Weigh In Friday - Counting Sheep

I had intended to stop writing my Friday's post because I felt I had nothing to post about. I thought doing it once a month would be an alternative. My girl has been reading my posts so I asked her if she would be disappointed if I don't write my Weigh In Friday today. Yep, she would. So I decided to carry on... This one's for you, my darling daughter!

Part of the (secret) reason why I wanted to skip my Friday's post was I didn't want to find out how much weight I have gained over the past 7 days. I believed I have gained weight again based on my amount of inactivity, food intake and tightness of my shorts.

First thing this morning, I stepped on the scale and horrors! The scale read 58.9kg. Much to my relief, the word ERR came on. Wow, I almost fainted. I stepped off the scale and stepped on again. Then I stepped off and on again. And again.

My weight is 56.5kg. That's the same as last Friday's weight. So I haven't gained any weight. I'm glad I have Friday's post to reel me in. If only my weighing scale will stop screwing with me. I could get a heart attack.

30th Oct 2015 56.5kg
23rd Oct 2015 - 56.5kg
16th Oct 2015 - 56kg
9th Oct 2015 - 55.9kg
2nd Oct 2015 - 56kg
25th Sep 2015 - 55.9kg
18th Sep 2015 - 56.4kg
11th Sep 2015 - 57.1kg
4th Sep 2015 - 57.8kg
28th Aug 2015 - 58kg
21st Aug 2015 - 58.8kg
14th Aug 2015 - 58.9kg
7th Aug 2015 - 59.9kg
21st July 2015 - 63kg

The last 7 days I did try to improve my diet but I failed miserably at exercising. I've even stopped haunting the supermarkets. I think I reached a point where I'm too tired of my gut condition. On reflection though, there were other issues which affected my state of mind. Firstly, my kids got sick. My daughter is in the middle of her national exam so her being sick really stressed me out. Then my son also got sick. His national exam starts Monday. I'm also terrified I forget to wake my kids in the morning on days when they have exams. Plus my sleep has been horrible. It all started on Sunday.

I had chicken for lunch and dinner. First, a grilled chicken with salad. Then a delicious salt baked chicken with potato wedges. Oh, I had some beef goulash too. I walked over 11,000 steps that day so I don't think I overate. Anyway, at night I had the biggest stomachache ever. My tummy expanded horribly with wind and I had a hard time expelling them. I came so close to asking hubs to take me to the hospital but by some luck, I expelled the trapped air causing the pain and suddenly it was over. This was my 2nd bad tummy pain and I didn't want to experience a third. I felt I had no choice but to take the wind medication. I take 2 medication - one for acid which I must take daily. The other for wind when necessary. I had stopped the wind meds because it wrecked chaos on my sleep. Well, I took the wind meds again and as usual, I couldn't sleep through the night. I spend half the night awake and later in the day, I have to take a long nap. Having poor sleep for days has made me miserable. I can't wait for end November because that's when both my kids' exams are totally over and it doesn't matter what time I wake up.

The funny thing is despite all the chaos this week, I have been my most productive in a very long time. I spent most of my waking hours working on my bag pattern. And I have made so much progress. I am this close to finishing it. I showed hubs 3/4 of the bag I was making and he said it's beautiful. Did you hear that? He said IT'S BEAUTIFUL.

My dear friends, I am so proud of myself. Today would be 4 months since I have taken any panadol or pain medication. In the past, I would not endure any headaches or pain without reaching for a pill. Since panadol has no effect on my wind induced headaches plus the doctors have asked me not to take any pain meds if possible, I have been a model patient. Being able to work despite the headaches has been such a breakthrough for me. Sometimes I am so absorbed in my photographing or writing up the instructions, I actually forget I have a headache or a screwed up gut. Those moments are so sweet.

This week I tried one new food - oatmeal ramen. I find it incredibly hard to go through life without some kind of carbo. I'm sure this ramen gives me some wind but it's still less evil than a regular ramen.

I boil the ramen and mix it with some stir fries and salad. It really tastes like regular ramen.

My one goal next week is to exercise. And it would be sweet if I don't gain any more weight.

Weigh In Friday - Garbage In Garbage Out

Hi guys,

I fell off the wagon. Last 7 days, I ate a lot of crap as in sweet stuff, carbs, very little veggies and twice I had KFC.
 

On my Instagram I posted a pic of luncheon meat which was one of my lunches. Since Friday is my full disclosure post, I want to declare I had luncheon meat for lunch AND dinner. And one day after an evil oily meal of dim sum at Tim Wan Ho, I had mochi. Mochi is nothing but sweet and carbs.

What happened? One day I woke up and told myself I'm not going to eat these tasteless cardboard shit anymore. Instead I ate everything I wanted to eat. It's bound to happen, right? So I was expecting my weight to shoot up because I could actually feel myself putting on weight. Anyway, this morning I checked my weight and indeed I did gain weight. If I hadn't gained weight I would have been very concerned. But no worries. I can still put on weight like everyone else.

I'm glad I do these Friday's posts because it helps me to wake up. The next 7 days I'm going to be more careful with my diet. Plus all that bingeing did me no favours in the wind/headache department. I don't think I had a single day without headaches. In spite of the headaches, I dug out the bag pattern I had started months ago and continued working on it. In the past I would not be able to do anything that requires thinking or concentration if I have a headache. But this week, I had headaches every day and instead of waiting for a no-headache window, I worked through the headaches. I could take photos with a headache. I could use Illustrator with a headache. I could use Photoshop with a headache. You get the point. This is an amazing breakthrough for me. I think I have reached a new pain tolerance. Hubs said this is my new normal. I'm not saying I can work through any pain. I'm no hero. For the crippling headaches, I still crawl into bed and sleep it off.

I want to show you the snacks I've been shoving down my throat. 

Despite the name, it's not that wholesome. It's very sweet and very addictive.

These seaweed crisps are also very delicious. I like the buckwheat one more. This one has sesame. I wonder how much buckwheat goes into each crisp. Also very addictive and it's not fat free.

This is a new oatcake I tried out. I blame this for my falling off the wagon. It is the most tasteless food in the whole world.

I bought another pack of Wasa biscuits. The "original" was really hard and tasted like cardboard. I managed to finish them with the help of jam and nutella. This one called delikatess (what does it mean?) tasted slightly better and best of all, they are less hard so I don't feel like my teeth are breaking every time I take a bite.

This morning I took my weight and I weighed 56.5kg. It's not that bad. I only gained 0.5kg. If I continue to gain more weight I will be very sad. Hoping to do better at my healthy diet and it's time to exercise again. I've been very, very lazy.

23rd Oct 2015 - 56.5kg
16th Oct 2015 - 56kg
9th Oct 2015 - 55.9kg
2nd Oct 2015 - 56kg
25th Sep 2015 - 55.9kg
18th Sep 2015 - 56.4kg
11th Sep 2015 - 57.1kg
4th Sep 2015 - 57.8kg
28th Aug 2015 - 58kg
21st Aug 2015 - 58.8kg
14th Aug 2015 - 58.9kg
7th Aug 2015 - 59.9kg
21st July 2015 - 63kg

Canada so lucky

via https://twitter.com/JustinTrudeau

Last night I was about to go to bed when I checked out this hot Canadian actor starring in a movie about a Canadian who became a prime minister. Wait. It's real news! Justin Trudeau is not an actor and he did become prime minister. But... but... he looks like Tom Cruise and Andrew McCarthy combined into one.

Am I right? Totally Tom Cruise + Andrew McCarthy.

Singapore has had 3 prime ministers since independence and in Singapore hot guys do not become prime ministers. Oh, I read in the local papers that Justin Trudeau's mother is the great-great-great granddaughter of Esther who is the daughter of William Farquhar. You may not know who William Farquhar is but everyone in Singapore who has attended primary school does. He together with Sir Stamford Raffles came to Singapore to establish a British port. They played a very important role in founding modern Singapore. William Farquhar became the first British resident and commander of Singapore from 1819 to 1823. (he got fired in 1823) Sadly William was never credited with the title of founder of Singapore. That went to Sir Stamford Raffles.

You know what all these means? Justin Trudeau is practically a Singaporean!

Crotch curve crisis

Hello friends,

Originally I titled my post "How deep is your crotch?" but I came to my senses. Many moons ago, I was unafflicted with digestive issues and thus had the leisure to grapple with mundane issues like "how curvy should my crotch curve be?"

It was end of 2014 and I had a shorts crisis. The 5 or 6 pairs of shorts I wore every week decided to call it a day simultaneously. The elastic was too worn out and the fabric was torn in many places. I was starting to look like a homeless person whenever I wore those shorts which wouldn't matter much except I wear them out to the supermarkets and foodcourts. I had the shorts for many years, like over 15 years. They were cheap, $6.90 each and very comfortable. I searched for alternatives but with my price range of under $10 and criteria of comfort, I could not settle for any. I decided I would make my own shorts.

Don't get too excited. I'm not crazy about making my own clothes. In Singapore it's super easy to buy good quality clothes at a reasonable price. Plus I dislike drafting clothes patterns. You need large pieces of paper and it's so messy and my table is really small. I have many, many reasons not to draft my own clothing patterns. Also, I'm not very good at it. My knowledge is very elementary.

So I did the next best thing. I went to the internet to look for an available pattern. I would have liked one that is ready for download but I either didn't look deep enough or I was too fussy. All I wanted was a very simple pair of shorts with an elastic band. Then I remembered Don Morin, the weekend designer had a boxer shorts pattern. Demmit! There was no download but he put up a draft and instructions which anyone can easily follow. Which I did.

The crotch curve looked a bit too curvy at the end but I wanted to follow the pattern faithfully. I know the pattern is for a man's boxer shorts but hubs has gifted me his boxer shorts over the years as his girth widened and I never found the fit uncomfortable.

I used this horrid green fabric which I bought very cheap to use as a muslin. No serging, no nothing. Just wanted to test the fit.

Sadly, the crotch curve became a big issue. Although I could wear the shorts, it was not comfortable around the crotch. I kept feeling like there's something in my crotch and it made me walk bow legged. I asked my girl to try the shorts just in case there's something wrong with my crotch. Nope. She had the same problem.

So I dug out my 3 decades old dressmaking drafting exercise book and looked for a guide for shorts. There was enough info for me to construct another pattern. This time my crotch curve looked less curvy at the bottom and after I sewed the shorts up, still using the same ugly green fabric, I was absolutely delighted to find it fitted me very well!

 Sorry. I took this pic after wearing the shorts and was too lazy to iron.

So the stupid thing is I didn't serge the edges because I didn't expect to like the shorts that much. But it's not too bad. It's not project runway by any means but decent enough to wear casually.

Hubs and I went downstairs to do a little photoshoot with my iPhone 6.

 Hubs wanted to take some pics in front of the jackfruit tree. But I wanted to act cutesy.

Oh look how I cleverly placed the fabric print RIGHT ON THE BUTT CRACK. Trust me. This baby is staying at home.

 Here's what the shorts look like sitting down.

Actually, this was what I really wanted to do. Deep down I'm just a stupid clown.

More monkeying shots.

Oops, hurt my back trying out America's Next Top Model's poses.

According to my mother, the true test for fit for any pants or shorts is the squat test. The pants or shorts should still feel comfortable in a squat position. So I did the squat test. It passed!

Coming back to Don Morin's boxer shorts pattern, I was thinking about the crotch curve and what I think is this. Don Morin probably used a standard that's way too big for my built but suitable for someone larger? (maybe he's the model) Anyway, I didn't pay much attention to my teacher during shorts construction time waaay back in the days.

Well, after completing the shorts, I bought a stack of very comfortable boxer shorts which were on sale. So I need not make my own shorts after all.

Today I had a change of heart and considered making another pair of shorts, this time with a nicer fabric. But I had thrown away my pattern when I cleaned my sewing room in January this year. Now this is why I should not clear up my messing sewing room.

Weigh In Friday - Pancakes!

Oops. Another 7 days went by just like that. I'm starting to get embarrassed posting only on Fridays.

I treated myself real good the past 7 days. First of all, I ate pancakes. I had been dying to eat pancakes and finally found some whole grain/sprouted grain pancake mix.

I had read a book on sprouted baking and it's really about using whole grain flours which are supposedly easier to digest than white flour. As you know I'm pretty obsessed with finding alternative food which my stomach can digest so it's no surprise I went hunting for whole grains. They are super hard to find in Singapore.

But I hit jackpot at Cold Storage.

I followed the recipe on the packet and this was what I got. I did substitute milk for oat milk. It tasted as good as any regular pancakes.

The batter is a little liquid which my girl prefers. I made a batch with mashed bananas as well.

I ate mine with some olive oil butter, jam and Wild Harvest maple syrup. Yes, an overkill. I haven't had pancakes for a very long time!

Oh, you know those cooking DVSs I had been watching? I learnt one important thing about making pancakes. You're not supposed to mix the batter too much. I think you all know that already. I didn't. In the past, I would mix it till I get a very smooth batter. I had no idea it's ok to have small lumps and this time around, I didn't overmix and when I ate the pancakes, I found they were alright.

My kitchen sink had a leak and I had to cut down on my cooking. It caused me much stress. I always thought sinks last forever. I tried to get a plumber to fix it. I missed his call and after that he never called back. When I called him back, he either doesn't pick up his call or cancelled my call. I found another handyman service and hopefully the next guy I get is less difficult. Meanwhile, I have found the leak in the right sink so I am able to use the left sink. Cooking is still possible.

I ate out a lot. I had beef a number of times. My body craved beef all of a sudden. I rarely eat beef.

I ate a lot of eggs too. I went over my quota for the week. Yesterday, when I was out, in a moment of weakness, I went to a toast cafe and ordered two soft boiled eggs. Locals eat this a lot. I love soft boiled eggs with dark soy sauce. Some people can't eat this because the eggs are barely cooked and can taste gross. Also, there's the danger of getting infection.

This morning I ate whole spelt bread. This is whole spelt bread. It looks scary, doesn't it? It contains complex carbs, proteins, fiber as well as other nutrients.

I made french toast with the spelt bread! They don't taste too bad. Spelt bread has a lot of texture and I won't lie and say it tastes good like regular bread. They don't. But they don't taste horrible. I've tried gluten-free bread. Now that's really horrible.

I did very well with my steps this week. It's probably due to my going out a lot. I didn't run and I didn't do my Pilates. Bad girl!

Time for weigh in. It's 56kg again. I'm doing good. Well done Jane!

16th Oct 2015 - 56kg
9th Oct 2015 - 55.9kg
2nd Oct 2015 - 56kg
25th Sep 2015 - 55.9kg
18th Sep 2015 - 56.4kg
11th Sep 2015 - 57.1kg
4th Sep 2015 - 57.8kg
28th Aug 2015 - 58kg
21st Aug 2015 - 58.8kg
14th Aug 2015 - 58.9kg
7th Aug 2015 - 59.9kg
21st July 2015 - 63kg

Weigh In Friday - Chocolate Makes Everything Better

Hey there,

It's Friday's post again and I let one week slip by without writing another post between my Friday's posts. First of all, I want to address an issue that has been bothering me a little. Some of you guys feel concerned about my digestive issues and I want to say I'm sorry my posts are making you worry. I don't enjoy making you guys suffer. And I know it must be horrible "watching" me go thru the symptoms week after week. Seeing how I'm still continuing to blog about my on-going digestive saga, I want to say this. Other than the digestive thingy, I am in good health. I can eat, poop and dance!

The last 7 days haven't been all bad. It started out really bad, like reliving July 2015 all over again - headaches all the time. I took the doctor's advice and spent most of my time making sure I don't get hungry. Other than 3 main meals a day, I fed myself oatmilk, energy bar, apple juice, salad, banana and buckwheat seaweed. There was just one occasion when I got horribly hungry. I made the mistake of cleaning the kitchen and it wiped me out. When the hunger came fast, it was too late to fix it. I could feel my stomach filling up with acid. The doctor is right! The hunger acid gave me such horrible wind and headache I never want to experience it again. I am so vigilant now.

I am getting better at taking care of my diet, spreading out my meals and it has paid off. The last 3 days have been so great for me. Tiny or zero headaches. In fact on Wednesday, I stayed up a bit late because I wanted to enjoy my no headache day! Based on my experience, I know good days come and go so I'm not going to get all depressed when the bad days come again.

Since I'm cooking so much nowadays, I decided to educate myself. It seems there has been a gap in my education. I've never learnt to cook. My mother probably decided I was too clumsy in the kitchen to risk injuring her youngest daughter. During my time in school, I was a tomboy and opted for technical work instead of home economics. Nope, I can't build anything! Nowadays, schools teach both to all students. After I was married and living on our own, hubs taught me to cook. He isn't a very good cook so I think that's why I'm not a very good cook either. Cooking for my kids has forced me to try out recipes from cookbooks and based on that, I've managed to feed my kids over the years. Fortunately they are not fussy about mom's cooking. They eat anything I cook. Anyway, I thought it would benefit me to watch cooking DVDs and I borrowed a few from the library. I watch anything and everything. I think I can absorb at most 10% of the knowledge. I also fall asleep watching the DVDs. Somehow or other, I have gone thru' half the DVDs and it's frightening how little I know about cooking. I have started to apply a bit of what I've learnt when I make food for myself.

For instance, I made my own salad dressing. I cannot believe it's mostly olive oil, salt, pepper and mustard! I've always thought it's some magical sauce. So exciting.

I was planning to cook lasagne for my kids (first time) but I couldn't figure out if I need to boil the lasagne first. The information is in foreign language. Does anyone know?

I have also started to add fruits to my meals. Here I have added pluots which taste like plums. Traditionally, we eat fruits after a meal. But I read that for people with acid issues, it might be too much food. If I consider fruits as part of my meal, I will reduce the portions for protein and vege and thus ensure I don't get full. This constant need to balance between not hungry and not full is really tricky.

Oh, I tried chocolate Oatly drink. It's AMAZING. It tastes exactly like chocolate drink. I can't remember the last time I had chocolate anything. The only thing is I need to travel  to 4 train stations away to get it. Yesterday I asked the Organic store near my home to stock this drink and the lady said she will talk to her boss. I don't feel optimistic. I told the lady they already stock Oatly. Why don't they stock the chocolate version? Seriously if I have a ready customer, I would jump at the chance.

It's weigh-in time! My weight still holds steady at 55.9kg. It's a loss of 100g from last week. I expect my weight to hover around 56kg for a while.

9th Oct 2015 - 55.9kg
2nd Oct 2015 - 56kg
25th Sep 2015 - 55.9kg
18th Sep 2015 - 56.4kg
11th Sep 2015 - 57.1kg
4th Sep 2015 - 57.8kg
28th Aug 2015 - 58kg
21st Aug 2015 - 58.8kg
14th Aug 2015 - 58.9kg
7th Aug 2015 - 59.9kg
21st July 2015 - 63kg

By the way, I went to hang out with my bff on Monday and this girl has known me since I was 16. Know what she said?

You don't look like you have lost 7kg!

Weigh In Friday - Square One

Friends,

It's October and only 2.5 months since my stomach/wind/headache issues surfaced but it feels like an eternity. I'm honestly back to square one again. The probiotics have stopped having the magical effect on me. Almost everything I eat has an effect on me. I no longer know what's safe and what's evil. The only food that seems to have no negative effect on me are oats products and apple juice. I'm happiest in the morning because I wake up feeling great - like a normal human being. No stomach problems, no headaches. I love Morning Jane. So free and full of hope.

I kept my promise and went to the polyclinic on Wednesday. I booked my appointment online, made sure I reached 15 mins before my appointment and it was a breeze. Just a short waiting time and everything went perfectly. The polyclinic was quite empty. Not SARS-empty. Usually it's packed. Maybe the haze kept people away from the polyclinic which is not air-conditioned?

At the polyclinic, you can't choose your doctor. It's really a matter of luck or bad luck which doctor you get. Remember my googling doctor? This time, as if there is some divine intervention, I got an experienced doctor. Dr Sandeep was firm but nice and a very good listener. He went through my test results thoroughly and told me he disagreed with Dr TingTing's last diagnosis of IBS. He said there was no way I am suffering from IBS because I do not suffer from any diarrhoea. The probiotics that I had been taking? He didn't believe they were helping my condition in any way. However, they weren't harming me either. His diagnosis is gastritis. He went through all the meds I had taken before and said the medication I took for 2 weeks after my gastroscopy was the right medication for my condition. Dr Sandeep said if he were my doctor, he would ask me to take that same medication for 2 whole months. And since he is my doctor (for that day), he asked me to take the proton pump inhibitor for 2 months.

Here it is. All 140 capsules. Dr Sandeep also gave me a referral to a specialist at a hospital. The waiting time is probably 3 months. By then, the meds would have run out and if I were still in trouble, I could get my case treated by the specialist. The whole visit was quite cheap - under $35. Oh, my gallbladder thing? Dr Sandeep rubbished it saying the size is too insignificant to cause any problems. Does that mean I get to keep my gallbladder?

My feelings on this? I keep hanging on to hope that I will recover. Every day through the terrible wind, the little headaches, the big headaches, I keep hanging on. I can't believe I cannot be cured. Also, so far no doctor has said to me - it's not curable. So once again, I am hanging on to a sliver of hope. I mean, if Matt Damon could survive on Mars... The only thing I don't like about the meds? I can't sleep like a pig anymore. I wake up a few times through the night but strangely when I wake up, I don't feel tired.

I have to keep to a low acid diet. Absolutely no tea, coffee or spicy food. My diet has been pretty low acid all these while but occasionally I cheated. I'm going to have to be stricter with myself.

On Monday I cheated with Chicken-Up Korean Fried Chicken. It was hub's idea. The old Jane would have pigged out. But having eaten healthy food for many weeks, I found fried chicken unsavoury. I could barely eat one wing and found it too fatty and oily. There was no joy eating it. What has happened to my body?

We had dancing crab and other seafood on Tuesday. The sauce was cajun and quite spicy. I usually don't eat spicy food so staying off spicy food isn't a problem for me. 

At dancing crab, we had the option to have the food poured on the table and eat off it. Have you eaten off a table before? It was rather liberating.

Oh, I finally cooked my own quinoa. Quinoa is not cheap. Fortunately, you don't need to eat a lot of it for each meal. I watched this video which gave very good instructions on how to cook quinoa. I followed it and it worked perfectly. This is what 1 cup of quinoa gives you. I eat it over 3 days!

Quinoa is a protein but I treat it like rice eating it with vege and some seafood, stir fried.

Sometimes I eat it with a salad. You know, the old Jane hated salad. I am such a different person now!

Since my last run on Sunday, ST Run 2015, I haven't done any running because the haze came back with a vengeance. But I've been diligent with my Pilates. I should run every day because running gets all the wind pounded out of me and I feel so much better after running. But with the haze constantly at an unhealthy level, it would be crazy to go out at all.

Weigh In time. The past 7 days, I worked really hard to make sure I have 3 meals a day. It paid off. This morning I weighed 56kg. My weight has stopped dropping. Last Friday, I weighed 55.9kg. This means I gained 100g.

2nd Oct 2015 - 56kg
25th Sep 2015 - 55.9kg
18th Sep 2015 - 56.4kg
11th Sep 2015 - 57.1kg
4th Sep 2015 - 57.8kg
28th Aug 2015 - 58kg
21st Aug 2015 - 58.8kg
14th Aug 2015 - 58.9kg
7th Aug 2015 - 59.9kg
21st July 2015 - 63kg

At the polyclinic, a nurse took my height and weight. It seems for my height, my ideal weight range is between 51kg and 63.1kg. So I could still afford to lose 5 more kg. But I think that would be too hard without starving myself. And Dr Sandeep says I must make sure I don't go hungry. Something about the stomach producing acid when I'm hungry.

As you can see, I'm taking the doctor's advice seriously and making sure I'm fed constantly.