P90X!

The hubby and I are starting this long 3 months of painful and hopefully rewarding journey called P90x!

We were on our 3rd workout last night which was Arms and Shoulders and Ab Ripper X. 

It was EXTREMELY HARD!!! I already had tremendous amount of muscle pains from our 1st and 2nd workouts and I could barely do the full reps.

I'm so glad though that I have a GREAT WORKOUT BUDDY! I definitely think that this time I will stick and follow through the program because of my hubby's support. (This is the 3rd time I'm attempting to do P90X)

If you haven't heard of P90X yet then just turn on your TV and for sure you will come across it in an infomercial. I must say that this is the one of the many infomercial products that impressed me. (I have the Jack Lalanne Juicer and it's great!)

Well after the workout I was feeling famished so I had a little snack.

This is my first time trying Kashi cereal and it is DELISH!!! I had it with skim milk and it hit the spot.

Although I noticed that this particular variety is pretty high in Calories but I'll look around in the grocery store next time if they have a much more low calorie kind of cereal.

Well tonight I have Bible study and Yoga X in my schedule. I tried Yoga X many times before and it is my favorite out of all the P90X workouts! It always gives me a great night's sleep which is great because I have to be in my office 7:45 am tomorrow!!!!

I hope you guys enjoy your weekend!!!!

Easter Weekend

Right now, I am blogging from my living room while my DD naps... I love that I got today off!!! Well, I think I was pretty much entitled to it since I worked hard last Saturday.

Anyways, I want to share how my weekend went down:

FRIDAY:

I have been helping out with our Church's youth comittee and that day was the final rehearsal for Saturday's Big event called "DISCOvering Jesus". It's a dance where our Church's youth gets to invite their friends from school or neighborhood. The purpose is to bring light to who Jesus really is and to break that stereotype that Christians are boring, strict and just sing and dance to "Jesus Hallelujah songs".

So before we headed to church for rehearsal I took some pics of my DD wearing her sunglasses:

The weather was so beautiful it really felt like it was summer time! Normally in April there would still be snow on the ground. But last friday it was warm enough for me to wear crop pants and a tank!

The rehearsal went well and we were all so psyched and pumped for the event.

SATURDAY:

I got up at 6:00 in the morning because I had to work that day! I work at a medical office and we were overbooked with appointments that day.

After a stressful and busy morning at work, I got out at 2 pm and went to Subway with my hubby and DD for lunch. Then we went straight home to get ready for the night's event.


We managed to get to the hall eventually after some trouble picking up brochures printed at Staple business depot. They had a "Malfunction" and didn't have our brochures printed! We had to wait but it was really no biggie because everything turned out fine.


The event was so much fun! We had tons of thing lined up in the program and I think the guests really enjoyed themselves. There was a great inspirational message from our guest speaker JJ Honasan, a young pastor from another church. That dude was awesome, I have never seen so much energy come out from one person! He definitely has a true passion and love for Christ and you can totally see that just by having a simple conversation with him.

My hubby also told his testimony and I think he did great. I know he had been nervous and unsure to what to say because he does not want his past to outshine what God has made him today. But at the end I think he gave the right impression in his message.

I as well spoke on stage, but not to give a message. All night I scouted for my nominees for the best dressed male and female. I based it not only their attire but also their presence, confidence and composure. I called out my 4 girl nominees and my 4 boy nominees and let them all battle it out with a catwalk. The audience picked the winners and but I think everyone was dressed their best that night!

Then of course it wouldn't be called DISCO if there was no dancing involved! Everyone hit the dance floor and there were a few krumping and breakdance battles going on... it was pretty sick. Man, these kids today are way too talented. Here are some pics:

SUNDAY:

This day was pretty chill and we got up really early to go to church, despite of the late our late night. It was EASTER after all! The service in church was great and touching. It was a really big celebration with food and refreshments after the service. It was nice to go around and mingle with the people there.

For dinner, we headed over to my Father-in-law and his fiancé's place for a big Easter dinner. They have a huge trampoline in the backyard that everyone loves and my DD had a great time burning of some energy there! Good thing the weather was still very summer like and it was really nice being outside in the backyard.

The dinner was totally delish like always. And of course we had an awesome selection of desserts as well. I gave in to the berry trifle and a really small square of cheesecake and it was sooooo goood! Sorry I don't have pics of the food but it was pretty hectic feeding myself and my DD at the same time.

My DD got really super hyper after dessert plus getting a Chocolate Frog from her Grandpa. She was running around the whole place! I was just glad that she didn't break anything and didn't annoy their other guests. But eventually she crashed on the couch by 10 o'clock (which is 2 1/2 hours past her bedtime!). We all headed out as well soon afterwards but it was really nice to see everyone there and spend time with that side of the family.




Whew that was a really long post! I started this Monday afternoon while my DD was napping and well, I had to stop because she woke up. Now it's Tuesday night and I'm about to start P90x with the hubby ( I will surely update you with that)

Well, that was my wonderful long Easter weekend and I really enjoyed it a lot... 

How did you spend yours?

Good Friday

I wish everyone a great Good Friday and I would like to share this with you...

By His Wounds

Loved Home For Sale

Our house is out in the market for sale! This is such a big step in our lives because finally after a year of hard financial starvation, we are being blessed and will be house hunting in the Big City.

Original from here

Our house was bought by my hubby before we got married and it is in a smaller city about an hour away from Toronto, where we are from. I moved in with my hubby right after getting married and this is the house where we started our married life in. We got pregnant and became a family in this house. I really cherish the memories I have there from preparing our home for a baby to learning the ropes of being a new parent. The neighborhood was so peaceful and so is the city itself. 

At the house: Our first Christmas married and 3 months preggy

Enjoying the summer at the lakefront close to the house, almost 9 months preggy

At the house: DD's first time in the snow at the backyard

Unfortunately, I was having the hardest time adjusting living there so far away from my parents and my friends. It didn't help either that I couldn't find a job there as well. So when my daughter was only 6 months old, we decided to move back to the Big city with my folks. They are very generous to have us there and we got comfortable in their big home. We eventually found someone to rent our house for the time being.

For over a year we have been debating of moving back or selling the place. And I think God was telling us to stop planning and worrying about our future and just take a step of faith. And so we did. 

The house is on the market now and as soon as we get it sold, we are looking to buy a permanent HOME in the big city. Somehow, it all made sense and God's plan for our family unraveling before our eyes. Now, I'm not expecting for things to go smooth sailing but as long I trust in Him, He will get everything done in his time.

Body Image

Like any other girl, I have struggled with body image my whole life. I have always thought that I stood out from my peers too much.

Being 5'6 tall at the time when I was only 13 years old, I was a giant compared to the other teeny tiny girls in my school. Because of my self-consciousness of my height, I automatically assumed I was FAT and BIG. Not only that, my built and my genes were a lot different than girls my own race. See, I'm Filipino and 99% of Filipinos are short, petite and THIN. Unlike me, who is, TALL, CURVY (darns those big hips of mine!) and NOT THIN. Being different, made me SUPER INSECURE.

Grade School Grad

Last year of high school

 

Modeling gig at around 13 yrs. old

Lately, I have been looking at pictures of me when I was in grade school and high school (Thanks to the tagged yearbook pics on facebook). I looked at myself and I thought, I LOOKED GREAT! What the hell was I thinking? I was not FAT at all! Yes, I was TALL, I towered over all the people in my school, even the boys. But I was not even close to being overweight. In fact, I want to look like I was exactly when I was 15 because I was probably 20 lbs. lighter than I am now.

 PROM!

Now, let's fast forward to post-baby. Boy, was I BIG. I never thought I could lose all that weight. I was so depressed after 3 or 4 months after my DD was born because Jessica Alba already posed bikini pictures of herself 2 or 3 months post-baby and I was still carrying 30 lbs of baby weight on me. (And I really dislike Jessica Alba just for the fact that my hubby had a crush on her during her 'Dark Angel' days, even though I loved the show myself). I got so fed-up with not having anything to wear other than yoga pants, that I finally decided to make proper use of those yoga pants instead of wearing them for everything else.

DD at 3 months old

It was a long journey of painful muscles, learning how to run, eat well and not succumbing to temptations. And after 5 months of living healthy and being fit, I was back into my skinny jeans. What I am most proud of now, is not the weight loss, but gaining the realization that REAL WOMEN don't lose 30 pounds the day their baby comes out. It is so screwed up that celebrities who just gave birth work out to death even before they are suppose to (Rule is check with the doctor or 60 days after birth). And they show off their amazing transformation to the world by saying 'I just ate healthy and did pilates', or something along those lines. In reality, I was a breast-feeding mama, who woke up every 2 to 3 hours to feed, with no Mom, friends or nannies to help me out. I could barely find time to sleep or make dinner, let alone workout.

Now (I didn't realize my hubby was in the background until I uploaded this)

Today, I am happy to say that I love my body that way it is. I have a realistic expectations and goals about my health and where I want to be fitness wise. Looking thin just comes second, it's how I feel that matters.

Right now, I feel healthy although a bit weak because my lack of workouts. So, I am just striving for that great 'I FEEL SO STRONG ' feeling rather than obsessing about the scale. Honestly, I haven't looked in the scale for 2 months now but my smallest sized jeans still fit, so that's a good sign.


I love to hear some of your thoughts about body image and maybe even some stories your willing to share similar to mine. It's going to be a long wonderful weekend coming and I just want to greet you all a

HAPPY EASTER!!!

My weekend is jampacked with church Easter celebrations, a birthday party, Youth Church event and half day work in the office on Saturday! Wish me luck getting a workout in. But I will sure try my best and let you know how it will all go down.