This has been on my mind for a while now ever since I began my balanced diet lifestyle but I’ve been too preoccupied to write it all down. So here it is, my experience with intermittent fasting and reasons it did not work.
I have been on many diets throughout my life – limited-calories diet, low fat diet, low sugar diet, and clean-eating-to-the-extreme diet – so intermittent fasting was just another diet to lose enough weight
View original post 1,399 more words
Good Sunday morning! Welcome to another weekend of #weekendcoffeeshare. Continue reading “#WeekendCoffeeShare: Trying New Things” →
Good Sunday morning and thank you for joining me for this lovely chat. Continue reading “#WeekendCoffeeShare: Last Full Week” →
This week, I am grateful for compliments. Continue reading “Sunday Gratitude” →
This week, I am grateful for competition. Continue reading “Sunday Gratitude” →
This week, I am grateful for prayers. Continue reading “Sunday Gratitude” →
This week, I am grateful for persevering. Continue reading “Sunday Gratitude” →
I’m feeling very anxious. Continue reading “Anxious” →
My weight has always been a big issue for me but it wasn’t until the recent years when it became the problem of my life, the rock that’s keeping me from being happy. Over the past several years, I’ve been trying to get back to the normal weight I’ve had when I first moved to where I am about 5 years ago but the weights just kept piling on.
When I first set foot in the United States 12 years ago, I was 4′ 3″ and weighed 85 pounds. At the time, I was already considered “fat” by my family and my classmates but to people here, I was considered tiny. That made me feel a little better because for once, I wasn’t called fat. However, as the years passed and 6″ later, my weight went up dramatically and it didn’t do me any good. You see, I was born with small veins and because of my Albright’s Syndrome, I have to go get my blood checked every 3 months or so.
With the weight gain, so did the difficulty of drawing blood grew. Last May when I had the surgery in my leg, I was 115 pounds and it took the anesthetist almost 30 minutes to do the IV on me and in the end he still failed. They gave up and had to use gas to knock me out. This was just the beginning. Since then, I gained another 4 or 5 pounds and the last few times I had to do lab work, it took at least 3 technicians before one of them could nail me.
I told my mom about it and she blamed me for not consistently exercising and gain weight. That made me feel even worse than before I told her. To be honest, I’ve always wanted to exercise but due to the pain I suffer in my legs and the lack of motivation, I gave up after a week or so. My mom didn’t motivate me at all. I mean if she had exercised with me and we did some fun activities together, maybe I wouldn’t get so bored and quit. No, we both did our own things and before I knew it, I was about 120 pounds and sitting at home all day doing nothing.
About a month, I finally had an epiphany. I was on my way to my doctor’s appointment, it was 40 degrees out and I had to walk two blocks or so from the bus stop to the clinic. When I finally arrived at the clinic and climbed the two flights of stairs to the doctor’s office, I not only was sweating and breathless but my heart was beating like a helicopter. By the time the nurse called me into the little room, my heart was still pounding and she put that little clip on my finger to check my pulse. It was still 100.
I leaned back in my chair and thought, damn what’s happened to me? I was never so out of breath climbing stairs before. Then I knew that it was time for me to commit to exercising again, to slip back into the routine I had two years ago when my mom made me go exercising everyday.
But how?
I need motivation, a reason to keep going. Then I thought of one, my future. I need to be in better shape in order to find a job, work, and even start a family, maybe. I also thought of writing because writing was the first long-term commitment for me. So I thought if I can keep writing for this long, why not commit to going to the gym for just as long?
Since the end of March, I’ve been committed to go to gym five days a week while taking a break on the weekends and let my muscles rest. Since then, I’ve successfully gone back to the weight I was over a year ago and I’m still on my way to lose more. Now, I’m not only feeling better than before but by exercising, I feel like I’m thinking more clearly and doing better in school.
I can’t believe it. Today is exactly a month from my graduation. I am so excited! Also, in three weeks, I’ll be at last done with school. Wow, how time flies by! I can’t believe it, it’s been 5 years since I first enrolled for my first course, Calculus I. It has not been an easy journey and that includes preparing for graduation.
I applied for graduation more than two months ago and my adviser asked me if I was planned on walking. I wasn’t sure at the time. Then when I asked my mom whether I should attend my graduation ceremony, she was like, “There won’t be anyone attending. Why don’t you wait for your aunt and walk next year?”
I would’ve thought that confirmed my decision because for one thing, I won’t know anyone. Most of the people I know had graduated last year. For another, I cannot beg my mom to go to my graduation ceremony. I remembered the last time I asked her to go, she blamed me afterward because she missed a meeting and didn’t get her promotion. So, this time, I’ve learn my lesson.
However my friend, Laura, insisted that I go, that it was once in a lifetime and that she will go as a support. So now, I have two
voices in my head. One is telling me to do it and the other one was telling me to wait and see if I have another chance in the future. For the past two months or so, those two voices have been battling non-stop that is until two days ago.
My friend, Laura, came over to my home to study. We began talking about the graduation because come on, let’s face it, our brains can get tired and need some time to absorb the knowledge. She showed me pictures of her graduation ceremony from last year. Don’t even ask how she’s still in the same class with me after she graduated, the answer is we had a horrible professor last year.
Anyway, I saw what a big deal it was. By then, that tiny voice that is telling me to go was starting to take over and soon it took over. I began having visions and daydreams of what my graduation ceremony would be like. Then in one breath, I’ve decided. It’s once in a lifetime and I should attend my own graduation. So, today, I have officially purchased my cap and gown and a stole of gratitude for my mom for all her support over the years. I don’t know if she’ll keep it since she’s not sentimental like me but I will still give it to her as a thank you.
To prepare for my momentous day, there are several things I am going to try to achieve in order to fulfill my picture perfect moments.
1. Lose at least 10 pounds. At this moment, I’ve already successfully lost 2 pounds and since my mom left for her training 
yesterday, I have put myself on a diet where I do a protein shake in the morning, a light lunch (maybe), and a light dinner as well as an average 500 calories loss in exercise daily. I think if I have an important goal, I can probably stick to it.
2. Buy a dress and new pair of shoes. I think since I now have paychecks, I can afford to buy myself a more age appropriate dress and a pair of high heels but at the same time, I can’t get something that is over $50 since I’m still saving up to buy a car.
3. Beautify my appearance. Right now, my face is breaking out for some unknown reason. I’ve been using astringent every night and it gets better but somewhere else would start breaking out. I don’t know what to do about it. I have these white spots that’s popping up all over my nose area. I guess when the time comes, I’ll just have to cover it with makeup.
Now, a question for my readers, yesterday, an email was sent to me saying Commencement is May 1 and Convocation is May 2. I’m not sure what it means. Can anyone tell me what’s the difference between Commencement and Convocation and do I need to go to both?
Thanks for reading!
This is Another Story