Grandma cried with heartache as her waistline began to appear at 142 pounds.

July 26

Grandma felt sorry for her.

When I stepped on the scale this morning, I weighed a little over 143 pounds, which made me feel very accomplished.

Mom pushed open the door and came in, telling me we were going to Grandma's house and I should hurry up and change. Oh right, it's been over two weeks since I last visited her; I really miss her. But even if I'm going to see Grandma, I have to finish my exercise routine first, otherwise it'll ruin my weight loss plan. I did 100 sit-ups, then ran to the garden and did 200 free jump rope exercises. I didn't use a real rope because my bulky body isn't very agile; if I did, I'd probably have to stop after only 50 or so. So I just jumped like that, able to jump from start to finish in one go. This amount of exercise doesn't seem like much, but for someone weighing over 140 pounds, it left me drenched in sweat and breathless. The thought of tomorrow's exercise being even more intense makes my heart tremble, but looking back at where I've come from, I decide to grit my teeth and persevere. When I was changing clothes after showering, I found that my pants were much looser. I mustered up my courage and pulled them down, and I was able to take them off without unbuttoning or unzipping them. Sigh... I have to buy new clothes again. Losing weight is actually expensive. I save money on diet pills, but I have to spend a lot of money on clothes.

Dad urged us to leave. Our apartment complex has two exits, one at the main gate and the other behind our building. Walking from inside the complex to the front gate and then to the gate closest to my house is about 700 meters. I asked Dad to drive to the side gate and wait for me. I walked from home to the front gate, then around to the back gate in my high heels before getting in the car, just to walk a few more steps. I suddenly realized that since I started dieting, I've become less lazy. Before, I was the type who would absolutely refuse to walk if I could take a car, but now, I actually seize every opportunity to exercise. How many calories does walking a few extra steps burn?! I haven't researched it in detail, but one thing is certain: it burns at least more calories than not walking at all, and that's enough.

Half an hour later, our family arrived at Grandma's house. I knocked on the door and shouted, "Grandma, open the door! I'm here!" Grandma answered and opened the door, but to our surprise, she burst into tears the moment she saw me. We were all terrified and quickly helped her inside to ask her what was wrong. Grandma, with tears streaming down her face, said, "Who is this? Why are you tormenting our child like this? Look at this baby, only a month old and already like this!!" Hearing this, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It turned out that Grandma was heartbroken for me.

There was nothing I could do but comfort my grandma, telling her that no one was bullying me and that I wanted to lose weight on my own. After talking for a while, the old lady gradually calmed down.

At lunchtime, Grandma cooked a huge feast for me, including my favorite three-cup chicken, spicy cumin beef from "Tianfuhao," and the one I couldn't resist was the huge braised yellow croaker. Grandma's cooking skills are superb; just the aroma of the dishes was enough to make my mouth water. But right now, I'm on a special period, so I can't eat even if I want to. Half a day passed, and I hadn't touched a single bite. Grandma couldn't stand it anymore and asked why I wasn't eating. I told her I was on a diet and couldn't eat, and the old lady got angry again, grumbling about how she prepared all my favorite dishes knowing I was coming, and then I didn't touch a single bite. As she spoke, her eyes started to redden again.

Now I was in a real dilemma. On one hand, there was my grandmother's love for me, and on the other hand, there was my unwavering weight loss plan. What should I do? Luckily, I'm naturally clever enough to come up with a good way to make my grandma happy without affecting my diet. I picked up my chopsticks, piled a lot of food into my bowl, and then told my grandma that I wanted a sugar-free Coke. I sweetly asked her if she could go to the convenience store across the street to buy me one; the store was only 20 meters from our house, so it wouldn't be too tiring for her. My loving grandma was naturally happy to see me eating, and she readily obliged, going out to buy the drink. As soon as she left, I put all the food, meat, and fish from my bowl into my parents' bowls, making sure they finished eating as quickly as possible, and then put the bones and fish bones in my bowl. When my grandma came back, I took the sugar-free Coke she handed me and took a big gulp, pretending to be full and satisfied. My grandma was happy, and I was relieved.

July 27

Weighing 142 pounds, I look like a normal person now.

This morning, I cheered in the bathroom because I discovered I'd lost weight again! My parents successfully covered for me yesterday at my grandma's, preventing my weight loss plan from being ruined, and I've been steadily losing weight. This morning, I weighed 142 pounds, meaning I've successfully shed 30 pounds of fat. When I went to the market, I went to the pork stall and asked the vendor how big a piece of 30 pounds of pork would be. The vendor, thinking I wanted to buy some, happily showed me, then asked if I wanted a fatty or lean cut. But I was too busy basking in my own joy, almost to the point of tears, and walked away. Heh, so 30 pounds of meat is that big! I've lost so much weight, it's amazing! The reason I asked about pork was because I heard that pork has a density similar to human flesh, so 30 pounds of pork would be about the same volume as 30 pounds of human flesh. Although my confidence in losing weight is unprecedented, and no one will understand how gruesome this comparison might seem, I'm not thinking about that at all right now.

Standing in front of the mirror, I could clearly see that I was thinner than before. Although I'm still far from being considered thin, I can't help but recall the feeling of being able to see my toes while showering in the morning. I look like a normal overweight person now, at least not in a morbidly obese way anymore. Looking back on the past month's journey and hardships, I suddenly felt it was all worthwhile. Three slices of salmon sashimi, then I paid the bill. The waiters at Genryu Sushi now remember me. Every time I put down my chopsticks, they immediately come over to give me the bill. Did they notice I'd lost weight? I don't know.

My favorite activity now is shopping. Because I only browse and don't buy anything, I don't spend much money, and it helps me lose weight. It's like running while listening to music. I don't feel tired even when I'm shopping in high heels. From 4 centimeters to 6 centimeters, I can now catch the bus in high heels. Seriously, I'm not exaggerating at all.

This afternoon, I saw that woman and her child again while swimming. This time, she didn't tell her child that she couldn't get as fat as me or she wouldn't want her anymore, so I tried to ignore her. I went into the water, swam 1000 meters, then ran in the water for 20 minutes, got out, and left. However, I noticed that the woman and her child might be attending a summer camp or something, which gave me a slightly wicked thought. Hehe, to achieve this wish, I need to work even harder to lose weight. On my way home in the evening, I saw someone selling lotus pods by the roadside. My dad loves them, so I excitedly bought almost half of the lotus pods from the stall and took them home for him. When I got home, my dad wasn't home yet, so I carefully removed the lotus pods one by one and put them in a big bowl to freeze, so my dad can just peel them whenever he wants. Sure enough, Dad was very happy to see the lotus pods when he came back. He peeled one for me and insisted that I eat it. I thought about it and ate it anyway. I don't think this counts as breaking a rule, right? Besides, isn't it said that lotus seed cores are good for weight loss?

July 28

My neighborhood is so big!

I never paid attention to how big my neighborhood was until today, when I aimlessly wandered through every alley and then ran a lap around the perimeter of the complex. I realized then how big it really is. I wasn't bored enough to measure its actual size, but I know that running a lap around it felt more tiring than running in place for an hour at home.

I suddenly realized that my life has become very routine. I get up at the same time every day, eat at the same time, and exercise at the same time every day. And it's always the same exercise. I suddenly feel a little tired of my current life. I hate this kind of routine. If it weren't for losing weight, I think I would have given up long ago.

I go to the same restaurant for sashimi every day, but today I finally went to a different one. At least I saw a different storefront and different faces, even though I was eating the same food. This place serves 5 slices of salmon sashimi, and I only ate 3, wasting 2. I felt pretty bad about it. If I have no other choice, I'll probably go back to the conveyor belt sushi place tomorrow. That way, at least I won't feel guilty about wasting food.

I don't know how long I can keep this up. I think I need to find some new recipes or try some different exercises. Otherwise, I'll eventually have a breakdown, and that breakdown will likely lead to my failure to lose weight.

My dear friends, why aren't you all coming home for a wonderful summer vacation? Please come back and keep me company! At least if I went out with different people every day, I would feel much better. But now, I go out alone every day, eat alone, and shop alone. I've already visited all the shopping malls around here, and I see the same clothes and accessories every day. The only fun is taking sticker photos every day. I always carefully scan them into my computer, reluctant to stick them on, and put them all in a small album to record my arduous weight loss journey. When I came back from swimming, I saw a very cute dress in the window of Oriental Plaza. It was from the brand Weekend, and it was very pretty, but I didn't know if they had my size, and I didn't dare to ask. Counting the days, there's still some time before summer ends, so I should still have time to lose more weight and buy this dress to take to Canada. Anyway, Vancouver winters aren't too cold; I just need to add a jacket. I pressed my face against the glass and told the dress to wait for me, and then I went home alone.

That evening, I was jogging in place in my room when my dad suddenly knocked on the door and came in. He said it had just rained and the air was nice, and asked if I wanted to go for a walk. I asked him, "Our neighborhood is actually quite big, do you want to go for a run with me?" Without hesitation, he agreed, and we went for a run together. Running with my dad was actually quite fun; running with him made me feel less lonely. It was the first time my dad had realized how big our neighborhood was, because he said he felt half-dead after running one lap.