Cherry Blossoms

After a stressful and nerve wracking weekend, it was so amazing to wake up to this:

Cherry tree on our front yard.

For more Cherry Blossoms check it out here if you are in Toronto area.

Spring came early here and today is just gorgeous!

I have the day off today and boy I needed it.

My hubby is doing well and I will update you on that on a later post.

Today: I will just relax, enjoy time with the family, go for a stroll and enjoy this lovely day of spring.

Thank God that the sun shines bright after a storm.

I think I'm allergic to FALL

Hi everyone...

Today was a hard day, emotional and motivational wise. I've been very moody (it might be that time of the month v. soon), hungry, cranky and lazy!!!

I came home from work and I was starving even though I had my usual snack of KASHI bar and fruit (today was kiwi). So I had an early dinner ahead of my family and ate leftovers. But I found a box of chocolate drumsticks in the freezer and gave in! I felt SOOOOO bad....

My DD was very cranky as well (she had a short nap) and I went through a battle feeding her dinner. That made me so unmotivated to do anything and I skipped BOOTYCAMP. This is the first time I didn't go to class just because I didn't feel like it.

So, of course, I was feeling extra guilty due to my treat and lack of exercise. My hubby was so nice and offered to run a 5k with me, which we haven't done in a while due to my busy schedule.

All dressed up for an outdoor run! I tried looking excited but I felt like crap inside...

It was a beautiful night. The air was cool but not freezing. It was beautiful seeing all the fall colours in our neighbourhood. There is an intersection down the street from our house that has four Maple trees on every corner and it was so much fun running through the crispy yellow and orange leaves each time. We ran around the block 5 times which made it a 5k or 3 miles.

After the run I felt awesome! I was pumped to do some ab workout. I particularly love doing Ab ripper X from the P90x program (which I plan to do this November). But before I could even take my sweater off, I started sneezing consecutively. Then my nose itched like crazy (it still does) and started running like a faucet. I tried ignoring my runny nose while I did Ab ripper because I didn't want to lose my new found motivation.

After the run and ab ripper, I felt amazing! Well, except for the sneezing and a faucet-like nose.

My hubby joining me in my post-workout photobooth pic. I wouldn't have sweat today if it wasn't for him!

Now, as I'm sitting here typing, my nose is still running like a faucet and I have my tissue box close by. I feel totally fine otherwise which makes me seriously think I'm allergic to FALL!!! Last spring, I had the same symptoms that lasted till summer and my doctor said it was just allergies and gave me some nose spray. I seriously can't believe I'm totally allergic to nature. FALL is so beautiful and I was sooo looking forward to running every other night after BOOTYCAMP ended. But, I will still try running outside later this week and I'm hoping that my run tonight and my runny nose was just a coincidence.

I hope you guys enjoy the rest of the week and the beautiful FALL weather.

I'm feeling guilty

I am such a grouch when it comes to the weather. It's getting a lot colder now and here I am complaining how chilly it is outside. I even posted and grumbled about working out on a cold, rainy night. Now thinking back on how my attitude was, I am feeling so guilty... Why do you ask?

3 words: TYPHOONS IN PHILIPPINES

While I am being grouchy about being cold, my home country of the Philippines is a disaster area and it's people are dire need. The capital of Manila alone have hundreds of thousands of people homeless and hungry because of the worst flooding they encountered in years. Hundreds of people have died in the process and hundreds more are missing. More deets in this article here.



If you would like to donate, it would help out a lot. Another Super Typhoon is on it's way right now, and I'm just praying for everyone in the Philippines be blessed and have God's protection.



To make an online donation in Canada through Canadian Red Cross, select 'Philippine Typhoons' in the funds designation option.



To make an online donation in US, you can select the International Response Fund option in the American Red Cross site.



Now tonight, I will definitely brave the cold when I go to Bootycamp and not complain about it. Even when I strip down to my t-shirt to get my MEASUREMENTS! (I will surely write about it on the next post)

I am so blessed living in Canada compared to my fellow Filipinos back in the home country. Aside from donations, they are also in my prayers and I urge everyone to pray for them as well. God said in his word that there is definitely power in prayers and if you ask, you shall receive.

I pray that those who have lost so much in the flooding will RECEIVE bountiful blessings from the Lord.

All photos taken from Yahoo News Photos

Bootycamp in the rain

I am here on my bed, all clean and showered, warm and in my jammies. Well, I was in a complete opposite situation just a few hours ago.

Photo credit: here

It is bootycamp night and today, the weather network called for rain. Bootycamp has a hotline that you can call to know if your class is still ON based on the weather. They only cancel a class if there are thunderstorms. I probably called the hotline about 4 times just to check if I should go to class. And of course, the class was still on as scheduled. And I really didn't want to go!!!! It was freezing outside today (probably even colder now). It was 9 degrees Celcius (48 degrees Fahrenheit) around 8pm tonight. I seriously could not imagine working out in the freezing rain, in the dark!

What saved me from the cold and from being wet tonight (my top half) is a ski jacket! I don't have a rain jacket and I dug in my closet to see what kind of jacket or sweater I could use for a rainy bootycamp. I saw a ski jacket (that is actually my sister's that she only wore once) and thought it might work.

My jacket doesn't have the square patterns and it's a light brown, almost beige but similar style
Photo credit: here

It's a Orage jacket and it kept me from being cold and wet all night. After my body was warmed up from all the running and push ups and lunges, I zipped open the vents which open from the back of the arms all the way to the back side. I kept myself from overheating by just wearing a t-shirt and sports bra underneath. Now if there is a way to keep my bottom half warm and dry, that would be awesome. I use my Reebok runners that are mesh to ventilate your feet when working out, and man, my feet were soaked the minute we started running around the field. And of course my butt and my legs were completely soaked as well because I was just wearing my Lululemon yoga pants.

Photo credit: here

Photo credit: here

Here's a rundown of what we did last night:

• Lots of running, about maybe 4 huge laps around the park in total (other than the other runs stated below)
  
• Lunges and push-up drill (2 lunges, 2 push-ups until you reach the other end)
• A running and push-up drill, total of 90 push-ups
• Squats, plyo lunges, bicep curls, pop sqauts, tricep with bands for a minute each and running a lap in between.
  
• Partner table pose with dips (one person goes into table pose while the partner goes into a plank and puts their legs on the person doing the table pose)
• Plank, Side plank with variations, and lots more ab workouts

Oh and I have to tell you about my Yoga mat!!! I recently bought it from Lululemon a week ago and I wish I got it a long time ago. It's so awesome!!! It is non-slip, I mean it is so non-slip that in the soaking rain, I was able to stay on the mat and it gripped me no problem. I like it when I do yoga to because you can use the lines on the mat as guide for your alignment. Also, it costs just about 5 bucks more than the ones in Walmart so it is a pretty good deal. And the best thing of all, it's pink!!!


So basically that was my first night of cold and rainy bootycamp. I am also signed up for October so I guess this is just the taste of the cold weather to come.

How about you guys? Do you ever work out outdoors in the cold or in the rain? I am curious about those people who run in the winter... How do they do it?