Somersizing

I have been grossly overweight for over a year now.  It’s a little embarrassing to admit it, but I was thinner after I gave birth than now.

List of excuses: (1) I breastfed so I ate normal… meaning I didn’t cut down and I went back to eating rice; (2) I couldn’t help the chocolates.. been deprived for too long! (3) I am not the exercise/athletic kind of gal — my body likes to hang on to the calories instead of burning them.

Earlier this year (which is now three months down), I chanced upon one of my favorite officers in the company who is a very pretty but used to be very heavy lady.  (Emphasizing USED TO BE.)  I was soooo shocked to see her looking so svelte after not seeing her for around 8 weeks, and lo and behold, it was Somersizing!  (The lady hates to exercise like me!)

It took me forever and a day but I finally grabbed Suzanne Somers’ EAT GREAT, LOSE WEIGHT (yes, the ditsy lady from Three’s Company) and I’ve started reading it.  Half the book is recipes and this is actually book 1 of a series of now 4 books. 

So I’m starting a new category as a diet journal/chronicle of my latest attempt at slimming down.  I’ve done it before.  I used to be almost 200 lbs (a size 16), I arrived here at around 160 and a size 12, and by my first year here in the US, I was down to a 10 and sometimes I got away with a size 8, and weighing in the 140 range (which is still chunky.)  Don’t ask me my weight right now because it’s a matter of national security.  (If you find out, I might have to kill you. LOL)

While it’s really a diet, Suzanne Somers characterizes her style as a lifestyle change, and making wise food combinations.  I’ll tell you more as I go and I’ll keep you posted.  Somersize with me!

[16] Get myself a Starbucks Mug!

I started collecting Starbucks mug the valentine’s day after I arrived here in March 2001.  To date, I have over 50 mugs and I have slowed down on the collecting the past couple of months actually.  I used to buy 1 mug every month, be it a City mug, or one of the iterations of their coffee accessories.

Of course I have the Manila mug already.  (I am dying, though, to get the Paris mug which has been such an elusive catch because there are, I believe, only 2 Starbucks outlets in Paris.  Why go Starbucks when you can sample the real espresso?)  I have all of the NYC mugs that have come out in the last 5 years except the latest black and white City mug.  (Which I will definitely get in the next couple of months before they come up with a new one.)  Friends have given me the Vancouver, Spain, Singapore mugs.. Alan had bought the Geneva city mug for me.  A friend is already holding on to the Cebu Starbucks mug.. I wouldn’t mind just getting one of their new generic coffee mugs, though.  They’re cheaper in Manila.

Feedback on Kapeng Barako

Ms. Wifely Steps, Toni, seconded my quest for the ultimate coffee, Kapeng Barako:

That Kapeng Barako in Figaro is the best. Better than any other coffe concoction, better than any Starbucks brewed. It is the bomb!

Indeed, Toni.. that’s why I’m getting a few bags in whole bean, then I grind them myself here.  Still I suggest you try Kape Vinta by Starbucks because they don’t sell this as a brew.  It’s local Kapeng Barako beans which are exported and processed overseas and then returned and sold only in Manila.  Definitely bringing home at least 6 bags!

Feedback on this material world

The other mommy, Tintin, wrote:

Hi Dinna! It is indeed difficult to raise a child in this very materialistic world. I was talking to my husband earlier today about how kids in the school where I work already have cellphones at a very young age. We were discussing what we would do when the time comes that our son Enzo would start asking for one, too. But I guess, we just do the best we can. And you’re right, we can’t really learn parenting from the books, we just have to rely on how our parents brought us up – and pray that our kids will grow up to be good human beings. God bless you and your son! And your stepson,too. Maybe the reason why God brought you into his life is to help him become a better person. 🙂

God bless you and your family, too, Tintin… I’d like to believe that God gave me a child because I can be a good parent.  Remember what the oldies say about our children just being “lent” to us, that they are truly God’s?  I believe in that, but I think they are the most precious gift of all.  Cellphones — tell me about it!  Sometimes, they DO need it, but there are limitations to everything, even those that are necessary.

I must admit it’s hard to restrain myself when I want to give him everything.  You want to indulge the child’s every whim deep in your heart, but then your better sense tells you you don’t want to spoil the child rotten.  We try.. we try.

[15] Get notions galore in Tabora in Divisoria

I have been going to Divisoria with Mom since I can’t remember when.  We used to have the car park far, far away and we would walk back to it with loads of tela for mom’s modista’s and later, coutouriers.  She insisted on getting her own materials instead of having her clothes done hecho derecho.  She reasoned that the fee was expensive enough, the modista or coutourier will definitely make patong their own price over what they bought the material for.

When I was a sophomore in UP Manila in 1985, ribbons became a big accessory fad for the hair, and I made a good business of it, even managing to give away quite a stash to friends that particular Christmas.  Through the years, I have gotten to know the nooks and crannies of Divisoria, so much so that I knew to get off at Azcarraga for the Chinese herbologists, and I could get off at Avenida to hit our favorite Chinese restaurant (not exactly a place with ambience but definitely authentic Chinese goodies) Wah Sun.  But back to Divisoria.

I mean to pick up beads galore, studs, pearls, yarns and other sewing implements.  I even want to pick up a dozen or so plain BLUED shirts or other brand to give away to friends this coming Christmas with my own appliques.  (Something I want to try that’s why I’m not throwing away a pair of jeans that ripped in a most scandalous place… LOL)  I have been meaning to get into beadwork but even if we have some fabulous bead stores in the fashion district on 6th Avenue, they are priced rather prohibitively I’d rather hold off.  But off to Divisoria I will go..