Best Laid Plans

As much as I am a dreamer, I am also a planner. I enjoy writing my to-do-lists and arranging my schedule as much as I enjoy daydreaming my life away. Contradiction? Maybe not. In all of my years in University and the years after, I've found that I'm most successful in my endeavors when I do this not-so-little-thing called follow-through. 

Habit of a winner: follow through. Source.

It's my greatest challenge and also the focus of this blog. I've experienced enough turmoil to know that without action, dreams remain just that, dreams. Lately I've been having the best dreams as I sleep. Extravagant and magical ones, full of sequences that I would to have in this lifetime.

Two best examples (because they're the ones I remember): One, is finding the love of my life. Next is flying to the States and enjoying the scenery and the shopping. So you might be thinking, what do finding love and travelling to the US have to do with living healthily?

Here my friends, is my logic.

As I have overshared in my previous posts, I have let my unhealthy lifestyle hinder me far too easily. In my head, when I'm not making healthy choices, I don't deserve the a beautiful and magical life. Clearly this is untrue. But the logic has been ingrained in my mind, it's not that easy to reverse it. But I can at least try one more time.

So here it is. Another day, another plan. Another one to botch up but also another chance to live up to it's promise. I'm excited, will you join me?

Here's the plan.

In the powerful book Former Fat Girl by Lisa Delaney, she shares that it's best to learn from previous diet forays rather than blindly following the next magical diet craze. I'm sure the average women has gone on several diets. One way or another they may have worked, but not completely successful. Perhaps it's too time-consuming to count calories, or the pressure from friends and family is too hard to resist. Either way, something didn't work out and you've moved back to square one feeling helpless.

Square one and long way to go. Source.

I know the feeling. I also think that square one (also known as gaining all the weight back) does not exist. From following a plan, even for just a week, a month, you will have gained something better (and I'm not talking weight). And that is insights, knowledge that will make your next foray easier.

From my own experiences, I have gathered the following.

Yummy and healthy. Source.

1) From a pesco-vegetarian diet - My body agrees with mostly using seafood as a source protein. I love eating shrimp and tuna! This was an eating plan I followed for more than a year, however when I started going out a lot, it started getting difficult for me. People weren't that supportive.

I wish all menus had calories listed. Source.

2) Calorie-counting plan - This makes me feel healthy and productive as I have target number to reach but it's also time-consuming and it's tough to count calories when you just had a binge.

It's really difficult to say goodbye. Source

3) No rice diet - This one is not for the faint of heart. In a rice-eating country like the Philippines, this is difficult to pull off. Rice is everywhere! And I love fried rice too much to give it up forever.

4) Intermittent Fasting - I did the 16-18 hour window. I felt great and at times hungry. But once you get a hang of it, it's a lifesaver.

Well so far those four are my major attempts in living a healthy lifestyle. Given those I can conclude that can function best in an eating plan that is


                high on seafood-sourced protein
                calorie-controlled
                limited in refined carbohydrates
                with occasional bouts of IF
                and indulgences with friends and family

See, all these dieting and attempting worked. I know what will work for me. Problem is, I'm not done experimenting. I like to be thorough in my research that is why for the of November, I will move on to my next attempt. Which is the Paleo Diet and incredibly Filipino palate. Watch out.
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Did I help you in this post? Share your thoughts. :)

Brinky Links 1 (10/08/11)

Hi! Welcome to the first edition of Brinky Links! I'm excited to share the first one because it'll be my all-time favorite links on health, fitness, productivity and overall wellness. I'll throw in some surprises here and there. If you have any links to share, feel free to share them in the comments section.

Let's begin with a song. Everyone's listening to Adele lately and so am I. Here's a beautiful video of the heartbreaking song 'Someone Like You'. The video features Paris in black and white.

Chris Guillebeau is really the man who started it all for me. I was working in the middle of nowhere when I first read  his article on The Decision to be Remarkable. Needless to say, fueled my desire to change the world.

But as life isn't always peachy-keen, this article on taking back control of your life from the 99 percent gives concrete tips on how to get your life back on track. Sounds perfect to me. :)

Speaking of taking control of your life, here are two people who have done exactly so.  The result? More freedom to to be productive exactly as they want it. But mind you, their suggestions veer away from regular time management tips. Seth Godin doesn't go to any meetings all. Danielle LaPorte suggests against keeping a overly detailed to-do-list. Worth emulating? You bet.

Another worthy read on productivity is Ramit Sethi's post on laziness and motivation, delivered in his usual snarky style. Truly a gem!

If you are a fan of inspirational quotes like I am, here is my favorite site for quotes. Today's pick:

 "I think it’s naive to pray for world peace if we’re not going to change the form in which we live."— Godfrey Reggio 

I'm not vegan but I enjoy visiting Angela Liddon's blog Oh She Glows every day since 2009. Her creative ways with vegetables never fails to inspire me to add more to my diet.

Another healthy living blog I enjoy visiting regularly is Can You Stay For Dinner? by the amazing Andie Mitchell. She dropped 130+ lbs in over a year! This superwoman also writes amazingly-well with her poetric blog entries.

Finally, if you're a Filipino (or if you want to visit the Philippines), be sure to read Anton Diaz's compilation of the most Awesome Food Experiences Around the Philippines. Reading it makes me proud that these awesome dishes are made in my country.

Got anything to share from your end? I would love to hear from you! :)

Living An Unhealthy Life With A Healthy Mind

Let me illustrate. Just today I had these superstars:

Source

Yep... a Big Mac meal.

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More Mcdonald's goodness.

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Some Japanese to balance out the Fastfood saltiness.

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And some Chinese dumplings (Siomai) just because I love them.

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For the finale, we have a rice meal. Because nothing spells dinner like rice and saucy meat. 

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On the brink of being healthy, say what? I figured I'd be honest on my second post. These are my weaknesses. These, inspite of their yumminess, hinder me from being healthy. I like extremes. I like all-or-nothings. But the truth is, it doesn't exist. Life is one gray area and I've tweaked my quest. I'd like to learn how to lived a well-balanced life. 

I'm new here, so tell me, what are your weaknesses?

We start here. (Declarations/Expectations)

Confessions first. Currently, I am what they call a 'lazy dreamer'. I have so many visions for my future and so much time to accomplish it all. But given my current state of life (jobless and living in my parent's house), I'm not making it easier for myself.

Years ago, I was such a go-getter, inspite of my lazy dreaming self. I was getting good grades, involved with school organizations, exercising and eating well. Then I lost momentum and slowly disintegrated to a less stellar version of myself. (More on that in the about page.)

Now out of college and out of work, I seek to reclaim my vigor for life. Forgive me for sounding like an 80-year-old grandma but I feel like one. These days I only do three things: watch television, surf the internet, eat and eat and of course, dream.

This idea of Brink! was incubated in my head for months before I took action. Most of the time I felt I couldn't do it because I had no credibility. Who am I to tell people how to live healthily? But I finally understood that starting the blog didn't mean telling people what to eat or how to exercise. It's about sharing the journey. I'm on the brink of achieving my dreams bit by bit. I hope you join me in this journey.

What can you expect from Brink? 
It's a good thing that I've documented most of my ideas on Evernote. Thus I have the pleasure to tell you that you can look forward to the following features on Brink!

• Healthy Picks - Restaurant and food reviews focusing on healthy selections/menus. 
• Monthly Challenges - Join me as I embark on challenges for my health! We can report to each other and keep each other accountable.
• Brink Icons - Profiles of people who have successfully crossed the path of Brink-dom and have achieved their dreams, health-wise and life-wise.
• Brinky Links - Giving you the week's most interesting healthy links from the Internet. 
• Recipes and Kitchen Recipes - Since I'm Filipino, expect healthy-fied versions of your favorite Filipino dished. But I also like experimenting and baking, so look out for doses of desserts and offbeat dishes too.
• Product Reviews - I'm developing a method on reviewing products. I want to different, honest and effective in delivering reviews.
• Lowdown - Information I've gathered so far food, fitness and overall health drinks. 
• Inspiration - Something to fuel our desires to achieving our dreams. 

As a final note on this first post, I just wanted to share a song that played randomly on my Itunes while I was writing this post.  It's Just Watch The Fireworks by the band Jimmy Eat World and it speaks accurately of what I've set out to do here. Have a listen. :)

"Here you can be anything.

I think that scares you.
I've been here before but only by myself.
What giving up gives you and where giving up takes you.
I've had and I've been.
Here in center frame, there's only air.
Just enough space to fit.
I said it out loud over and over but what do I know.
I said it out loud but it did not help.
I'll stop now.
Just so I can hear you I stay up as late as it takes, as long as it takes.
I promised I'd see it again.
I promised I'd see this with you now."