LOSING IT!...on a midweek

Dear ZJ,

Hoping all is well with you out there.

Over here, I have a fever and a very bad headache. Because of this, I haven't gone to work for two days. As I was drinking iced tea, it suddenly dawned on me that I need to post another entry for LOSING IT!

So, here goes my five-day food diary dated January 19 to January 23, 2013. January 19: brunch was champorado and dinner was nilagang baboy and a cup of rice. January 20: brunch was an egg sandwich while dinner was chicken, rice and a ripe banana. January 21, breakfast was bread and a cup of coffee. Lunch was ginataang puso ng saging and a cup of rice. Dinner was bread, macaroni soup and fresh vegetable salad. By January 22, I had a brunch of champorado and dinner was sardines and rice. Today, January 23, breakfast was the usual bread and a cup of coffee. Lunch was ginisang ampalaya and rice. While dinner (which was served quite early than usual) was steamed siopao and milk. Since I haven't been feeling well for the past two days, I upped my usual water intake and added more fruits (mostly oranges and grapes) to my daily intake. I also sipped on iced tea for refreshment. Although I must confess that I have also increased my coffee intake to 3 mugs a day. I cannot live without the much-sought after coffee buzz.

I think I'm still in a paracetamol-induced state of mind while writing this. Kindly excuse incoherence, if there is any.

BTW, it was nice to read your post once again. Thanks and just keep your posts coming!

These will be for now.
Samantah

Monday Mellow Yellows: Blooming

I feel awful for not blogging last week. I think the raging hormones got hold of me and kept me from doing what I was supposed to be doing last week. 

Anyways, I heard from the grapevine that the hosting of Mellow Yellow Monday meme has changed hands. It is now known as the Monday Mellow Yellows hosted by Gemma. I want to take this opportunity to join this weekly photo meme from now on as I could not keep up with the other memes. Perhaps my partner-in-crime, Sam, will take care of the other memes while I take charge of those relating to photos? Whatchathink, Sam? :D 

Anyways, here's our first entry: 

A tiny ampalaya (bitter gourd) on its infancy stage.

Some two years ago, I met my Thai friend and over dinner we talked about her buying a small piece of land in her hometown in rural Thailand. Now, two years later, a traditional Thai house is already built and not only that, she is growing her own food. She has a nice vegetable garden and keeps several ducks and chickens. I think that's one of the reasons why I got into gardening. Since December last year, I have already picked nearly a dozen ampalayas from this plant, and yet, a lot more flowers are blooming.

Sunday Stealing: The Back 15 Meme

Today we ripped off a blogger named The Ruminator from the blog Random Ruminations. It is 30 questions, But we are only posting the back half. She says she got it from Manasa. But, it was probably stolen there as well. So, of course, that will be as far as we go. Tracing back our theft's thieves might take some time. Take the time to comment on other player's posts. It's a great way to make new friends! Link back to us at Sunday Stealing!

Sunday Stealing: The Back 15 Meme 

15) How do you vent out your anger? I don't usually vent. But when I cannot take it anymore, I just cry.

16) Favourite toy as a child? Toy piano

17) Favourite season? Since, I live in the Philippines (where we only have summer and rainy seasons), I would choose the days with overcast skies, no rainfall and really gloomy.

18) Do you ever get letters delivered by the post office? Yes. Although recently, I have yet to receive letters from the post office. I have been waiting for my Social Security Services ID card  to arrive for some time now.

19) When was the last time you laughed hard? Last Christmas 2012, with my niece and nephews.

20) What is on the floor of your closet? Some old jackets

21) Are you any good at drawing? I can sketch but I cannot really draw that good. Is there any difference between sketching and drawing? :)

22) What did you do last night? Not much, really. Had to sleep early last night because of a toothache.

23) What are you most afraid of? I'm afraid of being alone.

24) Plain,cheese or spicy hamburger? Hamburger that is either plain or with cheese, depends on my mood really.


25) Favourite dog breed? I don't have any pets.

26) Favorite day of the week? Weekends! This is really self-explanatory.

27) How many states / provinces / countries have you lived in? I have lived in the Philippines, all my life. Was born in Manila and I've been spending most of my growing up and working years here in Naga City, province of Camarines Sur.

28) Diamond or pearl? Diamond is a girl's best friend.

29) What is your wish for this new year? The proverbial world peace. Good health for me, my family, loved ones and friends. And a long and lasting love, as the song goes.

30) New year resolutions. To have a lovelife! To be more health conscious. Strive to be happier in the midst of really simple things. To lose weight. To earn more money and to be able to save more.

Saturday 9: Bette Davis Eyes

Welcome to Saturday: 9. What we've committed to our readers is that we will post 9 questions every Saturday. Sometimes the post will have a theme, and at other times the questions will be totally unrelated. Those weeks we do "random questions," so-to-speak. We encourage you to visit other participants posts and leave a comment. Because we don't have any rules, it is your choice. We hate rules. We love memes, however, and here is today's meme!

 Saturday 9: Bette Davis Eyes

1) Has anyone ever told you that you resemble a celebrity? One time, Ive been told that i resemble Lotlot de Leon - a Filipina actress -  for whatever that means. Hehe.

2) Is there an actress or actor whose movies you make it a point to see? Yes, any movie that stars Nicolas Cage. I try to watch his movies whenever I can.

3) We're stopping for refreshments before we go in to see the movie. What's your refreshment stand order? A small bucket of popcorn and Coke.

4) When did you last consume an alcoholic beverage? December 2012. What was it? Vodka with iced tea

5) Are you jumpy? No. Do you startle easily? No.

6) Do you wear a watch? Yes, I do wear a watch.

7) When was the last time you tried a new restaurant? December 2012, At Savory.

8) What color is your wallet? I have a black wallet and a purple coin purse.

9) How much does it have in coins right now? I have Philippine peso bills in my wallet but my coin purse has one hundred twenty-three Philippine pesos (worth of coins in there now).

Still...LOSING IT!

Hello ZJ,

This is another shoutout from my place to yours, with the hopes that you are having a happy Friday night. 

We had a whole day meeting at the office earlier today. Details on Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) and planning were tackled - new information that I have no knowledge about, really. I was in-charge of taking down the minutes of the said meeting . According to our CBR head, I did a good job eventhough it was my first time to be involved in NGO work. Eventhough I was a silent participant in the said meeting, I'm hoping that I will be able to handle all the tasks they gave me.

So much for that. In today's entry for Losing It!, let me enumerate what I have eaten for the whole day. For breakfast, I had 2 slices of bread and a cup of instant coffee (again with creamy vanilla creamer). For midday snacks, it was a 1 Jollibee yumburger (plain, without cheese) and a glass of soft drinks, Sprite. For lunch, I had veggies and a cup of rice. Baduya (or fried ripe bananas in batter) and instant coffee (3-in-1 original mix) was my mid-afternoon merienda. And for dinner, I had 2 slices of bread and 2 pieces of 555 sardines (hot variant). I also munched on a pack of cheese balls tonight. Obviously, I have eaten more than my usual intake for today, lol.

Well, we have survived 5 days of Losing It! and I am proud to say that the journey to mindful eating is all set for us. All it really takes is the right mindset and the proper attitude. Plus taking the extra time to post entries on a regular basis which I hope to do. If not, there is always the option for updates, right? Like you, I am also looking forward to losing the excess pounds that have accumulated over time.

These will be for now. Have a nice weekday evening! Take care, always.

Sincerely,
Samantah

FRIDAY FILL-INS

It's come to my attention that the Friday Fill-Ins is apparently attracting spammers who are trying to lure participants to their blog. To counteract this, if your Friday Fill-In post isn't at the top of your blog on Friday, your link will be deleted. I will be checking this each Friday. Also, the link-up on Mr. Linky will close on Saturday from now on. Thanks for your understanding (this will stay at the top for awhile).

And...here we go!

1. I love the feeling of sunshine in the morning.

2. Seeing smiling people always brightens my day.

3. Meeting new online friends is what I will remember the most from 2012.

4. My favorite family recipe is frozen cake.

5. When I want to spoil myself I have a visit to my favorite beauty salon.

6. Prisonbreak is my favorite TV show.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to chatting online, tomorrow my plans include cooking or baking and Sunday, I want to have lunch with my mom!

*****
Hello, bloggers!
This is my first entry for Friday Fill-ins!

I am looking forward to more Friday Fill-ins to come. I am replying to this post, together with my good friend ZJ. Since we often post entries to this blog www.distanciaamiga.blogspot.com, kindly stay tuned for more Friday Fill-ins courtesy of ZJ.

Have a happy Friday, everyone!

Sincerely,
Samantah

Thursday Thoughts...on Losing It!

Dear Zarah,

Warm greetings from the Philippines!

I am now working at HELP Learning Center as assistant to the mediator. I started last Monday (Jan 14, 2013). My job includes: filing documents for clients (special cases with disabilities), updating old documents, reminding the mediator of things that need to be done, encoding and working hand-in-hand with the mediator and junior mediators of this institution. I get supervision from a PWD (he is using a wheelchair) and one other person who works here, too. The work is really masakit lang sa likod. And I get to use a laptop for documentation purposes. The fact that HELP has wifi is always a good thing.

My post for Losing It! will include all the foods that I have eaten last Tuesday (Jan 15), Wednesday (Jan 16) and today (Jan 17). So here goes my list: Tuesday: breakfast was 2 slices of bread and coffee (instant with creamy vanilla creamer), lunch was a cup of rice with viands of lumpiang shanghai and ginisang mungo; dinner was a serving of macaroni with gourmet sauce. Wednesday: I had the usual bread slices (2) and coffee. Lunch was a cup of rice and kandinga or bopis. Dinner was a Jollibee delivery of crispy pork steak and rice. Today, January 17, I had spaghetti for breakfast, with a cup of coffee. Lunch was a cup of rice with pinakbet. During the past 3 days, my snacks included: a serving of pansit and siopao (Jan 15), a slice of butter cake (Jan 16) and for today, Jan 17, I did not have my usual snacks. For dinner tonight, I shared a cup of java rice with mom, had a slice of barbeque and some macaroni salad. Plus a small serving of double dutch ice cream for dessert.

I am hoping that this series on purposeful consumption of food will be for the long haul.

I am also trying to limit my intake of soft drinks and other carbonated juices. Although I can’t seem to stay away from instant coffee for the usual perk-me-up in the mornings and the much-sought-after buzz at night, Much as I love coffee, I am trying to stay within the limits of 2 cups per day. 

So, these will be for now. Catch you online tonight! Take care, always.

Sincerely,

Samantah