Lunchbox Diet

After our Palawan trip, we vowed to have beach bodies since summer is already fast approaching. Okay "vowed" is a strong word but you get the point XD. I'm not the type to go to the gym or participate on fun runs. I'd rather stay at home on my free time curled up in my bed with a good book or a movie or two. So how the fudge will I have a beach freakin body in time for summer?

My friend suggested we try the Lunchbox Diet. It's the first time I've heard of this. So how does it work? They will prepare the meal for you in a week and ensure you get the right amount of calories.

Cutting calories can help you lose weight. Emphasis on the word "help". Not all calories are the same, cutting calories is not as simple as you think. Sometimes by cutting calories without a balanced meal, we end up getting hungry or craving for something else which in most cases ends our diet spree. so I would like to share the following tips which I got from this site: http://authoritynutrition.com/how-many-calories-per-day/
1. Eating More Protein Can Reduce Appetite, Cut Cravings by 60% and Increase The Amount of Calories You Burn
2. Avoid Sugary Soft Drinks (and Fruit Juices), The Most Fattening Items in The Modern Diet
3. Drinking More Water Can Help With Weight Loss
4. Do Some Exercise and Lift Weights
5. Reduce Carbohydrate Intake, Especially Refined Carbs and Sugars

I don't cook, much less fuss about my calorie intake per day so Lunchbox Diet is good news to me. Lunchbox Diet would take care of points 1 and 5 for me. They have meal plans depending on your lifestyle and desired outcome.

How do you know which calorie plan suits you? You can check on the link provided above or here is a simple guide:

1200 calories per day
- petite to normal build with sedentary lifestyle targeting a body weight of 40-60 kg
- petite build with active lifestyle targeting a body weight of 40-55 kg

1500 calories per day
- normal to big build with sedentary lifestyle targeting a body weight of 60-70 kg
- normal build with active lifestyle targeting a body weight of 55-60 kg

1800 calories per day
- big build with sedentary lifestyle targeting a body weight of 70-75 kg
- bigger build with active lifestyle targeting a body weight of 60-70 kg
 
2000 calories per day
- big build with active lifestyle targeting a body weight of 70-75 kg


Using the link above, here is my chart. So I chose the plan with 1200 calories per day.

Menu for the Week:

Day 1 was a disaster. We had the food delivered at the office. I was excited and expecting the food when I arrived at the office but no. There had been technical difficulties during delivery so we ended up cancelling and refunding for Day 1. Nevertheless I just ate minimally because I was determined to keep this diet.

Day 2

Before anything else, we weighed ourselves so we can record if it really works. You can see the measurement in my chart above.

Tuesday Meal

I was already expecting minimal servings but when I saw all these I was thinking I could eat it in one seating. XD With regards to the taste it was okay. Nothing fancy or anything but something you can actually eat. Diet foods are normally bland for me. But what do I know it's just my first day.

Day 3

 Wednesday Meal

The meals are quite heavy today with rice for breakfast and dinner.

Did you know that a medium sized banana has about a hundred calories? 

But it also contains a high amount of dietary fiber which helps you feel full longer.

 I cheated today with these XD

Day 4

 Thursday Meal

The vegetables are fresh and crunchy yum!

Okay a little serving of vegetables are fine but not the whole thing. 

T_T (cries in the corner)

Day 5

Friday Meal

Not much vegetables today..hooray!!!

I followed points 2 and 3 by drinking only water, coffee without sugar or green tea. Point 4 is kind of blurred to me so I'll pass. XD


Steps to order:

Covered locations:

After 4 days of having lunchbox diet, we weighed ourselves and guess what? I lost 2 pounds already!
Actually I haven't eaten my lunchbox today so it's just 3 days. But hey it actually works! I'm going to try this again next week and see if I get the same results.

It's actually expensive PHP1700 per week / 5 days = PHP340 per day. But that's already 3 meals and 2 snacks per day. I don't need to cook or go out for my meals, it's healthy and it helps me lose weight. It keeps me from buying junk foods because I don't want to waste what I paid for. So for me it's a win win. :)

UPDATE:
I tried it for another week before calling it off. Why? One I just discovered my dislike for fresh (uncooked) carrots. Unfortunately almost every dish this week has carrots. Two I started cheating..french fries, pretzels, milk tea.. so yeah you get the idea. I just can't say no. Or maybe it's just me making excuses. So I didn't even bother to check my weight again. XD
The next week I really missed the convenience of having food at the ready. I also missed the variety and the feeling that you're eating healthy and loosing weight because now I'm back to KFC everyday. XD

Urban Connection: Nail Spa

I don't usually spend a fortune on my nails but seeing them like this breaks my heart. Okay I'm exaggerating. But look it's all dry and chipped so I decided it's time to give my nails a treat.

Urban Connection: Nail Lounge and Spa is located at Tomas Morato Ave.

Services Offered:

The ambiance is really posh and girly.

 The seats were very comfortable.

I decided to get the manicure and pedicure package with gel nail polish. It will be my first time to try gel nail polish and hopefully not my last. XD What's the difference between ordinary and gel nail polish? Aside from the tedious process, it should last longer than the ordinary ones.

These are the colors available for gel nail polish

 After cleaning, she first puts a primer then a clear nail polish.

 After that, 3 layers of the gel nail polish. This is the first layer.

 Second layer.

3rd layer. Coated with clear nail polish. I actually chose black but somehow it looks dark brown.

After every layer, they use this device so it dries faster.

My friend already tried this before. It's been 2 weeks and it's still intact. Now she's getting it removed just because. XD

Regular nail polish for my toe nails because they're so tiny you can barely see them XD

They also offer nail art. Here are some designs.

My friend tried the white passion foot spa. I'll definitely try one when I go back.

 Cling wrapped

 

Till next time!

 

UPDATE:

 After 1 week, still as good as new. Impressive since I usually mess it up on the first or second day.

 After 2 weeks, It's still pretty much intact but my nails are starting to grow longer.

After 3 weeks, on the left hand it's still intact. On the right hand though it's starting to chip. 

Okay so it did end up staying longer than ordinary nail polish so I guess you get what you pay for. But after a week your nails will already grow so I don't know maybe if you really need the nail polish to stay long. This will be the last update as I'll probably have it removed this week given the time. Gel nail polish removal costs PHP200 if I'm not mistaken. 

Ideal Vision: Fresh Look Contact Lenses

This is my second pair of contact lenses and this time I decided to try Ideal Vision's Fresh Look Color Blends which costs PHP1190. My eye grades went up again, due to not religiously wearing my glasses or contacts.

This one's in brown color. It's light brown when you wear it.

The first time I wore it, it was perfectly fine but the next day it stung big time. I don't know what happened I thought maybe I damaged it somehow. Which was sad since it's more expensive than the first one which still works perfectly fine by the way.

Then I realized what I was doing wrong. I was mixing two solutions. Using one to soak it and another to clean it before wearing. I'm using opti-free now since it feels more comfortable. Flex wear solution was sticky and feels dry for me.

This is how it looks like when I wear it. I'm wearing this now almost everyday when I'm not too lazy to put it on.

Since I was using it almost everyday, I finally learned to distinguish the right side up without depending on the color.

So next time I'll just buy the clear ones. This content was originally posted on my blog about my first contact lens which you can find here.

I decided to create a separate blog because this happened. :(

I was cleaning it before wearing when it was torn apart. </3 It just lasted for 2 months or so. So I'll be buying clear contacts lenses sooner than expected.

Why bother with contact lenses? At first I just wanted to try it. But it has its perks too. I hate wearing glasses when I'm drinking coffee which I do everyday and when it's raining or when I'm taking pictures with my dslr which I really love. It's really more of a bother sometimes which you wouldn't experience if you're just wearing contacts.

Why I hate contact lenses? I'm too lazy to put it on and remove it. When it gets dry and I forget to bring my solution or when some freaking dust gets in my eyes. 

Okay so mostly it's because of the coffee and taking pictures. It's just so easier without the glasses. Thus the need to buy a new pair. XD

Related posts:

My First Contact Lenses

Clear Contact Lenses

Palawan: El Nido

We booked a trip for 4 days and 3 nights to Palawan via Air Asia because it was on sale. We paid PHP2100 for a round trip ticket including insurance each.

If you're going to need an ATM, you better find one before leaving Manila. There is a BPI ATM at Puerto Prinsesa Airport but better be safe than sorry. I also noticed some money changers in El Nido town proper like Palawan Express and Singh Exchange? or something.

We spent the first day at Puerto Prinsesa to see the infamous Underground River then spent the rest of days at El Nido. Find out more about our PPUR experience here.

El Nido is a 4-6 hour trip from Puerto Prinsesa. It's like going to Baguio from Manila with zig zag roads but some roads are not yet paved. We rented a van for our entire tour for PHP1200 each for 10pax. It fetched us starting from the airport going to PPUR, then to and around El Nido and back.

At El Nido, we stayed at Overcomer Lodge for 3 nights which costs us PHP1980 each with breakfast. It's not located at the town proper so you have to take a tricycle to get there though there are also food joints in the area.

Our first day itinerary is a combination of Tour A & C which costs PHP1500. We also bought this package from Overcomer.

What you need to bring on an island hoping tour.

Drybag (bought mine at ace hardware for PHP200), waterproof mobile pouch (PHP50 at my suking bangketa XD you can buy these for PHP120-200 in Palawan), waterproof camera, powerbank, sunblock, crackers and a bottle of water.

 Our first stop was helicopter island. It's called helicopter island because err the island's shape is that of a helicopter? XD

Just a bit of snorkeling but nothing much to see.

Next stop is Matinloc Shrine

Matinloc Shrine View Deck

Matinloc Shrine Port

Then we had our lunch in an island somewhere which I forgot the name.

This feast was prepared by our bangkeros. This is included in the PHP1500 package.

Next stop is Secret Beach. The waves are kind of strong so we were just holding on to the life buoy while kuya bangkero pulled us along.

Entrance to Secret Beach

Underwater shot at Secret Beach

Secret Beach

Next with another small hole as entrance is Secret Lagoon. They sure love secrets don't they?

There are rock formations here that look like alligators trying to break free from the rocks.

Next is the Big Lagoon. The boat will just go around the lagoon while you take pictures.

Next is the Small Lagoon which I really enjoyed because it's my first time to try kayaking.

Our last stop was at Seven Commando Beach which is just 10 minutes away by boat to the town proper.

Seven Commando Beach

I came in like a.... XD

Powdery white sand

Sunset at Seven Commando Beach

On our second day, we went to Nacpan beach to chill and Marimegmeg beach to watch the sunset which costs PHP300.

 

Nacpan Beach

This is the common destination when tours are cancelled. It's 2 hours away from El Nido town proper. It's a nice place to go to..

 Take gorgeous pictures

 Get your pictures taken

 Play sand volleyball

 Chill and pet the dogs on the beach

 Build sand castles

Play with the waves

You can already tell we spent a lot of time here. You can even go on trekking to see a nice view which I didn't because of my "kasipagan" (diligence). 

 Marimegmeg Beach

We only stayed at marimegmeg beach to watch the sunset.

On our last day, we headed back to Puerto Prinsesa, bought our pasalubong and hanged out at Baywalk while waiting for our return flight.

 It looks like the Baywalk in Manila

There are also food stalls nearby. Try the crocodile sisig at Boyet's.

Anu kaya iniisip ni koya? XD

Before I forget, we bought our pasalubong at Puerto Prinsesa. Palawan = Kasoy. It is known. There are also the usual souvenirs like shirts and bags and key chains and magnets. They also have other Filipino delicacies/sweets and dried fish.

When I saw this shirt I just had to buy it. (^_^)V This is the only souvenir I bought in El Nido. Customized shirts cost PHP260 (round neck) PHP300 (v-neck) and the usual Palawan shirts cost PHP90.

There are still a lot of islands we haven't been to. It's a chill trip with some sight seeing so #KeepExploringKeepComingBackToPalawanV1.0 (^_^)