What Simply Works!

I have read over the Internet that one of the best natural fat burners is green tea.  This tea has a mix of caffeine-like substances and catechins that have thermogenic* properties.  I have always loved tea and upon reading that article, I know I have made the right choice to switch from coffee to tea.  So, hooray for green tea!

*dietary supplements used to stimulate weight loss.

In my “quest” to lose weight, I am considering to buy this Core Rhythm Latin Dance DVD set, which my mom and aunt vouch for its effectiveness.  I’m not a big fan of going to the gym or getting on a treadmill or lifting weights so my best bet is to get into an exercise regime that I’d enjoy doing at home.  I like it that it involves dance and from the DVD preview, the routine is so engaging!  So, goodluck to me!  I hope this really helps me shed off all these unwanted flabs!

I have earlier posted in my other blog that I was on an “eating-spree” since I have given birth.  I must have “deprived” myself of junk food too much during my pregnancy that the urge to indulge in sweets suddenly came haunting me right after I gave birth.  But I am so scared of not getting back to my pre-pregnancy weight that I recently decided to take full control of what I eat.  No appetite suppressants needed at this point, I think I can still manage to curb my liking of junk food.

I was happy having to put away our winter coats, thermal wear and heater towards the beginning of September.  I was highly anticipating the Spring season as this is after all, my favorite season.  But since last week, the temperature has gone down to low 10s and we had no choice but to bring out our thick sweaters and heater again. In some Sydney areas, it even snowed!  I wish there is such a thing as portable outdoor fireplaces so we could still enjoy the outdoors despite the cold weather.

My sister’s friends from her ex-company in Manila visited us at home last Sunday.  We were pleasantly surprised that half of them whom I haven’t even met came.  I guess that shows how important their friendship is with my sister.

One of them broached the idea for us to buy the place that we’re renting.  She said that the apartment looks new and well maintained.  She even praised the owners for being able to keep the whole house (from roof to tiles) in very good condition.

And knowing how tough the property rental market is these days, we really are fortunate to have good landlords and to have been able to rent a headache-free
place.

The past months that I’ve been using my point and shoot camera, I have come to appreciate editing photos in .jpg format.  I only use simple photo enhancements and so far, I’m happy with the results.  I just might switch to this format even when I’m using my dslr.   It will definitely save space on my external hard drive and I won’t have to consider online data backups, which right now are just too expensive!

I’m loving the Spring weather!  It’s not too hold or too cold, I can do without jackets (finally!) and hopefully I can get back on my favorite house clothes — shorts and tank tops — soon after delivery!  I also like it that my skin is getting back to its normal state.  I’ve always had dry skin so I’m really putting it to the test whenever winter comes and I don’t religiously apply moisturizers or anti-wrinkle creams.  How I wish we could have this season a bit longer.

For drinking and cooking, we use water filters that fit to a clear jug. The filters alone can be costly and it’s wiser to buy in bulk especially when they are on sale.  I’m not sure though whether the filters fit directly to faucets or refrigerator water filters turn out to be smarter options, them being cost-effective than what we are doing right now.

I was watching the news the other day and it featured a number of women who fell victims of cosmetic surgery gone wrong. While there was one who has had a number of surgeries and swore by the success, the rest of the interviewees all had bad experiences. Although I can’t fully relate on how these women must feel, deciding to go under the knife to feel good about themselves, I’d say they should carefully study the pros and cons of cosmetic surgery and know about the doctor/s with whom they will entrust their lives. It is much like taking pills without studying diet pills reviews or taking relief medications without getting proper prescription from doctors.

We’re planning a small birthday party for our little girl this November.  It’s still very much in the planning stage as we won’t know yet how things will be like when the new baby’s out but so far we’ve started scouting on possible venues.  We’re eyeing a park where the kids can freely run around and play.  There won’t be a hall to set-up the food, tables and chairs nor a game room with ping pong tables and such, but from experience it is easier logistically to have a kids’ party in an open space.  We’ll see how it goes.  We still have about two months to plan for the details.

I started listing my to-dos for our forthcoming vacation in Manila.  One of which is getting education/insurance quotes for our new baby.  I was advised to do this before the baby turns a year old because it affects the premium, so I will do just that.  I am no longer updated on the best and latest education plans out there and so I’m counting on our favorite insurance agent to help me on this part.

One of the things that make me smile these days is the thought of packing away my maternity clothes.  I’m due in three weeks’ time and I will need a few pieces of maternity clothes to last me until then.  Needless to say, I miss my pre-pregnancy clothes.  I’ve always been a jeans & shirt type of person and with warmer weather slowly kicking in here in Sydney, it’s high time to bring them all out again.  I hope I’d fit in all of my old clothes soon enough without needing fat burners.

Since we got so busy preparing for the coming for our new baby, my husband never got the chance to play with his Wii console.  I wonder if he’ll get the chance to use once the baby’s out. Hee hee.  Good thing I didn’t buy the more expensive PS3 console (since the Wii was my gift for him), otherwise, it will be a huge amount of money gone to waste.

It took me about three months to get back to my pre-pregnancy figure when I had my first child.  I wonder if it will be the same (or even shorter, I wish!) this time around.  Many friends have commented that minus the bulging tummy, I don’t look pregnant at all.  (Does that mean I won’t be needing weight loss pills at all?  I sure hope so!) It must be the continuous physical activities (read as: house chores) that I have been doing throughout my pregnancy period that kepy my weight at bay.  So, we’ll see how I’ll fare this time around!

I’m so happy that Spring is almost here!  I’m enjoying the warmer weather, I can slowly veer away applying thick slabs of moisturizer on my face and body several times a day, which is so troublesome to say the least.   And I’m so glad that I escaped the long winter season without seeing a dermatologist or getting acne treatments.  It will be very expensive to get skin treatments here for sure.

Since my daughter started going to daycare or “school” as how I refer daycare to her, she seems to have lost interest in watching her DVDs.  She has become more active and wanting to draw, scribble and do more “fun” stuff.  Not that televisions are all bad.  I still remind her to watch her favorite DVDs from time to time.  But right now, I can see that she’s enjoying this stage where she’s learning things outside our home.

It is known to our family and friends that my husband enjoys living in Australia.  Between the two of us, he is more vocal to share that here is where he wants to eventually buy a house, a second car and send our kids to school.  In short, to settle.  In between his thoughts, I would tease him that he’d buy my vote (to settle in Sydney) if he’d buy me a new SUV.  He’d ride on the joke and say, “Of course! Even if it’s a UTE (Aussie slang for pick-up truck) that you want plus tons of truck accessories to dress it up, I’ll get it for you.”  That of course, comes with a wink and a loud laughter after.

With the sudden growth of my belly on my 8th month of pregnancy, I’m a bit alarmed with the potential size of my baby at the time of delivery. Although all along I’ve been careful with my food intake.  I don’t believe in eating in big portions just because I’m supposed to be eating for two.  I know that it will only make me and the baby bigger but not necessarily healthy.  I hope the baby continues to steadily grow in average size and that after I give birth, I won’t have a hard time going back to my pre-pregnancy weight.  Or else, I will be on the lookout for natural fat burners in the market.

For some reason, I always get goosebumps whenever I am at a hospital.  There’s something about the whole hospital smell, seeing very sick patients or being in a room full of high-tech machines (AED included) that just give me the chills.  Even now that I’m frequenting a hospital in the city because of my pregnancy check-ups, I still have to condition myself that I shouldn’t feel scared or worried being there.  Sigh.  I hope I won’t feel this way when I get admitted on my D-day.

With our almost eight years of home rental experience (six years in Singapore, nearly two years in Australia), we’ve learned not to mess with the walls.  At one point, we displayed frames upon frames of our favorite photos in an apartment we leased in Singapore only to find out that it would cost as so much to fix and repaint each hole that we made.  So up until we have a place of our own, we will not attempt to pin photo frames or TV mounts on our walls.