Finally...

I finally had time to work out again! Last week, I had almost no time to work out. I had four night shifts, two exams, two quizzes, two lab reports...basically a lot of things going on in my life. Since school is number 1 on my list of priorities, I had to stop working out last week. But after finishing my third exam, I worked out! I didn't have time to go to the gym and lift so I did the workout video that I posted here. I did that workout twice the last time I talked about it and I died. I did it this one time since my one week hiatus and I was exhausted. Thankfully, looking at my numbers, I didn't lose too much of my progress.

If you're interested:
This week's progress after my little vacation:
Crab toe touch: R1 [round 1]: 21, R2: 20
Dive bomber: R1: 6, R2: 7
One leg squat and one leg pike: R1: 6, R2:6
Thigh shrinker exercise: R1: 12, R2:14

Originally:
Crab toe touch: R1 [round 1]: 26, R2: 24
Dive bomber: R1: 6, R2: 5
One leg squat and one leg pike: R1: 6, R2:6
Thigh shrinker exercise: R1: 16, R2: 14

Also due to the fact that I took a week vacation, I'll be extending challenge 2 until October 11th. I'll also be deciding what my next challenge will be!

Deadly

I wish you had been poison. Poison in which could be easy to cure, like a snake bite in which its venom could be sucked out. A type of sickness that can be cured with antibiotics or even the suffering of nasal congestion, coughs, and restless sleep. I wish you had been another, anything but what you are. It's run rampant in my life and as I chase after it, trying to sink myself onto it, it shakes me off and continues to run at breakneck speeds I can't physically do. I wish you had been Anger, like a metal rod put in fire. Red and hot and virtually unchangeable but easily thrown away if I chose to. Or placed back into the fire, manipulated time and time again, and although it may burn me or scar me, at least there's the chance that I can throw it away. I wish you had been Envy, like the green algae that fester the waters of once beautiful ponds. Virtually unable to sweep away or scrape away, or even prevent but still, I could brush it aside to see the waters. Even if it's still there, I can brush it aside wider and wider, wider and wider, until it's at the edges in which they can cling to the water walls attempting to survive. I wish you had been Sloth, like a lazy dangerous beast. At least I could chase you away. Beasts must be afraid of something right? Fire? Noise? I could ask a witch to brew Sloth something special, something that could chase you aside out of your cave. Something in which a caveman or even I could corner and kill, like the once giant sloths that have existed in evolution in which humans have terminated. I wish you had been Gluttony, like those hungry mythical monsters that live in the sea who demand virginal sacrifices from whichever poor country you've ransacked. At least then, I could be the mythical hero from a far away land who have come a long journey to kill you in order to continue my quest for something better. I wish you had been Greed, like the pink pigs run on a farm. At least I could've fattened you up before slaughtering you and it wouldn't have been in a FDA approved manner either. I'd slaughter you in the methods depicted in The Jungle because Greed isn't clean and it doesn't feed anything good but it'd still been better than who you are. I wish you had been Pride. At least I could've smashed mirrors apart and even though I would have seven supposed years of bad luck in an attempt to kill off Pride, at least the years wouldn't be full of you. Even Venus fell down with a mortal lover and at least if I fell down with Pride, I could've started another chain of events that would be better than the mess you're dragging along. But you? You're something that I can't withdraw from. Even when I find myself as far away from it as possible, it'll come chasing after me like a ghost missing the warmth of life. A drop of you, a small sample of you, and your aftertaste can't be washed away. It expands and I try to pull my skin apart to let you out because you're making my skin too tight. You're making me exhale too often when I should be trying to inhale because you're sneaking your fingers to my lungs and squeezing. You're a weapon growing inside of me and yet I can't launch you away. You're not killing me softly either, there is no softness in death, and when I figure out how to exterminate you, you shouldn't smile at me because I won't be killing you softly either.

Top 5 Tips for Working Out

I realized I haven’t posted much about my second challenge other than quick links. Here are some top tips that I’ve heard and followed that have made this second challenge so much fun!

1. Train like a guy. What this means is don’t be afraid of free weights. Don’t be afraid to lift weights, in general. Write down how many sets you did and how much weights you lifted. As you progress, you can keep track of how much stronger you’re getting. You won’t get big either. You’ll get all the results you wanted.

2. Interval training is the best. Seriously, I go out of my way to avoid running. I’ll do it because it is necessary.  However why run for 20, 30, or 45 minutes when you can get the same results in less than 20 minutes? Try this the next time you think you have to run for 30 minutes nonstop to get the results you want: sprint or run as fast as you can for 1 minute, jog for 3 minutes. Repeat. You can apply this type of logic to other exercises [I haven’t tried this with weight lifting yet so I don’t recommend it]. Also interval training for me has been intense. I get burned out in 12 minute workouts and the best part? It’s all I need.

3. Do NOT do isolation exercises. You know you’ve done it, the times you’ve hit the gym and ONLY worked on legs or arms or abs. Think about all those guys you’ve seen with monstrous arms but the rest of their body looks normal. Yes, that’s what can happen to you too. Do exercises that work multiple body parts.

4. Doing cardio everyday gives you results. My friend told me that I didn’t have to spend any time doing sit ups or anything so long as I do cardio. He told me by doing cardio and remembering to tighten up your abs, you’ll get your ab workout right there!

5. Experiment! Don’t always do the same thing over and over again. Confuse your body. This means don’t do the same lifting exercises every week, don’t do yoga everyday either. By doing different things, you’re making your body stronger and who knows, maybe you’ll find something new that you like!

Thrifted Outfit!!

My dressed up outfit for a depressing Monday [depressing because it means a start of another week!].
 
Shoes: Thrifted
Tank top: Thrifted
Skirt: Thrifted
Leggings and cardigan: Forever 21
Scarf: bought from a local store at the beach two summers ago

I feel proud of my thrifted outfit. I hope that someday, I will have accumulated enough clothing from thrifting to always have some of it in my daily outfit. That would mean by then, I would NOT be contributing to mainstream shopping and landfills of perfectly good clothes.

Hot Attack

This work out was designed to be only 12 minutes wrong. I did it once and I was exhausted. I did it again just to push myself. What I got as a result was muscles shaking and being incapable of moving [after I finished it twice over]. I laid down for a good twenty minutes before I could function again. This was awesome but I hope I can move well tomorrow because I have ballroom dance practice!

Sadness: Not Working Out

I haven’t been able to work out for the past two days. Finding time between classes and work is really difficult. Also, I live in an apartment where I have to cook my own food and clean. So even doing that along with the rest of the things I need to do make it really difficult to not work out. Honestly, it felt so strange NOT working out. I was disappointed I didn’t get to. My roommate tells me it’s ok, it’s good to rest up, but still it felt strange. Honestly, I don’t know when the next time I’ll be able to work out. I can work out today but probably not tomorrow. Next week will be extra difficult because I have two exams to study for and about three back to back shifts at work. *insert melodramatic sigh here*.

Also: I’m thinking of starting to drink protein. This is really a challenge against my own thinking and many others that by drinking protein and working out, girls will get big and muscular like a female bodybuilder. More on that later!

Untitled

Totally random writing that plagued me today. Here it is:

I bought a big sketchbook today. I said I have big ideas and big dreams I need to put on paper. Yet I stretched every line and made every curve wide. Fill the wide yawning white. There is no looking at what’s being scarred on. Only focus on getting it done. The entire white is marred with lines and curves and shades and brights and yet there is no picture. There is no picture. It’s just a piece. I rip another and try to color in the next part, the next part that was supposed to be on the first. Trying to make it fit, trying to make it fit the first. Yet I draw it too small, the lines thin like toothpicks and the curves too tight. It doesn’t match and I draw a third to look like the first to match the second. Then it goes on until I’m drawing the tenth to match the eighth because the seventh didn’t fill the page. It doesn’t occur to me to draw something new. Something entirely new, something different. Clinging onto this big idea and this big dream that fades away like smoke further and further as I try to grasp it. The constant coloring, the constant attempt to match and I’ve lost the reading in the obscure cards that once told me a secret to my future in which I could break glass ceilings and snap old dusty books with my stiletto, the secret to making one kiss slip into the next kiss and the next endlessly yawning like the ocean among a horizon, and the dashes to the fears that I would fade like the shadows who run from the sun. Moving canvases to the walls, the floor, the ceiling, sketching and stretching, breaking my arms and my legs trying to reach up and over to draw this ragged line from one end to the other, trying to make it all connect. And when I can’t take it anymore, I draw tiny. I fill in the cracks between each mistake and each imperfection, squeezing all the details of my big idea into the small space between gaps that the ink blots and bleed and the tiny just hurts my eyes. The tiny just hurts. And I curl small, smaller, trying to smash my fingers down and fold in my legs so I can be small like Thumbelina and this tiny image can seem big to me. It doesn’t even register that I could’ve left the room despite the knockings of a door I’ve locked and won’t open or the break in of the window that seems to shrink. Even when bleeding hands and arms, broken skin from the wood they’ve broken down or the glass they’ve tried to brush away like dust, grasp me I’m incapable of moving because I’m trying to listen to the whispers of the reminders of my smoky dream. Fallen into the siren song and drowned by the mermaid of a Dead Sea where witches pull out cards they tell me to cut.

Workout Links

I know my schedule is to lift three times a week and pilates/swim twice a week, however I find myself doing a lot of pilates. I've also been doing a lot of research on the internet for workouts that don't require me to go to the gym! Like I said, finding time to hit the gym between 19 credits worth of classes and a demanding job is rather difficult. So often times, hitting the gym is a lot of trouble. I still go, of course, to stick with my schedule. I wanted to write this post to show you two awesome sites I use as references to work out.

POP Pilates! - My favorite pilates instructor! I can always take this to go! I love Cassey's 10 minute intense work out videos coupled with music. These videos range from total body to spot exercises such as abs or butt. This site also comes with printables on her workouts and diet tips!

Bodyrock - I just found this website a few days ago. I love this site because it primarily uses bodyweight excerises. This means no need for equipment! Even if Zuzana does use equipment, she later tells beginners how to do the exercises down to their fitness level. Most of her videos are meant for 10 minute intervals. The titles of the exercises are funny though. Can you believe that she got to her fitness level through bodyweight excerises?!
P.S. Her website might seem intimidating but the best way to start using this website is to click on the latest video and doing it!

Are there are any other sites YOU use to work out?

DUK...Textbooks?

DUK...Textbooks?!
As a college student, I've had to hand over a hefty amount of money over the most dreaded thing known to college other than fees: textbooks. Have you ever been in those classes where the professor spends about 20 minutes lecturing you on how important it is that you get the textbook? They tell you all types of things: if you don't get it, you won't do well, you invested your money in an education and the book is part of that education.
Then you buy the book and you find out you haven't opened the cover. Yes, I've been there. Frustrating right? Absolutely maddening! Why did I just spend $50, $80, $100, $200?!!! This was me as a freshman. Since then, I've definitely learned a lot of skills and tips when it comes to textbooks.
Here is a rundown of some quick information:

1. For the most part, the information between editions are the same!
2. Custom editions for your school is no different than the regular textbook!
3. International editions are the same.
4. Professors don't always know the difference between one edition of the textbook to the new one. They got sold by some advertiser.
5. Your school's bookstore raises the prices of those books to get a cut from it.
6. Textbooks that come with CDs or access codes cost more. If you're not going to use them, don't buy the book that comes with it.

Here are some tips to cut down your costs:

1. AVOID BUYING AT YOUR SCHOOL'S STORE!!
2. Always buy used.
3. Buy international!
4. Comparison shop!
5. Wait until the first day of classes to get the syllabus. Gauge from the calender and use your instincts to determine whether you really need it.
6. Check out your school's library. Often, they'll have a copy of your textbook or book lying around somewhere.
7. Share a textbook with a classmate. BEWARE: This might be difficult come exam time.
8. Access codes that are required for you to do online homework often come with the e-book already included.

Good luck!

I'm Feeling ADDICTED!

It's been a week and I've been keeping true to my challenge! Working out everyday! When I go to the gym and lift, I love the "fuzzy" feeling I get! I also love the soreness. When I do pilates, I love feeling sore too. When I swim, I'm in love with the movements.

I'll admit, the only thing I'm NOT addicted to is running. I dread running. I'll do it because I have to, but I despise it. Sprinting is something I enjoy but it's not something I can do often. Running gives me bad shin splints so I started to opt out of running and do other cardio workouts instead. I also started to do interval cardio workouts where you intensify your workout for a minute and spend three minutes slowing it down. For instance in running, I'll sprint 100 meters but spend the rest of the lap jogging. I cut the time I'm spending on cardio but am getting the same type of goal.

My school has a gym that offers fitness classes. I'm hoping to get into some of them because I think it'll be fun to change my routine a little once in a while. The only thing I find difficult with this challenge is finding time to work out. Some days, I wake two hours before classes start to go to the gym. However, when I'm working night shifts, it's hard to do this as often as I would like. Between classes are difficult too because I get hungry.

Is It Really JUST About Being Healthy?

Someone asked me what other goals I have for this challenge. They said that "being healthy and active" is too vague. So I thought of an answer for them! I'm a swimmer, always have been. However, it's so easy to lose the skills when you haven't done them in so long. I used to be able to have a lot more endurance when swimming but now swimming two laps makes me tired. I used to be able to hold my breath longer. So my goal for this challenge is to also build my endurance. I also started to do pilates, which I love! However many of the moves are challenging and I often have to do the easier moves. For instance, I'll have to do leg circles with a much smaller circumference rather than make them big. I know that I do the same workout but I hope to be able to make them bigger. Secondary goal for this challenge is to become more flexibile!

Unveiling: Challenge 2

I'll be starting my second challenge September 4th. It's not quite on the dot in terms of the month but that's because that's when I get back to school. I figured I might as well start the challenge along with my move in date back to campus right? Challenge 2 is to work out everyday for a minimum of 30 minutes!

I've been struggling with working out for so long. I went from being one of the most active people in high school to not doing any type of physically demanding activity in college. It was mostly because I was focused on my coursework but that's not a big excuse. Another reason why I've struggled with working out is because I get bored easily. In high school, I spent five days a week doing a sport. I got all my exercise of the day by performing these sports. Since I'm not doing a sport in college, it was easy to lose the physical activities.

So I devised a plan to get myself from getting bored. My plans? Everyday, I'm going to wake up early to take a full ten minute run. Three days a week, I'll be hitting the gym and lifting weights. Two days of that week I'll be doing something like Pilates or swimming [my favorite!]. One day of that week is kind of a freebie, where I can chose what kind of activity to do: pilates, swimming, cardio kickboxing, yoga, etc.

A few FAQ:

Why working out?

We all know, from our doctor's appointments to news articles, that working out for a minimum of 30 minutes is healthy for your body. Yet, who really does this? A lot of people, as it seems to me, work out because they either want to lose weight or gain muscle. If I hear someone wanting to work out because they want to be healthy, it's typically linked to either wanting to maintain their weight or lose the weight. I'm doing this challenge solely to stay active, in hopes that this challenge transcends past a month and into my daily life. Who knows? Maybe I'll get addicted!

Why's it a challenge?

Anyone who goes to school or goes to work everyday should know that it's hard to find time to eat or sleep or run necessary errands. Who has time to work out?! That's why it's a challenge: making time to work out!

Why did you chose the plan you did?

Mostly to continue to cycle through things. I despise going to the gym and simply lifting weights. That's so boring for me! However, I know that lifting weights is a great exercise that we don't get enough of, so I'm doing it three times a week! I didn't want to get bored and I didn't want to leave things so vague. You know those people whose New Year's resolution is to work out at the gym and yet they never manage to fulfill it? It's because their plan is too vague. By targeting something, you'll be more likely to be able to focus! So if you're interested in losing weight, gaining muscle, or just being active: make a game plan! You can build it up too, step by step.

Are you going to be going on a diet as well?

Most likely not. I'm pretty healthy in terms of eating. I don't feel that changing my diet would mean that I'm not meeting my challenge. I could change my mind though, who knows!

Wish me luck!

Now I have to go start packing away and be prepared to be shipped off! =D

Recycling!

 

In case you can't see the text:

• The average family throws away 6 trees worth of paper
• It takes the same amount of energy to make one new can as it does to make 20 recycled cans
• From the diagram: Mexico and Turkey are the countries who disposes of their waste primarily through landfills! Japan is the country that does the most composting! 
• The most common type of waste: 
• Paper and cardboard
• Organic material
• Textiles
• Plastic
• Metals
• Glass
•  Every ton of paper recycled saves:
• 7 trees
• 276 pounds of sulfur
• 350 pounds of limestone
• 9,000 pounds of steam
• 60,000 gallons of water
• 3.3 cubic yard of landfill space
• In the United States, the amount of trash produced is at a rate of 1.609 pounds per person per year
• If all our newspapers were recycled, we could save about 250 million trees each year!!!
• How long does it take to decompose?
• Aluminum can- 80 years
• Glass bottle- 500 years
• Soda bottle- 700 years
• Styrofoam- NEVER
• The amount of aluminum Americans throw away each year is enough to provide the auto industry with all the material it needs to build a year's worth of new cars!
• The energy saved from recycling one bottle will power a 60 watt light bulb for 6 hours!
• Steel cans are recycled in just 6 weeks, aluminum cans in only one month!
• The average household wastes enough energy weekly to power a TV for 2 years!
• Used plastic dumped into the sea kills and destroys sea life at an estimated 1,000,000 sea creatures per year!
• Recyclign creates 4 jobs for every 1 job created in the waste management and disposal industries
• Recycling creates 1.1 million US jobs:
• $238 billion in gross annual sales
• $37 billion in annual payrolls

This speaks for itself. I learned a few things myself.

Tracking Carbon Footprints

I was reading an article that talks about businesses using a program developed by a PhD student at MIT to track the carbon footprint of products. This program is called Sourcemap. Essentially, this tells you where your product is coming from and how much carbon it has consumed in its travel.

You wanna know a typical iPhone 4 production Sourcemap? Here it is:

A laptop and all its components? Pretty cool right? It's being advertised to big scale companies [Office Depot is a company that participates in Sourcemap] to promote transparency. It's also a social project, anyone can submit their own Sourcemap. This made me really think of how a single product is affecting the environment. This company is also hoping to track water consumption and etc in order to create these products. So check it out!

Minimizing Mainstream Shopping

I’ve decided to minimize mainstream shopping. What this means is that for the most part, I’ll only buy things new that are completely necessary. Otherwise, it is thrifting for everything else for me. It’s environmentally friendly and I love the euphoria I get when I’m looking around. It’s like hoping to find buried treasure. It’s cheap and I never feel guilty for what I purchased. So cheers for thrifting!!!!

Vegan Chocolate-Chocolate Pancakes!

I reblogged a recipe about vegan pancakes! It's perfect for those chocolate lovers! And it's rather easy to make too. Delicious!

Decision Making Fatigue?

We've all felt it: the moment when our brain just can't make choices anymore. The green or the blue? Pencil or pen? To go out or not to go out? You wouldn't think that these small moments where you are indecisive would be a big deal. Apparently all types of moments where you feel indecisive can add up to a biological toll! What's this biological toll you ask?

In summary, a person is always resisting desire. This type of control over your desire is part of your brain, where a section regulates such things. These desires are really anything such as snacking or slacking off at work. Well, both small and big moments of indecisiveness means your willpower [as the article calls it] or your brain's "ego" trying to control your "id" [oh Sigmund Freud] weakening. You're tiring out your brain's ego from trying to figure out which is the more realistic step. For instance, you're trying to figure out whether or not you should call or text so and so. Your ego is trying to figure out which would be better, faster, less likely to get you in trouble at work, etc. This makes your ego tired, trying to figure out which works for these criteria. This means since your ego is tired, your id desire to...shop gets unleashed unchecked! This concept means, as the researchers call it, you're feeling "decision fatigue".

At the end of the article, the researcher comment on why this is important to society. They say, if a judge spent all day making decisions on people's lives or money, they're brains must get tired too! Imagine all kind of mistakes they might make! You can read the article to find where it talks about how the judge gives prisoners parole more often after he had lunch [he gave into his id desire to eat!!!!!].

That's so interesting right?!  More  information can be found in the article. It's pretty long because it's done in standard psychology article format, which details how the experiment got started and how this theory came about.  Check the NY TIMES article here!

How Much is YOUR Clothes Costing the PLANET!?

This link is designed to show you how much your personal closet is taking up the space of the planet. It really gives you a look at where your clothes end up.This link also shows where home supplies go, such as your bath towels.

Just to give you some perspective, I put in decent numbers in the categories of what I owned. No number above 11 for categories, I wash my clothes in cold water, and I typically hang dry all my clothes. I came out to be 834 EDUs, which is fashionably average.
This link is SCARY!

DUK...Sweatshops?

I haven't done a DUK post in a while, sorry about that! I decided that this DUK post would be about sweatshops since I posted up that picture here.

The term sweatshop is defined as: A factory or workshop, esp. in the clothing industry, where manual workers are employed at very low wages for long hours and under poor conditions.

The history of sweatshops in a nutshell?

It begins between the 1830-1850s in England. The concept of sweatshops was very appealing, cheap labor for very little cost. Often, the people who worked at sweatshops were immigrants or those who come from a background of being poorly educated. There are reports of several beatings of the workers if, for instance, they didn't maintain their quota of how many garments or products they must produce. Sweatshops started to exist wherever there was an industry for clothing in all countries. This was during a time when labor laws didn't exist to govern minimum wage and maximum hours. Eventually, government came to recognize the poor conditions and passed several laws. Later, companies moved their production factories overseas, to avoid these laws which required them to pay certain wages and limit hours in order to maximize profits. Nike, whom has the poorest record of sweatshop history, sell their shoes for an average price of $116 while the cost of actually making that shoe is under $5.

What you can do to help?

Be active. I'm not saying you have to start riots or write petitions, but what you can do is look at the labels you find in your garments. You know those labels that tell you what materials are in the garment and how to wash them? They also say where they're made from. The ever present "Made in China" and other countries give you a big clue that there was sweatshop labor involved. Try to buy "Made in USA" items, they will be more expensive. Since I, myself, am on a college budget, I won't always have the money to shell out for a simple T shirt that may cost up to $20 because it's made in the US. What I do instead is thrift. Logically, since I'm not buying items from the mainstream market, I personally am not creating a demand for such garments to be made. Items that exist in thrift are second hand and not only am I preventing them from going to landfills, I'm also avoiding sweatshops. So try these things! =D






Note: I keep DUK posts short and simple because they're supposed to be fast. They're meant to get you to think and research on your own. Solutions are from what I personally think and may or may not work.

DUK...Trash?

I know it's a strange title but the original title I was thinking of was too long to sound attractive! This DUK post is really about how long it takes for your trash to decompose.


I went to the beach last Friday as part of my birthday celebration. The beach I went to has always been nice but it started to re-invent itself. It also started to post up signs to educate their customers about how to keep the beach clean and healthy as well. The one that I came upon really inspired me to write this DUK post.

So the scenario is really this: You walk along the beach and you find plastic bottles and trash lining the waves that is lapping at your feet. You take a path to get to wherever you might've put your towel down to get a tan and see the trash a person might've left. You don't really think much of it and you keep on walking.

Here's the truth about the trash you leave on the beach [as told by the sign posted]:

Glass bottles takes 1 million years to decompose. 

An aluminum can can take 80-200 years, plastic bottles 450 years, and plastic bags 10-20 years. You know those cigarette butts you think that you can just bury away in the sand and it won't harm anything or anyone? Well a single cigarette butt takes 4-5 years to decompose. Imagine all of that on a large scale! How many years it might take for a single summer's day worth of trash left behind to decompose so the beach might return to its original condition prior to that day!

We also shouldn't forget other life that is disrupted by the trash carelessly thrown. In the ocean, fish might eat the small plastic parts or get caught in the plastic rings. These man-made creations can be toxic to the life forms!

Here are a few tips for your next trip to the beach to help:

-Bring your own trash bag or plastic bag. I know that trash disposals are so far and in between on the beach or it's a pain to go all the way to the sidewalk in order to find a trash barrel. By bringing your own, you can just dump out that bag in the trash when you leave the beach.

-Use re-usable containers. Every bottle of water you might bring and throw away takes years to decompose in a land fill! Even the plastic you might use to wrap your food in harms the environment.

-Do a good deed. Help volunteer to pick up the trash at the beach or do it out of your own initiative. The last time I went, I picked up a plastic wrapper for crackers from the ocean out to throw out.
Of course these tips can transcend the beach and into your daily life. You can use these tips at the park or even a walk around the city!

About My Next Challenge

After my first challenge, which was eating vegan for a month, I was excited to do another. Originally, I had planned on doing a challenge every other month but once I started to do one, I loved the challenges. However, as I thought about my next challenges, I couldn't find one fitting to do for August. So I decided to skip on doing a challenge for August and do challenge consecutively when school starts.

My next challenge starts September! Challenge 2 is all about being healthy. It'll be about working out every day and eating healthy. I'm actually not a big fan of doing diets. I stay healthy by eating right as much as I can. This means I typically avoid junk food and I eat balanced meals.

So my next monthly challenge is about actively being healthy. We all know that we're supposed to do intense physical activity for at least 30 minutes a day. However between classes and work, finding time to eat and sleep is difficult. Who has time to work out?! We also know we should eat balanced meals, avoid junk food, stop eating after a certain time. Despite these warnings, we all stay up late and are guilty of cracking open a bag of potato chips or making some ramen noodles. My next month's goal is to challenge myself into becoming committed to this goal of living an active and healthy lifestyle.
This goal is particularly very important to me. I've been trying but often slack off. I hope that by doing this challenge, it'll change my habits by making me WANT to do these things. I'd also like if I get accustomed to being active everyday, it'll become part of my daily routine that I will keep intact long after this challenge is over.

Right now, I'm going on about researching workout ideas and nutrition. So far, my work out plan is relatively simple. I get bored easily with working out because I hate going to the gym and simply being there. I rather be playing a sport and getting my exercise that way. Currently I plan on lifting weights 3-4 times a week, run every morning for 10 minutes, swim or do pilates twice a week, and a "free" day where I can choose something to do [like cardio kickboxing or yoga]. This vague workout plan is to prevent me from getting bored and to change things up from the typical "go to the gym, do this for this many minutes, done".

Stay tuned!

Student Loan Debt Could Cause the Next Financial Crisis

Talking about the national debt, I read up on this article posted up by tumblr. Check it out here.

A Backwards Rap

Happy 21!

Since it's personal blog, I decided to add something personal to it x]. It's my 21st birthday today and so to celebrate, I decided to add two lists. One list is 21 things I want to do before I die and the other list is 21 facts about me.
21 Things I Wanna Do Before I Die

1. Jump off a cliff/top of waterfall into an ocean/waterfall. 
2. Learn to pilot a plane
3. Own a personal library
4. Watch a bright meteor shower
5. Live on my own [or with a roommate] in a townhouse/apartment with an indoor pool
6. Drive a manual car
7. Write an original novel
8. Contribute big money to charity
9. Make the perfect tiramisu
10. Make mango sorbet at home
11. Travel to Europe, Egypt, Morocco, and Hong Kong
12. Learn Chinese medicine
13. Learn to be a carpenter
14. Learn to be a mechanic
15. Learn to do a back hand spring
16. Learn a type or two of martial arts.
17. Take a road trip with friends
18. Read 20 classical literature books.
19. Learn to play a song on the piano.
20. Swim with dolphins
21. Cook as well as my mother because good food is worth learning for.

 21 Facts About ME!

1. My favorite color is red.
2. I have a lot of deja-vu dreams.
3. I laugh a lot. My friend once revealed to me that from the moment he met me and saw my face, he just knew I was a "go lucky" type, and we became close friends because both our personalities are like that!
4. I'm a proud lefty!
5. I have approximately 15 younger cousins!
6. I love salsa dancing, particularly New York style salsa though because it's more dynamic and every couple gets their own "space".
7. I also love tango. I wanted to learn how to tango the moment I saw this dancing scene from a movie. It looked so graceful and passionate.
8. And Viennese waltz. I'm part of my school's Ballroom Dance Team and when I first learned Viennese Waltz, it was so much fun that I got so dizzy from the spinning. It was fast paced, elegant, and beautiful.
9. My favorite type of music would be R&B
10. And speaking about music, I never really connected to music until high school.
11. My name shows off my multicultural background.
12. I love to read!!!!!
13. On books: My all time favorite book is One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
14. When the mood hits me, I write poems or I draw.
15. I have a major sweet tooth
16. I taught myself how to ice skate by watching Michelle Kwan on TV at age seven!
17. My favorite athletic thing to do is swim. I've been swimming since I was also seven!
18. I have this strange thing where I dislike odd numbers in groups of people. For instance, I don't like to hang out with a group of 5 because one person will always be out.
19. I babysit three of my baby cousins on a daily basis from morning until late afternoon.
20. I rarely watch anime and the only manga I've ever read was Gundam Wing.
21. I believe that you get everything you want out of life through hard work. Only that way, you can be happy.

Thrifting 2

I went on a huge shopping spree today with my friends. I first heard about Goodwill Outlets through some articles and I instantly wanted to try it. So I found one in my area, surprise surprise, and pulled on some gloves and dug with my friends. Other Goodwill Outlets price things by pound, at least from the articles and the research I read up on. However the one in my area does it at reduced prices than typical Goodwill stores. It was still very cheap.

I felt like I could've spent the whole day at the outlet. They change stock very frequently. While I was there for my two hour shopping experience, they changed an aisle of bins three times! It gets very competitive though. Some people who do shop there frequently ARE there all day. I don't bother getting competitive with them though so I typically let them tackle the new items they bring in before I tackle it myself. I also grabbed two boxes for my friends and I to share to put everything we were considering. Don't let the boxes get away from you, people will try to grab your box and sift through it for stuff they want!

I found a few things but when we got to the register, I sifted things out. I ended up only purchasing 3 shirts, which is in the picture post here. My friends bought a nice amount of stuff. My one friend found 7 beautiful sweaters! Almost everyone walked away with brands like Express, Abercrombie, and American Eagle. Not big brands like Calvin Klein or DKNY, but we DID find those while shopping, just nothing to our liking.

We went next door to an actual Goodwill store. This is was where I purchased the Express dress and the brand new skirt. Those were my best finds of the day! It was very strange after, to get back into the mindset that these prices at typical Goodwill stores were cheap. However, after picking up my dress and realizing that in store it could cost up to $100, I quickly re-assimilated. I wanted the skirt but wasn't sure if I should get it. It was on the higher end so it was priced differently. In the end, I got it because it was BRAND NEW and because I really did like it. I'm in love with the dress too. I like simple colors and simple clothing. That's just my style.

Quick tips for Goodwill Outlet shopping:
1. Bring gloves.
2. Dig to the bottom.
3. Don't spend too long in one bin!
4. Anything, and I mean anything, that catches your eye, hold onto it. If you let it go, you're not going to find it again. I promise you it. Sometimes, when you put things down, someone else will grab it.
5. ALWAYS double check over things before buying it. All sales are final at an outlet.

Pictures:
Close up of the shirts I got.

The skirt I purchased is below. The image doesn't really capture the reality of it. The pink is the silken layer. The lace is shimmery gold and there's a black elastic waistband. At the back is a black and gold zipper too. Again this was brand new and for only $8!

And then, my favorite purchase of the day, my beautiful Express dress. I can't believe I fit into a XXS! Priced at $7!

Thrifting Haul

Thrifting haul of today, part of a huge shopping trip:

An Express XXS black dress
Abercrombie&Fitch red sweater and white blouse
H81, I think it's American Eagle, white long sleeve.
Namless, but it was NEW, pink and gold lace skirt.

Detailed post later!

I remember in high school for U.S. history, we had to write a paper on sweatshop and all their injustices. I found this picture and made it my cover because it spoke levels of what my paper and others were trying to say.

Another Awesome Thing I Ate Vegan: Vegan Bong

My mom made me an awesome vegan dish today! I'll post up a picture later. Bong is the Vietnamese word for cold vermicelli noodles.
So what was with it? [It'll sound weird but I promise, it's delicious.]
Shredded green apples, red onions, mushrooms, and mushed up tofu. Cooked with a little bit of sugar and soy sauce.
Typically, bong is eaten with fish sauce. My mom made a vegan style sauce by using soy sauce, vinegar, and some sugar. The sauce also had some peppers and ginger.
The dish was sweet and refreshing. Perfect for a hot summer day. So good!

The [Almost] End of My Vegan Journey

Well I have until Monday until my one month vegan journey is over. I have to say, it was pretty intense and crazy. Here are some things that made highlights in my journey:

• -Soy sauce became my best friend. Everything was bland without it
• Tabasco sauce was my lifesaver. I can't live without spice.
• Granola bars saved me from fainting of hunger.
• I experienced many days where I felt dizzy with hunger.
• I made vegan pasta! The sauce had tofu, red onions, and mushrooms in it. Weird but tastes great to me.
• I had vegan soup where apples were part of the spices. YUM!
• Being vegan means that I crave for crazy things and dream up of meat fests all the time.
• As a vegan, you're considered weird/a freak in the mainstream culture of meat eaters.
• A friend asked me if I felt any different due to eating vegan. I realized that I do. I feel a lot more energized. For instance, I was okay with waking up at 5 in the morning in order to go to clinical duty.
• Vegan ham was in my every meal.
• I devour fruits everyday. My favorite pick of the month? Green apples with peanut butter.
• The best thing I ate vegan was vegan pizza, documented in this post.
• Going to BBQs is depressing when you can't eat a thing.
• I lost a lot of weight. Then tried to re-gain my normal weight status by eating more.

So that's really it. Highlights of my journey. I know that in previous posts, I've said that I'll never eat vegan. It's true. I won't ever eat vegan permanently but that doesn't mean that this challenge DID NOT change the way I'm going to eat forever. It will change my eating habits. For one thing, I think once a week, I'll eat a vegan meal. Or go a day being vegan. This challenge has made me realize that I can go without chicken, beef, pork, and even my beloved seafood. Even if I'm not eating vegan permanently, decreasing my consumption of meats and other animal by-products means I'm taking steps to creating a difference.

Another thing: I saw an ad on the train yesterday as I was heading home. I thought it'd be interesting to share.

Bigger cages won't end their suffering. New laws won't protect them. Your donations won't save them. The only way to end animal suffering is....TO EAT VEGAN.

----------------------------------------------------------
I got a bunch of anonymous questions regarding my challenge of eating vegan and my end of journey. I answered most of them in this post but here's one I haven't answered yet:

What do you recommend for a person who wants to take on the same vegan challenge as you? Should I take extra vitamins just in case or eat extra? 

Since my vegan challenge was only for a month, I didn't think that it would effect my health so much that I felt the need to take vitamins. I know that permanent vegans or vegetarians do have to, in order to maintain a healthy body. Since this  challenge was very short, all I did was eat extra. I do take calcium supplements though, even prior to committing to this challenge. That's because I need the calcium since I'm lactose intolerant. Of course, if anyone does a vegan challenge and they already take daily supplements or vitamins, they shouldn't change that when they start to eat vegan.

I'm working on thinking up whether or not I'll do a challenge in August or wait until September. I'm also still working on which challenge I should commit to next! Thanks for reading!

For the Watercolor Artists...

You can make your own watercolors with a few ingredients. Details are shown here.

DUK....Debt Debate?

The National Debt Clock is a handy, but a little complicated, tool to visualize the US National Debt. I particularly like that it says that the debt per US citizen is $46,634! That's a lot of money!

Anyways, the news is all about the debt debate. I thought I would cover it quickly. The debt debate is about how the US government has reached its maximum amount it can borrow to pay its bills [such as pensions, government health insurance, and other fundings]. Legally, only Congress can raise this debt ceiling. Currently, a compromise is trying to be worked out between both the Republicans and [minor amount of] Democrats of the House of Representatives and the Obama Administration. But of course, these different political parties have different ideas of what to do.

It's very hard to kind of put what each political party is saying in a nutshell. Even each political party is divided. And every day, the new stories changes. Each political party has been debating on whether or not to raise the debt ceiling but merely a few hours ago, CNN has posted an article stating that both political parties have agreed, publicly, that the debt ceiling must be raised.

So in the end, where might this all be headed?

It's a good guess the debt ceiling will raise. Political parties are debating on a grand bargain package compromise consisting of a way to increase revenue and cut spending. Which is very hard to do because both political parties have different ideas of how these things should happen. For instance, some want taxes to be raised and others do not. Some want Medicare and Social Security spending be cut and others do not. Also another big factor that shows how upset American citizens are with the government is the lack of maturity. On the news, all it seems is politicians bickering back and forth with each other. They really need to put it together, don't you think?

It's all very confusing. As I was doing my research, many different news articles and reporters had different things to say. We'll need to see what the results are on August 2nd.

The Best Thing I Ate Vegan

I went out with some friends today who eat vegetarian/vegan with me! It was nice to have that for a change. I'm actually addicted to what I got, so I'm excited to go back there again to eat some more! We went off to Veggie Planet Pizza!

Here are some pictures:

The group of friends I went with.

Pictures of the things we ordered! I forgot most of the names.

The only person out of all of us to get a rice dish! Very unique =]

Most of us got a DoubleHeader, which is 2 types of pizza split on a plate. I figured this way, I could experience more flavors. The prices are very reasonable, a small is around $8 and a bigger portion is about $11.50. The toppings aren't just for pizza dough. You can get it on pizza dough, brown rice, or coconut rice. The food is very filling too!

Coming Back

I decided that since this is here, I might as well keep both my blogs up. They'll all have the same material, but Tumblr will be my main posting place.

Be prepared for lots of posts!

My Taste of a 3 Minute Shower

I've realized I could take 3 minute showers! When I go camping, there are showers available but you have to pay a quarter for every 3 minutes of water you use up. Apparently, I can take 3 minute showers if I rush washing my hair and body and completely skip out of face washing.
At least I know that one of my challenges means I'd be able to do it!

Camping as a Vegan

I just got back from my camping trip! I ate vegan all the way through. Since my family and I don't have much experience with eating vegan [outside of a home setting], it was pretty difficult to do.

For one thing, half the time I was dizzy because I had such a lack of nutrients and energy. It was difficult finding time to cook and eat in between all the activities. I was the only one eating vegan, so that alone was daunting too. I packed up some fruits but I had to eat them all quickly before they spoiled. We could cook at the campsite so I had dried things packed that by boiling, would turn into real food [like dried mushrooms] or frozen vegan meat already pre-chopped. Still, it went bad quickly too.

For breakfast, what I mostly had was bread with soy sauce. For lunch/dinner, I had rice with the same plate of vegan dish I had.

So I have a question for any vegans out there:

How do you get food when you're in a situation like this, far away from home or restaurants nearby?

My Chocolate Fix

I have a big big big sweet tooth. All I've been wanting since I started eating vegan is chocolate. Well here was my chocolate fix.
Ignore the text on the photo.

I'm Hating It

By now, all I really miss is the freedom to eat whatever I want. I'm sick of double checking things and always wondering what I can have. I'm going camping this weekend and it is miserable that I need to pack separate food. Eating vegan also makes me want all this junk food that I typically don't even crave for. I eat the same tasting food everyday. I thought my diet was going to be consistently a lot of fruits and vegetables but it isn't enough. So instead, it is mostly vegan ham, mushrooms, bean curd, and tofu to fill me up a bit more. Everything just blended together. Also it gets frustrating because I am almost always forgotten about. For instance, I got dragged off to a buffet where I KNEW I wouldn't be able to eat anything. But I didn't have any other way to go back so I was forced to be at the buffet, eating nothing. Even things that are vegetarian might not be safe for me to eat.

Eating vegan is not for the weak-hearted.

And there, I realize, eating vegan will never be my thing.

My Weekend

I went hiking this weekend. That was my big highlight anyways. I had a blast. At the end of my hiking trip was a waterfall. I love waterfalls. They're so majestic and amazing works of art created by nature [mostly...because Niagara Falls was man made...]. I went to that waterfall before a couple of years back when I went camping with my family but it looked different because there was less water this time around. I'm going camping this weekend at the same place so I'll be able to hike up to there again!

Hiking took about 3 hours! It was so nice to hear the water rush, no cell phone signal, and tons of fresh air.

Things I Miss

Things I Miss Eating...

1. Chocolate
2. Ice cream
3. Buffalo chicken wings
4. Shrimp
5. Fish
6. a Burger
7. Cake
8. Pastries
9. EGG!
10. Pancakes

Yesterday, my boyfriend and I drove around for 30 minutes or so looking for an ice cream shop that sold sorbet. The closest thing I got was slush or frozen yogurt. I couldn't have frozen yogurt and I don't like slush. This is getting so hard. I miss all these foods!

DUK...Locally Grown

DUK...that despite foods being organic doesn't mean it's fully environmentally friendly? It may be good for you, although some experts debate on this topic [if you're interested, Google the question "is organic food better for you" and you will find a myriad of answers], but it doesn't do much good for the environment. This is because companies spend a lot of money TRANSPORTING stocks such as the vegetables or fruits you might like to eat. What does transporting these things entitle? A lot of fossil fuels in the form of jet fuel or delivery trucks. And hopefully, we all know that burning fossil fuels is bad for the environment.

So the best solution to buy organic foods to support your body or your beliefs AND the environment is to buy LOCALLY GROWN. Not a lot of people know that there are plenty of chances for someone to buy locally grown organic foods. Farmer's markets are popping out everywhere. They open at regular intervals [say every weekend or every Thursday] at a certain place. Almost everything at that market is direct from the farm [talk about fresh!] and many farmers are known for their locally grown organic stock. Also since it's direct, without a middle man, it means you're getting these items for a lot cheaper than you would at Whole Foods Market or any other supermarket. Farmer markets don't just have fruits and vegetables, some sell oats as well. And other stands at farmer's markets don't sell food at all but maybe beverages [some of their specialty teas made from flowers is very sweet and potent] or even jewelry.

So check it out. Keep an eye out for signs around you advertising farmer's market. I'm sure you could probably check it out online too!

I'm Passing Along!

So it's been week 2 since I've started my vegan eating. Not much has changed. At one point I lost 10 pounds and dipped into low 90 weight. Which was pretty bad. Then I started to eat more which caused me to gain back my normal weight. Which is nice. I've actually gotten a lot more people who are used to the idea of me being vegan and they're a lot more considerate. Like for instance, I went to a little get together with some friends and the host remembered that I was eating vegan and made me vegetarian/vegan noodles. In the end, everyone had some along with burgers and sausages.

You know for the most part, I'm okay with eating vegan. Between home and going to school, I'm totally okay with not having meat. However, when I go out socially, all I want is meat! I'm typically a very health conscience person, as in I won't eat fast food unless I'm REALLY craving it. But with this whole eating vegan thing, it makes me want to eat fast food a lot more. I miss burgers, pastries [cannoli, cakes, chocolate croissants, , my favorite drink at Dunkin Donuts [vanilla chai], and other things. So it makes going out socially very hard. Otherwise, a few more weeks to go!

The only other big thing I'm sad about? That the muffin recipe [microwave one] I posted that I was very excited to try and have for breakfast the day couple of days, has an egg! I can't have it! I didn't buy any egg substitute either. Darn it.

Hunger

Today I went to NYC with my family. My heart broke when I saw a homeless man enjoying a small, ketchup sample size cup of noodles piece by piece. Regardless of the circumstances that have led this man to be homeless, no one should go through such things.

It's A Tough Vegan Cookie to Swallow

So these days have gone by and well...I'm surprised. For one thing, I'M ALWAYS HUNGRY! I don't eat a lot but I find myself always hungry. Maybe it's because my body is adjusting still, meat does tend to make you full longer.

Also as I go about my days, I find it difficult to think of things to eat. I'm always second guessing myself if I can have certain things. At one point, I wanted to have peanut butter, but was wondering if I could because the name suggests butter, which would have diary products in it. I was sad to hear I wouldn't be able to have Nutella for this month because it has skim milk in it. I always wonder if I can have certain salad dressings or not, or honey! I eat Honey Nut Cheeroies all the time and it wasn't until I ate a whole bowl that I question whether or not I could. Honey, apparently, seems debatable because some vegans consider it okay and others don't. I've decided to include honey to be able to eat cereals that will keep me full.

Also it's kind of annoying when people don't eat vegan. They find it so shocking that I'm doing it at all. To be honest, they kind of look disgusted when they hear about it. I just tell them I'm experimenting. But it's annoying because they start mentioning all these things like BBQs, steaks, and etc. It kind of seems like they're not respecting my choice to at least TRY it.

Also my boyfriend wanted to go off to eat oysters at a bar. I LOVE seafood. So when I went off to my date, I broke it. So I ate oysters for a late lunch/early dinner. That's in this post. I avoided 2 BBQs though to avoid temptation so far! For that I can be proud. Someone mentioned that I don't seem to be able to handle eating vegan. Well let me repeat that this is a CHALLENGE for me. You stumble in challenges and you should get back up. Well I haven't gone back. It's a week.

But on a positive note, I have found something new that's vegan and I like to eat! I like to eat vegan ham but my mom introduced me to this bean curd that you buy in a can that tastes sort of like beef. It's delicious!

I told my bestie that we'd go off to eat VEGAN PIZZA soon! So I'll have that to share with you guys!

A New Mini-Post Series! - DUK

A new series of mini-posts! It's titled "Did you know...?", or otherwise "DUK?"

Essentially it's about little facts that may or may not relate to the challenges I do.

Here's the first one.

DUK... that although Earth is made up of 75% water than there is land, it is just as polluted as the air? What was once thought of an unlimited clean resource is now discovered that it isn't. Everything you put in your body and on your body effects the ocean and the eco-systems the live in it. Even the household cleaners you use. The lotions you apply, and even the medications you take, all leaks back into the water. Although it's been reported that the levels of drugs being in water system is too low to cause any problems, it's still being found in the tissues of the fishes. Antibiotics leaking into the water means that there could be breeding ground to foster a drug-resistant bacteria. The lotions and soaps can have chemicals that go into the water, which we may or may not drink, that can lead to chemical disruptions in our bodies. [Source1, Source 2].

Scary isn't it all to think about? Try to limit these things or try to control what you put down the drain.

Awesome Finds at a Dollar Store

Most people don't shop at a dollar store. They think it's completely run down and that they'd never find good things there. I've never really had that stigma about dollar stores because my family always shopped there. I remember growing up, my mom and aunts would brag about what great finds they'd snag up at a dollar store and how much they got it for. I bought a nice haul. It was kind of funny because I bought more things than my mother, who normally shops up a storm.

Things I Bought:

• Facewash
• Hairbands
• Lots and lots of food
• A cool little beach table

The facewash I typically use is Cetaphil. I ran out and when I went to the dollar store, I decided to check if they might have any. Sometimes random brand name things pop up so I gave it a shot. Well I found Cetaphil alright except right next to it, for 50% off, was a no-name brand knockoff. I checked out the ingredients side by side and GUESS WHAT?! They were exactly the same. I was surprised and happy, so I put that in my basket!

I also went to the hairband section and picked up some athletic hairbands. I got them for $4. As I went by, I walked into the make up section where they hide all their make up brushes. If you're in the market to buy some, I saw a few Eco-Friendly name brand ones for under $15. Normally at CVS, Target, or something, a big face brush would be well over $20.

I was also craving pretzel chips. They have them here and there at the supermarkets I go to but the dollar store almost always has them. I love pretzel chips and hummus. You know those little cups of hummus and pretzels on top that you can get at the market? Well those are about $2-3 and they're meant to be eaten once as a snack. I got a bag of pretzel chips [I actually got 2 because I'm a pig and like to eat] and some hummus for a total of $9. I decided to put the chips in a small sandwich bag and hummus in another small container. I can just keep filling that stuff up!! I also got some graham crackers.

Dollar stores also have a ton of random stuff that are actually perfect. My family has this giant umbrella they use for the beach except it takes a lot of digging to get it into the sand to keep put. We also always run of spaces on the cooler to put our drinks. I picked up the beach table because it has a hole to put the umbrella's handle through and about four indents for cups! Perfect find for $5!

ONE THING YOU SHOULDN'T BUY AT A DOLLAR STORE:

Pills! I checked the ingredients for a no-name brand of a calcium supplement my mom and I take. THERE WAS NOTHING IN IT THAT HAD ANYTHING RELATED TO CALCIUM! The main product though? Corn syrup. So beware. Otherwise, shop happy!

Mayday ! Mayday!

I am sad to tell you that after day 1, I have broke. I went out with my boyfriend today and he wanted to go to an oyster bar. I was determined to just sit there and just watch him eat to go through with my challenge but he insisted. And since he took me out on a date and all, I decided I would if he promised to respect my decision. So I had a bunch of oysters with him. Oysters from all over, Rhode Island, Virginia, different places in Mass. It was good, expensive, but good. I even tried out some hot sauce called Gypsy Juice. Stuff is amazing. It's not as spicy as Tabasco, but it has more flavor to it. FYI: that picture is only HALF of the oysters we ordered!

So disappointed in myself but also, it tasted so good I'm not sure if I totally regret it. I'm disappointed because like I said in my Unveiling post, I know I could be vegetarian so long as I don't give up seafood. That's why I chose vegan, so it would be a challenge. Unfortunately that didn't work out for today. But I rejected going to some BBQs just to escape the temptation. I am working harder on eating vegan! =]

I'M MOVING!

I'm moving over to Tumblr! But I'll keep this site up still.

Check me out at my tumblr!


awkwardturtledances.tumblr.com

Random: Photographs That Captures Life

“There’s something magical about a still photograph - a captured moment in time - that can simultaneously exist outside the fraction of a second the shutter captures.”
Jamie Beck

I was browsing the internet when I stumbled upon this blog post. I saw these amazing pictures, and I was stunned. You know those pictures in newspapers in the Harry Potter movies? Well...here it is:

 

Watch carefully!

Beauty to me, is defined in multiple ways. I see it in nature, in art, in people, etc. So seeing someone take a photograph and make it LITERALLY capture life in such a small simple way, that's amazing.

Here's my favorite picture so far:

Well, it's just something random I wanted to share. The link to the photographer's blog and photographs are in the quote.

Pre-Gaming for Challenge 1

To celebrate going vegan for a month, I decided to go out to eat a few times to savor meat before it disappears. Last Friday, I went out with my best friend and roommate to go try out Indian food. My best friend loves Indian food and I thought I would too because I love curry and roti. So unfortunately, I discovered Indian food isn't my type of cuisine. How sad. I was so consumed by eating, I totally forgot to take pictures! Sorry! I finally remembered to take some pictures when we went to get dessert though!

Some ice cream with a layer of coffee underneath. Yum!

I discovered green tea cookies! New favorite cookie?!

hehe...all gone!

So today, I asked a few of my friends to go eat at a steakhouse with me to enjoy my last day.

BEST BREAD EVER!

My silly roommates

Prime rib

Sally's idea with the big fat knife

So starting tomorrow, my vegan journey begins! Wish me lust!

Unveiling: Challenge 1

Here's my first challenge! I'll be starting it July 1st! I'll admit, I'm pretty scared to do this! You know when my younger cousin first told me he managed to go vegan for a week, I felt amazed. Here's a guy who loved eating burgers and steaks and he went without ANY TYPE of animal products for a week?! He said it was kind of fun, coming up with ways to find food. I figured that if he could do it, I could too. Also my mom periodically eats vegan for a week or a month. I find it pretty hard when she has to cook and handle meat in order to make dinner for us and see us eat it while she's eating something else.

A few FAQ:

Why eating vegan?

Did you know that meat production is one of the biggest contributors to the decline of the eco-system? Well it is. If you think about it, the amount of meat an average person consumes means that meat production needs to go on a large scale of production. So this leads to destroying forests to make room for these massive farms. Taking care of these animals also means we are sucking biological resources dry. We feed the stock with things we heavily grow, thus leading to land degradation. By reducing the amount of meat we eat, we can decrease our carbon footprint AND on a large scale, we can decrease the amount of meat that needs to be produced! Source

Why's it a challenge?

I've always wanted to eat less meat but have struggled with it. By eating vegan for a month, every day for every meal, I'm pushing myself to this challenge in hopes to change the way I eat forever. I'm not saying I'm going to give up meat forever but this challenge will hopefully make me decrease my wanting to eat meat. It's pretty hard to give up meat. In my opinion, I love steak. Also the protein it offers means I go hungry less often and have more energy to work with. I mean I love salads and fruits and all that, but I don't think I could name a day where I didn't want to eat meat. I mean the only exception of course is Chinese New Year, where by my family's religion, we HAVE to give up meat for a day. But that's different. That's once a year.

Also when I told my mom I was eating vegan, she laughed at me. "It's not fun!" She said. Which means I get to learn how to cook vegan food! Also when I told my friends I was eating vegan for a month they looked at me shocked, asking me why I would torture myself so much!? Haha. Some of my friends are okay with it though. One of my bests friends felt excited because she could take me to eat at a vegan pizza restaurant. So yes it's going to be a challenge to stay full and to find food!!!


What's your game plan?

I'm thinking...I'm going to eat a lot. Like stuff myself so much and eat 6 meals a day! And drink rivers of water. Lol. It's going to be scary because I'm going to be starting my summer classes soon, so I'll be pretty active. I'm pretty scared that I'll get so hungry I'll slip up a lot. Or I'll cry because the food tastes so bland or something. No idea. But the game plan is to eat a lot to never starve!

 I'm thinking about updating every week or every other week. It depends on how much I have to say on the subject.

Stay tuned!

Shopping Green: "Goodwill not landfills"

Note: The title/phrase of "Goodwill not landfill" comes from this post, a photo essay of the journey clothes go through when you donate them to Goodwill.

Before I get into going on about challenges, I wanted to post this because I went thriting today with one of my best friends and wanted to announce to the world how much I love thrifting!

I love thrifting. It's one of my favorite things to do. I love that I can find things that wouldn't often be in mainstream clothing stores. I love the fact that I need to look for it to find a treasure, I guess it makes me feel good about shopping there. I never feel guilty because it's so cheap! I love the fact that it's environmentally friendly! Brands I could never typically afford suddenly become widely available to me.

I discovered thrifting in the summer of 2010. I did a lot of research about it [if you know me well enough, you'll know that I do a lot of research about anything that might interest me]. So I started to venture out to do it. I've tried a bunch of vintage, consignment, and used stores. I love used bookstores because I always find great books, even if they're not the latest books I might want, for really great prices.

I tried Garment District and thought it was cool that they had a $1 a pound clothing. By the way, the Garment District is AWESOME for their Halloween collection. So if you ever want a cool Halloween costume, get it there. They have a huge selection at great prices! I tried higher end consignment prices but couldn't stomach through the prices when I could wait for deals at Macy's or something and get something just as great and new for the same price. Places like Poor Little Rich Girl, Second Time Around, and Buffalo Exchanges are pricey. The tradeoff is that they typically have nicer stuff with lots of brand names and they are of higher quality. For instance they will almost never be stained or ripped. I have found decent stuff at Second Time Around though, however I've never walked away with anything because when it's at a decent price and great looking, it doesn't fit!

In the end, it became between The Salvation Army and Goodwill. My best experiences comes from Goodwill. I tried The Salvation Army once and have sworn to never do it again. They're very similar but with a few key differences. They both organize by garment and by color. But in my personal opinion, The Salvation Army will always be the most run down thrift store I've ever been to. A key difference is that The Salvation Army doesn't have a set range of pricing as Goodwill. For instance some random garments I find at the Salvation Army will be at a different price. I love Goodwill. It's widely available and the prices are generally set. BUT BE WARNED! Goodwills near hip trendy places will have higher prices than your average Goodwill!

The first time I went to Goodwill, I was blown away by the sheer amount one store contained. There is only space to walk around and push your shopping cart around. But every space where a rack could be put, it was. And each rack contained the max amount of hangers! Since Goodwill arranges everything by color, it felt like I was witnessing a rainbow. Lol. I typically go by garment and then by color. So if I wanted a red shirt, that's where I go. Sweaters and T-shirts and tanks are all jumbled around. Some Goodwill I've gone to do discriminate against blouses and charge a different price for them than other tops. You need to dig. I push things all to one side and go through each and every hanger and pull out things that might catch my eye. I've also found great stuff in places they wouldn't be. For instance my favorite and only pair of yoga pants was found in front of the dressing room on a rack for dress pants. 

Here's a picture of ALL the stuff [ok...minus two sweaters and a purse only because I re-donated them back] I've gotten from thrifting since I started!

*Express Vest
*Express black blazer
*Ann Taylor blue dress shirt
*Ann Taylor Petite tan blazer
*Champion yoga pants
*2 Abercrombie tanks
*Nameless yellow top
*H&M jacket/hoodie


Other tips for thrifting:

1. Don't be afraid.- You're going to get dirty. People who don't thrift might think you're weird for doing it. Thrifting isn't for the weak hearted. You'll need to have the patience and guts to get dirty and dig around. Sometimes people give things like bikinis and lingerie, things no one would ever buy. So you need to get over a lot of stigma about it before you'll like it.
2. Wear gloves or bring hand sanitizer
3. Bring cash and set a limit- Sometimes you get so overwhelmed by how cheap it is that you might buy something you don't really want. Bringing cash and setting a limit forces you to look at things clearer and sort out things you love and really want from things that are mediocre and things you might not wear.
4. Don't be too narrow minded- Don't go in hoping for yoga pants and leave when you don't find it. Browse! Look at shirts or other pants, something! The stock changes EVERYDAY! Who knows what's in there that might be an awesome find?!
5. Come often! - Things come in and go everyday. For instance, the last time I went, a man delivered a table with a sewing machine inside. It was being sold for $20! Another time I went, a man dropped off a cool shelf that I would've gotten but someone else had purchased it 5 minutes after it was priced!
6. Set a lot of time to go- There's just a lot going on in thrifting. You'll want to have the time to look around. 
7. Look carefully!- Once my friend found this awesome dress shirt and she was about to go buy it. It didn't have any stains but when she looked closer, she discovered pit stains. Gross!
8. On that note, DON'T BUY ANYTHING STAIN! - No, you can't wash it off. No, you can't "hide" it. I'm sure that whoever owned the item before it got to Goodwill tried it and since it didn't work, they chucked it off. 
9. Be careful of cleaning care! - Check to see if things are dry clean only. Typically things that ARE dry clean only though can be washed [hand wash option only!!!] but NEVER can be thrown in the dryer!
10. Wear comfortable clothes- a tank, a fitted t-shirt, loose pants or leggings. Sometimes there aren't dressing rooms so you should throw things over your clothes to try on.
11. Bring someone with you! - Second opinions are great!
12. Look at other sizes- Things that might've been given away is because they shrunk or expanded. So don't turn away things like a medium size or a too small of a size. The yoga pants I got were an XS but they fit perfectly. My friend bought a dress shirt that, if new, would've been too big for her but was perfectly fitted to her.