whatisatreadmill

[whatisatreadmill]

tell me more, tell me more.

I mentioned in my previous blog post that my bff decided to start going to the gym and did so on the 11th. What I didn't mention, is what I did on that same day.

My 94 year old Aunt had a visitor that day-- her 90 year old cousin in law. Well, I'm not sure if that is the proper relationship tag, since their husbands are cousins.

After our 90 year old aunt left, decided to go out for a bit to withdraw some cash.

And then visit a nearby art gallery which is also a fashion and food hub. Of some sort.

Had their caesar salad, a bite of a burger, fries that it came with and half of a serving of a steak meal.

I didn't get to take a photo of the salad, but for something that is supposed to be a healthy option, this had so much mayo the plate it was served in was still covered in it after we finished it. (see plate above steak)

After getting home, I felt quite queasy. It's not the first time I've experienced something like this. This has happened to me before when I used to eat salad (with fruit-based vinaigrette) for all my meals for like a month or several weeks. When I ate a burger after that (and I'm not talking about fast food chain burgers here, I'm saying a gourmet one, and it's not a new restaurant I'm trying, I've had it before), I felt like I needed to vomit.

But, food is food. Spent 1,175 PHP ($23.16) for that meal, so we would like to keep it in.

Took a nap, with hopes that I'll feel a lot better later on.

I did not.

Had some mango prepared by my sister.

Skipped dinner cos I felt like I won't be able to keep it in.

Ended up throwing up the mangoes I ate just minutes after.

The next day the queasy feeling still didn't let off. I felt sick the whole day.

[whatisatreadmill]

but you don't go to the gym, right?

This was the question my best friend asked me after learning I was doing the 1200 calorie meal plan.

"No, I do." I replied.

She had a certain facial expression, a hint of surprise... And then nonchalantly continued browsing items at Daiso.

A day later, she sent a message on the Facebook thread we use with our other friends-- she found a branch of my gym near her place.

She was also planning to sign up.

I was excited for her. And it made me happy that without even trying to talk her into it, without me telling her that she should also start going to the gym, I inspired her to start leading a healthier lifestyle.

I was debating whether I should bring my dinner to meet her that day or not. Gotta say I'm glad I did.

BFFs. Best Fit Friends. 😁Haters gonna say it's Photoshopped. Photoshop? What do you mean I photoshoped our heads on to these fit bodies? This is au naturel.

Okay I admit, I used photoshop. But isn't it so natural you can't even point which parts were edited?

(Joy's picture by me, my picture by my friend Angel, fit bodies from Google)

So came the afternoon of the 11th of January. My bff has met a new enemy.

Also kept bugging her to send a first day selfie.

Hopefully, our journey and its outcome would inspire more of our friends to join us in a lifestyle change. Each of us are foodies, our activity preferences usually align all the time-- that's why we all go well together, but we can't force anyone to do something they're not really up for. I would want them to decide the change by themselves.

We hope to workout together soon. But for now, we'll be at our own home gyms, increasing stamina and strength. Feroz!

CONNECT WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM: @WHATISATREADMILL

[whatisatreadmill]

1200 calories? we don't know her.

It's the 9th of January 2020. Yesterday, I met my bff and together with my little sister, they played "Devils!" to my 1200 calorie diet.

Me:

My bff:

My 400 calorie dinner on a bag I'm holding with my left hand:

So, yesterday... January 8, my childhood best friend Joy was in the area near my residence. She was supposed to meet her cousin for a package, a cousin who she discovered, happens to still be away. The guard at the condominium building didn't allow her to leave her package there due to a policy, so she had to stay in the area and wait until her cousin gets back home. It was almost lunch time when she texted, and I was having lunch when I replied.

We agreed to meet after I'm finished with lunch, and while waiting for me she booked a full body massage at Nuat Thai.

The mall was just a 5 minute walk from home, so when I got there she was still having her session.

I did a little window shopping for workout wear. My sister texted me that she's already home from work, so I invited her to come over if she feels like it. I waited for her at Uniqlo and when she got there, we visited several other stores to check out their athletic wear.

We met my best friend near the escalator afterwards, did a bit more window shopping and then went to Starbucks Reserve to get some food in.

I didn't take pictures (photo above from Google) but I had a grande size of the drink pictured above, and equally shared a cinnamon danish and custard pie with my sister.

After hanging out and after my best friend left to meet with her cousin, my sister and I went to get some groceries, and then went home.

I ate the pre-made dinner from the program at around 11PM.

There isn't really much to say about stressing yourself out or concerning yourself about going beyond what is in your plan at times. I was initially planning to strictly stick to the meal plan, however if I did, then I wouldn't have enjoyed my best friend's company as much as I did. So while trying to lead a much more healthier lifestyle, it is also important to know that it's okay to indulge at times, for the sake of your sanity and relationships.

It's not like you're doing it everyday. It's not like you're regaining everything that you lost if you have that one meal or snack.

CONNECT WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM: @WHATISATREADMILL

[whatisatreadmill]

did i just sasha braus half a sack of rice?

A sack of rice weighs 50 kgs. I used to weigh 44 kgs. Now I'm 21 kgs heavier.

*Sorry, I need to adjust that. It's just that I forget that I recently lost 5kgs.*

Back in the day, I yearned to gain some weight. I remember how during my Senior year in College, a clinical instructor of a junior class, who I never interacted with, and who also happens to be the mother of my male friend from high school (just same circle, we're not very close. Never met his mom until that day and I doubt his mom knew who I was) approached me just to say "You're so skinny. Does your mother feed you?!"

I cannot believe someone who is about 30 years older than me can be so... lacking.

I mean, why bring my Mom into it to get a point across? I know it, it's a fact, I'm very skinny.

YES MY MOM FEEDS ME A LOT.

THERE'S A LOT OF FOOD IN MY HOUSE THAT EVEN WHEN FRIENDS COME OVER THERE ARE STILL A LOT OF LEFTOVERS.

I OVEREAT MOST OF THE TIME.

I CAN EAT MORE FOOD THAN YOUR SON IN ONE SITTING.

MY MOM PRIORITIZES HER CHILDREN'S NEEDS OVER HERS

If I were anything like her, I would've replied with something like,

but my parents raised us to be polite, to be respectful and to show kindness even to the ignorant. So I just smiled at her.

You may be wondering how skinny I was back then. Actually, pictures don't do justice. You know how photos add several pounds? Consider that when going through the following photographs.

2001

I'm the tallest girl in this group, standing 3rd from the right. Holding the large trophy. I was around 46 kgs.

2006

With my friend Joan for Board Exam review to get our Professional Licenses. I got skinnier than when I was in high school, I mean we were fresh out of hell College. As you may notice, my nose and mouth looks a little too big for my face. I was that skinny back then. Did I mention this was taken just months after graduating from the netherworld College? I did? Okay. This was me at 44 kgs.

2011

Will you look at those arms. I think it's a similar size with my sister's, even though I'm several inches taller than her. Two years before this, I started craving for oreos every day. So I would eat a pack (the log one) a day. And if that's not enough, then I open another log and leave half of it for the next day. I've reached the 50+ kgs here.

2018

Here I am around Christmas time back in 2018 with my high school friends family (and sister, in a beanie) for our traditional Christmas dinner. As you may have noticed, my face is rounder, chubbier and my nose and mouth a lot smaller in comparison to my face. This is after years of being a foodie, with no exercise. This is me at my heaviest, 65 kgs.

2019

It's January 2020, so these were taken just weeks ago, during our annual Christmas dinner. I'm around 60 kgs in these images.

Hopefully by next Christmas, I'll be a little bit lighter, and a lot more healthier.

CONNECT WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM: @WHATISATREADMILL

[whatisatreadmill]

why are you not eating? you should eat. devils!

This is probably my most favorite sketch from the Korean show, Gag Concert. I used to mimic them doing their punchline, "DEVILS!!!" and had not only once told my sister about the episode where they talked about people who go on diets.

I didn't know, years down the line that I will be the victim and my younger sister will do exactly as the three red-horned comedians did.

(DEVILS. Gag Concert, KBS World)

Other than going on a 1200 calorie diet, I also timed my meals to fall within the 16:8 time plan for intermittent fasting. What's weird is that eating four meals (breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner) gave me hunger pangs, which I didn't really get much before even when I only ate once or twice a day.

So, by 7 o'clock I felt very hungry. I decided to just drink water, and when that didn't suffice, made some tea.

But that didn't help much either. If anything, it made the grumbling stronger.

What's worse is that my sister decided she'll reward herself today for working hard with a meal...

From McDonald's.

Since she's not really well versed with online delivery, I had to submit the order for her. She ordered things I would usually eat.

And then when she started eating her meal, as the smell of hot fries whiffed through the air, my hunger pangs worsened, and I, too, longed for the feeling of fries being gnashed between my teeth.

Of course, I restrained myself.

Successfully.

For about 10 minutes.

My sister kept offering the fries to me, bringing the box nearer to wherever I sat.

"You should eat. It's not much anyway."

I grabbed one fry between my thumb and index finger, and then immediately let it go on the cover of my sister's spaghetti meal.

She took the fry, looked me in the eye and without a moment's pause, munched on it.

Like a devil on that Korean gag show.

She then said it's fine, it's not a lot of calories anyway.

(Reader, I know at this point you're still rooting for me. But I'm just so hungry I gave in. I thought, well... it's the first day anyway. I'm still adjusting to it and I'm suffering from severe hunger pangs.) I had some fries, maybe about 10 pcs and then opened a bag of organic carrot chips, which was among the contents of a "bayong" gift of farm goodies we received last Christmas.

My hunger was appeased. For a while.

As the night deepened, I felt hungrier. I just want more food. Any food. It's not a craving, it's true hunger.

But then i just slept on it.

The next day, which is today... Is the second day of the 1200 calorie plan. I think I'm doing a lot better than yesterday. And I also believe I've found the reason for my hunger pangs.

It's probably just hyperacidity, from the tea.

CONNECT WITH ME ON INSTAGRAM: @WHATISATREADMILL

[whatisatreadmill]

do I need to run on a treadmill?

It's January 7 and I thought it would be a good idea to create a tumblr, tracking my struggles in eating clean and exercising. I already created an instagram dedicated to this, but IG can only handle so much words on the caption, if there's anything else then I will have to add it on as a comment. And then comment on my comment, which is quite sad, really.

(If, the updates on here doesn't continue, then I most probably got too lazy and stuck with the gram.)

And so, here we are. But is there really anything else to write about?

I created my IG with the same handle (@whatisatreadmill) on January 2 this year. That was the day there were just too many people at the gym, probably to realize their New Year's resolution. I planned to create the account on January 1st but I forgot. So that's where my IG updates started.

But, my relationship with the gym started way before that. I signed up for the gym on November 2019, just days before my birthday. You may be wondering why I suddenly went coocoo and signed the contract. Old age? *nods* Well, I have my reasons, a combination of things I won't share and things I would be willing to share.

For the latter, I just realized that I'm not getting any younger, climbing a flight of stairs is starting to feel like a task. Also, eating a box of oreos a day and eating things that I just felt like eating isn't doing my body any favor. A stubborn pillow of fat below my navel is proof that the days of eating 3 heaping plates (yes you read that right, large plates, not cups) of rice for one meal without gaining any weight and effortlessly maintaining my 44kg weight for my 5'6" height are long gone. Yes, back in my early 20s, overeating was my game, and I enjoyed it fully knowing that no matter how much I ate, I will still be underweight.

Now, a decade later, my age unfindable on the calendar, I finally reached 65 kgs. Yes, it was still within the normal weight for my height, but I felt sluggish and my body processes are just out of whack. I didn't even notice. The only time I realized i gained so much weight was when my sister took a photo of me from the side, while I was sitting at a Food Court with her and looking through my phone. I had two chins! A group photo with my friends also showed how much wider my face has become. I thought, well, I can continue living like this and surpass the limit of my BMI, or make changes.

So, I started going to the gym at least 3 times a week. But the Christmas season came and there's just so many yummy food to eat, and as a foodie I really enjoy my food... so I just ate in moderation and exercised as much as I can.

When they weighed me on my first day at the gym, my InBody test said I was 64 kgs (precisely 141.5 lbs)

A month later, the scale at home revealed I am now down to 60 kgs (well, sometimes 59, sometimes 61.) With just an increase in my activity through exercise, even without starting a change of diet, I was able to shed off some pounds.

BUT yesterday, things just got serious. Yesterday marked the first day of the 1200 calorie meal plan I signed up for last December. So since yesterday, I am doing the 1200 calorie diet.

I'm not saying I did really well. I mean, more about that on my next post.

So, for baseline data, below are the numbers of my InBody Evaluation.

MY INBODY SCORES (NOV 10, 2019):

I was told by the first coach I met that even though my BMI is within normal range, my body fat is above normal (this is already adjusted with consideration of my gender). They said they don't usually base the fitness evaluation on the BMI but on the PBF, which is the percentage of my body fat, and as the result shows, mine is above the normal range.

My visceral fat is also higher than average, and i have very low SMM (Skeletal Muscle Mass). This girl doesn't have much muscles on her even though my youngest sister used to call me Popeye (cos I'm good at opening screw cap bottles)

Because of this, the initial goal of my weight loss plan is to build some muscles so that I can later on handle other exercises added to my regimen.