Suspend-It

I have had an upset stomach since Tuesday last week, when I went to the mall to get my company’s promotional tote bags. At first, I thought it was just something I ate, or perhaps even a stomach bug. So I wrote it off as diarrhea and went through the normal process of eating healthy food to detoxify and to help whatever I ate get out of my system immediately. At the same time, I took hydrite to make sure I don’t get dehydrated.

My excretion narrowed to once a day but it’s still watery. After one week of my excretion being in the same consistency, I decided to have fecalysis for fear that my amoebiasis might have been triggered. After all, in the majority of cases, amoebas remain in the gastrointestinal tract of the hosts. However, they did not find anything in my fecalysis. The doctor just advised me to change my diet – eat healthy food such as psyllium and oatmeal. That’s what I did.

Still, nothing happened. So I consulted my doctor again and she said the first signs of diarrhea may be easy to recognize, but pinpointing the cause often is not. Consequently, we tracked back to what had been happening in my life and realized that all this time it was stress that’s producing that effect. I was actually quite surprised by this fact. My symptom of being really stressed was vomiting. I did some research and found out that:

Stress can also make conditions that cause diarrhea, such as irritable bowel syndrome, worse. Here’s how it happens: stress or nervousness can cause the bowels to move faster. As a result, stool moves more quickly through the large intestine. Normally, water is reabsorbed into the body from the stool as it passes through the large intestine. The faster the stool moves, the less time there is for water to be reabsorbed. Therefore, more water remains in the stool. The result? Frequent, watery stools, otherwise known as diarrhea. Not only is the diarrhea uncomfortable, it can also interfere with your life. Fortunately, if you are a healthy adult without a fever or bloody stools, there’s no need to let the diarrhea “run its course”. Instead, you can treat diarrhea and get back to life. (http://www.imodium.ca/en/imodium-en1.asp)

Managing stress is one way to help your body systems return to normal and prevent diarrhea and other stress-related digestive problems. One of the most effective methods of dealing with stress is to recognize the source and either avoid it, if practical, or find healthy coping methods.

According to an article I read, one of the healthy coping methods include aerobic exercise which, it turns out, is also good for the digestion. Experts recommend performing about 20 minutes or aerobic exercise most days of the week. Stretching is a good way to relieve muscle tension. I have had no time to exercise for the past months, so I guess now is a good time to get back on track with sports, perhaps swimming.

Diarrhea is uncomfortable, but often preventable. Then again, when prevention does not work, and over-the-counter medications do not help treat diarrhea, it may be time for you to see your doctor.

I was browsing through my web album and saw some of my pictures two years ago. Boy did I grow older! I compared what I looked like during my first year to my last year in college. I couldn’t tell the difference. But now, only two years later, you can really tell the difference.

The face, like other parts of the body, has muscles and fats. And just like any muscle, toning and exercise is needed to maintain its figure. Take for instance lifting weights in a gym. When we do it regularly, our muscles become tight. But when we stop, the muscle will sag and will lose its form. The same thing happens with the face. During college years we always laugh with our friends, which is great facial exercise. Now that we are working, we have eight hours of work and little time to smile, hence no exercise.

So what is my point here? Smiling makes a person look younger, more effective than even the best wrinkle cream out in the market. It reduces the sagging of the cheeks and maintains that youthful glow. So there you are guys. SMILE! ^_^

I was working out this morning and I suddenly remembered about a certain appetite suppressant. Don’t ask me why. I guess people who work out also use these? I was recommended by a friend of mine to use it, I just haven’t tried it yet. What do you guys think?

Work out more often guys! It helps you tone out your muscles and increase your strength, little by little! Don’t overdo it, though. Too much of anything is bad for your health.

I remember this one day when I thought about taking phenphedrine to lose weight when I was 15. I have never been obese but my excess baby fat was bothering me a lot. But then I got introduced to swimming.

In a span of 3 months swimming I was slim. I had always been a water baby. I’ve done a lot of water sports like dragon boat, wakeboarding, surfing, and scuba diving. This is how I managed to stay fit and healthy for a long time and now I’ve been doing yoga which improved my over all mental, physical and spiritual healing. I will be forever thankful for that day that my toes touched the water on that pool. It changed my whole life.

My brother and I were in search of the best auto insurance company in the internet for his car. We have been doing a lot of browsing when I told him that I wanted to go and swim as I have been slacking off my laps lately. Having recently been diagnosed with high blood, he immediately agreed.

We made a lot of pool touring ’til finally we picked out our pool for the day. It was a long infinity pool near our village that was on our taste buds for that sunny afternoon. I told him that today there is no stopping my 1 kilometer swim. After swimming for 300 meters my brother gave up and finally started to float around while I did my laps. I told him that his obesity finally caught up with him.

After one hour of getting soaked, I finished my laps. It was a good sunny day. I’ve decided to full on head on my cross training for the next couple of days.

I’ve been having weird headaches lately, and my nose is bleeding. I hope it’s nothing serious. I’m going to visit a doctor sometime soon to have it checked. If you’re experiencing symptoms that you normally don’t have, please, don’t hesitate to visit a doctor. As I have said, prevention is better than cure. It’s a lot cheaper, I tell you.

On a lighter note, automotive lifts are awesome. They never fail to amaze me. Car freak right here.

Browsing mindlessly on a magazine while waiting for my turn for a haircut, an equestrian riding apparel caught my eye. It got me into thinking, “Does horseback riding actually have fitness benefits?” I did some research and here’s what I found out:

Horseback riding aside from being recreational sport, is also considered a beneficial form of therapy and exercise for people of all ages. According to one article, “The trotting and galloping action of a horse helps strengthen the rider’s spine and pelvic muscles, improves posture and stimulates seldom-used core muscles, in the dorsal and abdominal regions.” To cap it off, this activity burns approximately 278 calories per hour for an average, 145-pound person (thedailyplate.com). Imagine that!

It is for those reasons and more that there are horseback riding machines in the market today such as Giddyup Fitness Exerciser Machine – Horseback Riding Simulator.

Quite interesting, don’t you think? ^^;

Last December 6, the most anticipated boxing fight of the year took place in MGM Grand in Vegas: The De La Hoya – Pacquiao hundred-million dollar welterweight bout.  According to the news, people were so excited about this event that las vegas hotel reservations were already full the week before.Boxing aficionados were stunned to see De La Hoya turn into Pacquiao’s punching bag!  It ended at round nine because De La Hoya did not have enough strength to fight anymore.  The match was very disappointing considering the high expectations people had in De La Hoya.  They were expecting at least a draw or 12th round.  In fact, there were many speculations about an under the table deal between the two parties.

Health experts say that De La Hoya’s poor performance in the fight was due to his rapid weight loss. He needed to lose weight in order to meet the 147 pound weigh-in requirement. De La Hoya (155 lbs present) needed to shed fats and cut on diet in order to get to this weight. This however was no problem for Pacquiao for he just needed to gain weight from 135 pound.

What happened to De La Hoya during the match is one of the most obvious examples on the effects of rapid weight loss. It can be really unsafe.   Consequently, I strongly suggest that you stick to the old gym routines and balanced diet.  It’s ALWAYS better to be safe than sorry.

I have been dying to get back to our Kendo dojo and gear up with my bogu for a long time now. I miss doing the suburi with my fellow kendoka (not to mention hitting them in the head. Hehehe). Heck, I even miss the required two rounds of cleaning the dojo before the session starts.

*Sigh* I just don’t have the money for it right now. Too many payables… I need to prioritize those first before I should even think about going back to Kendo (and then dream of fighting off those Japanese in the yearly Hong Kong Kendo Competition).

Thanks to my friend Mark, I just might be able to join one of those sessions soon. To be able to pay off my bills (and unnecessary finance charges) asap, he suggested I engage in credit card applications. Once I get approved, I should immediately avail of their balance transfer so I can pay at a much cheaper monthly rate. Isn’t that just brilliant?

One thing’s certain – when I get back to the dojo, I’ll do my utmost to be the best female kendoka (if not best kendoka) worthy of joining the next Hong Kong Kendo Competition. Yosh!

My friend Mark and I decided to try Bikram Yoga last October 24 by enrolling in a one week unlimited trial session. Just so you know, Bikram Yoga, as defined by ABC-of-Yoga.com, “is a series of 26 poses performed in a room with temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Each Yoga Pose is usually performed twice and held for a certain period of time.”

The short week of doing the 26 poses in the heated studio really did us a lot of good – improved breathing, increased flexibility, corrected posture, eliminated body toxins, lessened back pains, not to mention it gave us a healthy, glowing skin afterwards. If it weren’t for the pricey monthly fee, we would have continued on a one-month session at the studio.

In the end, we decided to take pictures of the 26 poses (thanks to Mark’s Nikon D90) borrow the Bikram Yoga session CDs and book, and just practice at home until we can afford the yoga fee. With its great benefits, we’re definitely going back to being yogis. ^_^