The Beck Diet Solution: Day 9

I have been a lazy blogger lately, I know... but I still haven't thrown in the towel yet. In fact, I am gathering all the motivation and inspiration I can get.

Before I move to Day 9 of The Beck Diet Solution, I would just like to update a little something about Day 6 - Finding a Diet Coach. I have said that Mr. Pipoy is no longer my Diet Coach, but the past few days has been awesome for me as the people I encounter with online are very supportive with my journey, and now I can name three people who are my diet coaches. They aren't real friends (yet) as they are people I meet online, but apart from the usual exchange of stories about different matters, these people would take the time to ask me how is my journey going... what I ate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I feel happy that even if one person stopped "caring" about how I am, there are still people who are supportive and caring.

So now... Day 9.

 

True, some people lose weight just by dieting, but regardless of our physical condition, I am sure you'll agree that we all need to exercise. Some exercise benefits printed on the book:

• Exercise helps you stick with your diet.
• Exercise might help control appetite.
• Exercise boosts mood and soothes stress.
• Exercise burns calories.
• Exercise preserves muscle tissue.
• Exercise builds confidence.
• Exercise makes you feel better physically.
• Exercise improves your health and helps prevent disease.

All the points raised above, I agree with. I felt I eat less whenever I exercise, I feel less sluggish, and I have more stamina to walk longer, even climb the stairs without panting that much. Exercise has to be a big part of my journey because I am a very big woman; if I just go for dieting, I'd sure have a lot of saggy skin. Well, I do exercise and I still have loose skin, what more if I don't?

Dr. Beck mentioned about two types of exercises: Spontaneous and Planned Excercises. Spontaneous Exercises as the word suggested are those we do spontaneously - like parking far from the entrance of the building so one can walk, or taking the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator. Planned Exercises are those we stick to like daily walks / jog / run or hiring a personal trainer.

Exercise surely is something we all should do, but not all of us have the privilege of time and some people have to consider factors - like taking care of kids or having physical limitations... but as what they say, "If there's a will, there's a way."

As for me, the spontaneous exercises I think I will do is to get up from my seat every hour to walk around the house and drink water or use the toilet and walking from the house to the market and back at home. My planned exercises are those listed on my exercise schedule.

One pal who works at the gym told me success in weight loss is 70% diet, but 30% still has a big share, so it shouldn't be taken for granted.

Manang's Chicken Opens in Wilcon City Center

From its humble beginnings serving a different kind of chicken at the Mercato Centrale weekend market, Manang's Chicken has surely captured the taste of Filipinos. This rave prompted the company to expand their horizons.



Tuesday, the 5th of June marked another milestone for Manang's Chicken as they opened another branch in Wilcon City Center - Visayas Avenue (Quezon City). I went with my siblings to witness this momentous event.



Friends, family members and people from the media graced the occasion.



Like any Catholic celebrations, a priest blessed the place.



Dishes served at the event were also the same dishes they serve at the store:

• Crispy Pancit - I love the texture and the slightly thick sauce!
• Coleslaw - Something that reminded me of home. It was a good side dish to the chicken and liempo.
• Manang's Chicken in Original Sauce - Their soy garlic sauce comes in three flavors: original, mildly spicy and extra spicy. For this event they served the one in original sauce and I just find it so delicious! The chicken pieces are big, the sauce had the right balance of saltiness and sweetness.
• Sesame Beef - The place is called "Manang's Chicken" but of course not everybody can eat chicken, so they added other dishes. I am not into beef in general, but I appreciated that they used kalabasa and napa cabbage as part of this dish - very unique!
• Garlic Pork Liempo (with Vinegar Dipping Sauce) - Definitely my favorite dish! I love the flavored vinegar combined with the garlic bits! This is the type of dish that would make one eat a lot of rice!

If you're near Wilcon City Center, do drop by Manang's Chicken and savor the flavor of their dishes. It is definitely "Ang Bagong Fried Chicken ng mga Pinoy."

K's Birthday Gift

I have been a Hanson fan since 1997. Although I instantly became a fan summer of that year (May), it was in July that I bought their Middle of Nowhere cassette tape. It took a while before I bought their album, yes, because my allowance was just enough and I still asked around if the album was good. A classmate, who has very high standards told me she listened to the album and found it worthy to buy, so I finally went to the music store the soonest time I was able to save up around 100 or 120 pesos for the cassette tape. Buying the CD didn't really cross my mind as it was really expensive... but December that year, my dad gave me 1000 worth SM Gift Certificate as his Christmas gift for me, which I used to buy my Hanson's Middle of Nowhere CD and a copy of Seventeen Magazine - with Hanson on the cover.



I was cleaning my room last month when I opened my CD box. Seeing the Hanson CDs  I collected over the years was nostalgic, but seeing my Middle of Nowhere CD made me feel bad. It had lots of flaws because this wasn't its original case - I accidentally dropped the original one and it smashed into pieces. If you take a look at the upper right corner, you'll see the sticker with white lines...that's because I took out the  sticker from the original case and stuck it here.

The back cover was missing, too, because my growing love for Hanson wanted me to collect different related stuff, and when brother came home with a handheld scanner, I took out the back cover for scanning - so I can print it and use it as a book cover. I couldn't remember what happened as to why I wasn't able to put it back, but yes, I just lived with the fact that the back cover was already missing.



Inside were more flaws - some tear on the inlay and some scotch tape residue on Taylor's face. For my very first CD (ever), it had a very unfortunate consequences, but I love it, of course.

A few days before my birthday (13 May), I saw a post on Hanson Philippines Facebook Group about a very affordable Middle of Nowhere CD. I remembered my own CD, so it prompted me to check different sites to check for it. I was able to see a very affordable one on Ebay Philippines, but when I checked Ebay UK, I was able to find an available Middle of Nowhere CD at £1. I told my friend K about it and told me it was the starting bid, but if no one bid aside from us, we can get the CD at that price. I told him we can go beyond £3 if needed, but if the bids went beyond that, I will just buy the one sold at Ebay Philippines. At first I told K to have it shipped on his home address and he can just take it here when he travels back to the Philippines, but he told me that can be uncertain, so asking the seller, he told me he can have it shipped to my address. I knew shipping costs can be quite expensive, but he told me he will take care of it, so all was good.


Great news was that no other person made a bid on the CD, so we (or K) got it for 99 pence. K gave my address to the seller and told him the CD will reach me in 10 days (14 May). On 28 May, my brother handed me a paper from the Post Office. It surprised me because when I had my Hanson's "The Walk" CD shipped to me, it was delivered here in our house. Now I have to get it at the Post Office and I seriously don't like the red tape at the Post Office.

Yesterday, I went to claim the CD. Staff asked me to pay 40 pesos for the customs inspection fee and when they opened the envelope and saw it was a CD they started asking me about it... I immediately became teenager feeling giddy about it. Normally, the post office will compute certain taxes needed to be paid, but when they saw that the value of the CD was only £1 and the postage was £3.86, they just let me take home the CD without paying for anything more. Happiness!




So now, I have two Hanson Middle of Nowhere CDs. I still am keeping my original one - for sentimental reasons. Now all I need to own is the Shout it Out CD (yep, I still don't have it) and my Hanson CD collection (not including the singles) is complete.