Make a Change

It can be big or small, that is not important, but it is being able to find ir and realizing it to be able to make the change. Thoughts come and go and maybe its hard to be in complete focus to make the final conclusion that: yes, you are not doing what you want to be doing – maybe eating wrong, being lazy and not exercising, smoking and drinking, not sleeping right, etc. – the list can go on and you will probably fall into one (if not more) category. The good thing is that once you are able to understand and accept the fact that you have something you need to improve/change/upgrade in your life, you can feel welcomed to the starting line. Now you only have to go ahead and change it.

Figure it out, make a plan and stick to it. Find motivation in something other than your personal goal, something that can make you accountable for following on your quest. It can be a friend, a group or perhaps even simple social media. Many people out there are on your same quest, and most likely struggled just like you (and myself) with taking that first step, use each other for psychological support.

Changes take time and perseverance, they take hard work and it will not be an easy process.. but they sure pay off! Stick with it.

When do you know it´s too much?

Today I feel tired. More so than physical, even though I am as sore as sore can be, I feel like my head is about to explode. And I guess I have a lot on my plate:

I am taking an intensive Swedish language course, so classes run everyday for a little over 2 hours, and they sure give us tons of homework. I take it very serious because it is something that I really want to learn. Since my plan is to move to Sweden and live with my girlfriend, one of my main objectives is to learn the language as soon as possible.

I am also taking two distance courses from a Chilean Institute, this to obtain my Computer Science Technical degree. Even though the classes’ don´t seem super hard (so far), I like to put as much effort as I can into it. You would think that because it is distance, it won´t be as demanding, but let me tell you I feel like its the complete opposite. I am way more demanding on myself too, and I participate everyday, as well as a huge amount of conscious effort in writing my papers and homework, as well as reading all materials and taking the tests. So far so good though, I have been getting really good grades.

And then to top it off, I have enrolled in a Coursera specialization in Programming. Which has been amazing. I had my first experience with Coursera by taking a web development course from John Hopkins University, which was amazing. Really liked the whole video lecture system and procedures for peer reviewing, so I figured would give the specialization a try. Needless to say, it has been quite demanding and I also have been giving it my all so to get good grades and get my certificate at the end of the 5-course program.

I guess to this I have to add “just” your everyday life, which now means looking for some jobs, helping a non-profit organization I am part of, helping the family with a new startup, and being me. So between spending some alone time, enjoying my beautiful girlfriend, going to the gym and coffee with friends, it seems like the hours in my day fly by right in front of my nose.

I must say it hasn’t been easy, and lots on my mind, which I will get to later on another post. But I guess it’s a lot on my plate. Here’s when I feel like organization comes into play and I need to be as organized as possible with my daily times and objectives. To really be on track with my due dates so that I can get everything done.

In all of this, I cannot emphasize and thank enough for my amazing girlfriend, she is my biggest support system and I love her to death. Plus, she is super cute and a big cuddler, who doesn’t like doing homework while having a sexy blonde (even though she considers herself a brunette – yes, she’s Swedish) laying on your shoulder? 🙂

Getting my power back!

Its been a while since I have been lifting and following a particular program. So I have decided to get my act together and get back on the rhythm of working out, and most importantly getting stronger.

It is so crazy to see many different studies and scientific tests regarding strength and the benefit it has as we get older. Not to mention that after we turn 40, we starting losing almost half our muscle!

So now my routine will include at least a 5 day a week heavy weight training. Im not going to do the old school body building method though, but rather use a weekly changing routine. I started yesterday and this whole week will be a heavy 3×5 hitting one big body muscle per training session. As many exercises as I can fit in 45 minutes. This way, I force myself to concentrate on resting between sets and recovery, while really hitting my muscles and core hard.

I will add more to this post later and add my exercises and weights, this way I can also keep track of my program and see in the future if I am actually getting stronger or not.

Only bad thing about today is I forgot I had volleyball pickup game tonight, as I walked into the gym, so should be interesting to see how I manage to play tonight 🙂

Now, time to refuel and eat some scrambled eggs!!

Number one must have: a blog

So this is me, a technology driven 30 year old. For the past 6 months I have began a personal and professional transformation, and I am still working on that.

I love fast paced new technology, and these past few weeks I have developed myself working day and night in everything internet and web related. It is so interesting to see and learn more with just the click of a button. The limits are very few and far in between.

Being in this environment, I have come to realise that the best way to share anything and everything with an audience, maybe just me or maybe the World, is having a blog. I hate filling up my Facebook page with Shares of different things I find interesting. So I figured this will be the place to do it.

Also, I have half-ass started another food and fitness related blog, so I have taken back control of that and I am sorting my pictures to post on there as well. I guess I will post accordingly on each blog.. for now.

Life is crazy as it is today, sounds fun to add this little extra part. You should do it too, I firmly believe it serves as my best therapy.

 

A little meditation for the body and soul

Today I had my first official yoga class, and it was amazing. I don’t consider myself  flexible, elastic or even remotely spiritual for that matter, but lately I have been reading more and more about  how even just 10-15 minutes of your day for meditation, can have such great benefits for your whole body. So yoga, seemed to be the perfect fit: helping me stretch and be more elastic, and also meditate and get in touch with my inner self.

About 2-3 weeks ago, a friend of mine on Facebook shared a video (https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1082186851805954&theater) in which an Argentinean well-known doctor described the benefits of meditation, and how it is medically proven that it helps to develop and improve your brain. It is incredible how you never stop learning, and I fully recommend everyone watching this video (its in Spanish, but I think YouTube helps with some subtitles – if not let me know and I can try to translate).

So, on this note, I jumped to the chance of going to yoga class. And I loved it. I was not as bad as I thought, even though there were some older ladies “showing me off” who had crazy elasticity and flexibility, but I am not putting my arms down and will continue to work on mine. I feel like this is the perfect compliment not only physically, after my workouts seem to be perfect cardio and stretching, but also for my head. I am in a stage of my life, where I want to really find more about me and this seems to be the perfect instance to help myself do this.

Don’t feel weird you are the few men in yoga classes, don’t stop doing it because you feel awkward. Yes, it will be hard. Yes, it will be difficult at first. But that also makes it fun. Feel free to laugh at yourself, it will get better and easier, and take advantage of the time and breathing techniques to improve you. Don’t forget, in the end, this is something for you.. namaste

Healthier Mushroom Quinoa “Risotto”

I am visiting Fia for a couple of weeks (wish it wasn’t just a visit, but I will get in more detail – maybe – about it later). Last night, on the way home, we started talking about what to eat. We both love to eat, and are pretty much always hungry. The good thing is, we are both very active, love sports and also the “healthier” foods. So of course, a good bit of our conversations are what it is we want to eat for dinner…

Sofia had bought quinoa some time ago, and we had some left over mushrooms from a couple of nights ago. I figured I could use both and make something up.. and voila! A very fake “risotto” in the making

We stopped by ICA, a small supermarket on the way home, and grabbed a canned mushroom soup. We had this soup a couple of nights ago, so I knew this was going to fit in well with my idea. It was the easiest way to add some extra flavor to the mix, and also cheap.

In the end, the ingredients were simple:

• 1 carrot
• 1 onion
• 1 cup of quinoa
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 canned mushroom soup
• a handful of fresh mushrooms

I chopped the carrot, onion, garlic very thinly and made a “sofrito” (Spanish name for this mix) and together with virgin olive oil in a pot, I started stirring and sauteing everything together. Then I added the quinoa and kept stirring. All of this with medium heat.

Then, I sliced the mushrooms and added them to the mix. In the meantime, I had put some water to boil, and added two cups, plus half of the soup. I continue to stir while I lowered the heat a bit so that it wouldnt stick to the bottom of the pot.

After 15-20 minutes, you can see the quinoa is ready (get fluffy and transparent) and the water is almost all gone. In a bowl, I added the other half of the soup and poured the cooked quinoa mix in there. Sprinkled some cheese I found on the refrigerator and more stirring.

In the end you will have a delicious healthy mushroom quinoa. Delicious and healthy.

What it is not included in this recipe, if the bacon-wrapped chicken breasts I also made with it… perhaps for another post 🙂

Hope someone makes it, and even improve it! Looking forward to seeing how it turns out..

Introduction to Food, fitness and travel

Now a days, we live in a multi-cultural World. We can see this in our everyday living, just look around you. I can guarantee you will find more than one ethnicity being represented wherever it is you are reading this blog. Sometimes it hides behind a not so noticeable accent, or a particular look. But trust me, it is there.

I can tell you this with certainty because I am living proof of it. Most of my life I have been switching my place of living, between not only countries but also continents. I have also been lucky (and maybe also brave) enough to travel around a good bit. This has allowed me to have a much broader way of seeing the World and its cultures.

Life is full of surprises, but it is always up to you to get out and explore..

As the years have passed by, I have grown to know myself better. It is amazing to look back and think of everything that has happened in one’s life but yet there is still so much more to learn, and to continue living. The learning curve grows steeper as this hectic and busy life we live in evolves with new discoveries and new technologies. We sometimes even don’t get to appreciate just the small, but yet so important, things in life.

And this is new goal in life. Learn to appreciate it, love it, live it and enjoy it.

With the passing of the years, I can conclude that there are three major things that have been always present and that make me happy: Food, Traveling and Fitness.

Of course there are others, and maybe I will write about them on here at some point. But for now, I will try to focus and share anything and everything I can about this three. Hoping you will enjoy the posts and shares, i will make my best also to make it easy to read. In the end, this is not only something “for the readers” but also it works as good (and very cheap!) therapy for me.

I apologize in advance for any grammar mistakes, but it has been some time since I have taking up writing something extensive like this – besides annoying and everyday emails at work. I do promise you that it will get better as the posts keep coming

Beginning to love fitness

Almost ten months after I moved back to Chile in 2008, I had just gotten out of the shower and realized I had been enjoying the good life way too much. I had a nice, on the smaller side, round belly. I have never been the extremely toned body guy but also never fat or flabby. I have always played some sort of sport, even after high school I always found myself playing tennis, golf, even basketball or soccer. So I looked at myself and said, nope, not cool..

I began reading everything and anything about nutrition and working out. You can find so much on the internet, its incredible. As I read, I started applying.First thing they tell you is eat 5 meals a day, check. Cut down carbs, in general, also doable, along with lighter dinners and lots of water. Since I had no money, joining a gym was totally out of the question. So started running in the mornings, and at least twice a week plus whenever else I could, I would do a terribly weak pushups and situps workout, looking back on it now. In the morning, I remember always drinking a big cup of coffee before my run, and on a fasted state. No food intake prior to the physical activity. Did this for a little over 2 months, and lost a ton of weight. About 30 lbs. But not only did I loose fat, I lost pretty much any muscle I had.  I was 78 kilos, about 172 lbs. I dont consider myself tall, but I stand at 1.85 mts, 6″1.

The original post

So I’ve been signing in and out of this things like a million times, wondering what I should write about. I know the title says “a journey through life”, but I can’t seem to find the exact theme or even how to write my Introduction, to be honest, I don’t even know if I like the “journey through life” title. Seems kind of depressing, and I don’t want this to be like that.

I feel like there’s many things I could write about, I could even do it in two different languages, being that Spanish is my native language. But I feel like I shouldn’t put a limit on a certain theme. Sometimes, you just want to share things with people, have someone else hear and perhaps empathize with you. Not feel sorry, that would be pathetic, but simple enough just hear you out. So I decided I will put a limit to what I write, I will just do it.

I have learned and experienced many different things in my life. Quick rundown. I am 26 years old, and currently living in Santiago de Chile. Yes, the country with lots of earthquakes and where Alexis Sanchez is from. I am born and raised in this beautiful but very hectic city Santiago, to later on in life, a couple of years after my parents split up, when I was 14, my mom, two brothers and I move to the United States. Always living in Maryland, a beautiful state in the surroundings of Washington, DC., we made our way through to a small city in the northern part of the state, called Frederick. Place where I made my home, along with my family. I lived the best experiences and made the greatest of friends here. graduated high school, worked in different things and really dedicated myself to just live. Up until July 2008, right after my birthday, that I left Frederick to come down to Chile.At first, it was supposed to be a quick trip, that it suddenly turned into eternity. I have made my life down here in Santiago, did lots of traveling through Chile, north and south, and can’t really go complaining much. I live in a nice apartment with my uncle Eduardo. I am studying and working and soon plan to buy my own place down here.

This does not mean this is where I want to live for the rest of my life, because to be totally honest, I have no idea where I want to be in the next five years. If there’s anything that I have learned throughout the years, is to just live. Plan for the short term and make the most out of it. I think my goal is to have apartments or houses in different parts of the world, and just be able to travel around and live wherever the hell I want to, at that time. Technology as it is today and my career directions, all shoot for just needing a computer and internet and I can do my job. I am a geek, I admit it, but a cool one. If there’s such a thing..

I have gotten to know myself in ways I never thought possible. And I think that’s what I want to share the most. My love for life.. Enjoy the things you like it, and don’t let yourself get down or get in a bad mood if something doesn’t quite goes according to plan, or your way. Just go with it..