Sunday, April 26, 2009

Day 9 - Result and Reward

This morning, I nervously stepped on the scale. After 1 week of following the diet (with a bit of oopsy here and there) I have lost 2 kilos!!! Yes, My weight dropped from 62.1kg to 60kg!!!! Hooorrrraaayyyyy!!! (Clap, Clap,Clap!) I also took my body measurements and lost a total of 13cm!!! Double Hoorrraaayyyy!!! (Clap, Clap, Clap!)

So, I decided to reward myself and dragged Hubby to drive to London and I splurged to stock up on my facial stuff!!!! Hooorrrayyyy!!!.. Aish, ni baru seminggu dah over gak lah... but tak kisah mmmuuahahahahaa... (err though when the credit card bill arrives, I'll have the last laugh lah kannnn... eheh..).

We also met the Atanmayas for a lovely Sausage&Mash dinner at Portobello. We missed them dearly so it was a really good night out!

Day 6, 7 & 8 - Settling in

These 3 days I have noticed an improvement. I am not as hungry as the first few days. In fact I don't feel the urge to snack anymore. I guess my body is settling into the diet routine. I realised I'm more comfortable of having the shake in the morning, then a good normal meal for lunch and have the shake for dinner instead. This works better for me because the normal meal at lunch keeps my hunger at bay till dinner and I have more energy at work. Also, a shake for dinner works well as I don't do much at home anyways and Haidan keeps me occupied to not think about the lovely dinner Mama cooks. Since I don't want to miss out on Mama's cooking, I'll pack dinner for next day's lunch! Thus, I still have Mama's lovely cooking and save lunch money as well :)

Exercise wise, I have made the commitment to walk from my office to Leatherhead station instead of taking the coach - well it was easier this week coz the weather was lovely! Went to the gym on Friday (Day 8) and noticed I had more energy, compared to the first few times last week - I could barely survive 3 squats and was huffing & puffing when doing the bicep curls!!!

On my charteredship progress, Hubby was very kind to help type out my draft notes... (thank you sayang!!), since I type very slowly - I'm still those people who just can't hafal the keyboard and pauses every 3 seconds to check the screen for every word I type hehe...

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Day 4 & 5

Day 4 - tried breakfast and lunch with shakes and a good meal (salad with chicken kiev) for dinner. Was struggling during the day sebab lapar giler!! Tu-lah dia kannn, dah biasa makan banyak for lunch and munching bebagai! Anyways, went to gym so felt quite good :)

Day 5 - Effects of the gym has kicked in :( Feet were numb and my tummy felt sore.... Had shakes for breakfast in train, then decided to have lunch instead in the office. Semangat berkobar to replace my dinner with a shake was greatly dampened when Mama surprised me with her Nasi Ayam + Sago Gula Melaka dish on the dinner table. The hearty meal is to celebrate my inlaws last night here in the UK before they leave for KL tomorrow. So, errr.. so decided to skip shake and had a small portion of Mama's yummy nasi ayam with a teeny spoonful of sago. Aiiisshshhhh... camner nie????

Anyways, Hubby uploaded the pictures taken from the past couple of weeks while inlaws are around. Here's some of Haidan's best moments:

"Can someone please move this thing out of my way??? Taaa...."


"Jalan-jalan cari makan...."


"Step by step...- me doing a Joey NKOTB impression with Nenek Yah as my errr...background prop"


"My cheeky chicken poxy facey"

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Day 3 - Lazy Sunday

I decided to stay home today coz dah menggelabah lah kann report tak siap lagi!

Morning I had my shake while everyone else had toast for breakfast. Haidan was so sweet- he noticed I wasn't eating like everyone else, and so he kept on offering me some of his peanut butter toast! Thank you sayang!... I did nip a bit sebab nak jaga hati dia kannn... don't want to expose him to rejection at this tender young age you see... eheh..

Lunch I was a bit stronger to resist the temptation of a whole bowl of mee bandung my family was having. I did have 3 spoonfuls just to taste from Hubby's portion and carried on sipping my shake. I didn't feel guilty because I think it's quite important that I don't be too strict on myself, but at the same time not to overindulge and break the diet. I think change should be done slowly and steadily... at the end of the day I am looking for a long-term result.

All I want to do is to be able to fit in my old clothes again. Technically, this means that my goal is to achieve my ideal weight of 50kg (I'm now 62kg) by 30 Sept 2009. So I have 5 months to lose 12kg, hoping to never gain it back!

Career wise, my aim is to get my Charteredship submitted by end of June. Don't want to delay this further... OK, guess I have to go and start work again. I still have a report to finish and submit tomorrow!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Day 2 - Portabello Market

My Day 2 was an ad-hoc chaotic disaster!

I have to say that the Tea Mix really kept me awake- I slept quite late last night and ended up waking late this morning! So, had my first shake at 11am and rasa tak puas sangat sebab lapar lagi! So I had a few cucur udang for brunch as well! Hmmm... not a good start lah kannnn...

Then, Hubby announced that he wants to go to Portabello Market. Since I have not been to it before I decided to tag along too. Portabello was lovely - its just their version of our pasar malam. Though they have more antiques and we have more food je lah! Managed to tempis godaan Hummingbird and crepes dengan sukses! Hey, it was not easy OK munching on tasteless protein bars while Hubby, my inlaws and Haidan gobbled on Paela, chips, pastries etc in front of my face! Everytime Hubby lovingly goes "Mmmm Yummmmy" on his next bite of food he bought, I gave him my ultraman pose and reached my handbag for my bottle of water - hoping that every tasteless gulp will protect me from his devilish attack!

After 3.5 hours of walking down Portabello road (yup, it took that long coz I had to stop to wee-wee every 3 minutes.. eheh), we then went to Pottersfield to enjoy the fantastic view of Tower Bridge amidst the wonderful weather. Haidan was enjoying himself walking through the water fountains and playing peek-a-boo with the art-statues around. Dinner was at Malaysia Hall and we left home & caught up with Britain's Got talent :)

My progress:
* Charteredship - errr.. none!
* Diet:
Mid-morning: Formula 1 shake & Formula 2 with cucur udang at 11am
Day: Protein Bar at 1pm & 3pm. Formula 1 shake & Formula 2 at 5pm
Evening: Yummy Yong Tau Foo at 9pm.
Water: Lost count, so say approximately 3x750ml lah. (Though the amount of times I went to the toilet seems like I drank the whole of river Thames!)

Friday, April 17, 2009

Day 1 - Sutton Library

I woke up early this morning dengan penuh semangat, had my first Herbalife shake (Strawberry with Soya Milk) and my usual Berrocca and vitamins. Packed all my stuff and got Haidan ready for the day. I left home around 11am and went straight to the library.

This was my first ever visit to Sutton Library - wow! I didn't expect it was quite good. The library had the normal books and all but also a media centre with loads of cds, audio books and the latest dvds as well. The best part of the library was the children's section - it was a secluded area with loads of books and play centre - I was already imagining bringing Haidan there once in 2 weekends! The only setback was that there were loads of college kids around coz I think exam period is coming. So, it was quite difficult to find a kiasu spot for me to do my work. I ended up sharing a long table with some college kids. I settled in quickly and kept telling myself "Stop procrastinating, stop procrastinating...". I could sense the minah college beside me was rather uneasy at times.. hehehe.

Progress wise for my IET report was not excellent, but good enough. I managed to finally sit through all my past PPA forms from PETRONAS and highlighted the projects I want to include. I also finished writing the draft Gap Report for Kate to proceed to sign me off on some tasks that I've done in PETRONAS so that I won't be expecting to do in KBR for my Chartered application process.

Before this I get so overwhelmed by the amount of work that needs to be done, that I kept procrastinating on finding the perfect day/ time/ mood to finish ALL at once. So far, that brought me a step back instead of a step forward. So I am going to divide and conquer and achieve small tasks one by one to make it easier for me. Here's my plan:
* By this weekend 19/4/09 - complete Gap Report and fill in IET form with PETRONAS experience list and competencies. Submit to Kate on Monday 20/4.
* By next weekend 26/4/09 - complete Jan-March quarterly report and go through KBR list of work. Submit to Kate on Monday 27/4.
* By 3/5/09 - complete IET form with KBR experience list and competencies. Submit to Kate on Tuesday 5/5/09.
* By end of May - Finalise draft for IET submission.

Diet wise, here's my progress:
Morning: Formula 1 shake & Formula 2 at 8.30am, Protein Bar at 10.30am (lapar dah!)
Day: Formula 1 shake & Formula 2 at 1.30pm, Protein Bar at 4.30pm
Evening: Chicken kiev, loads of salad and 1/2 cup nasi goreng at 7.30pm.
Water: I managed to gulp the 3x750ml water bottle (tea mix & plain)! Hooorrraaayyyy (Clap, clap, clap)

My verdict: I found I wasn't tired at all (which was really good), I had so much energy throughout the day... akan tetapi I noticed I get hungry by 10am and 4pm. By dinner tu perut dah berbunyi siap!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Family Support

I got my Herbalife products today!!! Hoorrraaaayyyy!!!! (Clap, clap, clap)

Angela briefed me on which is which, what I need to do and what I have to avoid. She passed me a 30-day diary for me to track in my progress. She promised she'll call often to check on me as well.

So this is it.... I am going on a diet journey. Today is officially Day Zero.

In a bid to show her supportive spirit, Mama has kindly volunteered to help taking my "before" measurements. As she was struggling to pull the measurement tape across my tummy, I told her that I was quite worried to start this, you know.. whether I was ready to let go 2 hearty meals a day for a glass of milkshake instead... she bluntly replied, "Oh my God with this measurements- you are so damn ready!!!". Apparently, she insisted that by giving a reverse psycho support, I will be all fired up and geared to go.... (errr... thanks Ma...).

Hubby on the other hand decided to celebrate by surprising me with a gift. I was quite shocked coz he usually sucks at surprises, I didn't see this one coming at all (Ni mesti case lega lepas ni dah tak yah nak layan my crazy-last-minute-lunch-cravings). Nope, it wasn't a weighing machine nor an exercise DVD but the heavenly 1gazillion-caloried-Red-Velvet-Cupcake!!!... Apparently, he insisted that it is the ultimate Day Zero treat to show his support....(errr.. thanks Ayang..).

And Haidan?? Oh not wanting to miss his part, Haidan surprised us all the most by deciding to crawl to me and for the first time ever - stood up all on his own and gave me a big round of applause!! Hooorrrayyyyy!!!!



So, as I munch my last Red Velvet cupcake with Haidan still clapping in the background, I hereby declare that "This Is It- Bring it Onnnn!!!!"

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

The first steps...

... is definitely the hardest, or should I say the most expensive!

To report my progress on my Chartered application, yesterday I officially submitted for 1 day leave this Friday. I plan to go to the library in Sutton, sit down and start completing my IET reports. So if I don't do it, I have wasted one good day- which could be spent with Haidan or at work compiling overtime hours!

To report my progress on my weight loss programme, Angela from Herbalife called me last night and introduced herself and the products. She seems like a really nice lady. She's been with the product for 5 years now and have done personal diet coaching ever since. I chose Herbalife because I'm counting on Angela to give me the support I need. I think I work better with a mentor guiding me because I am the Queen of Procrastination (and obviously Hubby's my King). So, yesterday I dashed out £1** for the whole starter set and she's coming in this evening to brief and get my measurements. Plus I have paid my gym fees to start on my personal training 3-4x a week at TWIST. So kalau tak kurus jugak, can someone please TWIST my ear and bite me!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Cucur Udang...

... Tak sampai 2 minit I talked myself to start on a diet, Mama presented me with a plate of freshly fried Cucur Udang with Lingham chilli sauce and Kopi-O on the table.

She said it's her Thank You treat for me helping to colour her hair this afternoon.

So in view that I don't want to offend my mom for not accepting her gesture of appreciation, I shall devour the Cucur Udang out of respect and start my diet tomorrow.

Wake Up Call

I haven't been blogging because I was lazy.... tho to defend myself, I have been busy too, both at work and at home. Unlike Hubby who has access to the net 24hrs on his fingertips, I can only browse the net when I'm at home. Which is highly unlikely since Haidan is growing up too fast that I'm on my toes most of the time till he's in bed. And highly likely that I will terbabas with him in bed till morning.

Mama has arrived safely in the UK since last month. So, she has been a great help at home. I am so happy and thankful she's here! At least kurang lah sikit beban nak masak and do the laundry kat umah.

Anyways, the reason I made an entry today is that the last couple of days have been an eye-opening experience for me, which I think deserves a post so that I am constantly reminded to wake up and stop procrastinating.

You see, I have always procrastinated that I will complete my Charteredship. My boss have been patiently reminding me that I need to get it done as soon as possible. Most of the time I will nod in approval and 10 minutes later I am back being lazy. So last Thursday on the way home from work, I bumped into Carolina - a colleague of mine. She is a year younger and attained her Charteredship late last year. I asked her how she's doing since I have not met her for quite some time. Well, turned out she is now a Senior Engineer in a project I so wanted to be in... but didn't qualify because the minimum requirement is to have a CEng. It then dawned on me that if Carolina (with 1 year less experience) can do it, why can't I?? - Wake Up Adita!

Also, since I gave birth to Haidan I have not been exercising nor watching my diet. I remembered the last time I went home to KL with Haidan (at 3 months) in tow, and my aunties can't stop commenting on how much weight I have gained. I didn't care at that time coz I know that I will strive to lose the weight anyways once Haidan's a year old. Now, he's nearly 2 and I still wear 2 dress sizes larger than I used to. Yesterday evening while munching a bag of biskut bantal followed closely by a bag of Hershey chocs, I suddenly feel so heavy and dizzy. The wake up call came when Hubby was downloading the pictures we took into the laptop when I just saw myself! I looked so big! I have been eating more than normal the past few weeks and I realised I don't have the energy and dread waking up in the morning coz I feel so heavy. So, this overweight business needs to stop coz now it's effecting my health dah - Wake Up Adita!

So, from now on I will try to update myself with my progress. So here goes:
What have I done today for my Charteredship progress?
1) Found my Petronas PPR folder containing all my previous experience list
2) Downloaded the IET form on my laptop

What have I done today for my 'get back in shape' progress?
1) Made an appointment tomorrow to sign up at TWIST gym
2) Made a query for someone from Herbalife to contact me

I know the above does not make a difference but at least I'm moving an inch, rather than procrastinating and not moving at all.