Metabolism: 1338
Biological age: 50 (GASP! NOOOOOOO!!!!!)
Bone mass: 2.5KG
Visceral fat: 9

Today (20th June 2011) I went in for my 2nd weight in:

Weight: 71.1KGs (Yahoo!)

% of fat: 39.1 (Yay!)

% of water: 44.5

Muscle mass: 40.7KGs

Physical Level: 3 

Metabolism: 1373

Biological age: 50 (Grrrrrrr!!!!)

Bone mass: 2.6KG

Visceral fat: 7 (Yay!)

While I do feel ecstatic, I'm afraid to feel too happy because I would usually reach 68KGs then gain the weight back again. I guess I'm just afraid to believe that it would stay off this time. However, that's not stopping me from patting myself on the back. I mean, I did work hard so why not right? 

More than the weight loss however I feel that the best thing that I had accomplished so far is having something very upsetting happen today and managing to control myself from not going into a bakery and buying a sugar-laden pseudo cupcake and 3 bags of chips. Not easy but I managed to do it so yay! 

I've signed up for the 1 week trial of Herbalife, not for weigh loss but only as a nutritional supplement. Today is the official start of that week and I went jogging after taking 1 full glass of Aloe drink (something new from the last time I tried Herbalife 3 years ago), 1 full glass of Hibiscus and Lemon tea, 1 full glass of shake and 1 full glass of water (told ya' there's too much fluids in the program). 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I didn't feel weak at all while jogging. Unfortunately I began to feel hungry after 2 hours of taking Herbalife. It was still better than the first time I drank it last week where I became hungry every hour from 3.30PM till 7.30PM. The horror! But the leader of the club said it was because my fat was being burned. Tidak tau la kan betul atau tidak..

Will keep you guys updated on my progress, insya-Allah. Cheers!

Phy Is A Quarter Of A Century..

Hi all...

In case you don't know, I'll be turning 25 in a couple of days. I can't believe that I'd written this post a year ago. Yeah, I was kicking up a big fuss about turning 24 years old. However, this year I am quite happy turning 25. I say quite because 25 is one of my favorite number.

On the down side I feel that as a 25 year old I am in my prime and should have a good idea of what I want in life and going after it full force. Unfortunately, I do have an idea of what I want but the path to pursuing it is still a bit hazy. I'm on my way though and that's what matters....

So what are birthday posts for if not to put out a wish list right? Hehehe... Bagi sesiapa yang ingin membuat saya gumbira pada hari yang cukup bersejarah ini, check it out:

MAC Amber Lights Eyeshadow

 MAC Club Eyeshadow

MAC Nylon Eyeshadow

 MAC Paintpot in Blackground

MAC Paintpot in Painterly

 Chatterbox

Creme Cup

Magically Cooling Powder in Truth and Light..

Okay the following is such a long shot but if any filthy-rich-multi-millionaire with generous souls out there are reading this, you know what to do... Call me.. No, just joking. Actually these are the luxury (at least, they're a luxury for me) items that I intend to own in the future:

Gambar siap ada price list lagi.. Hehehe... *hint* *wink*

Canon EOS 600D

So that's all for now peeps. Cheers!

French-fy Your Eating Habits- Bite 2 (Waddling Is No Fun).

Hi,
If you've been reading my blog for a while now you would know that my job and pet alien colleague has been driving me up the wall. With that comes stress and when an emotional eater as myself starts to get stressed out, I eat. And eat. And eat. My vice? Anything sweet and potato chips taken a few times a day.

I know it's bad and I know it's wrong. I just felt helpless and stuck in my job and while the solution was staring at me in the face, I didn't have the courage to do what needs to be done. It wasn't until last month that I realized that I couldn't do it anymore and I need to get out.

When that realization hit me, I became anxious and ate some more. I started to make plans and just as I was putting things into motion I stumbled into a few blocks on the road, slowing down the implementation process of my plans. That made me frustrated and I continued my 'dosage' of chocolate and crisps 3 times a day.

It was only last Sunday when I was walking that I realized something funny (not in a haha sense either). It was a few more steps before I realized that I.Was.Waddling. Aaaaaarrrgghhh!!!! No longer am I walking with my signature walk (ahem) but I was waddling. Nooooooooo!!!!

Then there were some photos taken a few days earlier from my trip to Kudat that really enhanced my royal hugeness and I almost died with embarrassment. Okay, okay I know what you're thinking. All this while pun besar takkan baru hari ni sedar?

Here's the weird thing about being overweight. You know you're big but somehow you don't realize just how big. There had been pictures taken of me before but even though I looked at me in the pictures I didn't really SEE myself if that makes any sense.

Her Royal Hugeness..

Anyway, on that same Sunday I started to apply what I learned from the book French Women Don't get Fat. In my last post on this book it was about doing a food journal. Now the 2nd phase is to pin point which foods that we're having in excess and how to cut them down.

We need to ask ourselves questions such as do we really need that much bread for breakfast in the morning?Can I cut down potato chips completely? Do I need at least chocolate once a day or will every other day will suffice? From the food journal we will also be able to see what is lacking in our diet such as not drinking enough water or not eating enough veggies and fruits, etc.

For me I was not eating enough fruits and veggies, I didn't have variety in my diet and I was eating too much chocolate and crisps (surprise, surprise). So starting on Monday (13/06/2011) I started to make some changes. Here's what I did:

- I drink water first thing in the morning.
- I take a spoon of wild honey (from the Gombizau Honey Bee Farm in Kudat) everyday either in the morning or at night. It helps to improve digestion.
- I drink 2 glasses of milk daily (Calcium helps to reduce weight too).
- I eat a cup of steamed corn kernels every other day because the natural sweetness curbs my sweet tooth and its an excellent source of fiber.
- I make sure I eat rice for lunch. I fill 1/2 my plate with veggies, 1/4 with rice and 1/4 with chicken.
- I try to eat a piece of fruit a day.
- I cut out potato chips completely.
- I have chocolate every other day on the days when I don't eat corn kernels. I usually take the 2-finger Kit Kat instead of the 4-finger one.
- I try to walk more than 5000 steps a day (my cell has a build in pedometer)


I'm glad to say that so far I do not crave chocolate too much because of the corn. Passing motion is a breeze and every single day now. I feel more alert and don't feel sleepy in the middle of the day. It has only been 1 week and I am hoping that I will be able to keep up with it even on bad days.

For next week I aim to:
- Walk more than 6000 steps a day.
- Take muesli for breakfast at least every other day. If I could eat it everyday even better.
- Jog every other day.
- Eat dinner no later than 8pm. I know, I know people say eat before 7pm but I'm doing this one step at a time.

As you can see I'm making slow and gradual changes so that it would be permanent. Personal issues need to be addressed as well because that's what always makes me fall off the band wagon.

That's all for now. Cheers!

June Updates, Another First Experience And The Law of Attraction..

Hi all...

Sorry for the long hiatus.. I hadn't been well for the 1st week of June. Me and boo came down with diarrhea for 4 days when we ate kerang bakar in Salut road side. We also drank kelapa bandung where the bandung drink is made with coconut water and served in a coconut shell with it's flesh intact. Both the kerang bakar and bandung kelapa were sooooo delicious. I would go there again, only maybe next time armed with Chi-Kit Teck Aun pills. Hehe..

The next day after our drive to Salut, we went to Kudat once again. This time it was planned and we took the time to check out the Gambizau Honey Farm and the Rungus Long House. Best!! The floor of the long house freaked me out though. I felt as if it was not strong enough to support my body weight and the gaps on them made me paranoid that I would accidentally poke my toes through one of the gaps and fall.

 Admission is RM5 for local adults..

 The honey bee 'houses'..

 Our guide smoke the bees using dried coconut husks so that they won't attack sting us visitors..

 Freaking out inside...

 Unfortunately 'honey season' is in July and August so we weren't able to see how honey looks like in the comb.

 Rungus Long House..

 It's actually a lodge..

 Steps...

A few of the Rungus ladies selling beaded handicrafts 

 Correct me if i have the name or spelling wrong but this is a traditional game called Tonduo Dazai wich when translated means 'figure it out yourself' or 'fikirlah sendiri'.. The objective is to free the string from the interlocked ratan.. 

The door to the individual rooms of the lodge..

Boo..

Aum... Bahahaha... 

Inside the rooms..

The gaps on the floor had me walking gingerly across it to get to the other side of the house..

The common kitchen..

Our third destination was of course Simpang Mengayau. We were quite tired by this time and almost didn't go but decided to do so anyway because the first time we did it rained and to be honest, it was quite a miserable experienced. Boy am I glad that we went the second time around.

The weather was a total opposite from our first trip. I was soooooo hot? The blistering heat even prompted me to buy an ice cream Drumstick despite it being sold double the price. Despite all that, the scenery looked gorgeous. When the sun's rays reflect off the sea (something to be enjoyed only with a pair of sunglasses on), it looked like precious stones. 

The agonizing walk to the 'tip' from the parking lot. Actually, it's the walk BACK to the parking lot that's extra painful because of the blistering heat.

The light house in the distance..

 See how shimmery the water is?

 Macam iklan pula tau...

Sy pun mau buat iklan juga.. 

Aisehmen.. Jangan marah haa...

I wore the wrong type of footwear to Simpang Mengayau lah.. If I had worn sturdier shoes I would have been able to go down right to the water's edge.. Huhu.. After Simpang Mengayau we went back home, exhausted but very satisfied. Thank you boo...

On the 9th I had my first experience of being run over by a car.. Okay, that was embellished. Actually, my left foot got run over by none other than Crystal, boo's car. Boo asked me to warm up his car. It wasn't the first time for me and I usually check to see if Crystal's gear is free before starting her up because I was paranoid of starting her and her gear wasn't free that she would suddenly start moving by herself.

On that particular day I didn't check the gear and simply started Crystal. Guess what? She DID started to move on her own. I screamed for boo as I ran alongside her trying to get to the keys but I was caught in a bush and fell. My left foot then got run over by Crystal's right back tyre. 

Boo ran up to me and wanted to help me but I yelled as him to stop Crystal because she was moving towards a ditch. He caught up with her, dived in through the front passenger door My heart was truly in my mouth as I  watched both of them moving closer and closer towards the ditch before Crystal mercifully stopped literally 2 feet from it.  

It turned out that Crystal was in 1st gear and the handbrake wasn't pulled up. It never happened before and I guess boo was really tired or had his mind elsewhere when he switched off the engine. It really chilled me to think of what might have happened if boo hadn't managed to stop her in time not to mention the cost of repairing her.

As for my foot, it hurt like hell. I was lucky that none of the bones were broken even though my foot was in a slanted position when it got run over. I just had a limp for a few hours and after that could walk like normal. I only experienced a bit of swelling on the day of the incident. Although I must say, I still feel a bit of pain on my foot when I press the area that was injured now. Huhu...

So that's all for now. Stay tuned for more posts.. Cheers! 

Skins and Facebook

Hi,
So about 4 years ago Friendster was really big and one of the attractions is being able to customize one's profile page with various backgrounds and layouts. Then Facebook trumped Friendster and became a worldwide phenomenon.

Facebook, unlike Friendster, doesn't have all the customizable profile thing going on and to be honest this is kind of a relief for me because personally I feel really pressured in picking the 'right' layout that looks uber cool. My fears are not unfounded either. Your layout is an expression of who you are and if it ain't cool then you're not cool either.

With Facebook I feel like everyone is equal. You only get to see how cool people are if you actually go into their photo albums and see the exciting things they do and the awesome places they go to. Other than that, they're just like everyone else with their blue and white background. Until recently that is.

Last month when a girl sitting beside me in a bus whipped out her lappy and logged on her Facebook. That's when I saw a Facebook skin 'in action' for the first time and no joke, it left me paralyzed with horror for a few seconds. I went like, "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!" inside.

Great. Now that Facebook has skins available it's just a matter of time before everyone jumps on the bandwagon and we get judged by our tastes again. When you're younger it's more forgivable to pick the 'wrong' and the ugly. It's so much more difficult now that I'm a working young woman.

Not only will I need to pick something that's in my favorite color, I would also need to pick something that reflects who I am without sending the wrong message or impressions to my future employers while at the same time look cool and hopefully unique. Talk about pressure.

Now I know what you're saying. If I feel so negatively about it then don't install it. Problem solved right? Wrong. As grown up as I am, I still have this need to conform to the norm around me. And I don't have anything against pimping my profile really, it's just the whole judgement on what I choose that makes me a wee bit anxious.

Nevertheless, I decided to check out one of the sites that provides Facebook skins and here are some of that caught my attention:

Okay, so being a girly girl, I immediately clicked on the Girly category and I feel a bit confused. Since when does girly equals soft porn?

Imagine if I pick this as my FB skin. Haha.. Kalah orang yang kerja di MAC Counter oh..

Now this is an expression of a side of me but unfortunately blue is not my color and it doesn't really look classy or sophisticated for the benefit of my future employers. Yeah, neurotic I know.

 This is an example on how skins can give out the wrong message or impression. Talk about desperate. And when the husband sees this somebody's gonna have a lot of explaining to do.

In the end this is what I picked:

Perfect!