TGI Fridays on a Monday | Day 3

March 31, 2014, Day 3

7:30pm | Grocery time

So after working out, Chych and I went to the grocery! (No to Dairy </////3)

And I bought a lot of greens for myself!

8:30pm | Dinner

We had dinner at TGI Fridays Eastwood too

I got Grilled Chops and asked them to cook it in olive oil instead of corn oil. I also replaced the rice for corn.

..And I only knew that corn wasn't Paleo when I was telling my sister about my dinner before I slept. I was so pissed :'( #newbieproblems

And Chych got a pound of chicken wings (I ate the celery sticks LOL)

We kept on talking about everything and we didn't even notice the time. We left Friday's at 11pm. Heehee. Then we had our ghost stories in the car which made the both of us scared to be alone. Stoops!

Banana Spinach "Ice Cream"-Turned-Smoothie | Day 3

March 31, 2014, Day 3

4pm | Pre-workout snack

Banana Spinach Ice Cream Recipe

2 Frozen Bananas

1/2 cup spinach

1/4 cup coconut milk

2 85% cacao Godiva dark chocolate squares

Blend the bananas, spinach and coconut milk together (on high speed) and top with crushed dark chocolate for that extra crunch!

It's best if you peel the banana and put them in a Ziploc to freeze rather than keep the banana peel. 

I was in a rush and I didn't get to prepare beforehand so I had a 30-minute worth of frozeni-sh banana. My ice cream ended up looking like a smoothie. Whoopsie!

My Paleo Pizza-Shmitza Brunch | Day 3

March 31, 2014, Day 3

So I was thinking about Nolita before I slept last night and I thought, why not make a paleo pizza for breakfast? ...Well okay I woke up late so it became my brunch.

11am | Brunch

Here's the final outcome of my Paleo Pizza

I didn't prepare my ingredients beforehand so I sort of used what was available in the fridge.

Recipe for the Paleo Pizza Crust:

1 cup coconut milk

1 cup almond flour (It was supposed to be 1/2 cup coconut flour but I didn't have any available so..)

3 eggs

1 tsp garlic

1/2 tsp basil leaves

1/4 tsp baking powder (It was supposed to be baking soda oops)

1/8 tsp organic cayenne pepper (you could add more actually cause I didn't taste the heat)

Mix all the ingredients in a blender until smooth. It won't have a dough-like consistency so don't worry.

(Olive oil is for the parchment paper when you bake it)

I was sort of lazy and hungry so what I did was... I cooked the crust on the stove using a nonstick pan and disregarded the olive oil. Well it was supposed to be baked at 180C (350F) for 12-15 minutes so you'll have the pizza crust-like texture. I had a slightly bread-like texture.

I topped mine with Paleo Manila's Gnocchi Al Diablo (That I mashed really well), spinach, shiitake mushrooms, boiled beef and dried pumpkin bits!

Remember, you don't have to sacrifice your taste buds to gain your health.

Just tweak unhealthy recipes into better ones!

Omnomnomnomnom :)

Leftovers, Hawaiian BBQ, Epicurius | Day 2

March 30, 2014, Still Day 2

We're off to Tagaytay!

I love the view. Don't you?

12pm|Lunch

Leftovers from yesterday were packed for lunch

Here's the picture of the "Super-Yummy Homemade Aioli"!!

3pm|Snack

We went to Tagaytay to fetch my sister and to....  eat some more!!

Here's Hawaiian BBQ's BBQ ribs

Meat: Paleo Dressing: not Paleo

Hawaiian BBQ's Hawaiian Chicken Coco

This one's similar to Lechon Manok. Though it's grilled, it's still not Paleo because of the coconut gravy (with unknown ingredients) Nevertheless, I ate the meat. Most of the meat.

7pm|Dinner

Back in Manila. We had dinner-ish snack (meriendinner?) at Epicurius in the East Wing of Shangri-La. I saw bread everywhere, it was sooo tempting!! Found this rosemary chicken breast, bought it and asked them to cook it for me! Nomnomnom

Epicurius' Rosemary Chicken

We watched the last full show of Captain America at 8:30pm. It's 11:23 now and I'm still not hungry thank God!!! Hahaha once again, I'm excited to make breakfast tomorrow!!! Time to cook up a recipe before I sleep!

Well, that concludes my day. Goodnight! :) 

Paleo ABC Pancakes (Almond Banana Chocolate) | Day 2

March 30, 2014, Day 2

Got up today excited to make breakfast because today is...

STACK IT SUNDAYS!!!!!

9am | Breakfast:

My ABC Pancake Stack

Going Paleo doesn't mean you have to give up on pancakes and chocolates! (Dark Chocolate, that is) This is gluten-, lactose-, and grain-free, and it tastes as great (or even greater) as how it looks!

Here's the pancake recipe I made up!

1 1/4 cup almond flour

1/4 cup coconut milk

1 banana

2 eggs

85% cacao Godiva dark chocolates

2 tbsp almond butter

Strawberries

(I put a lot of cinnamon too after I took the picture above. Oops)

Combine the coconut milk, banana, and eggs- and when it's thoroughly mixed, add almond flour and cinnamon. Use a blender if you must (for better consistency) and tada!!! you have your pancake batter ready to be cooked! Use a nonstick pan so you wouldn't have to put oil.

Stack your pancakes and top it with melted dark chocolates (Only dark chocolates are Paleo friendly!), melted almond butter and strawberries. (Or anything you'd like)

Yup, definitely worth the excitement (since last night!!!)

Heading off to Tagaytay in a while!

Grand Opening of Paleo Manila x CrossfitMNL Eastwood | Day 1

March 29, 2014, Still Day 1

So this is what I was talking about in my previous blog:

The grand opening of Paleo Manila and CFMNL Eastwood!!!

CFMNL hard candies by Made in Candy for giveaways! Yay!
It was kind of stupid that I didn't take pictures of the new CrossFit box...

Paleo Manila

(Pronounced as pail-e-o, not pa-le-yo or pah-lay-o or pa-lyo)

"Manila's first Paleo door-to-door meal plan delivery service. All natural, grain-free. Inspiring healthy living one tummy at a time."

7pm | Dinner time!!!

Here's Paleo Manila's buffet set-up in the new CFMNL Eastwood box

And here is the line of hungry cavemen (and cavewomen) ready to devour everything on the chafing dishes!

Meet my plate. No, I'm not on a diet. Do you want to know what's on it? Well, scroll down for individual pictures! (I tried my best to foodstyle them under 5 minutes :P)

Bacon and Beet Dauphinoise

..I think it should be named Bacon and Beet Dauphi-NICE. I'm not a big fan of bacon but this was really good! It comes with the "Super-Yummy Homemade Paleo Aioli" and I promise you this- they weren't lying about it being "Super-Yummy!

Blackened Chicken with Jambalaya Rice

This was the first to be finished, so I'm guessing this was loved the most! And yes, it's jambalaya rice. Ask the Paleo Manila cave(wo)men what the rice is made out of! You'll be shocked that it's Paleo!

Homemade Paleo Gnocchi Al Diablo

Even Paleo has pasta on the menu. Grain free pasta, that is!!

Apple & Prune-Stuffed Chops with Buttered Broccoli

This was my favorite meal (and my little brother's favorite too!) among the batch. The chops were really tender and I love how the taste of the apples and prunes blend well into the dish. Good thing Paleo Manila had another batch of these prepared because it was really yummy! It's a must must must try!!!

Paleo Banana Crepe

I could not take a better pic at the moment because I really wanted to eat it right away.This I did not hesitate to consume. Heck, I was on full blow! Mind you, I ate 4 of these during the event. PLUS as I am typing right now, I'm chomping on THREE more. No exaggerations okay. I love bananas. I love cashews. I love crepe. And I can't believe it's Paleo!!!

Lookie! They also had a promo for the event day itself!

Here's Paleo Manila's flyer

Interested? Then what are you waiting for!! Contact them NOW for orders and inquiries! 

(Check their contact details below!)

I really think that I'm going to love this diet- I mean lifestyle. It's unlike any other diets where in you can't even adapt to it for long lengths of time due to the (lack of nutrients?) (cravings?) (temptations?) (cheats?) Well you can't go wrong with Paleo Manila! Saving up my calories for dinner was totally worth it. What's best is that it was all guilt-free! I couldn't put down my fork up until they were packing up!!! Over all, I enjoyed my first day of living the Paleo way and I'm hella looking forward to waking up and having breakfast tomorrow! Good night! :)

Paleo Manila

+63 (917) 841 0825

Instagram: @PaleoManila

Facebook: /paleomanila

Twitter: @PaleoManila

It's A Great Start! | Day 1

March 29, 2014, Day 1

So today's the first day of my (strict?) Paleo lifestyle and I was thinking, why not a food diary so I'll mind what I eat more? :P Anyway here's how my first Paleo day went.

10am | Breakfast:

Garlic sautéed spinach with tomatoes and cucumber slices, basil sunny side up. Just how I like it!

I'm actually looking forward to this day (well, particularly tonight) because I'm going to CrossFit Eastwood's grand opening and my sister will be serving Paleo food from Paleo Manila!! Nomnomnom

12pm | Lunch:

Lemon basil salmon fillet, spinach, dried pomegranate, cranberries

I was in a rush when I made my lunch since I had to go to UST to get my papers so it ended up in a tiny plate. 

2:30pm | Post-workout snack:

Cashews, almonds, pomegranate arils, cherries, marcona almonds, cranberries, banana

Here's a picture of my trail mix a few hours after I bought it 2 days ago. It said "Servings per container: about 26" ..I think not!

Then I finally learned my lesson: do not bring a whole pack of nuts with you unless you want everything to end up in your stomach without you knowing it. The mix had greek yogurt chips (which isn't Paleo) so I had to take them out one by one.

5:30pm | Another snack:

Banana, almond butter

I'm actually getting addicted to almond butter now that peanut butter is out of my to-eat list! Thank you to my sister who gave me this jar of CRUNCHY almond butter. (I love love love anything crunchy!!) The texture is almost similar to that of my favorite crunchy organic peanut butter (From Arrowhead Mills) which she has also given me before!!

If you thought I was starving myself, I'm not! Heheh I'm saving up half of my calories for dinner!!! (Check out my next post)

Bye Bye, Greek Yogurt, Oatmeal, Muesli, and Rye Bread

What am I giving up for Paleo?

Oh you know..

Just my love for

Greek yogurt

Oatmeal

Muesli

and

Rye Bread

...

ok lang naman.

Here are some of my past-fast meals! (Recipe included)

Greek yogurt

Raw honey

Pistachio

Apple Pie Parfait recipe:

Chopped apples

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

-toss in the microwave for 2-3 mins-

Oats

Nuts

Muesli

Greek yogurt

Muesli

Yogurt

Mango

Flaxseeds

3-minute mug cake recipe:

3 tbsp almond meal

3 tbsp cocoa powder

1 egg

1 tbsp raw honey

1 tsp vanilla

A dash of salt

Cinnamon to taste

-toss in the microwave for 2 minutes-

Banana

Greek yogurt

Muesli

Banana

Muesli

Greek yogurt

Raw honey

Strawberries

Cinnamon

Oatmeal

Raw honey

Strawberries

Banana

Muesli

Greek Yogurt

Cinnamon

Raw honey

Kiwi

Banana

Strawberries

Muesli

Greek yogurt

Raw honey

Strawberries

Mandarin oranges

Banana

Muesli

Greek yogurt

Raw honey

Almond Chia Pudding

Strawberries

Banana

Goji berries

Sunflower kernels

Raisins

Pepitas

Walnuts

Cashews

Almonds

Whole grain rye

Whole grain oats

Flaxseed

Dates

Cinnamon

Raw honey

Rye Bread

Almond butter

Greens

Strawberries

Grapes

Mandarin oranges

Banana

Walnuts

Raw honey

Hard boiled eggs

Greens

Mandarin oranges

Grapes

Walnuts

Rye Bread

Almond butter

Banana

Oats

Raisins

Raw honey

Cinnamon

Unsweetened almond milk

Fish oil

Vitamin C

Pancake recipe:

Almond meal

Hemp milk

Eggs

Cinnamon

Olive Oil

----

Toppings:

Avocado

Peanut butter

Greek yogurt

Cottage cheese

Raw honey

BYE BYE :'(

It's Not A New Year's Resolution, It's A Lifestyle Resolution

  

  

Hi, I’m Kathleen Chiang and this is my log for January - March 2014.

What’s my story?

Let me start with December 2013. It was Christmas time- of course, that was the excuse I had to myself so I could eat 24/7- anything, everything. From 125lbs during November 2013, I went up to 131lbs by the end of December. Pure fat, no muscle gains. I ate all kinds of food and had no exercise. I didn’t care about my body at all.

"So what did you get for Christmas?"

"I got fat."

I was at my highest during December. (All evidence is seen by looking at the shape of my face.)

But what knocked me into my senses?

The Food Diary project I had for PE during Christmas break did. We were given a piece of paper with boxes to write on for each day and we had to submit it when school starts again. It pretty much looked something like this:

It's funny cause I think that normally, students don't take these things seriously and just do it for the grade. I didn't take it seriously until that very last day of logging. I didn’t really care about what food I was logging into the sheet or how much I’m eating throughout the day, as long as I'm logging it- yes, for the grade.  December 31 was the last day to log. It was also the first time I really read through my food diary and it dawned on me- I was having a harder time to smile because my cheeks were too filled- there was more pressure so I could feel it. I also noticed that I was expanding (widely) in pictures and it wasn't even funny. And to my horror, I realized that I was turning into Santa Claus himself with my belly getting rounder and rounder every time I looked in the mirror.

Like most people during the start of the year, I had my list for my new year's resolutions ready. Top of the list? Get my dream body.

98% of the people who have fitness as part of their new year's resolutions fail and give up. I plan to be part of that 2%.

For our January-March PE project, we had a Fitness Log Diary which kickstarted my year. I started my “road to fitness” on January 1, 2014 by working out with some exercise videos my sister shared with me. I found my personal hell in working out. I was so slow and I couldn't keep up with the video. Heck, I always run out of breath in a matter of a few seconds of exercise, and drink so much water to cope up with my panting. (30 minutes of exercise = 2-3L of water. I think that was a bad thing) I dreaded putting on my shoes every single time for the first few weeks. Nevertheless, I still gave it my all.

Some days when I don’t feel like working out, I try to motivate myself by surfing Tumblr, Instagram and Pinterest for girls who workout and look good or for inspiring quotes and all those. It’s laughable but it worked every single time. I also tried to move as much as possible. Rest days were active resting periods (Stretching, yoga, ditching the grocery cart and getting a basket instead, stuff like that)- no sitting around doing nothing. (I didn’t want to see an empty day in the sheet so I always had to do something.)

2 weeks after, I started to see minimal results, and you know, what they say is true- once you see results, it becomes an addiction. The longer I do my workouts, the more I crave to exercise. Though only during late February that I knew about clean eating (more like accepted the thought of clean eating! Thank you to my sister!) and how it affects the body (and the results). I started to slash off sugar and all those bad preservatives and tried to eat clean (Paleo, or the caveman lifestyle, as much as possible which was a bit easy cause my sister arranges our meal plans each week) and it gave me even better results.

Yes, I did have a few setbacks- like skipping a day of working out which eventually made me skip two or three more and it became a skip week.. Or two... And it was soooo hard to get back up and start again. So never skip a day, most especially a Monday!! 

I sort of stopped eating strict Paleo during that skip (2) week(s). I fell back. It was my Valentine -&-birthday week... and I was given so much macarons- I still couldn't say no. Damn it for my control.

My sister surprised me with a box of homemade macarons which she made behind my back for Valentines day. It was her first try, yet it was sooo good (And so much better than my 1st2nd3rd10th15th100th time in making macarons!) Couldn't stop chomping on each one that by the end of the night, the box was already halfway empty.

For my birthday, my sister surprised me and brought home a teacher. For baking macarons. From Singapore. With Love. It was the best macarons I've ever made!!!!

My bestfriend, Hill, gave me two boxes of macarons- TWG and Wicked when 12mn struck

My cousin, Achi Frances, gave me a big box of Alchemy macarons later that night

My mom had a cute cake made for me, "Anatomy of macarons" with me as a nurse/doctor! She even got my UST uniform made exactly the way it looked like in real life! (By the way I'm only 19! Well, 20 in Chinese heheh)

My sister made a pretty colorful macaron cake for me for my birthday too! (With matching macaron giveaways!!!!)

What do you think did I do.... Yup I ate them. I didn't share much of the macarons (which I should've..) and it made me put on quite a couple of pounds.

I started to get back to exercising and eating clean (not Paleo though) two days after my birthday (Thank God). It was February 22, the day of the 7107 Music Festival in Pampanga so I was in Fontana with my friends.

 I also brought my own packed healthy meals and a kilo of yogurt which I shared with the villa! Good thing I had my workout buddy (Jem) with me for that trip. We did a little circuit in the morning and it felt really really good. We even became a tourist spot for our friends. (They laughed at us for working out) Since then, I haven't stopped pushing myself to workout every day (light workouts were fine)

I’m really happy with the results I’m getting with working out & eating clean because it was all worth it (and it still is), and I wouldn’t want to stop anytime soon. Yes, sometimes I have my cheat meals here and there, but I do my best to fit it within my macro range. I'm far from my goal body, but I know I'm getting there, one step at a time.


I do like forcing people to go and work out with me. Yes, sort of forcing. I learned that some need that extra push and they will eventually learn to start being active on their own and feel the high of exercising.

because I know I did.