LIVE.LOVE.PARTY at SM Aura Premier

I am not really into parties. Call me anti social or a semi hermit, gray haired woman in her mid forties but I really do not enjoy socializing since I was a kid even during family gatherings. I could even recall those days when my Dad will find me in a corner, reading a book at my cousin's house during a family reunion. I have a  knack of alienating myself and I really do not why. I thought then it was the normal thing to do because I was never advised that it was not. And so I grew up thinking it was okay. Not that I am a recluse but through the years I have learned to choose the parties that I have attended where most of them were company Christmas parties and school reunions and I guess it was better that way. When the noise, smoke and booze gets too much, I really cannot find a good reason to stay in any party for that matter.

Lately there is a specific party that I look forward to but never got the opportunity to attend. Now these parties are not the usual events where you dress up, put on make up, make small talk and rub elbows with other party goers while drinking. On the contrary, it is not really appropriate to do that because you have to be in your work out gear with the right dancing shoes  due to the fact that a lot of dancing and sweating will take place, not to mention lots of hydration will also be needed ( as in alcohol not advisable ). Simply put, it is one party where you get to exercise and get fit while having a good time as well. I am referring to a Zumba party which I had dreamed of going to but never had the chance to do so.

Now this coming Sunday, April 27, 2014 at 10AM, another grand event will be held at Samsung Hall, SM Aura Premier at Bonifacio Global City  intended for Zumba enthusiasts like me. Presented by Karl Edward International , the LIVE. LOVE. PARTY Tropical Style will be headed by  Zumba Education Specialist Jarrod Tucker who hails from Newcastle, Australia and our very own Zin Madelle Paltu-Ob. Tickets will be at Php500 and if you want to take advantage of the early bird rate at Php400, you only have until April 25 to do so.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that I will be able to attend this time and even have my daughter tag along to take lots of pictures. Not only will it be a party where you get to dance but you also get to exercise those tired muscles from stress while having fun from it all. So if you have nothing else to do this weekend, come join and experience this awesome Zumba party this summer.

LIVE.LOVE.PARTY.

For more updates, please visit their website at livelovepartyinternational.com. You can also visit their  facebook page  or follow them @ twitter.com/weliveloveparty.

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The Choice To Live Healthy

I was born at a time when people walked more than taking the jeepney or the bus to get to their destination. I grew up in the province where cars and colored  TVs were rare and kids walked, ran and played on barefoot. Those were the days when life had been simple and people had ample time to get fit by simply walking everyday. In fact, I was one of those who chose to walk not just to save on money fare but to enjoy the scenery and clean air as well. When I went to college and stayed mostly in Manila, I still had time to walk for the same reasons and even though polluted air congested the Metropolis with so many vehicles and manufacturing factories, that did not stop me from walking short distances especially during heavy traffic. That continued until I had kids and had become a stay at home Mom for thirteen years until I decided to work again.

Being employed in a call center for more than seven years had its perks and drawbacks.Though the pay is above minimum wage with the additional incentives plus health and dental benefits, the time spent sitting in front of the computer typing, answering calls, taking the vent of customers' frustrations and life stories on graveyard shifts will surely take a toll on one's health. Sadly, my active life as a Mom of seven had drastically then changed to the sedentary, toxic and stressed environment where skipping meals became habitual just to catch up on sleep and hyper acidity, urinary tract infections, constipation and ulcers were acquired in exchange to passing performance metrics. Not only that, exercise became an alien word that even walking and running short distances turned out to be less enjoyable compared to before. And though I had not really gained that much weight, the idea that I am living a sedentary lifestyle was not really good especially that my medical history has a scary statistics of cancer and diabetes, giving me worries and uncertainties with my health. At the back of my mind, I knew I had to start living healthy again before it is too late. That was when I started looking for ways on how to spend time to exercise. Coincidentally, two years ago Convergys became one of the sponsors for the Integrity Fun Run where I grabbed the chance and registered for free as part of the first 300 registrants. My wish had been granted and even though I was unprepared for that first 3K run, the experience became an eye opener which paved the way to my fitness journey.

There had been a lot of challenges and learning along the way. I had learned to sacrifice my rest days, especially Sundays where I wake up at 3am for my weekend run and join the early morning exercise. I had spent and gotten accustomed to going to BCG even after shifts to join the aero at the park not to mention the looks I had received from colleagues when they see me in my running gear, all flushed and sweaty from my early morning runs. Lately I have started joining runs with my youngest daughter who has autism and an avid fan of the sport and lastly, I have again established the habit and my love for walking, where I walk from my place of work on my way home three times a week the most which helped me a lot in dropping those unwanted pounds I had gained from the Christmas holidays. I also have started reading more fitness articles and tips and has slowly practicing some basic yoga moves which I find challenging yet fulfilling.

Nobody ever said that the journey to fitness was an easy one. Though it really helps if you have a fitness buddy or a great support system to motivate you, at times such motivation that comes from within will be enough to keep you going. There will also be days that one will lose focus and discipline especially due to injuries and personal issues. I personally had gone thru that last year when I injured my left foot and had been limping for a week which also coincided to my mom's confinement for almost a month that I eventually decided to go for a LOA. Despite my injury, I did not have any choice but to walk with a limp. It took almost two months for me to get healed and was strongly advised not to exercise if there was still pain even during warm ups until one day, there was heavy traffic and forced me to walk to get to work. That's all it took for me learn it was okay to run again. And so the next day, after two months I had done the inevitable and ran again despite the cloudy weather. Since then, I never looked back.

Next month will  mark my second year on my road to wellness. The bumps and challenges along the way had not lessened my determination to get fit. On the contrary it only added fuel to be more persistently driven to achieve my goals no matter what happens. As I continue to walk, run and exercise rain or shine and even in cold weather, there is the realization that healthy living is a choice and hopefully one day,  it will no longer be a road less travelled by many.






(Motivational running quotes from Pinterest.com) 

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A Collage of Health Heroes

Baby steps. Those tiny footprints unsure of where they're going as long as there are new places to explore. That was exactly how I felt when I started blogging more than two years ago. With no idea on what blogging was, I took the plunge as suggested by a fellow blogger whom I had met while auditioning for a game show. Since it took us a whole day for our names to be called for the preliminary screening, we did our best to kill the boredom by talking and learning from  each other as well. Sadly both of us did not make it and we said goodbye at the end of that long day. That was also the last time I saw her. 

Since then I started to write. It had been a long time that I had not written a post or even a simple journal entry which I used to do randomly so I was hesitant at first, knowing for sure that no one will read my stories. But that friend of mine told me that writing should not be done mainly so others will read it. It is a form of expression,  in fact a very effective one at that and it may be put to waste if left unused. And so I wrote stories, always from the heart , thus my first blog, "Not On My Own Anymore" was born.

Six months later I started drying up. At times I only wrote once a month and at times not at all. I was grasping for topics but I found none. Sure the inspiration was there because I continued to visit other blogs and join linky parties but at times I was not really sure. By the end of my first year I realized that there were other approaches to write posts. I started writing product reviews and events which I personalized so it will not appear like I just copy pasted everything. I also started sending my posts to other communities which sadly received more comments than that of my own blog posts.

A couple of months ago, I decided to make another blog which I named "Health Buff Mom of Seven "   which focuses on health and fitness. Since I am also a runner and a Zumba enthusiast, it will also feature running events and Zumba parties plus stories about inspiring people who chose to live a healthy lifestyle irrespective of the health challenges they have met in their lives. And since this blog of mine was new, I was kind of surprised when I got an email from the managing editor of American Recall Center, Dr. Mario Trucillo  to write a post for their March Community Cause Campaign ,  " Health Heroes ". He even added that there will also be a collage  of the bloggers' health heroes that will be featured in the community. 

Honestly all I wanted was to share my story but when I saw the collage I cannot help but feel proud that one of my favorite pictures was chosen because there was my Mom on it. Not only that, to say that we were the only two Filipinas in the collage made me even prouder because I now share the limelight with her.

I wonder how my Mom would react once she learned that she is becoming famous without her knowing it and without even trying too hard.

To all the staff of American Recall Center, thank you so much for choosing my humble blog and for liking my story . Blessings and more power !

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My Inspirations Behind My Fitness Journey

When I was a kid I thought heroes were men and women who died in action, defending the country while at war. There was this dramatic and cinematic gory details of rebellion and revolution all made colorful perhaps because I had History teachers who were creative story tellers or perhaps because I had heard and watched too many war movies since I was a kid for reasons that I came from a family of military men. Though the stories I had heard were told in jest where one find it hard to believe if they were just wishful thinking or not, still my concept of heroes when I was young was left pure and innocent, until I entered college. I know it was rather late for me to learn that not all heroes have to die or do some heroic thing for one's country just to be called one yet the knowledge that we can all be heroes somewhat triggered my curiosity, even challenging it to search for real heroes that were very much alive. 

I had always been a daddy's girl and as what to be expected, I looked up to him for everything and at one point had considered him as my hero. Though he may not have been a soldier who defended the country, he had fought a lot of wars since he was a kid. Growing up dirt poor and  without a father, he learned to be financially independent so he could help his family by doing odd jobs even at a very young age. Though he had been financially challenged he used that as a motivation to pursue his dream of finishing his studies. He became a scholar for being the band leader of Far Eastern University of the Philippines and the rest was history. Sad to say, because he had worked odd jobs to survive, he had also learned to smoke early to last him through the day. Though he had quit when he was already in his fifties, it was too late for his body to recover and to fight the cancer that had caused him his early death.

Dad is the one with the trumpet

Now my older brother, Xavier who we fondly called Sonny and who I also looked up to as well had a different story. He was born with a congenital heart disease and my parents thought he would be very sickly as a kid that they became very protective of him. And because he too was influenced and inspired by the war stories we heard and watched, he also wanted to become a soldier. Since achieving such dream was impossible, my parents allowed him to do the next best thing. Because he did well in school, he had been allowed to join the elite group of Boy Scouts in the Philippines and climbed Mount Makiling for that historical Jamboree. He was also encouraged to be active in extra curricular activities both in school and in our community and was even allowed to sleep late nights so he could watch his favorite shows. And because of his heart condition, my  parents strictly prohibited him from smoking and drinking. Until my dad passed away and my brother moved to the city permanently to live there together with his own family.

My brother had always been an achiever since we were kids

Perhaps because being a father was very stressful, with all the bills, expenses and parenting that went with it, my mom was not able to control my brother from drinking and even smoking. He was such a workaholic and because he wanted to give a better life for his family, he barely had time to exercise. He used to join a group of bikers every Sunday but that had stopped when he was gifted a second  hand car. I could understand why my brother worked so hard for his family because we grew up  poor  where my mom's meager salary was not even enough for my dad's medication and for our schooling. He just did not want to pressure his kids and let them experience what he had gone thru. Until one day, he had emphysema that greatly affected his breathing, sleeping and daily living. One day, like a thief in the night he left us. He was just 48 years old.

My brother with his family

Seeing my dad and my brother passed away right before my eyes had left an indelible mark in my life. Because of what I had witnessed, I vowed to myself not to smoke nor drink as long as I live. That also  motivated me to start my journey into fitness bit by bit. Because I look up to both my dad and my brother, I constantly remind my kids of the consequences if and when they decide to start smoking and drinking. I have to admit that I still cannot help not to feel sad and think how things could have been  different if they had  taken cared of their health. There are still days that I missed them both, especially my dad with all his stories, laughter and music. And during those days that I long for both of them and feel that I am alone and helpless, I rely and think of those who keep me going and save me thru the day.

My Mom and my kids.

Mother's Day 2012 with Mom and my girls

My Mom has diabetes and osteoporosis though we only had learned it over a decade ago. There had been a year when she had been in and out of the hospital. She have had multiple strokes and we thought she will not be able to make it the last time she had been confined where she had been in the ICU for a week, had a minor heart attack, had pneumonia and due to the infection required to have a blood transfusion because her hemoglobin went down drastically. She was in oxygen the whole time and was in tubes for the first week of her confinement. I had prepared myself and my kids for the worst and wished that if it was time for her to go, that there should be no more pain because my Mom does not deserve any more of it after all that she had been thru. Miraculously she was able to pull it through. Even her doctors still could not believe that after multiple strokes, she is still up and about. 

I am my mother's daughter indeed

Since September of last year my mom had been back to her old self. Though she lives with my eldest daughter in the province, there has never been a day that I have not missed her. At times when I feel like giving up and feel that I do not want to work anymore, I think of her and my kids. 

My kids thru the years 

Most of my kids are now on their teens. They may have all  grown up now but there are some things that had not changed. Like their love for the Harry Potter stories, of books and heartwarming stories of kids and of kids at heart, of classical movies and inspiring documentaries mostly about kids, of veggies, fruits and pasta, of laughter and music and of long walks while telling funny and crazy stories in between and of going back home to be with my mom every holiday season and school breaks.

These are the people who keep me going. The reasons behind why I push myself to wake up very early during weekends so I could run and join the exercise at the park, the same reasons why I do not want to be sick and see myself tied up in a hospital bed one day. 

Whether living or dead, there will always be heroes in our lives who will motivate us to live healthy and continue our journey towards fitness. My dad and my brother had long been gone but their passing will always serve as great reminder that life is short and that we must take care of it if we still want to achieve the dreams we long for and spend more time with the people we care for, such as my mom and my kids whose faces and presence will always be an inspiration for me to get up every morning, take care of my well being so I could live my life to the fullest. 

*This post was written for the campaign " Who Keeps You Healthy? "  for the American Recall Center. For more updates and information on health and wellness, visit them at facebook.com/pages/AmericanRecallCenter or at twitter.com/RecallCenter.*

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