Food Delivery: Go! Salads Smoothie Kits

Eating healthy has been a challenge for me for years. I grew up spoiled with chips, soda, chocolates, and everything one would consider far from nutritious. But the availability of fresh produce made me want to have a healthier lifestyle. And being pregnant made me more motivated to stick to it. Thankfully, Go! Salads got my back when it comes to power smoothies!

Hello, Go! Salads.

Go! Salads is known for their fresh and convenient salad bowls. With several mixes to choose from, it's hard to get bored with eating healthy. For an extra dose of fiber and vitamins, many indulge in its delicious smoothies. And you can now have these guilt-free drinks at home!

Beat the Heat 101: Honey Lemon

Living in the city could take a toll on the body. With traffic seemingly getting worse each day, I often find myself going for the short route when it comes to grabbing meals. Fast food, canned goods, you name it. As long as it's just a call or few clicks away, you got my attention. But I end up compromising health with convenience. However, not everything off the shelf is bad. In fact, a new product found its way to our shores and would make summer extra fun and healthy.

Hello, Honey Lemon.

R and I are big fans of honey. We'd often drink honey water to start up our day and to help boost our immune system. Though we'd enjoy honey with a wide variety of beverages (even food), we hardly have it with lemon. But who knew it is a winning combination and a very healthy one at that? 

When in Bohol: Chocolate Hills

I'm definitely no mountaineer but I can climb hills. Well, sort of. Okay, it was far from what could be called a hike but I did witness one of the most popular tourist spots in Bohol... the famous Chocolate Hills. 

Hello, Chocolate Hills.

I visited Bohol for the first time last December and one of the places I was dying to visit was Chocolate Hills. Though I've heard that it has lost its charm throughout time, I still wanted to take those few hundred steps up to see the famous local Kisses' inspiration. 

Kids at Heart Paradise: Jump Yard

With vouchers expiring soon, I asked R if he could accompany me to visit Jump Yard, an indoor trampoline place near Tiendesitas, beside Ark Avilon Zoo. We have a very tight schedule to work on so we decided to visit last night.

Hello, Jump Yard!

The place was packed with kids and their parents when we visited. There were a couple of teens but it was undeniable that we were among the oldest (but not the least fit individuals in the trampolines, I hope).

It was a good thing that the place gets cleared up every hour to make room for new jumpers. And when it was finally our time slot, there were not a lot of kiddos around.

We were a tad too excited that we started to jump without warming up. As soon as we saw available trampolines with hoops, we played basketball, super jump style. ⛹🏻

First Bite: Detoxify Bar

My good friend C has been telling me that Detoxify Bar is such a great place. I wasn’t really excited to visit it though as it sounded healthy. But when my colleague (another C) dragged me to go on detox, I finally dropped by Detoxify Bar.

Hello, Detoxify Bar!

I was still on detox when I visited the place to meet up with C. But the friendly staff behind the counter told me that it’s okay for me to eat as long as the ingredients are organic. Well… if that’s true then…

R and I ordered the following: Tomato Basil soup (PHP150), Rosemary Chicken (PHP275) and Meatless Pastaless Veggie Lasagna (PHP275).

Detox Time: Detoxify Bar

Just like most people, I love to eat unhealthy stuff. (Chips, cakes, ice cream, chocolates, pizza, fries… why are you soooo good???)  But there are times when I feel so guilty that I just have to cleanse myself. I still remember the first time I did juice detox. It was not as hard as I thought but it was still challenging. I avoided everyone with food and became anti-social for a day. (Why yes, all of the people I know and talk with always have food.) It was worth it though as I felt great after! Not really sure if it was psychological given I spent quite a lot for 6 bottles of juice I could do myself or if it really made me feel better. Anyway, I was convinced once again to try it out and this time, I tried Detoxify Bar.

Hello, Detoxify Bar!

Detoxify Bar offers juice detox at a friendlier price compared to Juju Cleanse. Ordering was easier too as I called them up one afternoon to prepare my order for pick up that same night.

One day detox is composed of 5 bottles (versus 6 of Juju) and you may mix and match the juices you want (though they also have sets). Each bottle costs PHP220 but if you get a detox set, you also get a thermal bag and two tea packs for an additional PHP250.

I chose the Green Vegan Detox, Minty Berry Detox, Lemon Detox, and two bottles of Red Vegan Detox.

Deal of the Day: 40-Daytime Unlimited Pass at Urban Ashram Manila

The road to fitness sure is tough. I grew up with a lifestyle of eating and physical activities play a very small part which is more popularly known as P.E.. Yes, after graduating, I practically just wake up, eat, go to work, eat, go home, eat, and sleep. That’s pretty much my life until I felt the need to be more active, especially when I realized that at this stage, I just have to lead a healthier lifestyle.

Last January, I availed the 15-day unlimited pass of Urban Ashram and decided to give yoga a try to get my body in shape. I wasn’t able to maximize the whole 15 days as I had some days where I have to stay late at work or when I just feel… lazy.

However, I really enjoyed yoga. I loved it that I get to sweat it all out and that I feel a lot lighter after. I still can’t reach my toes to save my life but I reached the point that I could touch it for a millisecond before snapping back up like a spring.

Attack of the Fitness Nagger

For some reason, I think that the Fitness Nagger is following me.

It all started way back in 2009 when I first joined St. Paul College, Pasig or SPCP’s Family Fun Run. To be honest, I didn’t enjoy it at all. The fact that I was running out of air, it removed the fun out of the picture. (Okay, that was extremely corny.) But it inspired me to become more fit because for a 3.7 K run, I reached the finish line after 54 minutes whereas the best runners finished their 5K run in less than 20 minutes. (Shame!!!) And yes, some grandparents had a better time. How did they do it?

The next run I participated was… this year. Apparently, I wasn’t very inspired to become fit. But hey, I did a lot of walking for 5 months when I stayed in Korea. It was same place, same distance—SPCP’s Family Fun Run 2011. It was still tiring… and I got slower! I finished the race after an hour and four minutes.

Since I felt that I wanted to become more athletic, I decided to “upgrade” and joined the 5K run during the Good Housekeeping Family Fun Run (which was also an event for the latest magazine Good Dog—a dog magazine). I saw several colleagues during the run so I was really shy to do speed walking. It was a great motivation though as I finished the race under an hour (which was still a terrible record but loved the idea that I improved and broke my personal lame record).

That run made me desire to be fit again thus I began to look for running shoes with a friend. I was pretty concerned with the support and cushion as I have weak knees (wonder if it’s due to too much eating). In the end, my friend who did not plan to run at all was the one who went home with a paper bag with running shoes and I went home with a tummy full of chocolates, other sweets, and Chinese food. FAIL.

Finally, another “motivation” appeared (via email this time)…

Hmm… should I go?

Shopaholic me: Go!!! Can’t you read? It mentioned S-A-L-E

Glutton me: Why spend it on shoes when you can buy lots of munchies instead? Let's go explore Makati instead!!!

O.o