Oops.

Okay, so I've been on vacation since last Friday, which should mean that I have plenty of time to blog. Plenty of time, yes, but most of it has been spent cleaning, packing, and sleeping in :)

So I am back, at least for 3 days. On Sunday afternoon we leave for the airport for our Malaysian vacation! For 2 weeks I will be immersed in hill station tea plantations, ridiculously old jungles, and snorkeling off of the Perhentian Islands. This ultimately means no internet for essentially 14 days. Am I excited?! That's an understatement.

It will be nice to get away, and I mean really get away. No internet, no Facebook, no debt ceiling talk, which has infuriated Matt and me to no end these past few weeks. Yup, no talk of politics, no talk of students or camps or lesson plans. I doubt we'll even talk about the wedding much. It's a vacation!

That being said, how did my last week go?

I missed a few days of exercise and instead went on a spur of the moment trip to Seoul to go shopping and get out of Daejeon. I ate okay. According to the scale, I didn't lose or gain. I am still stuck at 7-8 pounds lost. Am I disappointed? Not really.

I know that I will be eating right while in Malaysia and will be really active every day that we're there. I am actually excited to get back and dig in to 5 straight months of exercise and diet before our Southeast Asia trip in January. This fall is my big push.

Right now I am just focused on getting everything ready for our vacation, and regardless of how I look, I am happy and excited and am just ready to enjoy a break.

When we get back it's wedding planning time. Matt and I will begin making our save-the-dates, which I will have plenty to talk about. September is go-to time, so the blog posts will pick up and things will start to get very exciting around here for us.

Stay tuned! I will hopefully post a few random pics of Malaysia when we get back. But if I don't write again before we leave, adios until August 16th! :)

The Game of Life

It's 1:20PM and the majority of kids have yet to show up for the afternoon session of summer camp. I'm feeling nice today, so I decided to let them play another round of Life, which, if played to the end, lasts more than an hour.

These kids are wound so tight during the school months, I thought it would be refreshing to them to sit back and play a board game with new friends. they REALLY enjoy it. Most of them have told me that they rarely play board games, especially with friends. It's nice seeing them having genuine fun with kids they probably wouldn't be hanging out with otherwise.

The Game of Life is complicated!! I remember being confused as a kid, try explaining the rules to Korean kids when the entire game is in English. I just let them play however they want which results in them having a blast.

A small part of me feeels guilty for not covering all of the material in the workbook that I was supposed to for today, but most of me doesn't care. The kids are having fun, and I am sore and tired from a few tough workouts.

I consider myself lucky to have finished 4 weeks of the Turbo Fire without any injuries. Although I have been a little sore here and there, I've also been surprised with how great I've felt. I was expecting to be tight every morning, but so far, so good.

Until 2 days ago.

It's not even muscle pain. It's my scar tissue. I had kidney surgery when I was 9 years old which has left me with a 6 inch scar on my back. Although it's been 16 years, the scar tissue never healed and it has caused me some pain, especially during sports. Now that I have been increasing my punching and side bends, the scar tissue is sore again. Really sore. This is actually a good thing, since I am breaking up scar tissue that should have been broken up years ago. This is a painful, but necessary thing if I want to eliminate pain in the future.

Even though the past two nights have been incredibly painful, I am pushing through and counting my blessings that this is the only pain I have dealt with thus far. Hopefully with each week that goes by the pain will decrease, but we'll see.

I think it's going to get more painful before it gets better.

Week 9 Recap and WEEK 4 RESULTS! :)

Oops!

Last week got the best of me. It was the last week of school, I was SO done with it all, so much so that I didn't even have the energy to blog during a free period. Oh well.

Now that school is over and summer camp has begun, things are looking up again! Heading to Malaysia in less than 2 weeks definitely helps :)

Another thing to be super psyched about is my 4 WEEK RESULTS. That's right. I completed my first 4 weeks of Turbo Fire, which means I had to do a weigh in, take my measurements and snap some more photos.

So where do I stand?

In the last 4 weeks I have lost a total of 8 pounds. Well, 7.7 pounds on a finicky scale. So I am obviously rounding. That's a total of between 1.6-1.8 pounds a week, which is fantastic! My goal was to lose an average of 1.5 a week, so I surpassed my goal. Granted, the first 7 pounds were lost in the first three weeks, with only a small loss during the 4th week, due to some circumstances that I won't get into here (I'm sure you can guess).

Along with the pounds, I lost a total of 3 inches from my waist, and a few other inches here and there for a combined loss of 7.5 inches.

While I don't have all of my measurements from March 1st (they're in a notebook at school locked in the teacher's room), I do know that I have lost a total of 9 inches from my waist since March. I still can't believe it, even though my waist is where I feel the difference the most. Still, 9 inches?!

Suffice to say I am pretty pumped about the results, especially since I wasn't too picky with my diet. I ate mostly clean, but in the last 4 weeks I definitely had splurge nights.

My first goal was to lose 10 pounds by Malaysia, and if I can just pull off losing around a pound a week for the next 2 weeks I'll be there!

Although I am super excited for Malaysia, it is causing some stress in regards to my progress. I will definitely be watching what I eat, and with all of the hiking and snorkeling I'll be doing I am not too worried about gaining. It's just hard to be in the middle of a fitness program to have to take 16 days off.

No worries, though. I have a plan for jumping right back in when I get back.

So my focus for the next two weeks is to eat super clean, push my exercises and even get a few extra walks in here and there.

Cheers to a successful first 4 weeks of Turbo Fire! 16 weeks to go :)

Week 8 Recap

Yes!

Week 8 was my best week yet. I think my body is finally getting on board with this exercise thing. My official weigh in and picture taking is next weekend, but so far since starting Turbo Fire I have lost 7 pounds!!!

It feels good to finally start losing something substantial and not just water weight. 7lbs is the real deal, and in only 3 weeks, which is pretty good considering I was going for 1-2 pounds per week.

I didn't miss a single Turbo Fire exercise this week, and although I didn't eat particularly well this weekend, my body seems to be handling it just fine.

Along with the pounds, I have lost inches as well. Actually, last Friday I found measurements that I had taken way back around March 1st, and let's just say that my waist especially has GREATLY improved. I was super surprised!

It's amazing what a little weight loss will do for enthusiasm. I was so pumped this entire weekend, despite the fact that it rained straight for 2 days. Even though I am feeling sluggish today, I'm in such a good mood, and can't wait to exercise tonight.

I think I am going to drive Matt crazy with each pound lost, but luckily for me he is my biggest supporter :) I doubt I will drive him away with all of my crazy talk, jumping up and down and endless smiles!

With this progress I am so much more motivated to eat healthier and exercise harder. The Turbo Fire exercises have been FANTASTIC. Every single one of them leaves me absolutely dripping in sweat, from head to toe. Now that I have finished my third week, there's no messing around anymore. I know the moves by heart, so it's time to up the intensity.

This week's goal is to add a lot more power to my workouts. That includes adding power to my punches and kicks and to be conscious of keeping my abs tight and muscles flexed.

Also-since the big weigh in and picture taking is this coming weekend, my focus is to eat really clean this week. That won't be too much of a problem since Matt and I have a weekly allowance (since we're big into saving right now!) and most of it has already been spent. That means lots of healthy home cooking for us!

YAHOO! Bring on this rainy, nasty week. Nothing's stopping me :)

You're Killing Me, Fiber!

In these past 9 weeks, I have seen a lot of positive changes. I’ve gotten stronger. My stamina has increased. With each workout I find myself pushing harder, jumping higher and reaching lower. My appetite is great, I don’t crave junk like I used to. I feel happier, and for the most part, more awake and active. Even though I was a pretty happy, optimistic person before, the endorphin highs have been a really nice addition to my daily life.

Along with the good, I have experience a few smaller negative things. One is my sleep. This isn’t because of exercising or dieting, it’s just lately I’ve been in a funk and have had trouble falling asleep at a decent hour. That is getting better though, as I experiment with my caffeine intake (which, let’s face it, I shouldn’t be consuming much of anyways), when and for how low I nap, and what I do before I go to bed. It seems to be getting better.

One other thing that has been bothering me lately is a little embarrassing, but what the heck. Lately, for the past week, every day for a few hours after lunch I have been experiencing a lot of bloating and cramping in my stomach. It confused me because I have been eating healthy lunches and have decreased my calorie intake. With not a lot of rich foods, why was my stomach turning into a rock every afternoon?

Well, it didn’t take me long to figure out an answer. Apparently, when you don’t think too much about the healthy things you start to eat, you can have adverse reactions without even knowing it. So, what’s the issue? Simply put, I am eating too much fiber too fast.

The benefits of fiber are great, as most people are aware. We are bombarded by commercials and advertisements talking about the numerous health benefits of a fiber-rich diet. What they don’t usually tell you is that if you go from eating a low amount of fiber to, say, consuming tons of it every day, your body doesn’t take it too well. Actually, your stomach has a hard time digesting it.

I find it hilarious that when I researched “too much fiber” these are the food culprits they listed that might cause “discomfort”:

Carrots

Any plant in the cabbage family

Anything fermented

Whole wheat products

Granola/muesli

Apples

Legumes

Does anyone else find this hilarious?! Okay, maybe it’s just me. Hehe. Take a look at NUMBER 2 and 3. AHH. You’ve got to be kidding me! I mean, not only do I eat cabbage EVERY DAY, I eat FERMENTED cabbage! Too funny. Of course I’ve been eating cabbage every day for the past 16 months. That can’t be it. But hmm, what else have I introduced to my diet in the last two weeks? How about granola EVERY morning? And I eat carrots like a friggin rabbit, A Ziploc bag a day. Every other day or so I also eat a NutriGrain bar, which says right on the front: “Good source of fiber”.

So I guess I started this fiber rich diet too much, too fast. Of course, I wasn’t purposely trying to up my fiber intake by a lot. I knew I should be adding fiber (studies have shown it’s good for weight loss), but I wasn’t actively seeking out all of these foods because of fiber. It’s really just a coincidence.

Go figure. I try and eat relatively healthy and all I get is tons of stomach discomfort. All I can say is that I am glad I figured out the problem. No carrots for me today!

Doctors suggest slowly increasing your fiber intake over a few weeks, adding a few grams each day. They recommend 25-30 grams for women, 30-35 grams for men per day. Most people don’t get that much unless they are conscious of choosing fibrous foods.

My plan is to slowly introduce the carrots back in, only have a bite or two of kimchi, and see how I feel. I ate granola this morning so if that’s it, we’ll know come 2:00PM!

Just Another Day..

The head teacher of the third grade just came over to me and dropped a steaming hot baked potato on my desk. She continued to go around and pass one out to every teacher. Koreans are SO friggin random sometimes. I mean, never in a million years could I see someone doing this back home. I can see bringing in fruit (berries, or a watermelon) to share with your co workers, but trying to empty out your pantry by passing out potatoes is another thing altogether. Not half as bad as when a teacher went "fishing" over the weekend and brought in a cooler of fish and shells that she proceeded to gut and chop up during her free period. Never a dull moment here.

This morning was also the 4th or 5th time I have witnessed a teacher cutting a student's hair. Seriously. Granted, her hair was kind of a mess. I don't know if she had decided to chop it herself, but it was a little uneven. Along with haircuts, I've seen teachers hem skirts, stitch up rips in boy's pants, catch blood with a tissue from a nosebleed, take earrings out of girl's ears, put girl's hair up into ponytails as if they were 4, and countless other acts of "mothering". What a paradox. In one way, teachers here are somewhat robotic. They teach to the test, have hundreds and hundreds of students, never veer from power point presentations and memorization, and use harsh discipline. On the other hand, they can be very motherly (or fatherly), comforting students when they cry, fixing their hair, calling home to their parents, offering hours of advice to troubled students. It ceases to amaze me.

The other day my co teacher translated a few words for me of a teacher while she was disciplining a boy: "How are you even a human?" Degrading yes, but a few Korean teachers were giggling at their desks. This is just the kind of approach they take here with kids. I don't know what this boy did, but he was definitely ashamed. Who am I to say whether or not this form of discipline works. I've seen the same teacher hold a weeping child in her arms and rub their back.

I'm not a parent, so I can't relate to any of this. It's just what I get to witness while sitting here at my desk listening to my ipod and zoning out. Some days teacher to student interaction is heartwarming, other days quite frankly, kids get the shit kicked out of them. Well, not kicked, just whacked with sticks.

So today is another test day, which means no classes for me. Kids are taking practice exams to prepare them for the national exam next week. I laugh thinking about the "preparation" we had before taking the standardized state test back home. Oh wait, what preparation? Nobody cared. Not the same here.

What does this mean for me? It means I just spent a few hours looking up overland tours in southern and eastern Africa. I swear, I need some kind of program.

Lunch Menu: Revealed

So one huge hurdle with tracking calories and trying to eat healthy is not knowing any nutritional information for 1/3 of my meals for the day. That’s right. It seems pointless to track my food when, in all honesty, I have no idea what I eat for lunch sometimes. Sure, I eat a serving size (or less) of rice. Sure, I eat kimchi (every single lunch time). But the other 3 sides are a mystery. How am I supposed to track the soups? Or the weird meat +veggie+sauce concoctions? Or the *moan* nasty fish cake? Oh wait, I refuse to eat the fish cake. You get what I mean. Although I can try to guestimate lunch calories, it’s not easy.

Well, today I have some semblance. I snatched a lunch menu off of a student who wasn’t paying attention, and noticed that there is some nutritional information listed on each day. Even though I don’t know exactly what I am putting into my body, at least I have some idea of the calories, fat, sugars etc. That sounds all exciting, except for one small thing. I don’t eat a full serving size of everything. Lately I don’t eat much from the lunch menu at all. I don’t even know what the serving size for each thing should be. Regardless, it’s something to get me through until next semester. I am trying to decide if I should make the big leap. You know what leap I am referring to: bringing lunch from home.

Why, what an easy solution! Not really. I mean, a lot of foreigners refuse to eat school lunch, many making their case known within the first week at school. Because I am not a picky eater, I decided it would make a good impression to suck it up and eat with the rest of the teachers everyday in the cafeteria. You might not think it’s a big deal to eat different food or to sit alone at your desk, but in Korea, it could be taken the wrong way. While some schools don’t wave a finger at that type of behavior, many Koreans think it’s rude to eat in seclusion. Have I mentioned how community-driven these people are? Well, they are VERY into group bonding and sharing. Koreans share everything. If one brings a clementine in for a snack, 99% of the time you see them split it into pieces to share. Although many in the west might view this as too much, it’s never too much in Korea.

So you can see where it might be awkward choosing to eat alone at your desk while the rest of the teachers “enjoy” lunch together. Luckily for me, I don’t think it will be a huge deal. I think I will continue to pay for the measly monthly lunch fee so that I can still join in every now and then, but next semester I am going to spring the news to my co teacher and see what she says. After all, they all know I am dieting, which is taken very seriously here. Hopefully they won’t think too much of it, since I have participated in every activity they have ever had.

Bringing in leftovers and making myself a salad for lunch every day sounds absolutely amazing. It’s the little things in life, seriously. You don’t think about how great it is to make your own lunch selection every day until you are stuck eating Korean food on metal trays like an inmate every weekday. Ick.