It's not that hard to eat healthy.

I googled "salad for work" today. (This was the first result.) I despair that healthy food recipes always looks so gourmet and unattainable. It's got fancy grains (Bulgar wheat??) or it's got figs and beetroot that didn't come from a tin. I'm sure it's delicious AND healthy, but I'm so intimidated by recipes with SEPARATE HERBS that if I didn't already have "basic healthy food skillz" I would give up and buy KFC already. I'm thankful that I know how to cut up a carrot and dip it in hommus. I'm glad that I can make a sandwich with cheese and tomato. Also, I can toast baked beans between two slices of bread in a sandwich press. I am able to peel a banana. It's boring, I know, but these things are healthy plus EASY plus CHEAP. That's good enough most days. I don't think TV chefs and food magazines do very much at all to improve the eating habits of non-cooks. They're for people who already love cooking food and are interested in doing it really well. The rest of us just want to put food into our mouths with as little effort as possible.

Breathing through nose.

I am now an OK nose-breather. It was a big adjustment, it was hard to deprive myself of oxygen at first, and I can't do it at night, but I've got days under control and my hanky/tissue use has dropped 80%. I've been breathing through my nose all day, including when I walked to work and haven't used a single tissue, which is pretty unheard of, I'm famous for my nose-blowing at work. So if you are a sniffly person, it's worth trying.

'Sup 'sup

Jelssie is into gut health, and I am especially so, after my lovely two week bout of gastritis. As a result, I'm now taking a couple of supplements daily.

I'm taking a probiotic (Nutrition Care Polybac 8). This brand is not as widely available as Inner Health Plus.

Image from http://www.vitalityandwellness.com.au/images/products/Nutritional%20Supplements/Polybac-8-web.jpg

I haven't done my research, but two different supplement sales people recommended this one, so I'll stick with it for the time being. Cheapest I've seen it at so far is at Mr Vitamins in Chatswood.

I'm also eating yoghurt with breakfast during weekdays, because it contains cultures that are beneficial to gut health. My favourite is Gippsland Dairy Organic Natural Yoghurt. It's really tasty, has no sugar and is relatively low in energy compared to other full-fat (or even lite) yoghurts.

Image from http://www.gippslanddairy.com.au/products_yogurt_5.html

As much as I love it, it's quite pricey where I live, so I'm eating ALDI's Just Organic Natural Yoghurt instead. ALDI's one is pretty good and has more energy per 100g than Gippsland Diary.

Image from http://aldi.com.au/au/media/product_range/ALC5020_Dairy_PD_9_Just_Organic_Natural_Yogurt.jpg

Finally, I'm taking liquid chlorophyll, which apparently is great for digestion and your skin. Is it really? I don't really know and I don't know how to judge how effective it is. I'm currently taking Swisse Liquid Chlorophyll, but will try an organic one at my local supplement store next (costs nearly half the price I paid for Swisse!). If you want to buy the Swisse one cheaply, try Priceline when they have a sale. It was nearly half the price I paid for mine -_-.

Taking these supplements makes me feel like a hippy.

(Also, I know yoghurt isn't a supplement, but I included it in here because we are talking about gut health :) )

Sitting on the floor.

I have decided to sit on the floor when I'm at home watching TV. I tried it last night, sitting on my folded-up yoga mat. It was OK at first, but got a bit tiring. I want be able to increase my sitting-fitness enough to be able to sit through an hour episode of something without having to lean on anything. It's supposed to be better for you for flexibility and stuff, and it's active sitting which is better than just blobbing.

Oils ain't oils

I'm introducing oils into my skin/hair care routine.

Jojoba oil for removing makeup and relieving ezcema symptoms. Castor seed oil to strengthen nails. Rosehip oil to treat dry facial skin. Argan oil to keep hair looking healthy. I like the idea of using oils; it's simple and it's a single ingredient.

Gastritis

I was crook for a couple of weeks with gastritis (inflammation of the stomach lining).

I tell you this as an excuse to post up this cute moving GIF image!

The whole episode made me realise how much I took good health for granted. It wasn't until I was really crook that I appreciated how much God sustains me day to day. To feel normal, to be able to eat whatever you like, to live relatively free of pain, to be able to exercise and just generally function is a real blessing.

Nail challenge

I've been a nail-biter for as long as I can remember. I managed to wean myself off nail-biting during high school, but because I had had short nails for so long, I never got used to having longer nails. They just felt weird.

I don't bite my nails anymore, but I do tear them when I get nervous. Given my dry hands and ezcema (or x-ma as Jess likes to call it), my nails and my hands end up looking very ratty.

So, I have embarked on a nail challenge. I will do my best not to tear at my nails (although I did twice after starting this nail challenge) and at the end of about three or four weeks, Jess and I are going to get a manicure together! Something fun to do together.

I'm a bit hesitant to go to those big nail parlours - I have heard they're not very hygienic. You're more than welcome to join us for a mani and we would love to hear any recommendations for where to go for a hygenic one!

Skin care update

I've talked about treating dry facial skin here and here before. I read Paula Begoun's articles: Winterize Your Skin and What To Do When Climate Change Affects Your Skin. I think my new skin care routine is working - I just need to give it time to heal.

Here is my tweaked routine:

Morning
- Changed to a milky/creamy cleanser (found a travel-sized Lancôme cleanser, probably was a gift)
- Organic rosehip and/or argan oil for the face (got a great deal at The Rocks Market)
- Sunscreen
- Moisturiser as needed throughout the day


Night
- Milky/creamy cleanser
- Chemical exfoliant about 2-3 times a week
- Rosehip and/or argan oil
- Moisturiser if still needed

I don't know if it's the rosehip oil doing magic overnight, but each morning following the night that I use it, I wake up to really soft and smooth facial skin. I love that stuff! Can't rate it highly enough! It's definitely worth giving it a go. I'm even sending some to my sister in Japan, and getting my family to try it.

Talk to your pharmacist

I've been having some winter ailments: dry hands, dry facial skin and brittle nails. Georgina and a high school friend of mine made a very good suggestion to talk to a pharmacist about it, and ask him or her for recommendations. It's a great idea because a pharmacist is well-trained and easier to see than a GP.

For my dry hands, the pharmacist recommended Ego Silic 15 barrier cream. I currently have three other hand creams, not sure what I'll do with those...

For my brittle nails, the pharmacist recommended a supplement. I'm giving Planet Health's Qsilica (a silica supplement) a go.

Of course, I forgot to ask about the dry facial skin -_-

Blowing your nose

I have spent this public holiday long weekend with a miserable cold. [On a tangent, how is it possible for the body to produce so much snot?!] I have concluded that there is no ladylike way to blow your nose. I trumpet. Can anyone offer any advice?

Release!

I've been trying to find ways to relieve tension. I had a persistent headache in my face all yesterday afternoon, starting from the forehead. I've noticed since last week that when I try and relax my forehead, that it's like a reverse spring: as soon as I stop consciously relaxing it my forehead clenches up again.

I tried some of these little exercises, deep breathing (I should sigh more!), drawing an 8 around my eyes. I think singing along to itunes would be as effective as "om". I still had to take ibuprofen but it was worth trying. Coincidentally I had really relaxing sleep last night for the first time in ages, and woke up feeling all floppy and relaxed. I even swung my arms as I walked to work, which is very unusual. But I felt tense again when I sat down at my desk. So anyway I'm trying to be more aware of where I'm carrying stress and practicing releasing those muscles.

Garlic.

As many of you know (since I may have blogged this already), I believe in the healthful powers of raw garlic (and cooked garlic—although is is not as potent it is very much more delicious). The best way to eat raw garlic is to chop it up fine and drink it with mouthfuls of water so that it doesn't burn your tongue or create garlic breath. It goes straight down and kills the baddies. Just yesterday I heard a news story about garlic even preventing arthritis!

I've remembered a snippet from my childhood: robot shaped chewable garlic tablets for kids. They were delicious, like lollies. I was a sickly child (God blessed me with large and germ-receptive tonsils) so I got one to take to school each day. While other 7-year-olds had packets of twisties and meuslie bars, I had 2 westons oatmeal biscuits and a garlic tablet. Doesn't this explain a lot.

The other trinity

Diet, sleep, exercise. I like to call that the other trinity. Or small-t trinity. I've realised how important those three things are to my health, general well-being, and how inter-connected they are.

For example, when I start sleeping badly, it starts to affect my diet. When I'm tired, I crave junk food more, so I eat more junk food than usual. This in turn makes me feel bloated, lethargic and I put on weight. Being heavier makes running or exercising that little bit less pleasant, and when you add tiredness on top of that, it makes exercise really unappealing. People generally find life harder to cope with when they are tired.

However, when everything in the trinity is going well i.e. eating healthily, sleeping well and exercising regularly, you have a much more positive outlook on life and you deal with situations a lot better.

A little lie down.

I came home from work last night very tired so like a zombie I went straight to bed for a little rest. It's not my habit, but whenever I do I remember that my Dad does it quite often, and I think he's onto something. Comes home from work and before anything else, cooking dinner or anything, has "a little lie down". I didn't fall asleep, I had radio on low, but I did feel a lot better. It was just 30 minutes of quiet and still in between work and supermarket and commuting, and the evening stuff.

It's just listening to your body. If you're tired, headachy, spaced out, drained, that means you need to stop and have a rest. So have a little lie down occasionally. 

How to fall ill

I'm experiencing my second sore throat in the space of a month (*dislike*) and I'm starting to notice a pattern. It goes a little like this:

1. Feel majorly stressed out/overwhelmed about something -> 2. Start to have sleeping problems from the stress -> 3. Feel tired from lack of sleep -> 4. Ditch the regular exercise to catch up on sleep -> 5. Eat junk food/unhealthily to cope with stress or you just don't put in the effort because of stress -> 6. Sore throat -> 7. Whammo! Sick as a dog.

If I've learnt anything, it's that all those little factors of good stress management techniques, getting enough sleep, exercising regularly and eating well that keep you healthy and feeling strong. It doesn't make you immune from illness, but it does keep you healthy most of the time. And for me, I know that regular, daily exercise helps me to sleep better. So it's all a nasty cycle when you get caught in ditching the exercise to sleep, and then you don't exercise because you're tired.

Last month, when I got my first sore throat, I denied I was falling ill and pushed on, and it was not a pretty sight. This time, I'm going to admit I'm sick and rest, rest, rest.

A tip to help you sleep better

I have struggled for with my sleep a few years now. I would yawn constantly throughout the day (just ask any of my ex-housemates or good friends). My yawns were loud and epic. I felt tired, lethargic, had trouble falling asleep and absolutely hated waking up (because I wanted more sleep). I used to wake up as late as I could - I'd never see my flatmate in the mornings.

My health has had a huge turnaround. Now that I'm eating better and exercising nearly every day, my sleeping problems have pretty much disappeared (I don't know if weight loss is linked to it as well). I don't yawn anymore throughout the day. This is really amazing to me because I could not get through the day without yawning. Now I rarely yawn. I don't have trouble falling asleep anymore (except for the odd occasion), and I can wake up easily at 6am. In fact, I even see my flatmate in the mornings now!

However, I have noticed that when tiredness hits in the evening, I sometimes delay going to bed because of all the things I have to do before I can hit the hay (or is it sack?). I need to change into my jarmies (pyjamas), wash my face, brush my teeth and make my bed if I didn't do it in the morning. That seems like such a huge hurdle when you're tired. So I delay going to bed instead of riding that wave of tiredness into sleepland.

So this is my tip: get changed into your jarmies and do your pre-bed routine way before you get tired. For me, this would mean straight after dinner (don't like the idea of cooking and/or eating dinner in my jarmies. Don't know why. Just don't. Happy to snack in them though! I digress...).

That way, you can still do stuff before bed, but as soon as the first wave of tiredness hits, you can drop whatever you're doing and ride it all the way to the land of nod.

Running distractions

Running for exercise can be hard work. Sometimes you need to distract yourself so before you know it, you've reached the end of the street, or you've run a little further than you expected.

Here are my favourite distraction techniques:

Enjoy the view!
I'm blessed to live close to the ocean. So I enjoy watching the waves crash along the coastline, surfers paddling out, the sun rising or setting and I adore looking at the horizon. It reminds me of God and I praise him for his creation. And all this he made through Jesus! (John 1) If you can run in a pleasant environment, it can help a lot.

Breathe
I employ this technique especially when going uphill. Instead of thinking how my legs feel, I focus on my breathing. In and out. In and out.

Check your posture
I also like to think about my posture and how I'm running. Am I running upright? How are my feet hitting the ground? How are my arms?

This is what Australian Biggest Loser trainer Michelle Bridges says about running technique on pg 98 of her book Crunch Time:

Watch your technique: remember to keep your abs pulled in, chest lifted, shoulders back and down, neck long, chin in, face relaxed. Try to land softly without thumping your feet. The heel should strike the ground first and then naturally roll onto the ball of the foot. Use your legs like shock absorbers and try to keep your knees aligned with your toes, rather than having them roll or save in. Think light. Swing your arms and get yourself in a steady rhythm.

Look at the cute doggies!
This is similar to the first technique. There are lots of gorgeous dogs along my route, so I am always looking at dogs. Sometimes I say hello to their owners too!

The tricky thing is, if you are running to push your fitness levels, make sure you don't get distracted from keep your heart rate up. If you are just running to maintain current exercise levels, then distractions to get you through are great!

Nocturnal leg cramps

Twice in the recent past, I've woken up from my sleep with these incredibly painful leg cramps in my calves. The first incident was pretty bad, bad enough to make me groan aloud in pain. The second incident didn't last as long, thankfully. Both times, I think it's just affected my left calf, but I'm half asleep at the time so I'm not too sure.

I wondered if it was caused by me not stretching enough (I usually don't stretch after my weekday runs, but I try to on the weekend).

With good ol' Google to the rescue, I tried to pinpoint the cause. Basically, no-one knows what causes them, but there are certain factors.

I ruled out mineral deficiencies because I eat a lot of fresh fruit and vegies, and I take a multivitamin and mineral supplement. I'm definitely not pregnant (you can trust me on this one). It could be over-exertion (but I do take a rest day from exercise once a week). I think it is more likely dehydration, because I often wake up thirsty (to the point my lips are cracked).

So to prevent nocturnal leg cramps, I will:

• continue to eat lots of fresh fruit and vegies (I'm eating all the stuff websites recommend anyway, such as bananas, oranges, tomatoes etc)

• drink lots of water before bed (downside: will have to get up in the middle of the night to attend to the call of nature)

• Stretch my calves before I sleep.
  

One website did suggest that those who are more muscular seem to have more leg cramps. Woot! I'll take that to mean I'm more muscular now than when I didn't have nocturnal leg cramps!

On a more serious note, I hope it's not a sign of something dire.

Two new series on jelssie

For those of you who haven't seen me in a while or don't read my personal blog, I joined Jenny Craig right before Christmas last year because I knew I had to lose weight. And I have. And I've got a few kgs to go.

When I first started, it was all about losing the weight. But now, I've realised it's more than just that. It is committing to a healthy lifestyle and all that it entails. So even though much of what I want to say relates to weight loss, I am careful in how I use that phrase because:

1. In my case, it's not just weight loss, but fat loss that I'm really after.


2. I want to remind myself it's not just about the weight, but about being healthy in mind and body, and how that makes you feel.

I've learnt a lot during the whole process and I'd like to share with you some of those things. I was most surprised by how much mental stuff and mental change goes on when you're committing to a healthier lifestyle change. I introduce to you, the two new series:

Fight the binge!

The first series I am calling Fight the binge! As I examined why I was living an unhealthy life, I learnt that I have a tendency to compulsively overeat or binge eat. Here I want to share the mental changes I'm making in this area.

Healthy Life/Mental Changes

In this series, I want to talk about the mental changes I needed to make to reach my goal of being healthy.

These two may overlap at times. I hope the things I share will be helpful!

Raw vegies not your ideal snack?

When you're thinking of a healthy snack, you can't go past raw vegetables. But I have always disliked the idea of eating raw carrot or celery sticks as a snack. Partly because I've always preferred a carb option (or a fatty option!) over a vegie option, but I suspect it's mainly to do with my Chinese upbringing.

You see, I never grew up eating raw vegetables unless it was part of a sandwich filling or it was mung bean sprouts plonked on top of a bowl of steaming noodle soup. I distinctly remember as a primary school kid and even as a uni student being amazed by people who would eat tomatoes, carrots and cucumbers raw and whole. As a snack. It weirded me out.

Thankfully my palate has changed somewhat and I am able to enjoy raw vegies outside of a sandwich e.g. sugar snap peas, mini roma or grape tomatoes. They do make a great and affordable finger food with yummy dips and spreads.

So if raw vegies as a snack aren't your thing, but you still want a healthy snack, I have an unremarkable suggestion: cook 'em. Sounds pretty obvious doesn't it? The idea came to me as I came home after work one evening, ravenous (actually, that sounds like most evenings), ready to devour something, anything! before dinner was ready. There were some cold roasted vegies in the fridge and to my surprised, they tasted quite good cold. There's no way I would have eaten raw vegies as a snack instead (not without a main meal) - that just doesn't appeal to me. But cooked vegies? Yum! To me, even cold, steamed broccoli tastes great. Way better than raw. Plus cooked vegies are more braces friendly.

If you have a sandwich press, you can also cook your vegies on that. I've cooked carrots this way, with baking paper covering the cooking plates, and they are delicious.



So if you're put off by the idea of raw vegies as a snack, I still say give it a go. You might like them after a while. But if it's not working for you, try cooked vegies instead.