Growing up I was tall and slim and had a very fast metabolism. I could eat anything I wanted, so I did. Fast food, junk food, home-cooked meals, restaurant food, pastries, bread, pasta, rice, meat, chicken, fish, etc. I ate it all! But as I grew older my metabolism slowed down and I find it isn’t as easy to burn off all the calories I consume so I have to start eating smart. After all, it isn’t about the quantity of food I eat but about the quality.
The meat reduction cycle
It started in my 20s, I would go through this eating cycle:
week 1 – no beef
week 2 – no beef and pork
week 3 – no beef, pork, and chicken
week 4 – no beef, pork, chicken, and seafood, just veggies
week 5 – I eat whatever I like
That’s for one whole week each time, no cheat days. I guess I give myself a cheat week, lol! Then the cycle starts over again. The cheat week is not a binge-fest so it isn’t so sinful as all that
Today, the only meats I eat with any consistency are chicken and fish (fresh or canned). I don’t really follow the cycle anymore because of it but occasionally, I get to enjoy pork (like in adobo or bacon) and shrimp and some cold cuts like pastrami and pepperoni (which I looooove!) but they are few and far between.
Healthy food choices
Let’s take a look at an all-time favorite sandwich, the burger. It looks innocent enough but that much meat (even with all the veggies on top of it in the sandwich) cannot be good for our health.
But burgers are delicious, right? And so easy to prepare. Are there healthier alternatives?
A logical direction to go is to replace the burger meat (which is usually beef) with chicken or fish. but what if there was a better alternative? In my personal opinion, here is an easy peasy way to introduce a plant-based diet to our carnivorous family and friends.
For the affordable price of 135 pesos, you get TWO UnMeat burger patties. That is a REALLY GOOD PRICE.
If you want to decide for yourself which kind of burger is better then hop on over to Shakey’s and order the Goood Burger and the Baaad Burger. 🙂 Go there with a friend and share the love. 🙂
The Goood Burger and the Baaad Burger from Shakeys
When I discovered that Century Pacific Food / Swift launched this plant-based product Shopee and Lazada a few days ago at the introductory price of 50 pesos, I jumped at it and ordered 8 packs. Now I think I should have bought more, lol!
I already love Century Pacific Food for bringing Century Tuna into my life and now this! I am so overwhelmed and amazed and happy!
What I like about the UnMeat Burger is that it looks and tastes like a regular burger but it is not composed of meat! And best of all, it is affordable.
The downside of deciding to go vegan
Frankly, going vegan is expensive. I just bought some stuff for a friend last weekend: Beyond Meat sausages for 699 pesos, and that is just 4 sausages in the pack. I also bought Daiya dairy-free cheddar cheese (200 grams) for 329 pesos. Vegetables are also expensive. This means that I need to get creative when I cook dinner for the family … like when I cooked spicy eggplant and tofu last week. 🙂
spicy eggplant and tofu
Is a vegetarian/vegan diet the only answer?!?
Ok, before you get all up in my face, I am not saying that a plant-based diet is the only answer to good health. After all, it isn’t for everyone. I know people who will probably not live as long if they are deprived of meat. Personally, though, I have found that I feel livelier and stronger with less meat in my diet … but that’s just me. I haven’t removed the meat from my diet, I just reduced it.
I got this infographic from forksoverknives.com to show the difference between a vegan diet and a plant-based diet.
Based on the infographic I am NONE OF THE ABOVE, hahaha. Ok, honestly, the way I eat is possibly closest to the plant-based diet but I would say, very loosely because I really like to eat. 😀
I therefore conclude …
That what you choose to eat is totally up to you but, as much as you can without being sad, try to make healthier choices.
Currently, the UnMeat burger is only available at Lazada and Shopee while supply lasts! I am really hoping they bring this to the regular supermarkets soon.
Kojie-san has always been committed to making its products better than ever. After introducing the newest kojic acid skin lightening innovation called Zero Pigment Light, this brand is once again pushing itself further to Go Beyond Ordinary with its improved line of lotions.
Kojie-san Skin Lightening Body Lotion with HydroMoist and Kojie-san Skin Lightening Body Lotion SPF25 with HydroMoist are now infused with the Zero Pigment Light technology. Its latest Kojic Acid skin lightening innovation that zeroes in on your dark spots, age spots, scars, melasma, and hyperpigmentation giving you a lighter even skin tone.
Moisturizing the skin is an important step in keeping it soft, radiant, and healthy-looking all day long. Both Kojie-san’s lotions contain HydroMoist, a new formulation that gives hydration to your skin while locking in the moisture. Kojie-san Skin Lightening Body Lotion with HydroMoist has a light, non-greasy formula that’s easily absorbed to help restore and strengthen your skin barrier and minimize the appearance of rough skin and stretch marks.
Kojie-san Body Lotion
What’s more, it delivers on a unique 72-hour moisture lock that keeps skin soft and smooth longer. Meanwhile, Kojie-san Skin Lightening Body Lotion SPF25 with HydroMoist also contains UVA/UVB filters to protect your skin from harsh environmental factors that can lead to skin damage and hasten the onset of wrinkles and other signs of skin aging. Plus, both lotion variants are dermatologically tested, hypoallergenic, and paraben-free.
To achieve the full benefits of Kojie-san’s carefully formulated products, it’s best to use either of these lotions with popular soap variants Kojie-san Skin Lightening Classic Soap and Kojie-san Skin Lightening HydroMoist Soap for a softer and more even-toned complexion.
Why settle for something less when you can Go Beyond Ordinary? With Kojie-san’s improved skin lightening body lotions, you can achieve a healthier glow while addressing your specific skin concerns.
Get exciting updates and information at @Kojie-sanPH on Facebook and Instagram at www.kojiesan.com. Kojie-san is available at all leading supermarkets and drugstores nationwide, as well as Kojie-san’s official LazMall on Lazada and Beauty MNL.
Kojie-san may be the country’s number one kojic acid soap, but that doesn’t mean that it’s done changing the beauty landscape. The brand is always evolving and seeking ways to help women Command Beauty by offering high-quality products that give you the power to decide how you want to look.
This is why Kojie-san has created the latest kojic acid innovation, the Zero Pigment Light, that lets you go “all the way light” and achieve an even complexion. This new skin lightening innovation is a powerful mode of action that takes the amazing lightening benefits of kojic acid up a notch by zeroing in on your dark spots, age spots, scars, melasma, and hyperpigmentation for a lighter even skin tone.
You can now experience this new and improved kojic acid with Kojie-san’s dermatologically tested and paraben-free line of soaps Kojie-san Skin Lightening Classic Soap and Kojie-san Skin Lightening HydroMoist Soap, and the new body wash variant Kojie-san Skin Lightening Body Wash with HydroMoist.
With Zero Pigment Light, the brand has made its famed Kojie-san Skin Lightening Classic Soap even better. Clinically proven to lighten skin in as fast as 7 days, this Classic Soap continues to be one of the best lightening soaps in the market, as proven by its loyal following.
If you have dry skin, try Kojie-san’s newest soap variant that combines the skin lightening power of Zero Pigment Light and moisturizing benefits of its latest HydroMoist formula. Kojie-san Skin Lightening HydroMoist Soap helps keep your skin moisturized and well-hydrated for up to 24 hours so it stays soft and smooth all day.
Kojie-san’s new Zero Pigment Light is also infused in Kojie-san Skin Lightening Body Wash with HydroMoist to help eliminate dark spots and uneven skin tone, and keep skin soft, smooth, and moisturized. With HydroMoist, this bodywash deeply nourishes and hydrates skin for up to 24 hours. Dermatologically tested and paraben-free, it gently cleanses and helps protect the skin’s external layers from losing moisture, and leaves you feeling cool and refreshed after.
Kojie-san’s Zero Pigment Light innovation goes with its Command Beauty campaign that helps you shun restrictive beauty standards and embrace your own meaning of beauty. Kojie-san’s highly effective products with Zero Pigment Light give you more confidence to fearlessly pursue your own beauty goals and take charge of how you want to look and to live your life.
Get exciting updates and information at @Kojie-sanPH on Facebook and Instagram and www.kojiesan.com. Kojie-san is available at all leading supermarkets and drugstores nationwide, as well as Kojie-san’s official LazMall on Lazada and Beauty MNL.
If it’s worth any consolation, 2020 has been such an inventive year for the beauty community. The beauty world has been constantly introducing big ingredient innovations we’ve never seen possible before. Just take a look at the micellar and collagen trends that were only thought to be beneficial for the skin but are now being sought after for hair. Who knows what’s next? And yet here we are again.
Who would have thought that the food we eat 3x a day would be the newest trend that’s about to take over the beauty shelves, especially the hair care section?
Enter, rice oil — the underrated hair beauty secret of ancient Japanese women, and now Filipinos are bound to experience its powerful benefits.
Here Comes Rice Oil Essence, The Solution to Luscious Damage-free Hair
The age-old secret to beautifully long hair comes from the 2000-year old Japanese tradition of using rice water to wash hair. For thousands of years, East Asians have taken advantage of this superfood’s high concentration of vitamin E and have been using it since to maintain their luscious long hair. The gold-colored concentrate comes from the outer brown husk of the grain. The abundance of vitamin E in rice oil can help reduce inflammation and reverse damage to the hair follicles. It can also act as a natural UV protectant, shielding strands from the harmful effects of too much sun exposure. It’s the perfect ingredient to maintain strong, long, and shiny hair.
If you’ve been dealing with limp, brittle, dry, and damaged hair — a shampoo with rice oil essence might just be what your hair needs.
Pantene took the hair game up a notch by extracting and distilling rice oil essence extracted in Wakayama, home to the Aragi-jima Rice Terraces to create a more potent ingredient, blended with Pro-Vitamin formula.
So Long Damage, Hello Damage-free Strands with Pantene Long Hair Solutions!
The New Pantene Long Hair Solutions with Pro-Vitamin Formula & Japanese Rice Oil Essence can help you grow your hair long without worrying about damage. This new Pantene shampoo is rich in Tocotrienol—a super Vitamin E, which has 50X anti-damaging benefits versus tocopherol in other oils.
What does that mean? Pro-Vitamin B5 and Lipids fortify the inside, while Japanese Rice Oil Essence fortifies the outside. It ultimately repairs damaged hair and keeps it protected from external factors, allowing the hair to grow longer, stronger, and beautifully smoother.
Now you can say goodbye to hair damage, without worrying about growing it out with the New Pantene Long Hair Solutions with Pro-Vitamin Formula & Japanese Rice Oil Essence! After shampooing, follow it up with Pantene Total Damage Care Miracle Conditioner that helps prevent protein loss and protects hair from damage caused by frequent styling and chemical treatments so you can enjoy stronger silky-smooth long hair!
Maintain beautifully long, and damage-free hair right at the comfort of your home when you checkout the Pantene Long Hair Solutions from Pantene’s official Lazada and Shopee stores.
Anything sparkly, shiny, and bright has the ability to get one into a festive mood. Now that we are well into the Ber months with holidays fast approaching, we should allow ourselves to enjoy the season—even more so during these very trying times—while it lasts.
Blythe Cosmetics by Careline helps give you that boost to perk you up, give you confidence, or simply get you into the holiday spirit with these fun make-up hacks you can try using the Blythe Stardust Highlighter Palette (P275):
As an eye make-up
While highlighters are known to be applied on the high points of the face such as the cheeks, bridge, and tips of the nose, and cupid’s bow, it can also be used to make your eye make-up stand out even more! Apply your preferred Stardust Palette shade above and below the eyebrows to enhance the shape of the brows and accentuate the eyes and face. You can also dust on the corners of the eyes to open them up and make them appear bigger and brighter.
As a concealer
Did you know that you can also use highlighters to cover the dark circles of the eyes? To achieve this, go for the pearly white shade or pinkish tone in the palette and dab under the eyes; then apply your favorite concealer on top of it and blend into the skin to make it look seamless.
On the lips
On the days you get to expose your lips, be sure to make it stand out by dabbing it on before or after you apply your gloss or lipstick. Also, apply some on the cupid’s bow to give the illusion of a plumper lip.
On the skin
If you feel as if your skin looks dull and pale lately, a quick application of highlighter on the skin can easily make it look healthy and fresh. You can mix it with your favorite lotion or moisturizer or you can directly apply it on your collarbones, décolleté, shoulder, and arms. You’ll surely dazzle when the sun hits your skin!
Bring a sparkle into your life these ber months by trying these highlighter hacks using the Blythe Stardust Highlighter Palette available on Careline’s official Lazada page (bit.ly/BlytheLazada). To know more makeup tips, visit and like Blythe by Careline on Facebook (@blythebycareline) and Instagram (@blythecosmetics).
Let’s take a look at an all-time favorite sandwich, the burger. It looks innocent enough but that much meat (even with all the veggies on top of it in the sandwich) cannot be good for our health.
When I discovered that Century Pacific Food / Swift launched this plant-based product Shopee and Lazada a few days ago at the introductory price of 50 pesos, I jumped at it and ordered 8 packs. Now I think I should have bought more, lol!
With Zero Pigment Light, the brand has made its famed Kojie-san Skin Lightening Classic Soap even better. Clinically proven to lighten skin in as fast as 7 days, this Classic Soap continues to be one of the best lightening soaps in the market, as proven by its loyal following.
If you have dry skin, try Kojie-san’s newest soap variant that combines the skin lightening power of Zero Pigment Light and moisturizing benefits of its latest HydroMoist formula. Kojie-san Skin Lightening HydroMoist Soap helps keep your skin moisturized and well-hydrated for up to 24 hours so it stays soft and smooth all day.
Kojie-san’s new Zero Pigment Light is also infused in Kojie-san Skin Lightening Body Wash with HydroMoist to help eliminate dark spots and uneven skin tone, and keep skin soft, smooth, and moisturized. With HydroMoist, this bodywash deeply nourishes and hydrates skin for up to 24 hours. Dermatologically tested and paraben-free, it gently cleanses and helps protect the skin’s external layers from losing moisture, and leaves you feeling cool and refreshed after.
The New Pantene Long Hair Solutions with Pro-Vitamin Formula & Japanese Rice Oil Essence can help you grow your hair long without worrying about damage. This new Pantene shampoo is rich in Tocotrienol—a super Vitamin E, which has 50X anti-damaging benefits versus tocopherol in other oils.
While highlighters are known to be applied on the high points of the face such as the cheeks, bridge, and tips of the nose, and cupid’s bow, it can also be used to make your eye make-up stand out even more! Apply your preferred Stardust Palette shade above and below the eyebrows to enhance the shape of the brows and accentuate the eyes and face. You can also dust on the corners of the eyes to open them up and make them appear bigger and brighter.
On the days you get to expose your lips, be sure to make it stand out by dabbing it on before or after you apply your gloss or lipstick. Also, apply some on the cupid’s bow to give the illusion of a plumper lip.
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