On Getting Fit

2.5 lbs

I admit it.

I’ve procrastinated in my aspiration of achieving wellness. If I remember it right, a month before leaving our apartment in Pasig, I make it a point to jog in the nearby mall’s massive parking space almost e-v-e-r-y-d-a-y. My goal was to compensate on my hobby of stuffing my face with food. Because that time, living with your partner is to be surrounded by food and other gastronomic pleasures. Blame it on appetite and Nimmy’s generous dad because every week, we don’t spend too much for food anymore, because our ref is a refuge for plethora of carbs and sweets and other dishes which propels you to eat and eat some more.

Now I’m back to my parent’s house, I get to experience a whole lot of difference from my usual lifestyle. I have more reasons to get fit. 

As I zero-in the grounds to have a healthy life back, I thought that I just turned 31 and my body requires more nutrients and vitamins to be able to sustain vitality and strength. 

What’s more important is my aspiration to live longer so I can achieve whatever it is that I am dreaming of. Wellness is of paramount nowadays, because of the stress each person can get because of work and the unhealthy habit of the populace.

So only last week, before the long-weekend, I committed myself to exercise, healthy diet and meditation. Just today, I’m feeling the early benefits of it.

Caloocan-Bulacan boundary, my new running road

It’s true that when you exercise, you feel happy. It’s true that despite the feeling of soreness in your thighs, biceps and back, you feel that there are changes happening in your body.  You can’t help but anticipate for more positive changes. Only recently, I found myself addicted to coffee because when I halted the habit just even for a day, I get headaches. Meditation cures just that. Deep breathes, finding my center and ability to control thoughts are proven powerful cures for my anxieties. Honestly, I can say that I can think more clearly now compared to few months back. I can now rekindle my being and I’m happy to say that it has greatly benefited not only me but the people surrounding me.

To affirm my goal of wellness, I am committing myself to the following; 

• Balanced diet
• Running
• Light weights
• Meditation
• Prayer
• Love

Approximately 3 kilometers from turf, middle of the road, alone and doing brisk-walk

Mongkok

Getting to Know Leomer

Here's a partial list of some things you may want to know about me: 


FOOD:
1. I love to eat; except that I don't eat native chicken and goat
2. I was trained to eat whatever that comes up in the table; except those mentioned in #1
3. I love sardines and hotdog; I call them comfort food
4. 2 cups of rice for me please
5. Green-leafy vegetables are just awesome
6. I love condiments especially patis (fish sauce)
7. I most of the time crave for okra/talong dipped in bagoong (alamang/isda)
8. I prefer fish over pork, but it seldom happens
9. When it comes to desserts, I love vanilla ice cream or yogurt
10. I'm a coffee drinker
11. I eat pork isaw. Like 10 sticks in one session
12. I seldom drink beer, I prefer tequila, brandy, Tanduay Ice or red wine
13. I'm currently craving for tokwa't baboy
14. I love Karate Kid, Chef d' Angelo, Napoli's and Jolibee
15. I can't forget Planta Hotel's Asian Pork 
16. I've tasted dog meat
17. Weirdest thing I ate was adobong frog
18. Popcorn
19. Seafood pesto makes me happy
20. Meiji black chocolate lifts me up


LOVE and ROMANCE
1. I'm currently on a strong and long-term relationship
2. I consider to having serious relationships since 2005 only
3. Before 2005, I've been to numerous relationships
4. I had my first boyfriend in 2001. We lasted for a year and 6 months
5. I'm a sucker for romance
6. I had 3 serious relationship from 2005-2006; on these three, I'm the one in charge, and I'm the one who called it off. 
7. I only had one boyfriend older than me, refer to #4
8. I prefer younger guys back then
9. Nimmy and I lived together for 1 year and 8 months
10. I still have crushes, but I get to be turned-off easily
11. I still think of Mark Herras
12. Moreno is a plus
13. Bad-breath is hell
14. I don't like overly intellectual conversation, it gives me nosebleed and earbleed
15. I hope to get married soon with Nimmy


EDUCATION
1. I used to dream of becoming a lawyer. I took up Political Science major in Public Administration in PUP Sta. Mesa. 
2. I was a President's Lister for 2 years. 
3. My GPA for the entire course is 1.63
4. I was a badminton varsity player of PUP for 4 semesters
5. I'm the 2nd Grandmaster of our college debate frat. I've joined two national debate contests
6. I joined rallies and the most memorable one was EDSA 2. 
7. I graduated Salutatorian in High School
8. I'm not a natural smart person; I'm just studious
9. I can't study on loud music
10. I think I'm better in speaking than writing
11. I'm a grade conscious person
12. I love libraries and the smell of old books
13. I hate math subjects
14. I almost failed the subject, Logic because of the movie Titanic. You know, cutting classes.
15. I've never figured out the significance of 4 semesters in ROTC.


ATTITUDE
1. I'm an optimist most of the time
2. If you don't like me, I don't like you too
3. I'm a forgiving person
4. I'm honest and transparent person
5. I get easily frustrated if I don't get to achieve small goals
6. I seldom shout on heated arguments
7. I walk out to clear my mind
8. I have small tolerance to arrogance
9. I'm an impulsive buyer
10. Leadership by example
11. I don't choose friends
12. I seldom lend money
13. Perky to some people
14. I can sense if someone is upset
15. I'm a combined type A&B person a.k.a. bipolar


OFFICE
1. I always have my game face on in the office; pretending to be busy
2. Stupid bosses deserves a flying kick
3. I seldom do overtime
4. I prefer an American boss than a Filipino
5. I genuinely love developing subordinates; I love seeing them promoted
6. For a time, I prefer salary over loyalty in the company
7. My best mentors were Barbie, Leah and Lavi
8. I have few closest friends in the office - Joanne, Joey, Debbie, Rose
9. My best supervisor was Jong
10. I miss my Bacolod QA team
11. My last two bosses were unforgettable
12. I enjoy deploying a project and transitions
13. I love excel, powerpoint and visio
14. On team buildings, no one sits beside me. They always want me to be alone, I think
15. I enjoy doodling while on a meeting

Farmville

I went hiking last Sunday to reach our family's Mango farm. This piece of land was purchased way back 1987 when agricultural land was still cheap. The 1.64 hectares of land (very small) caters to 50-60 mango trees, cassava, jackfruit, coffee, calamansi and some bamboos. Way back, it's literally a forest since parallel to our land is the Tree Planting site of Montalban, Rizal. Before, I can see monkeys, geckos, eagles, colorful birds and monitor lizards in the place.  Sometimes, there are snakes. It's slowly getting modernized since I'm seeing some rough road inside and outside the farm land. There's still no electricity in the place - which is very nice. It preserves the land from noise pollution and the likes. 

After church, which was around 7:30am, we started our hiking. It took as 2 hours to get to the place. The road is purely rough with wild grasses around. It was super fun and tiring at the same time. Our crib there is a temporary shanty but it was awesome. Father did it for 3 consecutive weekends! :) This is also where we store some crops and seedlings. 

BTW, our digicam's battery was almost dead when we got there. We forgot to recharge its batteries.  Some of the pictures here were from my cheap mobile phone. 


I super enjoyed eating and I can't help it. I think the relax atmosphere of the place, will lead you to eating a lot. We had camote for merienda and for lunch, we had inihaw na liempo and bangus. 

Towards lunch, I can't help but notice the cool wind brushing our skin. I thought it's going to be hot and humid but I was wrong. I think it was around 19-20 degrees centigrade. It was really cold there, somewhat similar to Tagaytay.  


Here are some of the moments we had: 

I sooooo love it there and I think I'll be coming over the farm on a weekly basis.  My retiring plan - be a mango farmer! :)


Nimmy might join the fun too next week. Can't wait for his photos. :)

Sunday Craving

I'm hungry, well... again. I was browsing through some Nimmy's pictures and saw this one which made me salivate. 

Yum.