Kat-Thanks! The cheese isn't so bad once you get used to not having it. The vegan cheese alternatives are so much better these days then they were when I first went vegan, they basically had no flavor to them and didn't melt. Yuck-o! Yeah I definitely will, the bf and I plan to do some cooking this weekend as well, and having him there means a higher probability of something going right. ;)

Kawaii- I so feel your pain! My scale and I have had several arguments about where I think it should be and where it actually is and I think the scale is winning. I am still keeping up the exercise though, and unfortunately if I get off track I always end up doing the exercise for a few weeks, and then I get the veganism back on track, and then things start getting back to normal. This is the way it should work, unfortunately it isn't always the case. :)

Lisa- Actually I haven't been asked that in quite awhile, so I don't mind: I've been vegan off and on since 2009, when I started researching ways to get thinner. I was close to 240 pounds at that time, and just straight-up miserable. I happened across this book called Skinny B!tch (cept it actually had the complete word, lol). A friend of mine recommended it to me, and I started reading. I was just taken aback by the graphic descriptions I heard in this book, and started my vegan diet then and there. I was thrown off track by two horrible relationships in my life, and subsequently relocating from Memphis, TN to St Charles, MO and I ate to compensate. Fast forward to 2011 and I'm in a loving relationship with a guy who happens to be a huge wrestling fan. There is a wrestler on there called Daniel Bryan who for a while as part of his wrestling gimmick professed to be a vegan "role model" and did some work for Peta2 and some other vegan organizations. I thought about it and after living with my boyfriend for some time and watching lots of wrestling, I became a vegan again. That was December of 2011, and I've been a vegan ever since. :)

Sorry if it's long. Nothing in my life is ever short and to the point, lol. :)

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So, life is picking up for me a bit. Got my final for Trig this afternoon and then going to Zumba for my biweekly butt-kicking. I've actually got an interview on Monday, so hopefully I can get some work. It's a retail position, which is actually kind of cool because I love their stores and maybe working there would motivate me to do more exercise and fit into stuff from there. :) Either way, I've got my fingers and toes crossed.

Well, I don't really have much else to say, lol. Take care all, have a good day/evening/afternoon.

lisa: good job on the loss. and thanks for the pep-talk ;) i know my body is having a good ol' time messing with my head...

namaste: ha, thanks for feeling my pain ;) good luck with the interview :cheer:


hey guys, well, i'm still in a weird mood, but i'm about to go do my 30DS... 2nd day of level 2...

i wanna share something with you guys though... about 2 months ago, i "accidentally" entered this purikura contest (lol). if you don't know, purikura are these little photo-booths that are really popular in japan... you take pictures and then you can go doodle on them on a little screen at the back of the machine and they print out on sticker-paper at the end. it's meant for teenage girls mostly, but it's huge fun and so every foreign girl i know loves it too.

this is a purikura (i'm the blonde one... and sorry it's so big, i can't seem to make it smaller)
http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/b...ndie/00901.jpg

anyways, so for this contest, you could take an individual picture of your face and then it would "enter it" in the machine, and so people who took puri in that machine could "vote" for whichever picture they liked best and your photo would climb up or down in the ratings. fyi, when you take pictures, it often requires you to enter your phone email so you can get digital copies of your photos (which is pretty cool). so anyways, i didn't actually register but they had my email from that.

about a month ago, i get an email saying "congratulations, your picture was number one on that machine, you're moving on to the next stage". i was a bit floored but the next stage involved all the number one pics from all the machines all over japan being put on the website and people could vote for them. there were about 200 finalists, all super cute teenage japanese girls, and when i checked, i was about number 67 or something so i quickly gave up, thought it was pretty cool that i'd made it this far, and forgot about it.

then last week i got another mail saying "congrats, you are top 30. give us your adress and we'll send you a present". i was super shocked. then a few days ago i got another mail saying i made final selection and i have to go to an audition somewhere in august, asking to confirm if i'll come. so i did. and now today i get this email of this "form" i have to fill out, which asks (among other things) my age, my weight and my "3 sizes". according to my friend who goes to a lot of auditions for his singing, this is all very normal. the only thing is that A) i'm actually 30. (i don't look it or act it, which is why i'm mooching on this forum, lol). and most of the other contestants are gonna be teenagers. i feel bad writing my age down. and B) i'm literally double the size as all these girls. i weigh 83kg and the average japanese girl weighs around 40kg or under... T_T i mean... why do they have to know how much i weigh anyways??? i got to the last freakin stage on my face alone... so this is really depressing. the aforementioned friend said that i should just lie. about my age, fine, but about my weight? even if i say i'm 75kg, which as much as i think i could get away with, it's still huge in the mind of a japanese person, so i'm just wondering if it would terminate my chances before they even saw me in person... *sigh* also i'm not a big fan of lies.

on the other hand, this whole audition/finalist thing is really exciting, but i'm kinda confused about the whole thing.

anyways, sorry about the novel but i had to get that off my chest, haha :p

kawaii: Oh god...purikura...as much as I hate getting pictures of myself taken, all of my ryugakusei friends loved it, so I have a few super special ones :p I had a prepaid phone without internet, so I didn't put in my email, but I think that even if I did and something like that happened to me, I'd assume it was some cruel "pick on the stupid gaijin with the scarily huge eyes" joke and delete it...if there's that much follow up, I'd imagine that it's legit though...congrats!

About the weight thing...yeah...Japanese views on weight are...well...f-ed up. Today at lunch a bunch of teachers brought random things from their gardens to share in the staff room and one woman (probably about as big around as my thigh) was eating a ton of berries that someone had brought and complaining that "Oh, I shouldn't eat these...I'm getting so fat," I covered a laugh by pretending to choke on my onigiri, but the other women were legit concerned. They asked how much she weighed, and after much covering of her face and looking away, she finally admitted "42 kilos." My jaw dropped...the others started cooing over "Oh, yeah, that's not exactly thin for someone your height..." and recommending that she go for a walk after lunch. 42 KILOS. I DID A HAPPY DANCE THIS MORNING WHEN I SAW 75.9.

namaste: Good luck on your interview! I'm sure you'll kick some serious butt and get the job :D

...I'm so far behind on this thread...I feel like a slacker -_-U

I've been feeling positively ill all week thanks to TOM hitting hard, but I've still been doing 2 hours of biking per day and watching my calories, and SOMEHOW it's been working really well...fingers crossed that it keeps working. I was video chatting with my boyfriend this morning and kept pointing to my collarbone and telling him "LOOK! I HAVE BONES!" To which he replied "I'd always assumed so...now stop saying that you're fat, crazypants." Silly boy is convinced that 15 lbs or so overweight is "tiny." It's cute how delusional he is <3

Hello everybody =]

Welcome, DailyStruggle.

So guys...I don't know whether I should feel proud of myself or entirely lame. I just had the stupidest binge ever. I've been trying the vegetarian thing out for the week (totally not sticking with it much longer though...I'm very much an omnivore and need some meat in my life) so last Friday I pretty much got rid of anything that wasn't fruits and vegetables to make space in the fridge. Then I went to the JA farmer's market and bought lots of fruits and vegetables super cheap. I was going to be on plan. I was doing great.

...then my company contacted me. I've come to realize that that's NEVER a good sign. Apparently the schedule that I got with my contract has been amended, so now I have NO winter break. Well, I have to get Christmas eve off (it's apparently a national holiday here...wtf?), but the entire week after when I was planning on flying home for my niece's first birthday? Gone. No word yet on whether they're re-writing my contract so that I get paid for that week, because as it stands, December pay is docked for holidays. Written into the contract. So I raged. I cried a little...then I made the biggest f-ing salad ever and ate the whole f-ing thing because I didn't want to go out to a conbini looking like a serial killer. The salad was easily the size of my head. I roasted like 5 (admittedly small) cloves of garlic in the toaster oven to throw on top and threw a bunch of vinegar over it because Japanese salad dressing is kinda nasty. Binge calorie total? 231.

I. Am. So. Lame.
*Sigh* Exercise time...need to take out my frustrations in a more constructive manner.

Thank you Hotaruchan, that's not even a binge, that sounds like a wonderful little meal to me lol Did you consider it a binge because it was more emotional eating since you seem upset? Can you negotiate with the company regarding the terms of your contract? do try.
Being vegetarian is not for everybody, what made you pursue that lifestyle?
I don't eat red meat, and the only time i eat chicken is if its home made and fried.. (which i dont get any on my diet plan lol)

It was about the size of a salad I'd make when I was cooking for a family of 5 >_< I was entirely surprised when I plunked it all in MyFitnessPal and it told me how little it was. I've already sent multiple emails, but my company's pretty horrific about communication. I don't really expect a reply before the week is up, and even then it'll probably be something completely useless and unsatisfying.

The vegetarian thing was just more of a whim than anything. I wanted to see if I could get the scale moving, but by the end of the first day I was already thinking "Know what I could really go for? Some beef jerky..." It was never intended to be a long-term thing, but I kinda thought I'd last longer than 3 or 4 days on it...

Hotaruchan we do a vegetarian week every few weeks too, it's amazing for a week but you miss meat at the end of it. As for your "binge", while emotional eating is not ideal, the choice of food was definitely a victory - so I'd say at the worst it's a 50/50 victory.

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So we got the keys to our new place today, and are beginning to move things in, I'm sore and bruised but happy to be moving. Hopefully we'll be settled in by Wednesday. I'm dreading stepping on the scale when it's unpacked, I'm afraid TOM and water retention from all the physical/mental strain of moving will give me a gain. On the other hand, lifting boxes all day makes for great exercise!

Hey everyone...super busy around here, but wanted to pop in and let you know I'm still lurking. :) Maybe I can catch up with what's going on with everyone.

Well, I didn't miss as much as I thought I did! So, yay!

Katbot - If you are afraid to step on the scale, then just skip a week! :) And yay for keys to your new place!! I know you are super excited!

Hotaru - I would definitely say that your binge could have been A WHOLE LOT worst. Ha! You could have had a "shauna" binge and eat a ton of potato chips, bowl of cereal, and whatever else I could find in the fridge/cabinet. Haha! I'm sure my binges are over 500 calories...good thing you tracked though! I wouldn't have even done that...so kudos to you!!

DailyStruggle - :welcome:

Kawaii - That picture thing sounds like fun! I would be excited to be up that high...and I just wouldn't worry about the weight issue...if they don't pick you because of that, then they are lame. It would come out in the end anyway, so might as well be honest up front. :)

lisa - Good job for staying within your calorie limit! That's really great! And isn't it great that we can still have the fast food and still lose weight?! It's all about moderation. :cool:

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Okay, I'm definitely going to be teaching grades 10-12 English. I spent 3 days in my room last week getting my classroom somewhat ready. I don't have any student desks, but the principal ordered some. That's pretty much the only thing I'm lacking besides materials to stock up. My classroom was pretty much empty except for 2 very small book shelves. I had to search the school for things not being used. Found quite a bit of stuff, so I'm happy. :D I'll have to post a before and after picture. :dizzy:

Anyway, new teacher training started today. We had to be there at 8am (which means I had to get up at 5am), and stayed until around 3:30. I'm going to have to get used to those hours again. It's all good though...I'm just tired. I have training tomorrow and I think meetings the rest of the week. So, busy, busy, busy days for me. Students start August 7th.

Hi all,

Hope everyone is doing well. Things are going in the right direction for me, I have been working out continually and since I'm just taking my measurements after at least a year, I couldn't say if they were any better or worse than they were when I first started working out. Still, the scale is moving down some and I'm grateful for that at least. :) I managed to use 55 lbs of resistance on an ab crunch machine today. Not bad, since my boyfriend uses about 70 on the same machine. I am catching up. :)

Going to a WW meeting this week. I haven't been to one in almost a decade, but my mum has been a member for some time and is continuing to gain weight and I want to go with her so she'll have some support.

Interview went pretty good. I was paired up in a group interview with a skinny 18-year-old (male) kid and I thought, "Yup, I'm getting too old for this." :D Might have to refine my choices in my job search to a more age-friendly range, lol. Ah well, I looked like a diva and eventually showed the 18-year-old up intellectually. That made me feel a little better. (Not sure whether or not I should feel guilty for that... :D)

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DailyStruggle- :welcome3: Glad you're here and wish you luck!

Hotaru- :hug: Sorry to hear work isn't going too well. Sending good vibes your way and hope things get better. I'm with the rest of em, it could have been a worse binge, and at least you were honest with yourself and faced up to it. WTG for that. :)

sgregg- Glad you could get some supplies for your classroom. I'm sure you'll do great!

Kat- How exciting! Don't worry about the scale too much, you could always wait a few days or a week, especially since you have external factors working against you. :)

namaste984, sgregg: Thank you :hug:

Hotaruchan I agree with Katbot about it being a 50/50 victory, nothing to beat yourself over with though, be proud you made a healthy choice at the very least. :hug:

KawaiiCandie That's AWESOME! I think it's great you made it so far and you look very pretty in your picture! I think it's normal you feel self conscious because your weight is different than the typical Japanese teenager, but your different, which I think is what makes you stand out as well. So instead of feeling hesitant about it, embrace it! Rock it. I don't think it matters if you put down 75 kg or 80 kg, but i think you will feel more comfortable if you put down an answer that's honest to yourself. What if you need to try something on and the clothes are too small/big?
Best of luck and keep us updated. :hug:

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I should be heading out to the gym in half an hour.. but my TMJ seems to be acting up and while I'm wearing a mouthguard i got from the local drug store I'm in pain. :( I lost the custom $500 dollar TMJ guard my dentist made me like a year ago.. lol

Daily- YW. Is that the mouse from deadmau5? I kind of like the way they sound, and I always thought whoever that was in the mouse head must have a lot of confidence to pull that off. If it was me I'd be afraid the head was going to fall off and constantly pulling it back and forth. :D Sorry your teeth are in pain, and hope they start to feeling better soon. :)
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So yeah, might be out of commission for a little while on the workouts. I was doing Zumba today, and totally rockin it, and then we did our cooldown. I was doing dancer's stretch, and I got my foot up and in my hand, which I thought was pretty cool until I felt a little slip and pop in my back. Oops. So, I'll take a warm shower tonight and an anti-inflammatory, and if its still bugging me tomorrow I'll take a hiatus, maybe until next week, to let it heal up. :) Still going to the Weight Watchers meeting though, maybe with an ice pack. ;)

namaste984: check out this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnwfTHpnGLY
One of the deadmau5 songs on my workout playlist :D
I feel better now, but horrible that I'm missing my workout... Need to see the dentist ASAP.
Btw, what is a stretcher's dance..?

Daily- Dancer's stretch is a yoga/cooldown pose in which you bend up your leg behind you and you reach your arm back to grab it, like you were a figure skater (or dancer). What I did was twist my leg in the opposite direction ever so slightly and it stretched a muscle in my back. Thankfully, it's doing better today. :) That song is pretty amazing, a lot of diverse sounds coming into one eight-minute song. I can totally see why that would be a workout song. :)
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I am happy to report my back is feeling much better. I was nervous I would miss several workouts and go back up in weight but thankfully it healed up pretty quickly. So this morning I will go to water aerobics with my mum and go to WW.

I weighed in at 220 this morning for the third day in a row, which is discouraging to me since I saw the scale keep going down until I did my cardio for the day. I kind of get frustrated because I always seem to lose the same 5-10 pounds over and over, in increasing numbers each time. I guess it means that I will have to be more diligent in my dieting, and not just go for what is cheap but what is healthy. I'm not going to lie to myself and say I'm doing everything right, because I'm not, but I am committed to doing that and hopefully make the scale go down beyond a 10 lb loss as it should.

/RANT

Anyhoo, sorry to be such a Debbie Downer so early in the morning. :) I hope everyone's day goes awesomely. :)