FFF Diva How-To-Video: "8 Minute Ab Workout"

Above is a video from my fellow boot camper Mia. It's a great video that breaks down the anatomy of how to achieve 6 pack ads with this simple 8 minute ab workout.

Enjoy!
<3 FFF Diva Mo

FFF Diva Song of the MOment: "Christmas is All Around"

"Christmas is All Around" by Billy Mack from the movie Love Actually

I feel it in my fingers
I feel it in my toes
Christmas is all around me
and so the feeling grows

It's written in the wind
It's everywhere I go
So if you really love Christmas
C'mon and let it snow

You know I love Christmas
I always will
My mind's made up
The way that I feel
There's no beginning
There'll be no end
Cuz on Christmas
You can depend

You gave your presents to me
And I gave mine to you
I need Santa beside me
In everything I do

You know I love Christmas
I always will
My mind's made up
The way that I feel
There's no beginning
There'll be no end
Cuz on Christmas
You can depend

Cuz on Christmas
You can depend

It's written on the wind
It's everywhere I go
So if you really love me
C'mon and let it show
C'mon and let it show
So if you really love
C'mon and let it
If you really love me
C'mon and let it
Now if you really love me
C'mon and let it show

FFF Diva Inspiration: "My 120 lb Journey..."

Inspirational! I am so inspired. Time to kick it into high gear! I gained 124 lbs in 4 years. Since then: I lost about 100 lbs in 1 1/2 years, then gained 50 lbs back in less than 6 months, then took about another year to lose the weight I gained back and them some. May 2011 will be my 4 year anniversary since I starte...d my weight loss journey and I have 45 lbs left to go until under 200 lbs (my original starting college weight was 196 lbs). When I walk across that stage in May for my MBA degree I plan to be under 200 lbs. In less than a year since May '09 I did my first 5K, 10K, 1/2 marathon, & full marathon, but I still haven't shaken off my last 45 lbs. I am a marathoner, but man my running times would improve if I lost another 50 lbs. NOW is the time. No more excuses.

FFF Diva Song of the Day: "Just the Way You Are" by Bruno Mars

“To be beautiful means to be yourself. You don’t need to be accepted by others. You need to accept yourself.” -Thich Nhat Hanh

Bruno Mars: "Just the Way You Are" (and he's Filipino too!)

FFF Diva Inspiration: TED Winner Jaime Oliver Talking About American Obesity & Prevention

Sharing powerful stories from his anti-obesity project in Huntington, W. Va., TED Prize winner Jamie Oliver makes the case for an all-out assault on our ignorance of food.

Jamie Oliver is transforming the way we feed ourselves, and our children. Jamie Oliver has been drawn to the kitchen since he was a child working in his father's pub-restaurant. He showed not only a precocious culinary talent but also a passion for creating (and talking about) fresh, honest, delicious food. In the past decade, the shaggy-haired "Naked Chef" of late-'90s BBC2 has built a worldwide media conglomerate of TV shows, books, cookware and magazines, all based on a formula of simple, unpretentious food that invites everyone to get busy in the kitchen. And as much as his cooking is generous, so is his business model -- his Fifteen Foundation, for instance, trains young chefs from challenged backgrounds to run four of his restaurants.

Now, Oliver is using his fame and charm to bring attention to the changes that Brits and Americans need to make in their lifestyles and diet. Campaigns such as Jamie's School Dinner, Ministry of Food and Food Revolution USA combine Olivers culinary tools, cookbooks and television, with serious activism and community organizing -- to create change on both the individual and governmental level.

Join Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution: http://www.jamieoliver.com/campaigns/jamies-food-revolution

FFF Diva Motivation: Why do you run?

The question gets asked. The answer never seems to capture the real reason. This may help.

FFF Diva Video Research: "The Mouth Revolution"

To Get the Facts & Take Action, go to:
http://www.markberger.com/movie/mouth/mouthifesto.html

Again another reminder why it's important to KNOW what's in your food and what's going into YOUR mouth! QUALITY REAL FOOD NOW!

Viva Mouth-ulicion!,
FFF Diva Mo

FFF Diva Video Research: "Grocery Store Wars"

Not long ago in a supermarket not so far away. Help fight the dark side of the farm. Source: Free Range films (creativity with a conscious): http://www.youtube.com/user/FreeRangeStudios

I thought this was a neat reminder as to why it's important where you know where your food is coming from. It's great to lose weight & be healthier, but not at the cost of eating foods that are not the best for you in the first place.

May the FARM be with YOU,
FFF Diva Mo

FFF Diva YOUtube Video Ad: "Quit Drinking Fat in New York"

"New Year's Resolution: Quit Drinking Fat New York" by Danny Jensen

I've never been big on making New Year's resolutions, favoring gradual changes over the cold turkey approach, but the New York Health Department is pushing hard to encourage residents of the Big Apple to cut down on soda and other sugary beverages in 2010.

Having been unable to pass a tax on sugary drinks earlier this year, the city has decided to take a more visceral approach with their "Are You Putting On the Pounds" campaign, which includes subway posters and a video that takes soda's fat-inducing capabilities literally (watch below).

Cutting down on soda seems like a great way to combat diabetes and obesity, and while watching someone guzzle a glass of fat is a little much for me, if the image makes people think twice about grabbing a soda, I'm for it. According to Dr. Thomas Farley, New York City Health Commissioner:

Soda and other sugar-sweetened beverages are the biggest contributors to that increase, and the actual effects aren't pretty. Two thirds of adults are now overweight or obese, as are nearly 40% of public school children in New York City. The rates are still rising, and the consequences are severe. They run the gamut from arthritis to diabetes - a leading cause of blindness, amputations, kidney failure and premature death. Sugar-sweetened beverages are not the sole cause of this crisis, just one of the most egregious.
I'd say those are reasons enough to discourage soda consumption. It doesn't help that most sodas and juices now contain High Fructose Corn Syrup as a sweetener in place of sugar, which provides a large number of calories yet is devoid of nutrients, and is considered to be more readily metabolized to fat than other sweeteners.

Check out the campaign's Facebook page and watch the (not-for-the-squemish) video below:




Source: http://www.takepart.com/news/2009/12/26/new-years-resolution-quit-drinking-fat-in-new-york

FFF Diva Wish: Merry Christmas! Maligayang Pasko!

Mariah Carey "All I Want for Christmas" Flash Mob



GLEE Holiday Flash Mob in Rome, Italy



"Ay Pasko Ang Sumapit" A Traditional Filipino Christmas Song

This entry is just to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 2009 was an up & down year for me personally, but the last 6 months literally transformed my life. I broke through my plateau, achieved a weight in my 230 lbs AND became a marathon runner (1/2 marathon ran, now training for a full marathon). LIFE IS GOOD. FAMILY IS GOOD. WEIGHT LOSS IS GOOD. TAKING BACK YOUR LIFE IS GOOD. EMBRACE THE GOOD. Here we come 2010!

<3 FFF Diva Mo

FFF Diva Song of the Day: "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" by Alicia Keys

At the beginning of this music video the following statement is said:

THERE ARE THOSE AMONG US WHO ARE BLESSED WITH THE POWER TO SAVE WHAT IS LOVED BY ANOTHER,

BUT POWERLESS TO USE THIS BLESSING FOR LOVE THEMSELVES.

Lately, during my weight loss journey I have been experiencing a lot of emotional ups and downs around: support, lack of support, close friends moving far away, letting certain friends go because they aren't good for me, family, work, school, commuting, challenges of boot camp, meeting personal health goals, cutting social activities, sleeping earlier, coming to terms that I am no longer considered severely obese but now viewed as chubby (by society) therefore I need to recognize how much privilege I have gained from although being still fat but more accepted in society now than before, using a scale to weigh my food, realizing I can say "no," and boys (enough said). In any case I have been realizing that I need to live my life only for me. Once I live my life for me I will be in a healthier position to help others such as family and friends. I am happy when I am healthier, so once that happens I know it will cause a ripple effect in everything else in my life from school to work to even (dare I say) love.

I have the power to inspire and motivate people by sharing the successes and challenges surrounded by my weight loss journey, however I also need to inspire and motivate myself to get to that end goal weight and healthiness I want to possess.

With that...enjoy the FFF Song of the Day: "Try Sleeping with a Broken Heart" by Alicia Keys

This is the link on YOUtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvjuEsfdiT4

Here is a live performance of the song by Alicia Keys, but not the official video:


Always being fierce,
FFF Diva Mo : )

FFF Diva Dance Song of the Moment: "Evacuate the Dance Floor" by Cascada

Evacuate the dance floor...I'm infected by the sound...

FFF Diva Song of the Day: "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" by Jennifer Hudson

Jennifer Hudson performing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"



Beyonce performing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"

Recently, a friend of mine have me a pep talk. I wasn't feeling like myself and I felt that I was in a slump. She told me that I needed to just change my perspective on life. Did I want to do it the Beyonce way or the Jennifer Hudson way? I looked at her with a confused look and instead of explaining it to me she said she would just let me listen and judge for myself.

Above are YOUtube clips of the song "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" being performed by Jennifer Hudson and Beyonce. When Beyonce sings her version it is beautiful, soft, & flowery. However, when Jennifer Hudson sings her version it is real, passionate, gritty, & full of love, pain, sorrow, etc. In the end I decided that I want to live my life the Jennifer Hudson way: real and full of passion.

Who knew it would take a song comparison of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to show me that...

So do you want to be a Beyonce or a Jennifer Hudson?