Where I am today

Back to Square One.  I tried to be good by bringing my own lunch and pack salads but I have yet loose any poundage.  May be it's the middle age thing where formation of belly fat starts to get out of control.
I am very proud that I have not had any coffee for over 1 week now.  I thought I would drop at least a couple of pounds from not drinking coffee.  I drank green tea every morning instead of coffee.  I was reminded how caffeine isn't all that favorable to middle age women in so many ways.  Green tea was suppose to help me stay calm but I was having caffeine withdrawal headaches and people were getting on my nerves.
The only thing I can do is to start clean eating on Monday.   I really need to either get another polar watch or get an app that is able to read my heart rate and tell me how many calories I am burning.  I want to start posting calories burned to make my self accountable.
Next week's plan:

1. Drink 8 glasses of water/day minimum
2. Bring lunch 4 out of 5 days. (Salad with protein: fish or chicken)
3. Eat 6 small meals/ day
4. Workout 3 times/week minimum
5. Meditate 5 min/day am or pm

I read that I'm suppose to respect the body that I have today.  Thank you body for keeping me going for all these years.  I will do my best to listen to you and not ignore the pain signals you are sending me.  I love my body no matter what the scale says???

Happy 4th of July

This morning I was annoyed that my polar was not reading my heart rate at the beginning of Cardio core and more.  By the middle of the class, it flew off my wrist so I just stuffed in my bra.
It stayed put with all the star jacks and air jacks that I was doing.
I was dripping with sweat and by the end of class polar showed 250 cal.  I took kickboxing after and hit 618 total for 1: 45 min workout.

I was super hungry after the workout so had a bowl of non-paleo Korean instant  spicy noodle with eggs for breakfast.  I promised to drink extra water to flush out all the MSG I consumed.

Time to hang out with the family and chill in this hot weather.

Cardio/Weights: 618 cal.

Back to basic: H2O

As I've been straying away from healthy eating and drinking, I am slowly finding my way back to healthy life style and found this lovely article from Web MD on benefits of water.

It is amazing how this simple yet powerful molecule H2O is responsible for so many great things for our mind and body.  I've yet reached my goal of drinking 64oz per day but slowly inching my way to the goal.

6-reasons-to-drink-water

Key excerpt from the article

Here are six reasons to make sure you're drinking enough water or other fluids every day:

1.  Drinking Water Helps Maintain the Balance of Body Fluids. Your body is composed of about 60% water. The functions of these bodily fluids include digestion, absorption, circulation, creation of saliva, transportation of nutrients, and maintenance of body temperature.  "Through the posterior pituitary gland, your brain communicates with your kidneys and tells it how much water to excrete as urine or hold onto for reserves," says Guest, who is also an adjunct professor of medicine at Stanford University. When you're low on fluids, the brain triggers the body's thirst mechanism. And unless you are taking medications that make you thirsty, Guest says, you should listen to those cues and get yourself a drink of water, juice, milk, coffee -- anything but alcohol.  "Alcohol interferes with the brain and kidney communication and causes excess excretion of fluids which can then lead to dehydration," he says. 
2. Water Can Help Control Calories. For years, dieters have been drinking lots of water as a weight loss strategy. While water doesn't have any magical effect on weight loss, substituting it for higher calorie beverages can certainly help.  "What works with weight loss is if you choose water or a non-caloric beverage over a caloric beverage and/or eat a diet higher in water-rich foods that are healthier, more filling, and help you trim calorie intake," says Penn State researcher Barbara Rolls, PhD, author of The Volumetrics Weight Control Plan.  Food with high water content tends to look larger, its higher volume requires more chewing, and it is absorbed more slowly by the body, which helps you feel full. Water-rich foods include fruits, vegetables, broth-based soups, oatmeal, and beans. 
3. Water Helps Energize Muscles. Cells that don't maintain their balance of fluids and electrolytes shrivel, which can result in muscle fatigue. "When muscle cells don't have adequate fluids, they don't work as well and performance can suffer," says Guest. Drinking enough fluids is important when exercising. Follow the American College of Sports Medicine guidelines for fluid intake before and during physical activity. These guidelines recommend that people drink about 17 ounces of fluid about two hours before exercise. During exercise, they recommend that people start drinking fluids early, and drink them at regular intervals to replace fluids lost by sweating.
4.  Water Helps Keep Skin Looking Good. Your skin contains plenty of water, and functions as a protective barrier to prevent excess fluid loss. But don't expect over-hydration to erase wrinkles or fine lines, says Atlanta dermatologist Kenneth Ellner, MD. "Dehydration makes your skin look more dry and wrinkled, which can be improved with proper hydration," he says. "But once you are adequately hydrated, the kidneys take over and excrete excess fluids."You can also help "lock" moisture into your skin by using moisturizer, which creates a physical barrier to keep moisture in. 
5. Water Helps Your Kidneys. Body fluids transport waste products in and out of cells. The main toxin in the body is blood urea nitrogen, a water-soluble waste that is able to pass through the kidneys to be excreted in the urine, explains Guest. "Your kidneys do an amazing job of cleansing and ridding your body of toxins as long as your intake of fluids is adequate," he says. When you're getting enough fluids, urine flows freely, is light in color and free of odor. When your body is not getting enough fluids, urine concentration, color, and odor increases because the kidneys trap extra fluid for bodily functions. If you chronically drink too little, you may be at higher risk for kidney stones, especially in warm climates, Guest warns.
6. Water Helps Maintain Normal Bowel Function. Adequate hydration keeps things flowing along your gastrointestinal tract and prevents constipation. When you don't get enough fluid, the colon pulls water from stools to maintain hydration -- and the result is constipation. "Adequate fluid and fiber is the perfect combination, because the fluid pumps up the fiber and acts like a broom to keep your bowel functioning properly," says Koelemay.

5 Tips to Help You Drink More

If you think you need to be drinking more, here are some tips to increase your fluid intake and reap the benefits of water:

1. Have a beverage with every snack and meal.
2. Choose beverages you enjoy; you're likely to drink more liquids if you like the way they taste.
3. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Their high water content will add to your hydration. About 20% of our fluid intake comes from foods.
4. Keep a bottle of water with you in your car, at your desk, or in your bag.
5. Choose beverages that meet your individual needs. If you're watching calories, go for non-caloric beverages or water.

Tuesday workout

I start to use my polar watch again as my personal trainer and to make sure I burn 500 calories minimum per workout.  At the end of kickboxing class, I only burned 400 cal.  I jumped on the stair climber for 10 min or so and hit my goal.
Total cal burned: 572 but it took me 1:40 min to do it.
Post workout meal: roasted chicken with stir fry veggie and some watermelon for dessert.
As far as eating at work: I ate my home made lunch 2 days in a row and did not drink any coffee.
Baby steps one day at a time.

Creature of Habits

We all are creatures of habits and I am working towards to create some good ones that helps me with my goal weight.
Weight management is 80% diet and 20% exercise, I need to focus on changing my eating habits to reach my goal.  One gal posted on the internet that she lost 10 lbs following the Paleo diet.

Eat:

• Grass-produced meats
• Fish/seafood
• Fresh fruits and veggies
• Eggs
• Nuts and seeds
• Healthful oils (Olive, walnut, flaxseed, macadamia, avocado, coconut)

Don’t eat:

• Cereal grains
• Legumes (including peanuts)
• Dairy
• Refined sugar
• Potatoes
• Processed foods
• Salt
• Refined vegetable oils

I will need to look into it further but cutting out sugar and starch is typical.  Allowing fruits is good and veggies has always been the common theme for healthy eating.

Time for change: Continuous improvement for the mind and body

My polar watch strap broke a month ago so I have not been tracking how many calories I burn and just went by how I feel.  Today, I decided to use my heart rate monitor since I could place it on the bike when I cycle.  I learned that in Ron's class, my heart rate doesn't go any higher than 156 bpm and I burnt only 370 cal in that class.  Back in the days when I took Dave's class, I burned in the range of 550 to 600/ class. This could be because I did not have enough resistance on my bike or my heart rate is lower now that I am older.
During body pump class, I was really bothered by my belly hanging out when I was doing deep swats.  There's no hiding of the muffin top effect when the weigh gain occurs in the mid section of the body. I was able to hide it with workout clothes but when my belly is hanging out as much as the pregnant lady behind me, I need to change the way I eat.
I lost 15 lbs back in July 2010 and  I've been slowly gain the weight back since.  As of today, 3 years later,  I gained back almost 12 lbs of those 15 lbs.
I tried joining the biggest looser at work as motivator for weight lost in February but I only lost 4 lbs in 3 months.
It's amazing to see the transformation of one girl in the gym lost 25 lbs in 6 months.  She inspired me to get back on track.
Today is the beginning of my eating healthy/getting back to my goal weight.

Strategy for week one 6/30/13.

1. Increase water intake: I've been drinking coffee instead of water.  Some days I drink may be 12 oz at work and 12 oz at home so must get back on track by drinking more water or tea.  Goal: 72 oz/day
2. Bring my own lunch 4 out of 5 days of the week.  Better portion control when I bring my own food instead of eating out. Kale salad, dinner left overs etc...
3. Target calorie intake to be 1500/ day
4. Eat brown rice instead of white rice: It doesn't taste as good so I eat less of it.
5. Increase activities:  Currently 3 hrs/week so will increase to 4 hrs/week for week one.  Calorie goal: 600 cal/workout so total output goal: 2400 cal/week.
6. Make my self accountable by posting my calorie burn.

Sunday's workout sets the stage for the whole week.  The fact that it's July 4th weekend, I will be able to workout at least 4-5 times.

WOD:

• Cycle & Body pump: 682 cal.

Who wants to join me in this journey to weight loss?

Father's Day weekend written in June 2008

On Friday, hubby and I attended Danielle's singing performance. I attended the same function a year ago when she was a 1st grader and I noticed a big difference in their understanding of music and notes within 1 year.
We stayed home for the 1st time ever during Father's day. Typically we would visit both our dads and take them out to eat. This year, hubby's dad went up to LA to celebrate with my brother inlay and my dad is so concern about gas prices that he said to celebrate next weekend when we plan to celebrate my nephew's birthday. I had menstrual crap after coming home from cycling so all I want to do is lay in bed and rest. It's interesting how I was fine when I was exercising but after showered I started to feel pain. We got free HBO previews for the weekend so the kids watched part of the "Night at the Museum" Once the pain subsided, we went to Costco and bought some Carne Asada and salad for dinner. Secondo liked it but Danielle stuck with her chicken nuggets.
Danielle, at the age of 8 does not wanting to tag along with her parents anymore. She said that she wanted to stay home and play with her friends and that going to Costco was boring and a waste of her time. After laying down the law of that she's not allowed to stay home on her own, we all got in the car and went.
 On Saturday morning, I took Danielle out for a jog. The goal was to go 5 miles but she did 2 miles of jogging and walking. We ended our exercise at the supermarket close to home, eating breakfast and she told me how nice it was not having Secondo around. Secondo tends misbehave or interrupt Danielle just to get attention and I can tell that Danielle is tired of it. I should plan the weekend so I spend some alone time with each of my child and hubby.
Secondo is making good progress with doing her #2 business in the potty. I started to have her sleep in her underwear overnight after she had no accident for the last 2 weeks. Last night @ 1PM, she woke me up and said that she has to go and she DID it in the potty. When we went to Costco yesterday, I didn't bring a diaper bag with me. Good bye diapers and so long diaper bags!

Six Sigma Black Belt March 2009

Here is another old post in 2009 that I found interesting.

One of my accomplishment is March is completing the 19 weeks six sigma black belt refresher course and taking the 4 hours exam on March 7th 2009. I'm asking the Universe to make sure that I passed the exam and don't have to go through it again. I'll find out in a week if the other test takers felt the way I felt not so confident about how I did. I'm regaining my 1 night a week back and life goes back to normal state with the family.

Fast forward to March 2013.
I passed the test back in 2009 and had been officially Lean six sigma black belt holder or in the industry LSSBB.  People think I know martial arts but I just tell them I know mental martial arts to help your company function more efficiently with less problems or variation.
I realized now that it is to my best interest to work for a company that truly appreciate the power of lean six sigma.

Good Friday

One of my reader said that he missed my blog so I decided to get a crack at it again, 5 years later. Thank goodness that my company gives us minions good friday off so that I am able to get some rest and personal time before picking up the kids in 2 hours or so. I did my kick boxing and Zumba workout for the day and will spend precious time with my girls and hubby later. This one was an old post that was in cue for grammar editing but never published so enjoy a glimpse from the pass. December 2009 Christmas Celebration with kids Today, I went to Danielle's reading celebration. She was the 1st one who went on the microphone and she did a great job. Her writing had foreshadowing, climax and adjectives that painted a beautiful picture on the day we went canoeing on a lake . It's great to take the day off and get a glimpse of what a typical stayed at home mom get to participate in their children's daily life. Lots of parents baked cookies and some topics were melancholy and some were funny.

Secondo's Christmas singing was fun too. She was all in to hand gestures and sang her heart out. She was so happy to see me in the audience and sang with more energy and oomph. I wish I was a stayed at home mom but I treasure every special moments with my two girls.

Change of heart

I'm currently reading Change of heart by Jodi Picoult and it's not at all what I thought it would be when I saw it at Costco along with her other books. I'm disturbed by the details given by death roll inmates in the story and can't figure out yet if Shay Borne is guilty or innocent.

Summer is almost over

We went back to school shopping yesterday and I can't believe my oldest will be a 4th grader in less than 1 month. Besides weight gains & gray hair, children's key milestones are indicators that I'm not aging gracefully as I had hope to do. OK. enough about me and back to shopping.
We got school supplies, some clothes, & socks for Danielle so Secondo complained that it's not fair that I was buying lots things for her sister and not her. Danielle firmly told Secondo that the purpose of the trip was to buy school supplies for Danielle and Secondo will get to do the same when she's in 1st grade. There are still some items on the list I missed such as

• Hand sanitizer
• Reams of papers
• Graph paper
• Basic calculator

I'm a bit concern about Secondo's confidence in her self because it's being crush on a regular basis by my first born by calling her a baby or teasing her that she can't read or write correctly yet. Before having my 2nd child, I was imagining that with the age difference between the two, the oldest would care more for the younger sister and not be little her at any opportune moments.
I don't recall being that mean to my younger brother.

Mid Feb Update

Happy Birthday President Lincoln!
After reading Sundry and Eclectic, I felt guilty about not keeping my promised of monthly blogging. Being that it's President's day, the kids were snuggling in their own bed when I left them for my morning commuting in the rain to go to work. I so wish I was not working today.
We had a busy weekend celebrating Valentine's day & Danielle's Birthday. I still can't believe my 9 lb 9 oz baby turned 9 years old yesterday. I still remember vividly the night we went to the hospital for induction because she refused to leave my belly on her own term. Now she's an independent young lady who doesn't need me and some times talks back and want to have the last word.
When I went to 99 Ranch market on Saturday for 2 hrs, Secondo had a gum in hair incident. Since hubby was in charge, I wasn't able to get the story from either party. Instead of using peanut butter to remove the gum from her long hair, hubby chopped of 6 inches of hair to remove the gum.
To celebrate her birthday, we had a sleep over with 2 of her best friends. They went to see a hotel for dogs, played games and talked until they drifted off to sleep. Secondo wanted to participate but was kicked out by the older girls who wanted their privacy. Over time, they did include Secondo when they play house where Secondo was their cat name princess. On Sunday, her cousin came over and they played mostly video games.
Danielle has an oral presentation coming up and she hasn't decided on the subject yet. My guess is it will be either about dogs or hamsters
Secondo loves to add "though" at the end of the sentences lately. She'll say "But Mom.. I like to eat ice cream before dinner though." or " I'm too full to eat dinner though". She had her 1st ballet recital in January. She did not do the steps that she rehearsed but it ended in less than 3 minutes. I'm not sure how much she's really learning but she enjoys going to her ballet class.

Christmas is around the corner

I'm delighted to present a new member of the family to you, our 4th hamster Cinnamon, I think that's what her name is.. Mom & Dad bought Danielle a new hamster the day hubby and I went to Camp Pendleton for the mud run. She was really happy, and excited about having a new pet to care for. Our laundry room is again filled with the smell of hamster urine in the air. Danielle's solution is to bring her small portable fan with her when she visits Cinnamon.
We spent Thanksgiving with hubby's family on Thursday and drove to Las Vegas on Friday and spent Thanksgiving with my parents. Traffic was horrible and there were so many people on the streets. I had the impression that we were in resession and people barely have enough money to sustain the basic. Hubby and I ate buffet dinner at the Cravings within Mirage and it was a disappointment. For $35/person, Sushi bar was mainly rice with seaweed and kings crabs were tasteless. Luckily, the seabass was edible and they were serving wonton soup. The casinos & shops were full of people and smoke. We stayed at the Mirage and the kids were happy playing in the hotel room. I realized that Vegas isn't the best place to bring kids or hubby and I. We drove back on Saturday and traffic was bad. It took us 6 hours to get back to the OC. We had pho noodle soup at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant Thanh and the whole bill was about $35.00.

Camp Pendelton Mud run 2008

I participated in the10K group Camp Pendleton mud run with 9 others co-workers last Saturday. Yesterday I was so sore that going up and down stairs was a challenge. Today I'm still sore and not planning to go far from my computer. It was fun and tough so I may not do it next year.

Fall post

I'm sorry about not posting anything lately. I went back to school in September to get my "Lean six sigma greenbelt" certification so time is even more precious now than ever. I hope I'll have more time after November when the class is completed.

What happened after my last entry?

1. Cookie our hamster the third died so Danielle is working hard persuading hubby and I to get her a new one daily & hourly. Hubby came up with a system where Danielle would collect hamster points if she cleans her room and keeps it clean, picks up after her self and sorts her own laundry. When she earns up to 250 Hamster points then we'll bring one home.
   
2. Danielle is in 3rd grade and she's learning multiplication tables at the moment. She's also learning to use the computer. From the back to school night meeting, the teachers told us that our kids will be able to use PowerPoint to present their work by the end of school year. She's also envious of her classmates who have laptops in class to use when she had to share with other class mates using the desktop. I won't spend $2000 for a laptop for a 3rd grader. I asked her to save up her money from Christmas and Chinese new year. Hopefully by the time she's in 5th grade, she'll save enough money to get a laptop. Reading wise, she's reading the Beverly Hills Chihuahua and any dog related books.
   
3. Secondo started preschool this fall in a new school so drop off was a little difficult the 1st 2 weeks. She loves the fact that I pack her lunch in her princess lunch pail. When I asked her what she did in school, she replied: "I went to chapel, ate lunch, go night night and come home" I guess those were the important milestones in a day of a 3 year old. She only wear dresses to school and the weather is getting cold. She's taking ballet class on Saturdays and is really enjoying it.

July is almost over

We went down to San Diego for our mini family vacation this past week. It's a trial experiment with Secondo considering her potty readiness skill is not 100% reliable yet. We brought the potty with us in case she had to go in the middle of the freeway. This had happened to us during a drive home from my parent's home and we had to frantically find a bathroom in an unknown scary neighborhood by freeway.
We went to Legoland on Monday and it was Secondo's 1st trip there. She enjoyed the helicopter, boat and the safari jeep ride. After lunch we hung around the play area before Danielle and I went on to the aquazone. The line was short so we went on it twice. We left the park around 4PM and checked in to the Carlsbad Holiday Inn by the Sea. The hotel looked nice on the website but did not meet my expectation. A more accurate description would be Carlsbad Holiday Inn by the outlet mall. The sea was not visible from the hotel. We grabbed a bite to eat and visited my friend who lives 2 blocks from the beach.
We were lucky enough to catch the sunset and Danielle unwilling posed for my friend. The kids played in the sand and we sat and enjoyed the view.


We stayed until dark and headed back to our hotel.

Secondo and Dora

This picture was taken the day after her birthday. She loves Dora and loves the camera.

This one is taken with natural light. She has her own idea of striking a pose.

Wii Fit

We hooked up our wii fit on Friday and Danielle and I had so much fun exploring the various games. She likes ski jump the best and I like hula hooping. I got sweaty after hula hooping for 10 mins and I can feel my abs working. Yoga is a little tough and running in place with a wii remote control in your back pocket is not fun at all. I haven't try the strength training exercises yet.
I set a goal to loose 5 lbs in 1 month and Danielle's goal is to gain 3 lbs in 1 month. We tried to input Secondo's in the system but she wasn't able to stand still for some of the body tests.

Summer reading

Since Monday, I have not been listening to any book while driving and I felt empty and lonely during my drive to work. If felt as if my carpool partner who read for me was on vacation and I really missed him/her.
Last night after I picked up Danielle from her summer camp, we went to our local library and sign up for Summer reading programs for both of us. When she reads 20 min/day for 6 days, she'll get some special gift from the library. She checked out several books from Chronicles of Narnia and is reading Prince Caspian at the moment.

Summer reading for adults are a little different, I'm required to reading and review4 books tin order to participate in a drawing for goodies. I checked out 3 audio books so far

1. Count Karlstein by Phillip Pullman. I really enjoyed Pullmans dark material series and wanted to read his other works.
   
2. The Sun Also rises by Earnest Hemingway. This is one of the book on "1001 books you must read before you die" list so I'm reading it.
   
3. Purpose driven life (What on earth am I here for?) by Richard Warren. I've seen Richard on PBS while channel surfing and I hope to learn want my purpose on this planet is after listening to this book.
   

Getting back on track

Since the beginning of June, I gone off track of my eating healthy and exercising. I felt unmotivated and didn't really see the point of all the hard work of working out. I tried to exercise at night and that hasn't work either. I discussed the possibility of taking time off from exercise with my co-worker but the result will be back to square one unless I eat extremely strict. I noticed my weight creeping back up already as I stray from healthy eating for the pass 2 weeks. The main reason for my going off track is that I had set a goal weight for my birthday and I wasn't able deliver my present to my self. Not only that I didn't reach my goal, I gained 3 lbs from my lowest weigh in since January so I was very disappointed.
Yesterday, on my birthday, I almost continued with my negative mind set snow ball effect because I didn't feel like going to the gym. I got up @ 6:30AM and watched movies with the kids. We toyed around the idea of going to the beach but hubby wasn't so eager with the idea so I went to the gym like always. Besides, I was feeling fat so didn't want to be seen in a bathing suit.
At the gym, I practiced jump rope and cycled with a substitute, Mary who used to take the class with me. Jump rope is fun but hard on the knees; however, it's one exercise I could do anywhere. I'm glad that I decided to go to the gym and burn off 600 calories. I felt sore and old after the workout.
We ate leftover for lunch, & I took a short nap to let my aging body recover.
After putting the kids to sleep, I stayed up a little late and watched Dr Oz "You on a Diet" program where he helped obese folks reduce their waist line to 35" for men and 32" for women via eating healthy and exercise. The eye opening part of the show was when, he showed his clients the differences between a healthy heart and an obese heart. Healthy heart was the size of my fist and the valves were rubbery and the plumbings were clean. Obese heart was 3 times the size of the healthy heart and there were fat or cholesterol deposits on the wall of the plumbings. He also showed a cross section of a person's body where fat surrounds our internally vital organs ( liver, intestines, etc) that could result to heart attack/death. On his shows, most of them were like me. They were on track for the 1st 3 months and then they went back to their old ways of eating and didn't see any result. Dr Oz said to them that it's OK to have set backs because we will and the important thing is to get back on track. He used the analogy of a GPS system. If we missed our exit, the GPS doesn't chastise us but says to make a U turn on the next legal opportunity. After the show, I went to bed rediscover why I spend my time exercising and what my goal still is. My goal is to reach and maintain 32" waist line by eating healthy and exercise. It's OK to stray from the program as long as I get right back in the next opportunity I have.
Today, I stop chastising my self and I made a U turn this morning by eating a healthy breakfast and packed healthy snacks and lunch.
Today I'm proud that I weigh less than I did a year a go and I also found a Wii fit.