♛

See new places. Try new things. Meet new people.

[dailyjosephgordonlevitt]

Joseph Gordon-Levitt - ‘An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power’ Fandango Screening (May 6, 2017)

[nanditoako]

Just wanted to share the beauty that is JGL. 

[in-pursuit-of-fitness]

[befitdriven]

Lose 10+ kgs in 4 Weeks

[nanditoako]

Night Walks

Walking downtown at night can actually be pretty peaceful. I still haven’t had a chance to fully experience Toronto’s night scene but so far so good! I like how the streets are less crowded. I can walk at my own pace and get a chance to actually take it all in, y’know?

[rosy-fitness-styles-blog]

♥♥♥

[in-pursuit-of-fitness]

[befitdriven]

Lose 10+ kgs in 4 Weeks

[beliveinyourselffrv]

NEVER GIVE UP 👊🏻 always remember why you started 😉

http://beliveinyourselffrv.tumblr.com

[nanditoako]

Lately, I’m finding it so hard to stay on track with my fitness goals. My pants still don’t fit like they used to and seeing this was such a good reminder that it’s a process. The reason I’ve never been able to reach my goals is because I was a quitter. Not this time.  Thank you

[nanditoako]

Carrot Cake

What’s everyone doing for Mother’s Day? I will be baking a cake for my grandma since I wont actually be with my mom on Sunday. I’m thinking of making this carrot cake recipe from AllRecipes.com. It’s probably one of my favourite cakes, so much tastier than store bought. Highly recommend!

[nanditoako]

Vũng Tàu

Sunset in Vietnam. So beautiful, I’m addicted to sunsets. 36/1007

[nanditoako]

Sibling Rivalry

Does anyone else have one sibling they are really close with, but the other one no matter how hard you try, the relationship can’t seem to develop? My brother and I are 3 years apart and we get along pretty well. My younger sister is 9 years younger than I am and is in high school.  I don’t know if it’s teenage angst or what but any time we are together or even on the phone with each other, it always seems to end in an argument. The thing is, she feels like I am attacking her when we talk.  I feel she has an attitude and I'm not one to hold my tongue when someone is being disrespectful. I don’t know how to handle it, I just want one day where we can be civil with each other.  Rant over.  As always, Thank you for reading. 34/1007

[nanditoako]

Woodstock

I woke up at 4 30 this morning to drive to my hometown. I still consider it home even though I’m only here once or twice a month. I like to drive super early or late at night to avoid the traffic. The moon was still up in the morning and I saw it slowly work it’s way down to the horizon as the sun took it’s place. As soon as I got home though, I fell asleep quickly and didn’t wake up till about noon. 

33/1007

[nanditoako]

Leg Day

Do you ever feel like you will absolutely crush a gym session before you even get there? That’s how I felt all day. All I could think about was killing it on legs. I did a combination of lunges, squat & press, high knees, kickbacks, more lunges, more squats... I never sweat so much in my life. The work out felt long once I actually started though but I felt so good after. I think I am getting addicted to fitness... what the heck. LOL.  32/1007

[nanditoako]

Cooking Day

After work I spent 3 hours preparing the meals I’ll be eating over the next 4 days. I’ll try to post photos tomorrow! I never finished baking the basa fillets because I was so exhausted already. I’ll just wake up early, and pop them in the oven quickly. Luckily, they’re marinating in the fridge atm so it will be extra delicious by tomorrow! 31/1007

[nanditoako]

Groceries!

You know you’re a grown up when the most exciting part of your week is grocery shopping. I actually made a list ahead of time of exactly what I need for the meals I am going to make. This was so helpful because it prevented buying too much food that will likely go to waste.  

My grocery list consisted of:

Onions

Dried Basil

Dried Oregano

Rosemary

Thyme

Balsamic Vinegar

Chicken

Diced Tomatoes

Assortment of vegetables

Assortment of Fruits

Whole Grain Bread

The first set of ingredients I needed to make a recipe I found on AllRecipes.com for Braised Balsamic Chicken. OMG. So good. The last time I made it, I ate it with white rice. This time I will substitute brown rice and also pair it with green beans and carrots. So far I’ve been alternating my breakfast with some form of toast (peanut butter, avocado, hummus..etc) or oat meal. For lunch, I have basa fillets left over that I kept frozen from last week. I will most likely roast them with some vegetables to keep a balanced meal. I also bought fruits/vegetables for snacks in between meals. I think the hardest part of this lifestyle change is trying to find recipes that are simple yet still delicious since I am usually short on time. 

as always, Thank you for reading! 30/1007

[nanditoako]

Lesson learned

Today I understood the importance of fuelling your body. I am not a nutritionist, nor am I a fitness expert but I am always reading that carbs are the best thing to eat before working out as it provides the energy you need to complete your work out successfully. I ran out of already prepped meals so I packed random food for my lunch/snacks to bring to work. I hadn’t eaten anything for about 4 hours by the time I finished work, and my last meal didn’t even involve any sort of carbohydrates.  I probably should have gone home after work since I hadn’t eaten but I figured I would feel guilty for skipping the gym so I went anyways. I was fatigued 15 minutes into exercising and started to get light headed. Instead of completing the work out I intended to do, I took the opportunity to stretch and spent extra time on extending the muscles so I still felt going to gym was worth it. Moral of the story- you can always turn any situation around, and also listen to what your body is telling you.  I don’t claim to know everything about fitness. Heck, I probably don’t know 50% of what there is to know. Although I had a gym membership for years, I was never serious about my health until recently. So I am learning as I go along. I read a lot of articles about what to eat, how to work out, when to work out, types of work outs...etc. and I am writing about my own personal experiences. Please feel free to share your knowledge, as I would love to read them! and again, Thank you for reading!  29/1007

[nanditoako]

Fitness Update

I’ve been going to the gym every day this week and I feel pretty good about myself. I’m still trying to ease into it since I wasn’t active at all before I started. I found exercises online to follow, and thought it would be so easy! I was very, very wrong. Keeping up with breathing is something I’ve always struggled with, as well as pushing myself to not give up when it starts to get difficult. However, my whole body is currently sore so I’m hoping that’s a sign of progress. So far I haven’t noticed any changes in my physical appearance but I definitely feel a high after each workout. That being said, it’s only been a few days since I’ve started! The biggest problem I face now is to stay dedicated and making sure I drag my butt to the gym even if I don’t feel like going. Writing about it helps because posting serves as a reminder of my end goal. Thanks for reading!

28/1007

[nanditoako]

Golden Triangle

I apologize for the random topics in my posts. Those who know me well are already aware that I need to plan things thoroughly or else I am just all over the place. Unfortunately, this character trait of mine will be reflected in my Tumblr blog since I am trying to post daily. I don’t plan ahead and will most likely write about what I feel like at that time.  Today, I wanted to share with you this area in South East Asia known as “the Golden Triangle”. Here you can actually see three different countries. Thailand borders the bottom of the picture, the triangular area is Myanmar, and Laos is on the top right side. It’s pretty cool to say you can see three countries by standing in one place.  Have a good night! :) 27/1007

[nanditoako]

Elephant Nature Park

I took this photo while in Thailand (about 60km north of Chiang Mai) at Elephant Nature Park. I highly recommend sanctuaries for elephants if anyone is interested in spending a day with gentle giants! I feel that not enough people are educated on the treatment of elephants in order to provide rides and performances for tourists. Long story short, elephants aren’t naturally able to do those things without being put through extreme mental and physical abuse. This sanctuary (and a few others) helps elephants escape from such a lifestyle. We volunteered our time to feed and bathe the elephants while learning about their back story and what they had to overcome in the past. At the start of the day, we were shown pictures of the condition of some of the elephants from when they arrived and how drastically they’ve changed for the better. Afterwards, we were able to feed and meet some of the elephants. They also provide a vegetarian lunch for the volunteers which was actually very delicious! After the meal, we went back out to meet even more elephants while finding our way to the river where the elephants bathed. I highly, highly recommend this if anyone has the opportunity to stay in Thailand. Even if you are in Bangkok, or Phuket, going out of the way to travel North to Chiang Mai is so worth it in order to spend a day with the elephants.  and REMEMBER: Why ride the elephants when you can walk along side them? 26/1007