Pinoy Roadtrip

THE MILITARY DIET: Does It Work?

February 14, 2016

THE MILITARY DIET: Does It Work?

I've seen this diet plan on Facebook a lot of time so I decided to try it.

WHAT IS THE MILITARY DIET?

"You can lose up to 10 pounds in one week on the Military Diet, without strenuous exercise or prescriptions....The food combinations in the Military Diet are designed to burn fat, kick start your metabolism and lose weight fast.(taken from http://themilitarydiet.com/)

This is my physical condition before I started in the diet.:

My weight: 55.5 kilos.

My height: 5' 1"

My physical condition: I run at the treadmill at least 3 times a week, 3km-5km distance, and do weight training at least once a week.

My eating habits: I eat moderately. I avoid carbs, eat meat, prefer fish and chicken, and some vegetables. I usually get hungry and eat every 4 hours.

My age: Late 40's

My gender: Female

DAY ONE:

My weight at 5:30 AM: 55.5 kilos

My exercise: Finished 3km in the treadmill.

(Photo from themilitarydiet.com)

Since I couldn't find grapefruit in the supermarket,

I substituted the grapefruit with a glass of water with 1/2 tsp. baking soda,

as suggested by www.themilitarydiet.com.

(Photo from themilitarydiet.com)

(Photo from themilitarydiet.com)

I substituted the meat for fish
I substituted 1 cup of green beans for 1/8 cup mung beans

MY FEEDBACK ABOUT DAY ONE:

I liked the peanut butter on toast but I found the tuna with toast bland. Two hours after lunch, I became a bit hungry. Maybe because I'm used to eating every 4 hours. The best is dinner. It's a full meal with the dessert. I was surprised how plenty 1 cup of vanilla ice cream is.

I didn't sleep well the night of Day One. Maybe it's because of the vanilla ice cream. I'm not used to eating that much ice cream with that much sugar. When I woke up the next day, I felt slightly dizzy. I don't know if it's because I didn't sleep well or because of the ice cream again. There are days when I don't sleep well but don't feel dizzy.

DAY TWO:

My weight at 5:30 AM: 55.5 kilod
My exercise: None. I didn't go to the gym.

(Photo from themilitarydiet.com)

I added a cup of black coffee for breakfast
to avoid caffeine withdrawal.

(Photo from themilitarydiet.com)

(Photo from themilitarydiet.com)

I substituted 6 oz. hainanese chicken breast for the hotdog.

MY FEEDBACK ABOUT DAY TWO:

I didn't feel hungry the whole day. I slept well the night of Day Two despite having vanilla ice cream. Maybe because the quantitiy is just 1/2 cup. The great thing about having ice cream after dinner is that it made the diet feel like a treat.

DAY THREE:

My weight at 5:30 AM: 55.2 kilos

My exercise: Finished 3k on the treadmill and did strength training.

(Photo from themilitarydiet.com)

I added a cup of black coffee for breakfast
to avoid caffeine withdrawal.

(Photo from themilitarydiet.com)

(Photo from themilitarydiet.com)

I substituted fish fillet for the tuna.

MY FEEDBACK ABOUT DAY THREE:

I was hungry most of the time on Day Three. I suppose it's because lunch was minimal and the gap between lunch and dinner is large.

WEIGHT AFTER 3 DAYS ON THE MILITARY DIET: 55 kilos

MY CONCLUSION:

I lost only ONE POUND (or .5 kilos) after 3 days on this diet. Some would say, it's better than none but I found this diet challenging for the following reasons.

1. It's boring.

Although it's simple and easy to do since the ingredients are easy to find at the grocery and there's minimal preparation involved, it's hard to stick with it because it's boring and bland.

You're better off doing the 14-day South Beach diet of SEXY CHEF. You lose a lot of weight after 14 days on their South Beach diet meals, which are so delicious. They deliver your meals to your home or office. I've done this diet plan so I can say that their South Beach diet works.

2. I'm hungry most of the time.

I'm used to eating something every 4 hours because I'm hungry every 4 hours. This diet doesn't allow snacks in between so it became difficult waiting for the next meal to come.

This plan may work for people who actually eat huge meals that is high in sugar, who do not eat healthy, or those who need to lose a lot of weight. The military diet will be a drastic change from their usual dietary habits. And having a lot of weight to lose at the start of the diet may mean it will be easier to lose 10 pounds. The amount of weight loss in a diet plan has something to do with percentage of body weight when you started. So 10 pounds may mean different percentage of body weight for different people.

I noted my personal circumstance at the start of this post so people in the same physical condition, age, gender as I and with the same habits may note that this diet plan may not work for you.

CORREGIDOR: Why I love the 2016 Corregidor International Half-Marathon

February 8, 2016

CORREGIDOR: Why I love the 2016 Corregidor International Half-Marathon

I ran the 10k at the International Corregidor Half-Marathon. It was my first time to run in an event. And I found the Corregidor Half-Marathon the perfect choice for first-time runners to experience running in an event. It is both memorable and enjoyable and will encourage first-time runners to keep on running.

Why I love the Corregidor International Half-Marathon:

1. They have a great race route.

FIRST, the race route covers all the major and awesome sights of Corregidor.

Below is just a FEW examples of the major sights you see along the route. I will make a detailed post on the race route later.

Topside barracks or Mile Long Barracks

Battery Grubbs

Pacific War Memorial Museum
Cine Corregidor
Officers' Barracks

The Eternal Flame

SECOND, the race route covers different types of terrain: hills, trails, flat pavement.

HILLS

At the start of the event, we immediately go up the hill.
The starting line is at middleside.
We proceed at once to the topside, where the major sights are located.

A lot of 10k runners walked up the hillside.

The view at the side of the hill.

Just 5 minutes into the run and we're already at this height.
You can see the starting line at the center of the photo.

TRAILS

Going through the forest trails where we encounter more barracks.

FLAT PAVEMENT

Middleside Barracks, where the center of activity used to be.

2. The event happens in cool January.

The temperature that registered in my phone at the start of the race is 24 degrees Centigrade. The weather is cool and with a slight breeze. Even if the race lasted until late morning, you don't have to worry too much about the sun since you run in a lot of shaded areas.

Accuweather temperature at Cavite before 8:15 gun start of 10k.
There's no Corregidor option at accuweather so I used Cavite.

3. They have a late gun start.

The 21k starts at 8:00 AM, while the 10k starts at 8:15 AM. I love a late gun start because my body takes a while to acclimatize to being awake. With a late gun start, I need not wake up too early. I can have my breakfast as late as 5:00 AM.

Very few running events in the Philippines start late, either because the venue that is usually closed during the running event, has to be opened to the public in the early morning. Or, they start early because of the morning heat in a tropical country like the Philippines.

4. No cut-off time for the event.

Since there's no cut-off time, the event is possible for both fast and slow runners, those who prefer to do a brisk walk, and fun runners who also like to sightsee during the event.

The only cut-off time the organizers mentioned is the time to ride the ferry, which is at 2:00 PM.

The slowest runner in the 21k logged at 5 hours and 20 minutes (or 15 minutes per kilometer) and the slowest runner at 10k logged at 3 hours and 5 minutes (or 18.5 minutes per kilometer).

5. The event is not crowded since there's a limit to the number of people who can join the event.

There's a limit to the number of people joining the event because of the maximum capacity of the ferry transporting people in the island, as well as the limitation in resources within the island so only a certain number of people can be accommodated.

The 2016 Corregidor International Half-Marathon had 87 10 k runners and 286 21 k runners.

6. If you choose to stay overnight before the event, accommodations at the Corregidor Hotel is not expensive.

The cost of an overnight stay at Corregidor hotel is only 2000 pesos per night for double/twin sharing, with buffet breakfast included.

My son and I chose to arrive at Corregidor the day before the event and stay overnight at Corregidor Hotel for the following reasons:

a. We don't have to wake up at 3:00 AM to ride the ferry. For those doing the day trip, the ferry departs from Manila to Corregidor at 5:00 AM.

b. The ferry makes us slightly dizzy so if we rode the ferry on the day of the event, we might not be able join the event and do the run immediately after getting off the ferry.

c. We don't have to worry about our breakfast, our bags and where to rest after the event.

The hotel provides the breakfast. We leave our personal belongings inside our hotel room. And we can still take a bath and rest in our hotel room after doing the run.

7. The rates for the run and the ferry package is very reasonable.

We spent the following:

10 k half-marathon registration fee: 1,400 pesos (includes the race shirt, finisher's medal, race belt, timing chip, sling bag and 1000 pesos soleus gift certificate)

Runner's rate: 1330 pesos per person (covers the roundtrip ferry, terminal fee, buffet lunch after the event)

1 night at Corregidor hotel: 2000 pesos per room (double/twin sharing with buffet breakfast included)

Optional expense: 250 pesos per person carbo loading dinner, 400 pesos lunch for 2 persons at La Playa Restaurant.

Total expenses for 2 persons (for my son and I):
8360 pesos (for 2 persons)

8. The event is very well-organized, from the distribution of the kits, the ferry departure, check-in upon arrival, and serving of meals.

Boarding at the terminal

Orderly check-in at arrival area

Separate tranvia assigned to the different accommodation locations:
hotel, resort/cabanas, campers

Carbo loading dinner

Buffet lunch after the run

9. The run itself is conducted very well. There are well spaced hydration stations, ample signs and guides.

HYDRATION STATIONS WITH FOOD

In the 10k route, there's a total of 5 hydration stations. The water they serve is ICE COLD (very much appreciated by the runners). They also serve some sports drink, food like banana, raisins, camote fries, coffee candy, salt.

SUFFICIENT SIGNS AND GUIDES

Signs at the fork

There's always a guide near the sign to check the runners arriving.
They direct them to the right direction if they see them going in the wrong direction.

The sign at the trail

They make a checklist of the runners twice just to make sure everyone's accounted for.

The first is at Battery Grubbs.
The last is at Battery Crockett.

MANILA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Bag Wrapping by Protectabag at NAIA Terminal 3

December 16, 2015

MANILA INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT:
Bag Wrapping by Protectabag at NAIA Terminal 3

Bag wrapping services at Manila International Airport are offered to give check-in luggage additional protection from damage or theft. But recently, because of the discovery of the 'tanim bala' or 'laglag bala' scheme, it became popular as one of the the methods to "avoid falling prey to 'tanim bala' scheme" (click the previous link for more details).

If you don't own a hard shell luggage with padlock, instead of zippers, this will protect you against anyone attempting to insert illegal items in your luggage. I own a canvas luggage with plenty of pockets and zippers. Instead of buying new luggage, I decided to avail of this service.

If you wish to avail of this service, here are the important information you will need:

LOCATION:

It's easy to find.

It's located near Gate 4, departure level of NAIA Terminal 3.
Shown at the right side of the photo is Gate 4.
The white machine is the xray scanner at the entrance of Gate 4

It's also near the Travel Tax payment counter and the OWWA counter so you won't miss it or need to look far to find it.

PRICE:

160 pesos

HOURS OPEN:

3:00 AM - 10:00 PM

HOW LONG THE WRAPPING TAKES:

Actual wrapping only takes 1 1/2 minutes as shown in the video below.

The front is sealed with a sticker

The back view

NOTE: THE PLASTIC WRAP IS SO THICK, YOU CAN'T REMOVE IT WITHOUT USING SCISSORS OR CUTTER.

When I arrived at my destination, I had no scissors or cutter and couldn't remove it by tearing it up with my hands so I slid it off in the same manner as removing socks.

WEBSITE
http://www.protectabag.com.ph/

BAGUIO: Updated Price List of Good Shepherd Products

November 19, 2015

BAGUIO: Updated Price List of Good Shepherd Products

November 2015 Price List:
To view the enlarged image of the photos below, click the image, then right click the image again and, click "open image in new tab". When the new tab is opened, you can zoom in on the image to see the price of each item by clicking on the image on the new tab.