Archive for the ‘Beauty & Health’ Category
Mommy, Why Are You Not Working?
For the past few days, I have Darren asking me “Mommy, why are you not working?”
He must be wishing “How I wish I could don’t go to school too and have mommy playing with me all day long!” OR he is probably not used to mommy being at home especially when I am usually spending most of my time at work on weekdays.
I have been on sick leave from work for a few days and my body badly needed a rest. So, for the few days, I preferred to be undisturbed though I know it is almost impossible especially when I still have the little ones to take care of.
A few days ago, I went through a colonscopy procedure (i.e. where the doctor put a scope through the colon, while patient is sedated, and check for possibility of polyps/findings and remove any polyps if possible. Doctor has advised that any growth of colon polyps is incidental and they could be precursors to colon cancer).
The 3 days of preparation before the hospital procedure was often unpleasant for many, with controlled diet made up of clear soupy based, non-fried, non-oily and plain bread meals only.
The worst was the night before the procedure when I had to consume prescriptions which led to non-stop diarrhoea to clean out the colon. That overloading of litres of liquid filled with the prescriptions almost made me throw out.
My hand where the sedation was administered directly through the blood stream
When the big day came, the sedation knocked me out before I could finish shouting my fair share of “PAIN” as the severe cramp set in. I woke up in the recovery ward “happy” that the procedure, diet control, awful tasting prescriptions were all over.
I thought I could be up and running and greedily attacking all my favourite food again after the procedure.
Unfortunately, my already sensitive stomach somehow got irritated/unbearable after the procedure and I had a surprisingly long period of hangover as a side effect of sedation.
The whole experience was not a pleasant process. Then, it again emphasizes how important it is to remain healthy.
Haiz….as mothers we often try our best to keep and pray for the good health of our family members without sparing much thought for ourselves.
It is time I start caring a little bit more for myself…
Only We Can Manage Our Own Stress?
Arghh….of the few things that I hate in life, on the top of my list is to be SICK.
When my doctor confirmed that I am suffering from GASTRITIS, immediately on my thoughts are I start counting down the many types of favourite food that I have been avoiding and will have to continue to *frown*.
So, the other day, my doctor was stressing to me the importance of watching my DIET. Then, he asked me what I think is the main cause of my gastritis. Without thinking, I answered “STRESS”.
My Stress at Workplace…..
Doctor was asking me how he can then help me prevent the trigger of my gastritis if the bulk of the STRESS comes from work.
Immediately, I started asking myself ”How can I prevent myself from being Stressed at work because no Doctor could possibly write a letter to any patient’s employer/customers/subordinates and asked for the patient to be exempted from STRESS.”
The fact is “Stress” is such a flexible word which means differently for different people.
[Just imagine a powerful exemption letter to - perform only one tenth of your original duties (and still getting the pay), getting your employer to download your responsibilities to someone else when in fact there is no one else, drawing a clear line with your subordinates and telling them not to report to you or disturb you when there is no one else to manage them, telling customers not to make any further requests because you are stressed. Sigh....we all know these wishes will never be possible.]
Yeah, I surrender that STRESS can only be self-controlled and it can’t be exempted. Agree?
I wish my life could be made easier without such heavy work responsibilities but it was also my choice to pursue this career. So I told doctor, ”Perhaps the best solution to STRESS at a workplace is to QUIT the job.”
However, does it necessarily get rid of my GASTRITIS?
Stress at Home……??
Then I asked doctor whether extreme lack of sleep could be another trigger.
Haha, when asked by doctor why I have lack of sleep, I answered that I have lack of time. When asked why I have lack of time, I answered that I have to spend lots of time at work and then at home “childcaring”.
On a casual note, Doctor asked: “So, now do you need me to write a letter to your husband to relieve you of STRESS at home?”
Funny huh? Although I do not totally agree that I am STRESSED while at home, we (including Papa Ed), nevertheless, laughed over it.
[Somehow, if I enjoy the process, no matter how pressurised I might feel, I don't surrender easily to stress.]
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Sigh…..My STRESS!
STRESS is such a Health Destructor. Reality is - the BEST DOCTOR to cure our STRESS is still ourselves.
For me, it is not the amount of relaxation exercises or YOGA, not the amount of massages, not the amount of beauty sleep, not the reduced amount of STRESS that others could make me feel….
Ultimately, it is how I control my “hearing, seeing, and feelings” at work. Before I consider quitting this job, I will have to learn to take things easier, I guess.
2 + 2 Keeps You Healthy
We know that we eat fruits and vegetables to keep us HEALTHY.
Fortunately, all my family members love fruits:)
Except that they like a variety of fruits to be served after our meals.
And I love shopping for fruits!
So, we have strawberries, plums, apples, pears, grapes, kiwi (and sometimes also bananas, rockmelons, watermelons, papayas, cherries and longans) served on a big plate.
[Yeap. We are all spoilt previously by my domestic helper and now my mom. It does feel "íncomplete" when we don't have a variety of fruits after our dinners at home].
Talking about eating enough fruits and vegetables to keep healthy.
Do you know how much fruits and vegetables do we need to eat daily?
Well, Brendan and Darren brought home a health message from Singapore’s Health Promotion Board today.
“2 + 2 Keeps You Healthy”.
The right quantity is to “Eat 2 servings of fruit and 2 servings of vegetables daily”.
How do we measure the servings?
See picture.
(Source: Singapore’s Health Promotion Board)
So, we need to eat two times of what we see in the picture daily.
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As for my family…….
Oh Dear! I guess we have an overdose of fruits, judging from the varieties that we eat after dinner.
For vegetables, I do have a little headache though because Darren is still selective over the type of vegetables he eats.
Somehow, I seem to encounter common complaints of children who do not like vegetables.
I wonder why….
I hope my boys appreciate the “fruit and vege” message from Health Promotion Board.
Because they seem to like the bookmarks more than the message.
Hopefully, they can appreciate better now through reading this post *haha*.