Last Dance

It was Elle Woods in the movie "Legally Blonde" who said "Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy." But tonight, the endorphins did not work. I found myself teary-eyed (literally... welling) in the middle of "The Best Things in Life are Free", or was it "Dance Again"? I can't remember.  

Today, I attended my last Retro Pop class in Fitness First ABS-CBN. Tomorrow, it will be the club's last day, ending its 10 years of operations. Am I too emotional about this? Probably yes. But I was never good with goodbyes.

I have been a member of Fitness First since February 2009. It was 4 years of love-hate relationship. Mostly, I loved having a gym inside the workplace, a gym that's just a few floors away from our office. But what I loved most about the gym is their Retro Pop dance class. I fell in love with it the first time I tried it, and I have been a fanatic ever since.

I will definitely miss the wave machine, the elliptical, the sauna... but, more than anything, I will miss Retro Pop.

So, there I was, holding back my tears and trying to enjoy the last class of Retro Pop I will ever attend in the FF ABS-CBN branch, and all the while, all I could think of is how much I am going to miss these things:

- the 50-something mommas who can still work it, even with the most upbeat J-Lo song.
- the fun-to-look-at Bekis who are dancing like no one is watching
- the class newbies who, from the look of their faces, are probably are thinking, "How come they know all the steps?" Clueless that those in front have been doing it for months, even years.
- the co-fanatics who know the steps by heart, more than the instructor at times.
- my favorite Retro instructors whom I have followed through the years.

So, as I bid farewell to Fitness First ABS-CBN, I would like to say thanks to all the Retro instructors whose classes I attended: Dinggoy, Ron and most especially, Mervin. Thanks for the countless endorphins released in your classes and the joy that came after.

I also want to thank my fitness team in 2009 -- Michael, Kristine and Ness, for the unprecedented 30-pound weight loss that I have yet to achieve again. (I was planning to do it this year, then came the news about the club closing -- palusot!).

Also, thanks to all the people I've come across with in the dance classes I attended. Keep on dancing! See you in other FF branches!

Before I left the gym, I saw some sort of "freedom wall" for members to say their goodbyes. I wrote my fondest memory of dancing while I was still 5 months pregnant with Darla, my second child. Then I realized the reason behind the tears. In more ways than one, FF ABS-CBN has been a part of my life. So, as I danced my last dance in "our" branch, I bid FF ABS-CBN goodbye.

Project 35: Day 2

I hate meetings. It is probably your worst enemy when you're trying to lose weight.

First, people do nothing but talk and you sit around for hours listening to repetitive discussions when those 2-3 hours could have been spent sweating it out in the gym.

Second, meetings are long and people get bored... and hungry! Then, they start bringing out food with empty calories. I have just been to one today and people just started bringing out CHOCOLATES! Aaaaarrrgghh!! So, yeah, I've been a little bad today. As you would see in my food journal:

Breakfast: 10:00 am
1/2 cup rice
Porkchop (2 servings)
1 cup coffee

Lunch: 1:30 pm
2 cups of veggie salad (with nuts, corn, carrots, bacon bits, 1/2 egg and 1 tablespoon of thousand island dressing)
1 tall glass of buko juice

Snacks: 4:00 pm
1 small bar of dark chocolate

Dinner: 6:30 PM
1/2 cup rice
1/2 slice, fried bangus
1 pc. tortang talong
1 glass of mango shake (2 servings of fruit)

Midnight snack: 11:00 PM
1 cup pansit canton
1/2 glass iced tea

I could not avoid meetings, but next time, I have to make sure my tummy's full (with healthy food) before I attend one.

Project 35: Day 1

Today, I am saying goodbye to my life's biggest guilty pleasure: Softdrinks.

Some may think this is easy, but not for me. So, yes, I am serious about losing weight.

From now on, this blog will also serve as my food journal, for me to be able to closely monitor my intake.

Breakfast: 9 am
1 fried egg, sunny side up 
1 piece longganiza
Half cup of rice
1 cup coffee

Lunch: 1:00 pm
Roasted chicken (quarter small, leg part)
Half cup rice
1 glass buko juice

Snacks: 3 pm
1 whole apple
12 pcs grapes
1/2 orange

Pre-gym snacks: 5pm
1 cup spaghetti
1 slice whole wheat bread

Post-Gym Snack: 8:30 pm
2 pcs. banana

Late Dinner: 11:00 pm
Ma Binondo Mami (1 cup noodles, 2 pcs siomai, half egg, 1/4 cup chicken, 2 thin slices of pork)

Gym Activity: 60 minutes Retro Pop Dance, 10 minutes sauna

So far, so good.

Project 35 Before 35

It has been a year since my last post.

I am ashamed to admit that my last attempt to lose weight was an EPIC FAIL.

I tried. I hired a nutritionist and a fitness trainer... to no avail. Yes, I lost a few pounds. But after my sessions, I went back to my old ways and I am now at my heaviest. More details on this soon.

It took a big wake up call for me to finally decide to get back on the saddle and once more, take that bumpy ride towards fitness.

So, today, I am launching Project 35 before 35. In 9 months or so, I am turning 35 and before that happens, I am determined to lose 35 pounds. So, help me God!

Checking my Progress: The First 5 weeks

I was supposed to blog about my starting weight and measurements before I started with my new fitness program. But the numbers were so high that I was really embarassed to post them 6 weeks ago.

Now that I have reached 5 weeks, I am obliged to write about my progress and I have no choice but to post my starting weight and measurements. So here goes...

Starting weight: 189 pounds (whew!)

Week 1: 186 lbs. = Lost 3 pounds
Week 2: 185 lbs. = Lost 1 pound
Week 3: 183 lbs. = Lost 2 pounds
Week 4: 182 lbs. = Lost 1 pound
Week 5: 179 lbs. = Lost 3 pounds

Total pounds lost: 10 lbs in 5 weeks

Starting measurements: 42-41-43
New Vital Statistics: 40-39-42
Inches lost in 5 weeks: 5 inches

I must admit I'm still a bit embarassed with my numbers (especially my measurements), but 10 pounds in 5 weeks is a really good way to start. So, I should give myself a pat on the back.

Healthy Eating at the Mall

When you are following a nutritional program, people think that your choices in food are very limited. Though there may be some truth to this, you can still find a way to work around those parameters.

One of the most challenging places to eat is the mall. Most families spend their weekends inside the mall and it's always difficult to find healthy food in these places dominated by fastfood restaurants. But, believe it or not, there are a few restaurants that offer healthy choices.

For example, here's a list of restaurants that has some "good" food in their menu:

1. Kenny Rogers Roasters - their roasted chicken and grilled fish are good choices for a full meal. But don't forget to remove the skin from the chicken. For sidings, opt for the healthy corn and carrots or the veggies.
2. World Chicken - this would probably be your best bet at the food court. Their serving of grilled chicken counts for 2 servings of low fat meat minus the oil. One tip though, choose only one siding because if you go for 2 sidings, that would count for a lot of carbo servings.
3. Shakeys - avoid the pizza and the fried chicken and opt for their pasta coupled with one of their green salads.
4. Mang Inasal - My fave meal is PM 1 which consists of barbecued leg part plus unlimited rice. Of course, I don't ask for more rice and consume just half the cup. But the chicken leg serving minus the skin is a great protein choice.
5. Max's - you can order their sabaw viands like sinigang na hipon. Five pieces of shrimp equals one serving of low fat meat. And yes, you can eat rice with it, just half a cup though.

For now, I'm saying goodbye to Jollibee, McDonald's and the like. And I have no idea when my next visit to Yakimix will be. For now, I should just be content at making the right choices to reach my goal. At least I know it's not impossible to eat healthy... even inside the mall.

Empty Calories

A week on my nutritional program, I had my first meeting with my nutritionist. She reviewed my food diary for the week and found some points for improvement. Then, she handed me a reading on Empty Calories.

Empty calories are foods that are high in calories (energy rich) but low in nutritional value (nutrient dense).

Here are examples of empty caloric foods:

1. French fries, fried chicken, and all other deep fried foods
2. Hamburgers, hotdogs and pizzas
3. Candy and other sweetened packages foods
4. Beer, wine and other sweetened packages foods
5. Refined grains such as crackers, cookies, cakes and pastries
6. Chips
7. Sodas and other sweetened beverages (mostly carbonated drinks, but also include powdered fruit drinks, powdered and bottled iced tea)
8. Ice cream and other frozen desserts
9. Margarine, shortening, butter, lard and other saturated fats
10. Sauces and gravies

As you can see, most of these are staple foods in our diet. But we can learn to avoid these foods and manage our unhealthy intakes. Here are some tips:

1. Avoid deep fried foods. Instead of deep frying, you may use other cooking methods like boiling, baking, grilling or broiling.
2. Use non-stick pans to avoid use of oil in pan frying.
3. Avoid sweetened drinks and canned drinks.
4. Check out whole grains instead of refined ones. Whole grains are packed with beneficial fiber and anti-oxidants.
5. Snack on fruits and crunchy vegetables.
6. Check the nutrition labels for hidden sugars and fats.
7. Plan ahead. Think of what to eat before you leave for lunch or going out for meals. Know what you will be having throughout the day.
8. Bring your own home-cooked meals. Pack a snack.

Like all things in life, maintaining good nutrition is all about making the right choices. Before I started with my diet, I chose to eat mostly empty caloric foods. But, believe it or not, there are healthy choices out there. You just have to look harder.

Falling All Over Again

I love dancing. If there's one thing I can do tirelessly inside the gym, it is dancing. When I joined Fitness First in 2009, I fell head over heels in love with their group exercise Retro. I loved it so much that I attended 3 classes per week.

Last Monday, I decided to attend a class again. It was nice to see some familiar faces who are retro-fanatics, just like me. I was a bit anxious when the class started. I thought that since I haven't been to a class in more than a year, it would take longer for me to get my groove back, so to speak.

And then the music played, and everything came back to me. I remembered how much I loved dancing. I remembered most of the steps and the music. Most of all, I remembered how good it felt to be moving my body that way. I fell in love all over again.

My love affair with dancing is something that would always be there. I may stop for awhile, for one reason or another, but I would always go back. That's for sure.

Getting Back in the Game

It was as hard as I thought. Getting back to the gym, doing exercise and dieting is no easy task. I'm having a hard time adjusting to my new diet and the exercises that I used to do with ease are not so easy anymore.

I am on my third day of dieting. I was given a daily allowance of 1,400 calories per day. The diet plan was very similar to what I had before. But coming from a very unhealthy eating habit, it was difficult to get back to controlling my portions and counting my calories. Of course, I had to remove all the "bad food" on my plate. So, no more softdrinks, no more junk food and no more dessert for me. *sigh* I am scheduled to meet with my nutritionist every Tuesday. I was required to submit my food diary weekly and my weigh-ins are also scheduled on the same day.

As for my exercise program, I've already had 2 sessions with my physical trainer. I can tell that my PT is taking it slow, careful not to put too much strain on me since it has been almost 2 years since I have become active. But even when she is pacing our workouts, it's still very hard to do some of the exercises. It's quite embarrasing to stop in the middle of a set just because I was already gasping for air or I was already feeling dizzy.

I have a long way to go but there's no stopping now. I just have to take it one day at a time.

I'm Back ... For Real This Time!

In my last entry I promised that I would start going back to the gym, and I did... for one day. My daughter just turned 1-year old then and I planned to mix-feed since I've already been exclusively breastfeeding her for a year. After that one session in the gym, I found out that my daughter Darla had other plans. Her yaya told me that she wouldn't drink formula milk and that she hated it. For days I tried to feed her formula milk to no avail. I had no choice but to continue breastfeeding her exclusively. That also means that I cannot afford to lose my breastmilk supply which I was afraid would happen if I started going to the gym and putting physical stress on my body. So, I decided to "delay" my fitness goals, again, if only to provide nourishment to my daughter who probably loved the taste of my breastmilk so much.

It took a "Fitness-First-membership-renewal-fiasco" to put my a** back to the gym. Long story short, my corporate membership "lapsed" and FF required me to apply for a new membership that would require me to pay the full monthly rate and not the discounted rate for ABS-CBN employees. Of course, I couldn't let this happen, so I talked to higher management and cleared everything up. I took it as a sign from God that he wanted me back at the gym. Now, I'm back to being a member paying the discounted corporate rate.

What happens to Darla now? Well, the same day that I signed up for a new fitness and nutrition program at the gym, I was given the good news... Darla is now drinking formula milk! It's like everything was falling into place. There's really no turning back now.

So, I'm back, for real this time. No more excuses. I'm off to continue my journey to fitness.