Nature’s Wrath

No. We were not victims of these storms. Thank God, my family is safe. Although, I remember Ondoy’s onslaught got me really worried. I have never seen that much rain fall from the sky. When all of that was happening, a small pool of water had formed in our backyard. But we were lucky. If not for the plants that have grown there, that pool would have been a stream of rain water scattering mud on my garage.

We have been watching the news since last week. My wife and I have remained vigilant ever since last Saturday’s never-ending downpour. As I say, “better know something than not knowing anything at all”.

The news have been depressing. Can’t help but feel really sorry for all the misfortune of our kababayans. We must all pray, support or aide those who do help by whatever means, and remain safe ourselves. We don’t want to add the number of people our government has to take care. I believe it is imperative that we take care of ourselves as well! Let us not be a burden.

Media, in all of it’s forms, have shown us the hard realities. The internet didn’t play second fiddle. A lot of images and videos about the storm and it’s casualties have circulated the net.

But we are not alone.

The world, including ourselves, have become witnesses to the effects of nature’s wrath. The earthquakes, tsunami, and storms these past few weeks have rattled us, the human race, as well as our spirits.

Despite of all these negative things, I came across a really funny picture. I suppose the picture was taken during the storm Ondoy. Isn’t it nice to know that despite the sad things that have been happening, some people haven’t lost their humor. Check it out.

So, kinaya mo ba?

Saturday is Grocery Day!

I’m frustrated right now. This is the second time I’m typing my blog entry for today. For some reason, everything that I typed was lost when I saved my blog as draft! Well, whatever.

I know. There’s a storm (Pepeng). But I couldn’t help it! Today’s the scheduled time to replenish our supplies. Besides, we need to buy Carlos’ milk and diapers. I don’t want to go tomorrow (Sunday) for the primary reason that tomorrow is Laundry day. There’s always a day for something. And for us, Saturday is Grocery day!

Apart from myself, my wife, and my son were my mom and my sister. We all agreed to go to Festival Mall in Alabang. There wasn’t much rain (Thank God) but I admit, the wind was a little rougher. Nonetheless it was safe to travel by car. Surprisingly (or maybe not), there were a lot of people in the mall. I neglected to bring Carlos’ stroller because we were in a hurry to leave the house. I thought we’d rather rent one in the mall, which we did as soon as we arrived.

I multiplexed our time in the mall. While my mom and sister were window shopping for girly stuff, I decided to go straight to the grocery store and buy our supplies. Carlos and my wife tagged along with me primarily because my wife loved shopping for groceries as well. For some reason, I find enjoyment in grocery shopping. Ha-ha-ha. Sorry, I just remembered reading Richard Gomez’ blog and he pretty much shared the same thing. Turns out he loves going to S&R to shop for groceries. See? I’m not alone!

After all that, it was the women’s turn to enjoy themselves. This time, they went around to scout for accessories, that was the time it went downhill for me. I got bored. And when I get really bored, I look for something to do or something to eat. Fortunately (or unfortunately), I found one: Marshmallow Strawberry Blizzard.

When I emptied the cup (it was 9 oz), I felt guilty. To make up for that feeling, I told myself I will have to workout tonight.

It was a long day today, but it was all worth it. We replenished our supplies, Carlos’ needs are secure, and we had a good time. New purchases are Corned Tuna, Lucky Me Lomi, and a new flavor of Nestea Fit (Orange Lemon). If you think about it, there’s always something new in the grocery! Maybe that’s why I’m always excited.

Oh well, until next Grocery day! Hope you guys are safe.

What should I write about?

You know, for me the hardest part about writing (a blog) is choosing a topic! Or when I’ve already chosen a topic, is staying on topic!

Why do I say so? Well, it’s like this.

Earlier (this morning) at home, while I was working out, I realized that today is the 2nd day of October (2009). I remembered I wrote about blogging yesterday and I said to myself, wouldn’t it be wonderful if I continue blogging daily? That sounds great! But I asked myself, what should I write about? Aha! I know! I’ll write about my morning routine and my workout of the day!

But later, when I was driving along coastal road, I noticed Uniwide Coastal Mall. It looked so old, trashed, forgotten, and abandoned. I took a picture and said to myself, this is interesting. Maybe I could mention this on my blog.

When I got in the office, I learned about a lot of things about the storm (Pepeng) and Ondoy. That’s relevant and current! I should write something about that!

It never ends. See what I mean?

What the heck! I’ll just write what I feel like writing. Here we go.

I used to weigh myself every morning and update my plurk/facebook status about it. However, I learned that some of my friends don’t like my daily postings which I called weight-check. At the time, I thought it was a clever idea! Imagine how surprised I was when I learned some of my friends reacted vehemently. They found it repetitive, irrelevant, well, to them it was sort of a nuisance. So, I stopped that. Unfortunately (or fortunately), I stopped checking my weight daily as well. But I still do, just not daily anymore. I do it 2 to 3 times a week.

Today’s weight check is 146.4 pounds. Good. I’m still “normal”.

I used to not eat breakfast. Whenever I did, I felt nauseous. That’s why I decided against it. However, I become really hungry just before lunch. So, I end up eating more than my usual which became a habit, which inevitably became my usual.

Anyways, I changed all that. It’ll be another looooong blog just to share what happened and why it happened.

Nowadays, I take a bowl of oatmeal (choco flavor) with water and milk for breakfast. I used to put only water but I discovered that the taste greatly improves with milk. Oh, I don’t just use any milk. I have to use the lactose free kind AND it should be skimmed. Though I could tolerate lactose to a certain degree, a glass of milk has already proven to have disastrous effects on my tummy. After that quick and light breakfast, I rest for a while, then I proceed to do my workout.

Someday, if I see any significant change in my body, I will write about how I did it. For now, I don’t think my transformation is enough to be deemed as significant. Besides, I have yet to lose 10 pounds. If I do, I’ll write about it. But for now, I’ll just share my BodySpace. Pictures that demonstrate my before and after are there.

I’ll write again soon. In the meantime, it’s time for us to watch some of my newest downloads. Hope you liked reading my “journal”. Until next time!

Blogging

I posted this on one of the forums I joined. I’m re-posting this here. It’s interesting to share.

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I’m the type of person who loves to share what’s in my head. Sometimes, even a little too much. Hahaha. Anyways, I love doing that because I find it satisfying, and at times, relieving (when you want to blow off steam). I’m sure I’m not the only one who’s like this in this world and I suppose some of you are like that as well (hoping ).

A couple of years ago, I discovered that I could do this (sharing) through blog. I liked to blog about anything. I also like to read other people blogs, much more, reading high-profile people’s blogs, like celebrities. In a way, it helps me feel like I’m a celebrity (or the other way around, make me think that they aren’t celebrities and they are just like ordinary people like us). Sabagay, they ARE ordinary people like us living in extra-ordinary circumstances.

If you guys have a time, check out my blog. It’s at zer0ice.blogspot.com

Oh, btw, zer0 is spelled as z-e-r-0 (number 0).

And yes, you may click on the ads there if you want (well, you may not, but it’ll really help me if you do).

How about you guys, do you blog? If you do, do you find it enjoyable as well? How did you come up with that?

I’ll share more on my next post. In the meantime, try to enjoy my blog. Ha-ha-ha!

My Transformation

I posted this originally on my BodyBlog. I’m re-posting it here.

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So, this is BodyBlog. I couldn’t believe I’m actually doing this. Ok. Fine. I’m doing this. Yeah, I got curious and I’m trying this just because it’s here. I have my multiply to blog, not to mention blogger and wordpress, so why am I here? Well, again, because it’s available to me, so why not use it.

So, it’s a monday today here in the Philippines. The storm Ondoy (whatever it’s name is) left a whole lot of mess in the region, but I won’t talk about that here. It’s depressing. Anyways, since I’m here at home, I might as well do my workout. One which I “devised” for myself. Better have a plan than not having one, right?

My current weight is 148.8 pounds. I still check my weight every morning even though I don’t blog/tweet/plurk/facebook my status about it (I used to do it every day!) I keep it recorded (in paper) on my “workout sheet” whenever I do my workout. I finally decided to do my workouts every other day. I thought (besides, it IS a FACT) that the “rest” day is important. So why push myself to do more workouts the next day if I won’t gain anything from it.

So I gained. I gained a lot. The lightest weight I had achieved was a little under 146 pounds. It was something like 145.6 pounds I think. I knew I gained a lot because I check my weight after I eat. Sometimes I see my weight shoot up to 150 pounds and something. Man, what have I been doing?! Then I realized that I have been drinking a lot of water lately. I guess that contributed to the weight gain. I drink at least 3 glasses of water on every meal. So, that’s around 9 glasses of water a day. Not to mention some a liter or two of more water I take in between meals. For some weird reason, I’ve been enjoying drinking water (or juice) often. Of course, I also pee often. That’s the “bad” side of it. It’s like every 30 minutes I go and pee.

Anyways, my blog is not about me peeing. It’s more about my “routine”.

I’ve been changing my routine after a couple of weeks. I should be doing that every 3rd week, as what is usually done by practice. Well, I change it whenever I feel like I’m not benefiting from my current routine. Besides, the term plateauing isn’t entirely new in the world of body building. I lift heavier weights now, but keeping the reps low for a while. I don’t want to “force” any gains too soon. I believe I still need to strengthen my core and I don’t think I’ve attained that yet.

I’ve received a lot of responses and reactions about my “transformation” lately. Some good, some bad. I appreciate the critique. I just don’t like the insults or malicious taunts. What’s worst was that some of my old friends just blurt out really nasty jokes about me. I really felt that it was insensitive. Being fat/unfit, having a bad health condition and possibly more future problems with my health weren’t a joke. The transformation that happened during the course of changing my life from being unfit and unhealthy to a fit and healthy lifestyle is not a joke. I am proud of what I have achieved. I dare anyone to taunt or joke about that.

Wow. What started as a blog about my workout morphed into this. Ha-ha-ha! I’ll re-post this in my multiply!

Tweets!

Have you ever wondered if everything we say is limited to 140 characters? Here’s a funny video a friend shared. Ha-ha-ha!

Inspired

It’s been a while since my last blog. I don’t even remember what I wrote last time! Buti na lang talaga na naisipan kong i-open ang Multiply Inbox ko to check out what’s new in Multiply-space.

Fortunately, there were a number of interesting updates/blogs from my contacts. Na-aliw ako talaga kasi very interesting yung mga kwento nila. Thank God sa internet. I thought we all are enjoying our freedom in a different form. Feeling ko talaga, malaya ako.

I had written about my workout routines consistently for the last few months. I enjoyed sharing what I do because I felt so confident. I felt so confident because I could see the changes in my body. Parang may karapatan akong mag-share ng ginagawa ko kasi meron namang results. In this world of ours, people will believe you if they see results. Results mattered. In line with this, I’m going to share the best photos that I’ve collated that represent these results (see below).

However, demanding work schedules and deadlines took it’s toll. I couldn’t blog as frequently as I did. I’m sure you’ve noticed that. Also, in effect, my routine has been affected. I used to lift weight 5 to 6 days a week, but recently I lift 3 times a week. Last week (and prior to last week) was worst. I think I lifted twice, and I don’t even think it I did complete workouts.

Then I came across a blog by one of my contacts. This guy shared his story of how he had successfully lost 50 pounds through biking and exercise. He was fat, he said. And when he lost all that fat, he swore he’ll never be fat again.

I thought that was inspiring. Wow. He promised himself he’ll never be fat again! It came out strong and determined. Like nothing is going to stop this person pursue his goal: to be consistent, steady, and headstrong. I want to be like that.

So, I told myself, I can do it too! I’ve done it before why change now? I can be strong. Determined. Consistent. Headstrong.

Thanks Alex for that blog. It rekindled the fire that I have in me. I swear, I’ll never be fat ever again.

BER months

First of all, I’m sorry everyone. I know I haven’t been posting as religiously as I used to (which was everyday). I’ve been busy with a lot of things and that’s not just work. Also, I’ve a lot of things on my mind lately. It just seems like 24 hours isn’t enough. Maaaan. Time flies!

So, it’s September. Yeah. It’s the start of the “BER”-months. That would mean there’s just a few months before the year 2009 ends! But before that, most importantly, that would mean Christmas is around the corner!

I know I should be grateful for what I have right now. There are a lot of good things in my life to be grateful for. First and most importantly, I have my family. They are all healthy. I’ve never rushed any of my family, especially my son, to the hospital for an emergency. Also, I have to be thankful that I have been able to turn my health around. However, I do spend a lot from the medicines I am taking but my doctor is decreasing the dosage now. I think I’m on the right path to great health!

Maaaaan… it’s late. I haven’t been able to exercise again. I’ll try to make up tomorrow. I really need to.

Oh! Oh! I’m going to try a new diet starting tomorrow (oh, that’s today)! I’m trying a no-rice diet. But I’ll be eating more fruits though. If that plan fails, I’ll settle with a half-cup rice instead.

Wish me luck!

Nerves…

To tell you honestly, I don’t know if I really should blog about this, but I just can’t contain myself. Last night, I just couldn’t sleep. It was already 3 in the morning but my mind was still racing. There were so many questions in my mind! Anxiety attack? Well, you can call it that. I thought to fix myself a drink to keep me calm, but that didn’t work. So what was I so worried about?

Last week, I got a call from someone asking me if I’m free to be scheduled for interview (for a job opportunity), of course, I said yes. And because I was so eager, I even asked to be scheduled with the EARLIEST time slot. Darn. That was stupid.

Sure I finally was able to sleep, but I still got the nerves. As that day approaches, I feel that I’m getting more and more nervous. Why should I? It’s just an interview?! I asked myself, why am I like this? The interview isn’t a big deal.

Well, I think I know the answer. I guess I wanted this so bad that I don’t want to f*ck it up. Worse comes to worst, I might have to stay “here” a little bit longer. But this opportunity is just undeniable. I feel like it’s a “now-or-never” moment. Either I jump in, or be left behind.

I hope everything will be smooth sailing in time for the holidays. Speaking of which, what a coincidence! Today’s the start of the BER-months!

Wish me luck!!!

Post-badminton Workout!

Ok, fine. I wasn’t able to do any workout this morning, but that’s ok. I told myself I’m going to do intense cardio, so that’ll compensate for my “laziness” today.

JC and I worked it out! We won all 3 games we played! Yes!!! I hope we’ll continue with this winning streak over the next few weeks.

I couldn’t help it. I had to workout when I got home. I noticed that my muscles didn’t feel as sore as the first time I played with the guys. I guess the cardio (running on the treadmill for 30 mins) that I’ve been doing the past couple of days have helped prepare me for the intense stop-and-go motion like running to and from the base of the court.

My post-badminton workout:

Exercise	Sets	Reps	Weight (lbs)
DB Presses	5	10	30 lbs
DB Inclined Presses	3	10	30 lbs
DB Lying Pullovers	4	12	30 lbs
DB Curls	3	12	20 lbs
One Arm Tricep Extension	3	12	10 lbs
BD Tricep Kick Back	3	12	5 lbs
Declined Bench Crunches	1	65+5	-

I didn’t do the lateral raises or the side bends. I wanted to save time in the workout and focus on these major muscles.