Obasan to Hot Mama #8 (My Slimming Journey - Losing 16kg in 3 months) - The New Journey Begins

Yesterday marked the end of the first week of a new journey for me.

The 3 months of strict diet plan had finally ended. But this doesn't mean I can immediately plunge into the sea of delicacies! I need to go through two months of monitoring before I can totally end this slimming programme. 

The last week was the first test to see how my body reacts to taking in carbo in my diet again. We started with whole meal bread which is also a healthier carbo. To my surprise, I not only did not gain any weight, I lost another 200-600gram!!! 

I felt as if I scored 101 marks in an exam paper which max score is 100. 

My therapist told me this means I can advance in the intensity and degree of my food challenge. I can now eat as per normal, and only need to skip carbo during dinner! 

Omg! I am so nervous! Thousands and one 'what if' emerged in my brain. I guess it's good that I have a fear that I may rebounce in weight even if I know I was guaranteed no rebounce for the next 3 years. 

It's always fear that keep us on our toes... It's fear that makes us wary and take precautions... And only with fear, we will never be complacent. For friends who once asked how did I manage to go through this slimming programme... It's the fear that keeps me going. So for friends who had embarked on this prog too, start to fear and you can make through the programme too!!! Jiayou!!!

I fear to be fat and ugly again. I worked so hard till I know I may not have the courage to go through it again. So I cannot fail. 

And I am happy with the way I am now. Not only I am slimmer now, I also feel lighter and stronger in strength. I used to pant if I need to carry Jamie and walked a distance, but now I can do it quite easily. I used to feel lazy to need to take mrt or bus coz both requires me to walk, so I end up spending a lot on cab. But now I don't mind walking a bit more :) 

The slimming programme is really miraculous and you only need 3 months (on condition you follow all the instructions and diet plan closely), to get back your original weight. It's the easiest and least time consuming method for mummies to regain your once slender bodies! As we all know, mummies have no time after work to exercise becoz the very little time left has to involve our little previous and our lovey hubbies. That's the reason why I will highly recommend this programme to mummies who are looking for a remedy -> no matter it's to regain your lost confidence or to rebuilt your lost health and regime or you simply just want to look the same as you were before you were pregnant. 

I have some friends who had joined or will be joining my journey and I look forward to cheering them on to achieve the same, if not even better results than me! If you want to consider joining our journey, don't be shy and just leave me a comment or SMS/Whatsapp/Facebook me and I can share more with you :) 

For friends who never saw me at 43-48lg before, will probably be shocked to see the following photos... 

I took some time to collate my 'far past', 'near past' and current photos so that you all can go wow wow woohoo...

Enjoy the photos... And witness my transformation!!!

I was only 43-46kg in year 2000-2007. See my sharp boney faces. Lg look young and slim as ever though ;) 

In year 2008, in preparation for my wedding, I was about 48kg. See my boney collar bone and slim arms!!!

I started to put on weight after I had Jamie in year 2009. But the weight gain went haywire due to work stress and good food & great company to share my food at work. I was then 55-58kg.

In year 2013, after I delivered James, my weight gain was almost impossible to lose. I dieted, ate slimming pills and did slimming massage during my 3 mths maternity leave. But I only dropped from 67kg to 64kg. It was devastating...

I started to hate the mirror and hate going out with friends. I hate it when people said I looked 'different' and some tactless ones said they cannot recognized me from the back. I knew I had it! I need to do something about it and fast! I was 63.4kg just before my slimming programme. See my round round face and huge body!!! 

I saw immediate results in just 8 sessions (1+ mths), I lost minimum 600-800g a week. On good weeks, I lost 1-2kg!!! See the difference in just 8 sessions! I lost about 8kg and was 55kg! 

I persevered and continued to lose weight... In 3 months, I lost 15kg!!! 

Not only I am slimmer, I am more energetic and radiant! See the difference?!! I was back at 48kg when I attended Jamie's graduation concert (bottom photo)

And that's not all! I continued to loose weight and at my last session, I was only 47.1kg! 

See this... My change from Feb to Nov 2013. We love Sentosa so much, we will visit it every 2 months. Now with my slimmer arms and legs, I no longer need to hide in a corner to swim!!!

Amazing?!! U can do it too as long as you believe you can and as long as you really want to slim down!!!

Join me and look great with your children and hubby now!!! They will be proud of you too!!!

You can be a princess too!!! 

Jamie, We Are Proud of You! 你真的很不错！

It's very hard to use words to describe how I felt while I watched Jamie danced on the stage.

It was Jamie's first concert performance. I was more worried she gave up trying than forgot the dance steps. As she is a year end child plus being the youngest in class, I was always worried about how she felt if she was not able achieve what her peers could. 

Months back, she told me that she was scared and didn't think she could dance in front of the audience. After the full dress rehearsal a few weeks ago, she was cranky and upset. She told me again that she didn't know if she can do it. She said she is shy and she cannot remember the dance steps. 

Laogong and I told her we will be proud of her always, even if she dances wrongly, and even if she decides to find up trying. However, we will be even more proud of her if she at least tries. 

This morning she told me she was worried if she could dance well. I told her my story in hoping to cheer her up. 

Laogong is a natural and very good public speaker. I was not a born performer but I had big dreams. I wanted to perform on stage but I had stage fright when I was young. I even did a bad job and embarrassed myself as a narrator in my primary school English drama club. 

But the setback  didn't stop me from continue to try. I then started off in Chinese orchestra group performance in AISS and eventually becoming an emcee in YJC Chinese society cultural nite performance and an actress in the Chinese drama club performance in NUS. 

I could feel tears in my eyes as I watched Jamie danced. We are proud of her not only because she danced well but because she did not stop trying :)

Jamie! 

You are a Great Girl! 

你真的很不错！

你太棒了!

Check out the photos! 

Brought her to school at 2.30pm to prepare for the concert

Setting off to concert venue

Browsing the exhibition just before the concert starts 

Jamie's Fan Club

Didi kept shouting 'Jie Jie' when saw Jamie on stage! 

Laogong was busy running between school and concert venue but luckily he managed to get back to the concert in time for Jamie performance!

We are really so proud of her! 

We swarmed excitedly to congrats her after the concert

Jamie posing with her dance mates

Jamie's Big 4 Parties

It's the time of the year again!

Jamie's big 4 parties starts in a few hours and Mummy Jolene is all ready for her princess' parties!

Haha! Most friends who know me, know that i am ever eager to plan family events! Usually I don't like to do last minute planning, so I always start min 2 months in advance. Now that I need to juggle with work stress, didi and my slimming regime, I try not to expect as much from myself.

Nonetheless, this type of busyness makes me happy!!! Coz I am the type of person that loves to see the smiles on my guests' faces! Yes, I always try to please everyone. I know it's not easy to achieve the perfect outcome and I am happy with just a desirable outcome. 

I also love to use this type of family events to gather close friends too! Now that many of my close friends are starting to have their little ones, I will love to see how our little ones interact with each other. Looking forward to attend their parties too! 

After years of tiring activity planning, we decide to do a simple BBQ party this year. We managed to book a pool terrace this round so that the guests and their children can feel free to dive into the pool for a swim or simply enjoy the cooling water!

However, I realised even doing a BBQ party has minimum costs and it is definitely not simple to estimate how much food to order for BBQ ;)

Usually buffet catering go by per pax but for BBQ we ordered ala carte items. 

I thought what I ordered seems fair enough but few of my friends felt I ordered too much. Hahaha anyhow I am the typical Chinese who believe in 有余 is good!!! So Aunty right :P

It was also not easy to confirm the party theme, because like every child, Jamie is fickle minded. First, she wants her all favorite Mickey Mouse theme, then she went crazy with Cars (Lightning McQueen) and Carebears. There was a period she even wanted Hello Kitty... 

Last month, I noticed she likes the 'new kid of the board' at Disney Junior Channel.......... Sofia The First and decided on it! 

These days, Jamie calls herself 'Sofia' because the character, Princess Sofia, has a brother called Prince James! Hahaha! 

This is Sofia with her mum, stepfather (the King) and two step siblings! It gave everyone a whole new insights about what happens after the King sweeps his beloved lady to his castle... Esp when there are step children involved! It also shows how step siblings can be great kins too! 

Interesting story huh?!! Start watching it and I believe you will love to watch and be in Sofia's journey in learning how to be a true princess ^^

As it's pretty difficult to entice everyone to dress according to the theme, we try to do a colour theme this year too! As pretty Princess Sofia loves purple gowns, we are having pink and purple as the theme! 

See the pretty banner and table cloth we are using at the chalet. 

Really love the colours! And amazingly Jamie has starting loving the same colours like me ^^

Wish to see her happy everyday like Sofia... 

Little Jamie is a big help this year in assisting with the goodie bags packing! It's amazing to watch her slowly get more involved in the planning of her own birthday :) 

Love the cups a lot! It's a simple but pretty goodie bag! 

'Princess in Training' shows how my little baby princess slowly grows and learns to be a great future leader! 

Looking forward to the two cakes too!! Both are going to be chocolate cakes! And the home cake is baked by Godma!!! You can't imagine how proud Jamie is, telling all her friends that her Godma bakes her birthday cake! 

The school cake is from Pine gardens (always)!!! But this round I decide to just choose Jamie favorite chocolate flavour instead of the healthier strawberry shortcake :P 

It's after all Jamie's birthday so let her have her way for this once a year ^^

Looking forward to her important days! And she is looking forward to give her friends and little guests the goodie bags! 

Bye bye HFMD, I don't want you in my house ever!

It was a tiring and worriesome 10 days. Thank goodness it's all over soon!!!

FINALLY!!!

But 'it was worth it' because this episode triggered me to do a lot of serious and thorough thinking. From these thinking, I achieved great enlightenment and found out what I really need (vs want).

Due to the fast pace of life at work and at home (because there was so little time after work, which had to be shared among my Laogong, my children, my household and my helper), I did not have the luxury of sitting down to think through before I plan and execute my every move. I had simply been relying on my impulse (and not my instincts). 

The HFMD outbreak didn't make my pace of life slower, instead it filtered out the distractions and allowed my instinct to emerge. 

What's my instinct?

I am just a simple girl who wishes that everyone who cares for me and who I care for, are healthy and happy. 

Seeing everyone sick in the house, I felt myself being slapped in the face. I felt that I has failed badly in my role as a wife, a mother and an employer (to my helper). So what if I have great vision of a dream? How much more family/social/me time I need to sacrifice and how much more I need to deny my instincts before can I achieve my dream? It's definitely not going to come easy and I am not willing to give up my instincts for it. Because achieving this dream is really meant for the benefit of people who I care for. Without them, I don't need this dream. 

So now I just want to do well in my core reaponsibilities as a wife, a mother, employer and an employee. I don't know if I can meet everyone's expectations but I know I will never stop trying! 

I feel happier now because I know whatever I am doing now, is what matter most to me!

It was fun cleaning and disinfecting the house together as a family, though I don't enjoy throwing so many fabric items away. This episode also tells me that I need to act fast after I think through and made a decision, because there are many things in life we have no control of. 

Am looking forward to this Sunday when Laogong, Jamie and James are all well again!!!

Pain Pain Go Away!

Anyone miss me? 

Anyone wondered what happen to me?

Hahahahaha.. I know I am very thick skinned but I do really hope people will miss my presence...

It's coming to 20 days since I extracted all 4 of my wisdom teeth.

Ouch! It still hurts when I eat hard things. So I try to eat soft food or liquids eg, fruit juice and/or without yoghurt and soupy food that had been cooked for long hours etc. 

The part I hate most is the food stuck in the 4 holes whenever I eat. Dentist gave me a special syringe to wash the food remains but it is difficult to carry it wherever I go. Hence, I will always carry a bottle of water so that I can rinise my mouth after each meal. 

Why not use the tap water? You see, the second molar on my right bottom row of teeth was badly infected before the wisdom teeth extraction. Hence dentist had to get it filled up and sealed, in the attempt to save it. 

Yah, save it.

Dentist told me if I came later, I might have to do a root canal. But it seemed that my repaired tooth is still alive. So let's pray it gets well soon so that I don't need to spend a bomb to do root canal! 

Dentist said it takes 1-2 months to 'link' up the fillings with my nerves. Meantime I will still feel pain on this second molar, whenever I drink water that is below room temperature :( Tap water is usually below room temperature, thus I will be torturing myself if I use it to rinise my mouth. :P

Sob.. I hope my second molar will recover soon :( if not you will see my face twitching whenever I eat food below room temperature. :(

I really like my surgeon dentist, because she is very motherly. After each of my review, she would say "poor thing, hope your teeth will get well soon". 

During the last review on 4 Nov, she even had this 'cannot bear to leave me in the hands of other general dentist' kinda of look. And she repeatedly asked 'you have your own dentist?' When I said 'no fixed dentist', she said she will arrange one for me so that he/she can look after me. 

Feel so loved!!!

Hope I will fully recover by the next review in February 2014! 

See my non-swollen Chio face Lolz 

Laogong said this one looks nicer. 

But I think this looks better! 

Which do you think is nicer? 

^^

Dear Followers/Readers, Thank You All for Being There for me!

I was rather low-spirited lately and I could feel how it had affected my life. I got no mood to blog, to talk and to smile. The episode is finally over and I had a good rest over this one week of hospitalisation leave too. 

I have also chosen to believe that 明天会更好...

I decided to run through the statistics and comments, which I might have missed out during this period of time..

Now I feel blessed and am grateful to know that I do have friends/public following my blog posts ^^ 

Really appreciate the inputs too! I am taking note of the comments and the suggestions because I believe this will help me to become a better blogger :D 

I will keep up with my positive spirit and to keep on blogging because there are people out there who care about what I think!

Thank You All for Being There for me!

谢谢!

Bye Bye My 4 Wisdom Teeth

Pain...

Pain...

More Pain...

I was expecting the pain to subside by today. But it seemed to have gotten worse... 

There was even a mysterious bruise on my right cheek. Nurse did mention that due to the pulling force there might be bruises developed but shouldn't the bruises appeared within 3 days after the operation? 

It was brave of me to go through 3 surgical extraction and 1 normal extraction in a day. Furthermore it was my second GA in the same year. But I knew I might not have the chance (time) to remove my wisdom teeth one by one or in pairs. It would have been more harming to go through 2-4 GAs too. Well, I have to keep telling myself that the decision made was correct. Or should I say, it was the most value-for-money and least time-consuming option. 

It was nervous few days from the operation and was super nervous the night before. On the day of my ops, I was simply screaming inside me! 

I was early and waited for my surgeon to arrive. I was the first patient and did the health check required (blood pressure, body temperature and weight check etc) before the operation. Laogong was really sweet to take time-off for my ops and drove me to and fro National Dental Centre. 

I was waken up before I was sent to the day ward. This was how I looked after my operation. The two cotton gauzes were soaked in blood. 

I slept for 1-2 hrs at the day ward, but woke up in pain. Popped pain killers and was made to continue my rest, even after the dentist 'discharged' me. 

When I was finally able to leave the ward, I had two swollen cheeks and was prescribed with medicine.

Surprisingly, the pain killer prescribed was just normal Panadol. I would expect to be prescribed with a stronger pain killer as the extractions were done surgically. With stitching involved, I really wonder if Panadol is sufficient. Isn't it the same as the c-section I had many months back? 

Maybe dentists were only allowed to prescribe mild medication? Hmmm... 

Anyhow, I tried to keep to non-solids for my meals... And the shaker blender really came handy! 

This morning I was shocked to see bruise on my right cheek and experienced pain on my left cheek even after I had Panadol :( 

The pain felt like my stitches were 'tearing'... Omg...and even spitting and sucking with a straw hurts. So i tried not to open my mouth much today and no longer able to use a straw to drink my fruit+yoghurt...

 

Sigh.. I think I will call up NDC tomorrow to see if I can bring forward my review appointment. 

Stay tune for update on my condition...