Having "Me" Time

I love this myth. This is a myth that says one should not eat after a certain time if one wants to lose weight because food eaten later will turn into fat.  I think at a certain time during my chubby days I too tried this and guess what? I stayed chubby.  I still ate a lot and did not exercise and so yes, I remained chubby no matter what time I ate. Now the myth works for some people, because they end up eating less.  They tell themselves not to eat after a certain hour, and so mindless snacking is avoided.    Especially if you lived in an apartment like I did, the fridge was just convenient and easy access.  Watching TV, I could see the fridge and when you have nowhere to walk, (because the space is small)  you walk to the fridge.  You open the fridge and peek inside. A snack, a piece of cake, a chocolate catches your eyes and before you know it, it's in your stomach! Some say, however, that eating late...

Many people think health comes along when you have another "half" another "soul" to be by your side. Some say "love" will make you lose weight, be healthy.  There is some truth to it, but I think that is somewhat oversimplified.  You do not need to have "someone" to get healthy.  The only reason you should get healthy and lose weight is because you dearly want to yourself.  Because you love yourself and you think that you are worthy of the attention.  Once you have found that love for yourself, then love for another comes more easily. Health is a great cure for the soul. It rejunevates, energizes and gives you strength you previously didn't know you had.  You can somehow run those few kilometers and walk up flights of stairs without feeling tired. Walks that were once unappealing, now seem like a little walk in the garden.  The hot weather becomes less annoying, and the chair more comfortable. Yes, even just sitting on chairs becomes a...

This morning while running, I thought about the upcoming Bangkok Marathon .  I have to get a little more serious in my running.  In 53 days, the Bangkok Marathon will be held as it has been for the past few years.  On November 20, 2011 tens of thousands of people will be out running in the wee mornings of the day.  I will be there.  Let's all be there.  Let's go out, have some exercise and enjoy the experience. For those of you who have never joined the marathon, let me tell you this.  Once you've experienced it, you will want to keep coming back.  It's fun, it's exciting and its open the everyone.  How often do you get to run on the street by the Grand Palace and watch the sunrise?  You don't have to run the entire 42km marathon.  They have the 10K as well as the 5K for you to choose from.  I will be doing the 5K.  I want to run it all and not run. The first time I joined the marathon was 4 years ago, I w...

The world has gone bananas.  Bombings, shootings and phone hacking scandals are what dominate the headlines.  Everywhere I go, those are what people are reading about.  The world has indeed gone bananas.  If you can't already guess by now, I thought today I'd write about how good it is to actually go "bananas."  No, don't take me literally and go crazy,  what I want to say is eat bananas. The past few weeks, I've returned to my healthy snack routine at the office which involves daily does of fresh bananas.  I bring along two each morning.  One for my mid morning snack and one for the mid afternoon snack.  Some days if I anticipate long hours, I bring an extra banana.   They are great especially if you are looking for a healthy alternative to chips, fried chicken or the grilled pork skewers that set up shop outside the office building. Bananas are rich in fiber and so they keep you filling full.  If you n...

Many of us can be a little lazy when it comes to exercising or maintaining our health.  Okay, not just "a little" we can be "very" lazy.  It's been over a year since I've lost the 15kgs worth of fat and so far I've been pretty good at maintaining it.  I have not gained more than 2 kgs and when it goes up a kg or so, I push it down.  I am, however, starting to feel the laziness creep up on me. Since the New Years,  moving house, unpacking, traffic, and whatever excuse I can think of, I've been waking up a little later each morning.  I rush out to run yet it is losing steam.  I sleep a little later each night which is terrible when I need to wake up early.  In addition, when I come home each day the table is set full of food.  Oh how tempting all this wonderful food is.   When I insist on having fruits, worried looks appear.  Perhaps I will be lacking some proteins or vitamins.  One must surely eat more...

We've all heard of "Good" fats and "Bad" fats but do we really know how to look out for them? I always get a little loss looking at the label.  Sometimes there is the polyunsaturated fat or transfat? Monounsaturated and Saturated.  Anything that has the word "fat" in it sounds scary, when in reality some of those "fats" are actually good for you!  Below is a great video explaining how to watch out for "bad" fats on food labels :)  Let's all take care of our health.  A little here and there helps a lot.  Remember, each little step that brings you closer to good health is a step in the right direction!

When sorting through belongings, sometimes you discover something that reminds you of younger, former days.  Those "good" times you had when you were young.  I recently discovered a picture that reminded of my "older" days. Days when I was "older" than I am now. It's funny, when I think about myself now and then, I do feel younger.  I feel more alive and more in tune with life now then I was 10, 15 years ago...  I used to wear long dresses, long sleeved and was always so proper.  I suppose my big size made the matter all the more difficult to dress "young" because it was hard to find clothes that fit.  I got tired of looking for clothes and just wore whatever I could fit.  Now, much lighter,  I can finally dress my age which is wonderful. :) Take a look at the picture!  What do you think? I'm the auntie on the leftmost side.

Ever since I've moved house earlier this year, I've had the opportunity to see another part of life I had never previously seen.  I now live next to a military base that is also open to the public. Cars pass through in and out to get to the main road on the other side of the base.  Most mornings and evenings that's the route I'd take.  Unexpectedly though, on a quiet day you can be most certain to hear the sounds of soldiers in training.  Just half an hour ago as I lay on my bed relaxing, a beautiful sound came through the window.  It was the sound of trumpets playing a tune that reminds me of war movies. It was 9pm.  Like an alarm clock, every evening and not a minute late,  the sound of trumpets playing a tune will echo through the air and flow through all the houses in the surrounding area.  It sounds magical.  If you wake up early, you're hear the same tunes being played at the wake of dawn.  5am.  The...

Now the year has started and the holiday festivities are slowing losing momentum (at least until the Chinese New Year) let's all start the year out being fit and healthy!    A lot of people start the year with a resolution to lose some weight and be healthy.  It often works for a couple months and then somehow the goal gets lost amidst all the work and whatever life brings us and we end the year having gained weight rather than having lost weight. That was me for probably more than a decade or so. No more.  It still feels surreal having lost 15kg (32 lbs).  This time last year, I was still working on my last few kgs. Wow. This year, for the first time, my goal is to just maintain my weight and I tell you it feels WONDERFUL. It's amazingly less stress and I don't have to start the year with a guilty feeling knowing I didn't make it happen last year and so I have to do it again this year.  I can move on with my l...

With all the festivites going on, Christmas and New Years is undoubtedly one of my favorite time of the year.  I get to meet friends, catch up over lovely meals accompanied by weather that is nice and cool in winter. It doesn't snow in Thailand, but the temperature drops to the mid-twenties (celsius).  It's lovely and cool.  Perfect.  And as one of my friends put on her facebook status it is the "perfect weather to get fat."  I think this perfectly describes how we all feel. A lot of activities during Christmas and New Years undeniably revolve around eating.  We meet, we eat.  We celebrate, we eat.  We travel, we eat. Then we sleep in between those "meets" and "eats."  Oh how easy it is to pack on those pounds that won't just go away.  Nevertheless, do not fear them...there is a way to overcome them and one tip is to Plan Your Meals . I used to never plan my meals.  I'd just eat what I felt like eating each meal a...

With the holiday season knocking at the door, it is always a challenge to keep fit and healthy.  To maintain one's weight during the year is not so easy for most of us, let alone maintaining one's weight during the holiday season! All that turkey and holiday parties are extremely deterimental to one's waistline. So today I want to share with you a little secret on how to stay active and burn away a little of that holiday eating.  I realized this was something I had only begun doing recently since I began my weightloss journey over a year ago.  Now it has become a part of my routine.  What do I do?  It's easy.  I eat first then I shop. Didn't I say it was easy?  Now the important part is implementing it.  Before in my much much chubbier days, which I am happy to say is now behind me,  I didn't give a slight thought as to what I'll eat and when I'll eat it.  I'll eat when I'm hungry and t...