How I Lost 4 Pounds in 3 Days

Let me share with you what I did in order to lose pounds quickly. It may seem like crash dieting (which, depending on the person, is possible), but in my case, it didn't feel like crash dieting because I still needed to watch what I eat afterward.

If you're interested in dropping a few pounds before an event or a trip, you can try doing what I did: Military Diet.

No, military exercises are not needed, although the diet encourages exercise of any form. In my case, since I am really really really busy nowadays, which is also one of the reasons why I gained weight, I didn't have time to do formal workouts but I still tried to move around.

It sounds like crash dieting in a way that your calorie intake will lessen. But unlike other diets, it does give you the nutrients that you need.

This week was my second round of Military Diet. During the first week, I followed it religiously. But I got hungry all the time, so for my second round this week, I decided to modify it according to my needs.

I repeat: This is a MODIFIED version of the original Military Diet, allowing for afternoon snacks.

First, here's the menu for the original Military Diet, which I followed to a tee last week:

Image from Vicki Tuell on Pinterest

I began my diet on a Monday, and I was 60 kilos then (ouch). On Thursday morning, after completing the diet, I was only 58 kilos. I lost 2 kilos or 4.4 pounds.

Another vital component of the diet is that on the days following it, you should not exceed 1500 calories a day.

This week, I slightly modified the diet and allowed some snacking in the afternoon. I also replaced some foods into more filling ones (e.g. saltine crackers to whole wheat bread). Here are photos of (almost) everything that I ate during the 3-day diet:

Balik Alindog 2015

Hi friends, how was your weekend? Mine was spent entirely at home for some reason. I have separation anxiety na with the mall. Chos.

But I have several stories to tell. Let's begin with my newest journey to lose weight.

I love you, goodbye.

See, I checked the scale and found out I am now more than 10 kilos heavier than I was the year I gave birth. While some women want to have their pre-pregnancy weight back, I want to go back to my post-pregnancy body. I posted this photo during last year's attempt to lose weight and I'm posting it again:

Sorry for the bagong-gising face, but look at those arms. Well, one arm. Oh those arms. I want them back! Haha. Kasi that's the slimmest I've been throughout my adult life. Thank you, breastfeeding! And I'm determined to lose weight again and keep it off - for real this time.

I attempted to lose weight last year. But even if I consistently worked out and ate healthy, I had to stop during the notorious rotational brownouts in the city. We had 7-hour daily brownouts and I just didn't have the energy to work out and diet anymore. That caused my downward spiral.

Hopefully, the situation this year will be different. For example, I'm taking it easy this year. I just started working out last week and I didn't do the 45-minute runs I used to do last year. I think rigorous exercise would only burn me out and I might quit easily.

So what I'm doing now is using this nifty app called Sworkit. I love it. It's nicely designed (important app criterion!) and easy to use. Best of all, it has a wide variety of exercises and I can choose my comfy level. Oo, beginner. Haha!

Green Eggs and Ham! And Red Rice!

And homemade oatmeal cookies. And fish. And native chicken. And lots of fruits and vegetables.

That's what I have been eating these past days. (Of course, except the green eggs and ham. But I'll get to the green eggs part later.)

I know I promised to make a followup post for Finance Friday today. You see, last week, I talked about the secret key to wealth. It is not my mostly read post so far, but it garnered some of the widest and meaningful reactions in social media. It is also one of my most widely shared posts. And that's great! This is because it means that a lot of us are becoming more aware (or more concerned) of our actions and how it can affect us in the long-term.

Then, I promised that this week, I will talk about the tips that one can use to utilize the power of that "secret key." But I've been churning out one heavy post after the other this week, and I can't manage the weight anymore! I really need to write something light muna!

Monday - School Blues
Wednesday - Priest vs. Single Mom
Thursday - Bad Influence

So, again, let's talk about something light for a change? What about our diet change? Hee hee.

Since the beginning of this month, we have begun eradicating processed foods from our diet. It is a hard change since we all have been using processed foods since, well, birth. What fueled it is my parents' 11-day diet plan. They consulted this clinic, had a complete body analysis, and received a specific diet plan good for 11 days. Of course, damay-damay na. And I'm so happy because my Balik-Alindog program was "naudlot" and I can finally continue it without the temptations around!

I'll talk about our specific diet changes in a future post (I need to compile more photos first). For now, here are some of the "major" changes we've done:

Any household with a toddler would know how important cookies are. Please tell me you're agreeing with me!

It's So Hard to Diet

I started watching what I eat back in February.

I was so vigilant then on eating only healthy and real foods - as much as possible, no processed ones.

Until March came. And we celebrated Yuri's birthday, my sister's graduation, and, generally, just enjoyed summer. Suffice to say, I was eating my heart out almost every day.

After I celebrated my birthday a week ago, I told myself that would be the last time I would eat, drink and be merry. After that, I will just be merry (and, of course, eat and drink healthy). However, my plan was thwarted when just this week, I saw these different dishes on the table on different days:

 Munchkins

 Custaroons

 Can you guess what it is?

 Mama's moist chocolate cake

 Macaroons

 Oh noes

Kare-kare

These are only some of the un-healthy foods I've eaten just this week. I wasn't able to take a photo of the pork sinigang and the lechon manok. And I can already feel it in my body! I didn't check my weight but I do feel more sluggish these days. Oh no!

Frankly, the only "relatively healthy" meals I've eaten these days are these:

Overnight oats in chocolate and peanut butter

Mangoes

And more mangoes (From my Instagram account, @maanlaxa)

But even if the last photos depict healthy stuff, they are still sweet and need to be regulated. So tell me. How on earth am I gonna start eating healthy? It's so hard!

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Our Sunday in Photos (Plus SmileBrilliant Giveaway Winner!)

Yesterday, Sunday, was Araw ng Dabaw. We don't usually join the city's festivities mainly because there are a lot of people on the streets and it would be too hot. However, we usually go to malls because, well, the sales are there!

I was especially anxious to go to SM Lanang yesterday because I know there would be a Davao Gourmet Collective. I really, really, really wanted to buy Davao-made chocolates, whichever company would be exhibiting there.

Here's my little boy with his "baha" pants. I think the outfit is very summer-y; the only thing missing is a pair of open sandals! That's my sister sporting the peace sign.

Me and my widow's peak

Upon arriving at SM Lanang, I made a beeline to the atrium and looked for the Davao Gourmet Collective. Lo and behold, there was none. I thought it was held in another location in the mall so I asked the ladies over at the information booth.

Me: Miss, may Davao Gourmet Collective today?
Miss: Ha?
Me: Davao Gourmet Collective? Saan?
Miss (turns to the other miss): Collective daw?
Other miss shrugs
Miss: Wala man ma'am

Imagine my despair (yes, despair talaga!) when I heard that. All week long, I've been waiting for Sunday to arrive just so I can buy chocolates. Tapos wala daw? I'm sure there was a collective because I follow SM on Instagram. How could this be?! Chos!

Anyway, we were really hungry because we didn't have lunch yet. It was already 3:30 in the afternoon. Due to hunger, we decided to just go to Giligan's to eat comfort food. No time to pick new restaurants! I also knew I wanted to eat sisig because I was stressed about the DGC. Hehehe.

Garlic Chicken

Pork Sisig

Gambas

Everything we ordered was yummy, and that was not just because we were very hungry. The gambas was especially delicious, while the sisig was crunchy and very chicharon-like. Sinfully delicious. Even the little boy was enjoying himself:

Fun and Frugal Finds for February

I didn't realize it was March already when I blogged last Saturday! Oh well, I think February is used to this kind of comment. So what are my discoveries for this month (mostly from the grocery) that wouldn't burn holes in your pockets?

Soyfresh Soya Milk

Bought: Gaisano Mall
Price: Around P65 for 1 Liter

Story: Some of you know that I'm unabashedly giving Yuri fresh milk (we can't all be super parents); however, I immediately stopped it when I found out cow's milk is a mean phlegm former. So I switched.

I was really looking for almond milk because I also heard soy milk contains a lot of hormones. However, when I saw the Blue Diamond brand, Almond Breeze, nanghina ako. Around P120 for only 350 ml (not even half of a liter). Err, hormones it is!

(PS: I'm planning to buy cashews to make my own cashew milk.)

Verdict: Delicious! It's not as rich as cow's milk, but it does create a nice impression of chocolate. Even Nina, Yuri's ka-age friend, liked it!

SansFluo toothpaste

Bought: Gaisano Mall
Price: P90

Story: Wala lang, kailangan lang ni Yuri ng new toothpaste. I want to try another brand and this is the most affordable option that time.

Verdict: We're still waiting for our Tiny Fangs toothpaste to run out, and we haven't used it yet.

Breakfast Choice Cereals

Bought: Gaisano Mall
Price: Crispy Rice around P65, Oat Rounds around P80 - both buy 1 take 1!

Story: I'm a sucker for buy 1-take1, and when I saw that the cereal I used to buy was on promo, I didn't hesitate. I also got two other boxes for the price of one!

Verdict: I like both cereals because they're not sweet. Yuri snacks on the Oat Rounds as is (no milk), while I like making homemade rice crispies from the rice cereal.

Good Sense Strawberry Yogurt Pretzels

Bought: Gaisano Mall
Price: P110 - buy 1 take 1!

Story: I was looking for alternative snacks for Yuri because Sky Flakes, despite its yumminess, is simply not healthy. I stumbled upon this first on the regular-priced rack but, luckily, I found some on promo. Thank you, Lord! And did I tell you I'm a sucker for buy 1-take 1?

Verdict: Wow, yummy! The strawberry yogurt coating is not so sweet; it's just the right blend of sweet and tangy. Yuri eats a lot of these in one sitting, but it's okay because they don't have much sugar.

Kablon Farms Pineapple Jam

Bought: SM Lanang Premier grocery
Price: Around P65

Story: I was also looking for homegrown organic products and learned about Kablon Farms. Situated in South Cotabato, they manufacture products straight from the local farms. I love local farms in Mindanao because, more often than not, their products are organic. So next time, before you consider imported products from Healthy Options, support local first!

Verdict: Forget about commercial, sugar-laden jams. This is simply fruit in a bottle. The organic pineapple is crushed and, I think, no artificial syrup has been added so it's basically just pineapple. Yummy and refreshing!

Del Monte Fruit Snack

Oplan Balik Alindog - Updates

Hi! Happy Monday! How was your weekend? Mine was uneventful, but I did spend my Sunday eating as much as I could eat.

You see, I just unofficially declared Sunday my cheat day. Yes, I'm serious about losing weight, but I still love eating! (There must be something done about this.)

Before you get the idea that I'm making an update because I've already lost weight, well, I don't think I already have. Ang hirap! When you plan to diet and exercise with a toddler around, it's so hard! Or at least in my case.

So that you gain a bit of an idea as to how my weight loss journey has progressed so far, let me tell you the story through photos.

On good days, I'm able to exercise while Yuri is still asleep...

At first, I tried my old style of exercising (a lot of running in place and jumping jacks, basically cardio). Brings back memories of my summer days during high school when I faithfully exercised!

It would be nice to have a thigh-gap...

I also tried the 7-minute exercise app on Android, and, man, was I out of breath. I'm seriously out of shape!

Post-exercise selfie

However, I recently found out that exercises like this strengthen the body but do not affect our metabolism. I also noticed that after doing it, I was only dizzy and I did not really feel the burn, you know? So it's back to boring old cardio routine for me!

On some other (equally good) days, though, when I begin exercising, this happens:

And this:

Leave me alone, Yuri:

Just kidding.

And, finally, on weekends,I wake up with the intent to exercise but cannot because here's what I see:

An intruder!

Make that intrudersss!

Now, for food intake, I still count calories (but still often overeat). I've switched from my mobile app to MyFitnessPal because it has a lot of features.

For example, a lot of Filipino foods are in their database, unlike my mobile app where I often had to choose what seems to resemble what I just ate. This led to incorrect readings.

I also liked how it also tracks my water intake. I seriously need to improve on this area, too!

(Hopefully, my accountability partners would create accounts din.)

As for my diet itself, like exercising, there are good days...

Oplan Balik Alindog / Paandar 2014

Most, if not all, New Year's resolutions include losing weight. Mine usually did except for two years: the year when I was about to give birth (2012) and the year before Yuri turned 1 (2013).

The first year was a no-brainer because I was about to pop. Losing weight was the farthest thing from my mind. In fact, if I remember it correctly, that was the month I was beginning to gain a lot of weight due to pregnancy. I was 7 months pregnant then, and before that, I think I only gained around 15 pounds. By my 7th month, tuloy-tuloy na ang pag-gain.

On the other hand, the second year was a Godsend for me. I honestly thought I won't lose all the pregnancy weight because I've been fat chubby all my life. To my surprise, I did not only lose weight but also went back to my highschool weight. All thanks to breastfeeding! What a God-designed wonder.

So I felt smug. I could eat like a construction worker and not gain a pound - at all! I even lost pounds just by lying or sitting down and feeding Yuri. Here's a photo; I think Yuri was 8 months here:

Pardon the kagigising-lang-face. Just look at those arms.

I weighed just a little over 50 kilos then, which was a lot less than my pre-pregnancy weight. It may be heavy for some people, but I certainly felt lightest! That time was heaven because I was losing even more weight each month for the first year of Yuri's life. I was even scared I'd go too thin so I ate a lot. Ong yobong yobong.

Until one day, I hit a plateau. I didn't lose weight anymore. I thought to myself, okay, let's just keep it steady at 50 kilos. I know the reason I wasn't losing weight anymore was that Yuri was eating table foods already. Still, I didn't make any conscious lifestyle changes. I still didn't lessen my food intake nor did I do decent exercise. I tried to depend on what was left of my breastfeeding to keep me from gaining too much, which I thought was fine.

Isang araw, nagising nalang ako sa katotohanan.

The past year, I knew I was fatter than I was the year before, but I wasn't bothered. Okay, I might have been in denial. As long as my clothes still fit me, I was still fine.

A few weeks ago, Yuri and I went to his pedia to have his last shot. The secretary had to get his weight. Since Yuri wasn't cooperating, what we did was we were both weighed first then I was weighed, and the results were subtracted. Alas, I already weighed 56 kilos!

Uh-oh.

What troubled me was that my pre-pregnancy weight was 62 kilos. I'm so near to achieving that weight again, which I don't like! Also, Job only weighs 58 kilos, so no no no no way! So just very recently, nagising ako sa katotohanan that breastfeeding just isn't cutting it for me anymore. Gone are the perfect days; now, it's time to work it.

The gameplan: Count calories and exercise daily.