On not scrimping on shoes and being healthy

If you've seen my picture on instagram, you would have been aware that I am now onto injury number two. And since I've been trying to recover, I have been to a grand total of ONE running session, which was yesterday (at the time of writing). The run was fine, I was not in pain and my time was alright, given that I haven't run for some time. I did not die of exhaustion and my body did not ache that badly at the conclusion of the run. This temporary feel good moment almost enticed me to go running again the next day and the day after, but I did not because I've been told to take it easy. Easy as in running like a maximum of 3 times a week for the time being. I suppose I can take up other forms of exercise but I really really loathe the bike with a passion, which pretty much means I can either do rowing or lift some weights - both of which I don't dislike that much, and may actually like it eventually  if I were to push myself in that direction.

I made a passing comment to (then) le boyf (now husb) the other day that since I've gotten these (then) new shoes, I've been down with two injuries within 3 months, whereas with the previous pair, I was injury free - well, okay, I had hideous blisters that were painful in their own right, but nothing that band aids could not alleviate. So if I were to pick between constant blister or muscle-related injuries, is it so wrong if I actually pick the former? I am pretty sure that I must have done more than my fair share of complaining when I had the said blisters, and I must have mentioned something along the lines of "every step is a painful step" and had to abstain from wearing heels for months on end. Actually, that last bit doesn't count because I can't wear heels whenever I am injured.

As some of you must have picked up by now, all of these is just a ploy for me to get a new pair of shoes. Come on, I used to run almost every day and I conquered 700 plus kilometres in my previous pair, so these shoes are legitimate investments, right. I mean, if you don't invest in your health, then what the fuck do you invest in? Investing for the future is useless if you don't live long enough to enjoy the fruits of such investments. So, don't scrimp on health, people. Or shoes.

Anyway, since I've significantly reduced my running, I have lost weight. I am pretty sure this is because my muscles are less toned, so I feel flabby (yuck), and all the more reason to take up weight lifting and all the hooha, so I can maintain my non-existent muscle tone.

A few months back when I was consistently running 6 days a week, I actually put on weight. Put on weight as in my body got bigger, not just firmer. No one noticed that of course because I was bundled up in winter coats, or maybe if they do, they are too scared to tell me. Ha! One day I asked one person that I know would always give me an honest answer and I had to dig out the answer from her over the span of 2 days - she said I still looked too skinny. I am a bit scared of what she would say right now. Although if it is really true that my muscles are not as refined, then that means I look fatter and flabby, despite what the weighing scale says.

But you know who is going to tell me when I get fatter? It's my Dad. He would tell me to my face and that's my cue to lose weight. He would notice the smallest little gain, nothing escapes his eyes. And I don't even want to discuss what sort of weighing scale he's got at home. It's such a shame that we don't see each other often enough for him to be my regular weight police, but he is my weight police, all right; although these days he doesn't ask as often as he used to, probably because he knows that I've been exercising a lot more than I've had in my whole entire existence. [UPDATE: He has not mentioned my weight the last few times we chat. I take this as a good sign that my current weight is somewhat acceptable in his eyes. What? Looking this good makes me happy and makes him happy. Two birds, one stone. I am sure le husb is happy too. That's three birds, one stone.]

Personally, I think it is better to be monitoring your weight and wanting to look your best every single day. But people who exercise this habit are labelled as shallow and materialistic by the fatties of the world, possibly because they want to make themselves feel better by manifesting in their own laziness and calling other people who are bothered to look good with names. [EDIT: I was told that this last line may be construed as borderline offensive. Le sigh. Interpret it however you want to.]

Yes, if I hear one more person calling I am too skinny, I will totally retort with the "you are fat" line. And for fuck's sake, to the next person who suggested that I have an eating disorder, please kindly obsess with your own body and eating habits.

On marriage

I think my biggest achievement to date is being married. Anyone who’s been married would know how big an achievement it really is. Not because of a big celebration or lack thereof, but because of everything else that makes a marriage, well, a marriage.

Don’t worry, I am not going to go all Oprah on you, or write a lengthy article on my personal reflections on what I think love is, or should be (whatever). Don’t have the time for all of that right now. Maybe one day.

There is no easy way to get married. There is no universal checklist of checking compatibility, there is no to-do list to ascertain compatibility, and even if such lists do exist, completing them do not always guarantee compatibility. Because those lists are merely suggestions and never indicative of (one of) the real indicator of compatibility: your willingness to work on your marriage, right now and over time, especially during the moments that are, you know, hard.

Because the questions that you need to ask yourself is not whether the other person is the perfect match for you, but whether you are willing to be the perfect match for that person. To what extent are you willing to further yourself so that you can be the best version of yourself every single day over and over again, for the mere reason that this other person notices and appreciates that, even when he/she doesn’t always tell you so.

You come to the realisation that it is impossible, unreasonable, not to mention unhealthy, to ask this other person to be everything that you want your perfect partner-to-be. You stop wanting to change him/her, and instead, focus on changing yourself to be the perfect person for him/her.

And if you two can easily agree on what sort of wedding you want, form a united front in the face of parental and family-related pressures, well, that’s like a bonus.

Something new

Hello.

Obviously, I have been somewhat mia from this space. Lots of things happened. Good shit. The kind that requires you to be away from your blog.

Moving on.

It has been one year since I started running and I have not given up. I think I can now safely say that I like it and that this whole running thing is not as bad as I thought it was. So is being thirty for that matter, but that's another story for another day.

In the spirit of taking up something new, you know, kind of like last year I started running, I think this year I would start cooking regularly. I mean, it makes sense right, regular exercise should be accompanied by healthy diet. Plus given that coconut oil is like taking over the world, I really have to minimise my chances of getting into an anaphylactic shock.

To those who said "but you have cooked in the past, so this is not something new" - you morons. Read the above paragraph again. And if you still don't get it, I can run before I started running regularly last year, so you're going to say that that was not new too. Puh-lease.

Of course I know how to cook. I can survive cooking random things if I absolutely have to, and people who've tasted it said that they were good. And they finished the meal. Admittedly, these people have love for me, so this feedback was very likely to be biased, but at least it was a good start, right? Right?

My favourite is to cook without a recipe. I can never replicate the same dish and I can never write down what I put in or what I did to the dish. Someone has to watch me cooking and take notes if he/she ever wants to have a repeat dish. Plus I don't generally plan my meals that well, I cook because there are things in the fridge/pantry that desperately need to be cooked else they go off. Hate wasting food, okay.

So, no, there won't be a single recipe up on this space. But there may be more food pictures on my instagram. Yep, that's where all the pretty pictures are.

Until then, eat well.