The other night we celebrated my Lola’s 89th birthday. We sat enjoying our favorite sushi dishes rich in Omega-3’s such as salmon. My grandmother (lola) was vibrant – slow but healthy, beautiful and classy. She has the kind of eyes that brightly smile and a voice so quiet, it requires your full attention. She inspires me to grow old gracefully. Besides her busy social life, her petite frame reflects the healthy diet abundant in Filipino food rich in fish. Whenever…

Continue Reading

Damn. I stared confused, annoyed and speechless while staring at my Dexa Scan results, a machine that calculates bone density, muscle mass and body fat.  In the past, I measured my body composition via skin calipers and hydrostatic underwater weighing. In both tests, I always measured between 22-24% body fat, an athletic range for a female. However, in this most recent weigh-in I clocked in at 28% body fat – a percentage that is considered normal or average. I really…

Continue Reading

July 2, 2018 Six years ago I created a Facebook page dedicated to fitness. Since then, most of the people I used to follow have withered away. A lot of models and athletes who I admired on covers of fitness magazines have faded into obscurity. Many well-known brands and catchy workouts are no longer popular. This isn’t shocking as I’ve seen many changes in my 22 years in the fitness industry. I know one thing for certain, if you get…

Continue Reading

They often say you are either a cooker or a baker. I am definitely the latter. I love to bake. I like to know I can follow a recipe to the “t” and get the final product without needing to be creative. I also like to have sweet stuff in the house because: A) It makes my house smell good B) The Children constantly need healthy snacks C) I am a recovering sugar addict and appreciate daily sweets, esp in…

Continue Reading

When I was outwardly considered the most fit, I wasn’t healthy. I meticulously counted macros, spent hours at the gym, turned down invitations to social gatherings, lacked life balance and focused mainly on physical aesthetics and not bodily function.  I didn’t realize that most images seen on magazines and advertisements are of paid models/athletes that tanned, dieted and depleted their body of water so muscles become more visible. Many develop eating disorders, body dysmorphia, infertility, metabolic damage, depression and caffeine…

Continue Reading

I fear failure. Funny statement considering, most people view me as a successful person. What people don’t realize is how much I’ve failed in this process in uncovering my life’s path. In 2008 I experienced an unplanned pregnancy that left me depressed, anxious and worried about the future. I didn’t have a steady income, I lacked health insurance, I recently moved home with my parents, I was overweight from years of disordered eating and while we were engaged, we weren’t…

Continue Reading

Often time people want to know what I do. It gets very boring to tell others I workout for an hour five times a week and eat small balanced meals containing complex carbohydrates, lean protein and healthy fats throughout the day. So let me tell you what I DON’T DO on a daily basis. DISCLAIMER: I’m not saying that if you DO any of these things it’s necessarily a bad thing. This article is just a guide to anyone who…

Continue Reading