A Triumph of the Human Spirit

I want to share some casual news with you right now.

As you may now, I have been trying to lose weight since I was about 13 when one of my family friend's said to my mother (in Chinese in a masked effort to conceal it from me), "J has a very solid build."

This is perhaps the worst thing you can ever say in front of a 13 year old girl in the midst of puberty. She even looked over with a sly smile at me like I couldn't understand. Excuse me, I may not be able to speak Chinese but I can pretty much follow any conversation in at least two dialects.

As you can imagine, the trauma inflicted upon me from this situation is something that I've carried with me for over seven years now. I've made efforts to lose weight in the past but have never been successful. In fact, most of the time, exercising has made me put on weight (I put on about 2kg the year I started doing weights regularly).

People have always said that losing weight is 80% diet, 20% exercise. I wish it was the other way around because I can exercise if I want to. Giving up the food I love (daily biscuits, single spoonfuls of ice cream that eventually amount to two bowls, as many carbs as I can fit into my mouth at any one time) is something I've never even tried. Okay, maybe for about a month between first and second year uni, I started eating salads for lunch. Great! Not so great because I rewarded my healthy lunches with a two biscuit dessert straight after.

The point of this rant is that I've successfully lost 4kg since making a sincere effort about two months ago. This is the first time I've ever lost weight in my entire life. Since I was born, I've consistently put on weight (that's not even an exaggeration. In fact, I was the biggest fatty ever when I was a baby and put on around 10kg in 1.5 years. Shocking).

I stopped eating snacks except for fruit and the occasional nut (or several nuts). I stopped eating chocolate after dinner. I started running more. I started going to bed hungry every now and then (I know that sounds foul and disgusting as fuck but it's not. I was only hungry because I was too used to eating too much. After I adjusted, I started feeling less hungry). I began to enjoy having a flat(ish) stomach in the morning and not getting bloated in the evenings. I became obsessed with yoghurt (pseudo-healthy).

I feel good now. I actually feel hungry when I sit down to eat a meal instead of full from the Tim Tams I ate 20 minutes ago. I still go crazy at parties and gatherings where there is a sumptuous feast involved (I think I was responsible for eating about 50% of the food circulating at the twins' party the other night) but eating healthy the rest of the time makes me appreciate it more.

So there's that. I'm quite pleased with myself (she said smugly).

J