What I Love About My 5AM Routine and Eating Clean

 Let me start off with my observations from yesterday's 5AM routine. 

What I love about it:

How I Started My 5AM Routine

The first time I saw a video of this, I thought to myself, "Is this really possible for me? Can I really do it?" 

Although I love mornings and fantasize about watching the sunrise with a mug of steaming, hot coffee, I feel like this can become a little too ambitious for me. That's why I read more about the routine, watched more Youtube videos about other women's  morning routines and learned some tips on how they manage to rise up at an unruly and unforgiving time in the morning. 

We all agree - the waking up part is the hardest! 

It was a Tuesday afternoon at work that I decided I can do these changes. I read at one point that you can do this gradually - like waking up 30 minutes earlier than your usual wake up time and moving it up until you reach the 5am period. But I also read that it's better to shock your system and just wake up at 5am right away, on the first try! 

As crazy as it sounds, I did the latter and I'm thankful for it. Granted it was only the first day of this routine, I was enthusiastic and confident that I can do it. 

Tips to Rock the Athleisure Trend

Top, Pants, Shoes and Bagpack from Adidas

 Gone are the days when you can only wear your "athleisure" clothing to the gym or to jogging/running ovals. These days, you see people wear track pants or dry fit shirts to almost anywhere!

Athleisure refers to “casual clothing designed to be worn both for exercising and for general use.” Along with the popularity of sports brands like Adidas and Nike and them releasing functional yet fashionable pieces, wearing athleisure has become a trend that's here to stay. 

So how do you style these pieces anyway? Here's some tips that might help:

START A NEW HOBBY: SCENTED SOY CANDLE-MAKING

My Instagram tagline says "Always on to something new" and it's not an understatement. People who know me for a long time probably have been witnesses to the creative adventures I've been on - from making jewelry, creating digital art to crafting resin items and now pouring candles. I guess what really draws me to these things is my curiosity and the need to prove to myself that "I can do that too!".

So here we are, in the name of my many hobbies, I dived into the world of candle making. Watching those "chandlers" pour melted wax into minimalist vessels relaxes me - it's very therapeutic, I highly recommend it! Whenever new ideas pop into my mind, I would always think that it could translate into a business opportunity if I can get really good at it. But then I'd go through bumps along the way and realize some of these things can be unsustainable for me (e.g. it takes too long, materials and supplies are not always available locally etc). I can talk to you about how I started it though - maybe you'd be interested too? If you have a lot of time on your hands and you're very patient (which I am not) then maybe you can give candle-making a try. 

The Farm(ed) Life: Project HOPE Demo Farm

Armed with a camera and my mint-colored Starbucks tumbler, my co-workers and I trudged towards the Project HOPE Demo Farm located at the far-flung Zamboanga Ecozone in San Ramon, Talisayan. HOPE stands for Helping Others Prosper Economically - pretty neat eh? It's a project initiated by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) 9 to help displaced workers of the fishing and canning industry during the Closed Fishing Season from December to February, every year.

How does DOLE help them? Displaced workers are given emergency employment of about 15 days to work on the farm - which includes all farm-related activities such as plot and seedling preparation, planting the actual seeds, harvesting, etc - and eventually selling produce to suppliers in the city.

We were tasked to take videos of the developments that took place within the last few months. A few greenhouses were added to the farm. I was one of those who saw the changes that happened to the farm. The then DOLE Regional Director Ofelia B. Domingo initiated the project in 2017. Since I worked as her secretary in that year, I was privy to everything that went on with the project.