Valen’s Vanity Square

While some people prefer to lose weight taking fat burner pills or tablets, my husband’s favorite ‘fat burner’ is the new X-training machine at home.

Since we got the machine last week, hubby has exercised on that machine for almost every day. And every time he got himself soaked in sweat. Oh, more than soaked actually, his sweat was literally dripping! And he is oh-so enjoying that kind of feeling.

As for me, I have been on that machine only once, haha! I think I should work out on it more often, say 3 times a week. I will set the calories to be burned at 200, then slowly step my way while watching TV at the same time. May be 200 kcal is too little if I want to lose weight fast, but that’s better than not burning any calories at all!

Wonder how long will it take me to shed 2 kilos with my slow-motion exercise?

If my vanity is all about my face, then hubby’s vanity is all about his waistline. Haha! Don’t get it wrong, it’s not that hubby wants to have a slim waist. He’s just being cautious of not having spare tires bulging out from the sides of his waist.

Hubby has said to me several times over these few days that he must sign up for a gym membership. Hubby has been very busy with work-related evening events recently, and these events are always accompanied with typical Chinese full course meal with eight dishes. He’s really worried about the after-effects of the heavy meals, i.e. increased waist line and a bulging tummy, haha!

The thing about hubby is that he’s not one of those who are willing to take slim pills or do a body detox program to lose weight fast. He needs to feel his heart pumping and sweat trickling down all over his body to assure himself he’s burning the calories away. Since I don’t allow him to buy a treadmill (coz I don’t think there’s any space in the house for it), and it’s increasingly difficult for him to find time to exercise, thus the idea of rejoining a gym.

Well, I’m perfectly fine with hubby going to the gym, as long as he comes home on time to have dinner with his lovely wife, that is.

Time really flies. There are only 3 more months to go before we come to the end of 2009. Before that, there will be Christmas, of course.

When mention about Christmas season, I always feel like it is the busiest time of the year. Well, companies have to conclude their annual financial status, salesmen will try to close their last sales before closing their account. And certainly everyone will do their Christmas shopping–last minute.

Many people will want to get ready for parties and dinners starting from now, such as to start a weight loss program so that they could get back in shape by then. Well, 3 months are not a long time, and not a short one either. But whether one is able to shed the weight needs to be shed depends on the weight loss method and how persistent he or she is. Some may have started to search for the best weight loss supplement in the market, hoping to lose weight fast and will look their best during Christmas.

For me, I have more than 3 months to lose what I need to lose, as I won’t be preparing for Christmas, but for Chinese New Year!

Are you trying to lose weight? Are you still searching high and low for the best diet pills on earth? Well, you don’t have to. Because if you were like me, rushing to meet a tight deadline for a super-tough writing assignment, you’ll lose weight by the time you completed the project.

I didn’t expect the project that I’m currently doing to be so tough. Work that I usually could complete in 3 hours took me 6 hours plus to get it done! So initially I thought I could complete 4 sections of 3-hour work (total 12 hours) in less than 2 working days. Looks like I need more than 24 hours to finish everything, but the problem is - I don’t have that much of time! Unless I work non-stop for the next day and night or so.

So you could imagine, no mood to eat, no time to enjoy food, deprive of sleep, stress…. it’s impossible not to lose weight after 2 days. But I think you better not follow my way, because it really is a unhealthy way to lose weight.

Was watching ‘Queen‘ the Taiwan beauty talk show at my mom’s. Yesterday’s topic was about weight loss products. It’s really ‘amazing’ to learn how actresses would go all their way to try different methods to lose weight!

From prescriptive pills and unknown supplements, to weird diets (e.g. eating a kind of oily fish and green apple together as a form of laxative) and acupuncture. Wow! And all I am doing is controlling my diet and exercise a couple of times weekly.

However, as the doctor in the program mentioned, it is okay to use weight loss drugs, but one has to first make sure a few things:

• What are its main components or ingredients?
• What are the action of those ingredients (e.g. appetite suppressant, oil absorber, fat burner)?
• How to take it (e.g. what time, how much dose, before or after meals)?
• Are there any temporary side effects?

For example, if you are recommended Stimerex ES by a friend, then you should first do some research about this product, either through the internet through professional advice. You want to make sure the product is suitable for you and fits your weight loss plan.

Of course, the best way to lose weight and prevent weight gain, as the doctor mentioned, is to consume less fat (so that you don’t have to take those oil absorbing pills) and stop eating after 8 pm. Eat a wholesome meal for breakfast, moderate for lunch, and the least during dinner. I think I’m doing it the other way round. No wonder… haha!

One of the things that Dr Lenis mentioned in his talk was about losing weight. What do you think is the most natural and cheapest way to lose weight?

Sleep.

Yes, sleep well, and sleep a couple more hours extra. That’s the secret to losing weight!

How? I’m not really sure. Can’t recall if Dr Lenis explained about it. My own ‘theory’, hehe, is that when we have sufficient sleep, our body has the time to repair itself, and when we wake up, we will feel fully energized and alert. Our body won’t be craving for energy replenishment, which we usually achieve by consuming food, haha!

Also, if we go to bed early or take a nap in the afternoon, the chances of us munching on supper or afternoon snack are greatly reduced. So, we won’t be taking in extra calories.

However, in real life, how many of us have the luxury of sleeping a full 8 hours or more, right? The only time that one can sleep till the sun hits the butt is only during weekends, and that is if you have no morning plans with family or friends.

Sleep to lose weight, theoretically it sounds very easy but not everyone can do it. Otherwise, there won’t be so many weight loss products, such as appetite suppresant and fat burning teas etc, available in the market, right?

Sometimes spending a little bit of money and effort is more practical and effective in achieving a goal than doing it at no cost at all.

I’m horrified!! Two months ago, I still weighed at 53.5 kg. Today, I’m 55 kg!

I admit that my appetite has been kind of good recently, particularly after I started taking some Chinese traditional medicine for well-being maintenance (e.g. improve blood circulation). You know, one big pack of dried Chinese herbal medicine that you stew for 2 hours and drink it twice a day? I think the concoction not only boosts my blood circulation, but also my metabolism, thus I get hungry faster and tend to eat more! For example, instead of 2 slices of bread in the morning, I have 3! Urrgh!

Furthermore, I have missed my weekly brisk walking sessions for 2 weeks!!

Sad, sad, sad.

Well, looks like it’s time to review my diet, have to go back into a diet plan with less carbohydrates and more proteins. Sometimes weight loss is not about eating less, but eating the right proportion of food types. May be some green tea will help too?

I did come across a product named Lipovox, which are capsules containing green tea leaf extract, a common weight loss ingredient. Hmmm, taking a capsule may be more convenient than to boil a pot of water and brew a cup of green tea, but is it really as good as it is claimed to be - “Lose 12 pounds in 7 days”? I don’t know!

I think I will stick to my healthy weight loss plan for the time being.

I am sort of on a weight loss plan currently (I’m not taking diet pills though), and when I weighed myself a week ago, I was surprised to see that I was almost 2 kg lighter than before! However, when I stepped onto the weighing scale this morning, I was almost back to my previous weight, hahaha!

This tells me that there must be something that I had done right earlier to lose weight, but unfortunately the results were screwed due to things I did or didn’t do enough last week.

Things done right:

• Eat according to my body type (read more about this on my weight loss blog); keep away from junk food and unhealthy snacks, including beverages and desserts.
• I don’t exercise during week days, but a 45 to 60 minute walk outdoor is a must every Sunday.
• Keep moving around in the house - doing housework, walking up and down the stairs, cooking, etc.

Things didn’t do well last week:

• I think I ate more than usual last week , and, errrr, indulged in chocolates that I bought from Langkawi.
• Missed my Sunday walking session a week ago as it rained the whole morning.
• Had not been moving around much at home, was glued to my desk top most of the time.
• Had constipation.

So, losing weight is just like some sort of karma thing; do things the right way and you will see the results you desire and receive happiness. Or else, be prepared to pay for the consequences! Haha!

Finally, CNY is officially over, yesterday being the 15th and last day. What a relief - the ‘eating’ days are over, too!

I had been enjoying feast after feast for the past three days, including my own home-made delicious baked chicken wings and fudge brownies served with ice cream, and hubby’s secret recipe lamb stew. Whoa, I’m so lucky that I did not put on any weight so far!

At least from today onwards, at least for a week, I can eat like normal days, normal volume and healthier meals. Next week, I will be away for a holiday at Langkawi Island. I know there will be at least a couple of seafood feasts to look forward to. Eeeeks!

I think I now understand why many people rather resort to diet pills that work - and work fast - when comes to lose weight! There are so many temptations around us that can sabotage any weight loss plan. Following a slow but steady and healthy weight loss plan may be just too slow for some, especially if they have serious overweight issue.

If you need to lose weight, what will be your choice?