Make-Something Monday and Weigh-In Wednesday REMIX

This week just got away with me and I can't believe it's already Wednesday night!

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first: I didn't make anything at all last Monday AND today's weigh-in sucked. So I don't really care so much about not making anything. But I'm definitely at an all time low about my weight which is higher than I would like. I just feel like I can't stop eating. I. Just. Can't. (And you know I'm serious because I HATE when people do that period after every word thing.)

There's really nothing I can do I guess. I mean I just have to keep reminding myself and forcing myself to make the right decisions. I won't lie- I'm just about ready to give up and just be fat. But I really really want to be that weight-loss transformation person.

Enough of that stuff. Blech. Let's talk about some totally awesome things!

The BIG news is...I won my match at the BJJ tournament! Woohoo! I am so pumped about it. I want to make a recap post about it later (uhoh, "later"....story of my life) so I'll just leave it at that.

 I set this photo to EXTRA LARGE because it's that awesome. That's me with the big butt by the way.

Next, last week we had Wednesday off for Japan's national holiday celebrating people who work hard (Labor Thanksgiving Day) so I kinda made it into a makeshift Thanksgiving day. Nothing special. I just baked a cherry pie (using the one can of cherry filling I brought back from Hawaii) for lunch and for dinner I made a kind of green bean casserole. Mmm...fried onion topping. Here's some pictures:

 

Half the pie crust goes in the bottom....

 

 A precious can of cherry filling

 

The other half of the pie crust dough is crumbled on top.

 Ryan is unimpressed as usual.

 Glorious Cherry Pie!!!

Potato, green bean, mushroom, and onion casserole...

(And I wonder why I'm not losing weight!)

Lastly, my Make-Something Monday project is a scarf for Ryan! He doesn't have one and I don't think I've ever seen him wearing one (unless you count neckwarmers). But I think he'd look quite dapper with a nice scarf around his neck while wearing his suit and trenchcoat. The men of Japan are all very fashionable and we wouldn't want Ryan to be the odd man out, would we? Here's what I have so far:

It doubles as a lap blanket!

Ryan doesn't want anything flashy so I went with black, grey and a little blue (to bring out his eyes!)

I actually haven't picked up knitting or crochet needles in years and now I've got 2 pairs of each. Thank goodness for 100 Yen shops (the American equivalent would be dollar stores...though 100 Yen shops are like 100 times better). After a day of trials, I finally decided that I would be crocheting the scarf. Knitting was proving to be too much of a challenge for me right now. I do want to knit something in the future but for now, I'll warm up with a simple crocheted scarf.

To be honest, I never actually made anything more elaborate than a simple beanie or lacey doily so I would really like to try to make something more challenging next. Maybe a cute amigurumi or something.

Anyway, that's it. Til next time! (Which will be soon!)

Weigh-In Wednesday: 57.4kg

Gosh. the scale just isn't moving lately. Also, I'm not moving so much. Boo. I've been tired and lazy. I feel like I really need a day off...or just a bunch of days off to recharge and reset. Unfortunately, that's just not going to happen so I'm just going to have to dig myself out of this rut.

What's the plan? Get back to tracking on Weight Watchers. Go to BJJ at least twice a week and naginata twice a week. Do yoga every morning and evening. Take my vitamins.

That's it! Oh yeah, and sleep at least 6 hours a night! (Optimally I need like 7 or 8 but that's just not happening.) So...Goodnight!

I AM THE CHAMPION!!!!

 

My little coach and me after my big win

So today I had my very first official BJJ tournament. And I won! That makes me Hokkaido's #1 female BJJ white belt!!! Yay!

Am I an ultimate fighter now? AM I?!

Ohkay, I'm a long, looooooong way from that. But I'm getting there. For instance, today, before my match, I didn't cry once! I'm really growing up.

But seriously, I was experiencing some serious panic. I felt like my heart was pounding so hard people could see my gi moving. I felt like my rashguard was choking me. I felt like I couldn't breathe.

Fortunately, I didn't faint or throw up. I was nervous up until the bell rang to signal the beginning of the match and then I guess I just went on auto-pilot. Luckily, my auto-pilot knows some BJJ. Haha.

Video coming soon. 

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Weigh-In Wednesday: 57.4kg

Argh...a second week with a weight gain...is this a trend now? No, no, I won't get all crazy about it now. I'm tracking again and trying to make better choices. Plus, I've been fighting a cold since Friday. It SUCKS. I have very little energy and my nose hurts from having to blow it all the time.

It couldn't have started at a worse time- this weekend I have my second BJJ tournament and Ryan has to work so my biggest fan won't even be there to shout at me and tell me what to do. I am definitely feeling the pressure especially this time since my opponent will be another white belt. The other female blue belt in my club isn't entering so it's just me and a white belt from another club who I don't know. Yeah, there's only three girls in the area playing BJJ.

Anyway, I thought I'd dedicate this post to some inspirational women.

Make Something Monday: Easy Soup Curry a la Jane

Hey! This is the first installment of a new weekly topic! Make Something Monday! (Ohkay, that's probably my quota for exclamation points for this post.)

I probably swiped it from some other blog but I can't remember what blog. Sorry. Anyway, the topic is exactly what it sounds like: every Monday I'm going to make something and then post about it! Of course, I can't promise that I'll have time to make something every Monday...but I'll try and if I can't make something ON Monday, I'll plan to make something FOR Monday.

When I first thought about incorporating this, I thought I'd be making something like a craft but it turns out for the inaugural run I decided to post a recipe!

The temperature is finally on a decline (and not just hanging out in some weird limbo) so today I wanted something to warm me up for dinner. At first, I thought about whipping up some easy minestrone (most of my cooking is "easy") but I didn't have any beans (which also meant that I couldn't just make some reliable veggie chili) or small pasta. I just couldn't have minestrone without beans or pasta.

The next logical step would be soup curry, of course! (Not really.)

Soup curry is exactly what its name implies: a curry flavored soup with heaps of veggies and meat (if you want). It's a specialty of Hokkaido- the area's cold climate is the best place to enjoy a bowl of hot, spicy soup curry. Also, many restaurants boast the use of homegrown vegetables (much of Hokkaido is farmland).

From our favorite soup curry place, Voyage

A true soup curry would/should take hours to make. You have to do things like make a roux, and simmer things for 2 or more hours and strain liquids out of vegetables and put a lot of extra love into it. I, however, do not have the time nor the desire to spend making a "true soup curry" though I do try to put in as much love as I can spare. Here's a link to a recipe http://www.powderlife.com/magazine/issue/16/japanese-cooking-recipies/hokkaido-soup-curry that sounds not too hard but still not my cup of tea- at least not for a regular weekday meal.

And here's what I did:

First I made Ryan cut the vegetables. Then I threw the vegetables (carrots, peppers, kabocha) onto a baking pan and started baking them at 220C.

I then started on the soup. First I sauteed the onion and garlic in olive oil in a large pot. Then I added the water and the onion soup powder. I brought this to a boil. Then I realized that I should saute the spices with the onion and garlic and the can of tomatoes (OK, kinda like a roux) THEN add the water...

So I poured the onion soup water into another container. With the garlic and onion still in the large pot, I added a little more olive oil, put the pot over a medium flame then just added the spices to my liking. Here's the list of spices I decided to use:

Don't worry, I listed them in the ingredients area at the end of this entry.

This smelled soooooo good! After I decided the spices were all warm and mixed, I poured the canned tomatoes in the pot. Just as I thought, it seemed that the tomatoes took over the flavor of the spices so I added more spices. When it started to smell great again, I poured the onion soup water back into the pot, lowered the heat, and worked on the next step.

At this point I realized I forgot to tell Ryan to cut the potatoes and the eggplant. So I did these myself, and set them aside to roast after the first batch of vegetables were done. This took about 20-30 minutes. I put the roasted vegetables in a container and started roasting the potatoes and eggplant.



The potatoes and eggplant took about 40 minutes I guess. I also threw in the avocado about 25 minutes in (so they cooked for about 15 minutes.)



The soup had been simmering for awhile at this point and filling the kitchen with the loveliest fragrances.



Now that all the veggies were roasted and the soup was hot, it was time for assembling!!

I just ladled some soup into a bowls, and then put as many vegetables as I could fit.




We enjoyed this soup with some toasted baguette.

The little tub of butter was a present from a neighbor. She said it's a kind of handcrafted butter. It's SUPER tasty. (I love butter.)

Here's Ryan enjoying his soup curry.

That's his excited face. Really!

In Summary:

1. Cut all the vegetables that you want in your soup curry.

2. Place them (except garlic and onions) on a baking pan with sides, sprinkle some oil on top, and bake or roast. (Whatever setting you use to do that kind of thing.)

3. Saute garlic and onions in a large-ish pot. Add spices. Stir around until it dries up a bit and starts smelling awesome.

4. Add the canned tomatoes. Mix well. Add more spices to your liking.

5. In another pot, bring water to a boil and add the onion soup powder. Then add this water to the large pot of spicy tomato roux. Simmer until the veggies are ready.

6. When the veggies are ready, place as much as you like in your bowl and then gently ladle the soup curry into the bowl. (I originally did this the other way around but I think this way is better.)

7. Enjoy with rice or bread or even just by itself!

Pro-tips:

#1. Some cheese sprinkled in the soup is delicious. Alternatively, you could put cheese over your rice. Even better, sprinkle some fried garlic chips on top of your rice.

#2. You can add chili peppers or crushed chilis to the soup to make it as hot as you like.

Ingredients:
4 cups water
Onion soup powder
1 can tomatoes
Onion
Garlic
Olive Oil
4 Potatoes
4 Peppers
1 Carrot
3 slices of Kabocha
2 Eggplants
Spices: Cumin. Turmeric, Coriander (died leaf and powder), Black pepper, Garam Masala, Spicy Curry Powder

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Belated Weigh-In Wednesday: 57.1kg

Boo!!! A weight gain AND a late post. I'm 0-for-2 with no good excuses.

Actually I've been going between 57.1 and 56ish for awhile. Like a month, at least. I'm calling it a plateau. Luckily, this isn't a plateau that's physical in nature. Unfortunately, it would be easier if it was that. I would know that I was on the right track and I'd just have to keep on trucking a little longer before things got moving again. Or just add a little more oomph to my workouts or something.

It would have been much easier than having to admit that it's just me being lax on myself and not following the plan like I had been the month before. Instead of diligently tracking everything, measuring everything, planning things out, and choosing the better option, I was letting myself go.

Worse, even though I recognize this problem, I can't seem to stop myself from continuing! Sometimes, I honestly think I have some kind of eating disorder. I can literally eat nonstop all day. NONSTOP. That's not normal, right? I mean, even when I'm seriously crazy full, I can still think of food I want to eat. I should just try it one day and tweet it. It would be kinda like Supersize Me.

Right now, at this moment, I'm thinking about eating. And it's not just a nebulous idea about a future meal or craving. I've got the food and method all planned out. If this were a suicide risk assessment, I would be considered high risk since I not only have the ideas but a thought out plan! I would get up, peel one of the smoked and flavored boiled eggs I got from a vending machine (OMG so awesome, will post about that later!) and just down it while standing over the rice cooker scooping rice into my mouth with every bite of the egg. (Disgusting, right?!) Not even the shame of having to admit it on the internet is stopping me! (Possibly years of living on a constant guilt trip- I was raised in a Catholic household with Asian parents- has caused me to become immune or at least take shame as just an inevitable part of my life?)

So now that you know all my dirty secrets (which I guess is going to be a recurring theme in weigh-in Wednesdays)...now what?

Well, I'd like to move forward. My goal this month was to reach 54kg and with 2.5 weeks left, I think it's a little unrealistic. I'd like to adjust my goal to 55ish. Last weekend I hit 56.1 (sure I was a little dehydrated) so I think in 2.5 weeks I could definitely get to a number like 55.9.

Starting tomorrow, I will recommit to diligent point counting. I had tried the "simply filling method" for a week but basically failed at it...I guess having even fewer things to record just makes me more lazy. Anyway, back to the basics.

Later tonight, I'll be trying out some new Ashtanga yoga videos. (Sad sidenote: My favorite power yoga DVD was recently retired because the disc was destroyed.) I really want to join a yoga studio but it is prohibitively expensive. Like, insanely prohibitive.

For now, I think I'll have that smoked egg and some rice with a nice salad made from the leftover vegetables I used in the falafels I made for lunch. Can't start a a revolution on a (sort of) empty stomach.

Weigh-In Wednesday: 56.75kg

Welcome to my first installment of "Weigh-In Wednesdays!" Like I mentioned in the last entry I'm kinda on a "weight-loss journey" so...why not make a weight-loss journal?

I don't even know where to start so let's just start with today's actual weigh-in...drum roll please... 56.76kg!!

Oh my god, I can't believe I've put that out there on the internet for all to see. I don't care, I won't be at this weight for long. And anyway, it's a completely respectable weight and it's probably my lowest weight ever (I have a bad memory).

While I'm on a roll admitting things I usually keep a secret, I'll throw in another one: I joined Weight Watchers 10 weeks ago.

I know it's nothing to be ashamed of. But I guess my image of a person who joins Weight Watchers didn't mesh with the image that I had of myself. I know that's a terrible thing to say but I mean I didn't think anything bad about "people who join WW."

I guess what happened was I realized I've been doing the same thing and expecting different results. You know, that classic definition of insanity. So I tried something so different...something that I had just recently told my best friend she didn't need (or was that just something i was thinking and never said?). The reason that I didn't think I (and my friend) needed it was because I considered myself someone who was active and who ate well. I felt like it should come naturally. I guess I just wanted to be different from everyone else who's joined Weight Watchers. I wanted to do it on my own. But I'm over it now.

Even though I've been this weight before I know that I was there only because it was water weight. This time, I know that my body has changed and I wasn't starving myself or I hadn't just come off a 12 hour flight. I know there's been a change in my portion sizes and I'm willing to admit that I'm eating even better than before. Goddamn you, WW!!! Why'd you do this to me?

Now here I am 10 weeks and at a plateau. I'm optimistic though. This month's goal is to reach 54.5kg!! I'm almost frightened by that number!

So that's it for Weigh-In Wednesday. See ya next week.

November Spawned A Monster (again)

I'm pretty sure I've used this title before but it was at least a year ago so I think it's fair game now. November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and I've decided to join it. Just like I did last year.

Last year, I hit about 10,000 or so words before I sputtered out and called it quits...or rather got busy and decided it wasn't that high in my list of priorities.

This year, I've decided to be smarter about it. I prepped a little. Researched a bit (actually, I haven't the book). Printed out some of the NaNoWriMo workbook (the one for the Young Writer's program...because you know, I'm still a high schooler at hear). I even made a binder for it AND I've even filled out a few of the worksheets!

However, this weekend I realized that I can't keep making myself bite off more than I can chew. Yes, I would like to challenge myself to write a novel. But, I do have other challenges that are important to me (for instance, actually blogging and yeah, having a life to blog about).

So in the spirit of wanting to "have it all," I've decided that I would still do NaNoWrimo but I would split the 50,000 word goal between a novel, this blog and the other blog. Thus making me a NaNoWriMo rebel.

On top of that, my other goals include: learn 30 new kanji, finish my Japanese study book, lose 2kg, make something crafty/arty every week and organize my pictures and finally use that Groupon for 300 prints. Plus you know other stuff.

I wasn't able to fulfill my October goals. I think I did as much as I could and completed things that weren't on my list. I don't want to get all hung up my perceived failure so here is what I did accomplish:

1. I made a Halloween costume from scratch. It was a departure for me: something beautiful for once. I was princess Jasmin for two of my school's Halloween parties.

2. We threw a pretty nice Halloween party. Lots of people came (in costume!) and everyone seemed to have a good time. I made lots of the decorations (using my new favorite purchase: hot glue gun), made a delicious cheeseball shaped like a pumpkin that amazed some guests and frightened people in my Dia De Los Muertos costume. Totally channeling my inner Martha Stewart.

3. I made one of my naginata club members so happy when I spoke to her all in Japanese for 15 minutes. She's our oldest member (like 80 years old!!) and she was beaming at me for trying my best at Japanese. It was hard. But she's right, I just have to speak Japanese and not worry about getting it all wrong.

4. I maintained my weight loss. I should be happy that the 2kg I've worked to lose is actual weight loss and not some fluke but I have to admit that I'm at a plateau and it's kind of depressing. I'll get out of it though! Slowly and surely. I know that I've changed not just my body (a little bit) but my habits and my attitude towards food so I'm happy.

5. I was supposed to visit at least one yoga studio but I've since decided that I really can't afford yoga right now. It's just too expensive here. I'll just continue working on it on my own. I've also given up on adult ballet classes (due to scheduling and lack of options) but I think I'm going to try bouldering. I just have to find the courage to go by myself.

6. I think I made a goal of getting 50 points at this month's naginata tournament and I got 58!

7. I sent a package off to a dear friend in time for her wedding with a homemade stamp of a symbol I saw on their wedding website and a set of my favorite teas.

October went by faster than I hoped and I have a feeling that November will go even faster. Why can't time slow down just a little bit? Well, see you tomorrow!