Eat before 3pm?

I think there are very few people who are absolutely free from weight issues. Most of us try to lose some kilos here and there, however I see there is a sizeable number of people who are dying to steal some from ‘most of us’.

I ran into this article on abc.es and to me it is depressing. I’ve heard about the infamous ‘nothing after 6pm’ diet but ‘nothing after 3pm’ is way too harsh! No matter how much you eat before 3pm, you will get hungry at night. Nights are too long and boring to refrain from all the goodies.

From my experiences, eating less is the only sure-fire way to win the battle of weight loss. Doing regular exercises makes your body toned and firm ‘after eating less’, but it alone doesn’t help much. As for what to eat, I feel a lot less bloated if I don’t eat much of carbs (rice, bread, potatoes etc) and sweet fruits (no no to oranges).

I’m starving and it’s already 5.30pm, well past 3pm!

***This is how this study was conducted. To reach these conclusions, the researchers studied 420 overweight persons who followed a 20-week treatment in Spain for weight loss. Participants were divided into two groups: those who ate before three and they did later. The timing of the day was lunch, as it is at this meal where you eat 40% of total daily calories. They found that those who eat later than three p.m. lost significantly less weight than those who ate soon. Those who ate later also had sensitivity to insulin estimated lower, a risk factor for diabetes. Other curious facts from this study is that the time for the other meals (breakfast and dinner) did not play a decisive role in the success of a weight loss program. In fact, late diners ate fewer calories at breakfast and were more likely to skip it, and yet the least weight were lost.***

This is a ‘wow’ research for Spaniards as it is normal for them to eat lunch after 3pm. However, the rest of us who tend to eat lunch before 3pm..what shall we do?! We’re already losing weight- supposedely-, right?

A thought on Life

I once was sent to a client’s office to print off important documents when I was an office junior. I think it was probably around 50 pages or so. After finishing off the task, I compiled them all correctly and shait..! I realised that each page was slightly bigger than what the A4 print could capture. Picture this. A half of top line, a half of bottom line and both sides’ first half letters (sometimes a word) were missing. You know, to get to a word ‘liberty’ in the first top sentence, you have to guess from the bottom halves only.

I quickly skimmed through them. I was able to decipher some of them without a problem but I was totally at my wits’ end on quite a few others. When I was at those pages, it was frustrating yet challenging. It was infuriating yet encouraging. When I managed to get a few ‘difficult’ pages right, I felt incredibly exhilarated though. It became less troublesome those pages later as many of them were repeated and related. Hooray!

Looking at those pages with my handwriting over, it suddenly hit me hard. Maybe this is life. You never get clear pages. It may look easy from a distance but there are traps everywhere. You sometimes manage to go through some parts perfectly or not so perfectly. However the most important thing is that you carry on. You may come up with a clear answer if you just carry on a few chapters more.

…Well, I know I know..I didn’t have much time to contemplate on life at the client’s premises during my working hours. So I had to reprint them all. This time I made sure they were printed in the correct setting. Unlike this we cannot reset our life, but you know what I was trying to say..

knock knock knock..

Oh dear my poor blog,

I’ve been neglecting you for a while.
It’s not a nice feeling. I feel guilty. I feel like an unwelcome guest in my own home. Something’s gotta change!

Well, this is just to let my kind readers know that I’m alive and kicking. I’ll be back with more goodies very soon.

Daily rants

The weather has been horrid in this part of the world.

There must be a big hole somewhere up in the sky. It’s been raining non stop for a week and I do not hugely appreciate it.  I’ve got a flamenco class to go to this evening and I’m seriously considering ditching it. Skipping classes is so not me but it’s that bad. I know I will enjoy it once I go but I don’t think I will be motivated enough to go in this horrible weather. I just want to go home and have my chirimoya,  then a banana-walnut-chocochip muffin I baked last night. By the way the muffins were seriously delicious.

Mark had a headache inside the back of his head last Sunday and ended up in a hospital bed for the night. Though he doesn’t have pain any more, the doctor has booked an MRI scan for him in Spain this Friday. I guess it’s a sensible thing to do. It is an uneasy feeling facing an ad-hoc MRI though. From past experiences, we have all learned that how he feels has got nothing to do with the result.(His 2nd tumour came back while his mobility was noticeably improving and he was feeling stronger day by day.) In other words, well in more positive words, feeling bad doesn’t necessarily lead to a bad result either if it makes sense.

Everybody would agree with me on this. When you’re personally involved in a certain matter, it’s very difficult to put things in perspective. Even worse, some general random statements or philosophical words can sound bullshit. For example, if you’re dying of a terminal disease, how on earth could you empathise with somebody saying ‘We could all die tomorrow, I could get run over by car on the way to work.’ It comes across as a fairly offensive and condescending statement to me. For that reason, I never say those things to people.

Oh my lord, it’s getting worse. Are we expecting a hurricane??

What is your zodiac sign?

I believe in zodiac signs. I’ve never made friends with people because of their zodiac signs but in the end the long-lasting friends I have seem to belong to a few zodiac signs and they have a similar disposition.

Everybody is different and of course even in the same zodiac sign. I won’t be able to tell what sign they are from the beginning. However I can more or less tell when an  important life event strikes to the person and how she reacts and handles. I guess it’s because your zodiac sign is a raw quality with which you were born. You are shaped and influenced by the surroundings and people close by throughout your life, and of course by your upbringing. Nevertheless, when a something big happens to you, which requires your swift judgement, there you go. Your zodiac sign calling! (This is my theory ok? :-))

Well, It will give me a more accurate prediction if I spend some time together with the person. Knowing their zodiac signs helps me understand them better. For the same reason, it helps me feel less awkward about myself in the way I think about something or someone too. Knowing myself (and my weaknesses) is good, isn’t it?

I’m a Cancerian. Cancerians are well known for home loving, nurturing and emotional characters. I think that’s very true. Being emotional and having changeable moods don’t always come nicely, but I try hard not to let my sentimentality rule me. Cancerians tend to be creative. They need outlets to express their creativity. That’s why I write, cook and go to galleries. It’s not just a hobby, for me it keeps my sanity. I become really cranky and irritable if I carry on my mundane life without a big dose of above outlets. Cancerians sometimes trap into private life too much, however it’s not in their nature. They have to come out to play and migle with people. This energises them. Well I can’t agree more. I love my own company but I do need socialising. I mean it’s totally necessary.

Being a cancerian is hard. The worst part of my characters is to hold grudge and to overthink. They both are related to ‘sentimentality’. I wish I were more cool about things like Leo or Libra.

I’ve found a uncannily accurate astrology website. Check it out, you will be surprised!

http://www.astrology.com.au/astrology/12-signs-of-the-zodiac/

 

 

Eureka

All the years, I’ve been misled. I’m gutted.
Yet I’m glad that I now know it and will never misbuy.

My bra size is NOT 34A, it is 32B!

That’s why my bras illfit me. The cups are flatter, I mean they cover wider area but don’t have depth inside,  and  there was always some room in the back.  I have had to adjust my bra continuously because it goes up and up and up!!!

Some time ago I bought a 32B (by accident) and whenever I put that on, it stays where it should be. I can feel that it lifts my assets (hm hmm). However I didn’t take too much notice of it. I still believed my size was 34A. A bra fitter once told me too. Well, maybe she wasn’t the competent one.

Recently, I went on a mini holiday to La Barrosa (Chiclana, Spain) and bought a new swimsuit because I had left mine at home. There were not many available in the shop and I chose a nice black one. I put the top part on and I felt..so right. I mean it wasn’t too comfortable (in a good way) and I could feel it was there for a reason. I checked the size and it was 32B. That was it. That was my EUREKA moment!

Wow. What a relief. A 32B is more readily available than a 34A.
Gotta buy loads of bras. 🙂

 

My lunch dilemma

Once upon a time, I worked at a company which had a cafeteria and provided a free lunch. The food was generally not bad. However I complained (to myself mostly) that I would like to go out and eat, the menu was a bit monotonous or more specifically the meat tasted rubbery and so on. In retrospect, I want to hide myself in a small rat hole! How bloody arrogant and ungrateful was I!  I now sincerely apologise to the chefs at that company who cooked me a stress-free meal every working day. Just for that I could go back to that job. Hmmm.. maybe that’s not 100% true, but you know what I mean. 🙂

Sorting out lunch is a day-to-day battle for me.
I really want to have a good lunch because it will help me keep away from all the rubbish food I end up eating in the evening. It will probably help me shed a couple of pounds.

I normallyhave a cuppa with a couple of sweet biscuits for a breakfast. No problem there. I sometimes eat fairly ‘nasty’ snacks during the morning and I don’t get hungry till about 2 or 3pm. I’ve got one hour for lunch but… the thing is that I prefer use this time at the gym.

Hence the real problem starts there. After my workout, I need to eat something. As Mcdonald is close by, I sometimes get a £1 cheeseburger and bring in to the office. I’m not a big fan of burgers but it comes in handy. I also go to Morrison to buy a couple of chicken roast thighs or drumsticks – this is highly unreliable because they tend to be sold out by the time I pop by and they have increased the price from 45p to 65p per each gradually for the last few months for an even smaller size. I’m not happy about it at all, so not buying them is kind of my silent protest. Oh, I go to Morrison’s cafeteria to have a proper lunch at times (resulting in skipping my workout session) but it is not exactly cheap and most importantly the food is boring and heavy. Even if I want to, one hour is not sufficient to go to a restaurant and order a proper dish let alone enjoy it.

Since I make a lunch box for Mark every day, it would be the most practical idea to make one more for myself. However, I really don’t want to do it. From bringing a lunch box (and putting in my beautiful bag) to eating in the office, everything about this whole packed lunch idea is so unglamorous and off-putting. Furthemore, eating my own cooked food in the office is something I’d rather keep as private. It’s too personal to share.

Well, I could compromise to bringing something *uncooked* into the office. I could less offensively bring a home-made salad, a sandwich, boiled eggs, tuna tins, etc.  Oh no, it still doesn’t sit nicely in my head. So uncool.

I wish I didn’t have to eat lunch. (Actually I’d rather starve than eat something tasteless.)
I wish I didn’t feel hungry at all at lunch (Sometimes I don’t.)
I once tried a gigantic breakfast to hold til dinner but it didn’t work for me. I felt even more hungry at lunchtime and ended up eating a roast dish.
Alas..it’s more like putting out fires on a daily basis.

…The perfect solution would be somebody delivers a tasty meal every day. I would still have to eat it in the office but if it were pretty to look at and professionally cooked by somebody else, I would be able to accept it. It would be fashionable and impersonal.

Something weird about myself

Do you have anything weird about yourself?

I do and quite a few. I only realised this could be ‘unusual’ after observing others for a long time…

1. I always sleep on the side of the bed closest to the bedroom door. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the right side or left side, or in the house or in a hotel.  I always choose to sleep on the side closer to the bedroom door. Come to think of it, I was like that even when I was a kid or a single girl.

2. I eat sweetcorn horizontally in rows using lower teeth. I mean like a forklift truck I lift up two or three corns very carefully with lower teeth and eat. As a result my cobs are very neat and clean. There’s absolutely no waste. I take pride in my finished cobs!

3. My little fingers are visibly bent outwards because my piano teacher forced to open between the pinkies and ring fingers with a ruler repeatedly to make them reach farther when I was a child. My dad found it out later and got livid. He nearly took her to the court!

4. I don’t eat organs of animals. That’s probably why I’ve never tasted chicken liver pâtés. I just don’t like the idea of it. Now I admit it’s becoming a problem as I want to see myself in the food industry!

5. I don’t eat chicken and eggs (or any combination of family members) at the same time. I feel like I’m committing mini genocide.

6. I don’t walk under scaffolding – I think it’s purely because I’m scared of something falling on me. I’d rather walk on the road to avoid it.

7. When I blow nose, I close one nostril by pressing my finger against one side of my nose and blow gently out the open nostril. Actually it’s not weird, it’s just smart and effective. My dad taught it to me when I was a kid, and since then I did not understand people who didn’t do it and made huge noise! 

That’s all for today. Oh dear, Monday is so slow.

They knew all along the way.

They knew it before I knew it! lol

The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach

Meaning:
Cooking for a man is a good way to win his affections.

Proverbs in other languages:

Chinese:
Mandarin: 要捉住男人的心，先要抓住他的胃 (zh)

Estonian: armastus käib kõhu kaudu (et)

German: Liebe geht durch den Magen (de)

Greek: η καρδιά του άνδρα περνά απ’ το στομάχι (el)

Russian: путь к сердцу мужчины лежит через желудок

Turkish: erkeğin kalbine giden yol midesinden geçer (tr)

Gangnam Style

Is there anybody who still hasn’t seen ‘Gangnam Style’ video?

It’s a hilarious music video you can easily find on youtube.com. Apparently over 140 million people have viewed this one and I must admit that 10 of them is mine. lol

‘Gangnam’ literally means ‘South (nam) of River (gang) and ‘Gang’ pronounces as ‘gahng’ as in ‘garden (but without the prolonged ‘r’ sound)’ not ‘gang’ as in gangster. This is located in the south part of Han river (Han-Gang), which runs across Seoul, and represents the richest town of Seoul. People who live in Gangnam are considered a bit self-important and haughty and they tend to stay in their own ‘league’. Unless you’re born there and have inherited the family wealth, buying a property in Gangnam area from scratch is almost impossible. Moving (=breaking) into Gangnam area equtes to ‘you made it!’. Parents want to move there because kids have the highest record of going to top universities, which inevitably links to their future career choices, and young couples want to live there because it will make others go green.

There are many derivative words from Gangnam, which mostly imply a slight negative (plus jealous) tone. For example, Gangnam umma (gangnam mum) is a mum who dedicates her life to find out and collect privileged study-related information for their kids. Gangnam umma forms a group of fellow selected mums to exchange information and recruits a private tutor , or goes to see (or bribe?) her kid’s teacher at school. They spend loads of £££ to increase a chance of sending their kids to the best unis. In Gangnam area, it is said that whether a kid goes to a good university or not is totally dependent upon his mum’s info-money-power.

People also say ‘She’s Gangnam choolsin (born & bred hardcore Gangnam girl).’ and it implies ‘money, typical character, outstanding appearances thanks to plastic surgery and maybe a different level. Gangnam doesn’t necessarily represent high integrity or class but mostly money and money-driven stuff. Of course there is always an exception to the rule and I’m pretty sure that there are plenty of Gangnam-ians who are just as humble as the rest of us! 🙂

Anyway this song makes a light-hearted joke about Gangnam style. As the singer Psy said in one of his interviews, ‘I don’t look like Gangnam style’, I don’t dress like Gangnam style but I keep on saying I’m Gangnam style in the music video – that’s the whole point!’. You can see different sites of Gangnam in the video. The music is catchy and the signature ‘invisible horseriding’ dance is easy to follow. It’s simply a genius!

I found this article on ABC.es and it’s great to see Psy is beginning to make it here in Europe. I hope to hear his song Gangnam style on Radio Gibraltar (Gibraltar) or Cadena Dial (Spain) very soon!