The next decade....what's in store?
Musings of a yamfooted traveller still trying to shake off those last 20 pounds as she treks across the Caribbean
There must be a few yam cookers reading this blog, so I have a question for you. I have been experimenting since I have been cooking and nothing seems to work.
Everytime I boil yam, it turns brown or sometimes has black spots. How do I prevent this from happening? I have tried putting lime juice and oil in the water, but that does not help.
Here's what I do....
I put water in the pot and put the pot on the fire. Immediately I peel the yamfoot (see where it comes from???), cut it up and put in the water. It might go in looking not too bad in colour, but by the time it is finished boiling, it is blotchy.
Help!
Monday I had two medical exams. One for the titties, and the other for the eyes. I'm at that age where I need to check up on things more often you know. Just a few days before Monday, a friend had sent me an email with some cartoon pictures of mammogram jokes. Very funny.
I had done one I thought in 2006, however when the nurse checked, it was actually 2005. Time sure flies. They have a different machine but the squashing/flattening is the same. She was able to show me the picture of my titties with the shady patches that they needed to further investigate, but I couldnt do it then because the Eye Doctor was calling....
First the drops the test the pressure (good readings), then the drops to make me blind so she could see the retina. There is a waiting period between when she puts the blind drops in and when she examines me. I had forgotten that she might have to do this and had driven. In order for me not to have to wait in her office for the two hours it would take to wear off, I drove up the road to my brother's office, parked the car there and walked back down....with some degree of difficulty.
Retinas are in good shape...surprisingly she says, because people who are as short sighted as me are expected to have degenerative retinas. I guess I ate enough carrots when I was younger.
The Eye doctor's office is in a plaza where a food shop is. I didnt feel for meat, so I asked what the side dishes were. Macaronie and fried plantain!!!! Made my day! so ordered one serving of each, went across the road to by 'unmentionables' and a drink in the pharmacy. To stop the effects of the sun hurting my now sensitive eyes, the doctor had given me a plastic sun glasses type thingy to put over my glasses. The security guard in the pharmacy said "that's the most unusual glasses I have ever seen".
Back out on the street, a man sees me with the lunch box and said "you know how long ah been waiting on di lunch?" I tell foreigners that there are some nice people in Jamaica and that when you get beyond the bad man and intimidating exterior of some, they are really nice easy going people.
Up at the brother's office, he was not there. They showed me the lunch room and I chowed down the macaronie pie (as we small islanders call it!) and plantain with glee. I could eat those two things for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day. Of course I would need to spend the rest of every day at the gym!
Anyway, everything checked out ok for the Monday tests. I did the titty ultrasound after I left the brother's office and that was fine too. The Wednesday test was supposed to be on the va-jay-jay (heard Oprah use this term last week in one of her shows), but then if you remember what I call 'unmentionables' then you know why I have had to postpone that exam until next Monday. The 'Guyanese' doctor don't know that yet. Must remember to call he tomorrow to explain.
In and between, I am calling friends. Two a day. Seeing friends. A few each day. The time is short, and I have to make the most of it.
Driva, don't stop at all..
Went to the 'Guyanese' doctor Monday. He is still as hilarious as ever. He has moved to a new office more centrally located and it has more space.
He remembered what we had been discussing at the last visit, which was late 2005. Gee, I'm impressed! Examination time and he takes the samples that he needs. We discuss my particular problems and then I ask him if he is going to do the driving stick test again. He bust out laughing and said I was funny.
If any of you have had your nedder regions being peered into, you know the test I am talking about. Doesn't it feel like what the doc is doing is changing gears? That's what it feels like to me.
The test reveals that those critters are still there and not going away. Surgery is an option. 'No thanks' I tell him and he laments on what I am missing out on. Is ok. Mi don't mind.
I feel so sleepy today. I have many tapes to transcribe and I just don't have energy.
Yes, I did take a Panadol Multi-symptom tablet last night, but certainly it should have worn off by now?
And the other day, without any kind of drowsy tablet, I just could not keep my eyes open! Maybe my iron is low again. But when the lady prick me the other day, she said it was around 12.
How do you get your energy back?
Ever since my mother took me and showed me how to cut up a whole chicken, I've liked cooking. That was when I was about 12.
I'm not a fancy cook, so I can't do pretty food....besides, I am too impatient and clumsy...... but I do damn tasty food if I may say so myself. Actually, I get other people to say that. I've cooked oxtail, stew peas and chicken that have brought in rave reviews from people. Now that I don't eat meat, I haven't cooked any of those recently.
Ackee & saltfish is the thing I cook the most often now. I cooked some this morning and I was licking my chops thinking that if somebody who liked our national dish had me for a wifey/matey, he would never never leave. I put secret ingredients in it. Ssshhhh, ah not telling.
Coffee with regular cow's milk, is just not the same as when you have it with evaporated milk or cream! Caterers just don't get that! On the first day of the matches here, I told the lady to tell whomever that we need milk in the tin (that's how they tend to understand it). Day 3 and no evaporated milk. And two losses! Cho.
I think I don't have any willpower. But then I believed the writings of Adele Puhn who said that is not a question of not having willpower, but just a physiological matter....this thing we call cravings.
Once you send your blood sugar out of whack, it starts behaving real crazy. Mine has been out of whack because I have been having brownies and cookies at lunch most days. I don't didn't have sweets in the house except good-for-you Grenadian chocolate before today. But a friend was staying with me this week while on a work assignment and I thought it would be nice to buy some ice cream. It was for him, except he was leaving tonight so Yamfoot, I don't know how that makes sense!
Anyway, along with the ice cream I was going to buy one pack of Chips Ahoy cookies, then I remembered I had written a note on my phone saying "No brownies, no cookies, no cake, no sweets...Remember the size 14" so I didn't buy them. Victory. Small victory, for then I said lemme have a sundae. That required chocolate syrup, walnuts and M & Ms.
I had one bowl. Then two. Ok, don't panic, I stopped there. But still, willpower busted. AAAaaarrgh!
That's me slicing up the Prestige bun I got today (along with 3 tins of ackee) from a Jamaican working here. If certain people at work ever know I get bun and don't bring for them, it would be anarchy....war even! Prestige bun is a hit. Is only one bun so some people will get one slice, and two lucky ones will get a few more.
Steups. I had cause to kiss my teeth today at the Heart Institute of the Caribbean (HIC).
Imagine, me call dem yesterday fi mek one appointment to get fitted with a holter monitor. Every now and again my heart skps a beat and is NAT FROM UN HOMBRE *shucks*. So about 18 months ago I had gone there to have an ECG. As usual, nutten nuh wrong. So the Doc said the next step would be to do this thing where they hitch on a holter monitor to you and it records your heart rate for 24 hours.
Now, yesterday, the receptionist could have asked me what my normal routine is, and tell me what I could and could not do once I had it fitted. But no, all she do is gimme a time (9:30am) and tell me how much it cost.
I pride myself on being on time so got there at 9:26am. You have to sign in and one column asks "appointment time" and the other "arrival time". That I suppose is so yuh cyant cuss if yuh reach after di time and waan get tru quick stick.
I had carried two magazines with me (Shape and Oxygen). Read those. At 10:00am, the clerk or whoever the money collector is, called me to a room and she ran the credit card for enough money to make me wince. But is for my health, so onlly a mini-wince. 1/2 hour not so bad to wait I thought. She sent me back to sit dung in di comfortable couch dem. Actually I had not finished the magazines so continued that. I was so engrossed in them that I did not realize when 11:00am came. Remember I had a 9:30 appointment.
I went over to Miss Receptionist and ask her could she please find out when I would be seen because I find it is unreasonable to be waiting 1.5 hours. Hear har nuh...."Oh, you're still here? I thought you had left!". One loud steups in my mind. She made some calls, told me to sit back down and in about 5 minutes I was called.
Nurse fits me up with the holter thingy and I just happened to mention to her that I going to exercise now. No! Huh? That don't make any sense. Most times it is while doing cardio that my heart beats funnily so wouldn't they want to record when that happens? According to them, the monitor will do its job and if anything is there they will find it. Well I tell miss Cuban Nurse that it will come back blank because nutten usually happen just so. I have to be exerting effort and since mi not going horizontal these days, is ongly from 'hexercising' that my heart will be under stress.
So I left there steupsing inwardly, then went about seeing if I could stress out my heart. I didn't have to go far to do that.
I turned on to Eastwood Park Road, realized I was in the wrong lane and tried to get over to the left. Would anybody let me out? I started shouting in the car "you're all so damn mean!!!!!!!!". I got a log to record when anything feels funny with my heart beat, but that didn't work. Nothing to log so far. Tonight is Kalooki. Maybe when I try to get a "call!!!" my heart will react.
I suppose it would be nice to get a clear reading when they take it off tomorrow morning, but after you pay so much money, you kinda want some answers.....it's kinda like you're getting a return on your investment!
I could eat plantain morning, noon and night. I wish it didn't have any calories in it.
The perfect breakfast for me is ackee & saltfish, boiled white soft yam (my mother calls it 'yampie') and fried plantain at just the right stage of ripeness. I don't like it when it is firm. Must be soft and 'sucky-sucky'. Another favourite way to eat it is in a sandwich with cheese and tomato. Yum. My godmother/aunt loves it too so whenever I stay with her in Mandeville, plantain is a staple.
The cooks at work know about my love affair with the plantain so like yesterday when it was featured on the lunch buffet, they called me and said 'Yamfoot, ripe plantain today". Fill up the plate!
What else must I have in my house?
Limes
Honey
Oats
Peanut Butter
Soy milk
Water
An assortment of fruits
Raisins
Sardines
Bread
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
High fibre cereal
Some form of nuts, usually cashew
Lettuce and tomato, as a minimum for vegetables
Veggie mince
And this is basically what my cupboard and fridge has in it usually.
What food MUST you have in your cupboard/fridge?
Not 'herbalist' as in ganja-ist!
The house has aloe vera growing outside. Actually, because of my city upbringing, I first asked the landlord if it was pineapple! You have to forgive me. Have been discovering how things look growing in the earth. The last thing was cabbage. I had no idea how it looked in the earth. Quite something...this education that I am getting here.
Anyway, I decided to pick some this morning. I don't have a blender or juicer, but somebody at work was telling me I don't need that. Peeled the skin off, cut up the jelly like substance into small pieces, used my potato masher to mash it, poured hot water on it, put it in a 1.5 litre bottle with some Passion Fruit juice, lime, honey and water. Drank it, trying not to gag because of the bitter taste.
Your mind is a very powerful thing. When it was going down, I kept thinking "this is good for you...feel it flushing out your insides....little by little" and so I progressed quite nicely near to the end of the bottle, when I got a lump of aloe vera and it made me gag, but I didn't throw up.
I have on my face now, some of the aloe vera as well. It's supposedly one of these wonder plants. Is it a herb? Maybe not. But anyway, I need a juicer or blender to make this work. Not sure how fast it will grow back. There are three plants in the yard.
Anybody use aloe vera on a regular basis?
This was the reason the insurance company declined my application.
They say it is not their policy to insure people with a history of anemia. What a crock! My doctor said she was so pissed when she read their reason for declining me.
I have had low heboglobin because I have had very heavy monthlys, easily changing the strongest "plug "every 45 - 90 minutes on some days. Now I take Le Pill to control the flow....a result of me having those blood thirsty things in my baby-carrying case - it's hereditary. (The non-meat eating track I have been on for over a year is also in an effort to curb the blood supply to them).
So I'm pursuing this with vigour. They don't know that I is Jamaica and wi nuh tek foolishness!
By the way Dr D....which condition is likely to cost the insurance company more money.....
a. Somebody with anemia
OR
b. Somebody with diabetes which requires medication???
(I suspect I know the answer. Bun fyah pon dem medical advisors the insurance company uses).
Actually, me thinks my iron is low cause I feeling tyad nuh rahtid these days. Shhhh, don't tell dem.
I've decided that I will do this from now until I go to Jamaica. That's about 3 weeks from now.
Anything I read that has 'sugar' as an ingredient, I not using it. But of course I will have honey.
I also trying not to have bread.
This is so hard. Why do I have to be fat?
*Because yuh did nyam too much food when yuh was growing up, Tubby. *SIGH*
An infomercial is currently on, about a product that can help you cleanse your colon. The man who is selling his product, says that John Wayne, when he died, had 40 pounds of faeces in his colon! Elvis had 60!!!!!!!
One of his points is that meat is acidic. In response to this, the colon produces mucus to line it, in order to protect the lining from the acidity. Ick! Ok, so another point to support my non-meat diet since last year August.
Now, with this weight not budging, I wonder if I am "bung up"? And sometimes, the morning motion is not very forthcoming, even with Water Therapy (drinking 1.5 litres of water first thing, then waiting an hour before eating). So I wonder if I can do this for 7 days? Eating more unprocessed food, no sugar (use honey instead), maybe even skip the fish and just have nuts and soy for protein sources. It doesn't hurt, so I think sometime before 22 October, I will try this.
FOOD
(approx 8:30am)
Bran Stix, Kashi Go Lean and Kashi Go Lean Crunch with skimmed milk and soy milk
Water with a splash of fruit punch
(approx 10:00am)
Water (the sun had made me drunk by the time I got back from getting the fish. My shirt was wet. Had to change it)
1 apple
(approx noon)
1 very sweet Grapefruit (yeah! Grapefruits are back!)
1 Cup of tea with 1/2 Splenda, evap milk and milk
Macaroni and cheese
1/2 tin Tuna in sundried tomato and basil
Cucumber and tomato
Diet 7 Up
(approx 1:00pm)
Two small slices of whole wheat bread with peanut butter and Low Sugar strawberry jam
After Days of our Lives ended at 2pm, I konked out on the living room bed. I was out of it.
then EXERCISE
Plugged in my speakers and turned up the music. Danced in my living room for about 1 hour, then did some standing leg work and stretches for about 1/2 hour
(approx 6:15pm)
1 Cup of tea with 1/2 a Splenda, evap milk and milk
1 steamed parrot fish
steamed pumpkin
steamed okra
1 tomato
some slices of fried plantain
1 teaspoon Milk Chocolate frosting (left over from the Chocolate Cake at the soiree for the family)
(approx 7:30pm)
1 pack Holiday cashew nuts
1/2 glass fruit punch (left over as well) with water
And I hungry now again so am sure will eat something else for the night.
Any nutritionists reading this want to give me a calorie count? I supposed to be aiming for about 1,700 per day but I sure this is way over that!
This email has been making the rounds. Got it twice. If it's true (and the medics might steups at it and say it's foolishness...."everything in moderation"), then I'm justified in my decision to stop eating meat. Meat creates acidity. Cancer cells like acidity. Therefore, to reduce acidity, eliminate meat. It's simple! (It's not so simple though, for me to give up sugar.....aaargh!)
I especially liked this one...
Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive
enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and
leads to more toxic buildup.
I read somewhere that beef stays in your system for 14 days!
Anyway, here is what it says about the Big C....
Useful Information on one of the deadliest diseases of our time: CANCER
1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do
not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a
few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more
cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are
unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached
the detectable size.
2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person's
lifetime.
3. When the person's immune system is strong the cancer cells will be
destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumours.
4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has
multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic,
environmental, food and lifestyle factors.
5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet
and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.
6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells
and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow,
gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver,
kidneys, heart, lungs etc.
7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages
healthy cells, tissues and organs.
8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce
tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not
result in more tumor destruction.
9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation
the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can
succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.
10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become
resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to
spread to other sites.
11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not
feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.
CANCER CELLS FEED ON:
a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important
food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,
Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural
substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses, but only in very small
amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour.
Better alternative is Bragg's aminos or sea salt.
b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the
gastro-intestinal tract. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk
and substituting with unsweetened soya milk cancer cells are being starved.
c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. A meat-based diet is acidic
and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork.
Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites,
which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.
d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts
and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About
20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices
provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular
levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth
of healthy cells. To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try
and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean
sprouts)and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are
destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).
e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is
a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water-best to
drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals
in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.
12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive
enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrefied and
leads to more toxic buildup.
13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or
eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls
of cancer cells and allows the body's killer cells to destroy the cancer
cells.
14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6,
Flor-ssence,Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to
enable the body's own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like
vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the
body's normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.
15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive
and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor.
Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and
acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to
relax and enjoy life.
16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment.
Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the
cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer
cells.
Somebody has finally come up with this product. Gotta try it when I next go home. The place in right in my back yard.
I was told the other day that if you want to be able to abstain, you should stay away from foods that trigger desires. Two of those names were cheese and chocolate.
PS. I eat quite a bit of cheese. That theory need re-testing!
I was told yesterday that the insurance company that does the group health and life insurance here rejected my application for insurance. I wonder if they have been reading this blog, and saw how regularly I talk about health stuff and sickness and death. Do they think I am a ticking time bomb that will eat into their millions?
Seriously, I think insurance companies are unethical. Here is why.
They make it look like they are in business for the good of mankind, when all they want to do is collect the premiums and not have to pay out anything!
So I was very honest on my form about all the tests that I have done. Note that all the results have come back normal, so I really don't know what the problem is. I hear that I can appeal, so last night, I was planning my speech.....
1. Over the last five years, I have gone from morbidly obese (241 pounds) to just a little obese (205 yeah, yeah, I know...the weight tracker is wrong)
2. I have NEVER had high blood pressure, or high cholesterol or high sugar.
3. Diabetes or heart disease don't run in my family.
4. I don't eat red meat or poultry, I don't drink, I don't smoke and I eat a lot of plant based foods.
5. I decided not to buy a car so that I can walk to and from work (a total of about 35 minutes). Note that walking back home is up a hill!
6. I exercise regularly apart from the walk to and from home.
7. I am happy inside, so no chance of dying from stress related illnesses.
What more could they want? I am the ideal candidate! And if they say Yamfoot, if we insure you, you can only do two tests per year, I could live with that!
But how am I supposed to feel, being in a foreign country, with no assurance, that should something accidentally happen to me at work, I would be taken care of medically?
So I paying the price for being honest, cause I sure many of the employees tick NO for questions that they should really be ticking YES for. Can insurance companies check what employees don't disclose? NO. So other people who I sure have chronic diseases that they don't know about yet, are happily being covered, and healthy me am not.
Life just aint fair. We'll see how this one ends up.
I don't know why I bother to buy food and cook. I'm never home. Always at work. And when I reach home, dinner is not wanted.
The time before the last that I had a day off, I cooked a large pot of lentil soup. I carried some to work one day for lunch. The rest was put in the fridge, and some in the freezer. A few days ago, I threw away the fridge one.
When I get back home on Wednesday evening, I will be throwing out the one in the fridge which I took out of the freezer thinking that I was going to be home to eat it.
Good thing the lentils were cheap! And I learnt my lesson. I will only buy fruits, breakfast foods (sardine, vegetarian cheese, bread rolls, oats), juice and water.
My life is like an open book, however, this might be considered a "TMI" post, but I'll continue anyway for those of you who are interested.
Mad Bull asked about why I had stopped eating meat and poulty (and yes...I still eat fish and other seafood). Well, I had always read that animal protein wasn't the healthiest that one could eat. Plant based protein was much more healthier. And then I read about how animal protein can affect these things I have growing inside me....
Yes, I am one of those typical black women who are cursed with fibroids. What are fibroids? Masses of stuff growing on the uterine wall, fed by blood. Dr D, you can do a better definition I believe. Anyway, they are heriditary and I remember my mother going through hell with hers, eventually having to undergo a 'herstorectomy' (I can't understand if it's a lady's disease, why it starts with "his"....actually I think it's "hys" but is still sound like "his"!).
So when the "guyanese" doctor I used to see in Grenada 1997 - 2001 told me I had them, I was not in the least bit surprised. I don't know how long before he told me, that they were there. No other doctor had told me that before.
I remember in my teens and early twenties, I used to have very painful monthly episodes. I remember being on Mona campus one day when I was overcome, doubled up, with pain and had to rush to the Health Centre where my aunt (not blood...family friend) had to give me Baralgin. I had to always make sure I had an ample supply of those.
Then in my 30's, the pain disappeared but obviously it was replaced with volume. Lots of it. My friends would be surprised when I told them that I could change a SuperPlus every 45 - 90 minutes easily on a Day 2. I had to book airline flights around The Curse. During weeks of continuous training, I would have to take the Pill without the 7 day break. So in a sense, each month, The Curse would debilitate me. But, no pain.
Until now....
I decided last month to go on the Pill for a longer period to try and ease the flow and make it more normal. But I find that I am getting pain that I didn't have without it. Oh well.
So long and short is that I am trying not to feed them things growing inside of me, and trying to eat more plant based food to even make them shrink. Don't know how successful I will be.
Regarding the temptation to eat meat, it hasn't really surfaced. Everytime I see a piece of pork, or beef, I immediately think of a mass of red, and believe me, that is enough to turn me off meat! I'll probably set a target of about a year to see if there are any changes. But somehow, I don't think I will be going back to meat. Soya mince tastes just as good.
I have been called that by a doctor friend of mine. When I looked it up, the definition was something like "overly concerned about one's health". But what, pray tell, is it to be overly concerned about one's health?
If you feel an ache for a while, don't you go to the doctor? I do. The doctor in Grenada used to see me a few times well. The doctor in England saw me a couple of times too. Both in Surrey and in Nottingham.
Listen, I don't want anybody to say at my funeral "you know, she said she wasn't feeling well you know, but never went to the doctor." I have heard too many stories about people who complained that they weren't feeling well and died within a couple hours or days.
So right now, the thing I need to investigate is a pain and burning sensation on the bone/muscle behind the breast on my heart side. The pain also is under my arm pit. It feels sometimes like there is a marble under my arm pit, but of course there is no lump. I carried this complaint to the 7-minute doctor in England.
Let me explain what I mean by 7-minute doctor....
In England, healthcare is free. In the student health centre on campus, there was a sign saying all appointments are supposed to be 7 minutes, and if you think you may need more time with the doctor, you should tell the receptionist that when you are booking! That didn't sit well with Yamfoot, who likes to have a chat and then is better able to tell doc all the things that are troubling her. It certainly didn't sit well with me when I went to one lady doctor in Surrey one time when my neck was really bothering me and affecting my school work. I was there to get a distinction so couldnt afford to be ill. Do you know what she does? Says to me "have you read the book 'HOW TO TREAT NECK PAIN'?" I COULD NOT BELIEVE THAT! SHE DIDN'T EVEN EXAMINE ME MORE THAN SO. IN FACT, I DONT THINK SHE DID!
So anyway, I am nearly 40. This is the age when it starts going downhill isn't it? I'm hoping that with the no meat regime, that all these aches and pains will go away. Right now, I am not sleeping well at this hotel. I get up every morning with my head feeling full. I think it may have to do with the bed. I am moving to another hotel tomorrow, so am hoping that the sleep will get better. It is no fun standing on your feet for 6 - 7 hours without a good night's sleep.
So am I am hypochondriac? I don't think so. I'm just concerned, for all the right reasons!
Whenever I came to Grenada in the past, a favourite thing to do would be to go to the Grand Anse branch of the american university here and buy a pork meal from Curlita....a lady who cooks some nice stew pork, and soup on a Friday (cow heel etc).
Well, I guess I can still go to her, but it will be the fish for me. I'm going well. No backsliding yet. Been going meatless and poultryless since the 28 August and I intend to keep it up.
Re the Water Therapy I blogged about last week, I didn't do it a couple of days this week because of a timing issue and I felt very different......meaning worse than when I do it. I'm back on track as of tomorrow.
Some months ago, somebody I know in Grenada forwarded an email to me with Water Therapy in the subject line. He doesn't normally forward things, so I read that email. (I don't normally read most things that are forwarded to me because my computer is my life almost, and I'm afraid of "germs" passing around).
There is something called Water Therapy which amounts to flushing your system with a ton load of water first thing in the morning. It certainly feels like a ton. You are to drink 1.5 litres of water, which amounts to 5 of my cups...could be 6 if you're using a smaller one. You should have this immediately on waking, even before brushing your teeth. Drink the glasses one after the other. They say if you're not accustomed to so much water, then drink 4 at first, and then take a 2 minute break.
Well, the first morning I tried it, about 4 mornings ago, I felt like I was going to explode! Lawks, ah feel like mi belly was ah go buss'. But I persevered and I got down all 6 glasses. Yes 6, because I thought mine was small. But I measure out the cups the next morning and I only need 5.
What happens afterwards is that you
a. go to the toilet immediately
b. don't feel like eating anything an hour, two hours...even three hours afterwards
c. you lose weight
Ok, you don't lose weight right then and there, but I've felt lighter these past couple of days. The water fills you up for the day and you don't feel like eating more.
Oh, the science behind it is this...lemme quote from the email....
How Does Pure Water Act?
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> n Consuming ordinary drinking water by the right method purifies human body. It renders the colon more effective by forming new fresh blood, known in medical terms as " Haematopaises". That the mucous folds of the colon and intestines are activated by this method is an undisputed fact, just as the theory that the mucous fold produces new fresh blood.
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> n If the colon is cleansed then the nutrients of the food taken several times a day will be absorbed and by the action of the mucous folds they are turned into fresh blood. The blood is all-important in curing ailments and restoring health and for this water should be consumed in a regular pattern.
>
> Life is Short, Just go for it
So try it nuh?
Go and get your juck! OK, maybe that's not the way to say it to convince you to go.
Was sharing out dinner for my niece today and I took up a container that had what looked like mince in there. It looked delicious. There was chicken there too and I know she would have preferred that, so I shared that out for her.
I thought about the mince and said to myself "maybe I should just go back to eating meat cause I not losing no weight". At the same time, the lady who had cooked it said "that's the Veggie Mince you had bought".
She must have been reading my mind. I was so happy to have had some hot protein. I was thinking about tin salmon as the protein source.
So gotta buy more of that veggie mince. I had put it in the cupboard and kept procrastinating. She used her initiative and did it. Boy was I grateful. I told her so.
Isn't that great? I've had no meat or poultry since I succumbed that night on 27 August at my father's birthday gathering.
I decided to go meat/poultry less becase I wanted to see if it would make a difference to weight loss. Then I read that Doctor (the green cum one!) advising a woman to cut out animal protein to get relief from fibroids and I said "I never eating animal protein again".
To have fibroids is not a nice thing. If I am invited out, I have to calculate if the event will fall during that 'time of the month', and if it does, on what day of the cycle. Day 2 is definitely out. It's debilitating sometimes.
On the last training project, I had to go on the pill just so I could miss a cycle because I couldn't be leaving the training room every hour or so!
Yes, they say having a kid helps, but there is no guarantee. Just like surgery. So lemme try dietary changes and see how that goes.
I'll let ya know (that is, if you don't think this has been Too Much Information!)
I was just Googling something and came up on the transcript of a chat that Dr Anthony Vendryes hosted way back in 2002.
For non Jamaicans, Dr Vendryes is a medical doctor, but he is very much into non-traditional medicine. He's what I would call a naturalist. He promotes a vegetarian diet, swears by soy, supplements and herbs.
He also married a woman who was probably 20 years older than he....that set the tongues wagging I tell you. He operates out of Montego Bay.
If you want a laught, please, read the transcript. It's very short. And you must read to the bottom.
Har har.
I had the kids with me today, so decided to stop by the new Haagen Daz store in the new shopping centre in Barbican.
(Read this to see how I feel about this ice cream)
We were greeted at the door by Michelle who said "Hello, welcome to Haagen Daz". We mowzied up to the counter where a tall, very attractive young man named Michael asked if we would like to have samples of anything. No, I said. I'm a Haagen Daz expert, having been spoilt by the many experiences in Leicester Square, London.
I ordered four single scoops individually packaged, and a two scoop sundae. Guess who the sundae was for? (Tut, tut Yamfoot I hear you saying). I was disappointed to find out they did not have the strawberry topping that is standard for my HD sundaes, but I took another fruit - peach - instead.
At the cashier, the young miss tried her best to clarify my query which was that I thought two toppings were included in the price of the sundae. Short answer was no it was not. I provided my credit card and when I was finished signing, she handed me back my card and said "Thank you Miss Yamfoot, and hope you come again".
My response? "Oh we will definitely be back, even though I shouldn't be!?"
Cho man....you only live once!
Jeezaz Peezaz I have no idea what is wrong with me. And since I haven't had sex in over a year, NO, I AM NOT PREGNANT!!! (That was probably too much information but who da hell cares!).
I don't know if it's the higher carbohydrates that I have been eating that have increased my cravings for sugary carbs.
Sunday, there was no ice cream at home. It's a kind of tradition that we have dessert on a Sunday. So I instructed the wee ones to make a chocolate cake. There was some Chocolate frosting in the fridge so I scooped two dollops in the bowl with the cake, added some lychee and I was in heaven. (My bottom however rebelled rather loudly at close intervals)
Monday, ice cream was bought, so that was added to the mixture. The lychees weren't there....those were replaced by fruit salad (still fighting to be healthy).
Today, after dinner, I had two slices of sweet bun with cheese.
I know I am in the PMS zone, but dang......
Of course I should not have been pissed today when I jumped on the scale at the gym and it said 219.
Cho bumbo claat rass....this weight thing is just too tedious. Just freaking hard.
(this is me attempting to curse)
Bwoy was I pleased when that phrase popped out of my mouth, as I noted that the starter was Red Peas Soup.
The waiter said no, no meat, and I dug in. I wonder if he had said Salt Beef or my beloved Pigtail was in it, if I would have said "no thanks".
Next it was on to the buffet line where I would again be tested.
First, filled up half the plate with raw salad. Yes, I took dressing. Ooonu lef' me. Next was rice and peas. Had a spoonful. Then there was lovely crunchy cooked veggies - broccoli, cauliflower, string beans, carrots. Took lots of that. Next was some meat thing. I had looked beyond that and seen there was fish so I didn't even wait to hear the waiter explain what the meat dish wash. It looked like chicken.
So I had fish, and beside the fish, there was some chocolate cake staring longingly at me. But I didn't succumb. I went straight to my seat and began eating.
I was well pleased with my resistance today. And this evening, while the others were having left over chicken, I cooked curried chick peas, lima beans with raw cashews and raisins for dinner, along with rice and peas and more broccoli (one of the 12 best foods you can eat).
As Miss Lou would say, "clap me"!
Well........success.
I cooked today for the family. Roasted a whola yard fowl (it did come complete with the foot mi dears), and cooked a salmon steak for myself so I didn't have to succumb. Monday I will try the mince.
But I must confess that I had the chocolate cake for dessert. You mustn't tell kids anything you know, for my niece said "Aunty Yamfoot, you're not supposed to be eating eggs". She made the box cake so she knew it had eggs in there.
Cho man, eggs don't count. (Did I tell you that one day we were having a discussion at the dining table and the subject of diary came up and I mentioned eggs and was surprised to find out it wasn't dairy? OK. Lemme explain. Is because you always see Diary & Eggs together when you look at a Food Pyramid or food groups. Check it out).
But I think I won't have any more of the cake, not so much because of the egg factor, but the fat factor.
And I have the fat lady on the weight slider thingy at the top of this site to remind me that I am fat. Obese actually. So says the Healthy Calculator.
Just like being under the spell of an irresistable man, I succumbed last night and had chicken AND oxtail!
Well it was a special occasion (father's birthday) so I couldn't just have the shrimps alone could I? I guess I could but I made the decision to have the other things.
But I must say that the meat and poultry didn't excite me the way that it has excited me in the past. I've been on the meatless/poultryless crusade since last Saturday so it's about a week. What I realize is that I have to find more protein-packed sources. I had used red kidney beans, chick peas and lima beans, but there is only 6g of protein in a serving (1/2 cup) and 20g carbohydrates.
In the world of food linking, the rule is for every 15g of carbodhydrates you should combine it with at least 7g of protein to prevent an insulin spike. Excess insulin in the body supports fat storage around the middle, and as I walked around in a dress last night, I felt rather tubby around my tummy.
I plan to visit Earl's Juice Garden where my brother says they have great vegetarian dishes, to get some ideas as to what protein to eat my carbs with. I did buy some soya mince, so maybe I will cook that this morning.
I'm trying to cut out meat and poultry for a while. So today, this is what I had...
Two Ryvita (rye) crackers with fat free cream cheese
1 Ripe Banana
some raw cashews
1/2 cup pasta (dry measure)
1/2 can tuna in water
1/2 cup red kidney beans
string beans
tomato
1 large slice avocado pear
olive oil
3/4 cup garbanzo beans (channa, chick peas)
string beans
pumpkin
broccoli
curry sauce (left over from that Sunday dinner many weeks ago...freezer is a
blessing)
Dahl pouri roti skin
some raw cashews
So apart from the tuna, all I've had is veggies and legumes and pulses for the day, and I've been rather full for the day.
Tomorrow I'll mix up the left over peas and see what I can come up with.
Now the scale today, I wanted to call it a &$^#%$ liar, as was in that picture I posted some time ago. Today, it showed that I weigh 213.4 pounds. I had to stand on the scale for a few minutes to let it settle and see if in fact that was correct. Apparently. Yesterday I was 216.9. Don't tell me I lost so much water between yesterday and today??
Anyway, I will continue with this meatless kind of eating and see where the scale takes me.
I was leafing through an edition of Oxygen magazine (lovely magazine for serious fitness buffs......like moi!) last night and looking at the diets of the women when they preparing for a fitness show.
Well, everybody eats Oatmeal. So do I. Everybody eats Sweet Potato. So do I. Everybody eats Tuna. So do I.
Now what they don't eat is cashews, ice cream, Ovaltine biscuits, M&Ms, banana....and the list goes on. I guess that's why they on a fitness stage and I bussing my ass in a local gym.
They call it "eating clean". Lots of egg whites, oatmeal, lean chicken, turkey, tuna, sweet potato, yams, salad and such the like. No fruits. I was surprised about that, but then the carbs in them not good for their figure just before competition.
I was looking through thinking what if I looked like them one day? Actually I wouldn't. Dem too skinny. I still maintain I want to be about an American size 12. Just three sizes to go. Do you know I wore 22-24 when I first got to England in 2001? Do you know this T-shirt that I am wearing now, couldn't even smell me in 2001?
So there has been progress, but I guess I really need to eat like the pros in order to look near to what they look like. They are certainly inspirational.
No, I don't have hiccups. HIC is short for Heart Institute of the Caribbean.
I went there on Friday last for a check up. Of course I did an ECG. Of course it's normal (just like the one I did at UHWI Casualty last year September when I was having pain). Of course the doctor said it's nothing to worry about. Of course I felt some horrible ripples in my heart on Saturday night. Typical.
Anyway, the next thing to do is wear a device that records your heart beat for 24 hours. J$9,000 for 24 hours. How much per hour is that? The first visit was $6,500. An ultra sound is $13,000.
To be poor is a crime, but it won't lead me to crime.....or prostitution as I read about in the Gleaner today.
And these people who I wrote an article for in New York and haven't paid me just cannot appreciate how much I need that money right now. Bastards.
Anyway, the doctor was young and very thorough I thought. And I liked the fact that he spent time to explain things to me. I just can't remember the explanation to tell you! Something about the heart having a rhythm and you get a pre-beat or a beat out of the rhythm. But don't take my word for it, cause I never wrote it dung!
The greatest fear I have is finding out I have some illness for which I have been tested and the doctor has said "nothing wrong with you man". I've read too many stories of mis-diagnoses. So I will continue to spend money which I can ill afford on medical tests, just to make sure.
As I said to the doctor, when I drop down dead, everybody will cry at my funeral and say "she was such a nice person".
Yes, he laughed, as he was doing through most of the consultation. I guess he's just a happy person.
Well let me start with breakfast. A 2-egg omelette with two slices of bread, cup of black tea with 1 Splenda and some Full Fat milk, 4 ozs Tru Juice orange juice diluted with water. I had that because I was going to be on the road for most of the day and I know that would hold me. It did.
Came home and had some left over curry mutton and a dahl pouri (dat spell wrong I am sure) roti skin (found it in the Supermarket last week.....delish!) and then later it was time for dinner.
Felt like a salad since I had bought some nice green leaf lettuce unlike the flimsy other kind we normally buy. Here's what the salad looked like from above...
Contents? See if you can spot them from this close up shot.....
If you've been reading this blog long enough, you would know that I like to check up on health issues. So the last time I went to the 'Guyanese' doctor, based on what I told him, he ordered an ultrasound of the left mammary.
I made the appointment at a place for next Monday, then last night was talking to mother and sister about it and they asked why I didn't go to Dr 'Friend'....yes, a friend of the family. I'd get a discount, they said. And this radiologist is one of the best I am told.
So went today. Ladies, have you ever had a mammogram?
(Oh, Dr Friend said in his opinion a mammogram would be better, then if he saw anything which caused concern he would do an ultrasound.)
Right. Back to the squashing of the titties...
The lady who attended to me was very detailed about what she was going to be doing. So she explained the process to me before, therefore I knew what to expect. This was my first mammogram by the way.
As she squashed, she kept asking "are you ok? tell me when you can't bear it anymore". Well clearly my tolerance for pain is high cause she squashed quite a bit before I said "that's it". She did two pictures of each coconut. Well actually mine wouldnt classify as a coconut. Udders is more like is, small ones though!
She had to fix them on the machine, but of course she told me before taking my breasts and hauling them, like cow's udders. I guess a man couldn't do this job. Too much breasts in his hands....men have little control. That's a physiological thing I understand.
When she was done, she asked me to wait while she went to check the quality of the film. She came back into the room and said "I have to do them all over again". Without being alarmed, I asked her why. She bus' out a laugh and said she was joking.
Next I went into Dr Friend's office where he showed me my titties on film. Yes, my titties are movie stars. He showed me what a normal breast looked like (the perky variety of which mine are not! Too many card games of 'Spit' seated on the floor hunched over), and showed me mine. Then he wrote his diagnosis...
Fair replacement of the dense glandular parenchyma by fat is noted in both breasts. I saw no sign of breast cancer or the presence of a benign mass lesion.
Did he say that I am fat? I think so. Maybe Dr D can confirm that.
By the way, I would think that BGS (breasts going south - like mine) are better candidates for mammograms than PTs (perky tits). I just can't see somebody with an A cup with perky tits getting them on to that machine.
If you remember around this time last year, I posted about my visit to the 'Guyanese' doctor (gynaecologist). You remember the spiel he gave me about obesity and chronic illnesses? Well I got it again this year.
Now after going out on Saturday night and having many people.....including my brother (that's huge!) compliment me on how slim I look, I wondered what he talking 'bout! Well I guess 215 pounds on a 5 ft 8 in frame counts as obese in the chart books but I don't look obese (so I've been told). Shouldn't that count for something?
Anyway, I had another 'can't sleep because of chest discomfort' episode last night and it came up during the visit. He thinks I should go to a cardiologist and he also thinks I should see a psychologist. I could just see the 'chi-ching' sign when he said all that!
So those two referrrals will be to see if it's all in the mind, or it's in the heart. We shall see. Right now though, I have to go get ready to deliver a training session, which I would rather not, because I am not my usual perky self.
If only I could call in sick.....
He diagnose me online. Says it is called costochondritis, so I will tell mi docta dat Dr D say is dat!
I was just reading up the symptoms, and they sound very familiar.
When a doctor writes NC on your chart, it means No Charge. I didn't see the doctor write this, but when I handed over my crisp money, the receptionist give me back. So I ask her why she giving me back, she said because the doctor say no charge. I said "you sure"? Cause I really didn't expect him not to charge, even though we know each other's family.
So I poked my head back in the office to say the lady says there is no charge...."you sure?" He said yes, no charge. So I said thanks and he said "thank your mother"....so I did.
That was really nice of him. So the money that I didn't pay to him I will pay to have a deep tissue massage from a sports masseuse. I've never had that before. So that will be a new experience to blog about.
Jamaica is a hot spring break destination. No doubt the rum, rastas and weed are among the main attractions.
No parents to supervise them, just like in college. Wonder how many of them use condoms?
This is HIV-spreading time!
Stay away from it. It will ruin your weight loss efforts by opening up your appetite and make you crave more.
Yesterday I went to an all day seminar. The coffee break had cake and tuna sandwiches but I didn't have any cake, just brown bread with tuna. That was ok.
Then there was lunch, with a sweet drink. I faltered and had that, plus rice. Well let me tell you....
That set off a trigger that made me unable to resist the cake at the afternooon coffee break, as well as the sorrell.
Gotta adjust those actions today when I go back.
That's my blood pressure. That was the reading yesterday. I normally have good blood pressure, so I have to get down the top number to 140. Probably have to do more aerobics.
I've often wondered this on those nights, like tonight, when I have to get up to take a pill in the middle of the night. Tonight it's for back pain, so I've just taken a Voltaren. But the prescription says to take after a meal.
So is whole bread, peanut butter, and milk with a little horlicks a meal? I hope so.
I really have to check out this pain though. Must remember to make the appointment on Monday. Taking medicine makes you fat, unless you can take it on an empty stomach.
Still feel a little wobbly. Tightness on the top of the head remains. Leg still hurting, but the breathing is back to normal and no palpitations today. I eventually fell asleep around 4:30am.
I've decided to take the day off today from the gym. Cho man....and I was planning to go to Socasize at Mas Camp tonight yuh nuh.
I wonder if it was the tea? I took to bed, a cup of Ginger Mint and Lemon tea. Sometimes dem herb nuh 'gree wid me yuh nuh. We shall see what tonight holds.
I'm up at this ridiculous hour, trying to decide which of those three I have. Why is it that 'bad feelings' usually tek yuh when everybody else is sleeping?
What are my symptoms? Well today at the gym, I had palpitations. But that's nothing strange. That's a regular once-a-month thing. (And then there is the question whether it's a palpitation or 'cardiac gallop'. I once went to a doctor and he asked me to describe the rhythm of my heart when it skipped the beat. Boy, was that difficult).
Later in the day I was feeling fine. Went into bed at about midnight, read a bit, then turned in. Snuggled up under the cover, then had one of those moments where you feel like having just jumped out of an airplane at 30,000 feet.....the kind of moment that makes you jump up in the bed and say "gosh" or "Jesus" as I have done in the past. (Tonight it was "gosh").
Then I felt like my body was suddenly unfolding, moving to a jelly-like state (no, it was not the cellulite!). Next came two visits to Le Twa-lay in quick succession, then shakes inside my body. Tightness in the top of the head is also present, and a pain in the back behind the heart.
Now all of these symptoms could be any one of those three init? Only a doctor can tell.
So, here's what I did.....
Got out my UWI Casuality card (Got it in September last year when I went to check out the chest pain....the ECG turned up negative), put it on the table, sat on the bed, took some inhaling breaths, then came to the internet docta to explain my symptoms. I was really heading into the parents' room to wake them up to ask them to take me to the hospital. But ah say lemme hold on a bit.
You read articles about PE however, and see that some patients pop off within 60 minutes. Of course, coupled with seeing symptoms in the article that mirror your own, your heart starts to beat that much faster, and you don't know if that's a symptom, or a symptom of seeing the symptom!
Anyway, I have my feet up while typing....oh, forgot to mention tingly legs....to see if that will help.
The sleeping family are oblivious to what's happening to me. After all, some have to work tomorrow. Oh, whenever I feel like this, I swallow an aspirin. So I have just had an 81mg one with a glass of milk.
Ok, enough of this. I'm sure it's nothing. Let me go and read something more pleasant....like cricket (but not about West Indies cricket). I'll letch know how the night turned out (if I am able!)
If you read The Green Grip from my September 2003 archives, you'll see in the second to last paragraph what I said about the polka dot dress.
Well over the holiday weekend just gone, which was spent with the family at Holiday Inn in Montego Bay, I wore it.
This is how it looked on the hanger...
And this is how it looked on my body......
(No I'm not like Mad Bull and Dr D who will make the Whole Wide World know what dem look like. Some things must still be kept shrouded in secrecy!)
Anyway, I felt quite pleased with myself. 16 pounds and counting.
Decided to forego Dr Mansingh's lecture on Injuries in Cricket this evening to go to the gym.
I normally go to the gym in the day, either mid morning or mid afternoon. So going tonight meant different faces.....the faces of the employed! The first face I saw was of an older gentleman, who when I walked in one night stopped me and said "oh my gosh, what a pretty face, can I work out with you". I don't know what he had been smoking bout him "pretty face". Well saw him again tonight when I was signing in. He was leaving but said as soon as I came in, that suddenly he has found energy again.
The fella followed me into the cardio room, watched me jump on the Eliptical Runner and asked if I wasn't going on the treadmill so he could go on the one beside me. No, I don't do treadmills. And I figure he CAN'T do Eliptical Runners. I continue with my warm up, telling him that I really prefer to work out by myself. Hint, hint. He left me saying "I'm not gone, I'm outside".
After leg work in the weights room, well I didn't use any weights or machines tonight, did some other type of leg work, I went back on the Eliptical Runner to end the gym session. I decided to do 20 minutes or burn 200 calories, whichever came first. Just as I had reached the mark (coincidentally both came at the same time), Zip Fm started to play some Quad-like music. You should hear me singing away.
In walks a nice looking dude and starts to bounce to my singing. He goes to talk to his friend (Dr D and MB would say "bredren" - that must be a George's ting!) and then comes over to my machine and looks at my digits. Then he says "Oh, I thought you were singing from words off the screen" or something to that effect.
Chit chat for a bit and then he leaves. Well, 20 minutes long gone. I ended up doing 30 and burning 300-mash calories.
I'll have to arrange for him to come by next time. Give me motivation to stay pon it long.
Two sets arrived today! Sabotage!
This after I boasted to Mark, an instructor at the gym, that I had lost 12 pounds. He asked from what period. Smart guy, cause if it had been from say May last year, 12 pounds would have been insignificant. When I told him it was from January this year, he heaped praise on me. Then I asked him how I could lose a further 10 pounds in two months. Said he "keep a food log, do 3 days low calorie then 2 days of normal eating to trick your body".
Normal eating does includes bun ent? Come on man, it's Easter. It's tradition.
IT'S FATTENING YAMMIE.
Ok, so I confess to having a one inch square out of my niece's slice after dinner this evening. Guess what? That brand don't taste good at all. So it will not be difficult to forego the bun.
I'll let y'all know how it goes.
Especially since the figures are going down, down, down.
I started the year at X pounds. In Orlando, I carried a pair of jeans which I could not wear because it felt like my middle was being cut in two when I put it on. So I used the time while there for the week, to get into the gym, ride the bicycles and so on. I figured that the end of 2004 was not going to come and find me how I started.
Back home, I continued doing exercise. Walking at the Dam, then joined the gym. Before I left here for Barbados two weeks ago, I was weighing X - 6.
Remember the post about the lying scale? Well turns out it not too lie at all.
Came back on 'The Rock' today, and did two laps at the Dam this evening, then, in order to validate the scale reading in Bim, I drove to the gym to weigh on that scale. Got to keep things consistent ent?
Well, well. Stepped on the scale very confidently. The result? I now weigh X - 6 - 6!
For all the math brains from primary school, you would have worked out that I've lost 12 pounds in the 3 months since I started the exercising again. I need to now aim for 5 pounds per month.
It's the cricket you know that did it. No, not because I stopped eating because I was depressed from the 3-0 results so far, and the impending whitewash, but because when I am at cricket, I'm distracted, and I also walk up and down A LOT.
For example, in Barbados, everytime I wanted to use the potty, I had to walk down two flights of stairs and then walk back up. I had to go seek interviews which also involved stair climbing. I walk across the field before play starts too. But more importantly, I don't think about food.
Fortunately, I only have to negotiate 2 weeks on 'The Rock' before I travel again for cricket (yes, sucker for punishment). And you know say is Easter, that mean nuff bun going to be in the place. Lawks. Give me strength to not come face to face with the bun, or it's all over!
