Monday, July 16, 2007

Day 7: These are a few of my favourite things...

I thought the hill was over and behind me. Evidently not. Woke up this morning with the intention of breaking the gym boredom syndrome by whacking some balls at the tennis backboard.

Yes, I sure picked a lousy day astrologically to do so. 5 minutes into it, I knew it was one of those days, but about 50 times worse. After 20 minutes of confused tennis, wherein my legs moved like jello and my hand-eye coordination was nothing short of pathetic, I gave up.

The night before, I was desperately thinking about all the food I would eat after the 14 days lapsed and simultaneously living in paranoid fear of gaining back whatever weight had taken me a hell of a lot of bloody effort to lose. This eat, no eat conversation is not much fun.

I haven't fallen off the wagon, but I felt quite close to it today.

And I realised, every morning, I have to run the hawker food gauntlet. This little alleyway from my house to the gym in Uptown is basically the neighbourhood hawker stall central so every morning, on my way to the gym (on an empty stomach!) I see people scoffing pan meen, wan tan mee, fried noodles, curry mee...basically lard-carb-oil laden stuff that has both a repulsive effect (calories!) and yet so tempting! (that be the carbs talking).

Things seemed to get a little better in the afternoon after I vented some rage in the office - I'm not quite sure if the venting of my rage helped, or the fact that there was something annoying taking place just gave me ammo to throw all my irritation at a target.

And for the first time, I absolutely had to take an afternoon nap. I was beginning to wonder if the reason why I felt awful was really the whole astrological situation or was it that sip of unadulterated 100 plus I had in the morning before going to the tennis court.

I was beginning to have a very very bad suspicion that...urk, 7 days of low carb, minimal sugar (okay, I allow myself one little cheat - a cup of 100 plus mixed in with a lot of water at the gym on those tough 2 hour days) - was the sudden introduction of sugar into my system what made me go psycho/wobbly in the morning?

I'm putting my money on astrological phenomenon...never-underestimate a Fu Yin...(that's the astrological term)

Passing time has to be the hardest thing on this diet. Passing time not thinking about food. I find a strange consolation in strolling the aisles of supermarkets, looking at the food I CAN'T EAT and watching cookery programs of people making food that, oops, I CAN'T EAT. And I suppose this is the time when having an outrageous imagination can be helpful: I imagine the taste of all the banned food...Imagine eating it...it sounds like torment but it seems to work for me.

I'm not really even that close to the light at the end of the tunnel (that would be like..Day 12, or Day 13...) but I'm already thinking about what I'm going to eat at 12.01AM on the 24th of July - Freedom day!

Ranking high on the list - Starbucks Signature Hot Chocolate...or maybe a Mocha Latte?? Haven't seen the bottom of a coffee cup for 7 days now...




So at 12.01AM the Starbucks at HSBC won't be open. Or maybe it might be. I don't care that I probably won't be able to sleep!

... definitely a disgustingly carb laden but so deliciously bad for health Indomie Goreng will be available, be it at the nearby roach motel mamak, or Bistari in Sri Hartamas (the best Indomie Goreng I've ever had).

Now, proper breakfast on the 24th - that's what I'm really looking forward to. No more protein shakes with flaxseed gunk!! Admittedly, they are very good for me and don't taste quite as foul as one would imagine, but I miss real food. I miss eggs with yolks.

I'm torn between the All Day Breakfast at La Bodega, and a plate of pancakes (carbs! Carbs! sweets! sweets!) at Alexis...and the ultimate...

Kaya on hot buttered toast, with 2 3/4 boiled eggs at my favourite Malaysian kopitiam place: Uncle Lims at the Curve (and the newspaper - perfect!)




Probably a tosai at my favourite Indian restaurant, Nirwana in Bangsar, would be a lot healthier compared to the above choices (but of course, nowhere near as healthy as boiled eggs with turkey...) but I have a feeling I'm going to have a hard time keeping to the health theme after 2 weeks of detox and clean eating.

Then there's LUNCH. Curry mee at La Manila in Midvalley perhaps? Char Kuay Teow at my dad's favourite vendor, Robert's in DU? Or something healthier like a sandwich at Subway? I lurve the Italian BMT. Ah the choices, the choices.





Then there's the 'E' that Mr Kirsch absolutely forbids but which I have decided, life is too short to live without - Extra Sweet. Today I dropped by my favourite bakery/cake spot, Bakerzin to order a cake for someone's birthday. Yes, I was able to stare down the Oreo Cheesecake but that didn't mean I wasn't salivating or thinking about it. Where do I start? Strawberry Jam doughnut at Starbucks for tea? Or a doughnut from the Big Apple in The Curve? (re my love affair with doughnuts, see my post on Krispy Kreme in HK! Ah...we'll always have Hong Kong...)








Anyway, what this all means is (and I suspect that list of my favourite things is going to keep getting longer) I will have to buy Mr Kirsch's new book, the Ultimate New York Diet...

In the meantime, I think that "These are a few of my favourite things" is going to be heard by my neighbours a lot until the 24th...

No comments: