I know fad diet is everywhere today but I am going to avoid each one of them. Avoid “fad” diets. Instead, I will try to lose weight the natural way.

Everyday I will list some tips to lose weight. Here are the first five:

1. Substitute fruit purees for butter or margarine. They are easy to
prepare in a food processor and will significantly reduce calories and
fat.

2. Cheese is good for you, but the fat is not. Try this: Zap cheese in
the microwave and drain off grease.

3. Exercising before you eat just makes you hungrier. Exercise AFTER
eating when the body has to work harder to digest food.

4. Don’t eat while watching television. You can become so engrossed
in your program that don’t realize how much you are eating.

5. Too many people skip breakfast. Eat in the morning when the body
burns more calories.

And so the world came to a halt. For the nth time.

My husband and I would always survey the streets of Makati everytime Manny Pacquiao has a boxing match. Today, as expected, most areas were desolate except for some people who were out and about or probably didn’t care that much for the fight. For us who are not so crazy about the national event didn’t bother to buy overpriced tickets at SM to see the uninterrupted match. We were content to place ourselves in our couch, nibbled on junk food and patiently waited for every round to progress. Of course we had no choice but to deal with commercials. Nonetheless, we got a bang out of Manny and Juan Manuel’s exciting fight. Read more »

I’m so looking forward to traveling with Amarind this summer (to those who are living in North America and Europe, summer in the Philippines starts mid-February and ends mid-June). We are planning to hit as many places and beaches if possible including some foreign countries before we finally move to the States in August. It’s been a while since we took a vacation together as my pregnancy put a kibosh on all our travel plans last year. Now that we could already get some help from relatives as soon as we transfer to Iloilo, we could just pack our bags and go.

Of course going to the beach won’t be complete without wearing a nice two piece– not that I really have to but you can’t expect me to stroll in my long gown just because I couldn’t wear anything beach-appropriate. The problem is, I still look flabby so there’s a great need to lose some weight to fit in a medium-sized two piece. I gained so much weight when I got pregnant and now I am just in the process of shedding excess fat. I was 118lbs prior my pregnancy and I peaked at 167lbs on my nineth month. Now, two and a half months after I gave birth, I am down to 144lbs but that’s still far from my target weight of 118lbs.

I’ve never been this heavy in my entire life. I just feel so uncomfy when I weigh past 122lbs before I got married so I was trying to at least maintain my weight around the 118lbs-120lbs mark. Now, I am determined to be fit again and it’s a challenge to lose 25lbs before May. I am doing it not for vanity’s sake but because I feel so much better when I’m lighter. Besides, it’s frustrating to try to find nice clothes that look good on me, unless I go for plus size. In other words, I want to revert to my old self. I want to look like this again.

It’s a good thing that Amarind is working out with me everyday for the past week. He’s actually a gym buff and a huge fan of peanut butter and protein shakes– his secrets to keeping fit. It’s a huge advantage to have him around because he encourages me to do some exercise routines that will expedite my weight loss and make my arms and legs more firm. I also feel that the chance of achieving my goals is higher if I have a gym partner who constantly checks on my progress. And since we blog, I’ve decided to chronicle my quest to a better figure until I reach my ideal shape. I will allot a section at the front page of our blog exclusively for this plan. Perhaps some of you will find some of my tips useful.

So we look forward to fun-filled trips this summer and I look forward to look better by May. It’s no small feat since I have to forego my sinful indulgences but I hope to be rewarded later on.

Tout va bien, on s’en va, is about the impact on three sisters of the return of their father, Louis, who left them 15 years earlier. The girls don’t only have different characters but they also have differing reactions to the their father’s return. Claire cant believe she’s having back her father but soon she realizes that she has to take care of him (he is suffering from losing the memory and that’s why he actually came back, to recognize them while he still can) and Beatrice (the careerwoman) for whom everything had been long over, there isn’t any reason why she should be remembering him again. The elder sister Laura didn’t know what to do (reject him or give him that second chance).

That pretty much sums up the plot - the film tries to present itself as a psychological study rather than a narrative. Unfortunately the main characters are difficult people and hard to like, and their reactions to their father’s return (ranging from total hostility to apparent acceptance) are hard to understand, as nothing is revealed about their former relationships. The film would have been much better if it had taken itself less seriously, and offered more to its audience - more plot, more background, and a more convincing exploration of its characters.

I admit that I didn’t understand why the ending was so. I even thought whether it was deliberate on the part of the director or not. Nonetheless, the movie was worthwhile.

I wrote this review of La Pianiste four years ago.

——-

A few days ago I saw a French Film, which my friend Levie gave me as a token from her recent visit in Hong Kong. La Pianiste or The Piano Teacher is one, if not the most bizarre foreign film that I have ever seen. It tells about a very prim, proper, and demanding teacher who holds a very deep, dark secret– she is obsessed with pornography and bondage. She lives with her domineering mother and manages to live a respectable lifestyle. Then a young, good looking student comes along and expresses a major interest in her. She resists at first, but eventually gives in and exposes him to her dark fantasies. However this only leads to tragic and ponderous results.

If you expect to see titillating sex scenes, then you’ll get disppointed by this film. Most of the sex scenes, particularly those in the bathroom and apartment, are dark and grimy, and mostly bring out the angst and cynicism of characters at the start of the movie. The film explores a good understanding of the torment and frustrations of one whose sexual fantasies are very strong and perverse and yet can never really be lived out.

There are interesting discussions in the movie about Schubert, Beethoveen and Bach. Watching the movie made me realize that playing any one of those mentioned should be done with great effort.

The one truly lasting image one gets from this film is not the sex nor the piano. It is the face of the main character. Michael Haneke (director) shows a good sensitivity for this. It is a unique face in that it at times seems very plain and middle aged and then at other times seems to have strong hints of youthful beauty. You literally SEE the tightness and coldness of the character and then at other times a softness. In one memorably quick moment you even see the look of playfulness and devil may care. Her face is shown a lot sometimes in extreme close up. Yet the more they show it the more fascinating it seems to become.