Veega Meat-free Burger Patty (Review)

I am a living proof that quarantine weight gain is real. For the past six months of quarantine, I gained a total of 15 lbs. My average weight used to be 125 lbs and currently, I'm at 140 lbs.

I admit, I lost control over my diet and it doesn't help that the gym I'm going to closed down because of the pandemic. The weight gain has affected my health and has brought about insecurities. Given my depressing state, I decided to rectify the problem and start correcting my unhealthy eating habits.

To jumpstart my weight loss journey, I decided to stock up on healthy food. At the grocery store nearby, I saw my plant-based friend's recommendation — VEEGA products. Veega is the plant-based (vegetarian) food line of San Miguel Foods. First on my list of Veega products to try is their meat-free burger patty.

How I Lost Weight by Intermittent Fasting

RELATED POSTS: 

5 Compelling Reasons to Exercise & Lose Weight

Boxing for Weight Loss: A Beginner's Guide to Boxing Workouts

My weight loss journey did not start with dieting. In fact, going on a diet was never part of my plan. Hello, food is lifest noh! I just wanted to improve my physical fitness by to going back to the gym. So while my fitness was improving significantly, my weight loss was progressing abysmally. I realized that somehow, it's such a waste to be working so hard at the gym if I'm not really seeing concrete results. So in January 2018, I decided to skip dinner as an attempt to lessen my calorie intake. That time, I did not know that what I was doing was already Intermittent Fasting.

What is intermittent fasting?

Intermittent fasting is actually not a diet. It is an eating pattern or a cycle wherein you divide your day into two: eating/feasting hours and non-eating/fasting hours. It does not restrict you of what food to eat; rather, it only tells you when you should eat.

Common Misconceptions about Girls Who Lift

I go to a bakal gym where most evenings, I'm the only girl working out. Once in a while, there'd be titas and mumshies who also workout. Some friendly titas would engage in friendly chitchats with me. And what should you expect from chatty titas? The giving of unsolicited comments, pieces of advice, and uneducated remarks about my workout program. Lol! But let me be clear about this: people who are not well-informed, not just titas in the gym, tend to give uneducated remarks about girls who lift. Here are ridiculous things people say about girls who lift and other misconceptions.

1. "Sige ka, lalaki ka nang husto. Magmumukha kang lalake."
This has to be the most common misconception I often hear! While this is 100% possible and workable, it is not my goal to become a hardcore bodybuilder and I do not intend to have a manly built like the girl in the photo, Nataliya Kuznetsova. She eats, trains HARD, and takes supplements to achieve that physique. She even openly talks about using anabolic steroids so she could transform her body that way. But that's HER body goal.

Boxing for Weight Loss: A Beginner's Guide to Boxing Workouts

After establishing that there are indeed compelling reasons for me to start working out and losing weight, I had to decide on my action plan. The first thing that popped in my mind was to get back to boxing.

Related: 5 Compelling Reasons to Exercise and Lose Weight

I had an on-and-off relationship with boxing. I first tried it out in 2012 at Elorde but stopped in 2013. I got back in 2014, but stopped once again in 2015 until 2017. These years were part of my sedentary lifestyle phase when I began to gain weight, had poor physical fitness, and experienced various health issues.

In July 2017, I resurrected my old boxing gloves and came back to Elorde Lagro where I had a coach whose teaching style I got accustomed to. Unfortunately, Elorde Lagro was no longer in business that time and was replaced by Empire Boxing Fairview. Still, I carried on with my intent of going back to boxing training. I resolved to train only during the weekends so that my sluggish body could transition into being more active, slowly but surely.

5 Compelling Reasons to Exercise & Lose Weight

From 2016 to 2017, I weighed around 140 lbs (or maybe even heavier, I wasn't really checking) and stood 5' 2" tall. My body mass index said I was overweight. I looked really plump during those times and for a while, I stopped taking selfies because I thought I looked repulsive. 

In July 2017, I decided to resurrect my old school boxing gloves and go back to working out. I realized that it was time to change things up for the better. But it wasn't my weight, my BMI, nor my appearance that made me decide to go back to working out and shed off some weight. I just listened to what my body was telling me. Here are signs that your body might be telling you to lead a healthier lifestyle.

HIIT - High Intensity Interval Training

I used to go to the gym. But now that I'm unemployed and have no money for gym enrollment, I've resolved to working out at home. The downside, of course, are the distractions (laptop with internet, A hard drive full of TV shows and movies to watch, my cozy bed, the TV, the tablet, my lazy sister, food, the couch, etc.) which I easily succumb to. Today, I planned to start a routine and make it a habit to exercise regularly. I'm trying out HIIT or the High Intensity Interval Training.

Just decide on how long you want your exercises.
LET'S DO THIS!

According to Men's Fitness, it's a kind of workout that involves high intensity exercises with short recovery periods. In my own words, this means heart-pumping exercises without enough time to catch your breath. The High Intensity Interval Training is said to help you burn fat even hours after your workout. When you deprive your body of enough oxygen during hard work, it tends to compensate whatever shortage you experience after the workout. Hence, you still "burn" after your training.

To be honest, I don't really like this kind of workout. I love my resting periods, alright. So much so that I'm no longer tired when I start my next set. But a gym friend told me the workout will not be very effective if I take long resting periods. He told me 15 seconds of rest each set is preferable. Since I like the idea of burning more fats, I've opened up my mind to try this kind of training. It might also help me improve my cardio endurance--something I really have to work on now that I'm back to zero as far as fitness in concerned.

So to start going back to being fit, I searched for exercises that I can use for this training. I usually go to workouts_daily on Instagram for the exercises. Also, I downloaded an interval timer to make sure I have enough time working out and just 15 seconds of rest each set.

With this blogged, may the force be with me! :)