I've lost weight, & how I'm doing it...

I'm aware that this picture is sort of dark. My room only has my bedstand light right now. This is my stomach right now. I've lost about 10 lbs, and have really leaned out, so I thought I would do a blog entry on this. My mom noticed that I had been losing some weight about 3 or 4 weeks ago, and I said I hadn't noticed it. But now I DO notice it, and in all honesty couldn't tell you exactly how I've done it.

But then I got to thinking, how have things changed since I was last insecure about my body, before I'd lost those 10 lbs... I realized that some very simple changes in my life style have made it happen. Here they are...

1. I drink a ton of water. I probably drink a half a gallon or so a day. How I do it is I keep a water bottle close by at all times. Unfortunately, this means I have to do to the bathroom a lot more times during the day too, which can get annoying. But it's worth it, I think it's assisted in the weight loss overall.

2. I don't eat whole portions. I put stuff aside that I don't eat. This is because I get full faster it seems, so I stop eating when I'm satisfied. It seems like my body didn't used to get satisfied so quickly.

3. I eat at home, and cook my own lunches. I've stopped eating out and eating fast food almost entirely, and when I do eat food from the hub I make sure to get some fruit and never get their cooked meals-- they're overpriced and super unhealthy.

4. I take my medications at the same time every day. This makes a difference. I think I gain weight when I go off my medication... If you're taking a medication, especially birth control, take it at the same time every day.

5. I do pilates every night. This is my aunt's favorite exercise and I think it works pretty well. I learned that muscle and lifting weights actually makes me look BIGGER.

I think a lot of this weight loss has to do with, most of all, a combination of the fact that I'm not as hungry as I used to be, the fact that for some reason I get fuller faster, and the miles of walking I do around campus to get from class to class. There are a lot of factors... I think I look really good lately though, between the fact that my acne has cleared up almost entirely from Differin and that I've lost weight, I feel a lot more confident in myself.

Today we had a japanese test that I studied for for about 6 hours these past couple days. I'm hoping it paid off...

yours,

Emily

☆I'm sorry if I'm confusing, It's so much easier when I'm dreaming..☆

Bento Recipe! 

So you can make a bento box at home, with American ingredients. This is the easiest and quickest bento I've made. Note on that though, I do sometimes add things that I've had to seek out at Asian markets or Asian sections at grocery stores. So you might have to do a little hunting. Also note that this recipe is for ONE bento sized serving-- for a girl with a moderately small appetite. You might need to adjust this according to your needs.

What you need:

-Small, frozen chicken breast

-Small can of black beans (don't get dried--too much work)

-Short grain white rice (about 1/4 cup)

-1/4 cup Mirin

-1/4 cup soy sauce

-1 tspn vegetable oil or olive oil

Here's how you prepare the Chicken:

☆1. Microwave the chicken breast, making it thawed. Remove from microwave and drain out the yucky fat and juices from the thawing into the sink or garbage.

***NOTE. A good time to start cooking the rice is when you start cooking the chicken. Try to invest in a rice maker if you don't already have one.***

☆2. Cut the thawed chicken into small, bitesized chunks. Because the portion is small, it helps to have little bites. 

☆3. Put a wok or a non-stick pan on the stove at Med-High. Add vegetable oil or olive oil, and let it heat.

☆4. While your stove is heating, get a small bowl and add Mirin and soy sauce. Mix well. 

☆5. Carefully add chicken pieces with tongs to wok/non-stick pan. Let it cook for about 3 minutes, turning occasionally, then turn the heat down to medium. Continue to cook for another 6-8 minutes or so, until the chicken is white on the inside.

☆6. Quickly pour the Mirin and soy sauce on top, and stir to get the chicken covered. Only let it simmer for 1-2 minutes, as the soy sauce will burn to the pan if you let it sit on the heat for too long.

TAH-DAH, chicken! 

Place the black beans in bento, un-microwaved. If you have a microwave at school or work, nuke the bento there for a hot, healthy meal! 

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That was my first attempt writing a recipe. I hope you enjoyed. 

Ha ha. Now for my actual blog...

Today has been a good day. I managed to get a lot of studying done at Chad's house because Tori got to sleep almost immediately. She's so cute and can say "Maddie". Have you ever heard a one year old talk? Incredible. The kids were good too. Andrew has a new PSP, and is glued to it continually. He had basketball practice so he was gone most of the night. Maddie is really hard to handle sometimes... Like, I'll tell her to sit at the table and eat, and she will sneak off the second I look away.

Oh, I should probably tell you guys who these people that I'm talking about are. Chad is the guy that I babysit for, and have been for 3 years now. He's married to Carmin, who is like the most laid back chick ever (I actually saw her pissed off recently over some weird family situation, I can relate...). She works at Starbucks and whenever I'm there in the morning on the weekends she brings me back coffee-- kick ass. There are three kids, Maddie, Andrew and Tori. 

Maddie is six.. or maybe seven, and she's really hyper all the time. She's a bit of a crybaby sometimes, which makes me irritated because I've never really been too much of a crier, but then I think that she's just six years old and that it's just a phase. She's super girly, and really tan. I try to talk to her when I can because she seems to have a hard time listening and I don't want her to think I'm an "evil babysitter" because I sometimes have to yell for her to stop doing whatever thing that I've reminded her of 5 times to stop doing. Andrew is nine, and he's really laid back too. He's grown up a lot since I first started babysitting them when he used to run around and harass the dog. He pretty much does his own thing now, and talks to me about cars and how much he hates cursive. 

 They're just really good people, and they've become like family to me. I really do care about them, and their kids, and barely charge anything just because it's nice to get out of the house once and awhile. 

Anywho, I got a lot of studying there tonight. I have a Japanese quiz tomorrow as well as the crazy symbolic reasoning nonsense that I've been suffering through. So tonight I got a lot of work done because I didn't have the internet. Oh the miracle of Chad's house, how I always seem to get work done there. 

Now it's 12:04.... what the hell am I still doing up.

☆yours

emily