I just got back from a dental appointment with my uncle. You know, for most people (well, those who can afford to go), trips to the dentist’s chair aren’t so eventful. But if you haven’t been to a dentist since 2006, like I have, it’s definitely newsworthy.

Particularly when you find out almost all your molars have cavities. Not huge ones, but small pinprick holes in the biting surface. Sigh. So I’ve been going to my uncle’s office the past three weeks (excluding Holy Thursday) and we still aren’t done. He says the damage isn’t extensive and I’ve taken pretty good care of my teeth, considering it’s been three years… But it’s still a bummer. The high-pitched whine of a drill doesn’t entice. At least I don’t need to get teeth pulled, and for that I’m thankful. Ü

So, the lesson here, kids, is visit your friendly neighborhood dentist regularly to avoid plaque and tartar build-up, and stop cavities from forming.

Tags: Dental Appointment, Health

“If anyone wishes to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me.” Matthew 16:24

The life of a Christ follower is not an easy one. i’ve known this for as long as I’ve been a Christian, but God hasn’t asked me to deny myself so much — until now.

I have been living a life of my own, defining my own path, on my terms. I have been telling God, “Hey, You can use me — but just in this way!”

But God has been prodding me, “What if I want to use you? Won’t you let me decide how to use you?” He asked me to lay at His feet these major areas of my life: my lovelife, my future career, and my present work. He asked me to surrender them to Him. These are the areas in which my grip on what I want has been strongest.

As I drove home crying in my car last Wednesday, I told God, “You have broken me.” And he said, “Doesn’t the potter break down the marred clay pot to make it into something He can use?” Potters cannot use clay that is resistant or unwieldy. They knead it, gently if it’s pliable but more forcefully if need be, to make it something useful.

He asked me to let go of someone I was hanging on to; I thought I had, but He helped me realize it wasn’t completely, and that I hadn’t surrendered control to Him of who to love and when to love.

He asked me to be open to a career path that might not include working in the media and that might include office hours. Try putting a square peg in a round hole and that’s me and office hours. Also, I’ve been studying and training for media work all my life so to have that possibly not where I should be is really the death of a dream.

God asked Abraham to offer Isaac up for a sacrifice (Genesis 22:1-2). Isaac was the child promised to old Abraham and barren Sarah — and Abraham had to show submission to God that even if he ended up killing Isaac, he had faith that God could raise the dead (see Hebrews 11:17-19).

So I said, yes, Lord, even if it means the death of a dream at this time, I know you will raise it some day. It might not be the way I see it and want it to be, but it will be Your best for me.

But wait! There’s more. This morning, I failed to wake up for a class I was supposed to be covering, and the penalty for that could be a) banning from the club, or b) suspension. And I asked God, “Haven’t I surrendered everything I hold dear to You? How could You let this happen?”

He said, “What if I removed you from your current job so I could use you? How would that make you feel?”

The resistance I felt to that question helped me realize that I had been holding onto this job as a security blanket. I was afraid that if I lost it, I might not be able to go to the gym and I might gain weight (which is a dreadful horror to me). And God helped me to see, He can provide even if I didn’t have this job.

So I find myself waving a white flag in surrender. I know who God is, and I know He will not shortchange me. I will be fulfilled wherever He leads.

Mark 8:35 “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it.”

Tags: Relationship with God

Hey, check out my latest post on Kikay Exchange for tips to get you dancing for fitness.

“Most people think of going to group classes as doing repetitive movements inside a room with other people, wearing leotards and tights. That’s the old way of doing things – and the tights-and-leotards look is best left in the 1980’s, when ‘aerobics’ became mainstream.”

Tags: Dance Cardio, Kikay Exchange

Two weeks ago one of my friends was acting support for the 2009 Century Tuna Superbods commercial.

Century Tuna Superbods TVC

Little did I guess that I would be entering the contest.Check out my video on why I should be the next Century Tuna Superbod. They just put the wrong age in my info on the site… I am a long way from being 38 years old! (It’s been corrected now.) Ü I’m attending the final go-see on April 4 at The Manor in Eastwood City. (UPDATE: I was unable to go.)

Side note: I didn’t realize I was that thin! But I always just thought the stuff I did teaching my classes was enough to sculpt my body. Turns out I have some problem areas I need to work on. I’ve just been put on a diet and rigorous training regimen thanks to my friend Philip. Oh, boy.

Thanks to Kikay Exchange for mentioning me in their article about the contest.

Tags: Fitness, Century Tuna Superbods

My second review on Nike apparel has just been posted on Kikay Exchange. Check out Bragging about Bra Tops:

Enter the Bra Top. Aside from supporting “the girls” and eliminating unwanted bounce, bra tops are colorful and stylish. When it gets too hot under the collar, you can always slip out of your overshirt and continue your workout. Just don’t mind the stares and the occasional cat calls if you do so.

Tag: Nike Apparel, Reviews, Kikay Exchange

Hey everyone! I’ve recently been tapped as a reviewer for Kikay Exchange, and my first post, These Clothes Are Made For Sweating, has just been published. Check it out!

…I like to give my students the feeling they’ve walked into a dance movie, like Step Up, every time they come to class…

Tags: Nike Apparel, Reviews, Kikay Exchange

Sometime last year, I got it in my head to run a 5-kilometer race. The Race for Life was a benefit run organized by the Real Life Foundation, and it was set to happen in November. So, for more than a month before it, I got my running gear set aside and ready. That included a new pair of running shoes.

Unfortunately, work got in the way of my practice schedules, and I kept pushing back the days I would practice running at least 5 kilometers on a treadmill or on a track. And then, Race Day rolled around and I also had a work commitment, so I never started the race.

Then I pulled my shoes out out one fateful night in December when some of my friends from church invited me to join them in their evening run at the UP Oval. When I got there, it was two guys and three girls plus me. Joel (Guy #1) started the run at a really, really slow pace. I got so bored that I picked up my pace, sprinted away, and did four rounds of the Oval by myself.

Apparently this grew into an urban legend among the guy joggers among my friends. They set up a running club (dubbed the “Samahan ng Midnight Runners” or SMR) and made it a goal that by this month, they can keep pace with or overtake me.

At least these guys got themselves into good shape; one of them is currently training for a triathlon. The rest have been training to beat me, which is funny. I absolutely hate competing with others because I often end up losing. Actually, I hate losing even more than competing. So it’s great when I can set a little goal, like four times around the Oval, and accomplish that. It’s something else entirely when I have to accomplish that against other people.

When I talk about running, I run against myself to test my own physical fitness. I only want to see whether my five days of dance fitness training can cross over into being fit for a race. When I talk about running, it’s to break the monotony of my workouts: when I run I don’t have to teach anyone which foot to use first, I don’t have to yell across the room to motivate anyone. It’s exercise purely for my own health, and I rarely get the chance to do that anymore.

When I talk about running, I talk about escaping from my work.

Tags: Running

Mirror, mirror on the wall / who is the fairest of them all?

There are good mirrors, and there are bad ones. The good mirrors don’t lie, or if they do they make you thinner or taller than you really are, instantly banishing an extra five pounds off your hips. And if the good mirror is lit by orange or yellow light, blemishes on your face magically disappear as well.

Good mirrors are usually found in the restrooms of date places, like restaurants, hotels, and the like. For anxious women doing a powder check these mirrors are a godsend, making them feel beautiful and giving them the boldness to head back to their tables where their dates are waiting.

And then there are the bad mirrors. No matter which angle you strike a pose at, you always look a little bit misshapen, with bulges in all the wrong places. Couple that with harsh fluorescent from overhead and you’ve got the makings of a disaster.

Well, dear readers, I encountered the world’s most evil mirror yesterday, and it was in the locker room of the Fitness First in SM North EDSA. I was changing in the private cubicle into my undies, and then when I glanced at the full-length mirror on the far wall, I was aghast at what I saw. In the mirror, I had a huge butt, dimpled thighs, and the skin on my face was mottled red and white. (OK in actuality maybe I do have these things, but they were really exaggerated.)

Maybe the World’s Most Evil Mirror was placed there to keep women coming back to the gym. Hell, I know I’d want to work out more if I looked like that in a mirror.