Princess Hands

In my search upon the “perfect” perfume, I came upon an online shop that sells other scents made from the same company.  in this online shop, I can have free shipping if I would purchase one body care products.  This is why I have L’Occitane’s Cerisier Princesse (Cherry Princess) Hand Cream.  I am almost out of this so before I consume all of it, I might as well take a picture of this and write something about this product just so I would remember someday that once I have used a product as nice as this.

 

It is enriched with shea butter which makes my hand soft and supple, perfect for winter or cold weather and also after washing my hands which I often do because of my work.  But what I love most about this is the scent.  it smells so nice.  The price is a bit dear at $15, 30 ml but the quality is good so I would say that buying this cream has been worth it.

Need

Walking makes me happy.  Even if it rains.  The farmers need rain.  But I need my walk.  The rain should not stop me from doing what makes me happy.

 

I will walk in the rain with my umbrella on. 🙂

Koorong

In the Philippines, my favorite Christian bookstore is OMF.  I would go to Greenbelt 1 just to immerse myself in Christian books/devotionals there at OMF.  So imagine how happy I have felt when Z led us to Koorong Tamworth.  I feel like I’m in heaven then. Hehe…:)

I bought this devotional bible there in New Century Version (NCV).  I thought I would find it hard to understand.  But this is one of the more understandable versions of the bible.  I am glad I bought this.  🙂

I also tried this Kebab Stall in the Centrepoint Shopping Center in town.  I wanted something spicy so I decided to eat kebab with yogurt and garlic sauce.  It’s not as spicy as I think it would be but it’s okay and not messy to eat 🙂  They also give good enough amount of beef.  Well, they should for it costs around 9 bucks 🙂

 

After going to town, I waited for my housemate so we could go to the supermarket for our food.  She’s into health stuff now and I would often tell her which is healthy and not.  I have been planning to go back to eating healthy and becoming a sort of vegetarian but I’m still trying to overcome factors that hinder this endeavour. 🙂  Anyway, I bought some healthy stuff like choco milk fortified with Calcium, oats, cornflakes, biscuits instead of chips.  Improving right?!  One step at a time. 🙂  I noticed also that my stomach is not that upset anymore. 🙂  I owe it to this healthy food. 🙂  Hmmm I need a food menu. Have a great day everyone! 🙂

Cooking Adventure

Last week’s encounter with my sis and Mom signalled that I really should learn how to cook.

I know how to cook, I just don’t like opening gas range.  I had traumatic memory of gas exploding and causing the whole building to burn down.  From then on, I’m cautious when it comes to cooking–that and I don’t like the feel of cooking oil splashing on my skin.

Anyway, I can cook fried rice mixed with all kinds of stuff I can eat, also noodles with eggs, and I know how to melt chocolate.  This weekend, I decided to prepare cheesy quesadilla.  I didn’t really look at the recipe–it’s all gut feel and more of my taste memory.  I bought cheddar cheese and cheese spread, bell pepper, mayo, chili, tomato for the salsa, and flour tortilla because it’s the only one available in the grocery.

I have burnt my first flour tortilla, but for the rest, I learned my lesson.  My family ate it and didn’t really hate it.  I guess, they are also into cheese. 🙂

I also tried to cook whole wheat pancake–looking forward to that.  I only learned to cook it on my last cake.  The cakes were either deformed, the first one was burnt, the others have middle part uncooked.  I mixed in some dark chocolate.  I love it.  I didn’t have to put on syrup anymore.

Get Real

I am living in the Philippines.  And as much as I want to eat all of those healthy food I’ve read on blogs, some of the ingredients cannot be found here.  But lucky me, still, because here in the Philippines, there are other veggies available which I think is not available in cold temperate areas.  I am also fortunate because the price of the vegetables here are cheaper as compared to other countries.

I have to live within my means.

Some advantages of being an almost vegetarian:

1.  I got to save up on food.  Since I also eliminated flavored drinks such as iced tea, juice, and carbonated drinks.  So I guess, it’s ironic that my header has a picture of an iced tea, but hey it looks good 🙂  So I’ll leave it there for a while.

2.  Since I have eliminated unhealthy drinks, I have saved up on calories for food.  And when you eat veggies, most of them have low calories so I’m filled up and satisfied.

3.  Veggies are tasty–tastier than meat.

4.  I’ve lost a lot of weight as compared to just counting calories but still eating anything I want.

5.  I feel great doing something good to my body.  Like being a good steward of God’s blessings. 🙂

Anyway, my breakfast was heavy.  Omellette (just containing tomato), energy drink fortified with calcium, and a serving of rice.

For lunch, I had banana, sweet potato

For dinner, I plan on eating this nice squash 🙂

So good!  Now I need to do the laundry, then attend worship service.  NO service on tuesday so I have to attend now.  Hopefully I’ll be able to insert exercise in between 🙂

So Far

It’s been two weeks since I decided to be a lacto-ovo-vegeterian.  Though there were times when I eat meat included in the veggie dish I ate.  I’ve lost 8 pounds in 2 weeks which makes me inspired to stick with this.

Last Friday I had a challenge when we had our staff meeting and there were lots of delicious food.  The smell was torture, I tell you.  I was salivating and my stomach churning–then I’ve thought of eating sweet corn.  It stopped me from giving in.  Yes!

I need variety in my menu.  I hope to drop by this healthy shop for some healthy stuff that I don’t know of.  But right now I’ll just be happy with fruits and veggie dish that the stalls within UP Manila are cooking. 🙂

It’s summer and so hot but I like it!  I love summer.  I don’t think I’ll be able to go to any beach this summer but I promise I’ll treat myself to a trip to Manila Bay next week. 🙂

I’m also walking faster now.  In no time, I’ll be able to go back to jogging.  Maybe one of my faith goals which is to participate in fun runs (5k) will be possible. 🙂

New Skin

I was thinking about how I’ve changed over the past year and I realized that other people changed, too.  So will we still fit with each other?  Only God knows.

Anyway, I’m also still amazed that I could still stick to this new food staple.  It makes me think of cows when I eat veggies.  Good thing there are lots of plant-based food.  I am just concerned about my source of protein.

Source

For the past two days, I’ve had sweet potato and singkamas (Mexican turnip in the Philippines).  I love this root crop because it’s sweet but it can make your stomach churn making you feel hungry.  So I don’t recommend this as a sole snack.  I guess I could eat this first followed by something which would make me feel satiated. 🙂

As for the exercise, I did 30 minutes of walking.  I guess I would do this until I’m confident that I could handle jogging.  I feel good about it.  It’s been so long since I feel good about myself.  Life has been stressful but I guess I just have to surrender my health (body) to God and He’s done the rest.  I just have to do my part.  I just hope that He will sustain my new lifestyle because I’m loving it. 🙂

Ordeal

I’ve lost 4 lbs in 1 week. 🙂

But this wasn’t easy.  See I had my blood checked and Igot diabetes scare.  My fasting blood sugar was high but not too high to be diagnosed diabetic.  But just to make sure, I had my blood tested again for glycosylated hemoglobin to check if my blood sugar has been high for a long time now.  Thank God, it was normal. 🙂

But during the wait, I was really reflecting back on my eating habit and how I’ve been bad to my body.  I promised myself that if God made me healthy still, I would really be good to my body from now on.  I instantly become an almost vegetarian. 🙂  I gave up on iced teas and carbonated drinks–water only.  I am loving water now.

Also, as much as possible, I walk back to my boarding house from work–bit more than 30-minute walk. 🙂  It makes me lose 250 Calories more or less 🙂

I am now enthusiastic to read food and fitness blogs 🙂  Reading food and fitness blogs made me feel motivated. 🙂

Handling Criticism

Taken from Day 26 of Word 4u Today Devotional.

Criticism will make you a beter person if you do these three things:

Look beyond the criticism and see the critic.  If it is someone you respect, listen to what they say.  If it’s someone who’s constantly critical, don’t place too much value on what they say; they’re probably just projecting their frustrations onto you. …Some folks only talk when they’re upset.  The important question is, does your critic sincerely want to help you?

Try not to take yourself too seriously.  Let’s face it, we all do things we regret.  But when you laugh at yourself and learn from it, you’re growing into maturity.

Know the difference between a constructive and destructive criticim.  Learn how to interpret criticism by asking:

In what spirit is it given?  If your critic’s attitude is kind, rest assured it’s meant to be consttructive.

When is the criticism given?  When somebody criticizes you publicly, usually their intention aren’t the best.

Why is the criticism given?  “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out” (Proverbs 20:5 NIV).  When people are hurting, they tend to hurt others.  So always ask, “Was this criticism given for my benefit or out of personal hurt?”

 

Running

i want to jog.  But I am still so busy.  I can’t find time to run.  I want to run with friends.  They have this thing every Tuesday and Thursday.  But given I have my usual Tuesday night date with God, Thursday is the only day I can run with friends.  The rest, I may have to run alone.

I don’t care.  I just want to jog and be good to my body.