The Fat and the Slim of things

One thing I realised, to my pleasant surprise, was that I didn't put on any significant weight during my trip to Singapore. Perhaps my weighing machine has gone kaput or I had burned all the extra weight in the one day that I returned due to the cold. Why do I say I'm surprised? Simply because I ate way more in Singapore than I do in UK. Bak Chor Mee, Laksa, Nasi Lemak, seafood....anything! So where did all the extra calories go? My thoughts:

1. Walking

I walked alot in Singapore. To the supermarkets, hawker centres....... Even more when I was in Hong Kong. Due to the high costs of petrol, parking and ERP (seem to be mushrooming everywhere!), I hardly drove. Even when I took the girls out, we'd commute by MRT unless my parents insisted I drive or it was raining. It takes about 10min to walk from my parents' place to the MRT station. If I was going to Orchard Road, I had to change at Dhoby Ghaut which meant more walking.

Orchard Road = Shopping = MORE WALKING!

When I'm out window-shoppping alone, I don't eat. I'm not used to the idea of eating alone plus as Adrian puts it, when I see shops, I forget everything. I don't know about the rest of you but when I shop, I don't feel hungry.

In Hong Kong, I could shop from morning till night and you know what time do the shops close right? Most of the time, I don't even buy things. It's mainly browsing. Browsing I do, from one street to another, usually a few MTR stations apart.

Comparatively in UK, I drive. Alot! Other than walking Louisa to and from school (even then it's only on days when I don't have to drop or pick Lavigne from school) and going to music class, I drive. The reason being that supermarkets and shops are not nearby and I don't think I can carry more than 6 heavy bags of shopping (I do one main grocery shopping a week) up 2 slopes.

2. Mum = rubbish bin

When I was in Singapore, something was not quite right about my digestive system. I'd feel bloated for a long time after lunch (I didn't even gorge, just a bowl of noodles or something). So much so I didn't usually have an appetite to eat dinner. Still, I'd eat something. But unlike in UK where it's only the 4 of us eating and I don't have to keep any food for anyone after, I didn't have to worry about leftovers in Singapore because my sisters would be back for dinner. So if there were any leftovers, I wouldn't know. Whereas here, because I hate to waste food, I'll usually finish up whatever's left on the plates. BAD!

3. Less space to walk about

Our house here is very small. Just a few steps will bring you from one room to another. Which means that there is even less walking to do. To go upstairs, it's only one flight of stairs to climb. At my parents', there's 2 flights. Big difference if you count the number of times I go up and down.

4. Couch potato

I have to admit I watched much more tv than I usually do when I went back this time mainly because there's cable tv now. Even then, I hardly snacked. How could I snack when I was always feeling bloated? There was once when I ate Twisties and had diarrhoea immediately after. Grrrrr! I have a weakness for crisps. They have very nice crisps here. If ever I watch the telly here, I'll snack but thankfully though, not all the time. Still, extremely bad!

5. Heat = weight loss(?????)

A friend told me before that with the heat in Singapore, it won't be easy to put on weight due to all the perspiration. But don't we burn calories to keep ourselves warm in the cold? Hmmmmm......

Anyhow, the pounds will start to pile now that I'm back. Unless I'm very religious with my yoga and exercise. One thing is for sure, the scale may not show much weight gain but all the food that I ate had definitely found home in my face. FULL MOON!