Slenderella Mode: On!

Despite planning so many things to help myself be better, I always fell short and I always have an excuse to say. It was very funny, because I always had the heart to start minding the food I eat and to start moving to help myself be fit, but my mom actually overtook me and has been spending her entire mornings last week doing at least an hour of fitness stuff - be it walking, light jogging, or playing street badminton / tennis with neighbors she met one weekend morning.

Have you watched any of those Ana / Mia movies? I got to watch two on YouTube more than a year ago, and I agree with the string of comments on the movie clips - it always end with someone dying, which gives the complete turnaround for the main character in the movies. At that time, I was one of those who agree - that the storylines were predictable and very overused... but when it happens to you, you'll realize its essence.

I am not anorexic and I am not bulimic... but just like them, I am sick, although I am suffering from a different thing - I caught the laziness disease and I am too lazy to even bother about it. Last Wednesday, I met up with a friend for dinner, and he told me about his many health problems... and just last night, he sent me a text message to say that his blood test indicated a very high blood sugar level, about twice high as what the normal blood sugar level should be. This was my turnaround. When a person is dear to you and something bad happens to them, you are sure to be affected, and yes, I am very bothered about it.

When my sister came home with a kilo of roasted pork belly, it was just mom and I who ate it because my sister was so sick and tired about its smell that she didn't want to eat it anymore. Normally, pork fat makes me feel happy (weird and gross, but yes), but after eating one serving of it I started feeling headaches and dizziness, and I started feeling easily upset as well. I didn't have my blood pressure taken, but I knew I was having high blood pressure.

After not eating pork for how many days, my weekend became pork-ful again. Saturday breakfast I ate fatty pork adobo for breakfast, and for lunch, I ate Bagnet (boiled, baked, then fried pork belly) at the event my mom and I attended. Today, I ate another serving of adobo for my brunch and my body just couldn't handle it anymore... I was so dizzy that I ended up throwing it up.

Taking into consideration my friend's current situation, I just have to do something about it. I may be physically in a haze, but my emotions were clear - I have to wake up.


This week, there will be no pork... even the ground type. I will try to eat more fish, but will try to consume only the organic kind - no bangus and tilapia (and maybe even my favorite salmon heads) because these kinds of fish are cultured and possibly been consuming factory made feeds). If we could buy fish that were directly from the sea, the better. We still have a kilo of beef ribs in the freezer, but this I will eat provided I trim the fat off or let the sauce / broth go cold for a while to take out the hardened oil. Also, if we will prepare beef or chicken, it would be a dish that has at least one kind of vegetable.

Recipe for this salad will be shared on my food blog, Tara, Let's Eat! on Friday

Salad will also be a big factor in my diet for the coming days / weeks / months. I know my salad choices are always the typical ones - lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, and bell peppers, but I will try to search for more kinds of salads. Actually, I find salads very tummy filling. I guess the crunch in the vegetables and fruits allows me to chew more and tricking the mind into thinking I was eating more.

This week, I will try not to eat rice for dinner (will do during lunch) just to see if I can survive without it. This will be just an experiment... if I can form a habit, then good... if not, then I will go back to eating rice, but will portion it, of course.

As for physical activities, I told mom I will join them every mornings. Colinas Verdes no longer allows people to come in before 8am, so the best compromise was to walk and jog around the plaza. Who knows, I might also learn how to play tennis.

There will be three fitness challenges for me this month - squats, planks, and dumbbells - something I will do for the next thirty days. Aside from that, I will also do the set of Hip Hop Abs and Les Mills videos.

It will be a hectic day for me tomorrow, but as they say, the start is always the hardest. My mind and willpower is powerful. I can do this.

* Jenn *

Last and Next Week

I wasn't able to blog much the last week because the connection was slow, especially during night time. Since my mom is now staying at home (she retired from work last July), she would always use my netbook to chat with her siblings living abroad.

My fitness routine last week was an adjustment period for me. I get to walk everyday, sometimes with mom and/or sister, but I wasn't able to follow all the exercise programs and food plans.

The last two days though - yesterday's lunch and tonight's dinner - I got to prepare salad for the family. Sister has already started her no rice diet and was successful about it despite the many temptations, and it is now my time to follow her lead...although I would still eat rice for lunch. I've been eating rice most my life, taking it out my system would require a slow change.


Lunch salad yesterday - I got to buy a bunch of lolo rosso lettuce at the nearby market, just enough to prepare a bowl of side salad for us three girls. A few days ago, mom bought some seedless grapes, and because it is starting to get a little soft, I just added some into the salad. The addition of bell peppers and red onions did it for me and it made me crave for salad just because of those two ingredients. I paired this with fried tilapia, and us girls made a pact that we would serve salad whenever we feel like eating fried meat, just to balance the meal. I think it's a good compromise.


Today, we went to do the much needed grocery shopping and I bought two bags of lolo rosso and my favorite romaine lettuce. Another serving of salad for us for dinner, but unlike yesterday, we only had salad as our meal and for protein, I just cooked ground pork seasoned with salt, pepper, and oregano until crispy. Trying out the mango vinaigrette was a gamble for us, but it turned out to be great. It's a little sweet, kinda like eating fruit tella candy, but more on the tangy side. I loved it because mangoes are great addition to salad, but because it's been raining all the time, it would be difficult to buy mangoes and this vinaigrette was a great substitute.

Tomorrow, my sister requested I serve grilled chicken with the salad for dinner, and I would be happy to oblige. Salad for dinner proved to be a good way to train myself to eat healthy - and because I have learned to add less than enough amount of dressing into my salad, I am sure this would help me lose weight.

As for the everyday meals, I decided to cook dishes with vegetables and if I want to cook dishes using just meat (adobo or dinuguan), I will just think of something to balance it. The important thing is, vegetables have to be a big part of our everyday diet, and I will also try to make friends with fruits. I bought some kiwi today, and will either eat it as is or pulse it in the blender, without sugar of course.

My sister's shift at work for the coming week is 8am-5pm. Sister asked me to wake her up at 4am, and I think it's a good way for me to exercise again. After preparing her breakfast, I will do my video workouts, giving me enough time to do my assignments during day time, and blog come afternoon and night. I think things are falling into place and I just have to grab the opportunity while it's knocking.

If you know any salad recipes that uses easy to find ingredients, please do share them with me. I love salad, but eating lettuce, carrots, and cucumbers all the time might lose my interest.

Week One - Goals, Challenges, Plans

Yesterday (Saturday, 2 Feb), I went to Dapitan Arcade and Divisoria with mom and sister. Sister was asked to find a little utensils tray for the restaurant where she's working at, and seeing it was a good reason for me to walk around, I invited myself to join her. At first mom didn't want to come with us, but she wanted us to check out some red curtains (for VDay) and thinking we might buy something that wouldn't pass her standards, she decided to come with us.

The leg exercises I did last Friday had an impact on my legs, which made walking difficult, but of course I embraced it. Walking non-stop allowed me to move and move, and it did help, too, that we chose to sit at the second floor area of Jollibee when we ate lunch and dinner, which made me take the stairs for added pressure.

Food wasn't good, but it was my choice. For lunch, I chose to eat spaghetti, chickenjoy and a serving of rice with big cup of Coke because I didn't enough for breakfast and I felt so famished after roaming around Dapitan Arcade. For dinner, I had palabok and chickenjoy and coffee float, but after eating early dinner before leaving Divisoria, I didn't eat anymore. I might have eaten a lot, but I considered it as my last binge. :)

Biggest challenge for me this week is to take on the habit to eat fruits. Eating veggies isn't a problem for me (except if it's okra), but eating fruits wasn't something I always do. Well, papaya is a staple for me, but the other types of fruits, I just let them rot in the fruit basket. This week, I plan to eat Fitnesse Cereal (30g + 125ml milk) and fruits for breakfast. No coffee and softdrinks this week... my main drink is going to be water with lemon slices. I will try to drink 15 cups per day, but 12 cups will be okay.

There are no lined up events for me this week other than my cousin Marge's wedding this weekend, so no fast food and eating out for me. I am not sure what will be served on the wedding reception, but I will allow myself to drink juice and / or softdrinks, as well as eat cake, as long as it's in moderation. If I do receive an invitation for an event, I will attend and eat the food served, but I will watch the portion and will concentrate on eating the healthy food. I will also make sure I eat vegetables everyday, and go back to the old eating scheme - 1/2 cup of rice / 70g max on meat / 100g fish and seafood per meal. I will also strictly log every food I eat and the time I ate them.

Fitness, I will walk and jog in the morning, do Hip Hop Abs Cardio and AbSculpt, and because it's going to be a Monday, it's going to be arms and shoulders day, and I will do 8 minute arms and the arm workouts on the book I purchased. I will be using the pair of 2lb dumbbells this month.

I will weigh myself on Sunday, and I am aiming to lose 2lbs. Crossing fingers.

I'm Ready!

Hello, hello!

Today is the last day of January and it meant I wasted a whole full month again. I won't mind the negative stuff for now, and be thankful that tomorrow's a new month, a time to start yet again. It now sounds funny that I always start again...but I am giving myself some credit for still hanging on, for still wanting to try again, for not completely giving up. I know, it will be difficult to start again, but I don't want to have any regrets again.

Goals are still the same - lose 5lbs by the end of the month and strictly follow the schedules, but of course, given some circumstances, I know I can't do everything as I have to do other things, too. I plan to devote Mondays and Thursdays for toning the arms (means I will use the dumbbells), tone the legs and buns every Tuesdays and Fridays, and on Wednesdays and Saturdays, I will work on my back area. Time management will be the most difficult to do as I work, blog, and watch a movie a day, too, but I am already making a schedule that would allow me to do everything I need to do.

Tomorrow's Friday, meaning it's Legs and Buns day.  I will start the day doing a morning walk and jog at Colinas Verdes, do Hip Hop Abs, 8 Minute Legs workout (which I saw on YouTube), and the exercise I share here sometime back.

As for the diet, no drastic change, but I will continue eating fish and vegetables for now as I still don't feel like eating beef and pork after attending the events last weekend. I feel thankful that guests were served a whole lot of meat dishes during the wedding and the baptism receptions that I got tired eating meat dishes. I ate Hawaiian Pizza last Tuesday, but I immediately threw it up because my tummy can't seem to handle it. No matter how I tried not to throw it up, I can't control my body. I see that as a positive thing - because I don't have to force myself to eat healthy, my body is craving for healthy food. Since I got home, I am always eating fish and veggies, and I am eating less rice, too. I don't know what my weight is, I will find out tomorrow.

So yes, I am ready! No need to beg February to be nice to me... I will make sure I make this month count.

Before I sign out, let me just share this:


Very nice, eh?

My mom came home today with a copy of Becky Crocker "Cookbook for Women," and although most of the recipes  I can't cook because ingredients aren't readily available here in the Philippines, but what I liked about are the pages devoted to healthy eating and healthy living. I will read the pages before I sleep tonight, and try to share it here. Thank you mom, for buying this one.

See you all tomorrow!

A Fresh Start

Yes. I think all of us deserve a fresh start, and it is something that I am doing just now. I still am struggling taking that first step as I tend to just don't care about many things ("so what if I am fat" that sort of thing), but even if I have a lot of superficial reasons why I want to lose weight, main reason for me doing this is for my health. The time I was in La Union, I had a conversation with my diabetic aunt and she told me that one of my cousins is already having elevated blood sugar. He's still not diabetic, but they're monitoring his activities and food intake to prevent himself having the disease that seems too rule our family. This cousin of mine is very fit - he plays basketball when he has the chance, he's not fat at all, but I guess it has something to do with genetics and food he's eating. This conversation frightened and worried me a bit because I am obese with very minimal to no fitness program (since I stumbled a block) and is eating more than the usual. I am a very good candidate for diabetes, and I seriously don't want that. When I started losing weight last year, I told myself I will eat what I want to eat, but will minimize my portion. If I don't work and eventually get diabetes, that means I would have to give up a lot of food, and that would be depressing. :)

Like what I have said, I do have a lot of superficial reasons why I am starting again. I already mentioned that two of my cousins are getting married early next year (one in January, one in February). Another reason is this possibility of my friend K traveling to the Philippines mid next year, and even if he's one person who doesn't really care if I am thin or fat, I just want to have this sense of change in my body when we go on a holiday again. It's been two years since he last traveled here, I don't want him to see that nothing has changed in the last two years despite my attempts.


As for motivation, I finally found the dress! When I started this blog, I have wanted to share this dress. Inspired by a tradition in the TV Series "The Biggest Loser," I wanted to wear this dress when I hit my goal weight of 150lbs. I am not sure if that would fit me when I reach that weight, but I really want to wear this dress! This is my sister's, actually. She wore this maybe two or three times, then she didn't care much about the dress anymore (maybe because it shows quite a lot of breast meat). When she wore this the first time I have loved the dress, even complimented my sister looking so pretty wearing it. The picture on the right was taken by our late father. I don't know how much I weigh that time, and I also can't tell if I am the same size or I am fatter or thinner now. Anyway, I kept the dress now, and will take it out on Christmas next year. I will do my everything to make sure I will wear that dress when we celebrate Christmas 2013.



Yesterday, I weighed myself. Reading came out at 212lbs., which meant I gained 2 more pounds after my last trip. However, readings are quite inaccurate, as when I weighed myself this morning it read 210lbs. Now I don't know what my actual weight is, so let's just put it at 211lbs. :) I also measured myself, but I won't share the digits as I am still in denial of what I found out. I will just share them in months to come. :)

I might be starting again, but there won't be much changes in the routines as it was actually effective in helping me lose weight. I have now listed a schedule (which I think I have shared a few months ago) to distribute exercise routines, as I surely can't do it all at once. Gym is still something I hope to try, but maybe I will just do that come next year, to change up things.

Re-reading The Beck Diet Solution, I came across Day 4 lesson, "Give yourself a credit." Most of the money I have saved in my "credit account" has used up, and the remaining amount I kept in a "piggy bank." I don't intend to use it anymore (will consider it my own treasure) and will have a new one. :) What am I saving up for? A Mt. Pulag trip once I reach my goal weight. It has been a dream of mine and I figured it would be a very awesome gift for myself for all the work I did. That credit account will also be used to give myself rewards every time I lose 10lbs. These rewards aren't lavish and definitely not food related, but because I have already vowed not to shop for clothes, footwear, and bags 'til I reach 180lbs. (but allow me to buy myself a dress for Christmas), giving myself rewards for every 10lbs lost will be a great confidence and morale boost.

Right now, there is one thing that I am very fond of - nail polish. I am restricting myself to buy new bottles of nail polish as I still haven't used the nearly 10 bottles of nail polish I bought recently, so I will use this as some sort of reward as well. Every Sunday, I will post my 10 goals for the coming week, and if I do everything, I will reward myself with a bottle of nail polish. Just a bottle, because I only get to share my NOTW on my other blog every Saturdays, so no need to buy multiple bottles. It's a win-win situation, really... as if I want to feed my other blog with nail polish related posts, I have to do my goals for the week. If I missed one thing, no nail polish for me, and that would make my other blog sad. :)

Monday and Tuesday this week I used to contemplate - talking to myself and feed my mind the things I need to do. I know it sounds a little shallow, that all I have to do for this new beginning is to take the first step, but I don't want to reach a halt anymore, and with that I figured I gotta prepare my mental and emotional state as well. It is actually working - taking pictures of my motivations, writing my thoughts, re-reading my blog - so tomorrow I will take my first step. No actual amount of weight to lose this month (as it's 10 more days 'til the month ends); I just want to get going and see the changes as I go. Of course, I will update the weight come December 1.



Oh, just for fun...the other day I posted a picture of the 10 shirts/blouses I bought from not-so-distant past that I haven't worn yet. Well, I tried them on and about 7 still fits me because the fabric is stretchable, but no way will I wear these in my current body frame because it just hugged my body and shows every bulge and curves I have. I took these pictures above for a before-and-after post, coming by the first day of 2013.

Here's to a brand new start!

Plans, Goals, Challenges (29 July - 04 August)

Yesterday, I wrote that I'd share my stats today, but I realized I can't share it just yet because it's only the 29th of July and I really would like to update my stats ever first of the month. However, the first of August will fall on a Wednesday, so while the stats will be shared on that day, my plans, goals, and challenges will be posted today - a start of a brand new week.




Biggest motivation and plan this week is to get my myself the warming up it needs to prepare for this event. Yes, I do hope to join a fun run or a marathon, but as they say - "You gotta learn to walk before you can learn how to run." Actually, I wanted to join this event last year because it's for charity and it would be an awesome experience, but when I saw the registration form in brother's room, the event already ended. This year, mom wanted to join, but didn't really tell me about it, it was sister who asked me to join. Given the fact that I wanted to join since last year, answering the registration form for this year's event got me all excited.

Mom told me the walk might be more or less 5 kilometers - quite long... but walking from our place to Colinas Verdes and back also takes the same distance, so I know I can handle it. Still, I have to prepare my body for it.




This week, I want to lose a pound or two. I already opened the carton of milk, so I need to empty it in a week so I'd get my money's worth... so my diet plans, goals and challenges include:

• Eat 30g of Fitnesse cereals + 250ml. milk for breakfast.
• No street food.
• No processed/canned meat except for canned tuna and sardines.
• No junk food - includes instant noodles.
• A slice of papaya per meal (as desserts).
• A bottle of Yakult everyday.
• Just a cup of coffee everyday.
• Go back to the rules of meals - 1/2 cup of rice, 75g max for fish and seafood, 50g max for meats.

As for the fitness side of things...

• Morning walk/jog in the morning - as long as it's not raining.
• Stick with the fitness routines (video workouts, etc).
• Walk to the market and back home every late afternoon.

I aim to lose 1 - 2 lbs. this week. I can do this. I will do this.

Happy new year to me!