Burning the "Baby"

It's been a while since I've posted anything on here and I feel kind of bad. So here I am, at 4am starting this blog post and I'm pretty sure it'll take some time for me to get this posted on the page; therefore, I am going to make this a good one.

For a while now, I've been gaining weight and absolutely not caring about it. And honestly, I didn't even really feel that bad about my body. Every now and then I'd resolve to work out regularly, eat better... y'know, the usual healthy living resolutions.

A few months ago, me and some friends were out for a weekend and I started joking about my weight, so they did, too. We called it "my baby". It was fine, I didn't really mind until, I don't know, I guess it went a little too far for me. I was hurt when my friend said, "That's the universe's way of telling you that you need to lose weight." He said that after the leg of the couch fell through the floor right when I sat down (we later discovered it fell through the hole in the floor that had been there for a while), and I know he said it totally without the intention of being mean. Right at that moment, my self-confidence was shattered. I came home feeling bad about myself and that comment stuck with me for a while.

I resolved to lose weight. So for almost 3 months now, I've been working my ass off to lose all that weight. Initially, I wanted to get THIN. By the start of the second month, I realized that I didn't just want to get thin, I wanted to get FIT. I wanted to be able to surf well, hike better, run (not even faster, just be able to run would be an accomplishment).

Now, as I said, Sept.9, 2013, day 2 of my 12th week and I've lost 15lbs. I'm happy with that. You know why? Because I've been eating EVERYTHING. I haven't changed my diet... at least not really. I still eat loads of chips, fried food, whatever. But at the same time, I've lessened my soda consumption, increased my water intake, make a more conscious effort to substitute fruits when I get cravings.

My stomach's gotten flatter and I have finally lost "my baby", my butt looks better (if I do say so myself), my legs are all muscle-y, my arms still need a bit of work, but I'm proud of my body. Especially knowing all the hard work I put into it. I stopped working out for other people, and I've started to work out because seeing the changes in my body makes me happy.

I just wanted to share my story and hopefully, inspire people to start working towards the body they want. I know I started working out because someone made me feel bad, but I think the best motivation to get fit is to make yourself happy.

I also wanted to share some things that worked for me and kept me motivated during the first few weeks of struggling to get my ass in gear.

1. Find a celebrity fitspiration that has the SAME BODY TYPE AND SIMILAR PROPORTIONS AS YOU.

Why? Because wanting a VS model body when you've got the body type of a bootylicious diva will just lead to disappointment. You want a realistic and IDEAL body for you. If your body type is similar to Christina Hendricks' and that's the body you want, go for it! (I wish this were possible for me, but I was not blessed with enough curves.)

2. Use that celebrity and make your own motivational posters and MEASUREMENT tracking chart.

This is so that you know what your working towards. I researched Jennifer Lawrence's measurements and used that as my goal. But goal measurements change, and you can adjust accordingly as you progress in your "program". Aside from the chest, waist and hips, include the body parts you want to see changes in on your chart, I included calves because I wanted them to get smaller. I used Blake Lively for others, too. You don't have to stick to one celebrity. And yes, "You fat shit" did motivate me for the first few weeks into my workout regimen.

3. Make a WORKOUT LOG that will last AT LEAST 2MONTHS, log your workouts regularly and put it somewhere you CANNOT ignore at any time of the day.

We're working towards a long term lifestyle change here, so we want our chart to reflect that. Also, by regularly logging your workouts, skip days will make you feel a bit bad every time you see them. Mine is tacked on my cabinet mirror so it definitely cannot be ignored.

4. Do cardio workouts you ENJOY.

Dance, swim, run, jump rope. Do what makes you happy. Forcing yourself to swim when you hate water will turn you off exercising. If you like K-Pop, go watch their music videos and try to memorize their choreography, replaying the video 'til you get it. Run with your dog for 30mins, or skip rope with your kids. Just make sure to get your cardio in.

5. POST YOUR WORKOUT LOG UPDATES ON FACEBOOK.

Or Instagram (Follow me @liao0421), or Twitter (Follow me @stephlleupagus). No, not so you can be a poser about your workouts, it's so that there are people to support you through the process. Also, so you kind of HAVE to work out because you don't want people seeing so many skip days on your charts.

6. REST and don't binge.

I know if you look at my chart above, the first few weeks I had absolutely no rest, but looking back, that's probably why I was so exhausted ALL THE TIME. Give your body a chance to recuperate. At least once a week... twice is better. Wednesday and Sunday, maybe? Also don't use your rest days to binge! Eat what you want everyday, but remember: All in moderation.

7. Research about workouts.

Especially if you're targeting specific areas. There are so many sites that provide target workouts or the best workout for a specific result. Do your homework!

8. Monthly challenges!

These are such a big thing on Pinterest. Workout challenges!

They're a great way to keep you motivated and if you absolutely cannot work in your regular workouts every now and then, these are good.

9. Train for something.

Like a 10k marathon, or a swimsuit competition. These will keep you training hard until those competitions are done, then you just have to train for something else.

10. CONSISTENCY

Me and my sister were talking and she told me, there was a trainer who said that people always came up to her/him and asked what the best way to lose weight was. The trainer answered: "CONSISTENCY". I see the reality of that now. If I didn't dedicate the time I did to workout regularly, I don't think I'd be seeing the results I am today. Keep at it, even if you don't see improvement. It will come, just keep at it. Some people lose the weight right when they start, some gradually, some tighten up all of a sudden right when they're about to give up. SO KEEP AT IT!

11. Do this for YOURSELF.

I was gonna stop at 10 but then realized, this is probably on of the biggest things with this "program". This is going to be a LIFESTYLE CHANGE. This is your life, so do this for yourself. It's so that you'll live a healthier, happier lifestyle.

That's it, I think. Again, this is just what worked FOR ME. I'm not saying it'll work for everyone. Also, I am not licensed in any way, I am not a fitness instructor or anything. I'm simply someone who has found working out to be therapeutic, in a way.

Keep me updated if this helps in any way?

Words of Encouragement

There aren't that many spoken in this house.
I'm just so disappointed in the lack of support and optimism and faith my parents have in me and my sister. It's not that they're not supportive at all, it's that a lot of the time, I don't think they're supportive enough. I know that we might not exactly deserve their encouragement as of late, what with us not being start students, at times not even average, but could you not be so pessimistic?

Seriously. I know you're being honest about our abilities based on our past performance, but could you just not? At least once in a while? Can't you abide by the rule 'if you've got nothing good to say, don't say anything at all' or react negatively? You taught us that, could you live by it?

I'm making my parents sound totally unsupportive. They're not. They're really just, as I said, honest about our abilities based on our past performance.
It's not like they go, 'you can't do it', it's more like they make a comment or a facial expression that we just KNOW is meant to discourage us from getting our hopes too high. Probably so they don't drop and crumble if we fail. Which is a good thing. I guess.

I just wish they were the parents who are just like, 'YOU CAN DO IT!' even if they have no idea what their kids are trying to achieve. Even if it's just once in a while. Or even just once.

I don't think they've ever lied to us even to just let us delusion ourselves into thinking that we could do absolutely anything we wanted.

Anyway, I'm rambling. And I just wanted to dedicate this to my sister. Who has a bright future ahead of her. Know that I believe in you. I do. A lot of other people do too. We're just not wired the way some people wish we were. And they are looking out for your future, in the way you know how, which is just not always in the way you'd like.

Pew Pew take2

 I haven't posted in a while. Partly due to the heat, mostly due to laziness. So again, I'll be updating in a series this week, starting with the Boracay trip I went on with my friends last April 12, 2012.
My friends being Ateneans and an Iska were on break, meaning Jen and I, being La Sallians, had to cut a day or two of class. Supposedly the trip was to bond with one of our friends who's leaving for Singapore later this year, but at the last minute, her parents made her back out... no REAL surprise there.
So anyway, night before we left, we stayed at Phoebe's house. Just because it would be more convenient... and more fun.
Phoebe and Sarah tried teaching me how to play bridge. Which I can beat them at after a few tries. BOOM BABY! We barely slept and Pheebs didn't sleep at all. So yeah, rushrushrush to the airport... Not really, we were pretty chill coz we were super early.
I'll speed through the next part coz I can feel you getting bored.
So we check-in our "luggage", have breakfast at the airport. Chill a bit more, board the tiny plane and fall asleep before take-off. Land at Caticlan airport and wait for the carousel to spit out our bags.
Funny thing though, there was a box of Dove bar soap riding the carousel like nobody's business.
Moving on, we had a short ride to the boat, rode it across to Boracay island itself then shuttle ride to the hotel. Estacio Uno, same place we stayed last time.
We got there at around 9am so we had to chill a bit at the cabana.

Chillin at the cabana with Jen, Phoebe and Patrick. (c)Gai Pardilla

By 10am we were showed to our room, so we picked our beds and took naps til lunch.

Our room. (c) Jenina See

After our nap and lunch, we went out to ride the Zorb. It's this huge plastic bubble that they can either strap you into to or let you slosh around with a bucket or two worth of water, then they let you roll down a hill... try it if you haven't. It's fun.

ZORB! (c) Gai Pardilla

Wet and wild. (c) Phoebe Chua

Sarah strapped in for the dry Zorb ride! (c) Phoebe Chua

We bummed around the rest of the day, had dinner and bonded over drinks. First night was 3 pitchers of Toilet Duck. Which was fun. Bonded with Patrick and Mark. Soldiers fell one by one... survivors: I can't even remember but I think it was me, Gai and Phoebe? Jen broke out in a killer rash, so did Patrick.

Next day we bummed around again but it started to rain. Hard. Which would have been fine. Except we were going to go on a yacht ride with everyone. But we decided to persevere and it turned out fine. It stopped raining by the time we got on the boat and we were able to relax and enjoy the view. Which was awesome, just so you know. I'll post the video of the view sometime this week. Honest.

Row row row your boat! (c) Sarah Liao

Jen, Phoebe and Gai.

Everyone we were with on our trip.

Jen's attempt at being a "photographer". (c) Jenina See

Group pic of me and my girls! (c) Mark Ley

View of the shoreline in party mode.

So yeah, we had massages then went out to eat. Went back to the hotel after and started drinking. Again. Absolut and Jose Cuervo this time. Not really the Cuervo but the Absolut was gone.

Absolut with Sprite and cherries.

We drank til 4am, I think. Again one by one the soldiers fell except for 3 survivors: Gai, Mark and me. We were a bit hungry so we headed to Jonah's for some shake. Yum.

Survivors enjoying shakes from Jonah's.

Went back to the resort and chilled awhile. The two other people in the picture mixed Cuervo into my shake. Dastardly devils. Didn't really matter though, coz I'm strong. Kidding. Anyway. Yeah. We stayed up til around 5:30am. Then that was it, trip over. Back to Manila. Sad story. But super fun weekend.

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Just a quick post to let you know I'm on Bloglovin'.
K. Gotta get back to studying for finals now.
Vlog and blogpost when it's all over.
Honest.

Backtracking at Bratpack: The JanSport Story

I remember my first JanSport backpack...

I got it sometime when I was in 7th grade, my dad had bought it for me. I loved it. It was this abstract designed thing with faces in different shades of blue. I used it everyday after that, my mom would get mad because it almost never got washed. Some pretty good memories with that bag. After a few years though, my mom gave it to one of my cousins. I was pretty bummed out when I found out so said she'd just get me a new one.

Later, me and my mom headed over to Robinsons Galleria. Just to chill a bit. To my delight, there was a store selling JanSport backpacks. The store was Bratpack.

I dragged my mom into the store and did the smug face, complete with the wiggling eyebrows. She just sighed and let me take my pick of which one I wanted.

There were so many choices, it's impossible to not find a JanSport backpack to fit your personality and style. I took forever to pick and I pulled so many bags of the rack, at some point I was afraid the guard would kick me out of the store! But the clerks were nice and assisted me the whole time, they even commented on which bag colors and designs were more popular and which styles would better suit my needs.

So many s-backpack-ular (corny! haha) backpacks to choose from!

Eventually, I settled on the JanSport with different colored patches on it. I use it quite a bit, at school to carry all my books and things, to pack my stuff for sleepovers and even for my overnight trips when I go hiking!

Even my friend brought a JanSport backpack!

I love the fact that all the JanSport bags have a LIFETIME guarantee and that they're all so affordable! Not to mention durable. My backpack has been on so many hiking trips with me, it's hard for me to believe that there isn't even a single tear or loose thread on it yet.
I've been to different branches of Bratpack, and although the one in Robinsons Galleria isn't the biggest, I've got to say that I can't seem to bring myself to buy anything from the other branches. It's probably because of some kind of gratitude I have to the Galleria branch staff for making my crucial hours of backpack choosing fun. And honestly, they haven't let me down yet.

Me, at the Bratpack Robinsons Galleria branch with the JanSport Centennial backpacks!

Recently, I went back to Bratpack Galleria to take pictures and again, I took forever taking the pictures, but as usual the staff was patient and helpful. They even let us move the lights so we could adjust the lighting. (Me and my sister still need to work on our lighting skills though. Obviously.) I wish all the employees of all stores were like this.

Anyway, as I was roaming around the store, checking out the new JanSport bags, I came across these goodies:

Different bags for all your different needs!

There were so many new additions to the JanSport family! I was itching to get my hands on all of them.

First, we've got the Inner Beast Duffle bag. Isn't it just a-roar-able? It's great for the gym or overnight trips with friends! I know that if I had this, I'd be a total gym rat just to show off this bag!

Then, we've got the mini Superbreak and the Wheeled Superbreak. I think these two go together for smart travelers. We've got the super chic rainbow reptile print on the stroller for those trips abroad and the mini backpack to store your passports, wallets and other necessities. Traveling is exciting, but how much better would the experience be with the perfect traveling partners? Your JanSport duo! It's huge and lightweight so you can pack more outfits for the trip or pasalubongs for your loved ones! In fact, I think you can do both. Booyah!

Finally, we've got a classic from the Superbreak line, my favorite. The all-purpose backpack and really, how could you go wrong with that? I love the Alien Green color, but no matter what color or design you get, it's just the right size for everyday use. In fact instead of getting paper or plastic bags for your purchases, you could put your items right into your backpack! More convenient for shoppers (not to mention eco-friendly), especially if you love eating on-the-go since you won't have to juggle your food and the shopping bags.

I feel like, no matter what JanSport bag you're sporting, you're a winner. Why? JanSport isn't just about the bag, it's about the memories you make with it.

The Turnover (Long Overdue)

It's been awhile since I've posted anything so I'm gonna make up for it this week posting about what's been happening in my ever-so-interesting (I wish) life.


Last March 20, 2012 - Tuesday, was DLSU Outdoor Club's turnover dinner! For those of you who don't know what a turnover is, it's an event where those in charge pass their responsibilities onto juniors who they think deserve the honor. So yeah, we had our turnover and it was fun, old officers and current officers, our faculty adviser, and of course the incoming officers were present.
None of the junior officer actually knew what their positions on the org would actually be so we could be "surprised" at the turnover.
The old officers gave speeches and wished us luck on the responsibilities and challenges we will be taking on.
As you all have probably figured out, I am dedicated to all the orgs I take an active part in and DLSU OC is one of them. I don't know if this'll make me sound cocky, but I was pretty sure that I'd become an officer... Ok, it does sound cocky, but that's not how I mean for it to sound.
Anyway, so yeah, I am now VP for Membership Development. And I just want to take this time to say thank you to the officers who gave me this position and felt that I was deserving. I will do my best. I promise. So yeah. 
Here's the list of DLSU Outdoor Club's officers for AY 2012-2013:

Jason Sim, New President beside Lance Dy, Old President
(c)Victor Chan

Tob Castaneda, Old EVP beside Vlad Alcasid, New EVP
(c)Victor Chan

Mem Dev Team: Gerard Buenalor, Old AVP beside Aimee Chua, Old VP beside Me, New VP beside  Justine Ragos and Ryuta Murakami, New AVPs beside Bea del Rosario
(c) Victor Chan

Activities Team: Iris Ang, New AVP beside Ram Manipol, Old VP beside Victor Chan, New VP
(c)Victor Chan 

Finance Team: Crisha Bolisay, Old AVP beside Cz Santos, New VP beside Jason Sim, old VP
(c)Victor Chan

Logistics Team: Jerome Alcasid, Old VP beside Abi Dolon, New VP beside Benj Tuason, New AVP
(c)Victor Chan

Publicity Team: Mico Lorenzo, Old AVP beside Apa Azores, Old AVP beside Eileen Robles, Old and New VP beside Steph Bernardo, New AVP
(c)Victor Chan

Documentation Team: Vlad Alcasid, Old VP beside Laura Cua, New VP
(c)Victor Chan

Socio-Civic Team: Abby Manawat, Old VP beside Larry Sze, Old AVP beside Jodelle Cuanan, New VP
(c)Victor Chan

I think this is still missing a few AVPs and I'll update you when I know for sure. But for the moment, there you go.
Thank you so much old officers for all the guidance you have given us and for all the memories you have been a part of. I hope all of you will still be part of many memories to come and I hope that so many of you reading this will be making new memories with me and the rest of DLSU OC!

The entire crew. I made the Lion, by the way, in 1.5hrs!

Happy Thursdays!

Happy Thursdays are making a comeback in DLSU! So here's another vlog. This time it's with my friend, Ken Vergara. We made it on his Samsung s2 with the Paper Camera app. Pretty cool. Made us look like we had rotten teeth though. Oh well, papel (paper in English). Camera people were Jen See, Nica Villanueva and Albert Uy. At some point Nica and Jen forget that they can be heard on the video, too even if they aren't seen. Sorry for that.
Drumroll please! Now presenting KEN "THE FACE VALUE" VERGARA'S DEBUT ON MY BLOG!

The Totem Pole

Here's part2 of the Zambales trip video installments. This one is of Gerard climbing this tree trunk thing that the Crystal Beach people really meant for the visitors to climb. Cz and Apa were talking about Gerard's intelligence/stupidity as he was coming down.

So there you go. 

The third and last installment, the one that makes the most sense, I think, will be up tomorrow.

175 Degrees!

Spent the weekend in Zambales! The waves were awesome for surfing, but we passed on it and just enjoyed swimming in the ocean. We got eaten by the waves... sounds better in Filipino: Kinain kami ng alon. But I'm too lazy to blog, so I decided to make a vlog on the beach... With Cz, Apa and Gerard. I've blogged about them before if you read the past OC posts. On the way home, we stopped in Pampanga and ate at the original Branch1 of Razon's! Their leche flan on top of the halo-halo were bricks compared to the paper thin slices they serve here in Manila. Don't have pictures of our Pampanga side trip though... Sorry.

My favorite shot from the trip. (c) Isbog
More pictures to come.

So here is one of the videos, I'm gonna post them throughout the week since they take forever to upload. Sorry for the crappy audio, the wind was blowing and all. And for the fact that we're all kinda weird in the video, we're always that way, but more so in this one since we were feeling the beach vibe. Plus, we were kinda high from all the chillin' we got to do.

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Two Hundred Forty Six

It's been half a month since my last blog post so I'll catch you up slowly since I don't think I've got the energy to blog about everything right now.
Let's start with my Anawangin trip last Feb.11-12, 2012 brought to you by none other than DLSU Outdoor Club.
Kudos to Abi Dolon and Laura Cua on the first activity they were in charge of.
To say it was a success is an understatement. It being a beach trip pretty much meant that everyone would have fun without being too exhausted to enjoy the place. Not to say that I'm not able to appreciate the view when I go on climbs. It's just that I'm too exhausted to do anything about it.
We took a boat ride to the cove. Took about an hour? But I loved it. There was a cool breeze and you could see all the shorelines and the endless expanse of blue. Lord, I'm in love with the ocean.
The first few hours after setting up camp-sandy with pine trees, how awesome is that?- we spent swimming, playing volleyball and taking pictures on the beach. After a while we went up some mountain at the edge of the beach. Simple climb, pretty effortless hike, actually.

Chillin on the boat ride. (c)Rod Calzado

View from the boat (c)JR Altarejos

Boats on the shore (c)Ryuta Murakami

Beach in the late afternoon (c)Ryuta Murakami

View from the mini-climb (c)Ryuta Murakami

Campsite (c)Ryuta Murakami

Sari-sari store near the campsite. Where we bought additional "supplies" (c)Rod Calzado

The weekend was fun, spent with old friends and a few new ones, as per usual when you go on OC trips. At night, we had a campfire and a ton of food. It was fun. We played games and all. Even had s'mores... they did, anyway. I'm not exactly a fan of marshmallows.

Laura and Lester, first timer. Siblings heating up s'mores over the campfire. (c)Ryuta Murakami 

There was even a group of guys sexy dancing for each other a few sapces over, lights and music and all. Extremely funny. No pictures though, sorry to deprive you all.

First time anyone went missing on a trip. EhemRamManipolEhem and EhemRyutaMurakamiEhem. Just for a few hours though. Didn't tell anyone they were heading off to wherever. Made Abi cry. Shame on you.

Apparently the lovebirds consummated their love on a night trek up the mountain we hiked in the afternoon, but this time by moonlight... Kidding about the lovebirds and consummation of love, by the way. The idiots didn't even bring flashlights.

View of the campsite from the idiots' evening trek. (c)Ryuta Murakami

Their excuse: "The moonlight was bright enough to guide us anyway".

I wanna smack their heads together.

Deep breaths. Moving on.

Next day, got up, had breakfast, packed up the camp and headed back to the boats for our visit to Pundaquit.

Rise and shiiiine! (c)Ryuta Murakami

An island with a lighthouse. It was... fun? The stairs we had to climb were rickety and rusty and it was pretty nerve-wracking having to climb them. I'm afraid of heights, so I wasn't able to enjoy the view from the lighthouse much. But from my vantage point, it was serene.

The rickety staircase, Gerard and Apa. (c) Ryuta Murakami

Lilai, first timer, and the view from the light house. (c)Ram Manipol 

The group at the Lighthouse.

It was located past a huge deserted house which would have been perfect for fashion photo shoots, if you didn't mind transporting all your clothes and letting your makeup melt before the shoot began, but whatever.

The house (c)Ram Manipol

The hallway (c)Ram Manipol

View behind the house (c)JR Altarejos

So yeah, took the boat over to Zambales took showers, took the bus back to Manila and finished off the awesome weekend. And I'm finally done with the blog post. It's kinda long, but I wanted to make up for the long absence.

By the way, the waves were awesome that weekend, extreme bummer I wasn't able to surf. Oh well. Surfing weekend coming up soon! Awoo awoo awoo!

Another blog post will come within the week. Honest.