In my last post, I explored why I would not do the Master Cleanse (aka The Lemonade Diet) and why I can’t go down the road of juicing.

That leaves me with the options of using meal replacements and established juice cleanses.

I’m going to be focusing on meal replacements in this post.

By the way, in case you’re wondering why I’m not reviewing things like gourmet, healthy meal deliveries, it’s because they cost a lot and I’m not getting sponsored by them to try them out.

SunFare, Freshology, Zen Foods and Bistro MD – I’m more than happy to try your meals and give a day-by-day review and honest comparison!

^_______^

Hey, if you don’t put it out there, you won’t get it, right? It never hurts to ask.

Without further ado, Slim Fast versus Beach Body!

Slim Fast

Pro

I’ve tried Slim Fast shakes and powders. The shakes come in the cans are pretty convenient but I hated knowing that I’m adding to the landfill issue. Yes, we could recycle and yes, we could make a better effort but we don’t. I’m not going to lie.

There are also a bunch of flavors so you don’t get tired of drinking the same thing day after day after day.

They also have bars that are pretty tasty. Yum yum!

Con

All those cans take up quite a bit of space in our small apartment. That doesn’t work for either Clyde or myself.

I solved the landfill headache and storage problem by buying the giant tubs of mix-it-yourself powders. Sure, it’s not as convenient but whatever. It still does the job.

Conclusion

While effective in curbing my appetite, I have found a better alternative.

Rather, Clyde was the one who found it. He’s done P90X a few times (and is even in the commercials for 1 second. Blink and you’ll miss him!), completed Insanity and is starting on P90X2. Crazy. I get tired just watching him.

Beach Body Shakeology

image from myshakereviews.com

From the Beach Body website, here’s a blurb about it :

Shakeology uses a proprietary blend of digestive enzymes and prebiotics to gently and efficiently eliminate toxins. Then a combination of antioxidants, phytonutrients, adaptogens, and many other rare ingredients gives your body the essential nutrients you can’t get from an ordinary diet. You get a salad bowl’s worth of fruits and vegetables in a single glass.*

There are 2 flavors – Chocolate or Greenberry.

Pro

I’ve tried both and like them both.

Chocolate – I love this one. I think it tastes pretty good when mixed with nonfat milk. I also like adding coffee to it and turning it into a Mocha Meal On The Go. Clyde thinks it tastes like mud. Then again, he mixes his Shakeology packets with water.

GreenBerry – the best way I can explain it is that it tastes exactly like the name suggests…both “green” and like berries. I also mix this with nonfat milk instead of water. It’s pretty good but I can’t imagine it will taste good if I were to mix it with coffee for my morning meal. No thanks.

This stuff is NO JOKE!!! I don’t know if it’s the proprietary mix of greens, super fruits, Pre- AND Probiotics and/or digestive enzyme blends but something in this stuff takes care of my * ahem * digestive issues.

I also feel full for anywhere from 3 – 4 hours and noticed that I stopped wanting to eat pizza, Doritos and all the other tasty-but-horrible-for-you foods that I usually want to eat.

I really like that I only have to replace one meal a day and not two. It makes me feel less like I’m being regulated and more like I’m making a healthy choice for one meal out of the day.

Cons

These babies are not cheap. Clyde is the one buys them but I think we averaged out the cost to $4.something per packet.

However, while these aren’t exactly cheap, it’s pretty affordable when you consider the following :

• This is supposed to take place of one meal so $4.something is actually pretty cheap for a meal.
• When you look at the ingredients list and realize ALL that you’re getting for $4.something per packet, it starts looking like a pretty good deal.

Conclusion

I think this is something I will do once I come off of a cleanse. I don’t consider either of these “cleanses” because it’s more like a meal replacement plan.

The winner of the battle? By way of Meal Replacement TKO – Beach Body’s Shakeology.

Up next, I’ll be looking at various juice cleanses I’m willing to try.

A new year, a new start. I’ve given a lot of thought about why I have the ants-in-my-pants sensation of needing to make changes to my daily life. I blame it all on a combination of the following :

• My mom likes to tell me I’m no spring chicken.
• She also says I’m definitely not a blushing blossom anymore.
• She likens me more to a droopy flower. So sad.
• I’m getting older. * sigh *
• I’m prone to * ahem * digestive issues.
• I’m married now. That means I’ve fallen off the Wedding Diet wagon.
• We’re thinking about having kids.
• Then I read this article about nurses and obesity posted on Facebook by my friend, PattiCake. Oh, HELL NO!!!!
• My metabolism is no longer like when I was a 20-something and could drink lard without gaining an inch anywhere.
• Please don’t drink liquid lard. I was totally kidding when I said that.

I know there are no magic fixes. I’m not hunting for the proverbial magic bean that can solve all my problems. I don’t want quick fixes and I don’t want to take the easy way out of getting healthy.

I’m willing to put in the work. I’ve integrated more time in my day for meditation (waking up and thinking “F***!!! I’M GONNA BE LATE!!!” does not count as meditation.

I’ve invested in Yoga and Pilates DVDs. My favorites are from MTV (don’t judge me). Seeing as how the only pose I’ve mastered is Lounging Couch Potato, I’m trying to focus on the mastery of other….more beneficial poses. ^_^

Now that I’ve more or less gotten my spiritual well being started, I’ve started focusing on my physical well being. You know the saying “You are what you eat”. That really got me thinking about detoxing.

I’ve done a crazy detox before with my sister when I was 20. I will never do that again. I think it was pretty dangerous what we had attempted and I don’t know why I ever let her talk me into it!

Now that I’m older and smarter, I’ve looked into healthier ways of detoxing.

Master Cleanse

I’m sure you’ve all heard about The Master Cleanse. I’ve had friends who’ve done it and various famous people have also given it a go.

I, however, will not be joining their ranks. I think it’s pretty dangerous to subject your body to nothing but ascorbic acid, cayenne peppers and sugar in the form of maple syrup. In fact, the only significant source of calories your body will get is from the maple syrup.

I’m thinking this is not a good option for diabetics.

Call me crazy but I’m not about to starve myself of nutrients my body needs.

Photo from themastercleanse.org
I love lemonade.
I don’t love it enough to drink it 24/7 for days on end.
I also don’t love it enough to supplement it with a salt water flush.

I also do not think it’s a good idea to drink a slurry of SALT and water. What the f***? How and why do people think it’s a good idea? Can you imagine what would happen if hypertensive people decided to do this? Good God…

I’m looking to detox, not get thin. Sure, Beyonce was supposed to have gone on the Master Cleanse (aka “The Lemonade Diet”) to slim down for a movie role. I’m glad it worked for her. I do not have a legion of makeup artists and personal trainers to whip my ass into shape to make sure I do not REGAIN all the inches and weight I lost while starving myself for an extended period of time.

This means I will most likely gain all the weight and inches back with a possible added pounds for good measure.

No, thanks. I’ll pass on this one.

Juicing

I’m really open to the idea of replacing one meal a day with fresh juice.

I desperately want a good juicer but our kitchen right now is WAY TOO SMALL to have any more appliances. I can’t wait to move and have a HUGE, state-of-the-art kitchen.

When I was in my early 20′s and I was training for my first (and only) bikini competition, I worked out 6 days a week, 2-3 hours a day. I was extremely militant about what I ate but allowed myself to have a slice of pizza every couple of weeks.

I also juiced my breakfast. It was a not-so-tasty blend of celery, bitter melon, parsley, carrots, bell peppers and spinach. I added a handful of grapes and one small apple just to make the whole thing palatable. Bitter melon is so good for you but tastes so nasty!! * sigh *

I can’t wait to do this again. However, since I don’t have space for a juicer, I will be exploring other means in the following posts.

Happy Chinese / Lunar New Year!!! It’s the year of the Water Dragon / Black Dragon. That means there’s gonna be ton of Asian babies born this year. Stop looking at me that way.

Two years ago, also on Chinese New Year, Clyde met my family for the first time as my new boyfriend. We were only dating for like….a month at this point.

Fast forward to today, we’re now married!! I’ve always celebrated the new year with family so imagine my befuddlement this year when no one called me to tell me about dinner. I thought that was rather weird but chalked it up to everyone being spread out.

So I called my mom and this was the following conversation :

Me : Mommy, why did you not call me to tell me to come over for dinner today?
Mom : Oh! That’s because you’re not allowed to come home.

WHAT??!!! I thought I heard her wrong so I continued to press the issue.

Me : WHAT??!!! WHAT THE HECK?! What do you mean, “I’m now allowed to come home for dinner”? What are you talking about?

Mom : * sigh * Oh. I forgot to tell you. You are a married woman now which means you have “chu jia” and are not part of this family any more. So you can’t come back for two days. We’ll have dinner with your new husband on Tuesday! Okay, gotta go. Making yummy dinner now.

“Chu Jia” more or less translates to “exited the home” because I’m married. So sad…

So that means I have to make dinner at home. I braved the masses at the local Asian market and managed to barely escape the post-church Korean moms who all had the bright idea of going to the market the same time I did.

In case you ever wondered why you see a bunch of oranges and whole fish served up on Chinese New Year, here’s a really handy list from chinesefood.about.com that explains a lot.

On the menu tonight will be :

- Steamed whole red snapper with ginger, scallions and soy sauce
- Rice cake soup with green onions and noodles
- Sauteed chicken with garlic chives
- boiled eggs
- tangerines

Yum yum!

Happy Lunar New Year!! Here’s to a year of good health, wealth, happiness, good luck and prosperty.

Hello! I’m alive! I’m also married now. Happy New Year!! And Happy Chinese / Lunar New Year!! 2012 is the year of the Water Dragon. Can’t wait!

For all you brides out there currently planning your wedding, you feel like the wedding date is that tiny spot of light way out yonder in the distance. At least, that’s how I felt. I felt like the wedding day would never come and that I will be stuck in the strange Purgatory known as Wedding Planning Hell. The question you’re constantly asking yourself and your fiance is “When will this happen??!!”

And then comes your wedding day. It passes by in a huge blur. You find yourself asking yourself, “Is this really happening?”

The day after you say “I do”, you ask the question “Did that really just happen?”

So happy together!
No, really. If you look closely, you can see a happy face in my shoe.

Your wedding day really does pass by in a blur and, before you know it, it’s over.

I’m so glad we splurged on our videographers. They are amazing and we will now have a record of what happened that night.

Wow, it’s been a while since I last touched this blog. That’s because I’ve been spazzing out, freaking out, stressing out and breaking out. You’d think I’d be immune to the kinds of skin problems most adolescents suffer from at my age. I guess not. * sigh *

One of the things I’ve been giving lots of thought to lately is what jewelry I’m going to be wearing on the Big Day. Clyde’s mom, Umma, gave me this CRAZY, INSANE gorgeous pearl bridal set. I swear, the pearl on the ring is big enough to literally take someone’s eye out.

This made me think about my mom. I wanted something that reminds me of my mom on me when I’m walking down that aisle. I spent the entire morning playing with all the jewelry she’s given me. (This is what I do when I’m sad or when I miss my mom. I go straight for my jewelry box.)

“Zettai Kareshi” is a Japanese drama my mom and I LOVE.
We were completely obsessed. It was hilarious.
As a result, this song always makes me think of my mom.
I love this song.

I thought about wearing the phat strand of pearls she gave me when I was in my early 20′s. As much as I love them, they didn’t feel quite right. Ditto with the phat strand of black pearls she gave me a few years later. I adore black pearls…but that didn’t fit what I was looking for either.

My godmother gave me a beautiful cuff bracelet made of seed pearls from Japan when I was a toddler. I think I’m going to wear that too. My godmother can’t make it from Taiwan but when I show her the pictures, I can show her that she was there with me when I said my vows.

I thought about wearing the entire set Umma gave me…but while they are beautiful and beautifully matched (earrings, ring and pendant), I still wanted something that reminded me of my mom too.

And that’s when I knew what I had to wear.

I am definitely not going to look quite as matched as this chick.
I also won’t be sporting these bright ass, red lips either.

On the day of my 27th birthday, I was pulling myself out of the most trying time of my life. I went to my friend’s sushi restaurant to treat myself to one of my favorite meals – sake, sushi and oysters.

I ordered a full dozen of oysters. I remember I was talking to Stephen when I suddenly bit down on something hard.

My immediate thought was “Holy shit….I broke my tooth!! Gah!!!” followed by a totally irrational thought of “I have to swallow it! Then nobody will know I broke my tooth on an oyster!”

Don’t ask. To this day, I have no idea why that made sense to me in that moment.

Luckily, my sanity returned and I was able to rationally think things through. I carefully swallowed the oyster and just as carefully spit out what I thought was a smooth fragment of my tooth.

What I saw in my hand was pearly white but definitely not made of something from my body.

It was a pearl. A slightly pink pearl. That’s right, people. I find precious gems in my mouth when I eat sushi. Good thing I didn’t swallow it, huh? Somehow, being able to say “I poop pearls when I eat oysters” doesn’t sound as good as “I find pearls in my mouth when I eat oysters”.

Back then, I thought of it as tear shaped. Perhaps this was because of my emotional state at the time. However, by the time I flew my ass to Hawaii to show my mom, I came to think of this pearl as egg shaped.

I didn’t want to associate this little miracle with sadness. I instead began associating it with new beginnings, unlimited potential, hope and preciousness. After all, isn’t that what eggs are besides being absolutely delicious and tasty?

The value of my little pearl might not even be what my oysters cost but so what? How many people can say they found a naturally occurring pearl the size of mine when they were eating the oyster that made it? Not many. That’s what makes my pearl so precious to me. No one else might see its value but it is priceless to me.

A few weeks later, I flew to Hawaii and showed my mom. She was astounded and took me to her friend’s jewelry shop. My mom and I spent hours perusing all possible settings for my little egg shaped pearl. In the end, I found something I absolutely loved.

• Oyster shooter with pearl at Crazy Sushi in Alhambra, CA – $1.50

• Round trip airfare to Honolulu, HI from Los Angeles, CA – $450.00
• 14K white gold Plumeria flower pendant with 14K white gold chain for pearl – $200
• Spending time with my mom, making memories with my mom and watching her tell everyone she meets that her daughter is lucky and, like the pearl she found while eating, a gift of nature and one of a kind – priceless

I think this is what I’m going to wear on my wedding day. My jewelry on my wedding day might not be a matched set but I don’t care. It’s my wedding day and I’m going to wear whatever I want however I want.