At least his made me laugh! We were on our way to do our weekly radio show and even in the morning it’s so hot in Seoul right now. I just feel sweaty and huge in the heat. Perhaps because I was wearing white, Hugh compared me to an angel… but soon made it weird by saying he would ride me if I was!
I can’t wait for summer to be over. I’ve heard older people talk about how summer never used to be this hot (thanks global warming) and it seems like August is the most miserable month. I love summer in Australia, but not Korea. The humidity is the killer here. I’m also glad I’m not in my final month of pregnancy in August. It will be cooler when I’m at the end of the pregnancy.
IN OTHER NEWS:
The latest Nicholalala webtoon episode is up on WEBTOONS! You can check it out there.Nicholalala is my other comic series which is a scrolling webtoon. Set in the Korean countryside with characters loosely based on us, and lots of Korean folklore characters.
We got a lot of questions on Hugh’s transformation video about how he lost the weight. In this video we talk at length about what he ate and how he exercised. Rather than it being a strict diet and exercise plan, it was a flexible, healthy lifestyle change.
One of the things that motivated him to start this big journey is the fact that we had to go through IVF (In vitro fertilization) to have a baby. Actually, there was always the chance that we would never be able to have children. IVF is a painful and often lengthy process that is very difficult physically and mentally for the woman. Even before starting IVF I had been through a lot with Endometriosis. Hugh knew how much pain I had been through and now had to go through with IVF so he wanted to change his life to benefit both of us. Although I can’t fall pregnant naturally (his fertility is fine), him being healthier can also help the process. He started this big change after a failed round of IVF and within 2 months I had become pregnant with the next round of IVF. This really felt like a miracle as our chances hadn’t been great. So knowing that he is going to be a father motivated Hugh even more to get healthy.
It’s been overwhelming, not only how many comments are on the video, but how many friends immediately called Hugh after seeing the video. Several friends immediately got gym memberships. Everyone wanted to know what the “secret” was. There was no secret, just eating healthy and exercise. Hugh found the best way to do it was slowly over 6 months and to make good habits. He used to get slightly annoyed when I asked him to go for a walk with me but now he gets cranky when he hasn’t been to the gym in a few days! His body is so used to smaller meals and work outs now.
The only extreme diet he did was the final month for the photo shoot. These photo shoots are common in Korea and it was important for Hugh to prove he could do it, and document it. After getting his weight down that low he had a week off (we went on a road trip) and he gained a few kilos, which he intended to do, and has now maintained a healthy but slim weight since.
The message Hugh wanted to give was that we can make changes in our lives from right now. It doesn’t need to be extreme, even just smaller changes towards a healthier lifestyle.
Since I’m quite large now I’ve been wondering where my stomach actually is. Mostly I was wondering about my stomach as that’s the organ you are more aware of when not pregnant.There are some gifs and videos online about how the organs move when pregnant and it can be horrifying! I’ve been needing to pee so much lately and when I saw how much the bladder is squished it makes a lot of sense!
I’ve felt okay for most of my pregnancy. But the past few days have been hard in the insane heat and humidity in Seoul. I stay at home most of the time as even getting down the stairs to outside is hard in the heat. I don’t go outside unless I absolutely have to. Can’t wait until summer is over!
The baby has been moving a lot more these days and you can actually see movement while watching my belly carefully. It’s been very exciting for us. But it is a very strange thing being pregnant, and even talking to my friends who are mothers a lot beforehand, nothing really prepares you for it.
If you google about how women’s bodies change during pregnancy you’ll see the gifs and videos and be shocked too! It’s weird not knowing exactly where my organs are. And have a look at what happens to the intestines! Ridiculous!
If you are wondering if I’m prepared for having a baby…. no I’m not. I’ve barely bought anything! At least everyone has been telling me that you don’t need as much stuff as you think. But I can’t believe there will be an actual baby here in November.
This is my most recent belly photo:
If you are wondering if it’s a boy or girl, we have filmed a video announcing that, and it will be up in the next few days. Make sure you are subscribed on YouTube to see that video.
I hope you enjoy this video. I really wanted to share it with you guys. I made many promises that I’m going to do and I didn’t continue but this time I really wanted to show that I can do it.
I chose to do this over 6 months so it would be a whole lifestyle change. Eating habits and exercise, change so many things. At first, I changed eating habits and did regular working out, at least 3 times a week. So many people asked me ‘what is the secret?’ There is no secret, just keep doing it.
Having a trainer is a good thing but you are the one who should have a passionate to achieve your goals. The trainer is helping you out but if you are not ready you won’t have a great result.
This wasn’t an easy journey but it was worth it. Not only losing weight but getting healthy has so many benefits. I now have confidence with my appearance. When I go shopping I can buy so many clothes. Before I had to wear XL or XXL but now I can get small or medium size.
I do exercise regularly, even though I finished my project because it’s my habit now. It’s my daily routine. I also have motivation when I look at the before and after photos. Knowing I could do it. I never thought I could change my body type to be lean like this.
The biggest thing is being healthy because when I was chubby I had more problems with my skin because I ate so much unhealthy food and drank a lot. It also caused problems with throat and nose. My stamina was terrible so I couldn’t run, and I had knee problems. I had a bigger body but weaker than now. I have a smaller body but stronger than before.
I want to do something for my wife and baby, so they can be proud of their father and husband. I still have some more goals like running a marathon and doing a backflip and other tricking moves.
Getting the photoshoot is not the end, just documenting it. It reminds me that I can have a body like that so I can have more motivation to make that body again. Thank you for supporting me. If you have a health problem because of weight, I want to recommend you to start doing something now. Make good habits. Because sometimes “later”, becomes “never”. I did it, you can too.
The Nicholalala webtoon is a mostly fictional comic series on WEBTOONS that explores some Korean folklore and is set in the Korean countryside.
This is the final episode in this mini story within the webtoon. Hugh actually suggested this classic Korean folklore for these episodes. It’s one I encountered early on in our relationship (the story, not it actually happening!). Sometimes Hugh is wary about cutting nails at night and sometimes doesn’t care. But it is something well known in folklore. It can also vary from region to region.
When we lived in the Korean countryside I encountered a lot of folklore woven into people’s everyday lives. Hugh has a lot of suggestions for me, so stay tuned for more episodes like this.
Our comic book has been available in Korea for a few weeks (apparently it’s now considered a best seller too!) but it’s only just now available internationally. If you don’t live in Korea and want to order the book, head over to My Korean Store, the Talk to Me in Korean online store.
If you order it please take a photos and tag us on social media so we can see 🙂
This comic book is in Korean, with English subtitles’ next to the comics so it can be helpful when learning Korean.
If you do live in Korea you can buy from Kyobo book stores, online and offline and it’s available on other online stores Coupang and Aladin.
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