Dare to bare!

*This is NOT a sponsored post.

I have to admit, when it comes to pain, my tolerance is quite low. I can scream and yell and cry at the slightest pain. Even my mum once asked, "What would you do when it comes to childbirth in future? Comparing to childbirth, this cut is nothing!"

When I was aware of Brazilian wax, I shuddered at the thought - as much as I wanted to try to bare myself, for hygiene purposes, I was scared of the pain of waxing. I guess you can pretty much relate to that kinda of pain when you pull out the hair from the root, right? Few of my close friends even tried to scare me off with several silly and stupid stories on how the whole vajayjay waxing experience would go wrong.

Thus, for the past few years, I didn't dare to even think about Brazilian wax at all, thanks to my girlfriends - best girlfriends of all times, I know, right? *sarcasm*

Earlier this month, when I was surfing, I came across a Groupon voucher from Bubble Gum Wax - a full Brazilian for only RM29. I was thinking, "You know what, let's just go for it! Timidity and cowardness can wait!"

Hence, I bought the voucher on impulse and believe me, it's one of the best money I have spent on!

I made appointment with Bubble Gum Wax @ Plaza Damas a day after I returned to KL.

Well... I need to be honest - before I returned to KL, I was busy looking around Youtube and Google for any information regarding Brazilian wax and Bubble Gum Wax. I was scared and there is nothing to hide. I have seen videos where girls scream when they are waxed and seriously, it scared the wits out of me but then again, I have decided to be brave about it. The only thing I was worried about was showing and flashing my vajayjay to some strangers out there. After contemplating and calming myself that these waxing experts have seen a lot of vajayjays before mine, I felt better.

If you are unsure what a Brazilian wax is, well... all I could tell you is - your vajayjay is going to be bald after waxing.

The day finally came and I walked into Bubble Gum Wax outlet, feeling a bit overwhelmed but after a talking to the staff for quite some time, I felt better. They were very professional about it too. I was told to go to the washroom before the session started. I was ushered into a room after I came out of the washroom.

~ pictures credit to Shashay ~

Before I entered the room, I was informed that they have both soft and hard wax. I came to realize that before the day itself because I have done some information searching.

Soft Wax
Soft wax is usually used to remove small and finer hair, i.e. hair on the legs, arms and face. For Brazilian wax, a combination of soft and hard wax is used to remove all the hair. The finer hair on top will be removed with soft wax. However, soft wax tends to hurt more that hard wax.

Hard Wax
Hard wax is used to remove coarse, thick hair. This kind of wax hurts lesser than soft wax. Hard wax is applied on the skin and then, wait for it to harden. After few seconds, the wax will be pulled out, together with the hair. 

Since I chose hard wax, I needed to top up RM20. It didn't matter much to me because I was a Brazilian wax virgin and all my mind could think of was the lesser pain, the better it would be.


Then, I was given a packaged wet tissue to clean myself with. I totally have no idea which waxing expert was going to attend to me. I laid on the bed, feeling excited and scared.

Few minutes later, Wee Nee came in and she was my waxing expert of the day.

She was good! She managed to calm me down and we had a little talk about life, jobs and everything. I was being silly and asked her how does it feel to see so many different vajayjays in her job every single day. Okay, probably I was being a bit idiotic but these talks actually calmed me down a lot. She is a funny person.

In less than 30 minutes, we were done!

It was fast!

I remember, I anticipated for the pain but seriously, the pain was tolerable. On the scale of 1 to 10 with 1 being painless and 10 being excruciating pain, I would give it a 2 or 3.

My virgin experience with Bubble Gum Wax was really pleasant and I really did not regret spending a total of RM49 on the Brazilian wax - totally worth it!

I even purchased their B1 Soothing Lotion because I love the minty sensation it gives upon application. I was told I could use it to avoid itchiness and discomfort too.

After the waxing was done, I couldn't help but felt happy about it - at least, my vajayjay feels fresher and cleaner with all the hair gone!

If you're interested, please click here for the list of price and ongoing promotions.

A little bit of update after 1.5 weeks - hair is growing out a bit and it isn't itchy comparing to shaving it all off. Best of all, when my period came, due to my vajayjay being hairless, the sanitary pad actually adhered better and it did not move around. There wasn't any leakage and cleaning was so, so easy! 

I guess I would be going back for more after this.

Thank you, Bubble Gum Wax for the pleasant experience and Wee Nee for being very professional. I will see you all soon!

You're just too picky!

This is the topic that I am quite reluctant to talk about for the longest time.

I have been trying my best to avoid it because I know if anyone within my circle of friends start to talk about it, I will be the first or probably second target in the conversation.

You want to know why?

It's all because I am 30 and I am still single.

Okay, welcome to my life!

True enough, over the years, I have series of unhappy events when it comes to relationships and most of the times, I did blog about it.

Personally, I think there is nothing wrong with me, confiding in my blog because certain times, when you talk to people about your story, people do not understand your situation and that makes everything worse! To me, my blog is a person to whom I could go on and on about one thing and he doesn't respond negatively to me - if you're not happy reading my blog, you are always welcome to leave.

Okay, here comes the real thing.

I have been getting a lot of questions from people around me, "Angel, why are you still single?"

At this age, I do get it when people question you about it but the thing that really makes me angry is when people ask me the next question, "Are you too picky?"

First of all, let me tell you this - when you direct this question to a person who is single and still searching, the person being asked may not tell you anything but it could be offensive to them.

I hate it when people label me as 'picky'.

My argument is that if you think I am picky, why not we divert the question to yourself for a bit? If you are not picky, would you end up with your current boyfriend or husband? If you are not picky, would you just randomly choose a stranger and marry him or her?

The answer is a 'no', so, quit labeling other people as picky when you do not know their stories.

I know I can complain a lot about being single but at the same time, I refuse to do something about it.

Do you know why I refuse to do something about it?

If you do not know why, let me tell you again - I have had enough experiences with jerks and assholes who were only eyeing money and sex. My life is not about lending my money to any guys out there and it certainly has nothing to do with sex or even one night stand.

Sorry to those who are practicing this but seriously, if you come to me just because you are thinking about sex without string attached, my only sentence to you, "TO HELL WITH YOU!"

If you love sex or one night stand so much, go and find yourselves some professional prostitutes out there because one thing I know for sure, I am not one of them.

If you're thinking of preaching me that I should know how to satisfy a guy sexually, then, I will advise you to stop trying to preach me because I am a lady with high ego and I am not going to listen to your preach since I have my own life to lead. Seriously, I have no interest in wanting to know how you perform blowjobs on your boyfriends or how good you are in all positions in bed - save it to yourself!

To me, finding the right person is more important than any other things in this world and if sex is bound to happen, let it happen with the right person so that even if you guys do not end up getting married, still, it happened without regrets.

Once, a friend came to me, telling me, "Angel, I envy you because you are still single and you have no worries about relationships."

 You are not me, how would you know I have no worries about relationships? Sometimes I just do not talk to people about my relationship problems because I believe certain things shouldn't be spread.

When you are in a relationship and at the same time, your friend is single, stop telling him or her, "I envy you because you are single - you don't realize how troublesome relationships can be."

In that case, break up with your current partner and stay single!!!!!

Why do you even need to worry when you can break up?

Don't tell me, "Oh, you wouldn't understand my dilemmas - we've been together for almost 10 years and breaking up is not an option." 

Quit telling me also, "We've been married, it's not as easy as you've thought."

Sure it sounds easy to me when you are trying be 'envious' over me, being single.

If it is not easy, quit telling people how 'envious' you are - it doesn't work that way! Certain things may look easy to you but it is NOT that easy for the person who is actually going through it. Quit telling people that they do not understand your situation because you do not understand their situations too.

Worse still, I hate it when people tell me, "Maybe the time is not right, when it is right, Mr. Right will appear."

Hey, do you think Mr. Right is like a wizard whom can appear and disappear as he likes? If you are unsure, save the consolation to yourself. I do not appreciate your consolation at all because it irks me. It makes me feel like you are trying to laugh at my misery.

You do not know what I have been through so, don't just jump into the picture and tell me something offensive. It would be better if you switch to another subject that is less offensive.

I do not mind people telling me about their relationships but I get annoyed and angry when people try to label me as picky and stuffs like that. I have been in pathetic relationships with wrong guys and if you are gonna tell me I am not trying hard enough, you should just commit suicide!

Lesson of the day for all of you out there:

1 - Do not tell your single friends that maybe they are too picky - it's not your call.

2 - If you are gonna preach them, make sure you can tolerate it if they preach you.

3 - Stop trying to sound professional when you are not.

Why?

As I am documenting each of my feeling down right now, all that I am feeling - I miss you more than words could say. Sometimes, I wish things would stay the way it is from the very beginning but somehow, our relationship took a big turn and our lives are changed - forever.

We started out more than just enemies - we hated each other. We couldn't tolerate the sight of each other. We got annoyed at each other's name. We pretty much did not get along well.

There were times I wished you were not in my way but somehow, fate always seems to prove things will forever happen the opposite of what we have always wanted - our paths crossed. There you were, not my knight in shining armor but my worst nightmare ever.

As time passed by, things started to take their tolls. Little did we know, all the hatred we had for each other would blossom into friendship - a friendship that I never even imagined.

Things got a little complicated and then on, we were suddenly 老公 and 老婆. It wasn't intended - all that happened was that I was hoping you would pay a little bit more attention during class rather than chit-chatting with your friends. You may think I am an idiot but the trick did work - I started to see you paying more attention during class.

Well... we managed to clear our misunderstanding and soon, we started talking more to each other. It was then, I came to realize that we were similar in so many ways. Even those around us were telling us that we were the opposite gender of each other. I guess it could be one of the reasons we hit it off.

From talking to each other to messaging to whatsapp-ing to hanging out.

Do you remember the time when I visited Miri with some of our friends? 

You told me, you were not that close to these friends and yet, you still came because I asked you to. You made yourself available on those two days just to come and see us?

Even though your place is a little bit far away from where we were staying, it did not stop you from meeting up with us.

I wasn't exactly in a good mood at that time but somehow, you managed to cheer me up with your typical annoying jokes.

Do you remember the time when I met your mum for the first time?

Honestly, I wasn't quite prepared for it because I wasn't expecting auntie to want to meet up. My heart was pounding so fast that it almost fell out when I was waiting for you and auntie to arrive. I kept my sanity because I knew I was the one being paranoid.

When you finally sent us off on our last day in Miri, I was feeling weird. That feeling was just like butterflies in the stomach.

It suddenly struck me...

Perhaps, in the past, both of us were too busy hating each other to even notice, "Hey, that's a real awesome person you've got there!"

I seriously did not know why but as days went by, I found myself doing little things for you. On your side, I noticed you were doing the same thing. These were the things that put smiles on our faces as we braced each and every day.

I didn't even get to thank your mum for the yummy cheesecake and the CNY red packet that she sent. Well.. she had to get you to send the cakes and red packets to travel with you to me. Oh, oh... that was the time when you met my parents for the first time too.

The time when you fell sick and your mum called and asked for my help to send you to the hospital, honestly, I wasn't feeling too good myself. I knew I was worried about you but I was too sick to drive that I had to get my sister to be our driver. I ended up vomiting in the car =.="

What a sight to behold!

After that all of us spent the next few hours in the hospital.

Do you remember the first time you stayed over at my place? 

My mum whipped up a simple traditional Chinese chicken mee sua with boiled egg for your dinner? You were enjoying the meal because you told me the mee sua's texture was unique and you had never come across it in Miri.

Fast forward to early March 2015...

I had finally gotten my long-awaited trip to Belawai...

Little did I know you had a little surprise prepared for me at Belawai.

It was a birthday surprise!

I was at a loss of words when you and your friends took out a birthday cake out of nowhere and started to sing the birthday song to me.

To be honest, I felt the butterflies in my stomach again but I ignored it.

I was ready to cry but I held my tears because I knew crying would make me look ugly on a joyful day which was to be celebrated.

You told me, "Sorry, the cake is kinda melting because there is no fridge at my place. The girl at the bakery told me that Tiramisu is the only cake that could last without fridge - hence, the ugly cake."

It was a fruitful day for me because of you and your friends - I was honestly very, very touched and happy. I guess, I managed to hide my feelings quite well.

By the time the day ended, I was dead tired. I fell asleep in the car and this was what you did to me!

I mean, seriously?!

It was really a tiring day - all of us woke up at 5 to get ourselves ready for our Belawai trip and by the time it ended, I didn't even realized I had fallen asleep on our way back home.

I certainly didn't realize what happened but everything between us happened so fast that we started attending events together and soon, we were labelled as 'they come in pair'.

It was really weird - when we were on our own, you would never tease me but when there were friends around, sometimes, I felt like you went over the limit. I told myself that you didn't mean it because those were jokes. Well, I guess there is truth when people say that you get angry or mad because you care, right?

Do you remember the time when you had to go to each and every bakery around town just to custom-made my double-storey birthday cake? 

You told me you were a bit frustrated because you knew how much I wanted triple-storey birthday cake and you couldn't find any bakery that would accept your order. You resorted to ask my sister for help in the end. My sister was laughing and telling me that, "No, you shouldn't get a triple-storey birthday cake for Angel because that means she's gonna be 30 so, get a double-storey cake instead!"

I almost couldn't believe it when you pushed the trolley towards me while singing the birthday song the second time this year. I was very, very, very touched... again, I held back the tears because I was pretending to be the cool kid next door.

Look at my happy face!

When you knew I wasn't having a good day, you would go, "Let's do waffles and pancakes!"

You knew how much I loved waffles and pancakes, just like yourself.

Honestly, I could never imagine how my life would be if you were not there for me. I was thankful and grateful for having you next to me but somehow, good thing always comes to an end.

I had to leave for KL.

I was heavy-hearted but I lied that I wasn't. I lied to each and everyone around me that I wasn't feeling a thing because I knew between you and me, there would never be anything. Again, I pretended to be cool. On the day of my departure, I was really hoping you would at least give me a hug but you didn't.

You saw me getting out of the car and yet, there wasn't even a goodbye.

It broke my heart but I knew you have your reasons for not doing so. I told myself, I didn't wanna know why but I couldn't avoid asking, "Hey, why didn't you give me a goodbye hug? Don't you feel heavy-hearted when I left?"

Your answer was, "I wanted to but there were others around so I didn't do it... Furthermore, I know myself too well. I am scared if I hugged you then, I wouldn't want to let go."

Butterflies in the stomach - again.

I guess God was trying to test my patience. In every friendship or relationship, there is bound to be love and hate.

At the time you denied me, I told myself, "Perhaps, this was only a dream - a dream that I wish would go on forever."

Hearts are left broken with the words left unspoken.

I never really came to realization how true this phrase was.

The time when you told me, "Between us, there is nothing and there never will be anything. I wasn't pursuing you and you will definitely meet a guy who's better than me."

My heart bled. I cried, but, why?

There was nothing I could do. All of a sudden, I felt the distance between us - we were one South China Sea apart from each other.

I started to question God... did I meet the right person at the wrong time?

God, if You were listening or even reading this, is generation or age gap keeping us away from each other?

Why, me?

Why, him?

Why did things have to develop just to have them destroyed again?

If I have to choose to be honest, God, there isn't a day spent without thinking about him. However, I come to understand that there is no point holding on because between us, there are just too many impossibilities.

For once, I will continue to persevere and pretend that nothing happened because just as you have put it, you will definitely meet a better girl in the future and I am pretty certain she would be way better than me. She would be the one who would melt your heart. She would be the one who would hold on to you.

Good luck!

The thing about weight loss

It has been almost two years since I embarked on my weight loss journey. After the three toughest months in my life, I went back to eat normal meals and I stopped going to the gym as well due to few factors, one of which would be my laziness.

Reverting back to normal eating style was pretty easy in the first place but soon, it went haywire. I was constantly going through psychological battle of choosing good food over bad ones.

I know I should avoid sugary food like desserts and stuffs because it will cause a lot of side effects to my health as well as contributing to the increment in my weight. Soon, the craving went out of control a bit and I began to eat junk food and desserts.

Before I knew it, my weight increased from 58kg to 62.6kg within half year of stuffing crappy food down my throat to my stomach. I could feel certain dresses starting to get tighter and worse still, I felt bloated all the times. As if it wasn't bad enough, I didn't feel the need to get back on track.

Suddenly, it struck me, I am a kinda a yo-yo dieter.

I am very much aware of my problem and yet, I still repeat this yo-yo dieting routine from time to time. But hey... it isn't that I am enjoying every bit of it but I am that kinda person who has very low metabolism rate. That particularly means I do not sweat easily even in the hottest or dry weather. I have to be on the treadmill for more than 45 minutes only then, I could spot a little bit of sweat.

#firstworldpain

The motivation to get back on track was practically zero or it didn't even exist at all until April this year when my students decided to surprise me with a birthday gathering.

When I finally received the pictures, I was totally at a loss of words - how can I be so fat and I didn't even realize it at all? What on Earth was I thinking when I put all those crappy food into my mouth? Did I never even think of my waistline? Did I even want to gain back all the weight that I have lost over the past 2 years?

I was even more shocked when I went through the rest of the pictures taken during my birthday week.

How could nobody tell me that I have actually gained a lot of weight?

I mean I know I was gaining weight but I didn't realize it was so pretty dang obvious!
Look at my round face and big mighty arms! OMG... What has gotten into me?!

I was even more confirmed that my weight gain was horrible when I finally got the two maxi dresses from TCL and VGY.

How on Earth could I gain so much weight and still, I could be pretty ignorant about it? There was no way I could believe it was me, looking back at my own reflection in the mirror!

A million times NO!!!

*sighs... sighs... sighs... sighs... sighs...

For the next one week, I was practically emo-ing over my weight gain and finally, I decided to get back on track. I need to be at my pre-weight gain weight. I want to look healthy and most important of all, pretty. I need my confidence back. I need to feel alive for once again!

I left my hometown from KL - yes, peeps, I am back at KL for good and this time, never gonna go back to my hometown and that hell of a work place! Then on, I decided to once again, embark on another weight loss journey. Now, you see? Yo-yo dieter...

The first week into eating clean went by pretty easy because I could easily find healthy food supplies in KL. Unlike in my hometown, salads are like 3 to 4 times more expensive than what we have here in KL. Eating clean in my hometown was literally impossible because every now and then, my parents would whip up good meals or I would go out with friends.

Lemme share with you what I have been eating and doing for the past 3 weeks in KL.

If I were going out, I would opt for brown rice or quinoa with salad. I especially love the brown rice served by Three Little Birds Coffee in D7, Sentul.

The bento box isn't exactly cheap but I was aiming to eat healthily to shed a few pounds off so it has to be done that way.

If I were to order coffees or teas, I would go for either low fat milk or soy milk. At least from what I understand, these two types of milks have lower calories compared to normal fresh milk. Well, sometimes a girl gotta do what she gotta do.

I try to stick to only order salads without mayonnaise or thousand island sauce. I usually opt for balsamic vinegar, garlic or a little bit of chilli here and there for my dressing.

If I were going to order chicken, it has to be chicken breast and well... grilling would be the best option

One thing you have to bear in mind if you were going to order salad outside - it is not entirely cheap. Let's say I am trying to cut down on my spending on food, what would I be eating?

To be honest, I do not particularly like Yong Tau Fu because I know that every bit of it is processed food. The trick on ordering Yong Tau Fu is that, do not be greedy and get everything in sight. You have to know what is the food that your body needs.

If you do not know what processed food is, it basically means food that has been altered from its natural state.

Examples of processed food would be fish balls, nuggets, hot dogs, sausages, sodas and others.

Hence, if I were going to order Yong Tau Fu, I would go with tofu and fresh vegetables. However, my diet isn't extremely strict to the point I have to get rid of all processed food from my life once and for all. Occasionally, I still eat my hot dogs and sardines.

As far as fast food like McD and KFC, well, to have none would be the best idea if you are going on a diet.

Most of the times, I try to keep things simple. That explains why I prefer to prepare my own food at home. One of the most important reason why that is so is because at least, I know what gets down my throat to my tummy.

My utmost favourite meal would be this!

I bought myself a spirelli so that I could make zucchini noodles.

You may be telling me that it is a waste of money to buy hings like that but lemme tell you - sometimes, you have to cheat yourself in order to make yourself feel good and zucchini noodles is one of the ways to end my craving for pasta.

At least, I feel like I am eating noodles.

Carb craving - settled!

The spirelli has to be one of the best products I have ever bought because I am kinda hooked on making zucchini noodles every day.

If I were too lazy to cook, I would just throw in some lettuce topped with Yellow Mustard and well... if there are chicken stripes, that would be the best.

I do take carbohydrate but I try to minimize the total amount of it. I would opt for either protein or probably just salad.

By the end of Week 1, I actually feel less bloated and I could feel my tummy flatter.

At the same time, I frequented the gym two to three times every week. I would do squats, cardio and a little bit of weight lifting. During weekends, I would go swimming.

I am not aiming for a model-like body but I just wanna be 58kg again.

During the second week, my mum came to KL and it was almost impossible for me to get her to go on a diet with me so, over the few days she was with me, I did eat food like nasi lemak, thosai, curry, rendang, fried squid and all those unhealthy food. The trick is to eat some and not a lot.

I'm sure you get what I am trying to tell you.

On those days when mum went out with her friends, I would stay in and whipped up my own meals.

Sometimes, I would prepare extra so that I could pack up some late dinner for my brother. The pasta that you see in the picture above is not mine though. I am trying to avoid carbohydrate so, you get what I mean.

Another easy salad recipe would be this...

No cooking required.

You basically just throw everything in and believe me, the combination is good. I love the flavor that the tuna gives whilst the corns are really, really sweet!

On days when I do not feel lazy, I would cook a bit...

Well, easy dish like what you see above is really good for your body. You basically just boil the french beans and cook the minced chicken.

Voila, ready to be eaten!

Oh, please cut down on the sodium and salt, okay?

By the end of the second week, I actually feel good about myself.

It could be psychological but I do feel lighter.

Pants are starting to feel loose once again. I am determined to keep up my good work!

This week is the third week and I am trying to experiment with vegetables that I have never tried before - brussels sprouts.

I just popped everything into the oven after drizzling the brussels sprouts with a bit of olive oil. After 25 minutes, done!

Fried myself an egg with half link of Chinese sausage.

For dinner, I would usually go a bit lighter by taking raw vegetables.

Well, I kid you not when I tell you everything that you are seeing here in my blog is so easy to prepare. I usually could eat after 15 to 20 minutes and best of all, I would meal-prep for the next day or so. Life couldn't get anymore easier.

So, this week's update...

Please excuse my flabby thighs...

Pants are loose, I have mentioned that. I feel like my collar bones are getting more obvious. My thighs aren't as gigantic as they used to be.

Best of all... I could feel my face getting slimmer too.

 Life has never been so good with dieting.

Hopefully by the end of this week, I would still be motivated to continue to eat healthy to reach my goal weight of 55kg to 56kg.

I haven't have the chance to go and weigh myself yet but I would do so soon.

Before I head off to bed, I really hope my entry would be useful to those of you who are trying to shed off a few pounds.

This is my journey - weight loss edition

*waves*

Hello, everyone!

It has been quite some time since I last updated my blog. My apologies for lack of reviews and updates. Finally I am back after a few busy months of rushing through my work.

I hope everyone has been healthy and good.

Another reason for my absence is that I have been busy keeping up with gym and dieting. If you don't know, yes, I am still in weight loss mode.

If you are wondering, my life has changed so much ever since the day I embarked on this journey.

My weight was at its lowest in 2008.

However, all those crash dieting had taken toll on my health - I started having frequent gastric. The pain was intolerable to the point I fainted a number of times. It made me give up on my weight loss journey. I am the type of person who gains weight easily so when I stopped dieting, the weight came back.

Wwwwaaaaahhhhh!

I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the picture above. I looked horrible in the picture.

I tried hard but I only managed to lose 4 to 5kg and then, I was stuck!

When I started working in April 2013 this year, I did not think much about losing weight and being healthy. It was only when I saw in one of the pictures take earlier how fat I was comparing to my colleagues. It was the moment of truth.

I admit, I had been piling on weight like mad especially after I got back from KL.

My parents had been whipping up nice food every now and then. Aside from that, we went out for meals several times a week.

All these contributed to my whooping weight gain since April. Even so, I kind of ignored the piling on weight until Mr. K pointed out how fat I was in one of the pictures.

To be honest, I was a little annoyed at his comment that I looked back and yes, I was shocked. I piled on 7kg ever since April!

I knew I had to loose weight but at the same time, I was not motivated to lose weight. I knew I had to do something and yet, I was lazy to even jog. I knew something had to be done to my current diet and yet, I did not want to change it.

Upon false motivation and force from my mum - I dragged my big butt to the gym for the first time ever, in my entire life! That was in August 2013.

Again, I was shocked when I saw the picture - I looked so, so fat to the point I simply refused to believe it was me in August 2013.

Then, I made a vow to myself - I want to lose weight and look good. I want to be healthy. I told myself that I need to lose weight by December because my best friend is getting married and I want to look my best during his reception.

Plus motivation from Mr. K, I made up my mind that I will lose those unwanted weight once and for all.

My journey started - I frequented the gym at least 3 times a week.

If I were not at the gym, I would be working out from home. My favourite YouTubers are Cassey from blogilates, and Joanna.

In order to know my progress, I purchased a calorie counter from Guardian Pharmacy. The price was around RM27.90 but it was totally worth it!

The purpose is just to motivate myself so that I would put in more effort during every session of working out.

Aside from working out, I began my journey into cleaning out my diet. Well, that pretty much means no more junk food, fast food or any food that will pile on the extra fat.

In this case, I can tell you, the only food that has less calories - greens!

Just like what your mama always tells you, "Eat your vegetables!"

At the same time, I started to prepare my own food instead of buying packed or processed food. I made it a habit to boil, steam or bake my meals.

I limit my daily calorie intake to 1000 kcal.

If you are wondering, I am using the application called My Fitness Pal to keep track of my daily calorie intake.

I know that is a little bit too little but that was for myself. If I knew I were going out for a meal with friends, I would work out more just because I knew I would be eating.

Lesson learned throughout this journey...

I learned how to control portions and not to over eat.

In about 2 months in September 2013, I lost 8kg.

I was over the moon. I couldn't believe it... 2 months and 8kg gone!

At this point, however, weight loss got more and more difficult. My weight just couldn't go down and I was desperate.

I began replacing certain food with better alternatives.

Instead of low fat milk, I started taking fat free milk alternative.

I learned that I should replace my bread with whole-wheat or wholemeal. That was when I learned to bake my own wholemeal scones - lesser calories, lesser fat.

Oh, I forgot to mention - I replaced sugar with stevia, Slim-up or Equal. Lessor calorie is good!

Aside from replacing this with that, I invested more time in working out and weight-lifting in the gym.

When I weighed myself in November 2013, I realized I have dropped another 4kg.

It was almost surreal.

From August to November 2013, I dropped 12kg with my own effort that I never knew I could do it.

Life has been both wonderful and crazy throughout this journey of trying to lose weight.

Mr. K could not believe I would be able to lose weight too!

All pictures are NOT edited.

Every morning, I remind myself, this is the reward of staying active and eating clean.

I have never felt better or healthier than now.