A new journal for a new year! A short intro about myself - I joined Diettalk about 3 years ago. Managed to lose 20 lbs within 6 months. It was difficult since it was the first time I truly make an effort to lose weight. Managed to maintain my weight since then though I had not been successful in losing the remaining 5/10 lbs. You know when you get to a certain weight and you just got tired of eating healthy .. Still, it would be nice to reach my goal weight. That is why I'm still hanging around Diettalk!

These days, I am trying to focus on eating non-deep fried food .. it's hard to resist but for the sake of health (if I eat too much, I'll get a sore throat) and zits (who likes them anyway?) ..

This Friday, I'm flying off to Shanghai for my shopping weekend! I can't wait to go there with DH! The shopping is amazing and the food is cheap & delicious. The hardest thing for eating is to limit the carbs 'cos in Asia, we eat way too much carbs!

On some days, I still eat a lot but most of the time, I have notice that my appetite has decreased and I no longer (thankfully) think about food 24x7. I crave savory food which is bad 'cos salty food leads to high blood pressure. I could end each meal with something sweet like fruit or cake and seriously, I know I don't snack after that till the next meal ... it's been recommended that we should eat fruits before our meals but I hate the fact that it makes me hungrier! Eating fruits after my meal really helps curb my snacking ...will have to continue to work on this.

Chinese New Year is in a month's time and that's when I'll meet up with all the relative. It's time to get serious and work towards losing the last bit of weight. I can't wait to hear the woo's & wow's from everyone when they see the new me - if I do managed to lose the last bit of weight. Believe me, for a 5'1" female, 125 lbs is too much! If only I'm 5'4" or taller then 125 would be perfect ...

Have a nice day, everyone! Prayers to the Tsunamis victims & their families.

Hello, China Doll! I enjoyed reading your first post in this journal. Your dilemma is a little like mine ... it's hard to lose those last few pounds but one really wants to reach a goal that one has worked so hard to achieve. I know you'll succeed and hear those woos & wows when the holiday rolls around!

Have fun in China !!!!!!! Maybe just have fun then when you get back try and stick with the new goals. :)

Thanks! Yup, I hope I'll get to walk more than I eat ... I managed to maintain my weight in Hong Kong last year so I hope I can do the same too. It's not easy with DH ordering way too much every time. I have been doing a lot of research and the weather is getting warmer there ... hmmm ... I like it to be cold!

Chinadoll:

Just popping in to say hi and glad to see your setting goals for yourself. I bet the ooh's and awe's will come for sure when you see your relatives.

Judy2

Hello ChinaDoll! :)
I know you can do it!

Hi Chinadoll,

Your trip sounds fun. Have a wonderful time. I'm sure you will make your goal!

Take care
Renee:)

Hi everyone! Trying very hard to watch what I eat but not doing too good a job .. the good news is that I'm maintaining but not losing. Ya, I know, not exercising is a big problem and I need to get moving!! In less than 24 hours, I will be flying off to Shanghai - food & shopping paradise!! 5 hours on board Singapore Airlines - got the KrisWorld (movies!!) to keep me occupied. I can't wait to experience the cold weather!!

Was going to water my 3 catus and found that the stems of 2 catcus had some white coloring - didn't seem right. So I consulted one of my colleagues who owns a catus and she said it's fungus. Consulted another who had rescued a dying plant and said the soil was too moist. My colleague who sits next to me said the catus have gangrene and needs to be operated (removed the lower half) and re-planted into sand soil ... had to tell DH that 'cos he has "green fingers". He laughed abt the gangrene & operation part.

Hi ChinaDoll!
Wishing you a wonderful trip to Shanghai!
Maybe you will get to walk a lot while you are shopping, so it won't be so bad afterall.
Have fun! :hop:

Have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 Eat, shop and be merry!!!!!!!!!! :)

enjoy :)

Beth :peace:

PS: My daughter and un born grand daughter need on going prayers please.
more information is here (http://diettalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=45733)

Hi everyone! I'm back from my weekend trip to Shanghai, 5 hours from Singapore. It was a fairly empty flight both ways and we managed to occupy a 3-seater row each. I could stretched my legs and watched movies throughout the flight.
Weather-wise, it was very cold (0 - 7 degrees celsius or 31 - 44 degrees fahrenheit) but I loved it. Had to wear the scarf and gloves all the time. I put lotion partially but should have covered more areas 'cos I'm back home and suffering the effects of a dry skin all over. It feels like snake skin and itches but you can't tell it visually. Using doc's medicine so will take a few days to recover.
The shops mostly sold winter jackets and boots .. so much for a shopping trip. There's weren't much to see either. The hotel was on Nanjing Road which was a stretch of shopping malls so we spend the entire Fri looking at the shops. Sat was visiting the market to check out their fake goods. We were looking for a fake Louis Vuitton (LV) card holder and this saleslady showed us some that were so off the color. She even commented that DH's real LV wallet was a fake which pissed DH off. Wanted to visit another famous temple but it was closed when we got there. The streets leading to the temple had hawkers selling all the fake goods too. Sun, we visited YuYuan which is this famous garden. Since we visited that garden 2 years ago, we decided to just visit the shops around there. It was on a Sunday and it was packed with people. DH got some trick rings there. In the evening, we went to the Tower of the Oriental Pearl where we were able to view Shanghai from the 339th floor.
Food-wise, we weren't very adventurous 'cos we found 2 restaurants that served really good food. One was recommended by a local celebrity where we ate steamed dumplings & noodle soup. The other was located next to the hotel. When we went to the cafe to have our dumplings, I asked the waiter for the vinegar and he pointed to this hugh teapot on each table. I was surprised 'cos when I poured it into the saucer, it looked like tea. So different from the usual red or black colour we have here at home. But yes, it did taste like vinegar. At the restaurant, DH ordered way too much but the food turned out very good and cheap. Their rice was really good too but I try not to finish eating my rice and concentrate on eating more of the dishes. We asked the waitress how big the soup was and we thought it was a small bowl. Turned out to be this hugh bowl they served at the table enough for 10 people! I made myself drink as many bowls as I can but we could only finished half of it. On the last night, DH ordered this whole fried fish. Again, we thought it was small. I saw the waitress approaching with this hugh silver plate of golden pile and thought someone ordered fried rice. To our surprise, it turned out to be our fish! It was soooo delicious but as it came last, we couldn't finish it. Tried their steamed minced pork bun and was disappointed to find a small filling. DH was not impressed. Tried lean pork on a stick flavored with curry powder - it was ok. Fried rice tasted bland and glad to find the drinks slightly sweetened 'cos here, drinks are super sweet. I'm happy to report that we did start the trip eating a lot but our appetite decreased with each passing day.
DH left a 20 RMB on the bed when we left the hotel and came back in the late afternoon to find the bed turned down, a weather forecast and 2 choc on the bed .. extra service from housekeeping. What a difference from the service we got the previous night.
I have to say that I was quite surprised by the clean streets and bathrooms they had. Hardly any litter. But then again, China does have the manpower. There was a traffic officer at every intersection guiding the traffic and a cleaner for every bathroom. The disgusting part was trying to avoid the spit on the ground 'cos every few minutes, I hear someone getting ready to spit on the ground. It's their culture and we just have to accept it.
Back home on Mon and returned to work today. Diet was back on yesterday .. going to take me a few days to lose whatever I gained in Shanghai tho I have no idea how much 'cos our weighing machine broke a few months ago. I now judge by the way my clothes fit.

Welcome back ChinaDoll! :)
Your trip sounds very exciting. I can picture the incident with the saleslady commenting on your husband's "fake" LV wallet. :laugh:
How was Shanghai from that 339th floor???
Isn't it nice when appetite gradually decreases during a trip? That happened to me too, during the holidays. :beam:
Spitting everywhere must not be too hygienic. Eww... :-&
So we are back in "business" now!

My diet is ruined (sort of) ... I guess I did all rite during the day but had to go for some really delicious north indian buffet to celebrate a farewell dinner for my best colleague who is transferring to another dept. I shall miss her 'cos she's moving from my office to 2 floors up. Well, at least we are still in the same building but I'm not sure if we will still get to go for lunch together. Back to the dinner, I loved everything but the meat. Loved the tandoori veggies, garlic naan, even the desserts (it's weird 'cos I know how super sweet indian desserts can be and I'm not even a dessert person). Tried some chicken & lamb but still prefer the non-meat items.

Skin is doing better now. Last nite, my knee was itching like crazy and I had to put some lotion on ... before then, I was just showering using the doc's medicine and no additional lotion ... to my surprise, the itch stopped after I put on the lotion ... so I started to put lotion all over my body (the parts that itch) and went to bed feeling really sticky (esp since I'm in this humid weather) - not the best feeling. This morning, I woke up to find some parts looking better .. so I slapped on more lotion and got dressed ... trying to ignore the stickiness.

It's 11pm now and I noticed that 50% of the dry snake skin is gone! So I'm slapping on as much lotion as I can, ignoring the stickiness and hope that all the dry itchy snake skin will disappear tomorrow or asap!!

Made plans with 2 friends to take another weekend trip to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - a city 4 hours drive from Singapore. You see, there's a public holiday happening on Fri 21 Jan and my friend suggested going to KL. Checked with DH and he said "go ahead" .. even tho I know he will miss me terribly .. 8-| hehee .. I know that he always say that I'm disturbing him and he can't wait to get some alone time to himself but I know that once he's by himself, he starts to miss me. So I have another weekend trip to look forward too ..

Hi ChinaDoll! :*
Good to hear you are feeling better!

Hi

Glad the itchness is doing better. I hate when my skin gets that way. The trip to Malaysia sounds fun. My hubby is the same way. He says I bug him and can't wait for me to be away but then he misses me and can't wait to see me again.

Have a good weekend.
Renee:)

10am: Had a great weekend. Got my hair highlighted on Sat and yesterday, DH got me my very first Chanel bag! My mom said I should have gotten a bigger bag so that I can bring it to work every day while my dad was shocked that it costs so much. It's PMS time and I'm craving to eat everything in sight!

Today's Mon and in 4 days, I'm off to Kuala Lumpur for my 3-day shopping trip with friends! Yay, shopping with girls!

2pm: Just got back from lunch. Had my usual order of wonton noodles but ate half the noodles served. I knew that I would be hungry after a few hours so I got my back up food - a slice of honey dew, a large glass of freshly squeezed watermelon starfruit juice and the ultimate tau suan (yellow bean soup) ... it's sweetened dessert but hey, it's beans so it fills. I seldom eat the local desserts so this is a treat and I always feel that if u wanna eat the local desserts, the healthier ones are the bean soups but that is, if it's not too sweet.

Sat: I had a scoop of haagen dias ice cream - cookie & cream ... it was good but you know what's my latest fave? It's green tea ... strong green tea taste ... isn't green tea supposed to be good for you ... despite the fat in the ice cream? haha ... any excuse to enjoy some ice cream ... had to throw out the half eaten ice cream cake 'cos no one was eating it at home. Wasteful but I hardly eat ice cream ...

6pm: The dessert was too stauchy .. ate a little and threw out the rest ... I know I'm being really wasteful and picky about my food. Went to the canteen for some coffee instead ... I'm off to meet DH for dinner. Have a good Monday, everyone!

Hey china baby.... Thought it was about time I stopped by and say hi. I love to read when you go on trips. I really want to travel more... specially now that I moved the europe area. Being I'm from the USA... just getting into another State was something of a dream. I've seen Belgium (parts of it at least) and I really want to go see France, Italy, England (which I've been to once already but right after I arrived to Belgium so I didn't get to enjoy it much). I'm sure there are other places but I just want to explore. In order to do that though.... I first need to start working.

Keep up the journal editing and below I've given you a little web site where you can send this guy an email about your cactus. I'm sure he/she can give you an answer. From what I read is that it is indeed mold and that you should not water it for a while and see if it clears up. See if you can send him a picture... it might help.
http://www.ext.nodak.edu/extnews/hortiscope/houseplnts/hpcntnts.htm

Hugs and keep it going!!

Hello ChinaDoll!
Green tea ice cream is also my favorite ice cream! :)

Good Morning China,

I was wondering I have a picture of my father and I standing in front of a building or entryway to a building that has high gates .... does that still exist in Shanghai ? .. I know my father said that their parks were beautiful and that they would have band concerts on Sunday afternoons ..

I am sure that much progress has been made over these decades. The city you describe sounds more modern than the pictures of what my father took in the '30's and '40's .... yet imo progress takes a lot away from the beauty of the past ...

My parents lived on a street called Route Prosper Paris .. does that street still exist? I wish I could remember more ....

Thanks for sharing your adventures .. lol but there are some things :laugh: lol YOU NEEDN'T HAVE SHARED (the spitting). Make it a great day. I am as always, Monica

Hi China congrats on the new Chanel bag . I love reading your journal , takes me back to before I had my girl ,I love my Daughter more than anything , but it is nice to remember the days when I could pick up and go to a nice hotel , dinner and dancing . Now it's packing up the tent ( in summer) packing hotdogs marshmellows singing and dancing around the campfire . I truely love it . Maybe I should look into a Chanel backpack ! :laugh: Have a great trip !!!!!

Missy: I love travelling and it really opens up your eyes/mind to what the rest of the world is like. It's great that you decided to move to Europe to settle .. when I think of Europe, I see travel opportunities and to be able to experience another cultural is a whole new experience. I had quite a major culture shock when I went to the States to study but having friends really helped.

Aria: Green Tea Ice Cream is our fave!

Monicapink: Shanghai is very modern ... dare I say it could be even better than the States but then again, I haven't been back to the States in 7 years. You can check this site for some pix at www.virtualtourist.com

Summering: I know what you mean about the freedom. Until I have any children, it's easy for me to just pick up and go for vacations or even any dinner w/ friends.

2 days to Fri = shopping in Malaysia!! I'm so looking forward to travelling with my 2 best friends. Sad to leave DH behind but a good chance to know if one of my best buddies is a good travel buddy. I've travelled with my other friend twice to Bangkok and we get along fine both times.

What's happening in my life? An ex-classmate contacted me recently and it was good getting to know her again. We haven't met up yet tho we've been emailing back and fro .. arranging for a get-together next week with another classmate.

I just got a project from my boss so I'm starting to get busy ... not sure when I can ever go on a long holiday this year. Last year, I only took short weekend holidays ... I'm hoping to visit Europe this year ...

Oh yes, and of cos to reach goal this year and maintain it!

Hi Chinadoll,

My hubby gave me an Chanel bag the other year for Valentines. I rarely use it because it was so expensive. But when I'm dressing up I use it.

Enjoy yourself this weekend.
Renee:)

I know I'm not much of the "expensive" type lady or DH and I together are that much for fancy things (like expensive shopping bags and such) but if you ever get a chance to visit Europe (Belgium in partic) You MORE then welcome to come here and I'd show you around. At least of what I know of this part. I don't go much else then Gent but I can give you some pointers and perhaps even some good times of the year to come visit. Hugz and keep it going :D

Can you believe it? I'm asking DH's female colleague (also close friend) to keep him company for the weekend 'cos I'm so worried that he will miss me too much ... I'm not one who gets jealous easily simply 'cos I know that DH has this very strong integrity so cheating is out of the question. Plus, that girl is into caucasians, not chinese guys so DH is safe from her advances too ... :D

I've been sleeping so late this week ... guess I'll catch up on my sleep on the bus tomorrow. Have to wake up early to get to the venue to catch the bus at 7.30am .. plus I hear there's prob going to be a jam at the causeway bridge since it's a public holiday and many people will take the opportunity to leave S'pore for the long weekend. Thereafter, we have to face around 4-5 hours of bus ride to Kuala Lumpur. Once we get there, it's check into hotel and off to shop at the nearest mall. 3 glorious days to shop with my 2 closest friends.

Nice to see things are going well. You have been traveling a lot I see. Sound good. I hope you enjoyed the shopping over the weekend. I will be sure to check in with you monday or tuesday next week. Take care and catch up with you later.

The KL trip was a blast! Did some really good shopping and a friend of mine brought me to eat this buffet which had great japanese food. Overdid on the tempura and I'm down with flu now! Actually, another friend of mine who travelled with us was down with flu and I guess I caught the bug from her. Will have to work on the diet when I recover and in 2 weeks, it'll be Chinese New Year - another round of eating! Will have to continue to drink lots of water and eat less in the meanwhile ...this will b a short post.

Welcome back ChinaDoll!
Nice to hear you had a great time and take good care of yourself so you get rid of that flu soon! ~o)

Aria: thanks for stopping by!! Appreciate yr sweet thoughts!

Still sick but back at work. It's getting busy at work and I owe some people work matters ...

Will try to watch my diet ... it's hard to stay focus with blocked ears (don't you just hate it knowing you can hear better than this), runny nose and a sore throat (it no longer hurts but still sore).

My colleague is flying off to HK/Shanghai this afternoon for vacation! Told her all there is to visit / eat in HK/Shanghai. Lent her a blue winter jacket to use for her trip.

sorry to hear your not feeling well - but excited to hear how well your trip went :)

Beth :peace:

Hi, I've been feeling really sick with flu for the past week. Even tho I was coughing badly, I still made myself go to work 'cos there were things to be done. Today, I took the day off (a last minute decision which I'm not sure my boss really liked but she approved it) ... slept in, went shopping in the afternoon (got Lancome's anti-ageing products & their free gift [a beautiful white tote bag]) and relaxed in the evening. I think I ate ok today but I haven't drank much water so that's something I need to work on this week. I'm feeling better today except for the blocked nose, ears & sore throat (a lot of uncleared phelgm) .. I hate this ... I can't hear as good as I should 'cos of my nose and I can never clear that phelgm ... so frustrating. DH is getting sick and my colleague text messaged me to say she's starting to cough ..

Hi

Hope you are feeling better soon. It stinks when you get sick. Especially with the clogged nose and ears. Drink lots of fluids.

Renee:)

Hello ChinaDoll, hope you feel better soon! :x

Being sick is no fun :( Hope you feel better soon, get plenty of rest.

Hi China , my Daughter has a lot of uncleared phelgm she is only 4yrs old , she was actually choking on it . I hope it does not get that bad for you . Take care and rest .

Hi everyone, thank you all for your concern. I am feeling better and the phelgm has pretty much almost cleared up, maybe 20% left. No more clogged ears, what a relief!

These days, I've been having cravings for wonton noodles. I have been eating it almost everyday. Trying to cut down on eating the yellow noodles and eat rice noodles instead. The reason being, I've been eating yellow noodles all my life and there's yellow addictives added in those noodles that's not good for the body if you consume too much.

DH got his new car yesterday and we drove around in it last night. He hasn't been driving for over 10 yrs so his driving is rusty.

Hey, it's Friday! I can stay up late tonight and sleep in tomorrow! I love sleeping in and not having to wake up early in the mornings.

Chinese New Year (CNY) is happening next Wed. My dad's siblings are visiting from Malaysia and everyone's meeting up at my parent's home for the reunion dinner on Tue evening. Mom's decided to have steamboat - it's hot pot of veggie & meat & seafood ... I wonder if my mom's going to cook other dishes .. I might bring over some crabs like our local faves (ie chili crab & black pepper crab). It will be good to see my cousins again - it seems like we meet only once a year.

Tomorrow night, we will be having our reunion dinner with the in-laws at a nearby chinese restaurant. Last weekend, we went to the restaurant to book a table and found that so many people have already made reservations. We had to even choose the menu and make a deposit.

Sun is facial & church. Really should do more spring cleaning but feeling so lazy these days. I haven't even sent out CNY cards yet!

Hi

Glad you are feeling better. I like when I'm able to sleep in too. Doesn't happen often because the kids always wake me up. Sounds like you are going to have a busy couple of days. Enojoy yourself!

Take care
Renee:)

Hello ChinaDoll, nice to hear you are feeling better! :*
Enjoy your week, it sounds exciting! :hop:
:

Aria & Renee: thanks for stopping by ... I did sleep in today .. it's a true luxury since we have no kids. Finally made myself get out of bed at 11am.

DH came home at 12am, 2 hours before he was supposed to finish his work 'cos he was sick. We walked over to the 24 hr clinic and had to wait for an hour to see the doc. There was only 1 doc and he took at least 10 mins to see each patient. After the consultation, the doc said DH had tonsil infection .... he woke up feeling better today.

Diet-wise, it's a disaster! Ate noodles for breakfast & lunch but I should have eaten half the amount, not every string! Tonight, we got that reunion dinner with the in-laws - 10 course dinner. Will have to drink lots of chinese tea!

2 days to Chinese New Year (CNY)! Tomorrow night's the reunion dinner w/ my family & my relatives from Malaysia will be driving down for this dinner. I miss seeing them 'cos we only meet for CNY. Mom's going to prepare steamboat (hot pot with veggies & sliced meat cooked in pork or chicken bones soup). DH will be working in the evenings this week (he doesn't get CNY off since the Europe market is still on) so he will bring some food over to the office for dinner. Most shops & restaurants will be closed on day 1 & 2 of CNY so DH will bring over food from his parents or my parents home. I bought some basic food stuff like bread, deli meat & veg in case we are at home. It's just for back up purposes tho not likely we need to cos we might bring back leftovers, we are at our relatives at meal times and shops re-open on day 3. Worst time to visit Singapore cos you can't do shopping .. only a selected few shops are opened .. I know Borders, the bookstore is opened during chinese new year.

DH felt a lot better after his visit to the doc on Fri. Went for facial yesterday and it really paid off staying off deep fried food for the past 2 weeks due to flu. My skin was a lot clearer and the beautician didn't spend too much time cleaning up my face & getting rid of zits. Shortest time ever! Now I just need to work on getting rid of my freckles!

But freckles are so cute . Glad to hear you both are feeling better .

Hi

Glad you are feeling better. Sounds like you are going to have fun this week. At least you will be busy. Take care
Renee:)

Gosh, why get rid of freckles???? Glad to ear your feeling good and that your husbands bad tonsils are getting better.

Enjoy yourself at your reunion dinner, it is a special occasion, good food and family. :)

Enjoy your self sounds to me like it's going to be wonderful to see family.

Read some of you journal glad to read you are DH are feeling better and thanks for stopping by my journal.

Here I am, sitting at my cubicle typing this post while listening to the radio. It's half day today and everyone is so not in the mood to work. I did do some web updates so that's good. In 10 mins, I'm going upstairs to visit a colleague's new workstation ... we call it 'cubicle warming' - self invented name. Managed to pool together an assortment of gifts for her.

Heading home after work and this evening, going over to mom's for dinner. My cousin should be arriving in time for the reunion dinner.

Thanks Jumpsoda & Summering but freckles spoil my face. The latest in the market is the whitening cream to lighten our freckles & the spa water cream. I've got both products and lately, I've been very good at applying the eye cream. I've discovered some fine lines under my eyes. I didn't realise that I was so affected by this aging process.

Day 2 of Chinese New Year (CNY)

Surprisingly, I ate ok! Reunion dinner was steamboat - hotpot of chicken soup with veggies, seafood & meat ... I had it with a little rice vermicellin, lots of veggie & a little meat.

Yesterday, woke up late. No breakfast. Went over to the in-laws for lunch and dinner was at mom's. DH had a 3-hr game of cards & mahjong w/ relatives ... he was on the winning streak when they decided to switch to mahjong. The game was the fastest I've seen - 5 mins each game! These are expert players, I gathered ... not much talk at the table and before I knew it, someone won!

Today, it's lunch at the in-laws and a friend might drop by. Got my ang pow (red packet filled with even numbered $) ready for her. Ang Pows are for singles / kids given by married couples unless if we have kids then the parents give out but their kids collect.

CNY lasts for 15 days .. people have been buring offerings since 2 days before CNY and it's making my nose runny! It's been unbearably hot these days - the weather is changing! I shall end here with this - Hope the year of the Rooster brings you a year of peace, love & joy! Have a good week everyone!

Hi China: I am just dropping by to wish you a wonderful new year....Sounds like you have a lot of fun during this special season of yours..

Take care
Louise

Eve of Valentines Day. DH refused to celebrate 'cos it's an excuse for florist & restaurants to provide an overpriced service. Anyway, we work different shifts so I won't even get to celebrate with him.

I think I did ok over the weekend. Felt so bloated all yesterday despite me eating less carbs and drinking tons of water! I think it's the hormones! Had zits appearing but it disappeared today.

Bought a weighing scale today. Our weighing scale broke a few months ago and I always seem to put on weight whenever I can't monitor my weight.

So sad .. after 5 glorious days, I have to return to work tomorrow. It's going to be hard getting up at 6.30am tomorrow after enjoying waking up at 11am for the past few days!

Still feel so bloated today .. why? I wonder .... trying to down as much water as I can to get rid of the bloat. It's 2pm and I've already drank over 1 litre of water .. 2 more to go! Going to start writing my food down ...

10pm: I've completed my 3 litres of water today! Yahoo! I'm going to have great skin & hope I won't feel so bloated tomorrow.

Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast
stir-fry noodles w/ veggies (noodle serving: ½ cup)
½ cup of coffee w/ splenda

Lunch
½ serving of wonton noodles
watermelon starfruit juice

Snack
1 slice of papaya
1 slice of honeydew

Dinner
rice + stir-fry veggies + 2 pcs of sweet-sour pork

That's all for now.

Hello ChinaDoll and Happy New Year to you! :rose:
Sounds like you are ready to focus on your plan again.

Hey chinadoll,

happy CNY!! i had a good CNY break, and i'm glad u seemed to have enjoyed yourself too!

haven't been here much cos there are just some other more important issues in my life now other than dieting, but i'm real glad to know that u're still here and motivated to achieving your goal.

cheers! :D

Aria & gygor: thanks for stopping by! Great to hear from you!

2pm: Today is Day 7 of Chinese New Year - everybody's birthday so happy birthday to everyone!! I've already drank 1 litre of water so working on my 2nd litre. Already got my 2 servings of fruits which I'll eat later ... I'm still full from my noodles I had for lunch.

That's all for now.

Hey, what sign were you born under??? Dragon, Tiger....ect...

Have a fun New Year!!!!!

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I wrote .. I couldn't access Diettalk from the office and I seldom log into the internet at home. This past week, I've really been watching my diet and drinking as much water as I possibly can. However, it seems that the weight just won't budge and I'm so tired of feeling extremely fat! The only solution I can think of to lose weight is to exercise .. so I finally made myself get onto the treadmill and walk those pounds away. I shall report my exercise minutes here ... tho I've been watching what I eat, I know it's still a lot of food & carbo .. but the good news is that I'm trying to keep the resolution of eating 2 servings of fruit a day and drinking at least 2-3 litres of water everyday. I may be fat but I'll get good skin at the end of the day! :ex:

Exercise:
35 mins of walking (303 kcals)

That's all for today!

I need to get a good weighing scale. I bought one from Watson the other day and it sucks! So unreliable!

I guess I'm still eating a lot 'cos my clothes doesn't seem to get loose .... grrr... X-( just got to find time & motivation to exercise 'cos that's prob going to be the only way for me to lose weight!

I'm getting busy at work from now onwards ... it's good to be busy 'cos I won't think about food so much but I got to remember to drink my water.

Got a wedding to attend next month .. I guess in 3 weeks? Hope I get fit into my dress then ... actually I haven't decided what am I going to wear ... what can I wear to a wedding dinner? Shall I go? It's my cousin's - I should go, what am I saying, she went to mine so I gotta go to hers!

Wednesday marks the last day of Chinese New Year and usually we get together as a family to have dinner in celebration of the last day. Mom is holidaying in Australia so Dad suggested dinner tomorrow night. I wonder where will we go .... hopefully it's somewhere that serves good food that isn't deep fried!! Less fat & less seafood, please. I think I've been eating too much prawns & calamari & crabs ... gotta think of that cholestrol ....

Yak Yak Yak .. am I in the mood to write everything down .... I shall end here before anyone falls asleep!

Well, I finally logged into Diettalk ... since I can't access it from work anymore, it'll just have to wait till the weekends 'cos I usually get home dog tired!

Unfortunately, I didn't succeed in attempting any exercises this week .. hence, no weight loss to report. But I'm back on the treadmill today. At least it's becoming a weekly ritual tho it'll be better if it's a daily ritual.

Did some good shopping this past week. Got a digital weighing scale, kettle, cordless phone & curling iron for my hair .. and more shoes! I love going shoe shopping!

Picked up the I.S. guide (free newspaper for entertainment) and it came with a restaurant guide. My colleague's already marked a lot of restaurants serving north indian cuisine while I spotted the spanish ones ... We love trying new cuisines so we are targetting to try one new restaurant every month. It's indian food for March.

Exercise:
45 mins of walking (385 kcals)

That's all for today!

Just got back from the doc who gave me 1 day medical leave for tomorrow due to food poisoning from Din Tai Fung (taiwanese food)... Food is really good esp the xiao long pao (steamed pork dumpling) but it sucks that I got food poisoning. Kudos that I don't have to work tomorrow!

Hope you feel better soon, ChinaDoll! :)

Hi China: Sorry to hear that yo are sick....I have never tried Indian food in a restaurant..I have a friend from India...and she makes delicious food...i have had lunch at her place..but some have told me that some Indian Food is very fattening..I would like to try it some time though, unfortunately I do not have many Friends who are adventurous when it comes to food....I really enjoy rally good Chinese food though..

What is the difference between Chinese and Taiwanese^...I like the different foods of the world...German food is very good and tasty...Italian too..real Italian...My friends owned an Italian restaurant but sold it about a year ago...so no I have no place to go for authentic Italian food...but that is all OK I am supposed to be losing weight...but I think good food is part of life.

I am sure whatever you wear to the wedding you will look lovely in....

Take care of yourself:rose:

Louise

Food Poisoning, that is no fun. I used to get that a bit when I ate out a lot more. you just never know. I think you are right about the exercise thing, hope you find the motivation and some regular time period so you can do it. :)

Aria & Jumpsoda: Thanks for your concern!

Louise: Indian food can be fattening .. curries cooked in coconut milk, deep fried bread and potato fillings, super sweet desserts .. Taiwanese food is chinese food - different way of cooking. I tried German food, think I didn't order the right food 'cos I thought it was alright. Loved Italian .. well, anything that's pasta & pizza.

Thanks everyone! I got better and returned to work on Tue. Discovered that I can access to Diettalk at work.

Managed to get to the office gym after work yesterday and worked out with my colleague. But of cos, after that, we went to China Square to try the food at this restaurant called Ooster Belgium. Shared this pot of mussels cooked in white wine, celery & carrots + fish & chips + raspberry beer. The beer didn't taste like any alcohol - sweet & yummy.

Planning to go to the office gym with another colleague tomorrow so hopefully this keeps up.

Exercise:
35 mins on the stepper (334 kcals)

That's all for today!

Hello ChinaDoll!
Glad to see you are feeling better AND that you can access Diettalk at work! :)

The weekend went by so fast! My current food obsession is eating homemade chunky salsa w/ toast. I made a big tub and brought to the office for some colleagues to try. They fell in love with it and insist that I bring more for this Wed's potluck lunch. I made some over the weekend and gave some to my mom to try.

Weekend went by quickly. Had to work on Sat morning then it was lunch with DH & friend at Din Tai Fung (taiwanese food) again. Yesterday was my cousin's wedding so attended the tea ceremony during lunch time & dinner at night. Visited her new home which was tastefully decorated.

After work, I'm heading for the YWCA to attend a briefing session for this Thu's bible study class at church. It's going to be an intensive 8-month weekly bible study sessions that's going to take a lot of dedication & committement. I want to get my spiritual life back in order.

Last night's session was short but I was so tired. It's going to take a lot of discipline on my part to attend all 34 weeks, esp after work.

The onward struggle towards weightloss is ever so difficult esp when I'm bored and my mouth is itching to munch on something.

Gosh, get some sleep too, that has an effect on everything if your tired. :)

Jumpsoda: I agree that I need to sleep early. Stayed up last nite watching Amazing Race - a repeat from last week's show (had to watch it since I'm a fan & had missed the first hour of the show last week).

Last nite, my colleague brought me to eat some indian food. It was so delicious but sinful. All you can eat bryrani rice w/ free flow of 4 kinds of veg (cabbage/pickles/radish/cucumber), papadum (cracker) and lime juice. We chose sambal fish, fried mutton & masala chicken. Basically, the meat comes with a tasty thick gravy. Now I'm thinking of bringing my good friend who is into Indian food there to eat next week!

Lunch today is in the office. Made some spinach dip & salsa and we are eating that with tuna/sardine sandwiches & cheese sticks!

Tonight is dinner at mom's - another evening of tasting wonderful home-cook food!

i agree with you, indian food is certainly extremely mouth-watering.... i have lunch with my team at work almost all the time, and one of them is an indian. everyday at lunch, i see him enjoy huge quantities of tasty indian food, and i have to dig in and not get tempted by it.... it really seems that all indian dishes are very well seasoned and full of herbs and spices.

What a drag! It's Monday afternoon and I'm already counting down the hours to leave the office!

I lost 2 lbs last week. How I did it, I have no idea! Less carbs, I guess ... eating just bread. And bread meaning 1 toast per meal topped with ingredients.

When eating indian food, I guess it's best to avoid the bryrani and eat plain rice. Their food is quite sinful, dripping with oil and some deep fried so really got to choose the food wisely.

Hi

Congrats on the 2 lbs.

Mondays are the worse day of the week for me. they seem to drag on forever.

Have a great day.
Renee:)

Time really flies and it's Good Friday this week. I'll be attending church every evening this week.

Diet-wise, still struggling. I gotta stop eating suppers 'cos that's what sabotage my weight loss. I do well during the day but come evenings, it goes downhill.

dun give up! keep trying to find a way to fight late night eating!! :D

ChinaDoll, hang in there!
Spring is here and Summer is coming!

gygor & aria: Thanks for dropping by.

Been pretty busy at work lately. Currently diet looks like this:
Breakfast: coffee + 1 slice of toast w/ cream cheese
Lunch: ½ bowl of rice + 1 serving of scrambled eggs w/ sambal chili + fruits
Dinner: rice + dishes or noodles

Maintaining weight at 132 but striving to work towards 130.

:)

There you are, ChinaDoll!
I was looking for you.
Have you been following the pope's funeral?
Hope all is well with you and remember: spring is coming! :spring:

Hi Aria, thanks for stopping by. I haven't been logging in 'cos it's been crazy busy at work. I've watched bits of the pope's funeral and what's been happening. I gotta get serious with my eating. It's those supper I've been having that's causing my downfall! No more supper for me!

I just had "Crunchy Chow Mein"...it is Cantonese???? Soooooooooooooooo goooooooooooood, chef just threw noodles in big Wok and POOF!!!!! Super size!!!!!!!! :)

Sounds like it's from Hong Kong. We also have crispy noodles deep-fried then covered with gravy & an assortment of veg/sliced pork/sliced fish/fishcakes/etc.

When are you moving to Europe?

Hi everyone, it's been a while since I last posted. It's been hectic at work and the diet is going haywire, esp over the weekends. I'm going to try to watch what I eat from now on. Today's Amazing Race day .. I'm going to go home after dinner with my friend, watch Amazing Race & sleep!

Here's what I had so far:

Breakfast
coffee
bread w/ fried egg

Lunch
tofu & veg soup

Snack (my treat for the day)
Tostitos Lime Chips - delicious!

Dinner @ mountbatten market
wonton noodles w/ sauce
green apple juice

That's all for now.
147/133/120

yeah, it can be real tough to control what you eat when you're busy and under stress. i tend to eat to relieve stress.

Another airline promotion in the newspaper. S$9.98 one way to Bangkok, Chiangmai, Hanoi, etc ... so tempted to travel but I can't go 'cos of work. Also, DH won't get onto those budget no-frill planes so this option is out. His reasoning is to pay a little more and you get more services & comfortable seats.

Work is easing up tho I'm still busy as a bee. Last nite's dinner was soo good. Had the best wonton noodles at this stall that has more than 10 best food reviews.

That's all for now.

Hi Chinadoll! I just want to thank you for stopping by to read my journal. I appreciate the compliment. It doesn't seem like you are eating enough. How many calories are you allowing yourself in a day? It seems like we have similar weight goals. Let's hope we both reach them! :) Actually, I'm pretty sure we will, you seem to be in control too!

Hope you have a wonderful evening!

Thanks for stopping by. Eating too much at night is my pitfall. I'm ok during the day when I'm around people but when night falls, my appetite soars. I eat mostly out of boredom too. I guess I'll have to try to keep myself busy at night.

HI Chinadoll

Just wanted to stop by and say HI! There are a lot of bargain flights around here also but I'm a little leery about getting on them. They have a bad rep for losing luggage, permanentely.

Have a wonderful day.
Renee:)

Hi ChinaDoll thanks for dropping by my journal . Looks like your doing great ! I started back at the gym so I needed to up my carbs , now I'm just trying to keep them healthy! :D

arfain: Thanks for stopping by. Are you tempted to make use of the travel deals? It would be a nightmare to lose a luggage tho I've never had it & I dun intend to have it, if I can help it. But these things are the airlines' fault & not the passengers. So I always try to remember to purchase travel insurance before I step out of Singapore.

summering: Thanks for stopping by. That's great that you are working out at the gym. I should go back there too since I always had fun there.

Good news! I lost 1lb. No big deal and hopefully, it'll go down further. How I did it, I dunno.

Thank goodness it's Fri. Honestly, I really can't wait for the weekend to start. I need sleep, lots of sleep. I forgot if I have a facial appointment tomorrow. As long as I don't need to get up early, I'm ok ...

I thought I almost lost my mp3 player. DH would be so mad at me if I did 'cos he bought it for me. Luckily, I found it in the office hiding in one of my bags.

Lately, I'm into green tea flavored stuff. There's the Haagan das green tea ice cream - super yummy. And green tea kit kat - awesome!

That's all for now!
147/132/120

Congrats on losing a pound!!! I myself have gained back one...but I can almost be sure that it's muscle!

Great job, ChinaDoll! :dn

Aaargh! It's Mon again! What a drag! OK, not really a drag. Meeting an ex-colleague for lunch. She's here for an interview this morning - I hope she gets the job. And after work, I have dinner with colleagues.

OK, I'm resolving to start some regular exercising this week - use that treadmill at home!

Congrats on the loss!!!!!!!!!!!! :) You earned it and I am sure there will be more to come. :)

Sorry for not answering you before, by the time I get back to this forum I loose track of everything (seems like one never has time to breath). Yep, have already moved but am finishing up work in Cali till August.

Jumpsoda: good to hear from you. waiting to read your update when you return to the states.

Last nite, had dinner with colleagues at Fatty Weng (behind Geylang). Food was expensive and mediocre, despite rave reviews. Didn't eat too much which was good.

Meeting a friend for dinner tonight. Yup, I'm out eating again. It's 10.30am - too early to decide where we'll go tonite.

Eating out is great! I think I will take your advice and just say NO!

Had japanese ramen at Ajisen for dinner last night. Food was good but there's way too much sodium. Love that spicy miso ramen.

Tonight, it's dinner at mom'. Another round of feasting!! Mom always cook good food.

I'm giving my mp3 player to mom tonight. Have already transferred my music and loaded all the songs mom wanted into the mp3 player.

Labour Day is this Sun, 1 May so we get a 3-day weekend! DH has to work on Mon 'cos he's following the US hols. I'll be going out with friends when he works.

do you try to influence your friends to go japanese when choosing a restaurant for lunch or dinner? i always try to, it's much less sinful than other types of places like fish and co, swensons, kenny rogers etc. sometimes i think my friends are starting to avoid asking me out cos of this, hehee....

Gygor: Thanks for stopping by. I basically eat anything I want/like with my friends. I just try to eat less carbs & more ingredients (less fried food). I love trying new food so I would usually take 1 or 2 pcs to try.

Thank goodness it's Friday! 3-day weekend! Yipee!

Wed night's dinner was at mom's. She made this really delicious beef noodles soup. Simple yet so tasty! And I had fruits like mango and jambu.

Last nite, I had sushi for dinner. 5 makis to be exact .. is that too many?

Meeting DH for dinner tonight. I wonder what we'll have ...

Hey Chinadoll,
long time since i stopped in to say hi, so here i am :)
Good to see yoy see travelling along nicely.
What is jambu?
hugs bell :)

Here's a pix of Jambu. I eat them plain, sliced up & chilled. Others may eat them with dark soy sauce & cut red chilli.

Happy Labour Day, everyone!

Yesterday, DH & I went to Johor Bahru, Malaysia to shop for the afternoon. Met a colleague at the customs. Started at Plaza Pelangi, Holiday Plaza then City Square. While at Plaza Pelangi, I spotted my fave shoe shop, NOSE. I was surprised & excited to see that store 'cos I thought it was only available in Kuala Lumpur. So I happily shop away & bought 5 pairs of shoes. It was a good trip!

thanks for the jambu info. i have never heard of them here.
5 pairs of shoes!!!!!!!!!! how many feet do you have :)
hugs bell :)

Bell: You're so funny! :laugh: I love shopping for shoes!

Yesterday, I finally got off my butt and walked on the treadmill for 30 mins. Not very much but it's a start. I'm going to try to do more of this .. this time, I am determine to exercise more. I know I keep saying I'm going to exercise and end up not doing any.

Had a hard time waking up this morning. It really helps drinking some good coffee.

Told my colleague about the shoe shop & she's planning to go to M'sia in 3 weeks (when we have another long weekend). She loves the shoes at that shop too.

Hello ChinaDoll! :)
Thanks for visiting my journal.
Enjoy your new shoes!

Emilda Marcos lives.....I bet you got them for a real good price too. :)

Hi ChinaDoll!
Came to wish you a good day! :hop:

Jumpsoda: You're so funny!

Aria: tks for stopping by!

Happy Mother's Day. Tonight I'll be celebrating Mother's Day with the family. We're heading to one of the hotels to have dinner.

Managed to get some exercise done over the weekend. 45 mins on the treadmill yesterday.

It's rainy season. I prefer sunshine but it's been getting really hot these days so the rain is good. It just stopped raining after 14 hours!

Have a great day !!! :spring:

Have been feeling under the weather lately. Started with a bad sore throat (could feel it going towards the painful stage) and runny nose. So on Mon, I started drowning myself with lots of liquid (water, fruit juice & cooling tea). It worked a little and yesterday, it felt better. Unfortunately, yesterday I didn't drink as much as I should be drinking so today, my throat is 80% well but I still need to drink more water & cooling tea. Still got that runny nose but once that sore throat recovers, it's not so bad.

Got this cooling tea from one of the herbal shops. It's quite yummy actually. It's got chrysathemum flowers & mulberry leaves. It's also sweet, not bitter.

Staying off exercise until I recover. Hopefully this weekend, I can re-start again. I don't want to stay away from exercise for too long until I get lazy again.

Hi ChinaDoll, hope you feel better soon! :lily:

Chinadoll I got ( still have a little bit ) of a nasty throat/cough bug and took tons of garlic pills - when i was sweating I did not even want to be around myself lol :)

Hope you feel better really soon !

Beth :dance:

Thank goodness it's Friday! It's 2pm and I'm longing for my bed. I always feel sleepy after lunch, not dinner. 3.5 hrs to go .. the countdown starts now.

I'm all better now. That cooling tea of mulberry & chrysathemum really helps. Took me 3 days to recover from the sore throat completely. The last resort would be icy cold beer but I am really trying to avoid using alcohol as a healing treatment.

This morning, we waited for the UPS guy to show up but he didn't. We had to leave at 11am and he was supposed to arrive sometime in the morning. In the end, he came by at 1pm but we had left home already. Aargh! DH ordered something and he was really looking forward to getting it today.

We had to leave to attend DH's grandma's 1 yr death anniversary the family was holding. It involved this elaborated ceremony of displaying this hugh grand paper house with paper servants (the size of a storeroom) & a paper mercedes w/ a paper driver in it and having these taoist priests chant in front of this & this table of food while the family members sat on the floor with 3 sticks of burning incense observing solemnly. As I'm a christian, I didn't partake in this ceremony and sat aside to watch. The priests were chanting in hokkien, one of the chinese dialect and I text messaged DH to ask what he was saying. DH replied that he had no idea and I could tell that he was bored sitting there. When the chanting finished, we broke for lunch. After lunch, the family were going to transport that hugh paper house & stuff somewhere to burn it and DH said "let's get out of here".

I am always so impressed with how you manage to respect others and yet never compromise your own beliefs :)

Happy your feeling better ! :D

Beth :dance:

Hey there China Doll ... glad to hear that you are feeling better. 5 pair of shoes huh.... Sounds like a good deal. :) I hope you enjoyed your weekend. I am not surprised about UPS.... same way here in the states... sometimes we will see them outside and they do not come up to the apt... but when we check online to track our package it says 'delivery attempt, no one home' ya right... they are sort of lazy here....

Take care, and thanks for keeping up with me... appreciate the visits.

Night.

Today's a public holiday, celebrating Vesak Day for all Buddhist devotees.

We're planning to go to USA-Canada at the end of the year and I'm working out which cities to visit. It's so exciting 'cos I love planning the itinery and have been trying to persuade DH to travel free & easy rather than buying a package tour.

Diet-wise: still trying.

Since Mar, my weight has been hovering between 132 and 136. I'm happy to report that I'm at 131.5 lbs today!

The quest to eat less started on Tue and continued since. So I hope this goes well, esp with the weekend starting.

Have a good weekend, everyone!

Wishing you luck with your new "quest" ChinaDoll!
Great job, so far! :)

Thanks Aria!

Today we went out shopping and DH got me some makeup. I got a lip gloss, blusher & eye liner from Clinique. It came with a free gift too.

way to go on your weight loss ! :cheer:

Beth :dance:

Beth: thanks for cheering me on .. honestly, losing weight is hard work! I really got to be discipline & consistent!

Just send DH off to the airport. He's off to Europe for a 2-weeks business trip. :c( I wish I can go 'cos I've never been to Europe but this business trip was a last min mgmt decision and there's not enough time for me to get ready. As usual, I've packed my weekly night schedule with activities so there's no time for me to miss him too much.

Ate a bit too much today so am quite worried about how much I'll weigh tomorrow morning.

DH arrived safely and has checked into the hotel. It was a long flight of 14 hours but travelling business class would make it less stressful.

This evening, I'm off to eat Indian food with a friend. It's a new place we are trying so hope it's good. Got to watch the carbs intake!!

Hi ChinaDoll! :)
Sorry you will miss your DH but it sounds like you have organized yourself so you won't be too bored.

14 hours what a ride! I hope you enjoyed the Indian place....carbs are sooooo hard to restrict. It seems everything is loaded with them.

Enjoy the weekend... Take care.

Dinner last night was very good. Had indian food - garlic naan + tandoori chicken + masala chicken tikka + raita (yogurt w/ chopped onions & tomatoes). I also had tea cino (milk tea).

Tonight, it's mediterranean food!! I love trying new kinds of food.

Sounds like NYC...lol.. You can get just about any food you want here.... I love it. Enjoy!

Hello ChinaDoll! :)
What's up?

Thank goodness it's Friday! 4 hours to go and I'm out of here!

I haven't been good in my eating so the weight is the same. For the past 2 weeks, DH had gone to Europe for business. I took the chance to fill every evening with some kind of event like having dinner with friends and spa treatments. On weekends, I took the chance to go to a nearby Indonesian island called Batam with friends. By the time he returns, I was exhausted from my late nights.

These days, I've been eating indian food again. Here's pix from Wed's dinner with friends. Tempting, isn't it?

That looks soooo good !!!

I am a big fan of Indian food...

Hello ChinaDoll, how are you?
I have been on a rampage of homemade Thai food lately (with the help of canned coconut milk, fish sauce etc.)
My family is welcoming the change, lol.