My Daily Exercise Regimen: How I lost 15 Pounds in Two Months

I surprised even myself with all the weight that I've lost. It's been 3 years since I've seen this number! I still have quite a journey to go, but I'm committed to reaching my goal. It's easier now that I finally found what works for me. =)

Detox Regimen (14 days)

9 am - Lemon Water & CIZE workout
10 am - Detox Smoothie
1 pm - Detox Smoothie
4 pm - Snack
7 pm - Dinner (full meal) & Green Tea

Diet Regimen

9 am - Lemon Water & CIZE workout
10 am - Smoothie, Cereal, or Oatmeal
1 pm - Smoothie or full meal
4 pm - Snack
7 pm - Dinner (full meal) & Green Tea

** Although I was able to workout at the same time most mornings, there were other mornings where I had to change the time I worked out and type of workout, but I will make the effort to work out 6 days a week for at least 30 minutes.

Lemon Water has many benefits especially for weight loss. Click here for helpful information on the benefits of lemon water.

My Smoothies were easy to get used to because of the great taste it had. In my smoothie recipe post here, I did mention that I put Life's Greens supplement in it. It does change the taste altogether so if you prefer the more delicious taste of your smoothie, there is a pill form of this supplement called Green Source Multivitamins & Minerals.

Full Meals were my favorite part of the day! I also used this meal to ensure that I have met my daily caloric intake and macronutrients (fats, carbs, and protein) for the day. See my full recipes here.

Green Tea, like lemon water, has great benefits especially for weight loss. Here is more information on green tea benefits.

** If you do research online about daily calorie intake, you will find that it could be harmful to take less than 1200 calories a day. There are numerous websites where you can find out recommended calorie intake for your weight loss goals. I use MyFitnessPal to track my intake, exercise, and goals. You will also find that many websites state that it is always best to consult your physician before doing any type of weight loss regimen.

Transformation Photo:
P.S. I do have mommy stripes. ;D

New Blog: How I lost 15 pounds || Link in Bio #beforeandafter #diet #weightlossjourney #transformation

A photo posted by The Martins (@martinxadventures) on Jul 13, 2016 at 6:51pm PDT

How can my child start to read?

As a teacher, I always find myself doing research on effective strategies for my different types of learners. At the same time, I discover things that I can also do with my own children. One of the things that I'm glad I did was foster the love for reading. For as long as I can remember, my husband and I would read books to our children everyday. It became a norm because today they automatically pick out a book for us to read before bed.

Sometimes they come ask me to read to them in the middle of the day... usually at times where I'm trying to finish my chores. I started off shooing them away and telling them that I will read once I'm done with my chores until one day I realized my children can read to themselves! How can my three and four year old read? Did you know that there are three ways to read a book? I learned this from a strategy I've done for two years now. Click here and here for more information. Anyway, the three ways to read a book are read the pictures, read the words, and retell the story. I told my daughters that reading the pictures works just as well as reading the words! There's nothing to it. So instead of shooing my daughters away and telling them I'll read to them once I'm done with my chores, I simply tell them to read the pictures.

How can your child start to read? Model it by reading to them daily. Then teach them to use the pictures to tell a story. You'll be amazed with how great your child's imagination and story telling is just by using the illustration of a book.

Below is a video of my four year old reading the pictures of a book about Rapunzel. You might notice that she remembers the dialogues from the thousand and one times my husband and I read the book.

Thanks for reading! ;)

I missed the distraction and the motivation

Just entered my fourth week of my weight loss journey and it's actually the first time that I exercised while my girls napped. I must say, I miss the distraction and the motivation...

I did complain a whole lot and begged them to step aside so that I don't accidentally hit them while in my dance zone. But they were having fun with me because they were right beside me doing the dance. When they do get tired though they play or sit around and watch. Once my three year old sees me drenched in sweat and slacking off... she immediately yells, "YOU CAN DO IT MOMMY... ALMOST THERE!" One day, she even brought me her little cup of water and said, "Here, you need to drink some water. I'll share some with you." (Awwwww) I guess aside from being one of many moms out there trying to conquer a weight loss journey, I am not alone in this journey here at home. It feels nice.

Anyway, being on my fourth week means that it has been four weeks since I've changed my diet. I didn't think I was able to do it for this long... but I did! I'm so proud of myself. Woohoo! On top of that, I've lost nine pounds and went from a size 14 to a size 8... I'm so happy I could cry. Since I am on the CIZE program, I did take a before picture and will take an after picture at the end of this week. I'm not one to share these types of pictures but at the same time I want to set an example for mommies, like me, who have to work to get our body back. So I guess I'm going to have to grow some balls and share that. ;)

Here are some recipes that I used to during my journey.

My sweet distraction and motivation. <3

Bye for now.

Last Minute Princess Birthday Party Decoration: Thank goodness for the internet

3 weeks before our youngest daughter's birthday, my husband and I had planned to take our daughter on Ride the Ducks that we have here at home since she and our oldest have been begging to go on it.

Then 5 days before her birthday... we decided to have close family and friends over to celebrate as well for dinner. So we had to figure out what we can do while fitting our food budget we have left for that week. We had a pizza party. :)

It wouldn't be a princess party without the proper decorations... and well, I didn't want to spend to much on decorations so I surfed the internet. I had to purchase a few things but they weren't too expensive.

Decoration / Invitation

• Smartphone and free video app for the last minute invitation (got it!)
• Pink table covers for backdrop and tables ($6)
• Castle sandwich cutter ($2)
• Baggies for rice crispies ($3)
• Cardstock for a princess banner and crowns (had some left from previous projects)
• Balloons (had some left from previous party)
• Tulle (had some left from previous party)

Beautiful Princess Banner
Free template from Reiko Handcrafted



almost perfect Rice Crispy treats ;D



Prince / Princess Crown
Free template from FirstPalette

Last minute parties aren't so stressful after all as long as you know what you want to have with a budget. Everything turned out perfectly. The princes and princesses had so much fun! I guess I had just as much fun too since I didn't get to take pictures. I had to ask my friends and family to send me theirs. *sigh

Committing to be Fit: Committing to Yourself

I practically grew up having rice for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It soon became a norm... Then I realized that my diet has to change because as I'm getting older, my metabolism is slowing down. Believe it or not, it's hard for me to accept. I LOVE food. I love to try different kinds of food and cook different kinds of food. I thought about whether I wanted to commit to this type of lifestyle. Of course, I would have to add on some exercise, too. I am in my late twenties and considered overweight according to my BMI chart. Do I really want to continue being overweight and possibly gaining more as I age? Will I find myself having health issues if I don't change my habits now? I found myself searching for the answer to my questions through other blogs and forums. I will gain more weight if I continue this lifestyle. I will find myself having health issues if I don't watch what I eat.

I began committing to be fit two weeks ago. I had the hardest time accepting the things I should be eating and the amount of time I need to put aside for exercise. Mind you, I am on summer so I am a stay at home mom at the moment. Where in the world am I going to find the time to prepare my meals and then my kids' meals? AAND tending to them at the same time? How am I even going to get to exercise? I was nagging to myself. I was nagging to my husband too. Then I remembered what I always tell me daughters and students... "You can't say you don't like to do something you haven't tried." I HATE TO DIET! I was being such a hypocrite. I had to do it. I had to commit to myself.

So far I have lost 7 pounds (five from detoxing)  and gained more energy and strength. It only took me a few days to learn how to prioritize my chores and responsibilities. It wasn't as bad as I thought. I gave myself fifteen weeks to reach my goal of losing thirty more pounds. I do have a long way to go. But I am committed to be fit... I am committed to myself.

Here are some recipes that I've used during my journey.

Exploring Japan for the First Time

I loved my experiences in Japan so much, my family and I are going back this December. When I say experiences, I mean that I went to Japan this past December and then again in May... My first experience in Japan was with my good friend (her first time too) and the latter was a last minute trip with my husband. It wasn't his first time there, but he was too young when he did go that there wasn't much he remembered. Because I returned to the some of the same attractions the second time, I will actually talk about both trips in this blog.

Planning the trip
My friend, husband, and I researched on places we wanted to go and narrowed it down to what we are able to do within our five day trip. As usual, I started off creating an itinerary of activities. This included the address, hours of operation, fees, and estimated train fares. I planned the activities according to distances, so the places we went to each day were close to each other. The best part about this itinerary is being able to see how much I can budget for food and shopping.

 Places I recommend for short trips to Japan

There are so many things to experience in Japan, however, if you are only going there for a few days, I will share the things you HAVE TO DO while you are in Japan. :)

1. Edo-Tokyo Museum
   This was a huge museum. There were so many replicas and rich history that I appreciated. I enjoyed learning about the Edo era and gaining more knowledge of the Japanese culture. I would definitely recommend this museum as a first stop.
   
   
2. Ebisuya Asakusa This is definitely a great experience to learn more about Japan. You ride in a rickshaw and are provided information by the person touring you. Our tour guide was Daisuke and he was awesome. In addition to the history he shared with us during our tour, he was really funny. He even offered to take our pictures!
   
   
3. Tsukiji Market
   The Tsukiji Fish Market had a variety of seafood for sale. There are also many food stands and restaurants. My husband and I went to quite a few stands to try their foods. They also hold auctions here early in the morning, we didn't get up early enough for that. =( But we did get to see a little glimpse of cutting a huge tuna.
   
   
4. Takeshita Street
   Takeshita street is a tourist hotspot. There are lots of cute shops here. My favorite shop though was the Daiso store. You'll also find interesting food stands here like the famous Crepe shop.
   
   
   
   
5. Shibuya Crossing
   The Shibuya Crossing has a fun idea to it- the pedestrian scramble. You can basically witness hundreds of people crossing at the same time. Aside from the fun time we had get caught in the scramble, you will find lots of specialty shops and restaurants here.
   
   
   
   
   
6.  Themed Restaurant
   My friend and I went to the themed restaurant called Ninja Akasaka. We dined in a small chamber looking room and were served by a Ninja! We kept cracking up though because we kept thinking that someone might pop out of somewhere and freak us out... It didn't happen, although I wish it did. Haha. It was a really cool experience for us.
   
   
   
   
7. Temples
   You have to visit a temple. Each temple in Japan has it's own history. We visited the Sensoji Temple in Asakusa. Although it was crowded, it was a very pleasant experience.
   
   
   
   
8. 
   

Hope you enjoyed!

Vacation in SIN CITY ... with toddlers (PART 2)

SAVE5 Discount Code - get an extra 5% off orders $250+

**As I've mentioned on my first Sin City post, you can get more information at VEGAS.com and some sweet deals! We definitely took advantage of the available offers. **

There are just so many things to do in Las Vegas even when you have toddlers with you. Here is the rest of our adventures continued...

Activity 5 - Madame Tussauds
You can never go wrong visit Madame Tussauds. We found a deal VEGAS.com. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

We had so much fun we went a second time and dragged my sister and dad! =)

(pictures will be up soon)

Activity 5 - Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens
The Bellagio Conservatory & Botanical Gardens was beautiful. My toddlers loved how almost everything was created by different flowers! My oldest actually appreciated the details and the time it took to make the place look "so pwetty". 

Activity 6 - Cirque du Soleil

We didn't take our toddlers with us this time. It was finally a little date night for us. We watched the O show and it was MIND BLOWING! I enjoyed the story line and the explicit performance. There are just no other words to describe this show. You just have to see it for yourself. 

Aside from these great attractions, there are many others that we weren't able to explore. That just means it will be on our checklist the next time we visit Las Vegas. =) 

The last thing I will leave you with is the Feast Buffet that we frequented at the Red Rock Casino Resort & Spa. We loved the selections, the price, and how delicious the food was. You HAVE to at least try this place out. With or without children.

Bye for now!