The Faucet

In class today we were discussing how we can save our environment and be better citizens of the earth.

This little GEM happened..

What should we turn off to conserve water?

The fukket.

I'm sorry...one more time?!

The fukket.

Oooooooooooh you mean the faucet.

(Insert me trying to remember that I'm 25 years old and a small child saying fukket is pretty fukking funny but I'm mature...riggggght)

I love my job.

Chuseok Weekend

I had a four day weekend this past weekend, and was full of relaxation, good friends and .. uhhh more relaxation!

I was feeling a bit sick the past two days so I just pumped the Vitamin C and slept like a bear. Honestly, I don't think I've ever slept that much in my life. It was heavenly.

Here is the BRIEF bit of the weekend I spent amongst humanity.

 A little bit of impromptu hosting. We were supposed to go camping but the weather was a bit unpredictable...and we were lazy. We decided to have some drinks at mine, then get some dinner...then a night of debauchery....ITAEWON!

 I left just as some guy was getting iced after being punched in the mouth and the manager found one of the men's toilets broken. AS IN broken toilet bowl.

The innocence before the night out, having some W6,000 E-Mart wine on my rooftop. I can honestly say we have one of the best views in the city.

Some great new girlfriends. God knows you can never have enough of those!

Going to my favorite galbi/samgypsal place on the "Street of Eating". W67,000 for all of us to have meat, soup and rice...and be absolutely stuffed. What a deal!

After spending the ENTIRE DAY locked up in my room on Monday, I decided to hit the bookstore to make being a recluse atleast somewhat productive. I picked up these BEAUTIES.

A little bit of romance, a lot of history and A LOT of Scotland... pretty much JUST. MY. TYPE.

I'm on "Dragonfly in Amber" now, about 100 pages in...I'm in trouble as I can hardly put it down...

Now when I come home we can have book club Camille! xx

I also decided to stock up my library on books I've been meaning to read. Both of these are being made into movies, and I'd like to read them before I get the imprint of the cinema in my head, rather than making my own version first.

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Diet is going well still. I had a BIG case of the midnight munchies tonight so made myself a bowl of steamed vegetables with "Can't Believer Its Not Butter" and some dried seaweed to keep myself occupied.

I have been pretty non-existent when it comes to exercise since last Thursday but am jump-starting tomorrow morning with a session at the gym. I figured it was ok to give myself some time off and relax.

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NOOR, YOU CAN DO IT! You're as much my inspiration as I am yours. Love you friend! xx



CELEBRATIONS!!!!

Today is a victorious day.

Today is cause for celebration.

Due to my hard work and diligence...and occasional slip-ups, I have reached one of my goals.

As of this morning I weigh 150 lbs. I have never in my adulthood weighed this much. I have never in my teens weighed this much. I have never weighed this much since I was 11 or 12.



Soooo pardon my French but....

FUCK YES!!!!!!!

All those nights of NOT going out and hitting the Yangjae-chan track are paying off.

 Lastnight, instead of going out drinking until 5 am, I went for a long 10 km walk.

HOWEVER, the most important part now is to remember that I'm not finished. I have 10 lbs left to go until I'm at a really good weight for my height. I'm 5'7, so 140 is perfectly realistic. AND even after that, to remember that I'm not finished there either, it will be a constant struggle to maintain my goal weight BUT....

 I. AM. WORTH. IT.

Weighting Games

Well it is absolutely no shock that I'm trying to lose weight. It isn't easy, ever. I've done this before quite a lot and always seem to go back to the same comfortable weight after a week.

This time is different. Why?

A) I am focusing on HEALTH. Not just skinny.

B) I am not just surviving off Fibre One bars and rapini.

C) Exercise is a HUGE part of this journey. I just want to be strong and fit.

What am I doing?

Weight Watchers!...cue Jennifer Hudson/Jenny McCarthy... AND exercise.



Why does this work for me?

It is mathematical. You must eat a certain amount of fruits and vegetables in a day, and all the other stuff has points associated with it.

It is NOT easy, but very accomodating. If I want a glass of wine, I'll have it. Can you believe I've lost 11 lbs by eating cheese and Turtles?... All in moderation is acceptable. I certainly don't feel deprived. I feel empowered. Once I'm done my points for the day...I stop eating.

Wait a minute...haven't you done this before?

YES! I've done Weight Watchers about 6 or 7 times now...

What went wrong, why didn't you finish?

Its true, I've never let myself reach my goal. I've set myself up to fail many times. I never really pushed myself, I just sort of lost the weight and then STOPPED thinking about it. But weight loss isn't just a do it and forget it kind of thing... it is a life long challenge.

It really isn't a failure as I've always maintained around the same 5 lbs for about 5 years now.

I was 183 lbs when I was 18 years old.

I was an atrocious weight when I was 13 years old. I was an obese child.

 It absolutely fucking kills me to say it. There are many things I do NOT look back on with happiness.

 Sure, I can laugh about it now. I went to fat camp, I used to eat cake behind the curtains. But really...for a child to do that is pretty messed up.

I CRINGE when I think of it.

Why is it so important to be healthy for me?

I want to break the cycle. I want to lead and live a healthy life. I want to get married and raise children and I don't want them to EVER have to worry about words like "diabetes" or "obese".

I stood on the scale this morning and it read 150.9lbs. I smiled the biggest smile.

The sad girl that I used to be is now a happy, active and vivacious woman.

25, you're going to be the best year yet.

xx

Review of iHerb's Delivery to Seoul

I am a big fan of Healthy Living Blogs. I would go so far to call it an intense hobby HAHA.

It is really comforting to me as I struggle along this journey of healthy living to find that is doesn't come as easily as I thought to others. I have had a few slip ups along the way but have been fairly dedicated to working out and eating well.

One hurdle I have come over is seeing all these delicious products on the blogs and not being able to try them! Mind you, I do have Costco here but I'm not feeding a family of 5... 

 I love making faux coconut pie and shredded coconut here is VERY expensive (sliced banana, with coconut and yogurt)!

I heard of iHerb through Dave's ESL Cafe and through Mipa's Blog, so I thought I would give it a try.

I was so impressed by what they offer and just how quick the delivery was. My order ended up being about $26 CDN - this included the import tax and shipping!

I got...

- White Chocolate Peanut Butter from Peanut Butter and Co

- 2 Packages of Bare-Naked Fruit - Mangoes

- 1 Package of Bare-Naked Fruit - Green Apples

- Organic Coconut Flakes

- 1 Package of No-Sugar Added Hot Chocolate

It was such a GREAT deal for all this stuff. I was absolutely blown away that it was packed and shipped pretty much the next day after I ordered.

SO if you're living in Seoul, and you're interested in some healthy eats - check it out!

Weekend of Wonder and iHerb Lovin'

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You know its going to be a good weekend when it starts off with a trip to Costco! This time's haul was MAPLE FLAVORED BACON, red grapes, GO Lean Crunch cereal, oatmeal, red wine, ham, Rice Crispie Treats, frozen vegetables and mini cheeses. I had a smile on my face the whole time I was there! It ended up being about W117,000 which is pretty reasonable for all the stuff I got.

The night ended with too much wine at the Intercontinental Hotel's Wine and Buffet...

With some great new friends!

It may have also involved soldiers and planking...

And Kayla workin' that moped!

We held up pretty good. At 2:30am I decided I'd had enough and should probably escort myself home. That was probably a GREAT idea. Nonetheless I woke up at 2:30 pm on Sunday hating my previous night's choices. Oh being 25!

It also made me realize how I'm not quite cut out for partying anymore. I hadn't been OUT in about 5 weeks so I REALLY went at it... bad choice!

I have been living SUCH a healthy lifestyle and drinking SO much is just stupid, idiotic etc... But atleast I'm honest and bursting ANY disillusion that I may be perfect HAHA

I wasn't licking my wounds too badly though as I did have enough gusto for a 10 km walk later lastnight!

Back to normal life today. I woke up and RAN downstairs to see if my http://www.iherb.com/ order had come in.. alas it had!

I had heard a lot about it online and thought I'd try my luck. Well, it was SO fast, and amazing. I will definitely be using them again!

 I ordered Peanut Butter and Co "White Chocolate Dreams" Peanut Butter (DROOOOOOOOOL), Bare Naked fruit - Apples and Mango, Coconut Flakes, and Sugar-Free Hot Chocolate Packets.

It literally took 1 week from start to finish, I ordered last Monday and it arrived today (Monday).

SOOO don't hesitate! Go place an order with them if you're looking for Health Foods from back home!

Feeling Human Again

In no particular order, here is my life as of late.

Last week we finished INTENSIVES, which I dislike severely. I signed up for this job fully knowing that it was a reality twice a year, but it doesn't make it any easier. Winter is much worse as well. This was only 5 weeks...winter is maybe 8 or 9. I love my school and job, but anyone that eat, sleeps and breathes their job loses their lust for it after awhile.

This week I went back to enjoying teaching. It was so nice. The students work so hard and it was their summer break also so its nice to get back to norm for everyone.

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In other important news I've been cooking and eating a lot. The good kind.

These are Vegan Chocolate Chip cookies, and were a HUGE hit.  I got the recipe from Mipa's Blog www.aliensdayout.com . I would go as far to say that it is my favorite blog. I ordered from her Bake Shop and couldn't say enough words about how delicious her baking is!

The above was my favorite birthday card from a student. "I am happy to be learning from my hero teacher. Your IQ is 170." Kelly 2, you are an absolute genius! A+ all semester to you young lady!

These are homemade peanut butter cups that I made (we can't get them here in Korea). I made the peanut butter in my food processor...because I'm foodie chic like that!

I made them as a going away present for one of my besties Tiffany who moved back to New York. I got this STUPID idea to put milk in the white chocolate I was going to use for the top layer...so make it runnier...I'm a moron. I honestly couldn't even feed them to a dog after. BOO to not being perfect!

This is where my fruit lady dwells. I am IN LOVE with this place. She has such excellent quality fruit. All she sells is fruit. I mean if you F up the one thing you sell you're in trouble. It is a 5 minute walk from my place and is always so friendly to me. She even sneaks an extra piece of fruit for "service" into my bag when I leave.

These were my takings this morning. All that (those tubs are blueberries) for W12,000. The blueberries were 1/2 off because they're going to go bad in a day, but I'll just put them in the place where things go to die. My freezer.

My Birthday Cake! This cake is the place where diets go to die.

Another concoction I created this morning. I always get HEAPS of rice when I order Korea takeaway, so I put 1/2 the rice in the fridge. This is my healthified version of fried rice. Its pam, onions, beans, mushrooms, rice, tuna, and an egg. All that for 7 points!

My Weight Watchers journey has been going really well. I'm down 10 lbs. I have been exercising a tonne, went for a 10km walk lastnight at 10pm because I'm hardcore like that!

FEWF this update literally took me an hour. If you are a criminal, please feel free to steal my shitty $200 Dell Laptop....can we say MISSSSSSSSSSSTAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKE for that purchase? F you Laptop you make blogging hell.