Happy Holloween!

It's the end of October month and it's halloween too! So, Happy Halloween everyone! May you have a scary one,hehehe.


The kids of my employers are attending a holloween celebration in the neighbor and then their going to go to the houses in the neighborhood for a trick or treat game. Hmmmm, I never heard about this one in my province. I only knew about it for the first time in Denmark. My employers said that Halloween celebration was only started 5 years ago here and they said that mainly for business purposes. Stores are trying to create it to sell all those halloween costumes and candies.

a healthy lunch break

Most of the workers if not all, take a nap during lunch breaks. And I am one of those who take a nap in every chance I can get,hehehe. But it's true, I love to take a nap during breaks, be it a lunch break or a few hours of break from work. Before I got my internet connection, my breaks from work were devoted to sleeping for 2 to 3 hours. But blogging has taken my sleeping time right after having the internet connection installed here in my apartment,:(.

I saw an article in yahoo today entitled: Lose weight on your lunch break and here's the entire article:

Get slim from head to toe with a speedy shape-up you can squeeze into even the busiest day. We give you the exercises, plus tips on how to make the most of your time.

Restore fuel
Snack (about 200 calories) one hour pre-exercise. Healthy choices: 1 1/2 oz lowfat cheese with 1 oz whole-grain crackers; a small banana and 20 mini-pretzels; 8 oz lowfat plain yogurt with 1 cup berries.

5 minutes: Warm up on your way
Power-walk to the gym to prepare muscles and joints for the sweat session to come. Driving? Park your car deep in the lot and hustle to the entrance.

3 minutes: Cruise through the locker room
Opt for a quick-change sports top with a built-in bra and bottoms in a wicking fabric. Pull hair in a high pony or loose bun to retain volume. Avoid style-flattening, tight headbands.

16 minutes: Sizzle calories with cardio
To blast fat fast, do this Sprint 8 plan, developed by trainer Phil Campbell, author of Ready, Set, Go! Synergy Fitness (Pristine Publishers), up to four days a week. Pick any cardio equipment and do intervals for 16 minutes: 30 seconds at the highest intensity you can sustain; 90 seconds at a catch-your-breath recovery pace. Repeat eight times. "Intervals burn more calories in less time, improve stamina and may spark fat-mobilizing hormones," Campbell explains.

5 minutes: Tone up all over with SELF's five-move plan
Exercise physiologist and research scientist Fabio Comana, at the American Council on Exercise in San Diego, designed this one-machine workout to minimize gym time and maximize sculpting. "The standing moves recruit multiple muscles at once and engage the core for added ab firming," he says. Using a cable machine (most gyms have at least one), do each of the five moves for 30 seconds, resting 30 seconds between exercises. Aim to eke out 8 to 12 reps. Choose a resistance that makes it tough to power through the final 10 seconds of each move with good form. Add resistance when you're able to do 15 or more reps in 30 seconds, no sweat.

2 minutes: Tighten your tummy
Get on the stability ball to banish your belly! A recent study from the University of Auckland, Tamaki Campus, in New Zealand, found that there is a 20 percent increase in the effectiveness of crunches done on a ball rather than the floor. Do two sets of 10 to 12 reps.

7 minutes: Refresh—fast!
Immediately hop into a lukewarm shower to speed your body's cooldown, says Ranella Hirsch, M.D., a dermatologist in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Still hot afterward? Place a cold, wet hand towel on your neck while you finish primping. More postworkout prettifying tips:

1. Skip powder, concealer and foundation, which could leave flushed skin looking masklike. Instead, apply blush only to apple of cheeks for a natural glow, says Tricia Sawyer, a celebrity makeup artist in Los Angeles.

2. Dry sweaty strands with hair powder. To apply, lift outermost sections and sprinkle on roots, where oils concentrate. Then, brush or fluff locks so it sinks in, says Sherri Ziesche, owner of Salon in San Francisco. Try Satin Sugar Refreshing Hair & Body Powder ($18; CakeBeauty.com).

5 minutes: Eat on the run
Lunch within 30 minutes of your get-lean routine, when your body uses calories most efficiently. Some on-the-go options (about 500 calories each):

1. Healthy fast food: Wendy's small chili; 1/2 plain baked potato; side salad with 1/2 packet of Italian vinaigrette

2. Diet-friendly deli: 4 oz lean turkey on whole-grain bread with lettuce, tomato, mustard; one piece of fruit

3. Easy at your desk: a microwave meal like Lean Cuisine's Spa Cuisine Classics (or one with less than 700 milligrams sodium, 5 grams saturated fat); piece of fruit.

A health check from Marie

I got this health tag from Marie days ago, but I was not able to do it because I went away for the weekend. Sorry fo the late action girl and glad that I'm finally doing it now. Here's my answer to the health check:

1. Do you take vitamins and if so, what?
Yes, I'm taking Absorbent-C, a Forever Living product. My family back home is also using it. It's really effective for me because everytime I have a cold or a cough, I'll take some of it and the following day, I'm feeling better. Just too bad and I always forget to take it daily. I only remember it especially when I'm not feeling well.:(

2. Do you make an effort to eat healthy, or you eat whatever you feel like eating?
Yes, I'm trying my best to eat healthy, but most of the time, I always gave in to the temptation of eating the food around me, be it healthy or not,:(. Same with you Marie, I want to eat more fruits and veggies.

3. What two types of food do you have a hard time staying away from?
I got more than 2: cakes, ice cream and chips

4. What are two food items you refuse to eat?
So far, the only thing that I can't eat no matter how many time I tried is Durian fruit. I just can't swallow it even if I'll blocked my nose to avoid smelling it.

5. Are you pleased with your daily diet or do you think it could be better?
I'm not pleased at all. But I'm fixing it slowly.

Thanks a lot for the tag Marie.

Apology for the silence

Hi everyone!I hope you are all doing great and I'm really sorry for not posting here for a week already. I'm really guilty about it. Thank you very much for your visit here despite the absence of updates.

I had been busy last week in blogging with my other blogs and grabbing opps. I'm always visiting this blog of mine, but I just can't think of something to say. I don't wanna blog about my failure in dieting anymore because I know that it will just frustrate you too, :(.

I am now having a sore neck as a an after effect from serving in the 25th wedding anniversary of Nanay Lina and Tatay Benny. But I had a lot good time. The detailed story about my sore neck is here.

All in all, I had a great week lastweek and I hope that you had a great one too. Once again, thank you all for visiting me here.

Happy Tuesday to all!

starting all over again

Hi everyone and happy Monday to all! I hope you all had a great weekend. I had a nice one with my cousins and my friends. On Friday and Saturday, we had a joyful gathering in Ate Eves' place. We were dancing,singing, laughing and on Saturday night we were also drinking, :( and some of my friends got drunk and I was very close to passing out, :(

As I confessed to you in my earlier post, I pigged out during my cousins' stay here. And during the weekend, I was pigging out more,:(huhuhuh. I'm really sad and very guilty.

So here I am, starting all over again with my diet. I bought a 2-kilo bag of apple for this week. I have to go bakc to my usual routine for drinking 3 cups of tea in a day and do a lot of exrcise. There's still strawberry jam here and I bought a loaf of white bread yesterday and I'm planning to throw them, so I won't be tempted to eat. But then I had a 2nd thought, why should I throw them when a lot of people out there are hungry and have nothing to eat?? It's really a matter of discipline. I won't eat if I'm not hungry and if I'll do, I won't eat voraciously.

I already ashamed of myself because I always fail in my plans..I really need some help!

Avoid over eating

My dieting is really going nowhere this week. My cousins are here on vacation and I'm pigging out like crazy,grrrrrrrr. I'm taking all the blame though coz my cousins are constantly reminding me of my diet, but the urge to eat was very strong to ignore, :(. So, the diet is destroyed and hope to restore it next week. I's starting all over again.:(

My cousins are no longer here in my apartment. I brought them to my friend's pplace yesterday to enjoy their vacation more. My friend, Ate Eves, has no hostfamily for 2 weeks because they're on vacation in the US. So she's alone in her apartment and no one will hear is we're going to make a noise and we don't have to worry if we're going to sleep late. We've been controlling our voices here in my apartment since we're scared that my employers will hear our noise and laughs. So I decided to transfer them there. They're very happy about it and they enjoy singing with Ate Eves magic sing til dawn,:).

Tomorrow, I'm going to join them at Ate Eve's place and my other friends are also coming to stay there for the weekend. We agreed to go to the disco tomorrow night to entertain my cousins and the night out is very timely because it's Vilma's birthday tomorrow. Vilma is one of my 3 cousins from Denmark.She's my 2nd cousin on the father side and will be turning 24 tomorrow.

Back to my dieting issue. Due to the guilt feeling I've been feeling for days, I made a research about over eating and I found this helpful tips from HeartPoint:

Tips to Avoid Over Eating

1. Slow down, chew with purpose: Take at least 20 minutes to consume a meal. Taking longer to eat will make you feel as though you are eating more. Enjoy the conversation and companionship.

2. Eat only while sitting down: Much extra food in consumed on the run. Making it a point to sit down while eating will help you think about how much you are consuming.

3. Eat off smaller plates!

4. Drink a 12 ounce glass of water before eating: It will take up room in your stomach and make you feel less hungry.

5. Wait 10 minutes before snacking: Between meal snacks are usually impulsive acts. A wait before eating them will often make you realize you aren't hungry after all.

6. Keep the right stuff up front: Make such foods as fruit and vegetables readily available by keeping them in the front of the refrigerator shelves.

feeling guilty

Hi everyone! I'm back from my weekend and I felt soo guilty for pigging out last weekend!grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I spend my weekend at Ate Eves' place with my cousins and friends and we were having a great time telling jokes and singing with Ate's Xtreme magic sing. However, I felt guilty because I pigged out last Sunday, as in I ate a lot and forgot all about my diet!grrrrrrrrr. That's why I'm really very hesitant now to go out during weekend.

Though I was able to stick into my diet on Thursday and Friday. Saturday was also spent with less eating, but I just gave in to the temptation on Sunday and went home bloated.grrrrrrr..I'm sooo sad,:( So to make up for the pigging out, I exercised and danced lastnight and until now my stomach is still aching..

By the way, my 3 cousins from Denmark are here for 1 week vacation. I'm soo glad coz I wont be alone here for a week. They brought a lot of foods from Denmark and I told them thatI'm on a diet and glad that they are telling me to stop eating everytime I tend to overeat. Thoughtful cousins indeed,:)

Happy monday everyone and sorry for frustrating you,huhuhu.

new pinky look

Hurrahhh to my new pinky look courtesy of Blog Gone Wild. I was experimenting on how to install the XML Blogger template. I thought I can't use it to my blogs because it needs a special feature, but I read the instructions thouroughly until I installed the Desert Sunrise XML Skin in my other blog successfully!Hurrahhh!

And after my BIG achievement (hehhehe,ganyan ako kababaw), I decided to also give this blog of mine a new look. And tarahhhh I was successful and I hope that you like my new pinky look too!

Happy Friday everyone!

I did it again!

Hurrahh,thanks everyone for your encouragement and inspiration!I did it again in my day 3 (wednesday) of getting fit,:). I was hungry several times and I just kept on eating carrots. I was also able to drink 3 cups of tea and almost an hour of exercise. I didn't walk though because it was cold outside, so I danced instead and I was really sweating and feeling good. I was dancing to the music of Gwen Stefani and Nelly Furtado, :).

So that's all everyone and keep me inspired,:).

I made it!

Hurrah!!I'm soo happy to report that I was successful with my day 2 (tuesday) of getting fit! I made it!Though, I was a little bit guilty because I ate a handful of peanuts while cooking dinner because I was really hungry. But atleast I made it without eating something not planned yesterday. I was able to stick to the apple and a glass of milk for breakfast, more apples for lunch (because my employers bought a lot of apple for this week), a normal dinner before 6pm with my hostfamily with rice and chicken with coco's milk (and thank goodness coz I didn't overeat), I also walked for about 30 minutes because I walked the eldest kid to school (hmmm the plan is atleast an hour of walking, so I have a deficit of 30 minutes) and of course my 3 cups of tea (drank at 10am,2pm and before bedtime). Hurrah and I think I'm about to make it today too! Keep you fingers cross,hehehe.

I'll keep you posted!

foods to eat before and after workouts

Working out doesn't mean that we have to starve ourselves. We have to eat before working out to fuel our body, so we'll have energy to finish the workout. And we also have to eat afterwards to replinish the lost energy. Just click the link to read the entire entry from www.food.yahoo.com, Eat to Lose Before and After Workouts.

my plans to get fit

Hi everyone!

I had a great weekend with my friends and after the weekend, I decided to instil self-discipline into my system. I mean, I really have to impose self-discipline to get fit and be healthy. I've been planning this since then, but I always failed because of the lack of self-discipline and self-determination. I always gave in into the temptation of eating more and excercising less or not at all. And I need to put a stop to all these!!

One of my friends,Ate Ging2x, was with me during the weekend.She has a great body (as in no bil2x) and she shared to us her secret. She only ate a piece of banana and a glass of milk during breakfast and move a lot. And she said that getting fit and lossing extra puonds is all about eating healthy foods and a lot of self-discipline. And so I decided to follow her and I started yesterday. But instead of a banana a day, I replaced it with an apple a day and a glass of skummet milk (with 0.1% fat). Maybe, I'll just make an alternation of fruits every week. This week is apply, then banana the next week and another fruit the following week. As long as I'm eating a fruit a day.

Also part of my plan is to religiously drink tea, 3x a day. I'm a tea drinker, but sometimes I forget all about it. So this time, I'm going to drink it religiously and see if it will really help. Walking atleast 1 hour a day is also part of the plan. I read an article in the net last week that walking is really good. And I agree because walking is already a proven exercise.

3 months ago, I already lost some weight and my friends noticed that my tummy is not so big anymore and it was the result of dieting and walking everyday. But then I stopped the routine and started eating voraciously once again, so the tummy grows even bigger.grrrrrrrrrrrrr

I just hope that I can stick to my plans, I have to for my own good. Inspire me folks, so I can do it!

My kind of pizza

hmmm, I don't think the the first 2 sentences are really describing me coz my appetite is not average - it's huge,hehehe and I'm not picky at all when it comes to pizza or any food at that!hehehe

What Your Pizza Reveals

Your appetite is pretty average. You don't go overboard - but you don't deprive yourself either. You are a very picky pizza eater. Not any pizza will do. You fit in best in the Northeast part of the US. You like food that's traditional and well crafted. You aren't impressed with "gourmet" foods. You are dependable, loyal, and conservative with your choices. You are cultured and intellectual. You should consider traveling to Vienna. The stereotype that best fits you is emo. You think you're special... and you kind of are.

What Does Your Pizza Say About You?

Enchilada-making

Just stumble upon this video of making Enchiladas from allrecipes.com. Watch the video and learn how to cook and freeze enchiladas. An easy-to-make dish for a busy person like you.

Just click here to watch the video.

Triple-Cheese Mac Attack

I saw this recipe from Yahoo Foods just a few minutes ago. And I just thought of sharing it with you, especially now that summer is over. We need hearty, warm comfort foods that will make us feel warm in the freezing weather.

Ingredients:
2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup sour cream
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
Garlic salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 cups extra-sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
½ cup Swiss cheese, shredded
1 (7-ounce) package elbow macaroni, cooked and drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cottage cheese, sour cream, egg, salt, garlic salt, and black pepper. Add cheddar and Swiss cheeses and blend well. Cook macaroni as directed on package and drain well.

Add cooked macaroni to cheese mixture and blend until well coated. Add macaroni mixture to a greased 2- or 2½-quart baking dish and bake, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes.

Makes 6 servings.