Hungry? Why not munch on something that's both delicious and healthy?
Enjoy a mouthwatering grilled salmon sandwich with horseraddish mustard, Jack cheese and loads and loads of lettuce! It's tasty, it's filling (granted you use whole wheat bread for making your sandwiches) and best of all, it's guilt-free (perfect for those who want to shed off the extra pounds). Oh, and did I say that it's so much cheaper preparing it yourself than having it at a restaurant? Picture this. One slab of salmon makes two sandwiches. A pack of Jack Cheese makes ten sandwiches. A bit of lettuce, mustard and salt and pepper and you're all done. Easy huh? Well then, say hello to a tasty and healthy budget-friendly treat that's easy to make that will sure curb your unhealthy cravings. Now whoever said that healthful treats are boring and bland surely hasn't had something this good.
Excuse the horrible photo. I didn't have my camera when I took this photo so it's all yellowish (my phone's camera makes things appear yellow when taken indoors).
Before the month of July came to an end, I made a vow to go back to eating right and working out not only for vanity's sake, but also for health reasons. As most of you might have noticed, I have been perpetually ranting about my weight gain for the past 14months in a lot of my posts that I felt like I was being too redundant and pathetic for stressing the same thing over and over again without doing anything about it. People around me, especially those whom I see and converse with every single day at home and at work, have surely had enough of my gibbering too much about how much I have grown in the past year even without them smacking me in the head. Thankfully, I got to my senses recently and realized that I've been talking too much about it, almost incessantly, that I figured it's just about time to act on it. I seriously don't know why it took me this long to realize it. Perhaps I was too busy running my mouth to see the picture.
Since the first of August (just the other day), I have eaten no junk or meat apart from fish meat. I have loaded myself with sufficient servings of vegetables and have cut back on my carbohydrate intake (not that I consume too much. I actually don't consume more than a cup and a half of rice daily). Today will be my third day of keeping my vow and I know that today will be a challenge for sure. Being that I work a full 9hours, I usually snack on something unhealthy (courtesy of the convenience store a few steps away from our building) while smashing my keyboard. A call to Mickey Dee's or any fastfood chain would be the next best thing to having a full meal for dinner, but not anymore. I will have to either prepare something for me to bring to work, or make a quick stop at the nearby supermarket and grab a bag of lettuce (minus the caloric salad dressings) and something else (healthy, of course) to stuff my stomach with. Perhaps some of you are now wondering if I will be depriving myself of all the good stuff. My answer, no, not really. I probably will reward myself with a chocolate bar or a small serving of ice cream (my guilty pleasures) once in a while (take note that once in a while is not the same as every day) to encourage myself to continue on with my diet plan.
Along with giving my diet a face-lift, I will also be running at least two kilometers a day to keep my heart, legs and lungs in shape. My daily 15minute-weight-lifting-walk-in-stilettos does not and will never suffice for a good work out. Crunches, stretching, and some basic work out routines will have their share of the 24hours that I get daily.
I know I'm not fat or anywhere close to being so, but my soft spots are starting to frustrate me and kill my confidence. I also know that the 15lbs that I gained in 14months were just meat, added to my bones, and that despite this, I'm actually still a size zero, though just a bit rounder than I used to be. I promise I will not go back looking like a frail and sickly anorexic baby. I'm just going to go back weighing 100lbs (I know I'm supposed to weigh more than this seeing that I'm 5'5, but... ugh. I'm not happy with how I am now) and that's it.
Now that I just subjected myself to scorn and mockery, I better be able to keep this vow for good. I'll update you guys in a month. I should have something to report by then. Be with me
"Thin is in!" is the slogan one food product is screaming out to the public. The commercial degrades people who are unfortunately, "not thin" and highly esteems those that are of course, "thin." This product's disturbing advertisement communicates a very unhealthy message to its audience, the teenagers especially, to replicate a matchstick. It is given that no one would admit to this fact though perhaps some of us are already blindly soaking up the idea that "Thin is (indeed) in." Perhaps some of us ladies have began dumping our chocolate bags, nearly half-empty ice cream tubs, chips, and all high calorie and fattening foods into the garbage hoping to start a diet that is not necessarily healthy, but would incredibly help rid off our excess baggage. You may tell yourself that you haven't done that, but I guarantee you that there was that small voice inside you that told you to do the same. Do I see eyes rolling now? I know, and I should know. I am myself a young lady who just got past her teenage years. I've been there, though I did not do the aforementioned. What I did is perhaps the most stupid and the most unhealthy diet one could ever think of --- "starvation diet" --- I deprived myself of one of man's most basic necessities. Why, you ask? Because just like you, I wanted to look like the next top model. I wanted to be like the airbrushed women I see on those glossy pages. I wanted to be more beautiful than I was because the world worships "waifthin" beauties (think Kate Moss and Nicole Richie). Tell me, who wouldn't want to have a body that is to die for? Who wouldn't want to have a body that guys dream of? Who wouldn't want to have a body that would make guys' heads make a 180 degree turn? Who wouldn't want to have a body that would make guys salivate? If you answered "no" to any of these questions, then you are liar.
Everyone wants to look good, and that "everyone" includes you and me, regardless of gender. Who said guys don't diet? Dudes also go on a strict diet and work out in the gym to develop those "bunlike muscles" on their biceps, triceps and all that "ceps." The equation for men is: diet + steroids/whey protein + gym = perfect body. For women, it is: diet/pills/gym or diet + gym = perfect body. Although liposuction has already become an alternative, I would most certainly go for the second equation for women, as exercise keeps one healthy and fit. Exercising daily will not only help shed off the extra pounds, it will also keep our heart and lungs in tip top condition and strengthen our legs and leg muscles. Results may not come quickly and it may not be that easy to run a few blocks everyday, but exercise plus the right diet will certainly give anyone the body they've always wanted with an added healthy glow.
Now remember, you don't have to be "thin" or "skinny" to be beautiful or to look good. You are beautiful the way you are with a little meat in you. Skinny people are not beautiful, they're freakishly frightening! So don't envy them. Just keep a healthy diet and remember to be active --- exercise your way to fitness and beauty!
"I just got rounder, but I'm still a size zero." - Eva Longoria
Allow me to echo the Hispanic beauty's response to people's comments about her recent weight gain because like Eva, I have noticeably put on a few pounds to my formerly 95pound bod. People around me can't help but notice and comment on how I look these days --- meatier and rounder --- at least, compared to how I looked like four months ago --- skinny, sickly and ghastly. Sometimes I get sick of hearing people say something about the way I look perhaps because it's said in Tagalog. "Tumataba ka" just doesn't come as encouraging or flattering in the least bit. In fact, it sounds way depressing than you can imagine. Let's face it, girls are extremely sensitive about their weight and they flip out at the mere thought of putting some meat into their bones. It's the end of the world for girls to know that they are getting meatier. Sadly, I am one of these poor creatures who get affected by such remarks. But you know what, I'm sure people can do us girls a favor and be kinder by keeping their discouraging comments to themselves.
I know that I'm no longer that girl who looks like she's suffering from consumption. That girl has (unfortunately for me, fortunately for others) added 10lbs to her weight making her look better and healthier according to her loved ones [citation needed]. I am not fat, I know I'm not and I'm far from being fat. Weighing more than a hundred pounds does not make me or any girl fat. I should be weighing 125lbs because I stand 5feet-4inches "short," which means... I'm 20lbs underweight! I'm not fat, I just have to firm my soft spots --- tumtums, arms and thighs. Other than that, I'm perfectly fine.
In reiteration (and conclusion if I may add), "I may be 10lbs meatier, but I'm still a size zero."
