why? because I lost 1.5 lbs as of today... Ya know, I'm on this Slim Fast diet with my family and it's been 1 week already. It's hard. I do feel the need to snack (which is encouraged) and once in a while I do crave Burgers. Mmm burgers.
But this past week made me watch what I'm eating... I'm sorta counting calories. Of course I cheat here and there, but it's not that bad.
Ok pretty bad... meaning, I had an allergic reaction bad. So on my 5th day, I had to attend a birthday party. Homegurl here pigged out eating pizza, pasta and Hanger 24 Orange Wheat beer. Mmm... Beer. It was all good until the following morning.
My face was inflamed. I had welts underneath my eyes and my face was just plain itchy. Not fun. And I knew what it was from. I believe I have a sensitivity to gluten/wheat. I went gluten/wheat overload the night prior and my payback was the next morning. No bueno.
Which made me realized I haven't had that many intake of bread, pastries and baked goods in the past week... aka low to no gluten. I also decided to switch my Slim Fast to Raw Meal powder shakes.
I do feel that my belly is less bloated and a little flatter than usual. Super score. Also my co-worker and I are starting to do our lunch-break laps around our hospital. I'm eating more lean protein, nut protein, trying to go more dairy free (I bought Coconut & Almond milk) and increasing my fruit and vegetable intake. AAANDDD I'm taking PreNatal Vitamins (gotta keep this impending womb healthy for future babies) and Vit. D. Mind you, I HATE pills. Gross.
So far my energy is a little bit better, I still need to work on my sleep hours (damn you Candy Crush).
I know it's only week 1 and rumor has it that it takes 21 days to form a habit. Damn 2 more weeks to go.
Sorry Not Sorry for making you reminisce to High School Musical.
Mother, Father & I made pact. Well it's more to support my Father, while taking a benefit on the pact for both Mother & I.
We're Slim-Fasting. Yup, you read it right. SLIM FAST.
And we are determined. Not only that, we're eating healthy too (ok we're only eating a full meal once a day, mkay). We Asian so we eat rice... And we switched to Brown Rice (my fav!)... We're incorporating more lean protein and vegetables and fruits. Something I've been lacking off, tee hee.
I must say I've been doing okay. I do get super hungry around 9 AM if I don't snack between my first shake and lunch.
Mine you, I'm on day 2. Complain much, eh?
BUT, my willpower is getting better. This past 2 days, my office is filled with: Blueberry Muffins (zomg) with a bar of butter (zomggg), Pound Cakes (zoommggg), Bagels & Cream Cheese (zzommgg), and 2 free jugs of those Pike Place Coffee from Starbucks with creamer (ZOMG).
So what do I do when we have our "3-o-clock Coffee Break"? I nibble on my nuts. I just sniff really hard on the muffins and stuff my face with nuts. And play Candy Crush.
Now I need to walk more often.
They say losing weight is effective and more fun if you're doing it together. So here it goes to my Father and Bali/Thai Vacation Body.
Never in my life I've ever wear a bikini in public. Hell, never in my teen-adult life I swim in public with a swimsuit. Mainly it's because of my vitiligo... but since that doesn't bother me anymore, it's more because of my weight...
Not until a 2 years ago, homegurl here begged the Pillow to get her a onesie a one-piece... and wore it in Vegas... Drunk, of course.
oh haaay. in vegas, Summer 11
Newport Beach, CA
Even so, I refused to take a full body picture with that one piece on... hoo ha.
Then my impending beach vacation (hello bali, hello phuket) in September is coming up and there's no way I'm gonna spend time by the ocean with that same one-piece every single time. Uh no thank you ma'am.
So I browsed on to ASOS.com (love this store!) and got this bikini top and bottom.
And of course, magazine of choice would be a recipe magazine.
Trying to lose weight and look good in a bikini yet reading about #foodporn. Isn't it ironic?
Anyways... I want to get fit and look good in that damn bikini... So I've been doing some body moving aka I've been walking with my co-workers after lunch. I work in a small department (there are only 5 RNs and 4 Radiology Techs) and we're all determine to lose some lbs. I haven't been as faithful as one of them (she twerkin it) but I'm happy that I'm moving... And I like it. We've been walking for about 1.3 miles after lunch. And yes I do get hot and warm and bothered and flushed after and straight up dealing with a patient right after. Poor patient. At least I don't smell.
Not only that I'm trying going to count calories as well. I downloaded an app called Noom today and so far I like it. It's simple yet encouraging at the same time. I even signed up for their coach ($4.99/mo) so I can be more motivated. I'm really bad in getting myself motivated. I fall off the wagon MULTIPLE TIMES. This time I hope I can stay on it and whip that wagon's horse's ass.
wham bam kazaam! It's time to Link Up with my Bloggie Soul Sista, Evani, for our monthly Let's Get Physical.
For this month I know it's gonna be a little challenging due to the fact that I'll be in FoodPorn Land in Barcelona & Paris. Good thing I have a boyfriend who likes to work out (even though he's chubby! he works out to eat).
Then, I thought about my co-worker. He's struggling with his weight. He noticed that he gets tired & sluggish right after lunch. Then we checked his blood sugar one day after lunch to find out it wasn't in a pretty number. It was a wake up call for him. One day he injured himself while playing with his sons and missed work for about 3 weeks. Finally he came back and we noticed something different. He lost weight. I was proud of him and amazed. And all he said, "Portion Control, girl."
And it made me think. I can eat anything I want and love, as long as I can control it's portion. Sometimes my emotions and greed kick in and I don't care what I put in my mouth. I suffer later. So now when I think about eating, I will think about control my portion.
Despite some craziness that happened today (I won't go into details. It made me very pissed)... Some awesomeness is going to happen soon.
This...
The Pillow asked me if I want to participate with him in a 5K at the end of the month. I was like sure, let me think about it. Since he signed up thru work, he emailed me the information. When I saw what was the cause, I immediately signed up. Some of my coworkers in Trauma have been doing the walk for breast cancer for a couple of years now, and I've always been so impressed with them for doing such a great thing (for their health, I guess) for such an important cause. According to Cancer.org, "In 2011, approximately 39,520 women are expected to die from breast cancer."
Back when I was in the ER, I've been pretty aware with Breast Cancer but it didn't get real to me until I worked in the Interventional Radiology. One of our regular procedures that we do is biopsies and the most common ones we do are Breast Mass/Lump Biopsies. We do these at least 10 times a week. And we will also follow up with the results within 1 month or so (we keep tallies on biopsies and results). As of for the month of July, half of our biopsy list for July was positive of cancer, AND half of that half were Breast Cancer.
I will never ever forget this young girl that we did an immediate breast biopsy the day that she had a mammogram. She's about mid 20s with 2 kids, one being a newborn. She noticed a lump on one of her breast and went to another hospital to check it out. They were suspicious of that lump. Since she had no insurance, they referred her to my hospital's breast clinic. They did a mammogram that day, and found a very suspicious lump on that breast, and asked us if we can fit her in for that day for a STAT breast biopsy. I was her nurse. She appeared so calm through out the whole thing (I would bawl the shit out of me) and she told me she feels like it is indeed cancer :( A couple of weeks later, I saw her in CT scan getting a scan done, and I asked her how she was doing and I remembered her from her biopsy. She remembered me too. She told me it was positive for cancer, and she was diagnosed with the aggressive one, Ductal Carcinoma and they were planning to do surgery for her (total mastectomy) and chemo and radiation. What made me admire her the most is her attitude. She took every single thing positively. I was in awe.
Then months down the road, we saw her again on our schedule for a Port-a-cath placement (it's a port that's implanted in the chest for access for chemo/drug infusion). I asked her again how she was doing and such. She said her kids are doing well and she's doing great... Her treatments were progressing. She said she's not taking it hard on herself and instead her mother is taking the whole situation hard :( By that time I noticed her hair was thinning. What didn't thin was her attitude. She had the most positive attitude I've seen in a cancer patient. Then not too long ago, I saw her walking out of Radiation Therapy (it's next to my department) and I noticed her wig. She looked good and healthy. What impressed me was her smile. She even teased my co-worker. Amazing.
Amazing how something so hard and scary that could happen to a sweet girl, she turned it around into something positive. She said she's surviving for her children. I really admire her bravery.
If something shitty happens to me, I will try to remember this young lady. Oh and the biblical story of Job. God never lets his people down. Even with the hardest situation, He will be by their side... as long as you're faithful to Him. (Sorry I got all religious all of a sudden. But, No Shame).
So as I rethink my original thought/reason on my purpose to join the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, I dedicate my 5K to that young lady with that Big and Brave Heart. I hope God continues to bless her and her family.
Hey Young Lady with that Big & Brave Heart, my run's for you.
I'm thinking, if I ever get struck with this disease (I hope not!), I would love to have someone fight along with me to find a cure for it. If the cure can't be found in my living time, hopefully there can find a cure in the future for those who may have Breast Cancer.
For more information about the run, go to this link here. If any of you live around Orange County and got nothing to do on September 23rd 2012, why not join? Or you can even "Sleep In" for the Cause (haha, your registration money will go to that charity).
Now on a happier note (not cancer related)...
HELLZ YEAHHHH I GOT MY TICKET TO NO DOUBT'S LOS ANGELES CONCERT!!!!!
I begged for a friend of mine (Thanks Frisky!) to get me a ticket to this crazy concert today since I was at work when the pre-sale went on. I've been a huge fan of No Doubt since 1995. And to finally witness them in the PIT, that will be huge (for me). I've seen them twice (once when they were touring their last tour before hiatus with Blink 182 and I even flew in to Utah by myself for their Summer 2009 Tour)... but now seeing them that close, man... I'm brainfudge right now. Hahaha...
It's time to replay those awesome No Doubt tunes. My favorite is Don't Speak (duh!!), Just A Girl, Spiderwebs, Total Hate '95, Stricken, By The Way, Simple Kind of Life (!!!), Magic's In the Make Up (this was my song when I'm feeling so emo), Comforting Lie, Rock Steady... Woo... I can not wait.
In another note, I would like to say how much I love my family. Even though we have our ups and downs, fights and make-ups, we KEEP IT REAL. No Fakery. We may not express our love openly (we rarely say I love You haha) but we show it through our actions and solidarity. As my motto for my family, I will say, "Once a Sagala, always a Sagala. We stick thru thick and thin."We don't take bullshit.
Song of the day brought to you by Ms. Taylor Swift.
Quote of the day brought to you by Chris Colfer, Kurt from Glee,
“When people hurt you over and over, think of them like sand paper. They may scratch and hurt you a bit, but in the end, you end up polished and they end up useless.”
I know you know that infamous song. You don't? Let me refresh your mind...
Now you remember, right? Spandex, sweat band and all? Good.
Anyways, this post is not about spandex (i wish in a way they were...), but it's a link-up (LINK UP? AGAIN? *hey no whining!*) created by my bloggy BFF, Evani of Simply Evani.
So the link-up is more like a support group rather than a way to gain more readers (eh, why not kill 2 birds with one stone? Wait, I love birds. How about kill 2 roaches with one stone?)... It consists of 3 parts: Confessions, Facts, and Goals... All regarding your health and/or fitness habits.
My health/fitness habit? Horrible. I don't work-out, my eating habits are pretty poor, and I rarely drink water (I just don't get thirsty that often!). So I'm glad Evani came up with this idea. Bravo, chica-loo.
This is a monthly link-up and will be held every first Wednesday of the month, I think. Anyways, I love being supported and I think that's what I need. So far my support is from Mother just saying that I'm fat (it's the Asian way of showing love, I think). If only I live in the same roof with the Pillow, I would know I would work out with him (he loves doing sports). He always ask me if I want to work out with him whenever we hang out but I refuse most of the time because the days we spent time together are usually my days off where I just want to RELAX. Gah.
Anywayz, I'm gonna start.
Confessions
I rarely eat fruits and vegetables. It's not like I hate them, I just opted to eat those fine awesome carbs (read: BREAD! PASTRIES! CAKES! CHEETOS!) and stuff them in my mouth rather than a juicy apple.
Facts
Don't get me wrong, I love mangoes. They are my ultimate favorite. Too bad they are not in season all the time. Mango with Sticky Rice is a plus! (Wait, that's not a fruit entry? It's a dessert? Damn). I love Cucumbers, especially the snaking/Persian cucumbers. Yum. But I know I must eat those leafy ones. I love some cold, sliced Sunkist Oranges too. Cantaloupes are my favorite too. It's just that I make poor choices on what to stuff in my mouth when I see a variety of food selections in front of me. Pfft, when I go to a Buffet, the first thing I hit is the Dessert bar. Then the pasta/pizza/burger&fries/friedfoods and dessert again. Salad bar? Forget it. It's just that I need to control my eye-hunger/appetite! As for Veggies, if there's none on the table, then I won't eat it. If they don't look pleasing to my eyes, I won't eat it. Bad, I know...
Goals
Well I'm trying to add more Vegs & Fruits to my eating world by juicing. If you've been following me on instagram (you should... @bolubyrima), I've been juicing for about 1-2 weeks, mostly for dinner between Mon - Fri. I've even added this to my September Goals. I feel somewhat different, like more energy during the day. But I guess I have to do it routinely to get the full effect and maybe I need to do it more often. We'll see how it goes til the end of the month!!
Sooo that's my entry for this link-up. Check out Evani's blog for more info about the link up!! YAY!
