A warm hello to all my fellow chicks!

Lizzie here, and I'm from Singapore! I wonder if there's anyone else from the small dot on the equator here. Standing at 5'3", I was a 145 lbs (66kg), and am currently 141lbs(64kg). We use the metric system here in SG, so forgive me, I'm not familiar with pounds and stuff and have to use a converter. My goal weight is to be 110lbs(50kg)! It's definitely achievable. I know it is.

I think the smallest I have ever been is 125lbs, which was two years ago. I achieved that through starving myself, which was kinda sucky.

After that it was stress from my diploma, coupled with the initial stages of having a boyfriend and going for dinner dates etc has made me what I am today!

I think my AHA! moment was when all of my jeans started to split around the groin area at about the same time. That's kinda scary.

x Mini-goal for march '09 is 132lbs(60kg).
x I wanna be at least 121lbs (55kg) for my birthday in july!
x The boyfriend is a marathon runner, and learning by example, I hope to complete my first 10k this year, in less than one hour.

Also: I'm Chinese, and I eat chinese food almost every day. Just wondering, why is chinese take-out so bad? I mean, at least most of the chinese food I've seen are stir-fried or steamed (think: stir-fry mix veg, steamed fish, tofu, dim-sum). Only a few of them are deep fried. And our soups are all clear soups, no creamy stuff.

Anyway, it's great to be part of this community!

Hello and welcome! Good for you for hopping on the weight loss and healthy bandwagon, hang on cause it's going to be a rough ride but, you have the strength within to make it......you just have to stay focused. It's great that your boyfriend is such an avid runner, you have someone to motivate and inspire you! It's also great that you set yourself goals which I think are very doable. If you don't mind me asking, how tall are you and what do you plan to do to reach your goals?

Again, welcome

Hi there Lizzie! I'm Chinese and new to the forum too (and my father is Singaporean), although I currently live in Japan and have to get accustomed to all the fish here. To my surprise I've found Chinese food healthier than Japanese food, and with lots more options.

Great goals you have set!! WOW we are actually quite similar in build too.
I am 160 cm, and currently weigh 65 kg. My short term goal is to lose 7 kg of fat. I say 7 kg of fat because I don't care much about my weight, so long as I can get rid of the fat. So far I have lost 1 kg of pure fat in 1 month of exercise, and added 1 kg of muscle mass. I guess it does make a difference because although there has been no significant change in my weight, I've been receiving compliments

Oops I got carried away talking about myself there.
Just wanted to say hello!

Hi there, bananapancakes! Thanks for the welcome! Currently I'm 160cm. Kinda on the short side, which is strange considering both my parents were tall when they were younger!

On what I plan to do: definitely I want to train for a 10k run, so I'm slowly increasing my mileage and speed in running. I have the nike plus system and I use that to track my distance and speed, and I run at least 3 times a week. Also I'm going to start some strength training... pushups, weights, etc. I have no $$ for a gym membership so that's kind of a bummer, but I'll make do with what I can find at home/around me.

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Hi there my3monthchallenge! Real great to see another Chinese on the forums! Looks like we are pretty similar. Same height, weight, everything! Yay!

I think Japanese rice, because it's sticky, makes it more delicious and at the same time all the more fattening then chinese cuisine! Plus the deep fried gyozas and tempuras and all that yummilicious food, mmm... But the raw stuff are really healthy!

Japanese food is seriously my favourite cuisine. Seriously.

Let's work hard towards our goals okay!

hi lizzy im new here too

Congrats for taking action on your AHA! moment.
Welcome!

Hi, Lizzy! Your post caught my eye because Singapore is one of my favorite places in the world. I lived in China for a few years, and during the Spring Festival time I would make my way out of the freezing cold to Singapore for some sun an heat. I always found people so kind and friendly, and there's so much to do and see there. Ahh . . . . . now I'm sad I'm not there!!

About food - I've thought about this a lot myself. I realize now that the portion sizes I was eating in China were pretty big, especially of grains like rice and noodles. A half cup of rice is considered a serving at 150 calories or so, and my rice bowl at restaurants easily held 3-4 servings. Yikes!

Oils, too, play a part, and even though they are used in small amounts I've found they can quickly add up. Again, especially at restaurants . . . and I'm thinking even more so at hawker stalls, where the grills/frying surfaces are probably covered in oil.

Those are just my thoughts, and you may disagree, but it's an interesting thing to think about.

Also, about your weight loss goals. Just a suggestion, but losing 6kg in a month seems a little ambitious to me. Initial weight loss will be a little faster, and will probably include some water weight, but even so that's a lot for a month.

Goals that are attached to time deadlines do work for some people, but my own feeling is that they are not helpful for most. Look at it this way - if you lose 4kg in a month (which is excellent, by the way) are you going to be happy for what you achieved, or sad that you missed your goal?

The best advice I've gotten is to keep goals controllable, such as exercising 5-6 days a week, eating enough servings of fruits/veggies a day, journaling your food intake, etc. Then, even if the weight isn't off by the exact date you want it to be, you still know that you're doing the right things that that the number on the scale will take care of itself.

Just my thoughts. Welcome!

Hi all! Thanks for the welcome!

JenMusic, wow Singapore's one of your favourite places? That's cool! Do come back in again soon, there's a lot of new stuff around, and in development.

Yes, I agree that the hawker centers aren't really healthy. Chinese restaurants are pretty okay though, especially if you order things like soups and vegetables and chicken and stuff. They're not terribly oily, and very little of it is fried. Home cooked chinese food is seriously healthy though. It's a lot of vegetables and not so much oil. I tend to eat less of rice though, I know that can add up.

(On another note: the rice is Singapore is quite lousy compared to China and India. I had the rice there are it was yummy beyond words. As in, literally just plain rice!)

I'm not losing 6kg this month! It's only 4kg! I'm at 64kg now, and I want to be down to 60kg. I was 66kg in January, though. With Chinese New Year and all the food that comes with it, it was a miracle I even managed to lose weight in the past two months.

I'm doing whatever you mentioned in your comments. At least half an hour 5-6 days a week, and I tend to set my goals higher, so that if I fall below it, it still won't be very far away.

Thanks for the welcome! This is seriously a great community.

Thanks for the welcome!

Welcome to 3FC! Surf around and settle in. We have subforums based on age, eating plan, exercise and more!

We have some running threads in the exercise forum. Come join us!

Lizzie - So sorry about mis-reading your post! 4kgs in a month does sound much better!

I would love to go back to SG at some point, but having moved back to the States I'm guessing it will be some time. I did recently discover that the hotel/hostel where I always stayed (the New 7th Storey, near Bugis) is going to be demolished to make way for the new MRT line. I was a little sad to hear that, but at the same time progress keeps marching forward, doesn't it?

I didn't usually eat much rice in Singapore, and I've never been to India, but I do love Chinese rice, as well as Thai rice. YUM! I was always amazed at seeing my tiny students put away 2 huge bowls of the stuff with their meals, while I had my little half-bowl. Oh, well.

Stay encouraged! 加油！