One, two blinks, and then [...]

Been a long time since I last wrote it, and everything has changed, I don't know how to even log in to this site anymore. Why do you have to integrate everything with google account? Then I have to have separate google account everytime I use different email address like this blog *first world problem*.

Ehem, anyway, in a blink of an eye, here I am finishing my degree. I'm going to miss college a lot, at the same time, really looking forward to enter the working world. Yet it scares me a lot too. I can't say I'm proud of where I stand now; of what I have accomplished. Looking back, I was always sure I'm going to grow up doing something I really love.. by this time I thought I would have gone somewhere far.

Sometimes the regrets are overwhelming,sometimes, the sleepless nights are haunting, and other times, the taste of bad memories are still lingering.

But at the same time I am grateful, the journey has been blessed with people, experience and things that have made me who I am today. I got to learn a little bit more about myself; I'm a little bit selfish, corrupted with pride, and imprisoned by my own negative thoughts.

Yet, I am willing to learn, and I am capable when I am willing, and powerful when surrounded by people that I love. I learn that I got to be persistence at times.. and I learn that I've got so much to learn about. This is the thought that gets me by, gets my stomach flip in excitement instead of anxiety.

I guess we all have our own imperfection, and being the perfectionist I am, here I stood today; learning to forgive my imperfections.

Weight , What?

images by michael seth.

"I'm on diet."

I bet you are familiar with this sentence. We, girls, have this belief that we will never be thin enough! That's right! No matter how you think how good their proportion is, girls have the tendency to "want to lose another kg".

Well, in some rare cases, there are women that have difficulties in gaining weight, and guess what is our reaction?

"Waaa, how lucky you are!" (Totally forgetting how difficult it is for them to gain weight, as much as for us to lose weight.)

But anyway, many girls are constantly on diet. Even me. I have embarked in never ending journey of weight loss (sadly). So many advices, articles, books, and diet programmes have said that "It's easy to lose weight!" But why is it so hard for some girls to actually lose weight?

Well, in my case, this is the list of why it's not easy for me:

1. Emotional eating. I think is not only me that have this problem. Many girls engage in this emotional eating; which is eating based on your feelings. I'm upset = I want to have sweets to "cheer me up". I'm bored = I want to chew something. I'm happy = I want to celebrate. Oh, the despair :(
2. Social-pressure eating. For me, saying "No" to friends are difficult. So, if my friends ask me to go to eat in restaurant, I'll go and end up eating if everybody else is eating. The challenge really comes when the restaurant is a fast food restaurant!
3. No time to exercise. I seem to have no time for exercise. Of course this is an excuse. I'm not a fan of sports, and I believe there are many girls like me who think exercise is very tiring! :O

How can we lose weight? There are many ways to lose weight, but this is a list of things you should take notice before you use these methods.

1. Diet Pills.

Easiest, fastest, but RISKY method of losing weight. Please note that I DO NOT encourage anyone to take diet pills. Diet pills are very, very tempting. I admit I nearly gave up and want to take diet pills, but no matter how "safe" they claim to be, NEVER buy it without researching it first. Many of diet pills are affecting your body in the long term, such as damaging your kidney. There are cases of death. And most probably, they won't last long, you'll bounce back to your original weight, maybe even more, when you stop taking them. See more on why you shouldn't buy diet pills here.

2. Skipping Meals.

This, was my diet method. It did not work for me, and I'm feeling hungry at all time, and I constantly have gastric :( Actually, our body is smarter than we think. When we skip meals and starve, our body is preserving available fats in our body and our metabolism is slowing down. If we want to lose weight, we want to make our metabolism system faster, not slower.

3.Eating at very very low calorie intake. This plan seems perfect; if you eat around 1500 calories a day, just eat 500 calories and you lose many weight. But sadly it doesn't work that way. Even wonder why some people are thin even if they eat a lot? it's because their body has adjusted to their daily calorie intake. If you cut a lot on calories, you'll lose weight fast at first, but then you'll stuck because your body has adjusted and so to lose more weight you cut down more calories. What happens if I cut down to only 100 calories per day? I don't think it's possible, but if that's the case, I'M DOOMED!!

So, that's all I know about diet that is not very effective. I tried to do no 2, and no 3. It was not successful for me.I hope I won't try no 1. at all.

All girls out there struggling for weight loss, you're not alone. Don't give up! Lose weight, not faith! :)

Start Living Passionately Today

Human makes mistakes, that's our nature. I can go on and on about my lists of lessons I wish my parents taught me when I was younger, so that I would never make those mistakes I've made.

One important lesson that I could share with you is live your passion.

Discover your passion, pursue your passion, embrace your passion, and live it.

My passion was always into drawing, designing, and writing. The biggest mistake I've probably made is that I didn't pursue my passion, and for what reason? Because I didn't think I was good enough.

How stupid and naive I was. Passion is not about whether you're good or no good at it. It's because you are passionate about it, you'll become good at it. Doing things you are passionate about are fun. Working at job that have things you're passionate about is fun. You don't need to work a day any longer, you are basically having fun all the time!

So how to discover your passion?

Start today!

1. Start with exploring your interests. What are your interests? What do you like to read about? What do you browse about when you go online? What are your hobbies?

It can be anything! May it be about make up, music, fashion, computers, gadgets, books, or you might like photography, reading, drawing, talking, cooking, shopping, travelling, anything really.

2. Be curious! Try activities you never try before. Start with something you have always been wanting to do. Maybe you have always wanted to learn material arts, join a chess club on your school, learn to play a saxophone, maybe join a local volunteer work community, or even some simple activities such as socializing with different group of people that have different interest than yours. Talk to people, ask their hobbies, and express your interest to get to know their hobbies and ask them to invite you for the next activities they want to participate.

3. Some people may find their passion easily, but some others may not. It really helps if you read articles or books about finding your passion. Don't be embarrassed to seek for help. Don't jeopardize your chance to live your life passionately just to get acceptance from other insignificant people in your life. It's your life, not theirs.

That's all I can give to you about finding your passion. I want to live my life to the fullest, and I also wish other people to live their best life. One way to live your life to the extend is by doing what you are passionate about. Trust me, it feels good to be passionate about something. Search your passion today. As for me, I'm starting today :)

- Arvilla Damasyani