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Let’s go to the gym!

The weekend’s over and yet I still don’t have a plan. 🙁

I have no meal plan and no exercise plan lined up yet. I’ll have to wing it for a few more days until I can hunker down and concentrate on making these two plans. For breakfast this morning, I had whole wheat bread with frankfurters. No juice. Lunch was a few spoonfuls of rice with ginataang sitaw and squash, and a few bites of pork binagoongan. There was coke though, regular. 🙁

I’m not completely sad though. On Sunday, we visited Esban’s new house inside the SATS compound. The place has been renovated since I last visited the previous occupant. Little E was very welcoming, and he used Pinky (oh I haven’t introduced her yet, she’s my new lomo friend) to take a few shots of their house. He took us on a quick tour too. I love their place because you’re surrounded by trees, there’s no pollution, and it was not dusty and there’s no smell of the stinky creek anywhere! Going to SATS meant that Alfred and I got to do some walking! OMG! we broke a sweat so fast and we were feeling worked up after just a few minutes. Man, do we really need exercise or what? Haha. Then, very near E’s house, we passed by Mr. Suave’s gym. He has very affordable rates and we’re going to give it a shot soon. There are personal trainers too!

Tomorrow, I’ll drag the boyfriend there again so we can formally inquire about their services, hours of operation etcetera. They were closed that Sunday afternoon and we just read their rates posted on the door. Maybe we could get a trainer once a week for a few weeks just to have someone show us the ropes and recommend a workout plan. They have per session rates for gym use, as well as a monthly membership. I really hope to convince the boyfriend to give this a go, I don’t want to go alone. Gym + a sound SBD meal plan with foods that burn fat + plus weekly photo walks (just like our LaMesa photowalk) should translate to better health and weight loss for both of us. 🙂

In case this plan doesn’t materialize though, I can concentrate on walking for fitness. I just really have to start na!

July Round-up and Entrecard Thanks!

Wow, my birthday month is over and all I can say is that it was an expensive month! Yes, I feel blessed to have been able to afford all the spending I’ve done this month, hehe 🙂 It was also a month of being conscious of my health and well-being (as is obvious in my SBD recap post), as well as the month for seeing my girl friends (don’t you think we are all pretty ladies? check out wedding photos from Y’s wedding and Mayeen’s wedding too.). July was also a good month to share our love for photography! We’ve been on a  photo shoot to Lamesa Ecopark (what, and no post?!), then there’s the wedding, and then my lomo camera… We plan on finding places to shoot every week, not necessarily just on weekends. These past few days the boyfriend was talking about wanting to shoot something construction themed. It turns out it could be any structure constructed by man, not necessarily buildings still under construction as I thought! I suggested a couple of places, old buildings, bridges, steel buildings, etc., but he hasn’t found his subject yet. I just think it’s amazing that we have a common love now. 🙂

And allergies! I have had the worst allergy attack in the past week or two. Last year I was diagnosed with allergic rhinitis and I am having the worst time now. Unfortunately, I lost my prescriptions and haven’t really been taking maintenance pops at all (anti-histamine/loratidine, and the nasal spray). So I guess having this attack is my fault too. And my eyes, oh my eyes! The company doctor thought it might be conjunctivitis so he sent me home for two days last week. After two days, it was pretty much still watery, itchy and sometimes painful so I went to an ophthalmologist. He basically confirmed that it was indeed an allergic attack. Since I was a kid I’ve had really sensitive eyes and I frequently visited the eye doctor, but this is the worst it’s been. Now, I’m on eye drops with steroids four times a day, artificial tears too:

I’ll see the doctor again on Wednesday and he’ll let me know if I can already stop with the steroids and start with the ‘maintenance’ drops that need to be done once daily for the rest of my life, along with the fake tears. Good news is I still have 20/20 vision. There is mild astigmatism on my left eye, but the grade would only be .25 so I don’t really need glasses. Doc advised me to wear glasses all the time though. Clear anti-glare ones, or shades. Wear them he says, to protect my eyes from allergens. Uh, me wear shades at work? Hmmm 🙂 I tried so many frames at the mall today and couldn’t find one that fit. It’s just so not me. So we bought this pair of shades instead. The lens isn’t too dark, it’s perfect for both indoor and outdoor wear, and it’s big enough for my big face. 😀

It’s been a really good month, a nice send off for the last year I’m spending under 30 years old. I am so looking forward to even greater things, and more blessings. 🙂

For now though, it’s time to say thank you to the following bloggers who have made it to July’s Top Ten Entrecard Droppers on Where the Moon Shines:

South Beach Diet Recap

So it’s been a week since The Sexy Chef stopped delivering my SBD Phase One meals. How have I been? Pretty good, actually. So far, I’ve made myself proud for not totally slipping back to the way I was used to eating. First though, let’s have a recap of my two-week rations of South Beach Diet Phase One meals.

These are just a few of the meals I enjoyed for fifteen days (it’s supposed to be just fourteen but I was able to stretch it up to fifteen because of my irregular sleep patterns on the weekends). They rarely duplicated dishes, except for the shrimps which I loved, the breakfast omelets (that I did NOT like much), and the snack food. Most of the dishes were very tasty, and definitely filling. There usually is a meat or fish dish paired with either soup or a vegetable dish for lunch and dinner. There were times when the vegetable dish was a simple pack of greens (lettuce and very few cucumbers) but they did vary the dressing it came with. I loved the Asian dressing, but the balsamic vinaigrette surprised me; I loved it.

One of my favorite dishes is the Stuffed Sayote. It’s sayote stuffed with ground beef and some cheese. I would be lucky if I could reproduce that, and would appreciate anyone who can cook one up for me. 🙂

I really appreciated the one dessert and two snack items per day that came with the meals. They were my go-to items whenever I had a craving, or was hungry before meal time. The chicken salad was a little too bland but not altogether that bad, while the tuna salad was usually too salty. Though very normal, and not so exciting, I actually liked the jello. For dessert they would also pack in some vanilla cream (not quite ice cream) and others like it. Not bad. For snacks, there would be kani, tuna or chicken salad, also a handful of plain peanuts or cashew nuts, and cheese wedges or strings. Sometimes though, munching on cheese got me more hungry than I was before opening the small package. 😀

But I know that, more than anything else, people are interested to know if I actually lost any weight. I did. It wasn’t as much as I hoped though. On the Sexy Chef website, they mention an 8-12 pound loss within the Phase One period of SBD. In my previous experience of doing SBD, that is accurate. This time though, I didn’t lose as much. I did lose 4 pounds, and I haven’t gained it back. 🙂 What’s more important though is that I felt lighter a week into the program. My clothes also started to fit better. Oh, and I fit in a ready-to-wear dress that I bought in the department store. 🙂

For the past week, though not strictly adhering to the SBD guidelines for Phase Two, I have managed to stay away from rice and bread. I had cake on my birthday, and again yesterday. But I don’t think I’ve had ice cream at all in the past three weeks. I have chosen to eat salad when possible. I am thankful that Kenny Rogers has healthy alternatives for people like me who need all the help they can get. How many times have I ordered this high protein meal? It comes with rice but Alfred takes care of that for me.

If I had money to spare, I would spend it on two more weeks of Sexy Chef deliveries. It’s just more convenient and I need not worry about avoiding unwanted food because I just focus on eating what they give me. Sadly, I do not have the funds for this. Being on the guided SBD has again given me the resolve to stay away from advertised top diet pills. I’m not saying they don’t work because there really are people who swear by them, but they’re just not for me. I think that diet pills only really work for people who don’t need to lose as much weight as I do. They can be more like maintenance pills, rather than the cure, if you know what I mean.

So this weekend will be spent planning the next two weeks: drawing up meal plans and listing what to get from the grocery or identifying where to dine when in the office or out and about elsewhere. This weekend too, I need to work more physical activity into my daily schedule. It’s the only way I can achieve my weight loss goals without completely starving myself. Besides, my recently bought comfy workout clothes are hardly getting worked out. Haha. 🙂

My PC’s been cured!

As I mentioned a few posts down, my PC wasn’t detecting any network, and was decommissioned for a few days. Now, it has been fixed. The boyfriend brought it in to the shop to make sure it wasn’t the mobo. They tried a different LAN card and it worked. We had already replaced it with a spare one, but that apparently, also wasn’t working.

But all that’s in the past now. My baby is back. So yes dear friends, I will be loading it up with the (recent) wedding photos, edit away and upload, before the couple comes back from honeymoon. 🙂

I’m also due for a recap of the whole Sexy Chef/South Beach Diet experience. I’ll need sometime to think things over. Haha. But don’t you worry, I will give a review and an update on the whole experience. On hindsight, I just wish I did myself a favor and did a consistent workout while I was receiving my SBD rations. Anyhoo, I’m still on the planning stage for how I’ll continue with Phase two or restart on Phase One, and incorporate ab workouts, and all other workouts I can manage.

I just really logged on to spread news that my PC’s been cured.

I still have allergies though. And my eyes look awful. 🙁

Mayeen and Angelo, July 24, 2010

A very, very dear friend of mine tied the knot with the man who has taught her what true love really means. Mayeen and Angelo, then Psych batchmates, now husband and wife. 🙂 

lovely couple 

happy couple 

They weren’t together when we were still at the UP. In fact, Mayeen and I only shared one class with Gelo – Psych 180. We would sit very near the door, with the cool wind blowing through PHAn. I remember we’d talk a LOT, mostly Mayeen and myself, with Gelo occasionally joining in. Haha. 🙂 

The Officiating Celebrant at their wedding took the time to make his homily truly personal. He talked about the story of their love, and how it was all about waiting. Waiting several years after college before they finally became close as friends, a few months before they officially became a couple, a few more years before the proposal. And then there was the wait for the actual wedding day. 

I am super happy for Mayeen, someone I consider to be one of my very best friends. She has had her fair share of heartaches, but I believe it really was only Gelo whom she gave all her heart to. And though I don’t know Angelo all that much, I know he takes care of her and will continue to do so. 

The wedding was simply yet lovely. The reception was… wonderful. The food was great, and the company was awesome. We invited other N6 blockmates to sit with us at our table, but as it turned out, we should have been the ones to move to theirs, lol! Our table was so far to the back (granted, it was right next to the bar, and very near the food), but we felt left out in some parts of the program :(. There was pride though in knowing that we had the pleasure of being friends with both the bride and groom, haha. Among us too were the soloists from Church and at the reception, Carla and Pauie. 🙂 

I could see how close the couple were with both sides of their growing family. I think it was Angelo’s relatives who danced towards the end of the program. It was nice of them to really take time out to choreograph and practice!  That signalled the start of dancing too, at which point the ladies and I were ready to leave. 

We also made sure that Mayeen and Gelo got their money’s worth for the photo booth! 

 

 

 

 

 

Good thing too that this photo booth was available. By the time we were at the reception, my feet were in pain! I hadn’t broken in my new pair of high heeled shoes, so they easily brought me to such misery. Haha! 😉 I wasn’t on Paparazzi mode at the reception and took very few photos. It was a good thing that Alfred was with me at the Church and he did his photographer duties. He didn’t join us for the reception anymore, because he had shift very early the next day (3am) and needed to sleep. When I told him about the lechon and the bar though, he regretted leaving early. 😀 

This is the second church wedding in our small circle of friends. Mayeen is the third to get married. I think Pauie will sing at all our weddings, so she’s got at least four more wedding marches to sing to (five, if Raech ever decides to get married in a church). 🙂 I love these ladies! I miss them so, and I could get used to seeing them a lot, if only we really could. 🙂 It was fun seeing Maye, Lynne and Carla again too. Except for Maye, I hadn’t seen them since 2002! 

All the best wishes to the newlyweds! They’re flying to their honeymoon tonight, and I wish them a safe flight and a very happy trip. I know they aren’t planning to get pregnant anytime soon, but I do look forward to seeing Mayeen and Gelo with an Ergo baby carrier holding their little one (or two) in the next few years 🙂

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