I Know Why They Call it a Struggle

Why is it SOO hard to avoid unhealthy foods? How do some people have it so much easier? I see people here who never eat unhealthy stuff. Actually, that counts for most of the people in my office. The pregnant woman next to me munches on a banana in the morning, and an apple in the afternoon. At lunch in the cafeteria she gets her rice and veggies. For dinner, she usually gets rice, veggies, and some kind of meat for protein. This is similar for almost everyone who shares the English office with us. They come in in the morning and fill their cup with hot green tea. They sip this all day long. I don't see them hiding chocolate, eating ice cream bars on the street, tearing into a bag of Doritos they discovered, or bowing down to a can of regular coke. WHY, world?!

It's not just here; in the office at home, it was the same way. Sure, there were more overweight ladies... but still, there were those that would sit at their desk at 6:30 in the morning, happy with their boiled egg and fruit for breakfast. At lunch they'd break out their huge salad (minus the fatty dressing) and be perfectly content. At potlucks, they'd fill their plates with veggies, fruit, and whole wheat crackers, with a little cheese and maybe a cup of soup. Yes, some of these people were dieting; but most just happily followed the lifestyle. You could see who struggled; it was the women saying "Oh, I WISH I could eat that!" And THEN taking the healthy stuff.

Scale this morning reads? 209.00.

I lost a little less than a pound. But once again, I failed. I just don't know how to get the drive. Yesterday's menu (it is now tuesday morning here):

breakfast: congee and 1/2 a steamed bun
lunch: Rice, beet greens, cauliflour/broccoli mix, and the "mystery" veggie. It's green, a little bit slimy, no leaves or anything... about the size of the rectangular bamboo shoots at home. It's good. Tastes buttery!
Dinner: KFC again. 1/2 order of large fries (hubby and I split it) and an iced coffee with vanilla ice cream in it
snacks: ice cream bar, apple, peach yogurt

Here are the failures here. First, I started the day off great. The apple was before lunch, the yogurt after. THEN we went for a long walk. We walked to long without eating dinner, and we were famished. We didn't see any restaurants around with pictures to point at. :) So we ended up at KFC, where we know they have English menus. I ordered a mexican chicken wrap, but the chicken was terrible. I run into that sometimes here. The meat was so dark it was almost black - and it was really grisly and fatty. So I ate only one bite and set it aside. Also, fries were a bad choice; I should have gotten corn or coleslaw. Third; the coffee float. This was just weakness. I could have gotten water or fruit juice.

We had a great long walk. We bought Husband an Arhu (spelling?). It's a Chinese instrument that you play with a bow, like a violin. I bought a gorgeous cross-stich. It's my maiden voyage with them. I hope I love it! I did it for three hours last night while watching tv and only got a teeny bit done. Anyway, we walked home and I was starving since I hadn't really had anything of substance. The answer? Husband went to the shop next door and bought an ice cream bar for each of us. It wasn't a complete bust. I didn't binge, and I did eat fruit and veggies, and some healthy stuff; but I'm just disapointed in myself. I bet if I had eaten right, my weight would have had an 8 in it today.

Oh well - today is another day.

Failure Should Not Be Rewarded

Why must failure be rewarded? It really screws with my mind. This weekend I was a bad girl. Here are just SOME of the things I've eaten in the past 3 days:
1 king sized chocolate bar
2 chocolate sundaes
3 ice cream bars
2 dinners of KFC (corn and popcorn chicken)
1/2 baguette with cheese (that's about a foot of bread)
grilled cheese
3 eggs each morning for breakfast
2 beers
PLUS, all my other normal meals (stir-fry, breaded sweet and sour pork, etc). I ate a LOT. And I ate JUNK. Scale says?

209.4. YAY!!!!

Another new number! But seriously, why can't this happen when I'm doing well? It is not very motivating. I did walk a lot yesterday, though; about 5 hours. That could play a big part in it. Whatever the reason, I was a bad girl, and I'm LUCKY I didn't show a gain this morning. I'm not gonna tempt fate. This morning I'm feeling energetic, excited to be wearing my smaller jeans for the first time in 2 years (YAY) and I'm chomping on the best apple I have ever had.

The fruit here is soooo good. They have everything. Right now, I'm feeling the apples and kiwis. The kiwis are so cheap! I got about 10 of them for about 3 bucks yesterday. Can you imagine how much those would be at home? Apples are even cheaper. There's also mangos, papaya, banana, grapes, starfruit, dragonfruit, pineapple, pears, and many other things I don't even recognize.

FYI - Wordpress is blocked in China right now :( I follow a couple blogs there, so I'm sorry, but I can't get to you!! (Debby being one of the two!) Anyway, today is a sunny, gorgeous, warm day. I'm dressed in my smaller sizes I packed. I'm feeling good. I'm feeling good.

Night on the Town

Yeah... so that thing about it being time to fight? Didn't so much win the battle today.

Class was great; my students are so fun. Tonight we went to dinner with some other foreign friends. It was great! We walked there, and it was quite a ways. Probably a 45 minute walk. We ate in a restaurant in this huge swanky hotel. The dining room was completely empty. We sat at a beautiful table, drank out of crystal wine glasses, had the servers put our napkins in our lap, the whole shebang! At home, it would have been a REALLY expensive place. As it was, it equaled about $7.00 a person. We went into the display area and pointed out the dishes we wanted, and we all shared. That's usually the way you do it; you put all the dishes in the middle, and reach with your chopsticks. Afterwards, we took a long way home, checked out some instrument shops, and got some ice cream. Yes, not on the diet; but so good!

The damage done:

breakfast: Congee and a steamed bun
lunch: rice, bamboo, steamed greens (maybe beet greens?) and zucchini/egg dish that I love
dinner: a little bit of everything; eggplant in brown sauce, pork ribs, fried potato cakes, and little sandwiches with bacon and lettuce on them. Dessert of fruit: Longens, cherry tomatoes, and watermelon
Snacks: 2 apples, ice cream bar, about 8 cashews, 6 small crispy cookies (eek).

Lots of walking today; I don't think I'll lose, but hopefully it will at least keep me even.

Temptation

It's amazing; you never get away from temptation. Even fleeing to the other side of the world doesn't do it. Yesterday, I FOUGHT. I fought hard. This is what I ended up with:

breakfast: congee (couldn't find a steamed bun without tofu inside... so I went without)

lunch: 1/2 cup white rice, 1/4 cup steamed bean sprouts, 1/4 cup zucchini/egg dish (it was sooo good!)

dinner: We went out. I ended up with: 1 fried egg, 1 cup of fried rice (with peas, carrots, corn in it), 1/2 cup stir-fried broccoli, and a big glass of sweetened ice tea.

snacks: Here's my failure. A LOT of cashews. I'm not sure how many... but many. 4 gelatin thingies... these are only in China. They are the size of a shot glass, with some fruit floating in them. 2 chocolate mousse squares (the size of a bite-sized milky way), 1 apple, 1 orange, 1 glass of chocolate milk

So... It wasn't HORRIBLE. But seriously, I think I had 1/2 cup of cashews. I didn't even realize I was doing it. We hit up the market on the way home. I was so happy that I turned down the candy bars and ice cream, and I thought "nuts are better!". But did I get the almonds? No. I got the dry roasted cashews... something I KNOW is a binge food for me.

Scale says? 212.

Tonight we are going out to dinner with some friends. I'll try to be good. I stocked up on seasonal fruit for snacks (apples, papaya, oranges, lychees). Temptation always finds you. Now is the time for me to really crack down and FIGHT!

This is the cutest baby; I couldn't resist. I got the back side for a reason; to show the split in her little pants! She is one of the few that has a diaper on; normally they are bare bunned! Also, I get a kick out of the clothes... parents pad their babies with SOMETHING under their clothes. I'm not sure what. Look how poofy she is!

I love the willow trees we find everywhere.

Hubby and I. I am happy... my face is finally starting to thin out a little bit!

Hm... what's the work ethic like across the world? It seems like people work longer days. This is shown through the fact that even though my school is a boarding school, almost ALL the students live right here in the city. They all go home every weekend; but since Mom and Dad work so much during the week, it's better for the kids to stay at school.Longer days, yes. But the labor part of it? It's a mix. There are the guys who pedal the big taxi-tricycles around; they obviously work HARD. There are the construction workers dangling way up in the air on a new building being held up by sticks; that's hard work. There's the janitorial staff here at school; this place is always being cleaned! The cafeteria is mopped after every meal. They sweep the whole courtyard every day. They stay busy; they work HARD.But... there's a different feel to it. Like the teachers. The teachers are often at school from 7:30-5:00; longer than 8 hours. But, when they are not teaching, they are surfing the internet; sleeping; or watching movies online. That's a lot of down time. I'm told we have very full schedules, and we are only IN the classroom about 14 hours a week!

There is the kitchen staff; they work a long day. I think it's the same staff for breakfast (starting at 7:00), lunch, and dinner (served until 6:00, then clean-up). BUT... in between meals, they play cards for several hours, or sleep. Shop owners have a round table set up with a card game going at all times. Some watch tv.And SLEEP. How do these people do it?

I'm not sure what home life is like; or how much sleep they get at night; but they can SLEEP. I've gotten on a train, and seen a person sit down and zonk out in a matter of 2 minutes. They will stand, grip the hand holds on the bus, and drift off, swaying and tilting with the bumps. In the teachers office, they will lay their heads down and sleep like a baby. There's even a "nap" chair that reclines with a foot rest (although that's normally used by the pregnant teachers). The kitchen crew sleeps in the cafeteria in between meals. Babies sleep in their mothers arms as they walk. I am SO jealous! I wish I could do that!

Daily eats:

breakfast: congee and a steamed bun (I was in a hurry, so I ate half the bun and half the bowl of congee)

lunch: Vegetarian style! I had 1/2 cup rice, 1/4 cup steamed bamboo, 1/4 cup steamed greens, and 1/4 cup cauliflower

Dinner: Gave in to weakness. My lunch made me hungry sooner, and we walked to the supermarket. The thought of eating cafeteria food again wasn't appealing; and we stopped at KFC :( I got 5 chicken nuggets (yes, nuggets! KFC is funny here) and an ear of corn. I also got a coffee drink with about 1/4 cup soft serve ice cream on top.

Snacks: 1 huge carrot, sweet bread

So... dinner was a bust.

Weight this morning? 212 lbs :(

It's Easy to Feel Fat

It's so easy to feel fat in China.

Yes, I'm losing. I'm excited... BUT.. I'm still in a country where the women average about 5'3 and weigh 100 lbs. They are almost all tiny. The whole time I've been here, I've only seen ONE fat Chinese woman. Sure, there are some that are rounder than others... but still not FAT. The clothes don't even go up to my size; anywhere. Shoes don't fit. Bus seats are a really tight squeeze. And the kids at my school, bless their hearts, run up to me and say "You are big! You are big!". I know they are just trying to use their English; they often smile kindly when they say it. But still, it stings.
One thing that's really hit me since I got to China? The people all look so different from each other. Don't get offended or anything; but honestly, I was worried that I'd confuse new friends and stuff. I've never been to a country where almost everyone has the same hair color, same eye color. I had no reason to be worried; theyare as different from each other as people in the US. I don't confuse anyone with anyone else. They have their own unique styles. The women here are so trendy! They all wear leggings and dresses. Lots of high heels or ballet flats. If I was only packing 110 lbs, I'd wear stilettos too! I was hiking up the stairs of a huge mountain the other day, huffing and puffing. I heard someone murmer something in Chinese. I moved over; and here comes a young woman, about 5ft tall, with a dress and stiletto heels on. She just scurried right up the stairs and dissapeared around the corner. Meanwhile, Amy is taking a break against a tree, trying to remember to breathe.
It's a hard knock life for us weight-strugglers. Even on the other side of the world, I'm tempted by candy bars and ice cream. I'm going to start sharing my menu on this blog again; it might be interesting for you, and good for me to keep track. Beware, though; sometimes I don't have the faintest idea WHAT it is that I'm eating :)

So.... today:

Breakfast: 1 cup congee and 1/2 steamed bun (Congee is rice porridge with red beans mixed in)
lunch: 1/2 cup white rice, 1/4 cup steamed bamboo, 1/4 cup cabbage, and 1/2 cup baby potato/beef stew
dinner: 1/2 cup white rice, 1/4 cup bok choy, 1/4 cup cold zucchini salad, 1/3 cup beef stew
snacks: oops... ice cream. One container (maybe 1 cup?) coffee/vanilla swirl. Not even that good!)

I think I'll split a pear with the hubby tonight too. That's what most days are like; congee for breakfast, rice and veggies, a little meat, more veggies... honestly, the stew isn't mostly eaten anyway. The meat is on huge bones, and it's really fatty. I usually glean 5 or 6 bites of meat from it; but the potatoes are heavenly!

I'm hoping the scale still says 210 in the morning; I don't wanna go up! I can see it... 11 more lbs, and I will be OUT of this 200-something prison I've been locked in!!

Today is a Good Day

It might be a fluke....

but scale says 210.5 lbs.

YES!!!!!

Today I am going to fight the urge to go get chocolate or regular coke. I will be a good girl and eat my veggies, rice, protein, and drink my green tea :)

We just got home. I just had to blog about our night, even though it's probably not all that interesting to anyone but me.We were meeting up with Tim, the San Francisco guy, for dinner with some other foreigners. We got the address of the restaurant texted to us. We took a cab, and he dropped us off at a barber shop. After some initial confusion, we found Tim and went up into the restaurant; an awesome place with a private room for us. We all sat at a big round table with a "lazy susan" in the middle for all the dishes. We knew we were in for some fun when we met the crazy mix of people.

-1 guy from San Francisco-

1 guy from Massachussetts-

1 guy from massachussetts' Chinese girlfriend-

1 guy from Germany-1 girl from South Africa

-1 guy from Vancouver, Canada

-1 Chinese bar owner who spoke only Chinese. He knew how to get us to toast though!

-1 guy from Great Britain

-2 crazy Michiganders :)

What a riot! We learned a little more about everyone, and had some great food. They just ordered about 10 dishes and we would grab things with our chopsticks, and spin it around when we wanted something different. There was lots of food, lots of beer, and lots of laughs. Most people who know me know that I am not a beer fan; but hey, why not cave and go with it? I had 2. Every 2 seconds it seemed like someone was toasting, and you have to down your little glass of beer. We had bottles, and we'd pour it into a glass about twice the size of a shot glass.Family Guy quotes were said; quotes from Snatch were said; jokes were made, friends were made... good night! After dinner we all went to a billiards hall. Great fun; even though I'm terrible! Matthew won 30 yuan :)So, there ya go. We now have more friends, more places to go, and things to do! Life is just never gonna be boring!

New Number!

Not a long post... just a simple, but exciting entry.

This morning, scale says...

213!!!! I haven't seen that number in at least 2 years.

Good day. Good day.

I'm Being Driven Insane by Food Blogs!!!

No, not friends blogs. Not blogs, period. Specifically those blogs that post pictures of chocolate cake, fresh hot mexican wet burritos, etc. I follow many of these; and I loved reading them in the states! But now, it just hurts. I can handle the pictures of yummy oatmeal; we have oatmeal in China. I can see the steaks, the potatoes, the fruit, etc... I can find those. It HURTS though, to see a big juicy hamburger! I'm not gonna see one of those for a long time.
I've decided I'll lay off the pretty picture blogs for awhile. I can read about it; but seeing it? Oh, kill me now!
Bad news: I haven't lost nearly as much weight as I thought I had. When I left the US, I weighed 220 lbs. My jeans are big; I fit into a smaller size now. My belly is dissapearing. I thought I MUST be 210! But alas... Amy found the scales at the Da Run Fa (supermarket) and she still weighs 214.2. DARN IT! 214 was my lowest weight BEFORE China. It's all that Dove chocolate and flatbread I've been eating. I'm changing things up; goodbye, Chinese Rocky Street icecream (don't you live the Chinglish? It's Rocky Road...the box cracks me up), hello fresh seasonal papaya and pineapple! And peas and bok choy, and bamboo and carrots! And eggs and tofu!
We are sincerely hoping to afford a trip to Australia on the way back to the states in January... and it's a 6 day hiking trip through the wilderness. I've gotta be FIT!!!

Week 3

We've begun week 3 in our school in Fuyang, China. Things are going well! I'm teaching 4th and 5th graders; and they are such great fun. Life is starting to get easier; we're learning where to shop, where to eat, where to go for a pretty walk (or cheap foot massage!). As we learn more about the city, life gets better. We have a lot of time to relax, watch tv, walk around the city, talk with family and friends, etc. The weather is starting to get warmer. The mornings and evenings are still chilly, but afternoons are quite warm. I'm already afraid of this summer! No AC in the classrooms, and it gets VERY hot and humid! The humidity is terrible even when it's cold. Papers in our apartment are always damp. Towels don't really dry. The bed always feels... dewy. But for the most part, it's pretty comfortable. We have a comfortable bed, and we're getting a couch today. We have a big tv, and a phone. Our kitchen is nice, clean, and efficient. Our shower gets nice and hot; so far, very few bugs. Life is good!

Diet? Well... I lost a lot of weight the first week and a half; then I've kind of stopped. Why? Because I've discovered the chocolate isle at the supermarket, and the ice cream bars at the store next door. I've gotta stop. The food in the cafeteria is free for us 3 meals a day, 5 days a week; but it's made me sick a couple times. I'm afraid to eat it! I do anyway, for breakfast and lunch; but dinner is usually at a restaurant or home-cooked (a lot of eggs and ham, or bokchoy and bacon, or pork steaks and potatoes!). I'm confident that I'll lose a decent amount of weight yet, but it's going slower. I've gotta lay off that Dove chocolate and those delicious ice cream bars!

Life in China is so different from what I expected. I thought I was prepared; but nothing prepares you for this. Everywhere we go, we are stared at. Camera phones always seem to seek us out; and we're asked for our autographs! Babies here don't usually wear diapers; they have a slit in their pants, and they just squat. I'm not sure whether they are "trained" not to do it in certain places; I haven't seen any accidents. But who knows! The meat area of the market has live eels, turtles, frogs, fish... along with smoked and cured eels, turtles, frogs, fish... and there are plucked chickens and ducks, jellyfish, and squid. The chickens are a lot leaner than in the US... probably because they aren't genetically altered like ours are! I've stuck to beef and pork; it looks more familiar. Or packaged bacon and ham.

I've found cheese! There are only a couple kinds; blocks of monterey jack cheese (not too good), singles of american cheese, and spreadable "breakfast cheese". I'm not sure what this is... but it's good on a baguette!

I'm drinking a lot of tea. We have to boil our water before drinking it; and I'm a procrastinator. So I don't keep some in the fridge for when I need it. And I don't like drinking plain old hot water; so we have a water boiler, and I just drink tea all day long. Yum yum!