One More Pound!

I would say I’m an emotional eater or I was an emotional eater or I’m somewhere in between. 

I’ll get back to that.

As many of you know I have been working out with a personal trainer in Hercules for six months now. I would say I’m sooo close to me my goal weight that I can taste it! Literally just one more pound and I’m there!

You know how they say when you go to college you gain the “Freshman 15” - well luckily I didn’t gain it all in my freshman year but gradually over the whole college experience. Then when I graduated I gained another 5 pounds. So in the last seven years I have gained 20 pounds! 

It was bad... I kept outgrowing my clothes, I got a muffin top and worst of all I started to get a double chin!

I tried working out at home - I failed at that. I tried working out at the popular 24hr Fitness - I failed at that (more because I was so annoyed that it felt like a nightclub that I got discouraged). I tried an all women gym - I failed at that. I agreed to let Jabi train me - that was a disaster (still love you babe)! I tried dieting - FAILED! 

Don’t get me wrong I would loose a few pounds here and there but it would always come back.

Then FINALLY, Jabi referred me to his eastbay personal trainer and it was literally one of the best things that has ever happened to me.

This is a short list of some of the ways my life has changed by working out with a trainer at Aloha Fitness:

1. I was taught how to eat for my body type, not diet.
2. I was able to loose the 20 pounds and then some.
3. I not only lost body fat, I gained lean muscle. 
4. I can run now!
5. I fit under the athletic body type and I’ve never been athletic before.

Overall I’m a healthy and fit person and I thank not just my trainer but also the people who work out there. Everyone has the same goals so you don’t feel like people are judging you. My trainer always pushed me and challenged me in my workouts - every-single-time! All I had to do was eat right and go hard at the gym. If I did anything else different, I would have just been wasting my time and money. 

Back to the emotional eating. One of the reasons I felt like I had gained so much weight was because I considered myself to be an emotional eater. 

Since admitting to my ‘problem’ I have learned to restrain from retreating to food for comfort. BUT - Jabi has been gone for a couple of days now visiting family in Mexico and I find myself craving food as comfort because I miss him :(

Jabi come back already! If I don’t get down to me goal weight by the time you get back I’m blaming it on you! :P

I’ll post before and after pics once I see the official weight on the scale in the gym ;)

(If you are interested more in Aloha Health and Fitness, check out their website www.eastbaytrainer.com)

El Huarache Azteca

Jabi and I had dinner in El Huarache Azteca, a Mexican restaurant in Oakland, its a chill environment that serves delicious City of Mexico style food! I'll say more on the food later. 

Anyway - we're having dinner and a lady approaches our table holding a bucket of single long stemmed red roses and she asks, "A flower for your girlfriend?"  The pressure is automatically on Jabi, I wonder what he'll say and right away he responds with, "No, thanks."  The lady walks away and he looks at me, totally nonchalant, and says, "You're dad's a florist babe." 

Then within the next fifteen minutes a mariachi band comes in asking the guests if they would like to request a song. It's like Jabi has been granted a second opportunity, but when they come around to our table - Jabi turns them down! Then he looks at me and says, "I only have my card tonight." (In this case, mariachi bands are paid in cash and there is a fee for each song.) 

I couldn't help but chuckle because lets say he had bought me the rose, at first I would have been all like "awww" but then later I would have just felt like he wasted his money because my dad IS a florist and my home is always filled with roses, so flowers don't have the same effect on me as they would to other people. Lets also say he would have paid for a song, I would have turned beet red from the attention towards our table, especially since I wasn't liquored up the experience wouldn't have been as enjoyable. Entertaining regardless, but definitely not much fun. 

He knows me too well.

But who says guys always have to get their ladies flowers and dedicate songs to them? I'm just saying - occasionally its cool but if you don't do it at all then you need to change it up. Besides Jabi has gotten me plenty of flowers over the years ;) 

Back to the food - I have been craving this place for months and we finally got a chance to go. This place has an extensive menu but I wanted to go mainly for the Torta Cubana! A torta is a Mexican style hot pressed sandwich, this one was filled with beans, egg, cheese, sausage, chorizo, breaded steak, ham, lettuce, tomato, avocado. IT. WAS. SUBLIME! It doesn't come with any side dish so we decided to order appetizer #20, which came with two mini sopes (thick corn tortilla cup filled with refried beans, lettuce, cheese and sour cream), two mini huaraches, and two mini pambazos (grilled white bread filled with chorizo, potatoes, lettuce, cheese and sour cream). Let me just say - the huaraches - were exploding with Mexican flavors. The huaraches are handmade tortillas filled with beans in the center and on top was a layer of sour cream, cotija cheese, pickeled nopales (cactus), and a green sauce. Muah! (Kissing the tips of my fingers)   

Mmmm! 

Torta Cubana - I had to take this half home it was so big!

If you are ever on International Boulevard and 38th Street in Oakland - stop by and enjoy some delicious food :) or check ‘em out at elhuaracheaztec.com

Me likez the foodz!

Arriba! 

-Melda 

Vision is Coming!

I have been a four-eyed girl since the sixth grade (I’m 25 now - you do the math) and unlike most kids I was actually happy and even a bit relieved to get my specs. 

You see, in elementary I was a “victim” of bullying/teasing. 

Let me give you a little back story - 

When I was growing up my parents allowed me to keep a kitten that I found in my back yard, I named her Minnie (like Mickey Mouse’s girl friend). It turned out I was allergic to cats. So, I would suffer from severe itchy eyes and my only way of soothing my eyes was to rub them - a LOT! I was too young to realize I was allergic to Minnie and for some reason my parents didn’t put two and two together until Minnie “mysteriously ran away” and the allergies stopped. As a result, I ended up with these really dark circles around my eyes. I have wrinkles too! 

Point is, the boys at school would say that my dark circles made me look like a character from the movie Aladdin and they would literally sing “Arabian Night’s” to me. This went on for a few years until the sixth grade. Luckily, my glasses acted as a camouflage for the dark circles and the teasing stopped. 

The only thing is that even though the teasing stopped that wound never really healed. I was very insecure to be without my glasses. I just felt that every time I would take my glasses off, I thought everyone was focusing on my dark circles. It sounds silly, I know. 

A couple of years ago I walked into the Target in my town and I recognized the security guard as the ringleader for all jokes and teasing while in elementary. I hadn’t seen him since the sixth grade was over. I looked at him and at first I was so mad, all those negative experiences I went through because he just had to be the boy that everyone was scared of - what an A-hole! But after I cooled, I remembered what an odd looking kid he was (kind of reminds me of a brown porcupine) and how he still resembles that kid... so sad...

Ever since then, I have finally started to let those bad feelings go. 

I realized I can’t go hiding who I am, I have to accept and love my dark circles!

So....(drumroll) I’m having Lasik corrective eye surgery in the third week of February!! I feel really happy and excited about my decision. Trust me, I didn’t take it lightly. I did my research and had a consultation with a couple of different locations. Apart from that, I feel its the right choice for me because my life is different now. My lifestyle is different, I’m more physically active and I’m nearsighted so if I was to loose or brake my glasses I would be in a tough spot until I could get a replacement. Also, I hate that I can’t lay my head down on my side while I watch T.V. ;) 

I’ll keep you posted once the surgery is done! 

I have included the evolution of my glasses - very interesting. If there was a museum about me these would be included in a display case :D

1st Pair - Sixth Grade

2nd Pair - "Vintage" inspired

3rd Pair - a bit more decent

4th Pair

My Final Pair :)

Opening Credits

My dear friend Holly expressed I should have a blog of my own a long time ago but I couldn’t come around to the idea back then. 

Now I find myself becoming extremely needy of some type of outlet where I can say what I need to say and not feel like I’m holding everything in. Don’t worry, I don’t plan on  always using this blog to “vent” - I’m sure I can sneak in some happy posts too ;-) 

Here is a small list of some random things most people don’t know about me, yet I believe can give you some insight to my thought processes:

1. I don’t always believe pedestrians have the right of way
2. I’m an avid gem collector
3. I’m considered a good listener 
4. I tend to over analyze situations
5. I can read into people’s feelings
6. I would love to know how to play the guitar better.
7. Believing in the better of people has gotten me into trouble in the past
8. I rarely read or watch the news (too much bad stuff so if you were to ask me about current events I probably wouldn’t be able to carry out a conversation with you)
9. In the Bush vs Kerry Presidential election, I didn’t bubble in a selection for either candidate
10. I’m a big crybaby when it comes to sentimental moments
11. I love the sound of rain and the smell of clean sheets
12. I’d prefer country rather to city living

Well, people...asta luego!

-Melda

Making sure this works.

Testing 1, 2, 3.