I MUST love Running

And I am back (after a long hiatus)! :D

I've been thinking of a good (comeback) entry, haha :)

But finally I've decided to write something about RUNNING. Yes, I am no expert in this division (fitness in general actually) but I would like to say that I am developing a love but more of - hate relationship with it the past few weeks.

Running has never been in the list of my most favorite things to do. Even when I was younger I would always choose biking over running any time of the day. I don't know but there is something about biking that I really love. It makes me feel so connected to nature and I love the fact that I am in total control (BIG PLUS is that it is less tiring than running) :) :)

However, since I always use the mantra "don't say no unless you've tried it", I am giving running a chance to redeem itself. To start the I-am-giving-running-a-chance, I've been waking up REALLY early to make it to the gym @6am (wake up, wash my face and brush my teeth, change into gym clothes then head to the gym WITHOUT taking a bath! so sorry na lang sila if maamoy nila ako! haha!) and make sure that I am done @7am (running, machines and taking a shower. So yes, i do take a bath after! :D ) so I will be in school before 730am. BUT I don't do it everyday ha, at the most is 3x a week :) And so far, my personal record is 15min-nonstop running @8kph :)

Just a little backstory on how I started "working out'" ( I still cringe everytime I use this term, hehe) during mornings: When I enrolled in Fitness First 3 months ago, one of the perks is to be able to refund half of what I paid for the starter kit (3 sessions with a trainer) IF I go to the gym at least 8x/month for 3 consecutive months (Feb-Apr). As expected, I barely hit the target and would cram during the last week of each month just to beat the target! And I am happy to say that my attendance shows that I attended 10x in Feb and 8x in March. BUT April proved to be a busy month for me (excuses,excuses!). The first 2 weeks of April were spent with all the preparation (which took up most of my non-teaching periods being a self-confessed OC!) for our kids' 5-day Bali trip which happened last April 15-19. Needless to say, during the first 3 weeks of April I've been been to the gym for 3 TIMES only! So I had to think quick and make sure that I hit the target with barely 10 days left! (Aba e sayang noh! 2 months na akong nagtyaga at nagcram! :D ) Since I was so desperate to refund my money (yes!!! I am becoming a wise spender now!) and this will be a personal failure if I don't make it, I resulted to hitting the gym in the morning before I go to work. And voila, I ended up liking it! :)

photo taken from the web

As expected (being the reflective person that I am! haha!), I had quite a lot of realizations in this whole kailangan-ko-marefund-ang-binayad-ko-kahit-na-mahirapan-ako thingymajingy :)

1) I made the right decision when I moved to Fitness First. Sa wakas!!! Sa dami kong maling desisyon sa buhay e may tumama din! Drama lang! Hahaha! :) Seriously though, I really appreciate that Fitness First is just a 10-15 minute walk away from home. I had a long entry about this here.

2) I have to start sleeping early. Since I have to be awake by (latest)530 in the morning to make sure that I will be at the gym by 6am, I also had to make sure that I have enough rest and sleep the night before. I restrained myself from staying up late (which is most due to dvd marathon of Bones or TVD) and exerted extra effort to have a new bedtime, that is, 10pm. Lola lang ang peg! :D

3) Nothing comes easy. Like what I said, I don't feel any love towards running. Hate is actually more like it. But I also recognize all the benefits that I can get from running so I owe it to myself to give it a try. Just the mere thought of running on a treadmill makes me cringe in a NEGATIVE way. Running is just so tiring for me! However, after the morning runs that I had (hehe, 2 pa lang naman!), I am starting to enjoy it a bit. I am hoping that I will learn to love it soon.

4) It feels good to wake up early. Wow! The wonders of waking up early! The first week was really exhausting. I had to take naps in between my classes to make up for the exhausting feeling. However, as I continued this week (which is my 2nd week), I feel more light now. Well, not light as in lost weight light but in general I do feel light! (I don't know how to put it in words.) Waking up early to hit the gym also gave me time to think things over, reflect-reflect ang drama ko (the gym is more conducive for these things since there's relatively fewer people). It's actually more of alternate of psyching myself (go Len! or naka 10 minutes ka na! or Look oh! 1 km na natatakbo mo ng straight! and so on) and reflecting (what should I do? What am I doing with my life? etc,etc :D)

5) I have the power over myself. I can actually will myself to do something! The other (lazy) part of me will always try to find its way but it actually depends on how badly I want something. If  I want it so bad then I can will myself to do everything in my power to have it. This does not only goes to going to the gym early but it is actually all-encompassing. This basically sums up what I want to do with my life.

Oh di ba! Running lang ito pero ang dami kong nasabi! :D

I hope to be able to post a photo of the slimmer me! Naks! :)

Choosing a Fitness Routine / Club that Works for You

DISCLAIMER: I am NOT an expert in Fitness. What I will be sharing here are my first-hand experiences. In the event that I sound like I am promoting something, maybe I am because I feel that it is working for me. However, it is not sponsored nor I'm a part owner of it whatsover (how I wish! hahaha!) :D

The desire to have a healthy lifestyle is more important to me now more than ever. Wisdom really comes with age because I'm having a lot of realizations lately! ehem, ehem :D First is the fact that I m not getting any younger. I definitely do not feel old at 28! However, I also don't feel as young as I used to be 10 years ago. Here are some "signs of aging" that I am noticing: 1) I couldn't stay up all day/night long like what I used to do 10 years ago!. Dati when I am cramming for requirements, I can skip sleep the entire night and still be active and fresh the following day. Ngayon e mukha na akong ngarag e iritable pa kapag kulang sa tulog! :D 2) I don't lose weight easily anymore. Before, I just do "after six (6) diet" and stop eating rice for 1 week e kita ko na ang effect, now e hirap hirap ako to lose that 3 kg!

Please don't get me wrong. Believe it or not, I am actually happy with my age now and with the season where I am now. Kasi yun nga, less those "signs" mentioned above e I feel na saktong-sakto ang season ko ngayon :) I believe that I am a LOT wiser now,not necessarily less probolems but more wisdom lang in dealing with them, hehehe :)

Going back to the topic on healthy lifestyle, healthy lifestyle for me means EATING RIGHT and being physically active.I've never been active kahit nung bata ako. Ang active ko na e playing Pinoy games like patintero, piko, moro-moro,etc. I've never been part of a varsity or any sports groups. I do love biking though. But loving it doesn't mean biking everyday. Hindi ko na nga maalala when was the last I actually went biking!

Since I am dedicated (or at least I believe I am) now to live a healthy lifestyle, I have to find ways on being one. I honestly believe those people who say that one does not need to spend a cent to be fit. Kasi nga naman e habang may kalye e merong pwedeng takbuhan! However, this not-spending-for-fitness-mantra did not work for me. In the past, I had few running/jogging sessions along the riverbanks (o di ba? ganda ng view!) and work out sessions with cousins at home (sa sikip ng bahay namin e nagkakasya ang 6-7 girls + 1 kulit pero cute na cute na baby boy!). Sadly, these attempts were not sustained. And so I have to take another course of action.

A few months after I arrived in Jakarta in 2011, I enrolled in my FIRST EVER Fitness Club/ gym (Celebrity Fitness/ CF). Clap, clap for me, right? hehe :) I was doing "well" during the first few months,as in braving the traffic just to get to the gym and diligently attending classes based on the schedule that I prepared. However, laziness got the best worst of me! I stopped attending towards the 3rd quarter of my membership.

Pero dahil nga wise na ako at ang dami ko nang realization, e may natutunan naman ako which I like to share here, thus the title, hahaha! :D

1. Know how determined you are and what your goal is. This for me is the most important thing to consider. You have to know how determined and dedicated you are. For CF, minimum membership is 1 year. For my current gym now (surprise,surprise!), minimum is 3 months (pero syempre fees are higher than 1 year membership). What I am trying to say is that you will really spend for it so you have to get your  hard-earned money's worth! In terms of goal, what do you want? Do you just want to lose weight then stop working out after you achieve your goal or you want this to be your lifestyle? In my case, I sure do want to shed excess pounds BUT this is not my main goal. I have no plans to lose too much weight (I am 5 feet tall and weighs 52 kg) kasi not bagay na din with my body type and shape of my face (I have literally a big head and siopao face!when i lost weight 5 years ago, people were telling me that I looked sad and hindi bagay, so no na to losing too much weight!). My main goal is to tone my muscles and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

2. Accessibility. Ika nga sa kasabihan, kapag gusto may paraan. However, I beg to disagree this time. For beginners like me, accessibility of your chosen gym can actually be a turning point and you might end up wasting your money! Just to give you a background, I enrolled in CF and became a 1-club only member. This means that I can only use 1 club/branch of CF. I chose CF-PIM (Pondok Indah Mall) not because it was the nearest to my place but because I found it complete aka near/inside the mall! This was my biggest mistake! I normally spent 30 minutes - 1 hour (depende pa sa traffic situation sa Jakarta) of travel time just to get to the gym and spent 350 - 500 pesos (for the fare and  food) every time I visit the gym. So as expected (lalo pa at  hindi pa ako ganun kadeterminado), I stopped attending BUT I continue to pay for the monthly fees EVERY MONTH. So yes, it was a total waste of money. Kakahiya talaga sa wallet ko. So for beginners, my advise is to choose a gym that is near your house or work place (if you plan to attend classes right after your work). I believe that the first step for beginners is to form the HABIT so choose what will encourage you. In my case, ang dami kong excuses lalo kapag tamad ako mag gym. ang layo kasi, pagod kasi ako, etc etc. So at least rule out the inconvenience in your list of excuses.

Now that you are determined enough, your goal is clear and you've found a perfect gym for you in terms of accessibililty, let us now discuss the one of the most important (if not the most important) factor to consider.

3. Price. Again I will say that we work hard for the money that we earn so it is just reasonable to be wise about spending. Wag nyo akong tularan na padalos-dalos sa enrollment ko sa CF! (I am not bad mouthing CF ha, I have only good things to say about them, the problems were internal/from me and not with the gym) Nakakahiya talaga! You have to compare prices. Kahit naman gaano kaganda at ilang kembot na lang e nasa gym ka na pero super mahal naman at hindi mo mafford e say NO! You have to start with being honest with yourself. How much are you willing AND able to pay for a gym membership? Note that it has to be an AND. Hindi pwedeng willing ka nga magbayad ng mahal for a very sosyal gym pero hindi mo na naman kayang bayaran and you'll end up loaning money e this is not wise. Remember, as mentioned above, gym membership has a minumum of 3 months - 1 year contract. This means that whether you are using their facilities or not e you will still end up paying the monthly fees unless you have it cancelled (which for most gym requires you to pay cancellation fee if you want to cancel prior to the end of your contract).

Just to share, I used to pay IDR 496,000 per month for my 1-club only membership in CF (hehe, wag pong magulat sa madaming 000, conversation rate is 1,000 IDR/ Indonesian Rupiah = 4 - 4.5 Philippine pesos). So I pay roughly around 2300 pesos per month for my gym membership. Hindi pa kasama dyan ang 350-500 pesos that I mentioned above na I spent for transpo and food EVERYTIME I visit the gym. Magaling naman ako sa Math pero ewan ko ba kung bakit hindi ko yan na compute before I signed up! Malamang e dahil sa sobrang excitement ko yan :(

With my new gym now, I do pay IDR 562,000 per month. Yes, it is more expensive BUT this is an  all-club VIP membership (o di ba? hindi lang all clubs, VIP pa, meaning I can use any of their clubs ALL OVER THE WORLD including Pinas!) O nahuhulaan nyo na ba kung ano ang bagong gym ko? :D Not bad , di ba? :) In terms of transpo, I only spend around IDR 25 000 per visit (yan e kung tinatamad lang ako or matagal ang shuttle , hehe, 10-15 minute lang ang gym sa bahay namin kapag nilakad mo). At since malapit sya, I dont spend much on food kasi nga ilang kembot lang e pwede na akong umuwi at sa bahay kumain. So I can honestly say that mas matipid ito ngayon for me :)

Kung ok na lahat pati budget,e go tayo sa kasunod :)

4. Invite your friends. I honestly think that this is important too. You need to have a support system. The more, the manier este merrier pala :D In case you want to slack off, at least your gym buddy can encourage you to go. The more, the merrier because this lessens the probability that ALL of you will be tamad to go to the gym. Example: if you are 10 in your "gym group",ilang beses bang mangyayari na lahat kayong 10 sabay sabay tatamarin di ba? Well it is possible but I dont think it will happen everyday :) Aside from that, it is nice to have someone to talk to about how much weight you've lost or how much body fat you've lost, etc etc.

And last but definitely not the least,

5. Condition of the gym. When I say condition e lahat lahat na ito. 1) maayos ba? malinis? kumpleto equipment? if you are planning to join classes, do they offer classes that you are interested in? 2) do they have friendly staff? In CF and my new gym now na top secret, haha, they have 3 "free" sessions with personal trainer. First session is to get your weight and all other info and "test" how fit you are. diagnostic kumbaga :) second session and third session are for  exercsises na and they will teach you to use the gym equipment plus answer all your questions. If I were you e I will ask ALL my questions kasi after nito e you have to avail of your sessions with personal trainer which is really expensive! Kaya until now e urong-sulong ako sa pagkuha ng PT dahil may kamahalan talaga sya!

I am very lucky now that my new gym has very friendly staff :) as in kakausapin ka at lalapitan ka lalo kapag medyo obvious na hindi mo alam / mali ang ginagawa mo :D So super plus points ito for me! And lastly, 3) Is the gym encouraging you to do your best? I mean, dapat sana e yung pag papasok ka pa lang e magaan na ang feeling mo :) ang panget kasi ng feeling na you dread going to the gym e :(


I hope the tips mentioned above helped you in any way. Like what I said, if working out for free (running, weights at home, etc) works well for you then good for you. May workout ka na at tipid pa :) But for those people who need encouragement and push just like me, enrolling in a gym is not a bad idea either :) It may cost you but being healthy is priceless (and is proven to be cheaper in the long run) and besides we have to invest on ourselves.

Lastly, pag-isipan mabuti at wag padalos-dalos at magpa peer pressure na dahil lahat ng friends mo e nag gym or kasi uso or kasi sosyal tignan, you have to do it for the right reasons and the MAIN reason is that you should be doing it for YOURSELF.

Here's to a healthier us! :)

Anyway, here is my top secret new gym na hindi na secret ngayon :p

Image of Fitness First Platuinum is from the web

(bawal daw kasi to take pictures, sayang!)