So last night I attended my first Asian event since I started to get back into shape and really focus on getting, well, buffer than the average Taiwanese American gal. It was a banquet for the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce of Greater Orlando, and I dragged my poor waiguoren boyfriend along. He was the lone blond in a sea of raven tressed Asian American business owners. He said he felt kind of conspicuous at one point, and I replied, “Welcome to my world whenever I’m not visiting friends in California.” :whistle:

When I attended these functions before, I always felt uncomfortable and freakish as a taller than average (and trust me, 5′6″ is taller than average for an Asian woman, especially if she likes to wear 3″ heels to dress events), over 100 pound female under the age of 45. Going to these things made me feel like I was some kind of failure as an Asian person because I wasn’t effortlessly tiny and delicate like the other women. Sure, there are one or two bigger women at these things, but they are almost always at least 40 years old. The women in my age bracket are uniformly twiggy. Until recently, my mother was tiny as well, never doing a lick of exercise to stay at 100-105 lbs at 5′2″ for most of her adult life. I was average by Caucasian standards, but quite honestly fei (”fat”) by Asian standards.

Last night I stuck out again, but not for the same reason. True, I was still 5′6″ and 34 pounds over the standard 100 pound weight, but I was no longer fat. I looked around and saw all the same twiggy, birdlike women that were always there before, and realized that I could probably bench press and squat their bodyweights without breaking a sweat. They had straight, definitionless arms with 9″ biceps that were mostly bone and fat, while I had 11.75″ arms with visible delts that were dense with muscle.

I didn’t envy those slim figures in their chic black dresses anymore. I pitied them because they were on a one-way track to middle age obesity, and they didn’t even know it. They ate their dinners with enjoyment, but left a lot on their plates. I cleaned up my salad, salmon, chicken breast, and seasoned rice and veggies because I knew that I’d need the calories and nutrients to build up some more muscle. They ate the cheesecake dessert (bleah…cheesecake…nasty) while I passed in favor of a cup of coffee.

Compared to those fragile china dolls, I am a She-Hulk action figure.

And you know what?

I am proud of it.

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5/7/05 P&P Challenge Report

Consecutive Perfect Days = 7 :prop:
Total Perfect Days = 7/62

- 1917 calories eaten /-408 calorie deficit
- 41.3% carb, 32.2% protein, 27.4% fat
- No unauthorized meals
- All supplements taken
- 16 cups water
- All planned workouts performed

Weekly Weigh-In: 135.0 lbs on 5/6/05 (Start weight on 5/1/05: 135.4)

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Nutrition: 1600-1700 calorie low zig zag day

1: 3×1 omelette, 1 c. spinach and mushrooms, 1/3 c. (dry) oatmeal, 1 T. raisins
2: Cherry Garcia shake w/1 T. flaxseed oil
3: 3.5 oz. grilled whiting, 1 c. broccoli in oyster sauce, 1/2 c. Breyers Lite Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream, 1/2 c. Breyers low-cal Neopolitan ice cream (Cheat meal #2, obviously)
4: BFL Turkey Lasagna, 1/2 large navel orange
5: BFL Turkey Lasagna, 1 c. spinach and mushrooms
6: 3/4 c. FF cottage cheese and 1/2 large navel orange

Total: 1368 calories, 52.4% carb, 30.5% protein, 19.4% fat

Daily Supplements: multivitamin with iron, calcium 500 + D, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Water: 16 cups minimum

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Workout:
11:00 AM Cardio - HIIT Treadmill Run (20 minutes)

Warm-up: 4 mph/ 7% incline / 2 minutes
Regular intervals: 5.0, 6.2, 7.2, and 8.2 mph / 0% incline/ 1 minute at each speed / 4 sets
Max: 10.0 mph/ 0% incline / 1 minute
Cool down: 4.5 mph / 1 minute

11:20 AM Cardio - LISS Treadmill Incline Walk (3.5 mph / 10 minutes /10% incline)

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The Awful Truth:
1. Nada!

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Brownie Points:
1. Stayed on track on my first free day during the P&P Challenge.
2. Did not eat any of the Snickers or chips that were literally thrown at me at the banquet last night.
3. Raised HIIT speeds again.

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Short-term Goals:
1. Create P90X HanDbase module.
2. Work on paper doll project.
3. Start full sketches for new Oasis prints.
4. Finish fairy girl print.
5. Make Mom some healthy lasagna and take it over along with card and nifty potted flower
6. Clean the apartment!!!!!!
7. Prep food for the week, including lasagna, chocolate protein cake, pancakes, salads, and shrimp in red sauce. :eat: