I recently celebrated my birthday and I had a time to reflect on my life. I figured so many things that happened to me either contributed to a better outcome or a negative one. So, I decided to put it on  paper but then I think it's going to be so much better if I could share it to people. This is not only because I am proud of it but also I believe that people can learn something from it or at least help them to reflect on themselves so without any further ado, I'll share what I've learned.

1. Silence is not a bad thing. I have learned to embrace the silence a lot more than me being loud or people around me. I am able to reflect more on myself and meditate more effectively. It also helps me understand myself being an introvert although I also consider myself as an ambivert depending on the situation or the people I am with.
2. When there is happiness, there is sadness. I used to question myself why do I have to always feel sad or bad about being happy. I tend to keep myself from being happy because I always end up crying the next day. It wasn't easy for me to understand the give and take process of dark and light but I am glad that I now understand it. It is not a bad thing. It is the balance of light and dark into someone's life.
3. People will come and go. This is something a lot of people are struggling to accept especially if it's someone they love. I still do and to be honest with you I am afraid to lose someone in my life right now that is why I am doing my best to understand each other's situation in so many things. We live 8,000 miles apart from each other and I have to accept that it is going to be hard for both of us. This helps me understand that he has his own personal life and priorities to work on. He may be able to visit me but he needs to go back home too. And this also applies to friends I've met. I have to accept that they can go and leave me anytime for reason that I may or may not understand but it's okay. I have to keep going for soon I will find some who will actually stay.
4. Personality is not based on religion. No matter what your religion is, it's not going to measure the nature of your personality. I personally am an eclectic wiccan and most people think I am a bad person for choosing such religion yet in fact I am far from how they think I am. There are tons of people who claim to be in this or that religion but cannot be a decent person. You are the only one who can control yourself and not the teaching of others. They could serve as an inspiration but it is still up to you on how are you gonna look up to them. Your way of life depends on your belief and how you live up to it. So, whatever religion you are in, if you cannot be a decent person, if you cannot be kind and loving, if you cannot be respectful to everyone, then you're only using your religion as an excuse to cover up your true personality. 
5. Being hated is inevitable. Whether you think you've been nice to everybody around you, there will always and forever be at least one person who's going to hate you because of who you are.You could be the nicest person on earth yet you will be hated for what you do simply because it is you and not them. Someone in some way will not listen to whatever you say and that's okay. You do not have to please them to love you and it is their problem if they take so much time in their life to hate you. If they cannot take you for who you are then they just need to suck it up. This is not to promote hate on anybody but to make you understand that it's okay to be who you are no matter how many people hate you for being you.
6. Everybody has their own story. Just because you're life doesn't look like other people's life that doesn't mean you are entitled to judge them. If you want to judge somebody's life, just keep it to yourself for it doesn't really help someone to get better. One person you're talking to might probably on the verge of taking his life yet you're throwing him all sorts of judgement without knowing his story. If you cannot take time to listen to him at least you can do is be quiet but if you can be a decent person and actually willing to lend an ear then that's gonna be perfect. Everybody has their own secret and so are you. You have to try to put yourself in their shoes to understand what it is like if you do something to them.
7. You cannot give something you cannot have. If you cannot love yourself, you cannot love someone in the best possible way that you can. If you cannot be kind to yourself then you'll have a hard time being kind to somebody else. Whether you think you're loving them or being kind to them as much as you can but you aren't aware that you're hurting them by not doing the same thing to yourself, especially if the person you're giving all these love and kindness is the one who thinks you matter the most. You can hurt somebody unconsciously and you have to do something about that and understand it as well. You cannot give love if you don't know how to love yourself. Everything starts with you and not them. You have to be happy for yourself so you can be happy for them and their achievements too. It might take a lot of hard work but it's going to be worth it.

Bored.

Has anyone ever told you that you're supposed to do something because it's your responsibility as a girl or a guy? Is motherhood only for women? Or household chores? Is 9 to 5 job only for men? Is it only their responsibility to work to support the family?

For the past weeks since I started my weight loss journey, I thought that the fastest way to lose weight is to just not eat the usual food I eat or completely change my diet and exercise a ton. I bet most of you thought about it too, but let me tell you that you shouldn't feel like this journey is a bad one from depriving yourself from all those yummy food.

Disclaimer: I am not a fitness trainer or a dietitian and this is all based on my experiences.

Completely changing your meal plan would be one of the most challenging way of losing weight because you would be eating food you're not usually eating and one of the main reasons why we ditch it and just forget about dieting. Why do you think it is a reason? Simply because you are making yourself feel like it is a responsibility or an obligation which is supposed to be not. You have to make yourself feel like it is a happy journey to take and an enjoyable one. I do not believe that a person eats junk everyday her whole life because I know that there will still be times that you or your family cooks food.



So here's the thing, a good way to keep your meals on track is to make a list of food you like to cook and eat, no coke or any kind of soda of course, duh. Once you've listed everything down, start crossing out the ones that are too processed. And then, cross out the ones that has lowest nutritional value. When you're done, take those that are left from the list and that's going to be your focus throughout this journey. On each meal try and substitute the ingredients with a healthier option. For example, if you like making toasts with white bread, switch it with a wheat bread instead. And if you used to eat 4 slices of bread, take it down to 2 slices. If you're like me and cannot go on a day without eating rice, switch up to eating brown rice in smaller portions and yes, eating on a smaller plate helps too. Instead of drinking coke or soda, start by switching to making fruit smoothies. This one is my favorite thing to have especially mango smoothies, and of course water.
Eating while losing weight is crucial because you have to balance the amount of food you eat but that doesn't mean you gotta have to go all green or no starch or no sugar at all because your body still needs those. What you can do about it is to take smaller portions of food. Maybe from 2 and a half cups of rice, go 2 cups for a week or two then 1 and half, until you get to 1 cup. Crash dieting is a big NO when losing weight, it's not healthy because you are forcing yourself to deny foods that your body needs. Your body knows when it needs something so we should learn how to listen. Providing healthier options to our body is a big help when it comes to exercising. We won't feel so tired and dead after a workout due to all the healthy meals we took.



Also, what helps me the most with this journey is by using the app Nike+ Training Club which was first introduced to me by my sister and the Blogilates app and challenges from Cassey Ho. These apps provide exercises you need and can do to help you lose weight.



After a while of training yourself to a healthier routine will not only make you feel more energetic but could also make you forget that you are losing weight. It will help you process the journey as an everyday normal routine but a healthier one. This won't be easy because of the amount of adjustments to make but I believe this is the healthiest way. There is no elevator to success. ♡ Do not worry! You are not alone! I'm with you!

More detailed posts on the apps I use and also to foods I eat will be up next time. I hope this helps you feel more motivated. Most importantly, love yourself. ♡

(Photos from Google)