Raw food diet or not?

As the semester is beginning to get more and more intense (workload wise),  Nigel and I have been struggling with finding time to exercise and to cook (good meals).  It’s such a shame that the weather is getting “Southern California” people friendly and that I am at the same time in the heat of mid-terms ( Oh how hot! Lol).  One solution that we thought of (actually Nigel’s sister suggested it) is maybe going on a raw food diet.  The cooking time will simply just consist of washing the fruits and vegetables.  And because we would be eating so healthy then (I believe) we won’t need to exercise as often during the week.  It’s like killing two birds with one stone!  Perfect J

I know that a lot of people claim that eating raw food (and only raw food) has many advantages to your digestive system, immunity may aid weight loss and often gives an energy boost.  Like many other issues these statements have been contested.  And some also say that the disadvantages of a raw food diet are also plentiful.  For example, not cooking your vegetables above (I think 118F) doesn’t kill food borne illnesses like Salmonella which causes diarrhea and other discomforts… Also, it is said that cooked vegetables contain nutrients that the raw form of the same vegetables just doesn’t have.  So, when a carrot and a tomato are cooked they each give off certain nutrients that they wouldn’t have, had they been eaten raw.    

Having been a very strict vegetarian for four years, I know that a change in diet can have a tremendous effect on the body (and mind).  I think that extremes are always dangerous.  Maybe we’ll do like two or three days a week where we will eat raw food.   I guess that I am fearful of depriving my body of crucial vitamins and minerals that I need.  I’ll think it through… J

LSAT Weekend!

February the 11^th marked the end of a very tense time (3 to 4 months) for both my husband and I.  This last month before the exam was definitely the most challenging for both of us.  My husband enrolled himself in an LSAT prep course.  And for a little over a month, my husband in addition to holding a full time job would attend an LSAT prep course from 6 to 10pm … on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays.  Never did he complain and never did he ever show any type of physical or mental withering.  

In our situation, that little saying that goes “you just never stop meeting someone” has been incredibly applicable.  We’ve only known each other for less than a year and I feared that I had maybe rushed into our partnership.  You know?  It’s just natural to always faintly doubt at my age.  Nonetheless, the side of Nigel that I saw during the past couple of months has helped me meet a side of him that has only made me fall farther in love with him.  I sincerely think that I would have broken down somewhere between the second and third week of his busy schedule.  It was very impressive to see his commitment to his goal.

Everything definitely cumulated for me on February the 11^th.  He left to take his test at around 8 in the morning and came back at around 1:30pm.  These were the longest hours of my life!  Meanwhile, at home, I was trying to finish as much school work as possible.  I wanted to clear the rest of the day for pure LSAT celebration.  I got the most pressing work done but I got very little else done.  I was nervous.  First of all, this test is only supposed to take about 4 hours.  I began to worry about him.  What about if someone did something to him on his way to the test?  Should I call someone?  What about if someone did something to him on his way back from the test?  Should I go look for him?  I was creating a million scenarios in my head that lead me to believe that I had to go look for him.  Maybe it was just me panicking? Maybe… I was set on launching my one woman hunt party if he wasn’t back by 2:00pm.  But alas!  He made it home before 2:00pm.  After I bombarded him with all of my questions we began calling our family members to tell them about the test.  Then we watched TV, listened to music and just had good quality time.  Then!  We took off for SushiJ.  It was a great way to end February the 11^th. 

Baptist Church it is?!

Since the International Educational Program, like many GSE master’s degree programs, is a one year program, I have had quite a struggle to find “the church” to go to.  I was raised Catholic and I will always claim myself a catholic nonetheless it has been the norm for me to not necessarily attend Catholic Church when I am out of California.  I usually attend a church that has a warm community of people, regardless of the religion.  

I cannot complain about Philadelphia’s church communities.  I have attended church in many different places and they have all had great community but I didn’t exactly saw myself as being part of any of them.  I don’t exactly know why… But!  I think that my church odyssey has come to an end.  Today I attended a Baptist Church in Wayne Pennsylvania where I was blown away by how progressive everyone was.  They accepted everyone.  They explicitly stated their embrace of all communities no matter your race, sexual orientation/identification, class, etc.  My jaw was on the floor.

I fit here.  In my mind god can be summarized in two words: love and tolerance.  It’s that simple.  This church completely embodies this. I am very happy and blessed to have found this church.  I hope to start bible studies next Sunday.  I needed this for some time now.  I need to be “spiritually” nourished.  This will definitely help me become a more dedicated student and an even happier person.

Good Weather= jogging weather

It’s January and I feel somewhat guilty about being so happy that the winter has been incredibly light here in Philadelphia.  Is it pure luck or maybe the doings of Global Warming? I really hope that it’s just a random warm winter…

I did my undergraduate degree in the East Coast and every year (no exception), we always had below zero winters.  I am from Los Angeles, California where below zero weather just doesn’t happen.  It’s unheard of.  What? Who?  When?  Uh!  I was so nervous about coming back to the East Coast because of the weather but alas all is warm. Lol  

And specially warm enough to take a nice jog every now and then.  I love running.  In high school running was everything to me.  I ran cross country, track and snuck in a few marathons.  I ate, dreamt, and breathed that sport.  Unfortunately, I fractured my knees and had to stop running competitively after only a few years of running.  I received physical therapy and had different medical procedures to cure my knees but I was banned from competitive running.  It was a huge blow to not just my running career but my ego as well.

I stopped running and then I went through an entire “sport withdrawal” moment.  My body literally ached (mostly my back) because it needed to run.  I went from running 12 to 15 miles a day to nothing.  As I got older I began to sort of just accept the idea that I will never run competitively again.  I then began to look for other ways to keep myself healthy.  And this launched my crusade for “the next best sport”. Lol  It has been a great process :D!

I will list some types of workouts that I found very helpful.  I am not a doctor so I am not saying that these type of workouts work for everyone.  They worked for me.  And so this is why I am posting them in my blog.  Everyone has a different body.  Always consult with your doctor about using any type of exercising routine.  I am not endorsing any of the workouts and I am not responsible if anyone tries them and gets hurt (because I am not recommending them).  These are just a few of the workouts that worked (or did not work) for me. 

PILATES

I think that this was a great workout to tone the body.  I wasn’t in love with this type of workout though.  I didn’t like how it was shaping my body.  I think that I also didn’t like Pilates because a lot of the positions were hard on my knees.  Again, I might be bias because this is the first workout that I tried right after I sort of “recuperated” from my knee injuries.  I didn’t find it very pleasant.  But a lot of other girls did!  So I guess it depends.

CREW

As an undergrad I joined Crew (woke up at 4 in the morning …).  I liked the people and the fact that everyone was very dedicated to this one sport.  Rowing was a good experience.  But again, I didn’t like that it was getting rid of the fatty tissue around my hips (which I personally like).  So I dropped it after I completed the semester.  We had a workout in the morning and then again in the afternoon.  EVERYONE was very tone and had muscle etc.  But this was not what I was looking for…

YOGA

I LOVE Yoga.  It increased my flexibility and strength.  I became tone.  And I could feel how it just shook a lot of stress off of me.  I haven’t done yoga in a while because I’m busy but I do miss it.  It helped me focus more in school etc.  Yoga not just works your physical but also your mind and “soul” (If anyone can believe me. Lol).  The yoga video that I found the most helpful for me was a video called “Yoga for Health” by Jenny Cornero.  I recently saw that it was added to Netflix.  Yeiiii!!

P90X

This is a great workout video.  It’s an intense workout.  I think that there are about 11-12 videos.  Each works out a different part of your body.  It’s quite an intensive workout.  I do it when I feel like I want to be challenged.  Lol  I actually really like this video.  It combines yoga, kempo, cardio and others to give you incredible workouts.  These workouts tone and strengthen you.

ZUMBA

Yes please!  I love zumba.  It’s a really “friendly” workout.  What I love the most of is that you exercise but it doesn’t even feel like if you’re exercising.  It’s like “a night out”.  The music is great and the people are fun.  NOBODY actually gets all of the steps of the workout but it’s fun to try and to see that everyone else is struggling with you.  Zumba is like the “desert” of workouts. 

I will rate other types of exercises in other journal entries.  For the moment, I am still looking forward to maybe going for a light jog tomorrow.  The above workouts are great but running is where my heart is at. J

Let the last semester begin!

It’s my last semester at Upenn!  My first semester was an incredible experience and I can only be nothing but excited to begin another great semester!  I have so many things to do this last semester.  Upenn hosts incredible events and I will go to at least two every week.  But before I get further on my “Last semester” I have to advertise the “2012 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Symposium on Social Change”.  Just copy and paste this link unto a new window for information about all of the events (www.upenn.edu/aarc/mlk).

This is a three week chain of different events that range from yoga meetings to speakers to documentaries that speak to the issues that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. conveyed during his lifetime (and is still spreading after death).  The event started on January the 13^th and will end on February 2^nd.  I have gone to one event so far and will definitely keep going to as many as possible.  Again, please check the website for more in detail and up to date information about the different events. 

I highly recommend for people to attend these events not just to learn new things but to give your respects to a man that stands as a symbol for so much positive change in our country. 

But going back to my “second semester resolutions”… I’m in my second week of school and I have not gone to two/three of my classes.  Not a great way to start but this was the same situation that I found myself in at the beginning of last semester.  Therefore, there is no need to panic.  Everything will eventually fall into place.  I am excited for classes but most of all I am excited to get my country placement for my IEDP internship.

In my internship application I put that I was open to be sent to any place around the world including Washington D.C.   So in about four to six months I could possibly be anywhere in the world!  I’m so excited!

Oh! Happy Chinese New Years!!!!

Mexican Food Fest!

For Winter Break…

I went to visit my mother and grandmother in Mexico.  I am from a very rural town in a southern state of Mexico called Guerrero.  My flight took off at 5:30am and I got to my town at around 7:00pm on that same day.  I stayed there for about a week.  I will mention just a few of the highlightsJ.

As always, the place is jaw-dropping gorgeous!  I love the ponds, lakes, trees, animals etc.  It’s quite a difference from the city life.  The air is much fresher.  The pace of life, the people, the culture, the music, the food, the language, everything changes over there. 

On the food topic… As soon as I got there I began to eat everything in sight.  Guerrero is a haven for all types of Mexican food some strictly regional (because I have NEVER seen them outside of the state) and some that are more Mexican-typical dishes.  So I (of course) began with tamales.  I had the more well-known meat (chicken AND pork) tamales, some with red sauce and the others with green sauce.  The next day my mom gave me equally delicious (but less well-known) “Tamales de Nejo”.  These tamales have a flat shape to them and are made with banana and avocado leaves and are a side dish to “Mole verde” (green mole made out of seeds, chillies, and other spices plus chicken).  THEN!  I had something called “atole de panili”.  I don’t exactly know how to explain atole de panili.  It’s a drink made of cornflour ( not cream of wheat) and corn and it’s eaten with salsa… After that!  I moved on to atole de elote which is my personal favorite.  I actually learned how to make it as well. 

I also ate “pozole” which is like a stew with hominy and pork/chicken.  It is eaten with avocado, lemon, chili, oregano, lettuce, onions and some people also add radish but not me.  Next on the list was the ever so famous “menudo” dish.  On my birthday ( December 27^th) my mom, aunts and friends made mole, beans and rice.  I hadn’t eaten mole in ages!  Guerrero has a special type of mole and I have been unable to find it anywhere in Philadelphia so I was more than happy to satisfy my almost 6 month craving of Guerrero’s mole.  I was eating day and night (literally) and so the list of dishes that I ate and that I just didn’t have time to eat ( next trip!) can go on and on for pages.  But I just want to mention a very rare dish that does not exist in the United States.  It’s basically a salsa.  The main ingredient is a type of bug that I guess lives in the state of Guerrero and probably in other states of Mexico as well. 

The bug is called “Jumil”.  It’s a spicy little bug.  Every time I ate them I couldn’t help but think of Timon and Pumba and their eating habits.  I hadn’t eaten these bugs in years.  I’m lucky to have visited when they were in season.  I will later post a picture of me and the salsa that I made with “jumiles”.  I don’t think that you can tell that there are bugs grinded in the salsa.  But alas there are! And they make the salsa 500 times enjoyable! 

I had a blast in Mexico!  I’m so happy that I went.  If it wasn’t for all of the cartel activity (and the scorpions and snakes) I would have probably stayed a little longer plus I would have been living with a less tense mother.  lol

One more week and the blogging resumes :D !