Posts by doedoebird

even though they say night eating's the devil, i beg to disagree. i usually have dinner around 6~7, and by the time it hits 10~11 i'm hungry again (i get hungry every 4 hours or so). Even i'm going to sleep soon, i'll usually fill myself up nonetheless...

sounds like it's the way and amount you're eating that's worrying though. the thing i find about junk food is that eating it tends to create cravings for it as well? like if i restrict myself from junk food and for a week and go crazy on the junk food for a day, the day usually lasts for three days instead and i have to ease myself back. each person is different, so you might find other solutions... i used to restrict what i eat and when i eat, but that didn't work so much, cause once i start i'd be like 'what the heck, i've started already, i might as well keep going' and i end up eating until i feel uncomfortable (bloated, stuffed and hot). I find that the best way I deal with food just is to eat when i'm hungry and stop when i'm approaching fullness (and i top up with fruit/dessert).

nowadays i just have a little comfort food everyday, but not over the top. a junk food serving every day or once in two/three days could be like two scoops of ice cream, or a large muffin, or a slice of cake, one (or two) chocolate bars etc., and on special occasion days (like the past week--my birthday), it may be more.

point is, don't hit yourself over the head over the weight gain, don't blame yourself for overeating at night. perhaps when 8 o'clock hits, try to ask yourself what is it that you really want out of eating at this time. if it's because you're constantl hungry at a certain time, perhaps you should consider having another meal later at night. if it's just munchiness, try to figure out what you're really craving--it might be actual food (for me it's usually ice cream!), or it might be something else other than food, and food really just is the substitute. if you're like me and get ice cream cravings/peanut butter sandwich cravings, get it, and enjoy it for all the goodness it's worth... carrying such an attitude to food usually helps one feel satisfied! hope this helps!

other than the 3 musketeers (which is a reasonable indulgence), your post workout snack was great. (You really can afford to eat more after a work out! your body would have been tapping into its reserve energy sources, and a good meal after your workout would really help to replenish those)

some good things to have after a workout would be some easy to digest protein (your shake should do it), and some carb stuff that breaks down more easily (your apple) so that you can restore the glycogen in your body (reserve energy) that was used up during your workout! it sounds like you picked out really healthy stuff too, so don't beat yourself up for it!

also, the benefits of a workout really isn't weight loss! it's about getting fitter, improving your blood circulation, becoming more mentally alert, revving up your body, and feeling much better generally! (: besides, to build up that muscle tone from working out (especially lifting), you'd probably need to eat more as well!

its harder to find something that's 100~200cals that you *will* feel full eating, than something that you *won't*

that said, i just discovered a heavenly snack that you might want to try.

1. take a small handful of sunflower seeds, hold in in the palm of your hand

2. put a dried date on top of it

3. cram the whole thing in your mouth

4. chew

5. enjoy the creamy goodness

6. repeat from 1.

each handful is about 40~50cals (depending on how much sunflower seeds you pile on, 3~5 handfuls ought to do the trick. :3 )

the moist type banana/zucchini breads are also really great. they're about 150~180 cals for a small slice, and they taste so good. ;3

a thick slice of wholegrain bread with a tablespoon of PB, that's around 200cals.

a small bar of dark chocolate is about 200~250cals

trail mix and/or granola is always an easy way to get those cals in too. you can make your own if you get the nuts and dried fruits separately--it's more fun that way, since you get to pick and choose what goes into your mix! (:

kashi cereal is really good too. I love the (cinnamon) good friends one, which is about 200cals a cup. :3 this one, you honestly have to try it to understand the magic of the mixture. xD

hey toasttoasttoast! Thanks for the heads up about the B.M.I.

i'm not in singapore now, but i like some of the ideas you gave. I'll be popping by the market and food stores that i frequent here in the USA today in about two hours or so, and i'll definitely be sure to pick up almond butter--which i churned myself when i was volunteering at the store (it's a non-profit co-op), and i didn't make a purchase cause it didn't really smell of anything much, but the peanut butter smelt so so good, so i bought that instead. i've been hearing all sorts of rave reviews about almond (and cashew) nut butters though, so i might try those out. (:

avocados (i've been thinking of getting them, but they're 1.25 each here though, which is expensive compared to the 6lbs of really fab peaches i can get with $10...) , nuts, seeds, dried fruits, milk shake (sounds good too, and i saw a few tempting flavors the last time i went grocery shopping (thursday), but they were a tad expensive, and i was reluctant to splurge on them especially since i'm on a semi-tight budget... i think they'll probably be a nice addition to my diet, but i'm not sure whether they're worth the money spent!)

i used to eat 5 meals a day back in singapore, but cause of my weird schedule in school, i'm sort of down to 3. (I have breakfast, then classes all the way from morning till about 3~4pm, and then i have 'lunch/tea' after that and dinner/supper again at night around 6~8pm. i try to eat about 750~1000cals for each meal (i used to have small (about 400~500cal) meals so it's a weird adjustment to make), It's especially hard when budget and food limitations (i'm vegetarian) is an issue unless it's monday or wednesday (vegetarian buffet dinner nights)... >"< i definitely need to do the whole planning thing though, cause it is much cheaper to plan out my meals than to grab bananas, muffins and other pastries when i'm on the go.

i just took my pulse, and it's 70beats/min... that's pretty normal? I'm not sure... i think i will make a trip to the doctor's on my campus just to check that i'm not malnutritioned.... the thing about 'not really knowing for certain whether my body is really breaking down slowly' is pretty scary. >"<

I try to eat as balanced a diet and as much fruits and veg as i can--i've been consistently getting As for my nutrition grade on CC, except on some days where i eat more pastries/junky food, and i wind up with an A-... (the main problem is that i'm not sure whether i'm getting enough protein especially since i'm drinking oat/almond milk instead of soy right now, and those aren't especially good sources of protein.... (i haven't been exercising much though, so i don't suppose that it's a big issue) it might be part of the reason why it's hard for me to hit those calories, since i make it a point to have at least two servings of fruits and vegetables by the end of every meal, and those are pretty filling, but not very calorie dense... i'll be reading up more on calorie dense foods i guess, and plan my shopping list now before i head down to the market! (: i have a vague idea about what to look out for right now, so a big thank you!

any good ideas what are the best calorie dense foods to get when on a tight budget though? PB and chocolates (they aren't cheap, but to me are really worth splurging on) are definitely on my list. I don't mind spending more on something that tastes really good, but i'm not inclined to spending just so that i can get high calorie food that i won't enjoy eating! looking forward to any suggestions! (:

It's friday again! (: Apparently I've got more weight than I thought i needed to gain... It was TOTM, and about 3 of the 108lbs i weighed last week must have been water weight, cause I was 105lbs this morning (while wearing jeans!) despite eating an average of 2400 calories a day for the past week... (I started CCing again for weight gain. =_= Hope you guys are doing great this week!

:3

veggeek: i know the appetite returning with a vengence feeling! after the week of deprivation in chicago (when i first arrived in the US and was stuck with crummy friends), i started eating like nobody's business (about 2400~3000cals a day). Which is pretty crazy since i maintain at 1800~2100cals. I'm supposed to be gaining weight tho (i'm still 108lbs! it's crazy!) , so i'm not too worried about it. yet. ^^||

septi--you always crack me up with the snoopy dance. Sounds like you (and amayou) are keeping really active! (: it's great cause i think regular exercise helps more in the maintenance stage (you're much less likely to regain your lost weight), which is good in the long run. so stick it out, and you guys will probably do great! after all, the slower the process of weight loss, the easier the transition to and sustenance of weight maintenance! (:

haven't been weighing in cause things have been so hectic.... i'm still adjusting to illinois, and it has really been a bumpy ride, but i think i'm more or less settled in by now... (:

i weighed 108lbs last night (i lost a fair bit of weight adjusting to the new environment,) but i'm proud to say that i'm definitely gaining it back on now that i've familiarized myself with the surroundings, and figured out where to get food that i'd really enjoy! (: ) really really psyched now, cause tomorrow is saturday, and saturday is farmer's market shopping day where i can get oodles of locally produced fruits, vegetables and pastries! I'm aiming for steady weight gain now... but i think i'm now the poster girl for stress as the best (though not the most comfortable) way to lose weight =_=.

eeps.

i just got out of living out of a suitcase (been doing that for the past 5 days!)... don't have a weighing scale yet, so i don't think i'll be weighing in. I think i lost a terrible amount of weight though. =_= terrible traveling companions during the trip and stayover in chicago... i'm probably going to spend the next few days here fattening up!

im pretty bummed about the chicago trip though. it was fun in itself (especially when i went whole food and organic market shopping on my own), but most of the time i was stuck with someone who was utterly insensitive... (he kept stealing my food when i wasn't around--bottles of water (i bought a multi-pack), apples and snacks), and more than one occasion, he'd say, 'ok let's eat here. you're ok with this place right? there are quite a lot of vegetarian options (i declared myself a vegetarian early on to spare myself any heavy explaining etc.) and when i look at the menu, to my horror, there is a grand total of one miserable item on the entire menu that is vegetarian (and usually something unsubstantial like soup or a salad). Needless to say, I ended up eating little, walking a lot, and burning much more than i consumed. =_=

didn't help too that he decided now and then that 'ok, why don't we skip dinner today? i mean, we had a heavy lunch. And i'm like, 'wait a minute. YOU had a heavy lunch, i didn't! I didn't even have enough options on the menu to have a semi-substantial lunch!'.

I ended up nearly crying today cause he blamed me when he lost one of his baggage on the bus (he forgot to take it off with him), because i opted for the bus instead of a cab to the train station(which would have saved us about 10 bucks per person). We ended up taking the cab nonetheless, because he wanted to, (he was dead tiredafter he retrieved his bag), and the cab was so small what with all the luggage we had in the back seat (he was sitting in the front), that got leg cramps from a 5 minute ride. And the worst thing was when we reached the train station and he said that 'see, if we had taken the cab in the first place, we wouldn't have had the problem with the luggage. all this for the sake of saving a miserable 10 bucks.'

i suspect that i lost at least 3 pounds in the past few days just getting tortured by being in a foreign city with him, than ccing for 5 weeks. (1.5" off my waist and 1" off my thighs. i was shocked when i saw the tape measurement for the first time in 6 days today...)

a very long and unrelated post, but i just needed to get all this off my chest!

it's not so much the brand of the shoe but it's fit! you could get expensive, 'good brand' shoes, but if they don't fit your feet then it's just a waste of good money. (i am partial towards asics, saucony and mizuno though! ^^||)

shoedog is a pretty good guide for selecting shoes suitable for yourself though. If you go to the left hand panel and click start, you just need to go through the cycle of questions (what's your foot size, arch, so on), and it'll try to generate the shoes most suitable for you. you could go to a shoe shop with this knowledge in mind, in case you do meet up with salesmen who are more interested in hard-selling than actually helping you get shoes that fit you! good luck!

septi: super glue and cough medicine! gosh!

i'm a little (well, very) jittery now! going to fly off to the states exactly one day from now, and i feel so utterly unprepared! >"<!!!
I haven't been exercising much cause of farewell dinners, lunches, meet ups, birthday celebrations, etc. but i haven't been sleeping much either (cause of sleepovers and late night outings...) hopefully things will get better by next next week after i settle down in my university!