Hey Y’all! As you know I am serious about changing my lifestyle and being a healthier, happier me. For those of you feel the same way, here’s a list I’ve put together of some awesome websites that I visit and find really helpful as I go along this Journey. I hope this helps you too Enjoy xoxo

READY FOR SUCCESS

Lose Weight
Shed Fat
Gain Strength, Agility, and Stamina
Clear Skin
Stand Taller
Tighten Your Thighs
Be Happy
Tone Your Abs, Legs and Arms
Shrink Your Butt
Feel Flexible
Feel Confident
Be Positive
Change Your Life
Change Your Shape
Feel Energized
Be Empowered

PLANS

http://www.muscleandstrength.com/expert-guides/fat-loss
For some general knowledge about weight loss and body types. It explains everything really clearly and specifically, very educating.

http://www.bodybuilding.com
Plans based on real people, you can choose from male or female with goals to build muscle or lose weight

http://www.weightloss.com.au
Just some basic plans to keep you on track, you don’t have to take it all on, as they are more diet based then lifestyle choices, they’ll tell you exactly what to eat everyday if you want to fall into the habit or find examples of which foods would look like healthy choices

NUTRITION

http://cleaneatingdietplan.com/
Yay! I’m on it and it’s awesome. There’s a plan laid out for you and a forum which offers lots of support from a ton of awesome girls just like you =)

http://www.eatcleandiet.com/ and http://www.toscareno.com/
Tosca Reno, one of the more well-known clean eaters, shares in her books, blog and website lots of tips, recipes and ideas.

http://pescetarianlife.com/
If you’re thinking of going without red meat and poultry, lots of info here.

http://keepyourdietreal.com/
I’ve found looking at photos and recipes of delicious healthy food keeps me inspired and on track to eat healthy and live healthy.

http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2012/01/fresh-food-friday-100-healthy-snack.html
For more healthy snack ideas

http://www.thewellnesswarrior.com.au
Lots of Yummy Recipes

WORKING OUT

http://tracyandersonmethod.com/press/blog/
I love Tracy Anderson, I’ve tried her Method Mat DVD and really feel it, it’s challenging and I like that. Give it a go and see what you think. She’s also recently released another DVD which I’m about to buy, called Metamorphosis. She concentrates o getting a lean and feminine body rather than bulk up.

http://www.divine.ca/en/health/exercise-finder/c_266/
There is a cool interactive App on this page that shows you area specific exercises for toning after you’ve done overall body workout like cardio (swimming, running, cross trainer etc)

http://www.bodyrock.tv
These vids are intense but you can really feel it. They promote home workout using just your body (most times), you don’t need anything extra except maybe a timer since they focus on interval training.

http://www.fitoverfat.com
Heaps of ideas for serious training.

http://www.jillianmichaels.com/
I just got Jillian Micahel’s 30 Day Shred DVD and it sounds really promising as long as I can keep it up. You’ve probably seen her on The Biggest Loser and I find her really motivating and honest.

https://www.michellebridges.com.au/
Michelle Bridges of the Australian version of Biggest Loser is awesome too. I haven’t tried any of her DVDs yet but I read her blog sometimes and there’s some interesting stuff there.

http://www.zumba.com/
I find Zumba really fun when you can join classes with your friends or even alone, just to get you pumped. But Zumba is also available on DVD. You can learn more about it here.

INSPIRATION and MOTIVATION

http://www.koraorganics.com/
Miranda Kerr’s blog is really inspiring, lots of ways to go organic and natural in everyday life from make up to clothing to eating fresh.

http://losing-every-extra-pound.tumblr.com/
I only recently discovered Tumblr and wow there’s so much stuff. This is one of the pages I found that puts together lots of pictures and quotes to motivate and inspire you.

http://skinny-biches-are-hot.tumblr.com/
Like the previous link, a whole lot of motivational pics and quotes all over the page =)

http://fitasfuck.tumblr.com/
And one more tumblr page that just can’t be missed, Fit as F***sorry for the language really gives you that extra push to remind you of your goals and how you can achieve them.

http://pinterest.com/elisavetak/weightloss/
Tumblr, isn’t the only website I’ve just gotten into. I had no idea there was another awesome networking site through pics and pins called “Pinterest” you need to register your interest first, then you will receive an invitation to join the site.

http://www.weightlossphotos.net
Lots of before and after photos to show you that if they can do it, so can you!

http://www.charginglife.com/2012/04/15/just-walk-away-by-samuel-frauenstein/
Inspirational stories of people who have faced that wall we all have faced and pushed just that little extra to get over it.

http://www.anniejaffrey.com
She’s a beauty and lifestyle blogger and YouTuber and I really enjoy her positive attitude, and frequent posts for simple lifestyle changes anyone can make.

http://www.getfitjuju.blogspot.com.au/
This blogger shares her weightloss journey with you, from daily diary entries, to recipes and new songs she’s added to her exercise listening list.

http://mevsthebulge.com/
Another blogger who shares her weightloss journey, she posts lots of pics too so it’s cool to see how she’s changed

Know any other awesome websites? I’d love to visit them, share them below

It was a cool autumn’s eve, and I wasn’t sure if the chill was from the temperature or the story that my fiancé’s mother was telling. “How do you think Pineapples came to be?” she asked us. We all sort of shrugged, and she went on to tell us a couple of the great myths and traditional stories that were told little children in the Philippines.

The Pineapple

There was once a young mother who raised her son alone on a farm, deep within the country side far from the nearest town. There were many chores to do around the household and farm, so the mother asked the boy if he could help her do some chores. At one instance she asked him to get the Bolo (A bolo is a large cutting tool similar to a machete, the primary use for the bolo is clearing vegetation, whether for agriculture or during trail blazing) and help cut the bushes now growing too close to the rice fields that they were cultivating. The son replied that he could not see it, and so she went to look for the bolo and then went on to cut down the bushes herself. The next day, the mother again asked the son to do some chores, whom once again replied to her that he could not see what she was asking for. This continued for some time, with the mother working very hard to keep up with the household chores and their farm duties until one day the mother grew very sick and became bedridden. She asked the son to cook some soup and rice for her. But alas the son said he could not find the ladle and pot for which to cook the soup and rice with.  The mother grew angry and said “I wish you had so many eyes so you could see”. The boy disappeared soon after that and the mother became very worried. Until one day while crying in her garden she noticed a new plant had started growing and as she moved closer to inspect it she noticed that the plant’s fruit looked as if it had many eyes. The woman gasped, realising that her wish had come true, here was her son, with so many eyes he could not miss a thing. And so dear children, next time you look at a pineapple be reminded to think of how it came to be.

I’ve re-written what was told that night, so I apologise for any discrepancies. I’ve always been drawn to fables and myths but it was so interesting to hear some Filipino ones. I am Australian-Filipino so it’s so nice to hear some traditional stories. Read on if you’d like to hear the story of how the Coconut came to be…

The Coconut

There was once a young maiden who lived in the forest. This girl was very beautiful but also very poor. Her mother and father wanted her to marry a rich man to take them out of their poverty ridden lives. But the young maiden did not want to for she had fallen in love with a handsome farmer. But the parents strongly disagreed because the farmer was also poor. The maiden and the farmer loved each other so much that they met secretly in another part of the forest. One day the parents caught them. The parents decided to hide the girl. But the farmer would not relent looking for her. It had been many weeks when the farmer had decided to give up looking for the girl, he felt some extremely that he killed himself in front of her parents on their very doorstep. The girl, who was locked up in the attic, could see from her window what had happened and grew very morose. She cried for days on end and would not talk to her mother or father. The parents felt very bad so they buried the man in their backyard. The girl visited the grave every day leaving flowers and vowing she would never marry anyone else. One day a small green plant started to grow in the area where the man had been buried. The girl tended the plant with tender, loving care as it grew into a tree. The tree began to bear fruits.  The father of the girl climbed the tree to collect the fruit and gasped as he opened the husk and to his amazement saw what looked to be a small head, two eyes and a nose. The girl wailed even more, knowing that it was her lover now a Coconut Tree.

I was conflicted with the meaning behind this story, but putting the story into a cultural context, it must be pointed out than when these stories were made, arranged marriages were common. The message my mother-in-law believes it means is that you cannot force love, that parents shouldn’t interfere with their children’s love lives because the only truth can come from the heart.

And finally, here is the story of how the Apple came to be…

The Apple

On an island far from the mainland there lived a dog. Now this was not any ordinary kind of dog. For the dog gave birth to three human daughters. One day a ship passed by the island, by this time the three daughters had grown up to be beautiful young maidens. The captain of the ship saw the girls playing while bathing in the ocean. He decided to take them to the city. The youngest daughter asked “What about Inay (mother)?” But the eldest daughters did not want to take the dog with them. The captain replied that there was not enough room to take the dog with them. So he took the three maidens aboard. Many years passed, and by now the first two daughters were married to rich and influential men. The youngest daughter was also married, to an ordinary man but a kind one at that. At this time the dog was searching for her daughters, it had taken her a long time but she had finally located her oldest daughter. But when she arrived her oldest daughter pretended not to recognize her. “What is this filthy dog doing in my house” screeched the oldest daughter to her servants. She knew it was her mother but turned her away. And so the dog, went to find her second daughter. When she arrived the daughter offered her to stay for a day or two but no longer for fear her husband would be coming back soon and she did not want him to know her mother was a dog. The dog stayed for two days but was not treated well. She left her second daughter’s house with a heavy heart. Finally, the dog found the youngest daughter who welcomed her with open arms. The daughter hugged her close and told her husband that this was her mother and that she had missed her very much. The husband did not ask how the dog could possibly be her mother, but accepted seeing the love in both of their eyes, even the daughter could not explain how. The dog told the youngest daughter about her travels and what had happened when she visited the other daughter’s houses, they had been so ashamed of her that it had broke her heart. The dog was growing very old and weary now and had gotten quite sick. The youngest daughter took great care to make the mother feel comfortable, safe and well-fed. But the dog knew she was dying and told the daughter “When I die, bury me near your front door to remind everyone that I was always welcome in your home”. The youngest daughter frowned thinking of her mother passing but agreed to her wishes. One day the daughter went out to the market, but when she got home she found her mother dead on the floor. She cried and did as her mother requested, she buried the dog near the front door. Soon after a plant grew from where she had buried her mother, and a fruit was produced. She named this fruit “Apple” because that was her mother’s name. As time went by, the plant grew into a tree which bared many fruits. So many fruits that the youngest daughter had to do something with them so she sold them to the local markets. The apple fruit became very popular and some of the people had heard stories of how the fruit came to be, so they nicknamed it ‘the fruit of love’. The other daughters heard about the youngest daughter’s success, both whose husbands had passed away and hadn’t really treated them well, came to the daughter’s house with little pride. They were ashamed that they had treated their dog mother so. The youngest daughter being the loving person once again as she had treated her mother, welcomed them with open arms.

The meaning of this myth, was to teach people that no matter who you are, where you come from, what your parents did for a living or look like, you should accept them for who they were and accept yourself for who you are. Don’t be ashamed about where you came from. What a deeply meaningful and beautiful message.

I hope you enjoyed these Filipino stories, do you know of any interesting myths? I’d love to read them from all over the world, from any time period. I’d love to hear them from you. xoxo Lariana

For the past couple of days I’ve been contemplating our upcoming wedding and about our wedding vows. We’ve agreed that we want to make our own to make it more personal and meaningful, and I am excited to share with my hubby-to-be and all our friends and family how much I love him. But at the same time I am nervous. This is so important to me. How can I convey how I feel and promise to be the best I can be. What words should I choose? Well if you’re like me, and are thinking of writing your vows I hope these ideas that I’ve researched will help you out. I won’t write mine down til after the wedding otherwise that would give it away to my hubby! hehe

First, you need to decide the tone and theme of your vows, is it going to be witty? tear-jerking? a bit of both?  humorous and touching? Poetic and super mushy? Personally I’d like to get a good mix of all of the above, I’d love see him smile, pensive, laugh and cry all in just a few words.

Next, brainstorm to write a brief outline of what you’d like to say. Pick a few super memorable moments between the two of you to bring up, have you been some momentous times together, how did you triumph them together? Can you think of a funny or touching experience that put your partner in a new light? Perhaps go even back to the start, how you met, did you know that you were the ones for each other? was it the opposite, have you proved that opposites do attract? Think along these lines, when we first me at….I thought…or this happened…or I knew…How long did it take you to realise you were in love? Was there a specific moment that you just thought oh my gosh he has to be the one…like when he playing with your nieces and nephews or cooking dinner at home for the two of you. What do you have now that you didn’t have before? Not materially but in life generally. Has he changed your view of the world, taught you meaningful lessons that has help nurture your soul? How about what you most miss about each other when you’re apart, do you have any habits you do while you are away from each other because you miss each other so much? Do you share mutual interests like favorite movies, songs, hobbies etc.? I’ve been to weddings where couples chose their favorite lines from songs and movies and it was really cute.

Now, try to logically string all or parts of what you have written and try looking at some example vows online or reading the traditional vows available at your local church. These examples will help mold your vows.

After this, I think I will go even deeper from the light stuff and get into the nitty gritty of this marriage that we are committing to for life. What are our goals for the future, how will you grow and change together? Do you have any promises for eachother, try to steer from the ever “I promise to have everlasting love” but more personal promises like “I promise to always get the mail in the morning and let you sleep in when you’re on late shifts” or something like that…Try think also of why you are entering the bond of marriage. Why is marrying your fiance so special? This will inspire you to write some beautiful words. What does marriage mean to you? With your fiance, what is possible? and finally, what is that you expect from married life? these expectations will help you make and keep these vows. I believe life dreams are so importantwill you vow to help make them come true?

You will probably have alot of ideas written down now like me. Now, don’t be overwhelmed this is great. Like before, shuffle your ideas into as logically ordered as possible. From here you can do some editing and cutting or ‘weeding’ as I call it. Put it all together, and check that these vows resonate with you and are vows you believe you can keep and wish to keep.

After first drafts you can always go back and add or remove parts to your vows, so it’s nice to get a head start on writing them and not saving to write it the day before if not on the day! But if you feel very confident, it’s always beautiful to speak from the heart, hopefully you don’t miss out anything integral that you would have loved to share.

From there on it’s practice time! Here’s to wishing the very best luck for your weddings and delivering your vows (and mine too! hehe)

For some more examples and tips take a look at these links below:

About.com Weddings
The Write Thing
Online Wedding Boutique
WikiHow
Polka Dot Bride

Hiya Blushing Brides To-Be!

Sorry it’s been ages since I last posted, don’t worry I haven’t given up and am well into a comfortable but challenging daily workout routine (will talk more about that tomorrow) anywhos I thought I’d share with you guys a cool idea I found it on pinterest, apologies as I can’t remember where I found it as I was randomly surfing last night and just save it. But yeah, I think it’s an awesome idea and I’d love to see you join me. So here’s what you got to do:

Here’s some tips:

* Don’t get the idea that junk food and food is bad for you. Food is obviously good for you, its JUNK food that’s not good for you

* Get creative, healthy food which would be like fruits and vegetables can be equally if not more delicious, play with colors, red capsicums, sliced orange carrots, green lettuce, well you get me I’m sure. If you need some inspiration look up some delicious vegetarian snacks on the net, there are some colorful and drool worthy photo collections online

* Hunkering for something sweet? You’re body is really just craving something fruity, make it more filling with a bit of yoghurt

* Feel like a packet of crips, love that crunchy sensation? Try some crunchy snow peas as a snack, or even fresh capsicum, I snack on em all the time and its so yummy!Or how about nuts? crunchy goodness I tell ya

Easy Pea-sy right? Alright ladies, let’s get to it! Keep a diary of how you feel whenever you feel especially craving something that you know isn’t so good for you, and how you overcame it! Share your ideas and stories below! I’d love to hear from you. Xoxo Lariana

Here in the land down under, everyone has gotten a bite of lotto fever! Not sure if you’ve heard but a whopping AUD$70 Million Dollars is up for grabs. While I was at the shops today there was long lines of people winding down corridors and into others shops to get their numbers in. Now, while I’ve never really been into lotto, I did put in a quick pick, I spent $3 dollars and felt rather guilty about it but I saw people who knew all about syndication and shares for lotto (which I have no understanding of) spending up to $300! Anyways so all this money madness got me thinking, what does it really mean to someone? I’m not really a materialistic person but I began to think about my life and if I won the jackpot what would I do with it? What would you do with it? Would you help other people? Help your family? Invest some of it in a business or something? Or go crazy and spend large amounts of it on things you don’t need? Be realistic, even if you did win this money, it would still go by very fast. What would you do with so much money? Do you really need that much money? So many ideas were spinning in my head…and this is a rough idea of how I would spend the money…

I think I’d let it sit for while, grasp the momentous jackpot, I wouldn’t go out spending it on cars or whatever and then be left with nothing, how silly. I wouldn’t tell anyone except really close family as  I know how crazy people can get when it comes to money.

Firstly, I would give part of the jackpot to my parents. For their unending belief in me, love and support. I would want to make sure they were able to do anything they wanted and not be held back financially, so they could travel the world and stay at some really comfortable and beautiful places. I know that the money isn’t so important to them as they are happy as they are but I would feel great knowing I could give back all they had given me for school and college etc.

Next, I would give part to my sister and her husband for their budding family.

Then, I would give part to my mother-in-law and her partner. They’re my partner’s family which makes them mine too. I would love to share it with them.

Following this, I guess it would be time to be smart. I would invest part of the money into my hubby’s business to help build it up and provide the lifestyle we wish to have so we don’t have to rely on the jackpot. I would also invest in other select projects that are proven to give results, so I could use that money to help other people. Part of the funds from these investments and also from the jackpot would go towards research into autoimmune diseases especially in children, research into the cure for dementia & Alzheimers in the elderly, and then to the RSPCA because of my passion for animals. If those investments could help fund them more consistently I would really be happy to see that.

After that  I guess I would allocate some money to some life-long dreams. It would help me to complete my bucket list and pay for trips all over the world. I would love my partner and I to spend a year or two traveling the world and then traveling every so often in the years after that.

One of my biggest dreams is to live the lifestyle were I am mobile to live in both Australia and the Philippines. I would spend part of the jackpot money to buy a cozy apartment in Brisbane, and build our dream house on the cliff side in Siquijor.

Looking over this, I’m sure I’d have alot of money left over, but I think I would choose to spread the money out over the next 25-30 years so that I could use the money for other things as they arise. I would use it for my personal health fund – for massages, medicine, doctor appointments, fitness and nutrition.

As I read back over my ideas, I believe I could do this even without the jackpot! albeit it may take a little longer, but when I look at the deeper meaning underneath each of the choices, there are themes that recurrent and reflect me – my priorities which are my husband, family, health, positive lifestyle and being able to help others. While financially it would help, I would like to think that I won’t really change, that I’m still happy, that I use the money well and help not only myself but others with it. But this is what I believe is true – what we really need, and what’s really important, is that we have our health, safety, love in our lives and our dreams in motion! We can do it!

Goodness me, it’s been a month already! Hey y’all loyal readers. Thanks so much for sticking with me and I apologise for not keeping up with posting, but I promise I am back now and much more settled. If you’ve been following previous posts you might have noticed I talk alot about travelling and moving. Well my partner and I have done it again. We got back to Oz last week and you can imagine it’s been a little less than crazy hectic. We’ve been busy looking out for rentals, getting out jobs all ready and set, and once again moving boxes and getting out billing details updated. Yep Australia, we’re back. I promise in the next few weeks I shall be delivering some awesome posts many of my readers have been asking me for, I’m planning to tackle the ever frustrating job interviews, and how to turn them into comfortable experiences. And I’ve also gotten a little into this whole “clean eating diet” but more on that in another post. I’ve been really excited lately as I got the reading bug again. Which has inspired me to write my own novel…one day I might just say it’s done! But that’s also for another day. Anywhos I wanted to share you guys a bit of light reading that I loved while travelling on the numerous buses and planes I took getting here. They’re not my usual genre, but I enjoyed them nevertheless and if you like “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins, I’m sure you will too. These books picks can be enjoyed by anyone, no matter what your age. Let me know what you think!

So here’s my fav picks for the Month of April:

Delirium & Pandemonium by Lauren Oliver

Partials by Dan Wells

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins

Divergent by Veronica Roth

The Host by Stephanie Meyer