EXTREME Diet GO!

Thursday December 20^th, 2012

Day 1 of extreme diet BEGIN! Funny enough I do better when my limits are extreme at least in America. In Taiwan it is impossible to fully follow such standards due to lack of choice in food but if I have control over what I eat, it’ll be EXTREME! (think of that last word with a Sunday monster truck announcer’s voice XD) Then there’s exercise and all that jazz. ;) Though the workouts will be secretly done in my room to the best of my ability, just like I hide my crazy dancing. ;P

University had a surprise practice test for our final exam coming up this Monday (Eek!). I was so not mentally prepared to take a test and got a measly 72 score. A warning would have helped so much to review and not be dead tired though the whole thing, just wanting it to be done. So here’s to hoping Monday’s test will be better once I look over the material again. XD

Look at this random writing on the chalk board! I found it like this when I walked in the University class room. The "Louisiana" part made me uber happy just seeing it. ^_^ Yay for that great southern state/America!

During my beginning months in Taiwan, a friend told me that the salad sold at convenient stores were just plain bad. I thought it would be worth to finally try one since that’s the healthiest thing I can find anywhere in Taipei. The verdict…ohhhhhh-ho-ho-ho! YES! I have never been so excited and pleased to eat a salad! It contained lettuce (obviously), cherry tomatoes, croutons and some sort of good sauce. The amount of sauce they put in the packet is way overkill so you definitely don’t want to put all of it in. I put in about 60-70% and it was too much. So less next time and trust me, there WILL be a next time! ;D

Following naptime was a fail class for me. Why? I spent the entire period just trying to wake up. What the heck? This is ridiculous! No me gusta.

Club day! The time was dedicated to preparing for a performance we were going to have a Saturday for the school’s Anniversary party. I was not told this earlier so it was a sure shock with slight panic. They wanted me to be in both the kung-fu routine and lion dance. The kung-fu I could do fairly well but the lion dance…eehhhhhh…no clue. XD I learned parts of it but some I guess were taught when I wasn’t there and then I don’t know where each part goes in the entire puzzle. So it was speed learning and practice, practice, practice. Between my partner, we switched positions in order for her to lead with the front legs/head. I was happy for this because your arms start to feel as if they’re dying from holding up the heavy head and making exaggerated movements with it. The switch was actually a relief in that manner. If an average person’s arm strength is 5 out of 10, I’m a 3, maybe a 3.7 on a good day. XD Being the back legs wasn’t as bad as I thought. I assumed the job came with extreme back pain from being bent over constantly, jumping around and stuff but no, I didn’t feel any. Yay!

We all practiced outside by the stage area in the open grassy field. The best part we got to wear the lion pants! They’re so shiny, bouncy and an absolute delight to swish around in. I’ll have pictures another day but they also have a bit of fuzziness on them. They’re so awesome! I love them! Should I mention that the lion my partner and I got was the only orange one…yeah, I got to wear orange shiny, fluffy Chinese pants of brilliance! Can I have a pair? 我要！(I want!)

Now that we practice with the actual lion costumes and I have a good reference of what to do, I’m really getting into this lion dance! It’s just too fantastic! I’m nervous yet excited for our performance this Saturday. Wish me luck!

One thing that every exchange student in Taiwan faces is being bombarded in food. Plates served to you being over flooded and people constantly insisting, “Have more. Eat more. More, more, more!” Eating food is a big part of the Taiwanese culture. If you are given a certain amount of food, you must eat it all otherwise it can be viewed as disrespectful and wasteful. So I try to hammer in the fact that I really don’t need a lot for mealtime, especially now that I’m on my EXTREME diet (I still imagine a monster truck announcer saying ‘EXTREME’ XD). I think it’s hard for Taiwanese to understand this about foreigners. That’s why I kinda like self-serve meals at my house. I can choose the amount of rice and the meat to veggies to tofu proportions. Rice is something I don’t need or crave but it’s a staple in an Asian diet big time so it’s courteous to at least have some. The small amount I take would shock any Asian but it at least shows I eat the food. If not, they will accuse you of not liking rice, trust me, I’ve got that before but with noodles at school. Happy day because tonight was a 100% self-serve night! (sometimes it’s only 75% self-serve due to the soup part of the meal) It felt good not being heavily overstuffed and having more veggies than anything else. Whoo! :D

Something I discovered last night but explored today was a YouTube channel called ‘Modern Mom.’ Don’t make fun of me for watching it and NO I’m not a Mom. That would be a story for sure! Just imagine:

-What did you do on your exchange to Taiwan?

-I married and became a Mom.

-…Wow. You were busy, weren’t you? XD

Anywho, this channel has a bunch of workout in instructional videos that I can do at home without equipment. Score! The free floor space in my room is very limited, making me have caution not to crash into anything when doing even leg lifts. So these exercises are great for me because they don’t take up too much space and I get my aching burn on! WHOO! Good stuff! I recommend the videos because they’re so helpful to me. :D

That’ll conclude the day. Bye guys!