The One Where I Quit... Smoking

Finally, I'm reconnected!:)

Today happens to be my mom's birthday and as a gift to her, I finally decided to stop smoking. This time, it's for real and for good!

Isn't it easy to do or shall I say, not to do something, if it is not just about you anymore? Being here in my hometown somehow reminded me that all the stuff that I've worked for, I did not just for myself but most importantly, for the most important persons in my life, my parents!

To add, I must have read this somewhere, the ultimate form of giving is that the one you're giving your gift to does not know about it. So unless my mom reads this post, she wouldn't know that I did it for her.

I think what made quitting easier is that my father also quit smoking a few months back after almost 30 yrs of smoking! I myself couldn't believe it at first but he actually did it! I've only been smoking for less than three years so I don't think it should be that hard.:)

So, yes, I am a quitter!!! I think somehow this shows that being a quitter is not always bad, right? Especially if it means that you get to live a healthier life and in turn, have a longer time to spend in this world with the people who matter to you most!:)

Happy All Saints' Day Everyone!:)

The One Where I'm Bored: WS&J Week 19

So it's week 19 of our WS&J Project and sadly, I'm far from reaching my goals. As they say, the sooner you accept reality, the easier it is to move one and do something to change it and I will.

Admittedly, I have been out of my game lately which explains why I only have 6 posts to date when we're already in week 19! My bad. tsk tsk tsk!!!

Enough of the self-bashing right? As I posted on my FB wall a few weeks back, I will now embark on my new journey to conscious self-loving. I won't even attempt to define what "self-loving" is as I, too, am still trying to figure that out. But equally important to self-love is the word "conscious", at least at first. Sooner or later, I hope that my mind will be programmed so that one day, it will become automatic. I hope, no, I know it will!haha

Quick update on my goals: as for Goal 1, I'm back to a size 35 and have no one else to blame but myself. Damn, I should really start sticking to a good diet and start erasing "pigging out" from my hobbies. Bad habit are indeed hard to break!

For Goal 2, good thing I finally got the CISA review materials that I need. Now, I just gotta make a schedule and stick to. With lots of free time now, I think I just have to push myself everyday, get out of my comfort zone and streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetch!haha Easy to say right? But this, for me, is a good start to reboot myself.

I guess that's all for this week! Hopefully, with my upcoming trips in the next 3 weeks, I will have enough stories and pictures to share to you guys.

The One Where I Returned From Hibernation: WS&J Week 15

And so I'm back, not from outer space nor with a vengeance. After roughly three months of hibernation, I'm back, period. I'll won't reason no more. As my old friend would put it, "You have to know how to master the  art of moving on". Ergo, instead of working my ass off to catch up on my backlogs, modesty aside, I'd rather rather fast forward from week 2 to week 15! Talk about shortcuts!!!haha

Before anything else, I would like to thank Paolo and  Rae for encouraging me to revive this long lost blog of mine and kudos to Paolo for coining the term "WS&Jers". Now I wonder why I didn't think of that first! My light bulb moments must have been away with me in my hibernation too.

As a promise to myself, I'll try to share shorter yet equally (I hope) interesting posts about dreaming dreams and doing whatever I can to live those dreams asap.

In a nutshell, here are a few updates on my personal goals:

Goal 1: I may have cheated a little bit, no, alright, fine, a lot because from a size 34, I gained half an inch - boo on me! Still, I think it's far better than the 36" old me. I have less than 3 months to go before our deadline and yeah, I'm not yet even half way through my goal. Less words said, more actions - that should do it right?

Goal 2: Now here's a good update that I can share. Last month, I finally registered for the CISA exam. I haven't done much reading yet but I have already gathered the materials that I need. I'll just have to continue reading day after day and get ready for my Dec. 10 exam date. Wish me luck guys!:)

That's all for now. As I said, I'm a work in progress and so is this blog. I have a lot to work on from posting pictures to making my posts a little or shall I say a lot shorter.haha Now that busy season is over, for now, I say, bring it on!!!

The One with the Biggest Loser Charity Event at PGH: WS&J Project Week 2

Yeah, this has been long overdue and yeah, I owe Rae and Ralph dinner. Poor me!haha 

On the brighter side, I'm glad that at least I was able to reach the 34-inch waistline target in just a span of one week. Not much diet was actually involved to achieve, the culprit - stress from work and outside of work. How good is that?

Any lifestyle improvement happened to me this week? I'm trying to recall. Damn this backlog!!!hahaha Now I remember. This week, somehow I managed to start eating healthier food during lunch time at the cafeteria. From vegetable lasagna to tofu mania to banana after a meal, I say that's a good start for me. After all, that's the best thing I could do to make up for all the fried stuff that we've been eating at the condo with my housemates. 

On a different note, this week's  highlight would have to be the our charity event at Ward 9, Philippine General Hospital. Big thanks to our teammate's fiancee (let's keep her name anonymous), for making this possible. It wouldn't have been a success if it were not also for the generosity of the people from the office. From Ralph's 5,500 pot money, it bloated to whopping 20,000++. Indeed, there is power in number and indeed, "No one is too poor that he/she cannot give nor No one is too rich that he/she cannot receive." 

More than the loot bags and the medical equipment that we gave the children in Ward 9, the priceless moments spent with those kids made the whole experience more enriching. 

Since I'm trying to make this my posts a bit shorter this time, I'll just end it here. To wit, this was our first but definitely not our last charity event!!!:)

The One with "The White Shirt and Jeans Project"

Ladies and Gentlemen, I now present to you "The White Shirt and Jeans Project" (aka The WS&J Project). I know I should have posted this days ago, but hey, here it is at looooooooooong last!haha I hope that by saying "mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa" will make up for the delay.hehe

So my friends back at work seem to be into the Biggest Loser craze over the past months. In fact, we just finished ended the 3rd Season. Out of my frustration that I just just got the 2nd spot, it kept me thinking, "Why do we have to do it season after season anyway?". Then a light bulb moment comes, "Why don't we just make it a lifestyle?"

Luckily, I didn't had a hard time looking for people to join the cult. Rae and Ralph agreed to join the wagon and decided to take it to a higher notch by making it public for the whole world to see and do something different this time, at least for us three, by entering into a cross-blog venture.

Since I didn't have a blog yet, it was more a challenge for me. Yes, I admit, I am a blog virgin!hahaha So please bear with me because as I mentioned in my first post, I am a work in progress!:)

Anyway, after days, no, actually months, of looking for my blog name, I finally came up with "White Shirt and Jeans" - simple and classy at the same time. Sold as I was with my chosen blog name, I  proposed to my co-venturers to name our project after it. How brilliant is that?hahaha I did so not for bragging rights (which kinda is the real hidden agenda... kidding!hahaha), but more on the fact that we share a common goal of wanting to wear a white shirt and a good pair jeans and look damn good in them. However, more than just looking good, our ultimate goal is to live with healthier bodies brought about by a healthy lifestyle.

So what's up with the name right? Does this mean that I am narcissistic? Not really. Am I metrosexual? Others say I am but I respectfully, sincerely and totally disagree. If I was, I wouldn't have allowed myself to reach this stage - overweight (chubby my friends say) and a candidate for a "Before" model of Stresstabs. Enough with the self incrimination!:) I love myself and let's just say that I want to believe (just a belief though... and personal belief, my friends, can never be wrong!haha) that I have a good taste when it comes to choosing the things that I wear and use.

I believe in the power of contrast. So basically when I buy stuff especially those that I wear, it seems like a reflex to ask myself, "If you have two options, which would you choose, to look good or not?" So that explains why I respectfully, sincerely and totally disagree with people telling me that I am metrosexual.!(defensive mode: on)hahaha

Okay, enough about me and back to the project, after 6 months,  we must have accomplished:

1. The Group Goal: To be able to fit in a white shirt and a pair of jeans of one's desired size (more importantly, to actually pull it off!)

2. The Personal Goal: To accomplish any SMAART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Action-oriented, Results-oriented, Time-bound) goal!

For Goal No. 1, I'm targeting to fit into a size-30 pair of Levi's pants from a size 35 and fit into a small white shirt without having to worry that my man-boobs would show!haha Now, cheers to my honesty!haha (Slow clap everyone!hahaha) I will monitor my stats on a weekly basis and will be posting my progress through pictures every Sunday.

For Goal No. 2, I should have at least one more professional certification on top of my CPA title. I'm already envisioning my name with a CPA and CISA appended to it. Again, cheers to positive thinking!hahaha

I hope that this will serve as a wake up call and at the same time, an invitation to anyone who's been wanting to be more fit but never actually did anything about... seriously!:)

So there you have it! Here's a living proof that this blog is about dreaming dreams and making them happen. Knowing that I'm not doing this alone makes it easier, achievable and truly satisfying.

The One with the "Big Bang"

They say that everything in our universe started with the "Big Bang" and so I can't be more explicit in choosing  it as the title of my first post.  For those who haven't noticed yet, allow me to break it to you this early on that being a "FRIENDS" fanatic that I am, I just had to borrow something from that wonderful show and it would have to be the idea of naming each episode with "The One..." 

Bringing up the Big Bang and all, I have to admit that I am no scientist. However, if there's one thing these scientists and I have in common, it's our passion for experimenting to discover new things. 

"White Shirt and Jeans" (aka WS&J) is in itself is my personal experiment to find ways on how to improve myself and to really just enjoy life to fullest. This definitely won't be an end but a means to find way on how to enjoy the gifts that we have in this common thing we share - LIFE. I am a "half-full glass" kind of person and indeed, our world is a world of abundance, not of scarcity. 

As vague and general as my vision  for this experiment is, this experiment will forever be a work in progress. This may very well be the reason for me having posted this article just now instead of launching it last June 1. I have tried writing and rewriting this first ever post of mine hoping that it would be perfect. But then after days of procrastinating, which is natural to a self-confessed crammer, I figured this doesn't have to be perfect and it will never be. 

So it's starts here, being bluntly honest with myself and accept who I am, an imperfect person who has a lot to change in himself. Going back to the nature of this blog, I'll keep this simple and stick to the basics but nonetheless, still interesting and more importantly, significant. I never dreamed of becoming great in the simplest sense of the word, never did I dream to be famous nor infamous for any matter. In this lifetime, I just want to be significant to the people that matter to me. May they be family, friends, colleagues, alright even bosses or people that I have yet to met but will eventually be a part of my life. 

I have always had this passion to write about stuff but back in my younger days, I never really pushed that hard to make them public. So this is my first attempt to do something I never did before. Now, I can write about anything, without anyone breathing behind my neck and telling me what and what not to write about. Don't we all just love freedom?

This blog will be a roadmap of my life's adventures, misadventures and milestones. You can expect a lot of dreaming and wishing and at the same time, I will expect myself to fulfill those dreams no matter what. I remember my mother telling me that when I was still a toddler, she brought me to a toy store and ask which toy I wanted. She was shocked by the "little me's" jaw-dropping answer, "I want everything!". It turns out that years after, I still have that in me. Even my closest friends still can't hide their weird facial expressions and seemingly mocking comments every time I give them a rundown of what I want to do and have in my life. 

Then again, that's me. I am a dreamer and I am proud to be one. After all, what good is life without dreaming dreams? Now that I'm in the right age, I have the freedom to choose whether or not these dreams could happen. In my mind, they are all achieved already. I tell myself, "It's just a matter of when". So folks, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride!!!