3volution 7itness 6 Week Challenge

I have never been overweight, but I fluctuated from chubby to normal throughout my entire life.  I guess I was considered chubby compared to my skinny family members who ate whatever they wanted, didn't work out and was still thinner than I was.  Anyways, fast forward to my early 30's.  I was living in Santa Monica and had successfully done a "Chub Club" at work where I was able to get down to a good, healthy weight.  After my mom got sick with pancreatic cancer, I got a job in DTLA and moved back home to spend as much time with her as I possibly could.

So I had gradually started to gain weight partly due to the stress of my mom being sick and partly because the SGV is filled with yummy carbs like noodles, rice and boba.  I was literally the heaviest I had been and felt really disgusted.  I had dieted on and off, doing low carb but I couldn't really stick to anything and made excuses.

Then I saw an add for a 6 week challenge on Facebook for a fitness studio in Rosemead called 3volution 7itness,  It was a "free" 6 week challenge if you were able to make your weight loss/body fat goal.  So I signed up for an informational meeting with the owner and it sounded like a great way to get healthy and in shape.  You follow their meal plan, post pics of your food to the FB group and work out 5 days a week.  It's a bootcamp style class every day, focusing on a different body part.   You put down a deposit, which you'd get back if you make your goal.

Before we started the program, the owner recommend sampling a few classes to get used to the style.  I went to a few classes after work and they kicked my butt! 

There were also morning classes, which I ended up opting to do because I like to get my workout done early and the classes weren't as crowded as the ones at night.  Plus the instructor, Manny kept workouts fresh and challenging, played great music and made me sore every day. 

Since I didn't have as much weight to lose, we decided to make my goal 5% body fat loss, which ended up being harder than I thought. 

I will say that the first week was tough - the workouts were good and I was able to keep up, but adjusting to the meal plan was hard.  It was a 1300 calories plan that included only good carbs like brown rice, oatmeal and sweet potato.  I also discovered that beans were considered a carb rather than a protein - blew my mind.  On day 3 I was starving, but after getting over that hump, my stomach got smaller and I got used to eating less.  

I did make some adjustments to this, but this was the gist of the diet. 

So I went grocery shopping to buy all my healthy foods like rice cakes, greek yogurt, peanut butter, lean meats and beans.  Here are some of my meals that I posted in the FB group.  

Typical breakfast includes turkey bacon, egg whites with veggies, yogurt and fruit, or a protein shake

Lunch with include some kind of salad or meat and brown rice combo. It was sometimes hard to have lunch with coworkers or friends, because we had to choose a place where I could get a healthy low carb option.  So things like the Tuesday Taco Truck or Ramen was out.  They'd eat their carbs and I'd have my salad. 

But there were times when friends ate healthy with me and we'd both get a salad:

Dinners were fun, I did a lot of those meal preps that had low carb options like Blue Apron, Hello Fresh and Gobble. 

The great part was seeing the results and shedding the pounds and body fat. It wasn't drastic, more of a slow and gradual transformation but satisfying none the least.  My clothes started getting loose and I felt better overall. 

I didn't technically meet my goal - lost 4.8% body fat and lost about 7.5 lbs but I was really happy with my results. The owner let me use my deposit towards a discounted membership and I decided to keep up the bootcamp classes.

I am currently doing another 8 week challenge to try and lose a few more pounds but overall maintain and focus on a long term healthy lifestyle. It's been great and I am really glad that I discovered this gym and its great workouts.  Just the kick in the pants I needed to and lose some of the weight I gained and get fit  💪💪💪💪

Master in Transformational Training AKA MITT

So, it's kind of a funny roundabout story on how I actually came to find MITT (Mastery in Transformational Training).  Two friends had mentioned the trainings to me over a year ago, but at the time I was too preoccupied with my mom and her being sick to even think about it.  Fast forward to May of this year, my mom had sadly lost her battle with pancreatic cancer and my sister's neighbor had come by to ask her how she was doing and to tell her about Landmark.  Landmark is actually quite similar to MITT.  My sister was not interested and then she asked about me...

Long story short, I got recruited to go to a Landmark preview event and although I liked it and found it to be useful, I remembered my friends doing MITT and decided to find out more about that program.  After talking to them, asking them questions, looking at both the Landmark and MITT websites, I decided to give MITT a try because it was supposed to be more experiential vs Landmark's more lecture base, plus it was $100 cheaper.

I signed up for the October "Basic" Course.  I was still very hesitant but figured that it couldn't hurt and if I didn't like it, it was a few days and a $500 investment. I also gave them my Google number instead of my actual cell, just in case. The Landmark people had called my house a few too many times... So I went to this reluctantly - it was after work from 7PM-12 midnight Wednesday through Friday, then full days Saturday and Sunday.  Overall I felt like it was an interesting and beneficial experience. I probably didn't fully let myself experience the whole thing, as I still had my hesitations.  Of course after you finish the Basic Course, they try and get you to sign up for the "Advance" course which was 5 full days for maybe like $799 at the time, but after checking the site, seems like its gone up to $1,195.  I probably wouldn't have paid that, but I did feel compelled to continue along this journey, so on the last day, I was suckered in to signing up for the next course. I promised myself that I definitely wouldn't do the next course, which was what they called "Leadership," which was like $1600.

They make this whole deal about finding a way to get the money and not letting that be your excuse, but we'll get to that later.

So during the Advanced Course, I did feel like I made a breakthrough.  We aren't supposed to share what we did, but I felt like I finally let myself feel some things about my mom's death and let myself get to know the people in my course on a different level.  I will say these courses are pretty emotionally and physically exhausting.  You are in a room full of people all day doing various activities and then you go to lunch with your group and you have to do more exercises while you eat.

So on the Sunday/last day of the Advanced course, they were pulling out all the stops and trying to sell.  They told us to not use money or the time commitment stop us.  And the time commitment was extensive - this time it was weekly meetings, 3 weekends, volunteering for events and a few I will admit, I gave in to the peer pressure.  They had everyone close their eyes and stand up if they were going to do leadership.  Of course everyone in my group stood up and I felt like I should to.  And you had to put a deposit down to save your spot.  I signed up for the Leadership program, not knowing where I'd get the money and full of doubts.

So they encourage you to invite friends and family to your "graduation" on the Sundays following the course.  I invited the two friends who did MITT, one who did just the Basic and one who did the Leadership. 

I went to the first few meetings for the Advanced course and we got put into groups the first meeting.  One of the guys who was pretty active in the first two courses was in my group.  They encouraged us to get to know each other and I reached out to him via text/cell phone.  He hadn't texted me back so I called him and his Uber driver had picked up.  He had apparently left his phone in this guy's car and asked if I could help track him down.  I called my LP leader and told her what happened.   Long story short, the guy had jumped off a building later that night and killed himself.  This was a sad and strange experience, I honestly didn't know him very well but had no idea he was suicidal.  The next weekly meeting they talked about it for about an hour and then kind of moved on. I honestly didn't know how I felt about it all but I decided that this wasn't for me.

I talked to a few people in the course who decided to quit.  One of the girls told me that she was able to get her deposit back and suggested I talked to the founder, so I did.  I called her and told her I felt uneasy and wasn't comfortable continuing in the course.  She was honestly a bit rude and told me that this stuff happens and we can't control it. In the end, she said she would give me my deposit back but really rubbed me the wrong way. 

So I did quit the program but of course got a bit of backlash.  My LP leader, as well as my Advanced leader reached out to me.  My LP leader was actually pretty pushy and told me that I couldn't just quit and I needed to talk to her on the phone. Again, another encounter that rubbed me the wrong way.

Overall I am glad that I tried this but I don't think I needed to do the Leadership Course.  I did keep in touch with people who stayed in the program and I heard both good and bad things. I do believe that this helps people who are dealing with issues and can help, but at the same time I feel like there needs to be extensive background checks if someone has psychological problems.  The exercises are pretty intense as well as the time commitment.   So I would say, if you feel like it would be beneficial, try to Basic course and go from there.  Don't be influenced by all the sales talk and try to judge for yourself if you want to continue.  It is a lot of money and time, so make sure its worth your while.

Bridget Jones's Baby Movie Review

I have always loved the Bridget Jones Diary books and the first film is one of my favorite movies of all time.  The second movie, the Edge of Reason was just okay - no where close to the book but still entertaining nonetheless.  I was really excited to watch Bridget Jones's Baby, especially after reading the third book - Mad About a Boy - which was basically about Bridget Jones raising two kids on her own after Mark Darcy dies in a car crash :(

So luckily the movie studios decided that this was just too sad and they worked with the Helen Fielding to come up with Bridget Jones's Baby! Sadly Hugh Grant decided not to reprise his role but we do get in his place - McDreamy - Patrick Dempsey as the other piece of eye candy.  It's older eye candy as it's 15 years since the first movie, but eye candy nonetheless.  Colin Firth and Patrick Dempsey, not too shabby!

The movie is pretty funny and entertaining - this time around Bridget has her weight under control but not her love life.  She has gone around with Mark Darcy for 10 years and is still single.  Mark has remarried, which make it marriage #2 for him.  She ends up going to a music festival with her news caster friend and she ends up having a one night stand with McDreamy and leaves him in the lurch. The next week at one of her best friends' kids christening, Mark ends up being the Godfather and they share a night together.  With one week in between the two indiscretions, she discovers that she's now pregnant and either guy could be the father.

So these two men find out, not knowing there's another possible father in the mix.  When they do find out is when the fun starts. They both essentially start competing for her attention and quite like Mark and Daniel, they have some fun fights. 

Without giving any more away, I will say that I very much enjoyed the movie.  I laughed out loud on numerous occasion and despite it being a 10 PM showing, I managed to stay awake and entertained the entire time.  The cast isn't the only one who's gotten old!  It wasn't as good as the first but wayyyy better than the second.  Bridget Jones is a bit older, wiser and thinner.  

Orange Is The New Black, Season 5

First off, how great is it to binge watch an entire season within a few days?  I will do my best not to spoil anything for those who have not seen season 5 yet, but I can't make any promises.

Now I didn't love this show at first.  It took me a couple of episodes to get on board, as did another Netflix Show (House of Cards.).   But once you get into it, it is sooo good.

Season 5 starts off with a bunch of new inmates getting sent to Litchfield and you see the ladies getting upset as the overcrowding starts.   You are also introduced to a bunch of new guards who are just plain douchebags (not all of them but most of them). The Captain is the worse of them all.

This is also the season where you really start to hate Piper, as she becomes so self absorbed and thinks she's this mafia leader.  She makes one of the new inmates, her bunkmate

You also get to know Judy King a lot better this season. She was briefly introduced last season as a Martha Stewart/Paula Dean type character.  She gets very special treatment, staying in a spacious room with a soda maker and gourmet food while the rest of the prisoners basically eat mush.

Overall I think this is a really great season where you get to learn about more characters and without spoiling anything, you see the realities of prison and the injustice that occurs.

Fit Tea - 14 Day Detox

Okay so I'll admit that I jumped on the Kardashian Bandwagon and ordered some Fit Tea after seeing them endorse it.  I read another blog review about this guy using it and he had nothing but positive things to say.

So I shelved out the $25 and waited for my Fit Tea to come in the mail.

I usually drink coffee in the morning, so I tried to drink this in place of my coffee.  I will say the first day my stomach felt a bit off the first day and I felt kinda gassy.  My morning coffee usually makes me go in the morning and the tea actually constipated me.  I went later in the afternoon which is annoying to me - I prefer going in the morning.

Anyways, I drank the tea and felt really tired.  Maybe because I normally drink green tea everyday after my coffee - this tea didn't do much for me.  I had to incorporate my coffee back into my morning regimen and drank the tea after.  I was still constipated and overall, I found this detox to be a waste of money.

Fuller House - TV Review

So I know that they say Hollywood is always doing sequels or reboots because they don't have original content, but I frankly enjoy sequels (cannot wait for My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2), and reboots (Gilmore Girls, hello?).  Granted some times they do it horribly wrong (Dirty Dancing 2 - Havana Nights), but sometimes they do a pretty decent job (Grease Live).  Of course it's never as good as the original but for audiences, you do wonder what happened to these beloved characters or you just have fun seeing something familiar or nostalgic.

So when Fuller House was announced on Netflix, I was curious and excited. I personally like watching reruns of Friends, Full House, How I Met Your Mother and Parks and Recreation.   Plus its Netflix which meant binge watching!

Now what people need to understand is that Full House was always a corny, family oriented show. If you watched this in the 80's or watched the reruns at Nick at Night, you know that this show was cheesy and the cast always hugged. So if you expect that, than this reboot/resurgence is reminiscence of that and is fun to watch. You can't expect it to be like Modern Family which not only has a stellar cast but heartfelt story lines in every episode.  It's a sitcom filmed in front of a studio audience, and the audience cheers every time John Stamos or Bob Saget comes on stage.

"Fuller House" takes place 20 something years later after DJ gets married and has three boys and her husband (whose last name is Fuller, hence the Fuller House), dies in a fire. They move back to Danny Tanner's house where she raises her kids with the help of her little sister Stephanie and her best friend Kimmy Gibler. Stephanie is a well known DJ and has partied for most of her life. Kimmy is separated from her cheating husband Fernando and has a daughter who is the same age as DJ's oldest son.  So they all have to adjust to living together and helping DJ raise her boys.  Sound familiar?

Fuller House has the same cheesy moments and lots of hugging, but is slightly more risque as this is Netflix and not network television.  Still very family oriented but the girls are going out in skimpy outfits and drinking alcohol. They get into the dumb shenanigans and make reference to all the past catch phrases - How Rude, Have Mercy, Cut It Out...They even have the same theme song but this time sung by a woman.

One cool thing was the most of the cast (except Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen) return.  They do make reference to Michelle in the first episode and later comment on how expensive the Mary Kate & Ashley clothing line is. Even Uncle Jesse and Aunt Becky's twins - Nicky and Alex are in the first episode.  Steve, DJ's ex is also on the show.

Overall it is a fun show to watch and takes you back to TGIFriday's on ABC.  Don't expect Emmy award winning writing or acting and just enjoy it.

American Crime Story: The People Vs OJ Simpson

I think it's safe to say that everyone and their mothers was glued to their televisions when the whole OJ Simpson trial was happening back in 1995. Even if you didn't want to watch it, you would catch it because it was on every channel all day.   Now that a good amount of time has past, FX has invigorated our interest in the whole OJ saga with their American Crime Series - the People vs OJ Simpson.

They have an all star cast that includes Cuba Gooding Jr as the Juice, John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, David Schwimmer as Robert Kardashian. Selma Blair as Kris Kardashian and in my opinion the two best casted roles - Courtney B Vance as Johnnie Cockron and Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark.

The story starts at the beginning of the murder and shows OJ leaving his place and getting on a plane shortly after Nicole and Ron are murdered.  I will say that the series tries to be unbiased and let you decide things on your own. Obviously there are characters that are convinced OJ as guilty but it never comes out and says he's guilty.

I will say that the series is captivating and the casting was well done. At first I was unsure about Cuba playing OJ or  John Travolta as Robert Shapiro but as the story develops, you can see the method to the madness.  Both Cuba and JT are a little over the top but I think that's just the way they were.  Also it was hard to see Robert Kardashian as anything but Ross but all the characters are slowly coming into their own. I think it'd be unfair to judge the series by the first episode as many critics did.

Overall this is a great series that reminds viewers of all the chaos and drama that happened back in 1995.  Like the 1995 trials, this series will keep you glued to your televison.