Well, that didn’t last long. I’m not running hot and cold and hot and cold… Think I’ll go home and have something to eat as my stomach is clenching up as well. My body is not agreeing with something, but I don’t really know what… ugh.

Today (6th already) I feel as crappy as the past two days actually. Well, not sick-wise, I’m actually starting to feel better – but I went berserk and binged out the past two days. And I’m again fighting the urge to do it all over again. I guess the carb overload kickstarted my body throwing a huge fit / tantrum / whatever. Anyway, whatever it is, I don’t like it >.<

Haven’t exercised since Monday, which is weird because I got good results and felt really motivated Monday evening. But then it all hit the fan.
I’ll try to get my body in check again today and tomorrow, so no carbs at least. Had enough of those for a lifetime!

The problem wasn’t really not feeling like eating, more feeling like eating waaaaay too much 😛 I fought a battle with my body / mind today, I was constantly craving and feeling frustrated – but I pulled through and only had some chicken and broth. Now to get through tomorrow and then hope I didn’t gain too much weight this week…

Thanks for the kind words though, Cathy 🙂 I’ll try not to beat myself up too much. It’s hard to practice what you preach!

Also oeh, my topic reached 2 pages.

Well that’s not true, there are a few fitness enthusiasts on here! Rockyromero, fastforlife and some others as well (I took those from the HIIT topics).

Anyway, that’s also an answer to your question, I do HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) ;). You should check out those topics, it’ll tell you more about my routine.
I follow the Insanity workout program, which are videos of 30-60 minutes usually (starting the second month soon, all new videos!) and they basically kill you. I never look forward to the workout, but then when I’m well into it (and especially when I’m done) I feel sooooo good! Well, depends on how it’s going, yesterday went really well so felt really good. You should look it up!

When I’m in New Zealand I’m planning to do some more running (can’t really do that here with the bad air quality) and to make good use of the free gym membership I get for doing a semester at uni. I also want to pick up Taekwon-Do there again, I’m unable to train here which is a bit of a dud… Really want to get my 2nd black belt degree somewhere late next year!

@iggy, thanks 🙂 It’s depressing how many childhoods have sucked. I see it on my kids sometimes as well (the kids I teach Taekwon-do that is). There’s this very nice, good kid who is being bullied because he plays the Cello at an international level. Just makes me want to punch in teeth. But I guess that’s not a good thing to do as a martial arts teacher, so I just told him to ignore it, but if they get physical with him, he has my complete permission to punch them back. Hate bullies.
Where in China do you live?

Sadly that weekend didn’t work out, I thought we had made actual plans but a day later he said something about “hoping he’d be free” and “maybe we could do something together”. So yeah, if the communication is that bad, I’m not about to go on a weekend trip with someone.
We did go to a mall yesterday, I bought new shoes (which already gave me blisters, damnit)and a vest. Afterwards he tried to hold my hand in the taxi and tried to kiss me when I tried to give him a hug goodbye… So yeah, huge succes.

Food wise the last week wasn’t great and I think I gained a little bit of weight back. Not sure where it came from, I’ve noticed I’ve been more negative and down lately, which causes me to regularly think “ok F this, I want food”. I had intense abdominal pain yesterday though (not from being full, just really bloated) so I guess that’s my bodys way of saying “ok F this, this was too much bad food”.

I’m kinda planning on going ADF this week to make up for last week. With Thursday being an eating day, because I’m then celebrating Christmas with a colleague. No idea what we’re going to do but I’m 99.9% sure it involves food… Looking forward to that!
I’m trying a 48 hour water fast today (with just some protein after my workout because well, it’ll need it), see what my body thinks about that.

Yay, the nickname is back ^^

@stef, I actually meant it when I said I was looking forward to 2nd Christmas day with the food thing ^^ And sadly yes, I’ve had men fall for me before – and act accordingly. May sound weird to say it that way but when you’re gay it’s really not a lot of fun, and in this case I couldn’t even really get him off my case by saying I was gay (he probably wouldn’t understand it) so I said I have a boyfriend back home. He doesn’t seem too struck either though, he was a very happy puppy yesterday on the IM x)
What kind of ADF do you do? With the 500 calorie days? I’m feeling zealous (hopefully not too overzealous) and am planning on doing the complete version, so without food whatsoever on the fast days. Yesterday I talked about taking some protein after my workout and stuff, but when I was walking home I felt absolutely miserable and had to call in all my willpower (really, there were tears and hair pulling) not to go completely out of it again food-wise, so I just went to bed at 19:30. Luckily I slept rather quickly! Didn’t work out though.

@booboo, welcome back ^^ And congrats on losing the stone!! And I dunno, it’s not like it’s gotten tougher than it was but maybe it’s the whole “it’s almost done” thing. It is getting close, four weeks including this one – but it’s just making me really restless and depressed for some reason. Could also be the weather, it’s now truly cold here as well. I agree that other people have it tougher, of course! It is annoying to hear people tell it to you though (like you said), because there are also kids in Africa dying of hunger and kids in “first world countries” being fed into morbid obesity by their parents… but that doesn’t make me feel any better 😛
I sympathise with your friend though. My godfather (well technically not anymore since I turned 18 but you get the point) is currently being treated for thyroid cancer, the chance is really big that he’ll have died before I come home August next year. Feels really weird not to be there, and it makes me feel guilty talking to my family about feeling bad here. But not talking about it only makes it worse.

Anyway, I’m typing away like a nerd on steroids (half true, but I don’t do steroids). I agree with you on the Frangipan (lol) matter by the way, however I don’t think he’d hurt me in any way. But misunderstandings can be dangerous in certain situations as well.
I am alone for Christmas day tomorrow. Or well, I’m at work, they don’t have petty things like holidays here – not even during new years (because theirs is in February). But it’s not like being with these people makes me feel less lonely 😛 Luckily I’m with a colleague Thursday evening, for that dinner thing. And I’m skyping with my brother and his girlfriend tomorrow night. It’s not really the same as being there (and may just make me feel worse as soon as the call drops), but it’s better than nothing!

I now ignore the ducks and chickens and stuff as well, but it still stings. If you’d get mad they’d just look at you weird though.

Long enough post I think! I’m out, before I rant more!

Yeah I’ve never been a huge sucker for Christmas, cat 🙂 It’s just that I think it’s these times that I realize just how lonely I am, and how much I miss home. I always act a bit high and tough, and to be honest I don’t enjoy Skyping all days – but there’s just some special edge to days like this. To me Christmas is just enjoying food with the family, and having a few drinks – sometimes being annoyed off your rocker or even fighting. But that’s part of the charm 😉 It’s mostly just seeing each other.

My little stuffed animal friend was a great help! It’s Totoro by the way, from the Japanese anime “My Neighbour Totoro”. I can’t post a picture here, otherwise I would’ve 😉 And yes, he was a lot more patient than I think a chicken would’ve been…

The earrings are just simple studs, with blue stones in them. I’m not one for flashy stuff, but I enjoy silver and some small stones in them. Nothing too big. Not a huge jewelry fan anyway, I don’t wear rings / bracelets because they annoy me and I only wear a dogtag around my neck… but my ears are double pierced so I’m wearing 4 studs in total now, makes it fun to switch out the different shades in blue ^^

@stef yeah, they weren’t that expensive though 😛 The treat was mostly the Totoro plushie. I even ended up giving him a bath with washing liquid and hot water in a bucket, then drying him off with a towel and stuff. Thankfully he was dry by the time I collapsed into bed (only to get a bit wet again but oh well).

My parents are going to be here the 18th of January, so a little over 3 weeks from now. I’m leaving China February 5th. It’s funny how the idea of them coming here doesn’t excite me that much… I’d mostly be stressed out because we’d still be in China and I have to feed them and everything. Thinking about being home is what gets me. It’s not even just the people, it’s also the familiarity of your surroundings and knowing what to do… your own stuff, own world and all that.

I’m rambling again! 😉

Nope, 5th of February I’m flying straight to New Zealand. I can’t afford to fly back home for a week, it’s just too expensive. I’m already knee-high in student loans as it is, to finance this year abroad… so not going to do stuff like that. So I’m seeing my parents halfway, but other than that it’s a year away from home! 🙂

Yeah I guess I learned a lot here in China. About my line of work, sure, but mostly about myself I guess. There’s something about being thrown on your ass for 4 consecutive months that changes something about the way you think 😛 After this year it’s another year of specialization and a graduation project / thesis / whatever. I’ll probably not get straight to work in the gaming industry, unless me and my classmates start a small company together (there are ideas). In the meantime I’ll just do some other general college-level job I hope.

In afterthought I’m sure I’ll have some good memories, I already do! It wasn’t all fun but I realize it could have been worse AND it’s been really good for me. I was the kid who couldn’t sleep over at a friends house because I was so homesick and I really needed to start relying on myself instead of others a bit more.

Just had a look through my own blog, it’s amazing how long I’ve already been here xD A lot of stuff seems so long ago, it’s weird. And the way I’ve been writing about China back then, it’s like reading someone else’s stories. Oh well. It’s Friday now, so just gonna get through today, then enjoy a weekend of gaming and then it’s just another three weeks.

Cheerio!

I play all kinds of games. Currently I’m mostly into World of Warcraft, but I play other games as well.
You got him an actual lump of coal? x)

About Frangipani – first time I met him was close to my home, I did that on purpose, and in a public place. And well, I didn’t get any bad vibes from him. It was a bit awkward, but that was language and cultural stuff – I don’t like it when men insist to walk me to my door or something 😛
I was already apprehensive about going to that town with him, but I figured if it went sour I could get a cab home. And the last four months I didn’t really see much of China, just the inside of my office and my apartment – I kinda wanted to see some other stuff before leaving again. Who knows if I’ll ever be back?
But yeah I didn’t do it, just didn’t feel right. Sometimes you just have to trust your gut 😉

Haha don’t you have enough on your plate yet, cat?

No problem whatsoever Booboo! And yeah I did empty my cupboards this weekend, didn’t send anything to Africa though. I just don’t trust the postal services here… only reason, promise…

I agree, it’s not all bad. I’m already retrospecting a bit, and even though it wasn’t all great I think I’ll look back fondly anyway. It’s all about keeping the good memories and forgetting the bad ones right? I mean, I’m drinking from my amazingly Christmassy Starbucks tea-mug container thing, which I got from my boss – that’s the things I’ll be taking home, and the crappy heating unit can be wiped from my mind for ever and ever 😉

I haven’t been to any Chinese practitioners, why’d you ask? Like it would be a good idea, or a bad idea, or maybe the reason I’m sometimes feeling ill? 😛 I’m a bit tempted to go for a “massage by blind masseuses” which is a thing here, but I dunno. I guess I’ll have to just look for a pretty kiwi to do that 😉

And yeah, New Zealand is going to be great! I’ll just make it so. This morning I was on the phone with the housing office for my campus dorm and it was just soooo easy. They understood me, I understood them… having good, clear communication is something I’ll never undervalue ever, ever again. Oh and did you guys know I used to have a huge phone fear? I would wait for weeks to make calls, even to people I knew. But now I just phoned them, because F it, I needed something. See, China changed me! 😛

Now to figure out a way to see the southern island during my month of free time… All those trips are damned expensive 🙁 Maybe I’ll buy a scooter. Or a horse. Less gasoline. S gonna be cold though.

Oh and for that countdown (this is until my internship is done by the way):

The total number of days between Monday, December 30th, 2013 and Friday, January 17th, 2014 is 18 days.
18 days is equal to 2 weeks and 4 days.
The total time span from 2013-12-30 to 2014-01-17 is 432 hours.
This is equivalent to 25,920 minutes.
You can also convert 18 days to 1,555,200 seconds.

I’ll be traveling during July and August vicki 😉 After I finish university late June, I’ll visit dumpy up north and then travel a bit. My flight home leaves August 14th 🙂

Teehee yeah Booboo, I’ve always been feeling more positive about NZ than China. I’ve always wanted to visit NZ, and China kind of just fell on my path.

Actually now it’s ((((15))))! New years here was boring, and to be honest it didn’t really feel special at all. Not in a bad way, I just couldn’t care less when midnight came x) Then there were maybe two bangs, and that was it. They really don’t care about our new years here.

Thanks for the kind words again! I’ll look into that Bach fellow. I’m always sceptical about things like this, but for you I’ll have a look 😉