My Whole30 Review (Part 1 - The Good Stuff)

Finally! For those of you who have been patiently waiting for this review, I'm sorry it has taken so long. This book was actually quite long, and there was so much I wanted to share. I've only gotten this part done so far, but I couldn't wait any longer to share with you guys.

Since there's just a dense amount of information I want to share, I'll try to break things down and make it easier to read and not super long. That being said, I'm not sure how many parts it will be broken into yet.

Part 1 and part 2 are anticipated to be all the in depth knowledge of how things work and the reasons why diets aren't working. Parts later on will be more of how your diet should be changed, what it should comprise of; things that I find hard to grasp and agree with, but you'll have to wait to read it to see for yourself!

Feel free to share your thoughts below or email me!

"It Starts with Food" by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig

Chapter 1: Food Should Make You Healthy 

• The food you eat makes you more healthy or less healthy. Those are the options. 
• The Whole30 is designed to help you recognize what are the good foods, and what are the bads. They also break things down even further to tell you why the goods are good, and why the bads are bad (if it isn’t obvious enough already). 

Chapter 2: The National Framework 

• Our ancestors were born to eat for survival, but our brain has been hardwired to do something different than that. 
• Our body has primal urges designed to keep us safe, healthy, and hydrated. But today, our brain is powerful enough, and capable of overriding these signals. 

Chapter 3: What Is Food? 

• They believe in choosing their foods based on their “Good Food Standards”. 

Good Food Standards: The foods we eat should 

1. Promote a healthy psychological response
2. Promote a healthy hormonal response
3. Support a healthy gut 
4. Support immune function and minimize inflammation 

It all sounds pretty good, right? That’s what I thought too. Once I read more and got more in depth, the things they were revealing starting to really wow me, and the things they were advising one to do when following their Whole30 diet seemed a little unreasonable. Keep reading if you want to know what I mean. 

Facts: 

• Micronutrient: essential compound needed only in relatively small amounts; serves important biological functions, and is critical for long term health. 
• Macronutrient: CARBS, FATS, and PROTEINS; chemical compounds consumed in large amounts, necessary for normal growth, metabolism, and other bodily functions. Supplies energy, broken down and used for structural components. 
• Carbs: several types of sugars, starches, and dietary fibre. All broken down to a simple glucose molecule. 
• Carbs can be manufactured from certain amino acids. 
• Proteins: broken down to amino acid building blocks; helps build, maintain, and repair muscles 
• Fats: either in free form (free fatty acids) or complexes in our body. Dietary fats are building blocks for many things like tissue and fibers, hormones, and membranes. 
• Three types of families for fats: saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated. 
• Fats help you absorb fat-soluble vitamins from food, and makes a great slow-burning energy source. 

The creators of the Whole30 Plan believe that: 

• foods you eat exert a powerful psychological influence; they can influence your hormones, silently directing your metabolism, affect your digestive tract, and impact your immune system. 
• things usually start off with overconsumption of nutrient-poor foods because of the reliance on the psychological effect it has on us. Leads to hormonal, gut, and immune-system disruption, and symptoms like diseases and conditions may follow. 

Chapter 4: Your Brain On Food 

• Diet’s don’t work because people can’t sustain their new dietary habits, and vast majority end up gaining back the weight. 
• Simply dieting doesn’t change one’s food cravings. These cravings must be changed in order to permanently keep off the weight that was lost. 
• Creating healthy dietary habits isn’t just about restricting or eliminating certain foods. 
• It’s not your fault when you get certain cravings, it’s the way our brain has been re-wired and programmed from consuming these “bad” foods. 
• Unhealthy foods have an unfair advantage. They are designed to mess with your brain. They are built for you to crave them, making them hard for you to give up. 
• Food craving: an intense desire to consume a particular food that is difficult to resist. 
• Cravings aren’t only about your behavior related to food, but is also about one’s emotional behavior and habitat. Known to be more related to moods and frustration than hunger
• Due to nature and our biology, our brains had been hardwired to appreciate 3 basic tastes: sweet (safe source of energy), fatty (dense source of calories), and salty (means of conserving fluid). 

• Food scientists use this fact to modify our whole foods. They suck out all the good stuff, fill it all back with crap, all with the intentions of inducing cravings, overconsumption, and bigger profits for their manufacturers. 
• Modified foods light up our pleasure and reward center not because of nutrition, but because it is scientifically designed to stimulate our taste buds and make us crave more. 
• Sugar: came from fruits before, now comes from artificial sweeteners, refine sugars, and high fructose corn syrup. 
• Fat: came from meats before, now comes from a deep fryer or a tub of spread. 
• Sodium: came from sea life before, now comes from the salt shaker on the table. 
• Problem with these foods are supernormally stimulating in the absence of nutrition and satiety. 
• Overall: modern technology has stripped the nutrition from our foods, replacing it with empty calories and synthetic chemicals that FOOL our bodies into giving us the same biological signal to keep eating these foods; empty calories with less nutrition. 

Pleasure, Reward, Emotion, and Habit 

• Satiety: occurs in the digestive tract, specifically in the intestines. Hormones signal your brain when you’ve digested enough calories and nutrients, which decreases your desire for more food. 
• dependent on the nutrition of your food 
• may take several hours to relay the message 
• Satiation: regulated by the brain, more timely motivation to stop eating; the perception of fullness. 
• different from satiety because it’s one’s own perception and not a relayed message to the brain 

The differences: eating a healthy, balanced meal with all the food groups will give us a satiety feeling, because our brain knows we are well nourished. Eating a dozen oreos will only give us a satiation feeling not because we’re full, but because we’re getting sick/had enough of that taste. 

• Chronic consumption of these affect our taste buds, our perception, and our waistlines. Over time, it rewires our brain. 
• The bad foods we eat - supernormally stimulate without adequate nutrition - telling the brain to release dopamine, causing a rush of excitement that we associate with that kind of food over time. 
• The brain releases opioids - endorphins; body’s feel good compounds - causing a rewarding effect, bringing pleasure, emotional relief, releasing stress and making you feel good in general. *Over time, with continued reinforcement, it’s impossible for you to resist those cravings. The want has turned into a need. 

Stress Effect 

• Chronic stress causes us to biologically overeat, making it even harder to resist our cravings. 
• Under stress, the urge to pleasure eat is strong, making it easier to overeat. Stress changes the types of food you eat; highly palatable foods that are sweet, salty, and high in fat. 
• During stress, the strong opioid and dopamine responses promote encoding these not so great habits of ours, causing us to always turn to comfort food when we’re stressed, upset, or angry. 
• Stressed brain expresses a strong drive to eat AND an impaired capacity to inhibit eating.

A little rant, a little reflection

I’m sitting here, munching on a granola bar, taking a break from studying, and my brain starts to wander off to think about school. I’m already reviewing my past course materials because: a) I did not do well in the pre-req course, b) I found this course difficult so I dropped it and c) I had a terrible prof that I couldn't learn from. 

The more I worry about not doing well or failing this course again, the more I’m pushing myself to work harder, study harder, and not think about failing. Just focus on doing well. Then a thought crossed my mind: I wasn’t afraid of failing, I was afraid of not getting the A's or B's I wanted. And because I thought about that, I decided to drop it because I couldn’t do well. I thought that if I couldn't do great, I might as well not even try to do okay, because I only wanted great. 

What I should be thinking about is focusing on doing better, no matter what that better is. Even though I haven’t gotten the best grades the past couple years, I tried. Maybe despite all my efforts, I still won't get that A+ or A- I always want. 

But if I put in my efforts and try, there's no reason to be upset with myself. Most importantly, I'd like to remind myself: what happened when I tried? I DIDN’T FAIL. I passed; some barely, some better, but none the less, I didn’t fail. I shouldn’t be worrying about failing or not doing well, I should only be focusing on doing my best, and improving to be better than I was before. 

This goes the same with my fitness and health change. I can’t focus on failing and not going to the gym and not being able to do more reps or heavier sets. I have to focus on how far I’ve come, where I need to improve, and do more to improve. 

Glad I noticed that the way I’ve been thinking has been impeding me on being a better me. Now I will really focus on my way of thinking to change my perspective on school :) 

Thanks for reading <3 

Eating in America (Part 2)

Here's what you guys have been waiting for! 

Photos, ratings, and descriptions of almost all the things I ate on my trip! 

If you want to read about the first part of my trip, click here. 

Be prepared, because this will be a long entry! 

Eggs Benedict

Overall: Delicious! 

(7 out of 10)

This was just a simple Eggs Benedict that I got at the Edmonton International Airport while waiting for out flight. It was like 6 AM, and I needed food. The English muffins were nicely toasted, warm and crispy, and although the sauce was a little too salty, they did not douse it all over the egg as you can see. The hash browns were seasoned well and super hot and crispy when I had it. 

Chicken and Salmon with Rice

Overall: Alright

(5 out of 10)

I picked this combo up at the supermarket (Food Land) when we went to get fruit and water because we didn't want to go out for dinner. It was from the counter hot/cold foods. The chicken was supposedly seasoned with garlic and onions but had no taste. The salmon was surprisingly good, seasoned with sweet chili sauce. 

Real Crab Crab Cakes 

Overall: Yummy!

(8.5 out of 10) 

Crab cakes are crab cakes, but these ones were a little different from what I would find in my hometown. Firstly, it was 99% real crab meat (plus 1% seasonings), and it also had 3 different kind of dipping sauces to be paired with: mango salsa, sweet chili, and sweet aioli. They tasted really good, but it wasn't quite hot enough. I mentioned that to the server, and he explained to me that: real crab meat burns a lot faster than artificial, so in order to maintain the color they don't cook it as long as regular crab cakes. Shortly after that, he came back out with a fresh batch - on the house - for us! Cooked to extra hot for perfection. Superb service as well! 

Loco Moco

Overall: Delicious! 

(9 out of 10)

We were seeing this dish, Loco Moco, over many menus that we browsed before entering the restaurant, but we couldn't figure out what it was - until we asked our server that day. My friend ordered it, and it was absolutely delicious. 

Served on a bed of rice doused with a sweet, unique tasting gravy, it was accompanied with a beef patty, sunny side up egg, and a little side of vegetables. This dish may seem simple, but it was oh-so delicious. The only reason I didn't give it a 10 was I went back the night before I left, and it didn't taste as good and the price was twice as expensive on the dinner menu. 

Shrimp Burger

Overall: Delicious! 

(10 out of 10) 

It may seem just a twisted version of a regular beef burger, but whoever came up with this recipe deserves a pat on the back. The jumbo shrimps were detailed and firmly arranged into a patty that never fell apart during the entire meal. The buns were toasted and had a unique, sweet tasting aioli sauce to it that brought out the taste of the shrimp. Top it off with some lettuce, tomatos, red onions, and avocado - espeically the avocado - and you have the best burger in town. The avocado made the burger a smooth texture, along with the crunchiness of the shrimp - it was just a great match. 

** the past 3 dishes were ordered from the same restaurant 

Blueberry Buttermilk Pancakes with Fresh Blueberries and Icing Sugar 

Overall: Yummy! 

(8 out of 10) 

Probably some of the better pancakes that I've tasted. We all know IHOP is known for their breakfasts and pancakes, but these pancakes were 10 times better than IHOP's. These would be the kind of pancakes I'd expect from IHOP. Not the kind of pre-made garbage they're serving right now. I drizzled a little bit of coconut syrup on it - yummmy. I only had a couple pancakes, took the other one home - but it didn't taste as good afterwards. 

Special of the Day Omelette: Turkey Bacon, Spinach, Mushroom, Mozzarella Cheese 

Overall: So damn good!! 

(8 out of 10) 

Hands down the best omelette I've ever tasted. I couldn't ever re-make an omelette that would taste the same. You can't really tell, but the omelette actually came on a round paper plate and was a big round thing. It almost looked like a pancake. But you can see that it is absolutely FILLED with fillings. It wasn't a stingy "breakfast rip you off" omelettes. It tasted great, and the amount of filling was well worth the $10 I paid for it. The ONLY thing that I have to justify for it not being a 10 is that I found a piece of hair in it halfway through :\ I told them, and they made me a new one, but since it was rushed, half the egg yolk wasn't even cooked yet. I ended picked out the filling and ate that only. 

Iilma's Restaurant - Breakfast Buffet 

Overall: Alright

(6 out of 10) 

We didn't know where to go for breakfast, and this restaurant was in the main lobby of our hotel, so we decided to give it a try. They have their daily breakfast buffet's for $15. The selection was a little weird, and it wasn't super great; they had the usual pancakes, toast, bacon, sausage, exc, but they also had seaweed soup and steamed white rice. 

I definitely had a little chuckle when I saw the rice; I almost felt like I got ripped off because half of the things I would eat at lunch and not breakfast. The more I thought about it, I finally put together the reason why; Hawaii has a large population of Japanese and Chinese people, both in the local and tourist area. Because of their dietary differences from the Western culture, that's probably the likely reason they put rice and seaweed soup at a breakfast buffet. 

Mahi Mahi Wrap and Hawaiian Burger

Overall: M - Good , H - Yummy 

(8 out of 10) 

My friend had the Mahi wrap and I had a bite, and it was alright. The fish was kind of oily and dry, but the tar tar sauce gave it some more flavour. The Hawaiian burger had a meat patty, a ring of pineapple, and a bit of teriyaki sauce glazed over it. Definitely different to try a burger that was kind of sweet and salty at the same time. It was an interesting combination that I enjoyed trying. Made the burger EXTRA juicy! I don't think it was worth the $12 though, maybe $10. 

Food Market - House Special Ramen 

Overall: Alright 

(6 out of 10) 

We walked my serveral places that served udon and ramen, and we knew that at one point we had to try. Being the impatient person I am, I decided to try this one at the food market place. It wasn't the best choice I've made. The soup was heavy in MSG and tasted really salty, and there was only few pieces of chicken, pork, and half a boiled egg. The noodles tasted similar to instant noodles too, so it wasn't anything special. I was fairly hungry when I ordered it though, so it was still enough to fill me up. Not quite worth the $10 in my eyes! 

Prime Rib Loco Moco (L) and Mahi Mahi Salad Wrap (R)

Overall: Yummy! 

(7 out of 10) 

We were on Hawaii island when we ate this for lunch. It was at a space/astrology museum that we were touring. There was the option of a buffet or ordering off the regular menu. We opted out of the buffet and decided to try these two feature items, which were both only $12! The portions were very generous for it's price, especially the PRIME RIB loco moco. If only the sauce tasted as great as the other one, and it would have been perfect. They did mix the sauce and mahi mahi fish with a mayo base sauce, but  the wrap was light and very refreshing overall. 

"Wok- Kiki" Lunch Buffet

Overall: Alright

(6 out of 10) 

The day we went to eat at this restaurant was after our Pearl Harbour tour on the 3rd last day. Our tour guide recommended this place, saying it was really decent, so we decided to give it a try. The selection was variable, and seemed quite reasonable for the price of $13 per person. There were many types of noodles, fried rice, pork, chicken, vegetables, and even soups to choose from. Best of all, was there was unlimited sweet, sweet pineapple at the dessert station. Although the food was gourmet or stellar, we definitely got our money's worth of food. I don't recall knowing a place that can get me 2 plate fulls of food, a bowl of noodles, and 1/4 of a pineapple for only $13!! 

BBQ Chicken and Meat Jun 

Overall: Delicious! 

(10 out of 10) 

Our driver to and from parasailing actually recommended this place - ME BBQ was the name. To our surprise, the food was delicious, even though the outside of the restaurant looked a little sketchy. You go in to the non-air conditioned store and order your food, and you pick it up and sit yourself at an empty table to eat. I had never really had much Korean food before, so it was like a new thing to me. For the small price of $12, you get the BBQ chicken and "meat jun" PLUS 4 other little sides. For my sides, I had double serving of broccoli, cold tofu with sweet soy sauce, and some cold mac and cheese (really good as well).  The chicken was very tasty, had a great sauce on it, and wasn't burnt black like other grilled chicken. The meat jun was also very interesting - there was a thin thin layer of meat in the middle, and it was doughy all around the outside. It came with this tangy, sweet soy like dip and it was the perfect combination for the jun. So delicious!  

Tempura Kake Udon 

Overall: Good 

(7 out of 10) 

I can't quite recall which day it was we went to this famous Udon house for the udon, but I do recall that I had been starving, dehydrated, and suffering from motion sickness all day. Definitely wasn't fun. I had to run off to find a bathroom cause I was feeling so sick, and thus my udon got kinda cold (warmish) :( The taste of it was still good - the soup base wasn't the typical miso or dashi that I'm use to having it here, and I couldn't quite tell what it was. Good none the less though! 

The best part about this noodle house is that EVERYTHING is made fresh and right in front of you! Kitchen staff battering and frying the tempura, chef's rolling the dough out, putting it through the machines and producing the udon noodles, and putting the noodle in boiling water to cook up right away. 

4 pc Assorted sushi, Plain udon, and Chicken Karash 

Overall: Yummy 

(7.5 out of 10) 

 This little Japanese place was also located in the main lobby of our hotel. At first I was planning to get a regular udon - the lady who owned the place was telling me all the stuff and how good it sounded. Instead, I chose this assorted sushi and udon combo, thinking I will get both sushi and some of that yummy udon. Unfortunately, the udon didn't come out like the picture and was just plain. The soup was still okay tasting though. Evidently, I wasn't full yet, so I also ordered an order of chicken karash. The chicken was really tender inside, but hot and crispy on the outside. It came with a tangy soy dip 

Big Mac and Fries 

Overall: It's McDonalds

Our hotel is really close to the beach, and there are also many little food stores around us too. When we arrived, there was in Mcdonalds being built/going under renovation. Not sure if we should consider it lucky or not, but it opened just the day before we were about to leave. When the store opened at 11:59 pm that evening, they had a 4 hour special of 99 cent Big Mac's and Egg McMuffin's. My friend and I both got one, and I got a side of fries as well. It's been sooo long since I had a big mac. It tasted goood. 

Fresh Pineapple and Coconut Juice 

Overall: Refreshing 

I stole Spongebob's house!! Just kidding haha. We had the coconut juice first one day, and I have to say, it was different from what I imagined. The coconut juice I've had in town is very sweet, and I knew for a fact that they did add some sugar syrup to it. But the one we had in Hawaii wasn't very sweet at all - just a hint, but it tasted very natural. It was real coconut taste, no additives, nothing. Glad I tried it :) 

We saw people walking around with pineapples at the market place, but we weren't able to find the stand near the end of our trip. We watch them slice the pineapple open in front of us, core all the meat out, and blend it in a blender and pour it back into the pineapple. The guy then puts toothpicks to attach the lid back on, pop in a straw and a umbrella and serve it to you. My friend had the regular pineapple one, and I added coconut meat to mine to give it a pina colada taste. 

There wasn't enough coconut meat, so it wasn't very pina colada. Just a few hints. The more outrageous part was the price - $15 for mine and $13 for my friend's. I had no idea it was that expensive! Like, it's a damn pineapple that probably costed $2! Anyways, it was more so paying for the labor and the experience, that's how I took it. 

If you've made it to the end of this entry, congrats! You may now feel a bit hungry and anxious to get out of your town and head to Hawaii yourself to try all of these delicious (some not so delicious) foods! 

Hope you enjoyed the entry! 

Mahalo' 

xoxo 

Eating in America (Part 1)

Part 1 of  "Eating in America" will mainly entitle what I saw and how my brain reacted to the different things I saw. If you're looking for detailed photos/foodporn pictures of the foods I ate, here is the entry. 

First things first, we went to many different places for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and not all the restaurant menus had caloric information on it - simply ingredients, way of preparation, and a price. What I noticed more so on fast food restaurants / coffee shops was that there was a "calorie" column listed beside the "price" column. If you can't visualize what I mean, I googled some pictures. These were similar things I would witness when I was waiting in line for the occasional Iced Americano or Chicken snack wrap at the airport.

Starbucks 

McDonald

As you can clearly see, both columns are listed. I was quite surprised when I saw this at first. I thought, ``wow! How convenient! This will help me reflect upon which would be more worthy of my calories (a 380 calorie chicken snack wrap vs a 470 calorie chicken sandwich).``

It made me feel that the health department (or whichever monitors these fast food chains) is ACTUALLY trying to do something to bring to people`s attention of the actual number of calories they`re consuming PRIOR to them order rather than looking it up afterwards. 

Of course, McDonalds and Starbucks aren`t probably the best places to eat from, but there are situations where you are on the go or you just need something to eat on your way to your destination. I think this will help people make better choices - example, a bacon, cheese, and egg bagel from McDonalds may seem to be less calorie dense and less fatty for you, but when you only look at the number of calories, there is actually 140 calories less in the BCE biscuit than the bagel. 

When it comes to sit-down dining restaurants, say The Cheesecake Factory for example in this case, they did have caloric information listed on their menu 

I think this is a great thing, and I would highly advocate it. Sure, it doesn`t break down all the macros and nutrients for you, but at least it`s a place to start. Maybe one would consider choosing a lower calorie option, splitting the dish, or packing some of it to go when the caloric info starts to influence their decision making while dining. 

Unfortunately, I feel that even with this new system and providing the numbers, some people still choose to blindy eat whatever they want. And that`s okay - I guess. It`s not a fail in the system, it`s just a matter of how much that person cares. If a man`s routine is to get a supersize big mac combo every day after work, putting up caloric information may not change his decisions. There are other factors that play into their decision making. And no government system is going to plan ALL that out for their citizens. 

It`s all a matter that lie within our hands. 

"It Starts with Food" Review

If you recall, I started reading a book called "It Starts with Food" by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig before I left for my trip. Due to the long hours of flying time, I am almost done reading it!

First things first, I think this was a really helpful book. It was very matter of fact-ly, and straight forward about the facts. There were parts where the facts they were explaining were very common things we all know about, but then there are also the facts and stories that are so shocking - things that you would never know about unless you personally did research into it - or like me, read the book.

With that said, my eyes have been opened to a different perspective of how the authors see food. They see it as something that should only make you BETTER, HEALTHIER, NATURAL. The foods you eat should only promote you to be better, nothing worse. It shouldn't mess with your hormones, or mental health, or your psychological ways of thinking. Even though there is scientific research behind all these statements, I cannot help but doubt if this diet is sustainable. There were many things that I do myself that I am told is WRONG and to NOT DO, and much much more.

I would love to share with you what the authors have researched and published, but it is also up to you if you would like to believe it or follow it. Personally, I've learned more about the chemical workings of our body and digestive system, but I'm not sure if I can 100% fully grasp it and believe it.

Keep your eyes open for the detailed review, which will be broken up by chapters/sections :)

Cheers! xoxo

Post Trip Update

Aloha fellow readers, I am back! 

Hawaii was beautiful and I had a lot of fun, but there were definitely people and things back here at home that I missed dearly. 

There are so many things I want to talk about and share but I don't know where to start! I'm still in the process of collecting photos from my friend and uploading them, so I will add some pics later! 

• Our hotel was a 30 second walk from Waikiki beach and was amazing. 
• The beach was always crowded with people, surfers, paddleboarders, and people like us, laying there suntanning. 
• We went parasailing near the end of our trip - 600+ ft in the air, looking at the waikiki skyline - amazing feeling. 
• The night life in Waikiki is very lively once past around 9. Night markets, street performers, magicians, exc. Everywhere doing everything! 
• The tour I booked turned out to be with a chinese touring agency so we were stuck with chinese fobby people the entire trip xD 

Day 1 - Arrival - dropped off at hotel and had the rest of the day to do whatever we like. I recall walking around the streets, going to the beach, and eating yummy food 

Day 2 - Polynesian Culture center - we got to take a look at the insides of the "Hawiian" people's lives, their kind of performances with drums, and how they made coconut milk ! This all ended off with a complementary buffet dinner (limited selection but still filled our bellies) and a semi-musical theatre performance of the life of Polynesian's. 

Day 3 - Mini circle island tour - Even though this island looks so small on the map, and still small when you're standing right in front of it, the scenery is a sight to see. It was so beautiful, the water was a mixture of deep blue and sea green. There was even a mini beach at the very bottom where families were swimming and playing in the water. 

Day 4 - Hawaii Island and Volcano Museum tour - Since we were in O'ahu, we had to fly on a plane to arrive at Hawaii, "The Big Island". When we arrived, we toured the south eastern part of the Hawaii island (We only had about 10 hours to adventure, and the island was too big to see everything in one day, sadly). We went to different places like the local university's space museum, we went to the volcanic national park to see the volcanic craters that were emitting smoke, "The black sea" is what I think they call it, where the lava pushes up from under ground and cools to become black rocks on the shore line. Most crazy of all, was that there were little BLACK crabs by the shoreline too!! 

Day 5 - Pearl Harbour and City tour + parasailing - Being a fan of Hawaii- Five O, going to Pearl Harbour to sight see was something I always wanted to do. What can I say! Other than the fact of it's well known history, constantly seeing it on TV made me want to go that much more. I was never a person who was very interested in history in general, but I learned a lot in this visit to Pearl Harbour. We learned about the ships (we even got to tour one of the missiles), we got to see videos of guest speakers talking about the ship, and we also learned about the history behind the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. I have to admit, I got touched by watching that video. 

We then continued off to a parasailing adventure only 10 minutes drive away from our hotel (which we previously booked before leaving). It was SO much fun, no lie. They strap you up, and then let the parasail go and start driving the boat forward and you just get yanked into the sky when that gust of wind strikes! My friend was screaming like crazy (hahaha), but once you get settled down and just start to enjoy the view, everything becomes calm around you. Until they try to swerve you and dip you in the water, that is :)  

Day 6 and Day 7 - these were additional days that we booked for our trip that was not part of the tour. We did our own things these two days. Shopping, more shopping, going around to eat delicious food, sun tanning on the beach until we looked like cooked lobsters, and just enjoying the night life. I did not get to enjoy it as much as I was feeling dizzy and sick half way through the trip. I had to take things easier and many nights, returned to the hotel early to sleep or to take a nap. 

Stay tuned for photos!
Mahalo! xoxo

Aloha!!

Aloha fellow readers! Just wanted to post a quick entry and let you guys know that I have arrived in Waikiki safe and sound! The only not so great thing is that there is only free wi-fi in the lobby, and purchasble wifi in our room. And to make matters worse, my phone has decided to not pick up any wifi signal!! Lame!!

So tonight I have received complementary wi-fi because I couldn't pick up the lobby's signal.

RECAP!

The flight was long and tiresome! First flight went alright, but by the time the second one came along we were beyond exhausted, passed out, and woke up with sore bums and backs.

Our tour schedule had been completely re-arranged when I was told everything was confirmed and was staying the same, so I had to reschedule other side trip plans I made on top of our 6 day tour. I won't give you the full details of the tour, but I will do for sure when I come back and settle down again. Since I don't have any wifi really for most of the time, I won't be able to post any nice pictures on instagram or blog entries on my blog :(

But I promise you guys! When I get back home, I will post a LOT of pictures on both sources and of course, detail all the food I have tried here!

Toodles from Honolulu!

Putting an End to This Chapter

So my Hawaii trip is just around the corner, and there is much I'd like to talk about before I leave. 

I am more than happy to say that today was my last day at work. I've told them that I won't be working during the school year, that I need time off for vacation, and I have NO INTENTIONS what so ever of returning to that hell hole. 

For the close friends of mine that follow my blog or hear me tell you the stories about work, you all would probably know how miserable I feel when I'm at work. 

The restaurant is a great place, I love many of the staff members there, but there are things and people that have gotten to my last nerve - forcing me to leave and do what's best for me.  

It's been a rough day at work, and I tried my best to be happy and optimistic still, but it wasn't easy at all. Broken glasses, spilled drinks and sticky feet, cheap tips - it's as if all the bad things had to happen all in one night because its my last. I couldn't even sit down at one of my favourite restaurants for dinner because people had to be inconsiderate retards. 

I'm just ready to eat some food, then light my candle and soak my feet in some hot soapy water and put on a facial mask and just relaxxx. 

Then I'll take a dip into my new book and learn some new things :) 

Cheers to a new chapter from a tired as hell girl 

xoxo 

Sugar: Why We Can't Resist It (National Geographic)

I got a hold of a copy of the National Geographic’s magazine that had an article that covered about sugar. I read the article, and although there was a lot of history about sugar (how it was first made, where it was made, how it migrated and became so popular, exc), but there were still things that are worthy of mentioning because of how it relates to our health. The facts may be a little scattered because I skipped throughout the article to pick it out, so bare with me :) 

• The average American consume 22.7 teaspoons of sugar per DAY 
• Types of sugar consumed in descending order: Sucrose 51% (50% fructose and 50% glucose), High-Fructose Corn Syrup 36% (55% fructose and 45% glucose), and other sweeteners 13% (honey, maple syrup, molasses) 
• A problem with fructose: excess is hazardous to health; fructose is processed mainly in the liver and turned into fats, which can build up and enter the blood. 
• The consumption of sugar in the average English-men has significantly increased over the years; 4 pounds in 1700, 18 pounds in 1800, 47 pounds in 1870, and up to 100 pounds in the 1900’s. This averages out to 77 pounds of sugar annually, and 22 teaspoons of sugar a day.  
• A big reason, if not the primary, behind American’s being obese is because of sugar, in particular with fructose. If you eat too much quickly digested sugary foods like soft drinks, your liver breaks down the fructose and produces fat cells called triglycerides. 
• Some fats stay in the liver, but some can leak into bloodstream, causing an increased blood pressure. Tissues will become more resistant to insulin, causing the pancreas to spill out insulin, ultimately causing the metabolic syndrome (high blood pressure, heightened heart attack risk, and other metabolic changes). 
• Some doctors claim “Sugar is a poison by itself when consumed in high doses” 
• Obesity is linked to eating too much and exercising too little because they’re addicted to sugar; which not only makes them fatter but, after the initial sugar rush, also saps their energy levels. 
• Manufacturer’s use sugar to replace taste in foods bled of fat so that they seem more healthful, such as fat-free baked goods, which often contain large quantities of added sugar. 

On a side note, I also picked up two new books tonight; "It Starts With Food" and "Salt, Sugar, Fat" by Michael Moss. Looking forward to increasing my knowledge on all this food and health issues :) 

Cheers! xoxo