day 21/ 101 days left + background information continued + current news

day 21 numbers:
91 kilos = 200 pounds

18 pounds lost total.


i should probably start posting pictures.
it will probably be more motivating.


i'm finally AT 200. 
now i want to be under 200. 
i think i might be under 200 by tomorrow.
we'll see.


i haven't posted for a while..
i lingered at 92-93kl for some time.
---


i need to finish posting background information so i could post more current information. :)


OKAY, so the doctor told me ALL this stuff.
i wish i could have recorded it because he explained it so well..
and everything made so much sense.


his instructions for *me* (not you) are as follows:


o wake up at 9AM: drink hanyak (한약 = korean traditional medicine)


o 9:30AM: eat 4 spoons of wild/brown rice and half the amount of rice of side dishes. 
(basically 6 spoons of food)


o 1-2PM: drink hanyak


o 1:30-2:30: eat 4 spoons of wild/brown rice and half the amount of rice of side dishes. 

(basically 6 spoons of food)

o 5-6PM: drink hanyak / skip dinner

o walk/run 3 times a week for 30 minutes

   (walk for four minutes, run for one minute)

i asked the doctor how much weight i should expect to lose in one month.

he didn't answer my question lol.. he went off on tangents. 

i asked him three different times, still no answer.

ah~ i was a little frustrated. oh well.

we paid 280,000KRW (~$234.00) for one month's supply.

they said they would ship the medicine within a week.

---

the medicine came after about 5 days i think.

usually korea is SUPER fast about shipping things,

it normally takes 2 days tops.

probably because korea is so tiny.

i think this took longer because first they customize the medicine to each person.

if you go to the haniwon, you can see hundreds and hundreds 

of labeled drawers full of herbs and whatever else they use in hanyak.

then they brew the concoction and lastly they individually package each drink.

3 drinks per day, 30 days per month = 90 drinks in one package.

anyhow, it arrived in a timely manner.

i was excited to start. 

i started the next day. 

i drank the hanyak first thing in the morning, 

which, by the way, tastes like shit.

hanyak tastes like SHIT.

ugh. even thinking about it gives me goosebumps.

then i had thirty minutes to make my meal.

now, im a girl like that LOVES to eat.

i am the queen of foodies.

i love everything about food.

i love the way it looks.

i love the way it smells.

i love the way it sounds when it's cooking

and the way it sounds when i'm chewing.

i love watching food network.

i love reading cookbooks and menus.

i LOVE food and i LOVE eating.

SO i wanted to stretch out everything i was allowed to eat.

since i was only allowed 4 spoons of rice to eat i boiled the rice in water and made rice porridge (jook = 흰죽)

when you boil rice in water, it becomes thick and doubles in size. :)

so i ate rice porridge with the appropriate amount of side dishes (banchan = 반찬).

because of the medicine, i was fine with the amount of food i had.

my appetite was suppressed, but not entirely. hehe

but i wasn't hungry at all.

later that day i met with a friend.

he wanted to eat indian food and so i went with him.

it was a buffet. lol

i decided i wasn't going to eat there, although i really, really wanted to.

then i gave in. lol

i ate a plate. 

okay two.

i ate two small plates.

it was still not even half, no a quarter of what i would have normally eaten.

it was GOOD. 

at least i ate it after i took my medicine though. :)

that was around 1PM.

afterwards we hung out and im not gonna lie~

it wasn't easy being around a guy that likes to eat!

an ice cream here, a sugary drink there..

i wanted to join him! :'(

but i didn't hehe.

i forgot to bring my "dinner medicine" out with me so when i got home at midnight, i was HUNGRY.

i drank my medicine and went to bed. 

the medicine didn't suppress my hunger, but it wasn't totally awful or unbearable either.

the next morning i didn't check my weight.

i wanted to wait for a few days so the numbers would be more exciting. :)

after the first day, i was sometimes more strict with my diet, and other times not as much. ;)

but i always skipped dinner.

i think i checked after 6 days.

i lost 5 kilos (11 pounds).

i know that sounds crazy.

but 5 kilos is just a drop in a bucket for a girl my size.

but 5 kilos was easy. 

after 5 kilos it was verrry slow..

i guess that's normal though.

from day 6 to now, day 21 i lost 3 kilos (7 pounds).

---

current news:

today was the day that i go back to get my second batch of medicine made.

they told me to come back in when i had only a weeks worth of medicine left and that was today.

i went in and the front desk lady looked shocked and complimented me.

it made me so happy.

maybe she's paid to say that though. :P

they checked my weight, fat percentage, muscle percentage and water.

i swear the lady gasped and looked like this: O_O

that was nice too.

after waiting for about 20 minutes, the doctor called me in.

he was very proud of me.

he told me he could tell i worked very hard and that my body has become much healthier.

he asked me lots of questions.

he asked how my period was..

which, btw was the heaviest period i've ever had in years.

lol gross, sorry.

he asked me how i go to the bathroom, etc.

after going through the questions

he grabbed the big, fake 2 pounds of a fat on his desk.

he told me, you lost 2.5 of these! :)

i also lost 1 kilo of muscle (It's a good thing). 

woohoo! success!

now just 101 days left. :)

day 14/108 days left + background information continued

day 14 numbers:
94 kilos = 207 pounds

11 pounds lost total.

sad. i gained a kilo.
i wonder what i could have done wrong.
maybe too much protein? i'm not sure.

OKAY.
so after i decided not to go to the dan-shik-won my aunt talked me into going to a haniwon (한의원).
she had been talking about it for a while.
four of her friends went there and three saw permanent result.
i went there just to see what it's all about.

i went in and filled out some forms.
it asked things like,
do you have allergies?
how often do you poop?
how regular is your period?
etc.

after i turned in my forms i was weighed and had my height measured.
they put me on some other gadgets that measured my body fat percentage and muscle percentage.
they took my blood pressure and i think that was it..

i hung out for a minute after that and was later called in to the office.
the doctor laughed a worried laugh.
he said i have to do something about this now.

he went over my forms with one hand and kept the other hand on my right wrist.

i don't remember exactly everything he said and maybe some things will get lost in translation because my korean isn't perfect but some of the things he said were:

you are like a frog.
you have a short neck.
if you have a short neck you might have problems breathing.
you should not smoke. (i know)
do you have asthma? (yes)

you are like a bird.
your chest is puffed up and your is upper lip is pouty like a bird.
it is especially dangerous for you to be overweight. (why?)
because what would happen if a bird was extremely fat? (i'm not sure..)
it would die. (..oh..)

quarter of your body weight is fat and another quarter of your body weight is muscle.
you have the type of body that makes fat and muscles easily.

he had a name for it: yang-something something.
yang (양) means pair or double.

you should not exercise. (ok.. wait, WHAT?)
you should not exercise. (UH..)
if you exercise, you will get bigger and bigger.
as a woman, you already have too much muscle.
x is the amount of muscle that a woman should have and look *points at chart* you're over here.
you've made so much muscle that you're body thinks your a man. (omg)
that's why you haven't had your period for four months. (oh.my.god.)

your body type makes muscle just by eating protein.
you need to stop eating so much protein.
your body makes muscle as you make fat and vice versa.

my mom was shocked.
oh yeah, she was in the room with me.
she asked him, "she should NOT exercise?"
no. 
not now. not at this time. not with this body.
mom asked, "what about swimming?"
no.
do you want her to have man shoulders?
her body will just get bigger and bigger and bigger.
mom, "what should she do?"

to be continued..

day 13/109 days left + background info

today is the end of day thirteen. 

starting numbers:

99 kilos = 218 pounds

day 13 numbers:

93 kilos = 205 pounds

13 pounds! woohoo!

i hate calling it a "diet" i think it's because i've failed every "diet" i've ever been on. let's call it a life style change.

about three weeks ago i had my heart set on entering a dan-shik-won (단식원), it's a place to fast.

on the website it said i could lose up to 20 kilos in one month. 20 kilos = 44 pounds.

that sounded so amazing, i was ready to pay for two months. 

all of my family was against it, but i didn't care. 

all i could think about was, "one month, 44 pounds.. two months, 88 pounds."

i went to the dan-shik-won with my dad and uncle, just to check it out.

the lady was very convincing. 

she told me a girl my size needed to fast.

she said they were the only ones that could help me lose weight.

they said i would stay there, drink their "S-line herb tea", get massages and lose weight. 

i was so ready to pay! it was 1,200,000KRW for one month, that's $1,003.00.

we said we'd think about it and let them know.

i wanted to go. it sounded so good. everything about it.

i went home and researched fasting.

i read good and bad.

i couldn't decide if i should go or not.

"one month, 44 pounds..."

about a week after visiting the dan-shik-won i packed my bags.

i was so ready, i had my mind made up and i felt good.

as i was leaving my grandma's house, 

my aunt and mom followed me out.

they said they were curious about the place i would be staying for two months.

we rode the subway and on the way my mom asked me what stop.

when i told her mia-samgeori (미아 3-거리), she looked worried.

when we got off of the subway to go to the dan-shik-won,

my mom and aunt both asked me, 

are you sure you want to do this? 

don't do it. 

it's up to you!

but don't do it.

i was really emotional.

i really wanted to, but deep down i knew it wasn't a good idea.

after about an hour outside the dan-shik-woni finally said, 

"let's just go check it out, then tell me what you think."

they agreed.

we went in and the lady said the same convincing things.

my mom was grilling her with questions.

my aunt was a little nicer.

some things she didn't have clear answers for.

we sat there for about an hour.

the lady told us she's sent out over 4,000 people.

when she said that i really wanted to go.

my aunt and mom went to go look at the facilities and the lady grabbed me.

she told me, "you need this."

my mom and aunt came back.

they said told me if i wanted to go, to go.

i was on the fence again. 

we left the dan-shik-won to talk about it.

my aunt told me she understood why i wanted to go.

she said she really shook her, even though she was firm about me not going.

we talked and talked and talked.

i was on the fence until my mom said this,

"that lady said she's turned out over 4,000 people but there is not ONE picture hanging on the wall. if you helped 4,000 people lose weight, wouldn't you have at least ONE picture to show us?"

i thought, "wow, what a gimmick. $1003 to sit in a room for month? i should open a dan-shik-won." lol

so there you have it. i never went to the dan-shik-won. 

the next place i went was.. hopefully the place that will change my life.

to be continued...

dan-shik-won website: http://www.sosandiet.co.kr/