Goals…
Tommorrow I morning I am off to Okinawa!!!! So excited because I have never been before and it will be such a nice relaxing weekend (I hope). It will also be Shumpei and my first trip away together in Japan (he visited me in Australia last year and we went to Sydney and to the North Coast but this is different) So I am getting our stuff ready to go. Togs, CHECK, Towel, CHECK, Sarong CHECK, Camera CHECK, All the drugs the doctor gave me yesterday CHECK!
Recently a lot of the blogs I have being reading have being so inspiring. People are really doing stuff with their lives and are acheiving their goals whether it is moving on with their life after a bad relationship, losing weight or even starting to study again or more overseas. I am getting quite addicted to blogging, reading and writing, and I probably spend way to much time stalking everyone!!
But it has inspired me to list three things I want to acheive and I will be starting next week after Okinawa (Oh I will be absent from blogging world for a couple of days…hope you don’t miss me too much)
1. Save money- I know it sounds kind of like something that should automatically be happening but it isn’t. I am living pay to pay and it is NOT good. Especially if i want to continue travelling (even if i base myself here in Tokyo) I don’t want to continue to have to call my mum and say “hey can you send me some money please” because I chose to move away and live here and I really should be managing by myself. I need to set a budget and stick to it (as best I can!) even if it means staying home for one weekend a month.
2. Actually do Japanese study and pass my next proficiency test- I started doing a lot of study at the beggining of summer but got over it very quickly. Even though I live with Shun, and we speak in Japanese 95% of the time I do not feel like my Japanese is getting any better and I am no where near being fluent. Plus I have my next test in December and have 1000 kanji to learn and well, that is not going so well. I need to actually make time each night to do at least half an hour (but more like an hour and a half!) and work on improving my Japanese because at this moment it all seems to crap.
3. Lose 8-10 kilos- This is going to be the hardest I think (Although sticking to a budget and saving money has never really worked for me before either!). I always put on weight when I am in Japan and i blame it on the bread and booze (bread because I have to eat bread for breakfast yet the bread here is sugary and full of fat and not good for you at all…and while you can buy brown bread it is much the same) and booze, well because living here is such a social thing and you can not get drinks with diet soda (I don’t think?). The first time I was in Japan I put on 12 kilos in 12 months, and then I lost 8 kilos within 8 weeks of been back in Australia. I didn’t do anything it just kind of fell off. Now this time I am back in Japan and I weight 63 kilos when I left in January and now i weigh 73 (I swear i weight 74 the other day though???) That is a lot of weight to put on in such a short time. I want to say though I don’t really look fat (nor do I think I am overly fat) but my body shape has changed and I am unhappy with that and the way that my clothes fit (basically they don’t) and living here surrounded by skinny people is kind of depressing.
But now it is time for it to come off, the extra kilos at least. I have started excersising (well walking/jogging in the park!) but I need to work out more of a routine (because I can’t join a gym…see point 1) I have lost weight counting WW points before but I don’t have the book with me and a lot of weight watchers foods that help you stick to points are not available here in Japan (because frankly most Japanese people should put on weight not concentrate on losing it). So I will have to figure out a way of counting points or calories here. (ANY HELP MUCH APPRECIATED!!!Please give lots of advice!). The goal is to lose the weight by end of January. My mother has struggled with her weight most of her life (although now she looks great. She is chipping away at it and looked fantastic when I last saw her!) and she has always worried that I will end up like her. I am lucky in the sence that i got my fathers height (I am 5″7 and a bit) while mum is 5″3 so when I do put on weight it doesn’t show so much but I want to get into healthy habits now, especially some kind of excersise routine because I do not do nearly enough.
Shumpei has also put on weight since we started living together (granted he also gave up smoking) and he will eat the food I cook so hopefully he will lose a little too (not too much I hope, he already ways a little bit less than me!).
So yes they are my three goals. I figure writing them down will help keep me on track. I will try and blog occasionly about how they are all going but please give advice (or send money to help my savings!!!) because i really would appreciate it!
Well I better finish packing for Okinawa!!!
PS; Thanks to Michiyo at flickr because I stole her photo from Okinawa. Go check her photos out though because they are really cool, much better than mine and show a great side of Japan.
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They’re good basic goals - I like ‘em!
As for losing weight in Japan… I’d always imagined that Japanese food would be super healthy! Lots of rice and lean meat/fish etc. I don’t know just how bad the japanese bread is, but I reckon you could still eat it and lose weight as long as your other meals were good. Maybe you should try following the ‘no count’ ww plan. Have you read about it? It’s basically a list of healthy foods which you can eat freely from as long as you have three meals a day and only snack on fruit and vegetables inbetween meals. Might work for you?
I can send you more detailed information if you like.
But other than that, just up the exercise I guess! Give yourself a goal of so-many minutes per week, then make it up with walking/jogging/swimming/cylcing, whatever’s available to you.
I’m jealous of you living in Japan! Is it expensive to live there? Do you know if there’s many opportunities for australian teachers at international schools? (I know that’s a random question but I remember reading somewhere on your blog that you worked at an international school once…)
In answer to your question, the ‘picture’ in the background of my photos is my Thunderbirds clock!! It’s super cool
And yeah, people sometimes touch my boobs hahaha but more often that not it’s sort of a ‘taboo’ subject because people think I’m touchy about it - which I’m not. And as soon as I mention the topic people have so much to say about it hahaha. Lots of questions.
Anyway, one day i’m getting a reduction so my breast worries will be no more.
Have fun in Okinawa!! I wish I was going. That picture looks beautiful.
i hope you both have a wonderful trip together! your first trip together is so exciting and you will always remember it! make the most of every min you have and sleep when you get home!
enjoy it!!!
Lulu, good on you for setting goals. I never write stuff down, but I probably should.
Your japanese goal should be easy, you live with a fluent Japanese speaker! I’d start with that one and everything else seems a bit easier when you achieve a mini goal.
Enny-point has a WW thing which you can calculate the points value of food. You can sometimes find the WW books on eBay. Alchol isn’t very good when you are trying to lose weigh, so if you cut down on how often you drink you’d find the weight moves more easily and you’ll have more $$, two birds, one stone
I so totally hear you. I am a bonafide cyber stalker and love Blogging too. It has opened so many doors for me from the girl who made my wedding dress, to the girl who took the photos to just finding out what’s going on in Tokyo and beyond to being lifted up by other people’s optimistic entries when I am feeling in the doldrums. It is an amazing community to be a part of.
I put on weight when I was in Japan too. Your a probably not sleeping enough or eating out too much. I put on weight here too when I do that. Try to lead a healthier lifestyle in general. I’ve put on weight lately although i’m in Brisbane now and it’s because i’m following the same trail that i did in Japan. Trying to spend more time and home relaxing on weekends is a good idea. You’ll save money and it will be good for you to. Use that time to rest, study and cook good healthy food.
Now YOU’RE doing the Enny!
COME BACK! =o)
Firstly I apoligise for my bad spelling and grammar!!! I know it is terrible!!!!
Jac- I think you wrote the longest comment I have ever received!!! I will have to look into that no count plan for WW…and I will do the minutes a week excersise. I will start at 180 minutes a week and maybe move up from there. The minutes is a good idea, instead of trying to go every day i suppose since that way if something comes up I still have to make up the minutes somewhere else. If i ate Japanese food, and cooked it then I probably wouldn’t put on so much weight but the truth is I don’t like some of it very much. I tend to like the things that are not good for you like Gyoza and Karage!!
There are plenty of chances for Australian teachers here in International Schools. If you want to know more just email me and I can give you some information. It is difficult to find a job before you are in Japan though, especially at international schools and kindergartens.
sarah- We had a great time! I think the next time we take a trip together will probably be back to Australia next May so it was great to get away now while we could.
Jen- If i didn’t spend so much time blogging and reading other blogs and wasting time I would probably be fluent! I need to work at it a lot more…
Sarah- I saw some of your wedding photos and I saw your dress and they were FANTASTIC. I love the fact you did it in Sakura season!! I will have to come check out your blog again!
Katie- This weekend will be healthy food and rest because I am going back to Shumpei’s parents place…She always buys me fruit because she knows I love it and the expensive multigrain bread from the bakery!!! The wedding on the Monday might cause me to over indulge however…
Do you have a blog?
Enny- I AM BACK!!! I didn’t pull an Enny as long as you did though but glad to see you have posted since I was away. YAY!