It’s my birthday and I’ll blog if I want to. :)

So, today, which is my birthday, is technically my fourth time celebrating it this year. First one was during Innovation Black/Godskitchen Neon two weekends ago. The next one was the surprise birthday dinner at Amin’s, my friend’s boyfriend’s place. Nakakatawa lang na parang days leading to my birthday, I was just feeling crappy and I was thinking na I haven’t really had a surprise birthday thing, usually laging ako nagpa-plano or kasama sa planning. So I’m really, really grateful. 🙂

This Saturday, a day before the b-day, mom came to Manila and we had dinner and watched a movie for some chill celebration. The next day was basically just a family lunch, but what was nice about it was discovering a new resto and just loving the ambiance, the food and the service. I hope more restaurants are like that.

This month, my family and I will be bound for Hong Kong for our annual out-of-the-country trip. After that, I’m planning on hosting a dinner party at my place with my college buddies as my guests. Overnight na din siguro, slumber party of sorts. Depende na lang kung maaaya ko sila mag-swimming sa nearby pool. Bahala na.

Life’s tough. Anniversary pa nung 9-11 attacks sa USA, so I’m definitely thankful din na I’m still alive. And from what happened to USA, I learned a bunch of stuff, most notable is the lesson that we should all be thankful for the life that we have and that we shouldn’t let anything, even fear itself, keep us from living our lives to the fullest.

Party on, mates! Life’s tough, but we’re tougher. Cheers! 😀

Restart and reload

Okay. Last March-April, I was able to at least finish a month’s worth of P90X routines. Sad to say I wasn’t able to continue due to lack of willpower, something that I really don’t have in abundance. I was supposed to restart my get-fitter journey last June, then July came, and now it’s August, and so far, I’ve only been able to do two work-outs. I stopped again. Mentally, I’m not there. I was back in pril, but we had to go on vacation and it kinda made following the routine more challenging.

So, now it’s August 15. A friend is also getting married in 8 months time, which means that I have to look good in a suit (yes, yes, it’s not my day but I shouldn’t look less than stellar). I’m now gonna use this blog in an attempt to document my exercise journey, as it were.

Today is basically Day 1. I weighed myself yesterday and got 138lbs. Not bad, I’m still in my ideal weight range. Two or three weeks ago I was at 143lbs., so basically I lost about 5lbs. but I don’t even know how coz I haven’t really been exercising at all, and I’ve been eating so much food and drinking too much alcohol. Gahd, sana hindi muscle mass yung na-lose ko. I cry.

Kaya ko nga rin pala to ginagawa, basically publicly, para naman mahiya ako. But actually, I really have to do this for myself na. I was overweight during highschool and first year college. Pero nung college, steadily I began to lose weight, combination na rin siguro ng stress, no sleep, no rice and no elevator use. I started school at 189lbs, I graduated at 127lbs. 62 fucking pounds lost! Mukha nga lang akong kalansay, pero anyway, it’s possible. I just really have to be patient enough and mindful enough of what I do.

Yon. Okay, basic and current stats:

Height: 5’6″ | 168cm

Weight: 138lbs. | 62kg

Shoulders: 20″

Chest: 34″

Waist: 33″

Bicep (L): 11.5″

Bicep (R): 11.5″

Day 1: Reduce carbohydrate intake so no rice, and little to no sugar. Reduce bread consumption as well, or if I cannot help it, eat the multi-grain variety. Fundamentally, I’m only allowed mostly protein so I’m limited to meat, nuts and grains. P90X exercise tonight should target Chest and Back, plus a 15-minute ab routine. I’ll also decrease my intake of diet soda and focus more on drinking mostly water.

Onwards! 😀

Thoughts…

One day you’re just living your life, working, interacting with people, smiling, laughing, calling a lover in the middle of the night, or maybe a friend, getting scolded by your parents. Then the next day, maybe even the next minute, poof. You’re gone.

Death is one of the most abstract things that I can possibly name. It’s not that it doesn’t have an explanation (biological functions cease to operate caused by a number of fatal reasons which may be natural or otherwise), but it’s just hard to grasp most of the time. Especially when you do know the person who died, it is really difficult and it takes a long time for acceptance to settle in, if it ever even does. Some people can’t even properly move on years down the line.

This is why I also don’t understand suicide or suicidal tendencies. A friend seriously considered this. I find this train of thought baffling. Some people, they want to live, really live, yet they die anyway from various causes; it can be from a fatal disease. from an accident, or from being murdered, and as gruesome that thought is, it is also a possibility.

I’m not saying I haven’t thought of taking my own life when I was depressed, but I got over those thoughts quickly, because a bigger part of me thinks that the entire thing is just too damn pathetic to be even an option. Sure, I make inappropriate jokes about slashing my wrists, especially during Valentine’s Day (well, I am single), but to me, I wouldn’t ever be serious about killing myself.

Life is a gift. Life is too damn precious just to throw away. And I’ve got so much to live for. We all do. Every day, every freaking minute is a fight for survival. I live to love. To smile. To laugh, as loud as I can. Life is not just about existing. Life, to me, is all about living every possibility, every story. Life is an experience waiting to happen.

We should all be grateful that we get a chance to live our lives to the fullest, as cliché as that sounds. But clearly, I think we owe ourselves that.

Emergency! Emergency!

Read all about it!

I want to ask you right now, if a disaster the level of the recent Japan earthquake/tsunami/nuke reactor instability occurs, are you and your family prepared? Take note, the Philippine government is not as effective as Japan’s, so one can’t really expect much from them.

Tremors happen all the time, but most go unnoticed because they aren’t usually strong enough to cause a calamity. However, recent ones that happened here in the Philippines have been powerful enough to be felt, though they didn’t really cause any damage. Still, it’s enough to get a person like me rattled, and I’m almost usually calm and cool (just don’t piss me off, I can probably tear you a new one). Instead of waiting for Mother Nature to fully unleash her fury like a woman who’s PMS-ing, better prepare an emergency bag. Y’know, just in case.

Some of the things you'll need

So, what should you pack? Just off the top of my head: 3 (or more) days worth of clothing (shirts, shorts/pants, underwear), a jacket, a towel, a first aid kit, toiletries, IDs, important legal documents, flashlights, batteries, swiss knife, water container (with water), metal bowls/cups, utensils, cash (in small bills), cellphone and charger (maybe extra batteries), lighter and matches, candles, N95 respiration mask, gloves, a list of emergency hotline numbers, non-perishable food (nuts, energy bars, granola bars), canned goods with can opener, a sleeping bag/blanket/mat, water purification tablets, notebook, pen, marker, whistle, photos of loved ones for identification purposes… Er, those are all I can remember.

Anyway, you can check this out: http://72hours.org/go_bag.html or this http://journal.drfaulken.com/building-a-personal-emergency-bag/ so you can have more ideas on what to do.

Better be safe than sorry. And there’s no need to be scared if you are prepared, ayt? 🙂