April Will Be Here In Less Than An Hour

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT

Let's see......what progress have ninja fiance and I made with the wedding preparations? Hmmmm.....no sure where to begin....we have our guest book materials gathered, he went for his first suit fitting, I have still yet to find a suitable evening gown, he bought the groomsmens ties which makes searching for the bridesmaids dress color much much easier. Still soooo much more to do and the clock is ticking, LOUD!! Well at least I managed to loose almost 3kg in 2 weeks, but I think I gained a tiny bit back cuz I cheated a little due to the celebration meal his mum treated us with over the weekend.

*Freaking out more*

So How Does It Feel?

I've never tired any diets before, and I am going though the Dukan Diet for the first time.

The Dukan Diet is named after French physician Pierre Dukan, who created the plan. The weight-loss phase is very low in fat and carbohydrates. The dieter alternates between periods of eating "pure protein" and eating "protein plus vegetables" until reaching his or her "true weight." After the weight-loss phase, dieters advance to a long consolidation phase where some fruits and starchy foods are added, before culminating in a maintenance phase.

So how do I feel after 10 days being on the diet, where I had to stop having sugar, carbohydrates, and fruits? Having to wake up before 6am evening morning to cook my lunch, get ready and then have my breakfast of either oat bran pancakes or yogurt with oat bran. Sure was easier at the beginning but getting a bit hard on the 2nd week.

After about the end of day 2, I started feeling the effects of fatigue. I didn't have much energy to climb my daily steep slopes and flights or stairs I take daily to work, leaving me all breathless and sweaty each time. I've also been feeling more sleepy than usual, I would fall asleep on my chair while on my laptop before 10pm! I sure don't like the feeling of not having much energy to run up stairs and slopes, and falling asleep right after dinner, but I'm sure this will all be over soon? I hope?

On the plus side, after 10 days being on the diet, I feel lighter physically. I feel less bloated and more relaxed. My bad knee doesn't hurt as much anymore, proof that my weight IS bothering it! My tshirts are starting to feel a bit looser, my jeans too, and even my shoes! That shows how much water weight my body has!

Deciding on what to eat when I'm out with the Ninja Fiancé sure is a challenge though, but I figure that I don't have to be so strict with this diet. So I order food with more proteins and leave the other stuff untouched. I did cheat a little by stealing a few pieces of my sister's nacho cheese.

Feeling so sleepy now, I will survive! I will be tracking my progress daily (I try to at least do so).

Cruise Phase : Day Five

Finally I found the place to buy Shirataki noodles! Shirataki noodles are very low carbohydrate, low calorie, thin, translucent, gelatinous traditional Japanese noodles made from devil's tongue yam (elephant yam or the konjac yam). And it's dukan friendly! I found out when I stumble upon this article while self learning more about the diet.

And so I made my first stir dry Shirataki noodles with bits of pork, broccoli, and celery. I seasoned the pork with some chopped garlic and about half a tbsp of soy sauce (saving the other half tbsp for seasoning the noodles). It turn out not bad! Nothing got burned, over cooked or was still raw.

Cruise Phase : Day Four

And so the cruise phase continues, being able to have some vegetables now is going to be much more fun. I sure miss my veggies, and it's also a chance for me to learn to stir fry vegetables. I haven't exactly been following the cruise phase rule of alternating my Pure Protein and Protein Veggie days, I still steal a couple of bites of greens during my Pure Protein days.

After breaking my cheap mechanical scale, not because I'm super heavy, but I was clumsy and tripped over it. So I finally invested in a digital scale from Guardian. And now I know my accurate weight!

So what have I been eating?

Cruise Phase : Day Two (PP)
Lunch : Ayamas Chicken, with the skin removed.
Dinner : Nando's without any sauce, stole a few bites of spinach

Cruise Phase : Day Three (PV)
Lunch : Chicken breast with french beans and 1 egg
Dinner : Chicken breast and broccoli egg soup

Cruise Phase : Day Four (PP)
Lunch : Paprika fish
Dinner : Irish Farmer's Platter at Finnegan's, which is chicken, steak and pork banger. Nibbled on the vegs. Stole a bit of nachos from sis....

Current Weight : 62.5kg (That means I actually lost about 2.5kg, not bad!)

Indecisive and Low Self Esteem

March is drawing to an end, I'm getting more nervous about time! But I know I have a group of people who are pushing me and supporting me to make sure all the wedding planning goes well. I've always known that I am a very indecisive person, and I lack a lot of self esteem too. And this does not play well with my planning.

After finishing more than half of our wedding preparation course, ninja fiancé and I learnt a lot of interesting things, we also learn that we actually do understand a lot about each other. He knows that I'm very introvert, and the quiet suffering type, and I know he's a socialite...yes I just call him a socialite because he loves the attention! Haha

It is really true that a person's upbringing and family background forms a persons personality....I am still trying to break out of it. Though sometimes I sound like I give excuses, I'm working on it.

I am very indecisive, I have spent quite some time pondering over it to find out the reason why. Could it be that since I was little until now, when I decide on something, no one supports it or they ask me to decide on something else. I know I should be firm on a decision, yet I feel the need to please everyone, especially when it's family. So I get pushed around instead, then get lectured over not being able to make a decision. But its hard...when there is always someone telling you that it's not a good choice, maybe you should try something else, but then it's up to you. It stresses me out to the point I just give up.

I have low self esteem, I have never truly been comfortable about the way I look. I have quite a big frame, broad shoulders, wide rib cage (which always gets doctors curious when I go for medical check up), big hip bones. I used to be teased for having a body of a boy when I was young, then I got teased for having a flat chest and should maybe consider being a boy. And I like to eat, so I eat like a boy, I followed the portion that the boys normally have and I finished all my food. Because mother always say, "Don't waste food! Clean your plate!" I've got a big appetite too, our family eats a lot of dishes and my parents were always afraid that I'd get hungry. So I ate all I want, indulge in my favourite instant noodles and mac & cheese that I want. To a point I got really out of shape that I couldn't fit any of my jeans and getting ready for work every morning was torture because I was afraid to shop for more clothes. And some people actually called me fat,especially someone close to me.

I'm still working on trying to get rid of these 2 points of my character, because it is not fun. I want to be able to make quick and wise decisions instead of taking too long to ponder and annoy people begging for suggestions. I want to be able to look and feel comfortable with myself in a gown. I believe that I can do it. I am moving forward and I want to head there being better.

......random ranting over.....

Cruise Phase : Day One

Yay! I have survived Attack Phase! Munching meat everyday is making my jaw tired. At least now I can have green vegetables on alternate days.

Tried to cook some paprika fish and celery stir fry, I just loooooove celery! Turned out good enough for me, the celery could use another minute but I don't mind them half raw..haha! In times like this that I am thankful that I'm not picky with the food I eat.

I had my lunch at almost 3pm on purpose because I have a wedding dinner to attend. And knowing Chinese wedding dinners normally starts really late, I don't want to end up starving and then breaking my diet's momentum.

Knowing that it would be a challenge on what food I can eat at the banquet, I made sure the food I took was only protein and green vegetables. But some little diet rules were broken, as some of the dishes were soaked in gravy while some were cooked with a bit of sugar. I stuffed myself down with the chicken and steamed fish that were served tho, and drank Chinese tea all night. 

I survived the evening! Successfully fought the temptations of alcohol and desserts! Tomorrow will be PP(Pure Protein) day, I guess I shouldn't feel guilty that some tiny little rules were broken. And I broke my cheap RM25.90 scale, I tripped over it while getting dressed and stepped on the dial display. Now the scale doesn't work anymore, have to search for a good affordable digital scale tomorrow.

Current weight : Unknown

Attack Phase : Day Five?

Diet Timeline :

Attack : 4 days  (but extended to 5 days)
Cruise : 52 days
Consolidation : 74 days
Stabilization : Until the day I die ....

According to Dukan Diet website calculation, I'm suppose to do the Attack Phase for 4 days....but I decided to extend to 5 days because I forgot to ask mum to help me buy veggies from the market...noooo...

So it's yogurt with oat bran and a little bit of sweetener (tastes like froyo and crushed cereal!), and pan fry fish. The word fry normally makes many think of oily food, which is not allowed in this diet. Worry not as I only drop a few drops of oily oil and then spread them with a paper towel on a frying pan.

After accompanying my sister for her haircut, we faced a little problem. Where to eat?! Having limited time and not much of choices for a quick dinner, we decided to go plan b since they serve western-ish food. But there wasn't much choice for me to pick to maintain this diet. In the end I picked the Grilled Chicken Harrisa Salad, since I was technically suppose to be on cruise phase, I guessed it should be fine to mix my pure protein and protein veg days into one day.

Turns out the salad had sweet potatoes, carrots and some sweetish chilli sauce in it and a light drizzle of white herb stuff that tasted like yogurt. So I had to scrape away all the stuff I wasn't allowed to eat...boy was it a challenge!

I'm have a wedding dinner to attend tomorrow, guess its another sillyjoanna's version of PP+PV in one day again? Since Chinese Wedding meals are expensive!

Current Weight : Unknown (I'm still suspicious about the accuracy of the scale, but then my sis says its probably because my body could be very bloated with water for years that's why the pounds are shedding off crazy fast....I hope so. Teehee~) 

Attack Phase : Day Four

Day four! I almost could not wake up because my body was feeling soooo tired! But in order to maintain my discipline, I crawled out and washed my face, then got to cooking my lunch. I decided not to make pancakes since I woke up a little late.

Luckily I brought home my sweetener, I am so not buying it in tablet form anymore during my next grocery shopping trip. I decided to try having my daily dose of 1 1/2 tablespoon of oat bran with plain yogurt. Since the sweetener that I bought was in tablet form, I had to crush them to powder so that it would mix more easily with the yogurt.

Breakfast was yummy! It's like having froyo with oat, I like the texture and the taste. I'm so getting some pure cocoa to mix with it next time.

Lunch was just pan fried fish and hard boiled eggs.

My parents decided to eat out since my mum had spent the whole day taking care of her sister to had a minor stroke. Dad was driving in circles near my Aunt's housing area to find a suitable place to have dinner since mum says that I am on a special diet, so I said anything western will do. Then the parents decided to go to Midvalley Megamall for dinner since it was almost time to pick my sister from work, and her office was there. So my dinner was half a lemon & herb chicken at Nando's.

I figured if I post every single meal, it's going to look boring and repetitive since each meal look almost the same. So photos will start popping up when I cook something else that looks different compared to same old proteins.

Current weight : Unknown

Progress Photo?

Was challenged to post progress photos, didn't quite see a point for it since I've shrunk a little. But here it goes.

Had to switch my photo to b&w because the lighting in my room is horrible at the mirror area.

Week One

Attack Phase : Day Three

Maybe this is a sign that I don't want to eat only just chicken, I asked mum to get my some fish. The fish turn out to be too thick a slice and took sooooo long to cook!

I wonder how long I can keep up with this waking up early and cooking my lunch routine, I have a feeling that one day I might just get too lazy to cook my lunch :(

Getting through day there was pretty tough because I am feeling the side effects of this diet, walking up the slope to my office and out of the train station, also up the stairs has never felt this challenging before. I felt like I was going to die after climbing those stairs, catching my breath was painful!

Chicken and Fish with Black Pepper

Rosemary Chicken

Current weight : Unknown

Attack Phase : Day Two

Today I woke up slightly earlier. Did not burn my pancakes but they broke into little pieces that they looked like scrambled pancakes >.<

Also I found out the hard way that eating plain yogurt with no added sugar after brushing your teeth, it tastes so nasty it will make you feel like puking!

I wanted to add variety to my lunch, so mum let me take some of her prawns she defrost for lunch and I seasoned it with paprika. It was soooooo yummy!

Paprika prawns, Black Pepper seasoned chicken. I love black pepper!

Paprika chicken

Current weight : 63kg (I still don't trust my scale!)

Attack Phase : Day One

Woke up at roughly 5.45am to cook my lunch and breakfast. Following a very simple recipe for Oat Bran pancakes, and following Gordon Ramsay's basic rule of seasoning "Salt and Pepper on the meat" to prepare my chicken.

Being as blur as a mole out in daylight, I dropped an egg and burned my pancakes...mum made me throw them away, so I only had plain yogurt for breakfast.....

One of my friends did ask how I made the pancakes. To make the Oat Bran pancakes, all you need is

1 egg
1 1/2 tablespoon of Oat Bran
1 1/2 tablespoon of plain yogurt

I bought a Tefal frying pan because it was on 50% sale, and not cooking very often (I'm a ramen pro only) ..... cooking the pancakes and chicken was a mini challenge. And embarrassing as it is, I didn't know how to make hard boiled eggs. My eggs turned out solid egg whites, and semi solid yolks. Not bad eh?

My burnt pancakes :(

Chicken seasoned with salt and pepper, hard boiled egg whites...I threw away the pancake.

2 different seasoning, Rosemary and Paprika

After successfully getting through day one of attack phase, I still feel pretty alright.

Current weight : 64kg (I don't trust my scale...)

On The Hunt

On the hunt for stuff that I can eat on this diet! And so it begins, I got mum to help me buy enough chicken breasts that can last me for a whole week.

So Sunday morning is the very first time I learn to clean chicken, cutting away all the fat and stuff. Then in the afternoon it was hunting time, as in going to all the supermarkets in Midvalley Megamall to get ingredients and stuff that I am allowed to eat.

Usually I only buy ramen, instant coffee, cookies and snacks.....I am very unfamiliar with health food. And boy was it tiring walking in circles searching for Oat Bran, sweeteners, seasoning and stuff......

I still don't know where to find low fat cheese....

But at least I'm all set and ready to start this diet. One of the reasons I believe that I can do it is because I love meat! I can't seem to get bored of chicken so far. Apparently people who have the blood-type O positive are natural meat eaters. Yay!

Paramore "Still Into You" Lyric Video and Official "Now" Video

Paramore is back, yes I will say it again! Oh joy! Less than 23 days left till "Paramore" is released! Excited and impatient!

After hearing Paramore perform their latest Single from their self-titled 4th album, I couldn't wipe the silly smile off my face. Cheesy as it may seem, it was like this pop rock love song was just perfect for the Ninja Fiance and I!!

The first verse goes, "Can't count the years on one hand that we've been together", we have been together for 6 years starting 2013. "I need to other one to hold you, make you feel, make you feel better", he always makes me feel better by just holding my hand. "I should be over all the butterflies, I'm into you." we are totally not over butterflies, because turns out we both have been keeping this secret from each other, we both like butterflies...hahaha!

To me personally, Paramore is and always be one of the bands I love and will support since the very first time I heard of them, even with all the drama that they have been through. "Still Into You" is such a happy feel good pop rock love song that I can listen to ALL DAY~!!

The very first time I heard "Now" was after I downloaded it when it was released on iTunes, and boy did I love it. It felt so powerful, with the upbeat drum beats and the power of Hayley's voice. But I got to admit that when I first watched the official music video I couldn't get used to Hayley's new look but loving the color of her hair as always. 

The video starts in a battle field with everyone attacking each other, Jeremy and Taylor trying to keep Hayley safe, color bombs going off all of a sudden, it was total rainbow chaos! I was somehow totally pulled in by the video aside from the chaos and I got to say I DID NOT ANTICIPATED THE ENDING! I thought that there was going to be like an epic orange powder color bomb blowing off at the bad guy or something. But instead Hayley just launched herself at him with the biggest hug I have ever seen, and it actually made me cry! 

Truly, the best make love not war, everyone just needs a hug video I have ever seen. Paramore you have done it again! 

Getting Fit

Having always eating what I want when I want and stop being active ever since I finished highschool, my weight has obviously gone up and I'm been pretty much out of shape ever since. I don't really like to exercise or sweat or interested to sign up for gym, and reading lots of articles on how to loose weight by changing what you eat.

After seeing a dear friend, Nora successfully shedding the extra pounds by doing a diet called the Dukan Diet. I started doing research on it, and decided that it shouldn't be too hard. If Nora can do it, so can I. I've tried taking those fiber detox drinks and cutting down rice, but my love for ramen, noodles, pastas ain't helping. So I've been probably annoying Nora with so many questions I have!

In Dukan Diet, basically all you eat is protein, green vegs, low fat or non fat diary etc. And the diet is broken up into 4 phases to help you reach your true weight.

Phase 1 - ATTACKThe Attack phase consists of pure protein and creates a kick-start to the diet. During this phase, you can eat 68 high-protein foods that produce immediate and noticeable weight loss.

Phase 2 - CRUISE
The Cruise phase adds 32 vegetables and will take you to your True Weight. You will gradually but steadily lose weight by alternating Pure Protein days and Protein + Vegetables days. The average length of this phase is based on a schedule of 3 days for each pound you want to lose.

Phase 3 - CONSOLIDATIONDuring this time you are at your most vulnerable, as the body has a tendency to quickly regain lost pounds. The Consolidation Phase is designed to prevent the rebound effect by gradually returning previously forbidden foods and allowing for two "celebration" meals per week. This phase follows a strict timeline - 5 days per every pound lost in Cruise Phase.

Phase 4 - PERMANENT STABILIZATIONThis phase is the rest of your life! You have learned how to eat healthily in the previous phases and have developed a pattern to follow. In addition, to keep your new slim body, you must follow these three simple but non-negotiable rules:1. Consume 3 Tablespoons of oat bran per day.2. Choose to take the stairs whenever possible.3. Have a pure-protein Thursday.

Info taken from http://www.dukandiet.com/The-Dukan-Diet/4-Phases

Here are some of the websites that I've been doing my reading from

http://mydukandiet.com/dieting/

And also got my true weight calculated here

http://www.dukandiet.co.uk/

My weight has been up and down between 65kg - 68kg. But then I started cutting down on rice and snacking, and successfully drop to 64kg. Then I got really sick in February with pretty bad Larynx infection and could only have porridge and soup, my weight managed to stay between 63kg - 64kg.The result from getting my true weight calculated, I am ready to take the challenge! 



And so begins my Dukan Diet journey! Starting from 64+kg. (Couldn't get an exact weight because my mechanical scale is...wacky)

Oh My It's March Already?

JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUNE JULY AUG SEPT OCT

February has just gone by faster than expected! March has already begun and yet I have not recovered completely from my nasty flu and inflamed Larynx! So much planning to do, so many decisions to make! ONLY 6 MONTHS LEFT!?!?!

*Freaking out*