Tag Archives: health

Dear Diary

Physicals

Our annual physical exam for work is scheduled a little bit earlier so now we’re supposed to go do our physicals this week. I was expecting it to be on January, but it’s not like we can do anything to have it rescheduled.

I know I’ve turned into somewhat of a health buff in the last year, but I’ve loosened up on all the health stuff I’ve been doing late this year, so I’m sort of kind of scared of the upcoming exam. Weird, right? I mean, I usually go through these exams and not worry about anything because I know there’s nothing to worry about, but this year, I feel extra anxious for some reason. There is nothing to be worried about, right?

I guess the idea that blood chemistry is added in our annual physical exam added to my anxiety. It used to be only complete blood count but they added blood chemistry, so now we’re supposed to fast before the exam, which means I have to put that in schedule, too. Meh. That’s 10-12 hours of no food or liquid…how will I give my urine sample, then? Ack.
I worry too much.

I guess anything health related is kind of worrying. Well, I know I shouldn’t, but sometimes I feel like I hardly take care of myself, even if I’ve been taking the time to exercise and all that. Still, you never know what could hit you even if you’ve taken care of your health and all. I’ve heard stories of some healthy people who suddenly get sick with serious diseases and stuff. And I’m afraid to know that I am sick, or if I would require some kind of operation or something.

And I don’t want to be sick. Who wants to be?

But isn’t it scarier if I find out when it’s all too late? When I could have prevented everything if I did what I had to do at this age and not push it all for later?

You know what, I think all this anxiety is also because I haven’t been really okay spiritually. As usual. I always falter. I’ve stopped struggling for the past few months already that sometimes I wonder how far gone I am. And if I could ever get back where I used to be.

Ah well. This is one fact of life that I can’t skip, and I know that I must face, and pray that everything will be okay. It will be okay, right? I’m just being paranoid, right?

*deep breath* Dear God, even if I keep on forgetting You lately, please don’t forget me.  Lord help me remember that You’re bigger than any of this. Please let everything be okay.

Dear Diary

On which I welcome pain

I have  confession to make.

I haven’t been working out as much as I used to.

Eep!

I wished I looked as fit as this woman...but no.

I can’t remember when it started exactly, but I think it started after I got sick last July. I didn’t go to the gym much because I was battling with my lungs thanks to asthma. It was followed by a particularly good bout of fitness thanks to the Rexona Race, where my body fat % went down to 25%, the lowest it’s ever been in so far. Then I started feeling this weird pain on my ankle after I ran again on the treadmill after the race. So I took it easy for a while to make sure my ankle is okay (which reminds me, I still need to go and have them checked).

The problem with this is my schedule. I have no problems with my gym schedule for day shift because I take classes after work, and I get more work outs then. My newer mid shift schedule makes it a bit of a problem, because it’s late, and there are no classes past 1:00pm at the gym, so I end up running. And since I can’t really run because of my ankle pain…what else can I do?

I used to work out 4-5 times a week, but now I’m happy if I hit 3. Remember my laziness last Monday because it’s a holiday? Yeah, that kind of extended almost all week.

Ugh.

After binging on Ben and Jerry’s Peanut Butter Cup ice cream last Sunday (OH MY LORD THE ICE CREAM GOODNESS!), I gave in to my conscience and hit the gym hard yesterday. It’s a good thing it’s a holiday in the US yesterday so I had an excuse to go to work early, so I managed to get a run and attend Body Jam in the afternoon, followed by six sets of ab workouts (yes, I’m crazy).

When I woke up this morning, I felt something I haven’t felt in the longest time: post-exercise pain.

Let me just say: oh how I missed thee!

It sounds crazy, I know, but it’s been a long while since I felt that. You the muscle pains you get after you work out, especially if you haven’t been doing so for a while? That kind of pain. That means my muscles are getting stronger, and after regularly exercising for the past few months, I rarely feel that now. Feeling that in my abs is a welcome thing, because I missed it, even if I can’t laugh so much because of it.

Earlier today, I was working out again and my abs screamed in agony as I was doing planks. Masochistic, I know, but after all the eating I’ve been doing for the past few weeks? Well, someone’s got to pay. I haven’t even done my whole program yet and everything is painful — what more if I did? Eep. Honestly, I would’ve done more if I had time today — if there were pull up bars there, I would’ve even attempted that. Or…okay fine, maybe not. :P Ah pain. You’re welcome, even if I complain about you.

I weighed myself earlier after two weeks or so of hiding from the scale. I’m glad to say that even if I did gain weight, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it was. I can still do this. A good 10k race should do the trick, and proper diet, of course.

But first, get my ankle checked.

Fitness isn’t an easy road, and frankly, I’m getting tired of being a gym rat, but I can’t back down now after all that I’ve lost. There is no way I am going back there. Nope, no way.

Of course, the presence of this isn’t helping:

Omnomnomnom Pastel! ♥ Thanks Anj! :)

Ah well. :)

Dear Diary

Run, run, run!

February 21, 2010 marked the fulfillment of one of my declarations for 2010: I will run at least 5k in a marathon this year. Yep, I’m one of the 11,000+ people who joined the Century Tuna Superbods Run at Fort Bonifacio Global City.

I have to make it clear, though: 5k is not a marathon, so I should change that word. But it sounds cooler and more impressive…right? Then again, who’s impressing who?

But anyway. Last Sunday, some of my friends and I joined this humongous event, as seen in the photo above (that was actually after the run already). Originally, it was only me, Toni and Noel who was supposed to go there, but Gel joined in a few weeks later. I was kind of nervous about the race, especially the day before (when the four of us were also together to watch Rent) because I didn’t know what to expect. True, I’ve been practicing on the treadmill a lot, and once at the UP Oval, and I knew I could do 5k easily (or not so easily, but you know what I mean), but I still couldn’t help but feel the jitters. What if something happens, you know?

I shouldn’t have worried, really, because the race went by smoothly, at least for me. I didn’t have much expectations since it was my first race ever, plus I wasn’t really running to win or to beat a specific time — I was running to have some kind of record to break, eventually.

So there. It was a fun race, but there were so. many. racers. In 5k, specifically, which I heard were about 4,000 runners all in all? Wow. I was already on my way back when I saw some people still on their way at the half of the 5k route — man that’s a lot of runners. It was also kind of hard to really run because there were so many people around. It was kind of funny being at the start line at the gun start: everyone were just jogging up and down in their place until the person in front of them finally moved. Heh.

Sometime in the middle of the race, I started feeling some fatigue in my legs. That’s when I slowed down and just let people run by me. However, by the time I started running, the people in front of me were now walking, so hello elbows and cutting and all that!

I also wanted to have a “running finish”, but everyone in front of me were walking already so I walked too. I could have had a shorter time if I managed to run there…but I don’t mind.

All in all, I finished 5k in 43:50, according to the race results at the website. It’s not so bad, since I clocked around 39:27 at the treadmill when I tried 5k for the first time. At least I’m under 50 minutes, and I now have a personal record to beat. :D

And my overall ranking isn’t so shabby either: I’m #550 for the Female Division for 5k (out of 1711 runners) and #1729 for the overall 5k (out of 3706 runners). I’m still in the upper half, so it isn’t so bad. :)

Will I run again? Yes, I definitely will. I don’t know if I’ll really take this thing seriously, and invest in shoes and other stuff, but I will definitely join another race again. :) It’s fun, and it’s another way to exercise and be healthy (which reduces stress and hair loss), plus it’s a great experience. :D Who knows, I may be able to run 10k by the end of the year. :P I’m not closing any doors on that.

Oh and the best part about Sunday?

Wohoo!

Oh yeah. I’ll definitely run again. :P

Dear Diary

Love in the Time of Asthma

So. I’m still kind of sick.

I was feeling all better yesterday and even had the time to go out with my family at Bonifacio High Street (and got new books!). I spent a pretty much normal non-sick day save for the occasional sniffles. However, when I got to bed that night, I started wheezing again.

I think the culprit may be my colds, or it could be the fact that I slept late last night (darn Seattle’s Best Americano). Or it may even be the cold weather. Or allergies. Whatever it is, I woke up not feeling good again, which meant I missed exercising again today…and I kept on wheezing every now and then. ARGH.

It’s been more than a year since I last had an asthma attack, and it’s not even a full-blown one, just one that was triggered by my allergies. Usually a day of drinking medicine is okay, but this particular one just wants to stay for another day. When I was a kid, I used to have a LOT of asthma attacks, which automatically excused me from doing heavy physical activity and sports (and that is probably the main reason why I don’t do sports). When I grew older, the attacks grew less frequent, but I still carry my inhaler in case of emergencies.

I think this particular bout of (almost) asthma is frustrating me because I can’t work out, and my days feel weird when I don’t exercise already. Plus, I hate drinking asthma medicine (Ventolin) because it gives me tremors and it’s not a pleasant thing — plus Ventolin has steroids and it can make one fat. I eat carefully (no appetite suppressants here), though, but still, I wanna sweat! I want physical activity! I want my classes! :(

It’s just my luck that it’s raining today so I couldn’t get to the clinic earlier. :( I will try now, though.

Ah asthma. Can you go away now?

EDIT: 6:45PM. So I just got back from the clinic and yes, my asthma is back, sort of. :( I can say that starting today, and up to the next two weeks, I’ll be on steroids. :( Ah fudge. This means I probably will not be able to work out again today and tomorrow…but maybe I can do Body Balance on Wednesday? I wonder.

Oh well. And the medicines are so darn expensive. Boo.

I sure hope my next post isn’t about any kind of sickness now.

Dear Diary, Yum Factor

I am on a diet

Ah, Goolai salad: you are one piece of veggie heaven in a plastic container. ♥ I just had a Goolai salad for dinner, and it was awesomely delicious. The creamy dressing is not really a good choice, but it was the only salad left there, so I couldn’t really pick anything else. I wish it was more accessible to me, though, but not always eating would stop me from getting sick of it too fast.

Don’t you like it when you know you ate healthy in one meal? :)

On another note, my mom started doing the General Motors diet starting Wednesday last week. General Motors diet, or the GM Diet, is this seven day diet where you eat specific types of food on each day:

Day One
All fruits except bananas. Your first day will consist of all the fruits you want. It is strongly suggested that you consume lots of melons the first day. Especially watermelon and a loupe. If you limit your fruit consumption to melons, your chances of losing three lbs. on first day are very good.

Day Two
All vegetables. You are encouraged to eat until you are stuffed with all the raw or cooked vegetables of your choice. There is no limit on the amount or type. For your complex carbohydrate, you will start day two with a large baked potato for breakfast. You may top the potato with one pat of butter.

Day Three
A mixture of fruits and vegetables of your choice. Any amount, any quantity. No bananas yet. No potatoes today.

Day Four
Bananas and milk. Today you will eat as many as eight bananas and drink three glasses of milk. This will be combined with the special soup which may be eaten in limited quantities.

Day Five
Today is feast day. You will eat beef and tomatoes. Eat two 10 oz. portions of lean beef. Hamburger is OK. Combine this with six whole tomatoes. On day five you must increase your water intake by one quart. This is to cleanse your system of the uric acid you will be producing.

Day Six
Beef and vegetables. Today you may eat an unlimited amount of beef and vegetables. Eat to your hearts content.

Day Seven
Today your food intake will consist of brown rice, fruit juices and all the vegetables you care to consume.

There are other details in the diet, which you can read from this page, like the wonder soup, and something about alcohol and what it does to your body and such. It’s made to be some kind of cleansing diet, to help you eat right, and get this: it’s designed to make you lose 10-17lbs in a week.

Ten to seventeen pounds. In a week. That’s almost as much weight loss you’d get if you drink weight loss pills, based on this phosphacore review I read.

The biggest weight loss I’ve had in the past six months I’ve been in the gym was 3lbs in a week, and about 5lbs of body fat, and that’s after a whole lot of physical activity and careful diet. I can’t even dream of losing that much weight in a week.

So why not follow it, right? Well, call me a gym junkie and a purist, but I’d really rather stick to my own diet rather than do something like this. I thought of following this diet early 2009 after a friend told me about it, but I loved food too much to do something like this, and I really don’t believe any diet that tells you you could lose weight without exercise. Plus isn’t losing too much weight in a week dangerous or something? I hear the healthy goal is 2lbs a week, right?

So yeah, maybe I am a purist. The diet I follow right now is based on the servings that my nutritionist made for me when I started out at Fitness First, which consists of approximately:

Continue reading I am on a diet →

Dear Diary

When life tells you to rest, you rest

Getting sick for no reason is a sure sign of something: your body needs rest. I should know; I’m doing that right now.

So yesterday’s allergies became a cough and cold today, with slight wheezing that feels like asthma. I don’t know how allergies turned out to be this way, but maybe it’s also because of the cld? And the stress? And…well, maybe life is just telling me to take it easy today and rest.

This meant no Combat again today…so sad, so sad. I wanted to go out too, because of all the plans that my friends and I have today, and I feel kind of bad to beg off. :( Meds are an option (no, no acne treatments, of course, what use would I have with that now?), but I think my body really needs rest. But it’s okay. Better rest than get even sicker, right? No one wants that.

I should write about my fitness ideas and stuff soon. Maybe even start a blog about it. Who knows?

So what plans today? I will…

  • Eat right. Since I won’t be able to work out, my diet for today is important — no indulging or splurging on things that I can’t burn off anytime soon.
  • Read. I’m starting to get into Persuasion already, and if there’s anything I learned from reading Pride and Prejudice, it’s to keep on reading even just a few pages of the novel everyday so I won’t get lost. So it’s Persuasion day again!
  • Write. Be it my novel or a short piece of fiction for Wordplay, it would be nice to write.
  • Catch up with TV. TV shows galore — I have a bit more to watch for a while, so maybe later?
  • Journal. Yeah, writing again.

I wanted to go shopping today, but it looks like I’d have to skip that for now. Shopping is tiring yo. I can do that over the week, or maybe even next week or something. Right now the first priority is to rest.

At least I have no fever. And no sore throat. My asthma meds are making my hands shake though — hello Ventolin, we meet again.

It’s nice to stay at home for a change, though. I kind of missed this.

* Image credit: sxc.hu

Dear Diary

A-choo!

I’m sorry to start this post with negativity, but I just want to let this out:

I hate allergies.

I’m not really a sickly person, at least, not lately. When I was a kid, I used to be sick all the time, and I think that kind of helped me develop some kind of strong immune system. Sort of. I mean, I have a strong stomach and it takes a day before it realizes that I actually have indigestion. I don’t know if that isn’t enough indication of it.

Anyway, I’m not too sickly, and ever since I started working out, I know that I’ve sort of improved, physically. I hardly even get asthma attacks anymore. But there’s one thing that knocks me down faster than I can say salbutamol: allergies.

I’m not too sensitive to food, and the only things I’m really allergic to are shrimps, crabs and other crustaceans (too bad, especially since those are the yummy ones). I know I’m also allergic to mint lip balms, but I don’t ingest that anyway. What I really hate is that I’m allergic to some kind of dust that gets me sniffling in less than five minutes when I get in contact.

I’m not so sure what kind of dust it is, but I always get hit by allergic rhinitis every now and then. We move to a new office? Expect me to have a stuffed nose by the end of the day because of the carpet. Sleeping in a new place? Oh dear, allergies again. Visiting a place with dusty decorations? Sneeze galore! Going to Araneta Coliseum? That, too (I know, that kind of surprised me too). Sometimes, my nose gets stuffed when I eat something I am allergic too. Sometimes I get allergies right before I go to bed, and it’s annoying because I sniffle all night long and I feel like I am waking up every sleeping person around me. :(

Yesterday, my teammates and I went to Bench to check out some clothes, and less than five minutes after we went out, I started sniffling. What’s more annoying is my throat started to hurt, and it’s like a new symptom of these allergies. Whenever my throat hurts, I know it’s a sign that my body’s demanding rest, so I take it easy. I usually start drinking a lot of water, drink lots of tea (ginger and lemon), go for Strepsils or Orofar-L, and gargle with Betadine mouthwash. That usually gives me instant relief, but when it’s caused by allergies, it doesn’t really help.

Like last night. I drank some Celestamine, which should put me to sleep, but I ended up waking up after falling asleep on the couch. Not only do I have a headache, but my throat was burning. Argh. I gargled, then went to bed again, and woke up with a burning throat that I almost wanted to cry. That’s the worst feeling in the world — waking up, swallowing and feeling that burn at the back of your throat that water can’t wash away.

ARGH. Allergies, I hatechoo.

I think I’m slightly better now, but my throat still feels a bit uncomfortable. This means no Body Combat for me tonight to favor rest for this poor throat (technically, I can go Body Combat since I feel strong enough to do so…but rest is important, too). The good thing is, this gives me time to enjoy home-cooked dinner at home (I think we have tinola tonight), and continue reading Persuasion by Jane Austen while drinking hot lemon tea to soothe my throat. And then drink allergy medicines to knock me out tonight and hopefully give me a good night’s sleep.

Rest. Sounds lovely.

Maybe giving me allergies today is  way for God to tell me to take it easy and rest.

What about you guys? What do you do when you get allergies? Or when you’re sick? Share your stories in the comments below. :)

Dear Diary

Sick Day

Today I filed my first sick leave in the span of one and a half years. Yesterday caught me under the rain every time I would go out of the office, and I already had a sore throat the day before, and then the oh-so-annoying colds. This morning I woke up with a relentless cough and wheezing lungs. Hello, asthma. We meet again.

So I spent the entire day lying down, eating my sick-day soup (macaroni, squash, tofu, oregano, cabbage), watching TV and reading books. Oh, and sleeping too. It’s been an uneventful day, and I’m still coughing like there’s no tomorrow. This reminds me of how I was back in elementary, when I would get sick every now and then — if not fever, asthma, if not asthma, fever. Sometimes a bit more serious, but I always pull through.

It’s kind of hard commuting when you’re sick though. This just means I should go driving.

Er, anyway. It’s 9:30 and I should get to bed. After this CSI Miami episode. I have a lot of work to do tomorrow that I’ve got no time to think of auto parts franchises, so I better rest now. :)

Take care guys, don’t get too sick like me. :P

Dear Diary

RSI? CTS?

2 Comments

For the past two days, I’ve been feeling some kind of throbbing pain on my wrists, right below the palm. You know the one that usually sits right below the keyboard when you type? Wait, that is the wrist, anuba. Anyway, so I’ve been feeling some kind of throbbing pain there which especially hurts when I bend the wrist and only one thing came to mind: Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

Now I’ve known about this for the longest time, and I know I should exercise every now and then to relieve pressure from my hands, but of course, I forget. And everyone knows I’m right in front of the computer almost all day. So now I’m wondering…is this it?

Just a few weeks ago, my friend Tuesday is telling us that she might have Repetitive Strain Injury (RSI). It’s funny because now that she’s taking extra measures not to have that because of her work, she starts to feel the symptoms. How ironic. Anyway, I don’t know if it’s suddenly became psychological and I start to feel the symptoms myself…or maybe I’m just too stressed with all the activity I’ve been doing this week.

Maybe Grace is right. I should take some days off from the PC.

Gasp.

Or maybe I’m just overreacting. Do hurting wrists mean anything else other than RSI or CTS?

I’m taking extra exercises to stretch my arms and hands ever so often at work. And I’m planning to buy those gel-filled ergonomic wrist rests for work, and wrist supports to keep my wrists straight when I’m typing at work and at home. Gah, I know it’s going to be expensive again, but prevention is better than cure, right? I don’t want to end up having an open surgery on my hand, ack.

Has anyone had a similar experience, you know, throbbing on the wrists? Or is anyone using wrist rests/wrist supports out there? What do you recommend?