Thought Bubbles...

musings, rantings, and what-have-you, about my own small part of the world, and my 'sometimes' not so-ordinary life...something to read and reflect on, and which hopefully will bring a smile to your face... :)

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Individual or team sports for kids?

The kids' head instructor at judo class, Stephen Kamphuis, gave me this article to read... "11 Reasons why martial arts are better for your kids than team sports", written by Yonah Wolf. Here's the link...

http://www.judoinfo.com/judo4kids.htm

Monday, November 28, 2005

Withdrawal symptoms

Yeah, I know. Roman already pointed it out, have been MIA for a while there. But what can I do? Yes, there were so many things I wanted to blog about, but I just couldn’t find the time. I was having withdrawal symptoms again. Excuses, excuses, I can almost hear my friends say… Heheheh…

Well anyway, it’s a long weekend, so let me make up for the lost time and blog away…

How many rounds can I now ‘endure’ at kickboxing? Well, last time at class, did 4 sets of 10 minutes EACH! And with just 1 minute rest per round! And with ankle weights pa during the rounds! I know, I know… it’s all I can talk about but then I’m really proud of what I’ve accomplished so far, and seriously, at 3x a week, kickboxing class is taking up so much of my “me” time.

While waiting for HP4 to come on at the theater, saw previews of 2 new movies I would love to watch! One is “An Unfinished life” starring Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman. Oh, and Jennifer Lopez is also in the movie. But of course, in a minor role, compared to these 2 acting gods, heavyweights Robert Redford and Morgan Freeman. Just seeing the preview reminded me of another great movie I saw recently on HBO. Movie was “Secondhand lions” starring Robert Duvall, Michael Caine, and Haley Joel Osment. I was able to watch mid- to the last part of the movie, but that was enough for me to want to watch the whole thing so I’ve been trying to find a copy of my own. Either that, or trying to wait for it to be shown again on HBO, and taping it then. As for “An Unfinished Life”, already have plans to watch it with another movie fiend, my friend Mars.

Another movie I’d love to watch is “Just like Heaven” starring Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo. It’s a chick flick, a date movie, a romance movie… so is it any surprise why I’d LOVE to watch it? But watch it with whom? That, I don’t know yet. End of story. ;->

Till next post!

Sunday, November 27, 2005

HP4 movie

Finally saw the HP4 movie! Yup, long overdue. Considering how busy our weekends have been, really couldn’t find the time to go out with the kids. So once we found out that another 3-day weekend was coming, we planned our movie date for this Sunday. The wait for the movie was well worth it. The movie was awesome! The kids were shouting at some parts of the movie, from the excitement, and though there were also some scary parts especially when you-know-who made an appearance, the kids were okay with it. The movie was 3 hours long, but so much fun to watch. Special effects were really good! Patrick was kinda antsy a few times but would later on sit down and watch.

Loved the movie immensely, but at 3 hours long, it was still lacking. I would have loved to see how the other 3 champions (Cedric, Fleur and Victor) handled their first challenge with the dragon. And also how Barty got out of Azkaban, how he captured Mad-eye Moody… You get what I mean. Though I read all HP books, would have still wanted to see how it would look on the big screen. But then that’s just me.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Team Marshmallow


In our kickboxing class, there are 3 girls. Mhel, Grace and myself. Our class is growing to include more guys who are into MMA (mixed martial arts) and BJJ (brazilian jiu jitsu) who are cross-enrolling, and so, we're greatly outnumbered. There are times (especially during Saturday classes) when I'm the only girl in the gym. And some smart alecks would ask, "hey, sheila, how does it feel being the only girl? Di ka nako-conscious?" Grrrr... as if i need to explain why i'm there in the first place.

Anyway, going back to us girls in the class. We've been baptized "Team Marshmallow" but don't let that "girly/sissy" name fool you. We may look soft, but we can endure as much suffering, errr... training, as the boys. As our instructor would himself say, he trains us the same way as he trains the guys. And personally, i'm okay with that. Hey, i specifically remember someone saying before, i'm just 'one of the boys'.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Nothing going

Kickboxing ... 10 minute-rounds... Too tired to move, talk or think...'Nuff said!

Friday, November 11, 2005

“Blog this!”

That’s exactly what Carlo said last night, after a particularly trying workout. And why? Because he really pushed us to the limit. Imagine, making us do SEVEN minutes of of jab-straight-roundhouse (left & right) then some more exercises, such as knee ups, front kicks, side kicks, you name it, we did it! Each round was 7 minutes, and we had to do 5 rounds total! Plus, with 3 lbs dumbbells in each hand pa. For a grand total of 35 minutes, AND with just 1 minute rest after each round! Whew! It seemed we hadn’t caught our breath yet, when we were at it again!

Carlo didn’t tell us at first how much work we’d done. He had a naughty twinkle in his eye when he said above our weak protests, “Stop complaining. You’ll be proud of yourselves. You’ll later find out why”. And that was it! WE all didn’t realize that we were doing 7 minutes! Gosh!

After that workout, he said to me, “Blog this!” and so, obedient student that I am, I did! :)

Sunday, November 06, 2005

3 day Diet

Ran into an old friend a few days ago and she looked like she lost a LOT of weight. Her secret? The 3-day diet. Below is what i found out when i "googled" the 3-day diet. I personally don't follow it strictly, though i have taken to eating grapefruit for breakfast. We'll see...

"You have to go on the diet for only three days--and then revert to normal, sensible eating for four days, before tackling it again. Dietitians STAR spoke to say they have no idea where the diet originated, but they agree that it's not only faster than the cabbage soup diet that swept the country--it's a lot healthier! The miracle diet works on the chemical break-down of certain foods on the body. It delivers an average of 1,000 calories per day. Remember to follow these guidelines:
1. Consult your doctor before starting the diet.
2. Do not skip meals.
3. Drink four to eight 8 oz. glasses of water daily.
4. Do not add fats when preparing food.
5. This diet should be used for three days--followed by four days of normal eating. You can lose 40 lbs. a month if you stick to it. -- (This part i'm wary about...)

Day 1
Breakfast
Half grapefruit
1 slice toast, 2 tbs. peanut butter
Black coffee or tea
Lunch
Half cup tuna, plain
1 slice toast
Black coffee or tea
Dinner
3 slices of any meat (4-6 oz. before cooking)
1 cup of string beans
1 cup beets
1 small apple
1 cup vanilla ice cream (Must be Healthy Choice or any other low-fat ice cream)

Day 2
Breakfast
1 egg
Half banana
1 slice toast
Black coffee or tea
Lunch
1 cup cottage cheese
6 Saltine crackers
Dinner
2 hot dogs
1 cup broccoli
Half cup carrots
Half banana
Half cup vanilla ice cream (Healthy Choice)

Day 3
Breakfast
5 Saltine crackers
1 slice cheddar cheese
1 small apple
Black coffee or tea
Lunch
1 hard-boiled egg
1 slice toast
Dinner
1 cup of tuna, plain
1 cup beets
1 cup cauliflower
Half cantaloupe
Half cup vanilla ice cream (Healthy Choice)
Important: do not vary any of the above foods. And yes, low-fat vanilla ice cream is an important part of each day on this diet!

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/409af96/malonzo/Psy499/3day.html
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Friday, November 04, 2005

Green thumb... NOT!

I woke up pretty early today (considering it’s a holiday). Hooray to 3-day weekends!!!

Got a chance to do some gardening. Well, if you can call dumping coffee grounds into the pots, gardening. Heheheh… It’s been a while since I’ve actually tended to our plants and was so pissed to find out that the 2 basil plants Ellen gave me already dried up. So okay, I may not have a green thumb, but I still dream of being able to grow different kinds of plants, but more so, herbs and vegetables.

Anyway, I got the coffee grounds from the Starbucks outlet in our building, which was giving it away. Actually, in all Starbucks outlets they give away the used coffee grounds for free, packed in a strong, big, aluminum bag, and you can use this as fertilizer for your plants. How do you get the grounds? You just have to ask for it. Usually, it’s just on the floor in front of the counters at Starbucks.

Read the flyers at Starbucks about this before but this is the first time that I actually asked for them. Dunno if they’ll work but then it won’t hurt to try.

Thursday, November 03, 2005

Happy Day, happy day :D



Went to the Mondragon sale and in 20 minutes flat, had bought 2 swimsuits at half the price! Imagine, 2 swimsuits at Php 700.00! Great deal! Didn’t get a chance to fit the suits though but decided to just go for the medium. Here goes nothing…

Take note, MEDIUM. You may think, “so what?”. But hullo… a few months back (late March or so), I bought a new swimsuit in LARGE. So buying the swimsuits and FITTING into it are 2 totally different things! But I figured if the suits didn’t fit, I could give them away. Christmas is just around the corner anyway.

So anyway, I tried on the swimsuits at home. And they fit! And no, I don’t look like a ‘suman’, bulging in all the wrong places. Nyehehehehe… And all I can think of now? Ang tagal ng summer! … WOOHOOHOO!

(Addendum... Sent sms to my friends about the above, and one of them replied... "Asus! Just wait, Christmas and New Year are yet to come!" Smart ass...

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Achy, breaky…

It’s back to work so had to wake up early again. Back to life at the office. But honestly, I was beginning to miss the office! Believe it or not, it’s true! Though I enjoyed my long vacation IMMENSELY (starting with that Friday shopping expedition with Ben)!

But oooohhh…my aching legs… It’s all those squats we had to do yesterday! Whoa, I’m getting ahead of myself. For starters, we did 10 minutes of jogging around the gym for our cardio. Jogging with punches! Seemed easy enough at first, but I was panting before we reached the 10-minute mark. Then came the squats, 5 sets of 15 reps of squats, while holding a 3 kg medicine ball. Yup, weights! I think we started using weights around 2 weeks ago. From holding on to dumbbells while doing our jab-straights, to holding a medicine ball while doing crunches. Then we next heard Carlo’s infamous line, “Get your wall”. Which means either doing splits, side splits or the killer combo of jab-straight-right knee up-left knee up, for 5 minutes!

The rest of the time was spent sparring. Did a total of 4 rounds (count ‘em, 4!) of 7 minutes of sparring. All HARD WORK! But I’m mighty proud to report that I have not missed a class for the past 3 weeks or so. Tuesday and Thursday nights, then Saturday afternoons, I’m at kickboxing class. I honestly can’t remember ever being this dedicated. More so, with an activity which is not pleasant, especially for a lazy person like me. Yup, I’m the first to admit it. If given a chance, I would happily spend my day lazing in bed, reading a book, sipping juice or tea, and biting into a cookie! I’m a sloth and not ashamed to admit it! :)

Well, I really need to get up and be active! I loooove to eat, but hate the thought of getting fat or gaining (more) weight, so the best way to fend off this weight is to be active, and yes, do something which I am NOT naturally inclined to do. At least, I’m still hitting 2 birds with one stone with kickboxing. That is, getting my much-needed exercise, and learning to defend myself as well. Sort of like ‘buy one, take one free’! Now THAT is a great deal to a ‘bargain-hunter’ like me. ;->

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Slow motion

After the whole day of cleaning my room yesterday, am taking it easy today. Got up 9:30 a.m., had breakfast, and now lying in bed, reading a mag. Sweet! :) Everything is going in slow motion today. Ah, this life I really can get used to.

But wait! I have kickboxing later! “Holiday?!? What holiday?! There is no holiday at the dojo.” My instructor’s words ring in my ears. Oh gosh, oh gosh, oh gosh… Gotta get my things ready. Don’t wanna be late.