Icciv's notes in Japan

Sexy for Summer

There comes a time when you look yourself in the mirror and think "Oh crap...I really have become a giant monster of weight...what happened?", well I'll tell you what happened, Japan bloody well happened. Now early readers of my blog may remember my rambling entries where I was desperately concerned that I would be the "giant whale" of Japan. I had visions of children poking my tummy and asking why this year they had a monster teaching them and not a westerner (though maybe those things can double as the same). Well, thankfully I found I wasn't such a hideous mess and that Japan was a country easy to get comfortable in.

Many people have this idea that Japanese people eat incredibly well, and maybe they do, but more recently there has been an increase in fatty foods in the Japanese diet. For myself, I have to admit that the fried chicken, pizza and tempura did seem far more appealing than the raw fish and jelly like soups that I had to choose between, and it was easy to slip into an unhealthy diet. Shopping is also more difficult, as some products are not here and everything is in Japanese, obviously. After 7 months of not eating brilliantly, and not really getting enough exercise, I was kinda feeling a bit run down.

As the other ALTs gathered in my house last week for pancake day, the topic of weight came up. It became clear that all of us wanted to achieve a weight related goal, losing, toning, eating better. We all felt that exercising often was difficult, and that avoiding sweets at work was tough. We all realised we wanted the same things, and so 'Sexy for Summer' was born.

The name 'Sexy for Summer' was decided because thats our goal. So many slimming groups have negative names, I wanted a name that reflected where we were going rather than where we are now. We had our first meeting on Thursday and it went really well. Sierra (as secretary) made amazing log books and we wrote aims for the summer inside. Every Thursday we're going to meet and cook a healthy meal for each other, and also exercise together. Today we're going on a hike up to the view point in Arikawa, and yesterday three of us went to the gym. I'm feeling really positive about losing weight and being healthy. Before, it seemed so difficult, but now that all of us are pulling together and supporting one another, it all seems so much easier.

I hope that when we reach June, I'll be closer to my goal to be sexy for summer.

Hair Changes

There has been so many hair changes going on blogs and many of my friends have ben getting their hair done. I decided to bite the bullet when I was in Fukuoka and get a straight perm done. It was amazing! Now I just dry my hair and is just as if I've blow dried and straightened it. I saves me so much more time and my hair still feels soft. It lasts six months and I can still get highlights done. I'm very happy. I was sooo scared about getting it done, but now I wish I had it done sooner!

Here is me before my haircut...it looked so horrible.


Here is me after. Happy!

I still want more work on the cut, I was thinking it needs more layers so I'm going to get Ipei to cut it for me. I just hope it turns out ok.

Right, time to go hiking!

posted by Icciv @ 1:03 pm