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My female owner started on her xx number of attempts at dieting on Sunday. After one whole week of eating out, she decided that it was time to get serious about losing weight, otherwise her clothes would really not fit anymore.

She didn’t cut down on her snacks (she finished one box of Shapes in two days) but she tried to exercise more. On Sunday night, she replaced the temptation of NOT jogging with skipping at home. 300 times. Not much but a good enough start.

On Monday night, besides going for martial arts class in the evening (where she didn’t perspire much), she went for a quick jog around school at night. Only twenty minutes covering a shorter distance than usual but she felt that it was better to start small and slowly build up her stamina. Besides, her dodgy knee was threatening to act up, in response to the 300 skips the night before.

And she went to school to weigh herself today. My female owner expected to weigh more than previously, coz she was wearing jeans (rather than shorts) and she really did load up on glorious food the week before. Hence, she was not too upset with what she saw on the weighing scale.
Ah, another reason to keep up with her diet plan.

skyward

My female owner says that today is a “bad day” in terms of her confidence and stress level. She had set aside the day to plan for her research project which is so big that it will take a dedicated year (and AUD24 000) to complete.

My female owner found that she was unable to conceptualise her research question with her greatest fear revolving around being able to recruit enough participants. She was confronted with a lot of uncertainties and pressing deadlines. She desperately needs to churn out a research proposal and the ethics application by next weekend. Not to mention, the other academic requirements screaming for her attention this week. As such, her stress level accelerated skyward.

So she ended up binge-eating. The first time since she returned to Brisbane. A bar of Boost, a slice of peanut butter bread and a box of pokey… right after dinner (laksa and bubble tea). The post-dinner binge adds up to about 4000KJ, half of her energy needs in a day. Now she feels even more lousy.

weighty issues

My female owner finally figured out that she can skip better and longer if she shortens her rope. Hence, through much struggle, panting and stops, she managed to complete three rounds of 100 skips. Given the short duration of each cycle, she didnt manage to perspire much but she certainly felt her heart beating faster and her body warmer.

My female owner tried to bring in a weighing scale from Singapore (coz it cost a lot to get one in Australia) but couldnt in the end because her luggage was overweight and she had to sacrifice the non-essentials. Actually she felt that the weighing scale was a huge essential, to her mental and physical well-being at least, but knew that her mother would certainly not agree with her. So anyway, she has decided to use her never-shrinking clothes as a gauge of her weight fluctuations.

Given that her BMI had never been above 20 for the longest time ever, my female owner was shocked when she calculated it again yesterday and found it to be 21.something. Hence, she has set a weight loss goal of 4kg, so that her BMI will reduce to about 20. Now, for those who are good in maths, that's still a net gain of 2kg from her original weight. But she probably learnt not to be so ambitious anymore.

While her clothes are still tight and snug (strange that it's so easy to put on weight but so difficult to lose it. One of my female owner's colleagues used to say "a moment on your lips, a lifetime on your hips")... my female owner is still hopeful that she can lose some weight... somehow...

resolve

My female owner started school today. She wanted to reach school at 9am to settle some banking matters, but was so exhausted by the previous day that she woke up at 9am instead. This was despite using a new alarm clock, in addition to her handphone!

After 2 weeks in Singapore where “it’s as if she never left”, my female owner figured that she did not miss Brisbane at all because she never felt at home in Brisbane. While Brisbane, in itself, is a lovely place, it offers a different lifestyle and quality of life from what my female owner is accustomed to and she is still trying to find her equilibrium.

Starting a new term, my female owner has set some new goals with relation to her unexpected non-pregnancy-related weight gain. This is her heaviest weight in her 18+++++ life.

• to exercise 3 times a week (method not firmed up yet -> high chance of failure)
• to eat healthy food (i.e. no binge-eating of chocolate chip cookies, potato chips and biscuits à easiest way is NOT to buy them)
• to avoid buying and consuming most things creamy, buttery and sweet (i.e. homecooked or home-baked things are ok -> what a loophole in her resolution!)

Now she just needs someone to be her human conscience. Any takers?

really gone

My female owner really left yesterday! Sob. Actually the flight was overbooked and the airline offered to compensate her with 400USD if she would volunteer to postpone her flight to today. However, she thought about the people who made the effort to go down to the airport to send her off and decided to spare them the agony of making a wasted trip. It was only a while later that she realised that the money would have come in handy, given her financial situation. To put things into perspective, the compensation was almost half the cost of her return ticket.

My female owner has been quite bothered about her rapid weight gain. No, not the 4-5kg she put on in Brisbane but the 2kg she put on 2 weeks in Singapore. That, to her, is a monstrosity. At 6kg heavier than 6 months ago, she looks bloated in photos. Again, to put things into perspective, her Onli Fren who got pregnant about the same time as when my female owner left for Brisbane has put on only a mere 8kg! As a result of her weight gain, my female owner finds herself bumming into random things, losing her balance and not being able to roll during aikido. In addition, her once loose clothes (which she left in Singapore) can no longer be worn. Things got so bad that 2 nights ago, she wore track pants to her friends’ house. She could not find any shorts which fitted her.

weight

How many ways can you tell someone that she has gained weight?

“You have gained weight!” and five minutes later, “you have really gained weight” and five minutes later, “you really gained weight”
Note: you can only say this if you are really close to the person and the person is able to appreciate your honesty.

“Eh, you gained weight”.
Short and crisp. Make your point known and do not repeat it. Good if you are not so close to the person, but you don’t want to lie.

Testing water: “You haven’t looked like you gained a lot of weight, just 1-2kg the most”

The logical remark: "You have gained weight, but it's only a phase. You are studying now/ It's winter and you need the fats."

A not-committal comment: “You are not fat not thin now!”

Changing perspective: “Eh, you look fitter now. I don’t mean fat, you were too thin last time.”

The half-truth: “Only your face looks rounder. The rest of you look ok”

The ultimate PC comment: “You where got gain weight?”

confirmed

My female owner believes in listening to social feedback (acting on it is another matter altogether). She received one today, or rather, she received one which she was expecting to get.

Being low on clients, she had time to pop into her host's office for a short chat. They haven't met each other for almost 2 months, since the time her host met her to pass her the car. My female owner wondered if her host will say anything about her putting on weight.

Sure enough, one of the first few things she said was "wah, you put on weight!" If that sounds familiar to you, that's because my female owner's auntie recently said the same thing to her too. That double confirms what my female owner has been noticing about her rounder than round face. I think this is the roundest my female owner ever became, coz her cheeks are so chubby, that it's affecting her speech. Too chubby to talk.

Oh well... no use whining about putting on weight. She probably needs to do something about it, something that does not involve snacking... Otherwise, when she comes back to Singapore, that's the greeting she's going to get from her friends and family!

homogenous

My female owner was truly horrified when she tried to wear her pants today. While it was still loose last week, it was now tight! Can you imagine that? One week is all it takes to reach the physical limits of her pants! While she can't be bothered about her weight anymore (lost battle), she has no choice but to deal with the consequences of her binge-eating.

While she was still shaken, an aikido fren initiated a random conversation with her. It's random coz she hasnt chatted with him for a really long time but somehow, it was the conversation which she needed.

After hearing her out, he encouraged her to go jogging but she said it was getting too cold. So he suggested skipping at home (very good idea). He also added in suggestions like stomach crunches and other unmentionables... And being lazy, she said that she would wait till 1 Jun to start, and he reminded her that many things can happen in 1 week (yah, like your pants becoming too tight!)

Like what her Librarian Fren who is in UK said "Hmm...the world is indeed getting homogenised! :P Coz like everyone else I am also getting fat (strange, thought one should get fat in winter, how come I am getting fatter in summer)."

And her potahto fren who just declared on MSN: "needs to lose weight"

Coincidentally, the three of them braved boss disapproval in 2006 by taking leave at the same time to go for a long holiday in Philippines. Now they are all gaining weight at the same time, despite being on three different continents.

A trivial: At the top of a mountainous area (Sagada), they found a western eatery which served big helpings of yummy stuff... that was also when the potahto friendship started. Just look at the size of the serving!

outwit

I heard that my female owner has given up trying not to put on weight. She decided that she has enough things on her plate (pun NOT intended) to manage, and trying to eat healthily is just going to zap up her limited time, brain cells and resources. Besides, winter is coming and she really needs to insulate herself from the cold.

Anyway, her restless eyes spied this "fight your urge to eat" article and she decided that if she can't benefit from the information (she tried some of the strategies even before reading this article), someone else might.

10 Ways to Outwit Your Appetite
You don't have to be smarter than a quiz-show fifth-grader to learn how to control the urge to eat. Just follow these ingenious tips to keep your appetite under wraps:

• Feed it protein for breakfast.
You'll be less hungry later on and end up eating 267 fewer calories during the day. At least that's what happened on days when St. Louis University researchers gave overweight women two scrambled eggs and two slices of jelly-topped toast for breakfast rather than about half that protein.

• Make it climb a flight of stairs.
At home, store the most tempting foods way out of reach. For instance, Cornell University food psychologist Brian Wansink, PhD, keeps his favorite soda in a basement fridge. "Half the time I'm too lazy to run down there to get it, so I drink the water in the kitchen."

• Sleep on it.
People who don't get their 8 hours of ZZZs experience hormonal fluctuations that increase appetite, report researchers.

• Give it something else to think about.
When scientists scanned the brains of people eating different foods, they found that the brain reacts to fat in the mouth in much the same way that it responds to a pleasant aroma. So if you feel a craving coming on, apply your favorite scent.

• Never let it see a heaping plate.
The more food that's in front of you, the more you'll eat. So at a restaurant, ask your waiter to pack up half of your meal before serving it to you, then eat the extras for lunch the next day.

• Put it under the lights.
You consume fewer calories at a well-lit restaurant table than you do dining in a dark corner. "In the light, you're more self-conscious and worry that other patrons are watching what you eat," explains Wansink.

• Talk it down.
Entertaining friends with a great story doesn't give you much time to eat up, so you'll probably still have food on your plate when they're done. Once they're finished, call it quits, too.

• Offer it a seat.
If you sit down to snack -- and use utensils and a plate -- you'll eat fewer calories at subsequent meals.

• Satisfy it with soup.
Start lunch with about 130 calories worth of vegetable soup and you'll eat 20% fewer calories overall during lunch, say Penn State experts.

• Give it little choice.
Packages that contain assorted varieties of cookies, candy, dips, cheese, etc., make you want to try all the flavors. The effect is so powerful, says Wansink, that when people are given 10 colors of M&Ms to munch on, not 7, they eat 30% more!

round

We had some visitors today! My female owner’s paternal aunties and her niece (ie, grand daughter of one of the aunties). They haven’t seen her for three months and yes one of the first questions asked was “eh, you put on weight?”

With such a common reaction from people, my female owner has no choice but to accept reality. So her reply was “Of course lah! There are so many nice things to eat here.”

And the auntie added “your face is so round!” Oh well… round is also a shape. Perfect shape in fact. Wahaha. They say that owners will tend to look their pets after a while. I think my female owner is taking after me, with my overflowing cheeks and all.

My female owner has regressed to her undergraduate days where she was at her heaviest at more than 60kg. That was also the time when she was in the church’s dance ministry and one poor guy had to carry all 60+kg of her on his shoulders! In fact, they also had to spin together.

Perhaps it’s correlational: female owner in school ~ put on weight

The cold comfort is that some kind (and probably sympathetic) souls have been telling her that she would look better with more weight coz she had been too skinny. Actually, my female owner’s main concern is not that she has gained weight. It’s more that her clothes are getting tighter and that she may run out of clothes to wear if she continues her bingeing.

Ever heard of the saying “God, if you can’t make me thin, make all my friends fat.” My female owner is probably praying “God, if you can’t make me thin, make my clothes expand”.