HOW I’VE LOST TRACK OF MY HEALTHY LIFESTYLE

We’ve been eating out a lot more frequently than usual not just because of lack of time to visit the local market for organic stuff (we have to be there by 5am to get the freshest produce and catch, unfortunately, our body clock keeps on moving because of Baby Tuz‘s fussiness) but because I’ve been feeling like celebrating lately. I know a big part of our nation and the world is mourning right now because of certain events particularly having ex-dictator/president Marcos buried in Libingan ng mga Bayani plus Donald Trump’s startling  win in the recent U.S. Elections, but in spite of all of that, I want to focus on the positive and just celebrate life! Looking at our little family, we still have so many things to be thankful for, hence the eating out and mini celebrations as of late…

1. My annulment case is finally moving after 9 months of waiting, yey! I was so happy that after I had my meeting with my lawyer, we all went to SM MOA for a hearty lunch buffet at Cabalen *burp!*

2. It’s November which means my favorite holiday (Halloween) has just just passed and been celebrated wonderfully. Aside from the October Halloween Festivities we did, on November 1, we headed to Villa Escudero for a whole day of tour inclusive of lunch buffet! (Post about this soon!);

3. It’s our baby’s birthday month too (he’s turning one on the 17th and I have so many things about this I want to share with you once I have the time);

4. My friend, Dennis, who is also baby Tuz’s godfather visited us over the weekend and since we had nothing in our fridge to cook, we all headed out and we had a lovely feast at TGIFriday’s in ATC. So yummy!!!

5. Together with my facial whitening treatment, I also just had my very first G-5 Massager and low frequency slimming treatment at Black Pearl Institute to help trim my tummy (I had caesarian operation when I gave birth last year so I had to wait a year before I am allowed by Black Pearl’s resident doctor to get this kind of slimming treatment and boy, what a long wait it was!)… 22 more treatments to go since the package I got last February include a total of 24 slimming treatments;

6. We just bought our very first MacBook Pro last weekend and bebe Hanz wants to buy another one this coming weekend — a MacBook Air for me — so we can have one each. Wow!!! I must admit that it’s been on my WANT list since forever, but because I’ve had other needs and priorities to take care of, plus I’d rather spend on travels and food (my few luxuries), it has always been pushed aside and way farther down my wish list. But now I am finally having  one too!!! Weeee!!!

7. We’re heading to Acuaverde in Batangas soon for Baby Tuz’s first birthday!!! Our banana beds (which we are turning into a small online retailer biz) and Baby Tuz’s Havaianas from Ninong Dennis are ready! Now if only I can have back my bikini body too… Lol!

 

Suffice it to say that there are just so many blessings coming our way and despite the occasional trials life throws at us, we are mostly thankful for everything and so we go out to eat! When we go out for particular appointments and errands, we squeeze in some time to dine somewhere nice and celebrate instead of going to the local market and cooking meals at home. Like yesterday, we were just supposed to buy diapers for Baby Tuz but we ended up having lunch first at Superbowl! When we got home, I started having headaches and I know that my cholesterol and blood pressure went up again.

While the food is all yummy and the ambiance so festive and fun when we eat out, doing this more frequently than usual is not really good for my health (and our pockets too! Lol!)

 

SO HOW I AM JUMPSTARTING MY HEALTHY LIFESTYLE?

1. Just Do It!

Last night, I made my decision. I told bebe Hanz that I want to go back to my well-balanced and healthy diet and that I must start exercising too. Otherwise, it’s my physical health that would suffer like before (high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high sugar, high triglycerides, fatty liver, etc.). I am due for another blood test today — I’ve been doing it every two months since July, but since I know that I’ve been a wee bit careless with my diet lately, I am giving myself one more month of going for a healthier lifestyle and before Christmas, I will definitely have my blood checked again and go see my cardiologist at the same time.

2. Set Aside Time for Physical Activity

After having made my decision last night, we started doing our long walks again just to get my body moving. I plan to start my weight training later after I post this plus do a longer walk in the evening (if it doesn’t rain) and add more cardio exercises (like going up and down the stairs). I’m thinking of checking out Anytime Fitness this weekend too so I can really be properly guided and probably do boxing too if I think my body can handle it like before. The important thing is to schedule at least 30 minutes a day for exercise. This will immediately boost my health.

3. Know The Reason FOR YOUR UNHEALTHY FOOD HABITS

I grew up deprived of good food. I even went to school in my elementary years not having baon (food in my lunchbox) and picking up empty soft drink bottles in our school canteen so I can have it exchanged for food later on. In short, I grew up with an empty stomach causing me to have peptic ulcer at a young age. So being able to eat good food now at expensive restaurants is like a status symbol for me saying “Yes, I’ve made it! I’ve gotten out of poverty and I can eat whatever I want!” And so that’s what I did. I ate whatever I want not thinking that my health will suffer later on which really did.

4. Do Not Deprive Yourself of Good Food But Do Eat Right

Now that I am aware why I am eating the way I do, I started preparing my own meal plus all our other health supplements. I make sure that what I eat is all good food, tasty and not bland despite not adding salt, or sometimes, just a pinch of salt (coz we still need salt in our body just not too much). And though it’s home-cooked and does not come with a hefty price tag, I assure myself that this is even better than food served at restaurants which we don’t even know how they’re cooked and if the kitchen staff used fresh oil and other healthy ingredients.

So more or less, the most important meal of the day (breakfast) generally looks like this. And whatever is left over is recycled for lunch and dinner. Then bebe Hanz just cooks another healthy dish to add to our next meal.

– a shot of Moringa, Turmeric and Calamansi juice upon waking up to perk up my internal system
– a glass of lemon water with mint for instant energy boost
– 3 capsules of MAXGXL Glutathione Accelerator to rid my body of free radicals all day

After this, I do my other morning rituals and prepare breakfast/brunch. And then…

– a capsule of Bergamet 20 mins. before meal to lower my cholesterol which I ordered from New Zealand
– then breakfast: eating fruit first before any other food aids with proper digestion and regular bowel movement (for today I had apple slices glazed with honey, cinnamon and sprinkled with walnuts and almonds), for my main meal, I had brown rice, protein source like meat and egg, raw vegetable salad (basil, arugula, celery with parmesan cheese, tomato sauce, raisins and green and black olives), brewed coffee with muscovado sugar and cream, and a mug of tarragon tea.

Then I take a capsule of COQ10 to rid my body of statins that I took for 2 months before as advised by the New Zealand nutraceutical company I bought this from.

After this I take Amlodipine maintenance drug for normal blood pressure then I go about the next several hours feeling energetic and strong. After 5-6 hours, I take another 3 capsules of the MAXGXL Glutathione Accelerator — the best health supplement I’ve taken so far (and I can be so discriminating, judgmental and choosy when it comes to reviewing various health products. I will blog about this too, soon.)

Looking at the 4 tips above and following them, I don’t get hunger pangs and food cravings in between meals anymore. On rare occasions that I do, I just drink a glass of water or munch on a celery stick or have sweet potato or prunes. I eat every 4 hrs during my waking hours and I usually don’t snack in between. I lose a little bit of weight too every time I do this health plan. So hopefully, I stick with this healthy eating habit. The eating out can probably be reduced to once a month like when we celebrate our monthsary. That will be my cheat day. But as much as possible, we should always prepare our own organic meals, do something physical everyday, be positive and always stay happy. After all, we only have one life to live and God already gave us everything we need to live a satisfying, long and blissful life. It’s just up to us to acknowledge and get it.

Here’s  to regaining our good health! Cheers!