Suspend-It

Do you know what’s worse than getting hormonal acne before or during “that time of the month”? The fact that your normal everyday stress is escalated preposterously!

I mean really, this week is already crazy-stressful enough as it is. But to have my period at the same time, it’s horrendous. Good thing my friend Mark sent me a link on stress management to help me deal with it. The article states that, “Stress affects our bodies and thoughts and can eventually kill us.” I agree. I also discovered that there’s actually a term for the method we use when we displace negative stresses into positive and useful actions – Sublimation. Amazing isn’t it?

Anyway, given my escalated crazy-stressful condition, I think I deserve a satisfying massage tonight and a day off tomorrow.

Perhaps you have also noticed that today’s fashion is really centered on the thin women. Yep, thin women, not the curvy sexy women and certainly not the chubby ones. I think it has something to do with the eastern fashion influencing the industry. So since thin is in, it follows that people also want to be thin. Whether or not they are fat, they still want to be thinner. So this is where the problem arises.

Being in a strict diet is good for those who are fat, not just for the great figure but also for health reasons. Reasons like increased energy due to lesser weight, lower cholesterol levels and better sugar levels are just some I could think of. Usually, a combination of exercise and diet supplements is needed for the weight loss program to be effective. Diet for the thin people, however, may not be a good idea as this may lead to Anorexia - a condition wherein the body rejects the intake of food.

Anorexia is sometimes more difficult to treat because of the psychological aspect of the condition. Usually, anorexics undergo counselling and rehabilitation in order to be treated. It is alarming that more and more people, especially teenagers suffer from this condition, all because of the influence of fashion in their lives.

Did you know that in Singapore, they implemented a law that required cigarette manufacturers to add government warnings to cigarette packaging. But they are not just the typical “smoking is dangerous to your health” signs, they also include gory cancer pictures and the likes. I’m no smoker, yet I do not honestly believe that smoking cigars is that dangerous to our health, that is, not as dangerous as pollution from cars anyway.I remember some research talking about the advantages of smoking cigars, weird huh, but I have never found any study talking about good effects of inhaling smoke from cars. In Japan, almost every office employee, both male or female, smoke. Yet, Japanese people often reach their 80’s and some even reach a hundred years old. I’m just speculating here but I guess this is because of the unpolluted environment they live in. I am not in favor of smoking but I am really against air pollution.

Everyone seems to be in a very enthusiastic mood. Christmas break is up so were back to work again, not that we really stopped working in the holidays right? Fortunately, the boss is still out, on vacation leave, and there are no tasks to do. So today is just a free day at the office: watching movies, wasting bandwidth an oh, chit-chat to catch up with colleagues.

Earlier me and my office friends went to have an early lunch in a nearby cafe. While we were eating, a young lady approached us wanting share some information regarding ADHD. I became curious, for I thought it was another of those “save the earth movement” by Greenpeace. We asked: “what is adhd ? The young lady gave us a leaflet about it. ADHD stands for Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, a psychiatric disorder affecting 3 to 5 percent of children all over the world. One of the main symptoms is hyperactivity which occurs when the child is alone. This case is similar to autism, although this is considered easier to manage.

We gave some cash donation to the young lady to help in their drive promoting awareness to ADHD. It’s the season of giving anyway so we fortunate peeps should share our blessings with others. After lunch, we went back to the office and shared the leaflets to others so they can take part in sharing the info to others.

During a lunch buffet gathering of my department in celebration of the September birthday celebrants last September 25, I overheard one of them say, “Let’s go Green shopping!”

I was at a loss. Green shopping?! Huh?

Thanks to Google, I soon found that “Green shopping” actually refers to “shopping online”. The phrase originated from the result of the study conducted by the Green Design Institute of Carnegie Mellon University.

As you know, individual consumers generally drive by or commute via car from their homes to the nearest retail store to pick up the product and then return home. The Institute made a test wherein they discovered that you can decrease your impact on the environment by shopping online. In fact, “shopping online consumes less energy and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by 35 percent compared to shopping at traditional retail stores.” A good example of this is Buy.com wherein, “Buy.com’s model fared better in reducing carbon dioxide emissions and energy consumption with fewer steps in getting products from manufacturers’ warehouses to consumers’ homes.”

Amazing isn’t it? So next time you need to buy something, I suggest you opt for Green shopping!

I was chatting via skype with my friend in the Philippines asking how they are doing. As you know, the Philippines was recently hit by Typhoon Ondoy (international name Ketsana) and two more Typhoons are arriving (Typhoon Parma over the weekend). I was surprised to find out that while everyone else in their building was being sent home to prevent casualties, their office are firm about not letting them go home until 5:30 p.m.

Being a manager, I understand the company’s side of that. However, and in general, safety of the people should always come first. There’s no use in keeping an entire floor of panicking people on hold in the office. They’re pretty much unproductive by that time so it’s quite useless already. Besides, no amount of insurances, like the cheap term life insurance that they provide for their employees, could compensate for the life and/or safety of a person.

Anyway, my friend just skyped me from home informing me that she had a hard time finding transportation but is now safe. I hope everyone in their office gets home safely and stays safe.

To live in this world means to live with problems. Life would simply be downright boring without problems. Consequently, stress is a natural occurrence. How we deal with it says how we are as a person.

Then again, in general, there are a lot of unreasonable things that we have to take in this lifetime. Otherwise, we will not survive. But the way you take it will spell out the difference between failure and success.

As for me, it is very important to take some time off when you feel that the world is just one big ball of confusion. Go treat yourself to a spa or some orlando vacations and get a breather. Don’t force yourself to connect things too quickly or you’ll end up into a more confused state than before. Most often than not, a hiatus is just what you need to see things clearly and point you to the right path. Hope this helps!

My company is teaming up with the Bikram Yoga studio located just within the area to promote health and wellness among its employees. They had an orientation about the benefits of Bikram Yoga during our break last Wednesday. Although I already know all of those since I availed of a one-week unlimited trial last October, I attended the orientation to get a good grasp on the rates and promos.

I was not disappointed. They’re giving us a 30% discount for the monthly rate! Hooray! ^_^ I just wish they’d agree to extend the discount to family and friends as well. My friend Mark would really love that especially since he’s been stressed for the longest time. My sister, on the other hand, definitely needs to do yoga to accompany her intake of Fastin. That way, she’ll get toned up while losing weight.

I talked with the HR about the extension of the discounts after the orientation and she said she’ll do her best to include family and friends as well. I’m keeping my fingers crossed on this one. It’d be so much fun if I can do yoga with my friends. 0:D

My team was given a large budget to celebrate our five-year anniversary – the first celebration ever. To commemorate it, we all voted on eating a famous and very expensive buffet in a five-star hotel, then go drinking til we drop-dead afterwards.

We actually didn’t think the General Manager would agree, but he just laughed, said, “Sure!” and signed the cheque.

We celebrated our anniversary just this Friday. Some of us have already been to that hotel since that’s where our General Manager got married last March 2007. But even then, we still find the place magnificent, especially the Sunset Bar outside. The Sunset Bar is composed of one big gazebo for the main bar, surrounded by several gazebo kits that offer a captivatingly-romantic view of the sunset, plus a nightly poolside barbecue with fresh seafood, marinated meats and an array of salads, tropical fruits and local desserts.

I don’t expect us to celebrate our 6th year there again, but I’m still keeping my fingers crossed. You never know… 0;)

I went to my college friend Ayla’s baby’s Christening last July 19 in Alaska. It was the second time I’ve met her entire family. The last time was on her 18th birthday when we were still in college.

Although Ayla has been telling me that her dad has kidney problems and is now bloated due to it, I was still quite surprised at how frail he looked when I saw him. Nevertheless, during the Christening, he did his utmost to be his usual charming self and entertained us stupendously.

Then I received an sms from Ayla yesterday afternoon, “Please pray for my dad. He passed away awhile ago…”

I found out that her dad could actually have extended his life longer had he agreed to the usual dialysis treatment. But being practical and knowing the end result, not to mention the cost of such treatment, Ayla’s dad decided to just endure his sickness and rely on pills. It’s so ironic that while the rest of the world are searching for the best weight loss pill, there was Ayla’s dad whose lifeline depended on a pill.

Anyhow, I did some research to avoid having to lose someone because of kidney problems and found these tips on eHow.com on How to Prevent Kidney Failure.

• Control your blood pressure at all costs. Chronic high blood pressure is one of the most common causes of acute kidney failure in adult men and women.

• Ask your doctor about taking garlic supplements. These supplements can help reduce blood pressure quickly, but at the same time they will inhibit the blood’s ability to form clots, so they should only be taken under medical supervision.

• Quit smoking. Cigarette smoke causes a variety of health problems that can increase your chance of kidney failure. If you stop smoking, it will also lower your blood pressure, which is important for preventing kidney failure.

• Stop drinking alcohol. You can reduce the strain on your kidneys by cutting all alcoholic drinks out of your lifestyle. These drinks require that your kidneys work very hard and not drinking them can help prevent kidney problems.

• Drink plenty of water. Even though your kidneys may be damaged, they should still be able to process water. Try to drink at least eight glasses each day.
  See your doctor and have regular blood and urine tests done. These tests will notice any developing issues before you start to notice symptoms.

Do take note that watching your diet is a central theme and that having regular check ups are vital in this. I hope this helps.

To Ayla, again, my deepest condolences.