A large chunk of my motivation to blog was gone and I realized it is mainly because I felt like I had no reason to write any more. But due to recent events i have found the renewed inspiration and drive to revive my website and blog.

So what is in store? Well A LOT actually. There has been so many things going on in my life and so many things I want to share to everyone here who might still be reading my blog. So during this time I will be updating the contents and the look and feel of this blog. Adding some more sections and writing about more useful topics for everyone and then of course having my own personal posts as well.

Writing has always been an outlet for me and I believe writing keeps me on track with the things I need to do and accomplish. So I have decided to get back to it and write again.

Starting with NANOBLOMO for the month of November. It is my way of easing back into blogging once again and getting myself inspired to do it.

So anyway, that is my short and sweet update.

Thank you so much for always being here and stay tuned for more <3

Its time to get the booty back to being BOOTY-ful by revamping my old Squat Challenge and making it a little more balanced, making it both easier and a bit harder.
I used to be a fitness blogger before my life turned into a hellstorm of academic requirements. So I had to let go of my fitness and wellness. And because I am already on a raod to recovery with my Auto Immune Protocol (which I will write about in next time), I wanted to kick start my easing back in by using and revamping my old 30 Day Squat Till your Drop challenge.
And I'd love to share it with everyone here. :)

I know it looks a little daunting the reps get higher, but here is the thing. You dont have to do it all in one go. You can do 10 squats at a time as long as by the end of the day you finish whatever is required for that day. :) So there really isn't any pressure on doing it all in one go!
Doesn't that sound much better?

First let us start with some Exercise notes



Exercise notes:

1. Stand with your feet shoulder width apart. You can place your hands behind your head. This will be your starting position. 
2. Begin the movement by flexing your knees and hips, sitting back with your hips. 
3. Continue down to full depth if you are able,and quickly reverse the motion until you return to the starting position. 
4. As you squat, keep your head and chest up and push your knees out. 

1. Cross your arms over your chest. With your head up and your back straight, position your feet at shoulder width. 
2. Keeping your back straight and chest up, squat down as you inhale until your upper thighs are parallel, or lower, to the floor. 
3. Now pressing mainly with the ball of your feet, jump straight up in the air as high as possible, using the thighs like springs. Exhale during this portion of the movement. 
4. When you touch the floor again, immediately squat down and jump again. 
5. Repeat for the recommended amount of repetitions. 

Caution: Do not perform this movement if you have any knee or back injuries due to the impact involved. Also, make certain that your landings are controlled and that you land with your two feet straight (toes touching the floor first). The wrong landing can result in a sprained ligament.

1.  Make sure your legs are at a 90-degree angle, press your back against the wall, and hold it until you absolutely can’t hold it any longer. 
2.  Tip: Place your hands on top of your head or hold them out in front to add a little work for your shoulders. 
3. But whatever you do, don’t cheat and rest them on your thighs! 

1. Being in a standing position. Jump into a split leg position, with one leg forward and one leg back, flexing the knees and lowering your hips slightly as you do so.
2.  As you descend, immediately reverse direction, standing back up and jumping, reversing the position of your legs. 
3. Repeat on each leg.

It's been a while since I last updated as per usual. Mainly because things have been hectic due to GRADUATION!



Yes that is right! I finally graduated! <3
It has been a 4.5 year journey in University of Saint La Salle and it is finally over. I have had my fair share of qualms about my stay in that institution but I am equally just as glad that I decided to go on a journey through that place.

Now. After all that time I am finally a degree holder of Bachelor of Science Majoring in Marketing Management. It was not an easy journey, there were so many ups and downs but I am proud to say that I was able to just get through. Here are just a few things major that happened for the past few months.


Our section was able to champion our Marketer's Union Production Night: MUSICALES with our 8 minute Adaptation of the hit musical MAMMA MIA. We won several awards for it.

• Best Female Performer (me)
• Best Costumes
• Best Choreography
• Overall Champions

After our production night we had other things like the M.U. Night but I did not attend that since I had other more important things I had to attend to.

After that of course was more school work then out of the blue our group was one of the selected to present in the very first University of Saint La Salle College of Business and Accountancy Research Colloquium.



Me, Angela, Shamay, Edlyn, and Dianne's hard work was recognized as something that is actually good. As per usual, we weren't really aiming for excellent quality work, we just wanted to present research on something that we actually want to research on and as much as possible make sure that it was complete.
We weren't included in the top two but we are ecstatic to have been one of the presenters. It was no easy task.

After that whirlwind of a presentation, the section decided to go on a trip out of town for an overnight of fun. So we went to Mambukal to just have some rest and relaxation. I do have some video clips of the trip but I haven't gotten around to editing it yet because of the busy schedule but I do have plans on doing that within the month of March.


 It was an extremely fun overnight trip, albeit we got a little hungry at the end because we finished up  most of the food, but the bonding was real. I got to spend time with everyone and other got to spend time with the rest. Even if we weren't complete during the trip, it was still worthwhile.

And of course, last but not the least. GRADUATION PRACTICE and the GRADUATION RITES.


Everyone was so tired during the rehearsals and everyone was really grumpy due to the heat and the graduation committee were super STRICT like there was no tomorrow. Additional drama happened during rehearsals and during the day itself. But we were finally able to finish everything in record time
2 HOURS! that is the QUICKEST Graduation Rites in USLS to date with over 1,400+ students who marched, not to mention those who received academic honors such as valedictorians and cum laudes.

Bottom line, I was super ecstatic to have been part of it all and all that hard work was worth it. I may have been one of the more difficult students of USLS due to my highly opinionated views and my constance deviance of the educational structure but in the end, it all fell into place.

My sister even wrote a blog post about the whole shebang right here: GRADUATION RIGHTS | DaynaDream

I know this post is super delayed but I have been quite overwhelmed these past few months but now finally Ive posted it.



Congratulations Graduates of Bachelors of Science, Major in Marketing Management Batch of 2018 Section 4C. WE DID IT!

How about you? What's been going on so far?

When I was younger I had so much creativity and so much ideas flowing through my head and I often times tried to make sure I never forget those ideas and work on them one way or another without really bothering how to make it happen but I just did.
As I grew older and things started to change, there was one thing that I removed from my life and that was journaling (or keeping a diary)
I mean, I know I still keep planners, but planners are for planning out the future, it is hardly self reflective. I lost a lot of my self reflection. So as a part of my self improvement or goals for 2018 for the creativity part, Im going to bring back journaling into my life.

Journaling is very important to any human being. Our greatest minds like Albert Einstein, Issac Newton, Da Vinci had one thing in common which helped in carving out history as we know it. THey all kept journals.

"If you’re serious about becoming a wealthy, powerful, sophisticated, healthy, influential, cultured, and unique individual, keep a journal.” - Jim Rohn

Why is journaling such an important and helpful thing for us?  Here are 5 reasons to start journaling:


1. Self reflection - Writing things down helps improve memory, understanding and learning. When yu write things down in a reflective manner it makes connections in our brains and makes things easily understandable.  Those who journal and do a lot of self reflecting tend to have better grades in school or do better at work and even become more capable in thinking up of solutions to problems.

2. Freeing the mind - Our brains are made for thinking, creating and discovering, NOT for storing. It is always better to write things that pop into our head so that we don't have to burden ourselves daily in terms of having to make a conscious effort to remember things. That's why it is so helpful to have a journal or even just a brain dump in order to free up some serious "bytes" in our mind in order to make room for creative thinking.

3. #GoalsAchieved - When you write you somehow are able to keep track of whatever it is you are striving to achieve whether it is just a simple essay you have to submit in a week's time or a project you're working on for years. Having a journal definetly helps you keep track.

4. Reduces stress - when you are able to vent out, you start feeling better about things. When you journal this does that exactly. No one is really going to read your journals any time soon so there is no need to fear of being judged. Just letting your mind and feelings flow from yourself to the paper and lift up your spirits and take a load off.

5. Creativity - With all the above combined, creativity will start flowing back to you. You'll be able to make things, create things, and accomplish more.

Yas girl (or boy)!!

So with that Im going to regularly journal again and I want to see how it improves my overall well being mentally and creatively.

WOW, I really feel like 2018 is really going to be full of great things! I'm truly excited. I desire to be the best version of myself I possibly can.

I live in a micro apartment, which is basically a shoe box, and I have a lot of things. I moved in from a much bigger place and therefore I had a hard time fitting everything in.

I somehow managed to devise a way to get everything in order but I feel like it isn't enough. So I decided to take on the 30 Day Minimalism Challenge.

I hope to learn some things from it and at the same time make more room in my house and let go of items I don't really need anymore.

So without further ado. Here is the EASIEST 30 day Minimalism challenge!

1.  Bags | Purse | Wallets
2. Clothes
3. Undergarments 
4. Shoes
5. Beauty Products
6. Accessories
7. Magazines | Manuals
8. Notebooks | Textbooks | Handouts
9. Cd's | Dvds
10. Old/unused electronics
11. Receipts | Bills | Documents
12. Stationary Supplies
13. Linens | Towels | Rags
14. Cleaning products
15. The Junk drawer/box/pile
16. Tops of shelves/dressers
17. Furnitures
18. Fridge | Freezer | Cooler
19. Pantry
20. Kitchen Cabinets
21. Apps
22. Stored media
23. Email inbox
24. Subscriptions
25. Photos
26. Hobby supplies
27. Sentimental items
28. Holiday decorations
29. Nail polish
30. The mind

Wow its only week 5 and I somehow gained a bit of weight. From 153 to 157? Is it because I started to break my intermittent fasting and started eating carbs. I dont think so, but I did stray away from my diet.

Why did I break my diet regimen? Well it's due to the fact that my hormones are surging at the moment. A.k.a. PMS. Sometimes it is really hard to be disciplined when your body is going haywire. But its not just because I ate a serving of rice every other day. You actually gained weight before your period.

HOW? and WHY do we gain weight during PMS?


Upon a few hours of online sleuthing this is what I found out:

Hormonal changes can cause some serious water retention. Some people have gs retention which makes you fart like cray cray and some even constipation or the opposite diarrhea. All these gstro intestinal issues can result in water retention and therefore, WEIGHT GAIN. 

There are actulla 3 things that make you retain water.

1. ESTROGEN

When your body has more estrogen than progesterone, it causes us to retain salt and water in our body's tissues.

2. CORTISOL

The Stress hormone! This one is a downer. You see, when you are feeling too stressed out or when you are affected by all that mood swings and give in to the stress, it causes you to bloat because cortisol is an antidiuretic, and retains all that water. :(

3. MAGNESIUM DEFICIENCY

Magnesium is on of the key electrolytes that power our bodies. Now a drop of magnesium levels also causes bloating. This usually happens 1 week before the period starts.

HOW CAN I AVOID THIS LARA!??

Well, of course. first and foremost, do your best not to give in to cravings. When we go through our PMS we often reach for those carb heavy, salty treats which causes us to retain all these fluids that resut in weight gain. So thats number 1.

Next is, hit the gym! Exercise is the best way to battle those nasty hormones! As the great Elle Woods would say, "Exercise gives you endoriphines, Endorphines make you happy.." and if you are happy, cortisol levels go down and you experience less bloating which therefore lowers your "PMS WEIGHT GAIN."
Now if you really wanna go and eat something "sinful" go ahead and grab that dark chocolate of at least 70%. Its super high in magnesium so it will give you a bit of a boost.
But remember moderation is key okay?

So there you have it!

Reasons why you have weight gain during your PMS and how to avoid it.  (i should proably listen to my own advise! @Myself, "Duly noted. Will make sure to do this the next time I get my PMS and Cravings."

Did you know about this before? What are you PMS cravings? Mine is usually Potato corner and Siomai.

It's the beginning of  the 4th week of the month and I wanted to check in with my weight and stats.
Unfortunately the only thing I was able to log at the beginning of the year was my weight which was 158lbs.

I have made a separate page that tracks my progress photos and stats here -> (PROGRESS PAGE) and if you want access to it just contact me here request and request for the password. I'll be more than delighted to share my journey to health 2018 with you!


So I have been doing my best to eat healthy and be a bit ore active. To be honest I'm really just sticking to fixing my eating habits first because i know the gym can wait and working out is really so much easier than eating clean.

So focusing on cooked meals everyday (at least once a day) and staying away from rice and other things that I have mentioned in my post regarding my HEALTH GOALS FOR 2018. I really want to focus on fixing my diet before I go all out in the gym. One thing I have failed to remind myself in the past is to just take it slow.  Sometimes you get super excited and pumped up with your plans and goals that you feel like you can just take on everything in one fell swoop then after a short while, you burn out.

I'm not about to make that same mistake I've done for a few years now. I'm going to do this one section of my life at a time. So far its been almost 4 weeks and things are looking great. Slow yet steady. Progress is progress.

So as of week 4, my current weight is now 153.56bs! That is 5 pounds down from January 1!! And this is just from eating cleaner and being mindful of what I put in my tummy.

This is truely exciting and I cannot WAIT for everything to start getting even better!

Again you can check in at my Progress Page, just Contact me for the password. :)

Previously I wrote about my health goals for 2018 and of course there is always something that goes with health and that is fitness.

I used to have a blog that was solely about fitness but it started out as an eating disordered blog until I found cassey ho and recovered from my E.D. i was happily blogging away until one day Facebok deicided to take my page down even though I was a very much a healthy blogger with a healthy and positive blog.

That kinda demotivated me because all my hard work just got wiped by Facebook.

But that aside. I was still working out and trying my best to keep at it but slowly I was loosing my motivation. But when 3rd year of Business school rolled around, I completely stopped and along with my health, my fitness deteriorated. I gained all my weight back and MORE due to stress eating and bad eating habits.

Now I am the biggest I have ever been and it is time to lasso my fitness back to its prime and better.
So here are my Fitness goals for 2018

1. Endurance

My endurance has sunk so low because of inactivity. I even get breathless just going back the stairs. my aim is to be able to go through a whole spin class without wanting to die. :)

2. Core strength

Cassey Ho's video didnt phase me before because she made my core so strong with my daily pop pilates sessions and muay thai classes, but now... what core? where'd it go? ohhhh wait.. thesis..

3. Flexibility

Now this is something I never really had a full grasp on even before. So my aim this year is to be able to do the splits before my birthday. So that means stetching every single day and even doing some yoga to help with balancing and centering myself.

4. Weight loss

Yes weight loss. I need to lose approximately 50lbs in total. And this isn't going to be a walk in the park.

5. Push up and Pull up

The two things I can never do which I aim on accomplishing this year! Slowly buy surely I will win this race.

So these are the 5 things I want to work on with regards to my fitness this year. Working on it slowly but surely one step at a time.  And in light of this, This blog of mine with mainly be focused on my health and fitness goals while also recording my adventures and passions. :)

Thank you so much for taking time to read this!

Ei! What's up everyone! Its me Lara! And welcome back to my blog! Today I'm going to write about my 2018 HEALTH goals!

2017 was a crazy year for me in almost every aspect of my life and one thing I really let go is my health. That is the number one thing that I failed in last year, mainly because I didn't really set any health goals last year because I was too focused on my academics which was a very wrong move on my part.

My weight ballooned to the highest it has EVER been in FOREVER and my overall health is not very good. I haven't been eating right I haven't been working out and I havent paid any attention to myself at all. All I thought about was THESIS/RESEARCH PAPER.

Now, I am feeling the effects of my prolonged self neglect and I am going to do my best to fix it this year with small measurable steps so not to overwhelm myself with everything.

So here are my health goals for 2018.

1. Cook more



Yes that is right. Cooking has always been a struggle for me last year due to university academics. I would always be out until ungodly hours working on my thesis and other school stuff that brought me to just buy my meals from fast food joints and cafeteria food.

So this year I will make it NON NEGOTIABLE that I cook at least 1 HEALTHY meal per day. Im going to do this gradually until I am able to eat all two to three meals a days which I preprared myself. <3

2. Hydrate



One the the things I easily forget is hydration. So in liht of this I have decided to track my daily water intake and make sure that I consume at the bare minimum 8 glasses of water a way. We all know the health benefits of drinking sufficient amount of water daily and so I am going to do just that as well.

3. Supplementation



My friends know that I am one person who is most stubborn when it comes to drinking any kind of medicine or supplement. But this year I am going to make it a must to have my Fish oil, Vitamin c and other vitamins that my body is going to need in order to go on this road of health. <3

4. Sleep more



One of my goals for my health is to sleep at 10pm and wake up at 5am. This only gives me a 7-hour sleep which is more than enough for an adult, this way I can get more things done in that span of time giving me my evenings for my final goal for health this year.

4. Self care



Pampering ones self is crucial for one's mind, body and soul. This is going to tie everything together. Health isn't only for the physical aspect of the body, but also our mental and our spirit. SELF CARE covers a wide range of actions such as baths, skin care, massage, reading a book, aromatherapy and going out in nature.

So those are my health goals for 2018. how about you? what health goals do you have this year?

2018 Goals

It is already half way through the first month of the year and I couldn't be anymore excited about 2018. And of course with every turn of the year there are resolutions and goals that are set. That is what is great about it! Start fresh, a new chapter and new part of  your life waiting to be written.
And this is my favourite part.

So this year of 2018, here are my top 5 Goals.

1. Graduate

I have been studying Marketing Management for the past 4 and a half years (and then some) and I just want this whole college experience to be over because after this hurdle I will be able to finally do what makes me happy, full time! Graduating means so many things to me. Its a chapter of my life I can finally close and people will finally stop bothering me about it.

2.  Health