. : Recent Posts : .
Eating Breakfast
More vitamin C
Dagwood Dog
It's The Weather
Guilt-free Pancakes
Keeping Your Weight
Skin Diet
Sweets and Ramblings
Live Life
Something For The Eyes
. : Archives : .
March 2007
April 2007
May 2007
June 2007
July 2007
March 2008
April 2008
May 2008
June 2008
July 2008
August 2008
. : Favorite Links : .
Permanence In Change
Healthy Living
The Life of a Tatapilla
I am a shoe-aholic!
IdealPinkRose
Rose's Food Blog
All In Korea
Kimchiland
JoyD
ZJ Foodtrips
Borski & Nai
Colors and Styles
Geth
The South Beach Diet
Body Building
Healthy Eating
WH Foods
Healthy Eating for Kids
Healthy Living
Free Weight Loss Diet Tips
Diet.Com
. : Pinay Bloggers : .
. : Let's Go Vegan : .
Vegetarian Society
The vegetarian Resource Group
Vegetarian Pages
All About Vegetarian
Vegetarian Times
Vegetarian Shoes
Go Veg
Vegan Guide
Veg Web
Abbeys Vegan Recipes
Filipino Vegan Recipes
. : Blog Stats : .
. : Credits : .
Template By Caz
Powered by: Blogger
. : Market Place : .
Monetize Your Site
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Eating BreakfastDo you eat breakfast everyday? Some of us don't for several reasons. One, there is really no time for breakfast especially if running late for work. Some said they don't want to earn more pounds so they skip breakfast.
I eat breakfast. Even then when I just burn it with pushing strollers or playing with my little boy. Before, I am not used to have one very early in the morning but recently I changed my routine and eating breakfast early doesn't bother me anymore.
For those who skip breakfast because of worry of gaining weight, here's some help from realage.com:
Here are DesMaisons’s four simple rules for using breakfast to counterbalance the biochemical mechanisms behind sugar cravings, obesity, and depression.
Do it daily. Your goal is to make it a daily, automatic habit. The reward? You can kiss late-day low blood sugar and sugary snack cravings goodbye -- permanently.
Do it sooner rather than later. For the best results, eat breakfast within an hour or so of waking up -- even if you’re not hungry. Morning-time low blood sugar produces a brain chemical designed to mask hunger pangs -- but can cause sugar cravings later in the day.
Make it complex. We’re talking complex carbohydrates here (whole-grain cereals, steel-cut oats, high-fiber fruits, etc.) The fiber keeps blood sugar on an even keel and helps you feel full longer.
Power it with protein. Protein slows digestion, helps prevent spikes and dips in blood sugar, and can even give you a dose of depression-fighting tryptophan. DesMaisons recommends that you get a third of your daily protein at breakfast.
We are just keeping on passing the germs around the house that the sneezing and running nose are not going away. What to do, what to do?
Mcj had been on antibiotics for almost a week now. And when he thinks he is getting better, the bug had hit him again. Same with Jens - runny nose and a bit of cough. I on the other hand is fighting the germs. There had been two instances that I shoved it off by taking two paracetamols, stuffed my face with citrus and honey.
I just home, this bug won't stay around that long. You know that when a man is sick, he is worst than a baby right? Moaning there and here. Plus I have to attend to my little boy. And when the progesterone level is rising, all hell breaks loose.
I just need to keep an eye to them and make sure I take lots of citrus myself.
Monday, 11 August 2008
Dagwood DogWe went to ekka last Sunday. After we got off the train, I bought a show program then bought dagwood dogs. Mcj said, it is one of the foods that the show is known for. It is just a crumbed sauge on a stick. You can have it with sauce or none. It was yummy for me who was really hungry.
It was a fun Sunday. We spent more time walking and eating than sight seeing. Throngs of people were coming from all direction that getting around was difficult especially with a pram.I wonder though what are the specialty in Vegas vacations - apart from casinos and desert. Better check the net.
Saturday, 9 August 2008
It's The WeatherWinter is almost over yet the worst of it has never come yet. Westerly wind hasn't started blowing. It is supposed to be in these days, in time for the Brisbane exhibition.
I am not happy or should I say the entire family isn't happy because we've been visited by illnesses. Mcj had cold and flu and developed into something severe that he had to postpone his dental appointment for the next three weeks. The appointment that he'd been waiting for almost two months. And the reason why we didn't push through our plan to go to the Philippines last month. Then, Jens had a temperature running up to almost 39 degrees celcius for almost three days and when it was over, some rashes appeared on some parts of his body. Now, I am worried that it is measles. If only our human body are like furnitures that we can just put patio furniture covers over us during winter and not much damage that should be done. But it's not.
Here are some facts about colds:
Can you prevent colds?
The time when people with colds are most likely to pass them on to someone else is in the first 2 to 4 days after the cold starts, especially when the person is sneezing, coughing or has a very runny nose.
Colds are spread by little drops in the air from coughing or sneezing, or by touching the nose or mouth of someone with a cold and then touching your own nose or mouth, or after touching something the person has coughed or sneezed onto (such as a tissue).
Since colds are everywhere it is almost impossible to stop children from getting colds, but there are some things which may help.
Try not to let people with colds come close to, or hold, babies.
Wash your own and children's hands, especially after coughing, sneezing or blowing noses and before eating.
Teach children to cover their nose and mouth when coughing or sneezing. They need to wash their hands straight afterwards.
Use tissues once and then throw them in the bin, instead using of handkerchiefs.
If anyone has a cold, they should try not to pass it on. They should stay home from childcare, school or work whenever possible.
There are no immunisations against colds, because of all of the different viruses that cause them, and there are not likely to be immunisations in the near future.
Eating healthy food seems to help, but even very healthy people can get colds.
There is no proof that extra vitamin C helps prevent colds, but many people use vitamin C. It seems that it may shorten the time a cold lasts by a small amount. It does not do any harm unless you take very large doses.
Recent research is showing that taking extra zinc can shorten the time some people are unwell and make the symptoms less severe. Talk with your doctor or pharmacist (chemist) to find out the best type of zinc preparation if you want to try this.
If a person has been near another person who has a cold, taking Echinacea might prevent a cold developing. It also might be useful in the very early stages of a cold, making recovery quicker. Make sure the preparation you use is suitable for children, and that it does not have any aspirin in it.
The air passages and lungs of babies and children are smaller, more delicate and sensitive to the effects of the chemicals in the tobacco smoke if they are around people who smoke. Tobacco smoke irritates eyes, nasal passages and children can catch more colds and other respiratory illnesses.
Do you like pancakes? I do but I seldom make them. Even if the procedure is fairly simply, it still hard work for a busy Mum like me. But I guess most people don't share my reason why they don't make pancakes for breakfast anymore. It's the calories in them. I read that making pancakes are like baking cookies or making rissoles. You can threw in whatever you like and the mixture will just come out fine.
Here's some tips on how to make pancakes guilt free:
1. Cut Down the Calories
· Use half the oil, margarine, shortening, or butter called for in the recipe.
· Use nonfat milk or nonfat condensed milk -- or low-fat buttermilk or soymilk -- instead of whole milk.
· Use cooking spray to prepare the griddle.
· Keep servings to two 4" pancakes.
2. Pump Up the Fiber
· Replace some of the white or unbleached flour with whole-wheat pastry flour. (It's lighter than regular whole-wheat flour.) Start with 3/4 cup white and 1/4 cup whole-wheat flour for every cup of flour called for. Increase the whole-wheat flour every time you cook until you find the proportion you like best.
· Toss in a handful of oatmeal to up the protein and fiber. (You may need to add a little extra milk, too.)
· To make gluten-free pancakes, use buckwheat flour.
3. Skim Off the Cholesterol
· Replace the eggs with egg substitute, or use two whites per yolk.
· For fluffier pancakes, whip the whites separately, and then fold them into the batter.
4. Skinny Down the Sugar
· Replace half the sugar with Splenda.
· Try adding sweet-tasting flavorings: vanilla, nutmeg, and/or cinnamon, and leave out some of the sugar.
5. Rev Up the Antioxidants
· Mix a spoonful of canned pumpkin, grated apple, or whole blueberries into the batter.
· Add some toasted wheat germ or ground flaxseeds, too.
6. Swap Out the Syrup
· Heap on fresh or thawed berries -- any kind.
· Top with a tablespoon of all-fruit apricot jam and a sliced banana.
· Spoon on fat-free sour cream, yogurt, or ricotta cheese mixed with mango chunks or mandarin oranges.
If you still crave syrup, drizzle any of the above with a little agave nectar (sold in health-food stores). It tastes as sweet as syrup, but it's far easier on your blood sugar levels.
There you go. I'm sure indulging to pancakes once in a while will be guilt-free. :)
By the way, have I mentioned before that Mcj loves watching cooking shows? It's not because he watched it online in Sony Vaio because he hasn't got none of that. He doesn't cook either. I can' explain it myself but I tell you, he fits the showing time of his favorite cooking show in his work schedule. I'm stump!
Thursday, 7 August 2008
Keeping Your WeightFor some that doesn't have the time to go walking, jogging or exercise outdoor, they resort to all gadgets available - treadmills, something for the abs, etc. All these helps at some point, when the routine is done religiously. But there's a gadget that can really help.
If the pounds you dropped in time for summer are working their way back on, there’s a time-tested gadget that might help halt the creep.
It’s your bathroom scale. Research shows that people who weigh themselves regularly after reaching a goal weight do a much better job of keeping the lost pounds off.
Maintaining Your Losses
When you’re trying to lose weight, a bathroom scale may not be your best friend. It doesn’t always tell the whole story. But if you’re trying to keep lost weight off, a scale could be just the thing to keep you from backsliding. Researchers asked people who had lost weight over a 2-year period to weigh themselves daily for 18 months. The result? People who regularly weighed in were more successful at keeping the weight off for the long haul.
More Strategies for Control
So what else can you do to keep your weight -- and appetite -- in check?
Eat a little healthy fat at the start of each meal. It will help curb your appetite.
Buy a bag of pears, and have one before each meal. You’ll eat less overall.
Don’t diet! Really. Dieters usually regain what they lose.
I don't mean eating skin - mandarin peel, etc. I mean, eating food good for your skin.
Whether we are ready or not, wrinkles will appear on our skin eventually mainly because of our sun exposure. Most resort to botox or surgery or any invasive procedure - that is for cure. For prevention, we use sun screen. Though, it pays to examine the food that we put into our mouth.
Food fight... against aging
Researchers are just beginning to explore the extent of diet's role in the skin aging process. One recent study revealed that people whose diets are rich in vegetables, beans, olive oil, nuts, and multigrain breads are less likely to wrinkle than those who feast on red meat, butter, and sugary foods.
Experts suspect that antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E and the minerals zinc and selenium may keep wrinkles at bay by reducing the amount of potentially damaging free radicals produced by skin cells. One study revealed that a supplement that included a combination of these antioxidant vitamins helped protect the skin from aging due to solar UV exposure.
Another study suggests that for light-skinned people, consuming a diet rich in carotenoids offers similar UV protection and also may contribute to healthy skin coloring.
To achieve a healthy, youthful glow, turn away from the sun and turn to carotenoid-rich foods such as cantaloupe, apricots, carrots, sweet potatoes, spinach, and other fruits and vegetables that have deep green, yellow, orange, and red hues. A multivitamin may provide your skin further protection against aging.
In addition, several research reviews have revealed that botanical antioxidants show promise as an effective means of protecting skin cells against ultraviolet radiation; this is another good reason to eat at least four servings of fruits and five of vegetables each day.
Eating the right food just doesn't help keeping wrinkles at bay but also prevent acne from appearing.
Tuesday, 29 July 2008
Sweets and RamblingsI just finished gobbling up two slices of apple cake. It was yum! I tell you, hubby and I can eat the whole round cake in one setting. That's how rubbish guts we are. It was my first time to try that cake and I quite like it, except the green apple toppings. I still have two slices left. I'll eat them after blogging. Bwahahaha!
Recently, seen in the news that some ebay sellers were complaining because paypal increase its merchant fee up to something. Hubs said, it was just soo minimal compare to credit cards merchant fee. I guess the concern of those sellers were because there aren't much customers that pay using paypal though it is slowly evolving (just like any authorize.net user).
By the way, how do you like your peanuts? Roasted with shell or not? Oiled? Boiled? Recent study shows that peanuts boiled in their shells have higher concentration of disease-fighting phytochemicals. Yeah, so next time you buy peanuts have a quick deliberation if you're going to buy raw with shell or already cooked. Just be sure though that when you boil peanuts in shell, it takes long to cook especially if it's been kept for quite a while. I advise that you soak it in water for at least overnight. I'm telling from experience. :)
Sunday, 27 July 2008
Live LifeYou may find this weird or unbelievable but I tell you, my mother-in-law got her ears pierced when he was 79 years old. Yeah. You read it right. Whooping 79. It might be too late for some but she said, she wanted to live her life to the fullest. So there goes, pop the ear pierce. But the absence of piercing before didn't stopped her from wearing earrings. She just used clip on earrings. She has lovely jewelry and clip on earrings were a bit of nuisance to wear. I bet you will agree with me. I've used some when I was young.
Now, you can see her wearing several earrings at times. Yeah, she's making use of her time left to maximize the use of her jewelry. My SIL make custom earrings so MIL has an abundance of them.
What does this story tells us? Well. Living life to the fullest, that is. The littlest reason counts.
Monday, 21 July 2008
Something For The EyesWe've been planning to avail another extra from our health insurance. Eyeglasses for me and Mcj. You see, mine are almost two years old. My vision I reckon had gone worse than what it was. Plus, they are now defective. Jens knocked off the righ lense that it doesn't stay if hit even with a little force. Good thing, I don't use them as often as before. (I notice I haven't got recent photos of me wearing them in my pc, even in the memory cards).
I might convince Mcj to check the shop on Sunday. I saw glasses sale ads on telly.
Anyway, for those who has maintained a 20 20 vision. Take care of your eyes. I haven't realized how important it is to have healthy eyes until I was wearing googles. Lol. Once you have glasses, you will have it forever. Even if you are wearing contact lenses. The glasses always stand as your backup. But, I don't regret why my action in my early years contributed to my dilemna. I benefited from them.
Here are some DIY test to check if you have vision problem:
Fatigue test: If your eyes tire out faster during normal activity -- like reading or working on the computer -- it could be a sign of weakening eyesight.
Endurance test: If your eyes get tired earlier in your daily routine than usual -- maybe you can’t read in bed anymore, for example -- schedule a checkup.
Read more...
Saturday, 19 July 2008
Green TeaWe all know that tea is good for us particularly green tea. But did you really know what it can do to you and your health? Here are some tangible facts that you may want to read.
1. Cut Your Cancer Risk
Several polyphenols -- the potent antioxidants that green tea is famous for -- seem to help keep cancer cells from gaining a foothold in the body by discouraging growth and then suppressing the creation of new blood vessels that tumors need to thrive. Study after study has found that regularly drinking green tea reduces the risk of breast, stomach, esophagus, colon, and prostate cancer.
2. Soothe Your Skin
Got a cut, scrape, or bite, and a little leftover green tea? Soak a cotton ball in it. The tea is a natural antiseptic that relieves itching and swelling. Try it on inflamed blemishes, sunburns, or puffy eyelids. But that's not all. Green tea has been shown to help block sun-triggered skin cancer, whether you drink it or apply it directly to the skin -- which is why you're seeing green tea in more and more sunscreens and moisturizers.
3. Steady Your Blood Pressure
Having healthy blood pressure -- meaning below 120/80 -- is one thing. Keeping it that way is quite another. But people who sip just half a cup of green tea a day are almost 50% less likely to wind up with hypertension than nondrinkers. Credit goes to the polyphenols again (especially one known as ECGC); they help keep blood vessels from contracting and raising blood pressure.
4. Protect Your -- or Your Mom’s -- Memory
Green tea may also keep the brain from turning fuzzy. Getting-up-there adults who drink at least two cups a day are half as likely to develop cognitive problems as those who drink less. Why? It appears that the tea's big dose of antioxidants fights the free-radical damage to brain nerves seen in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
5. Stay Young
The younger and healthier your arteries are, the younger and healthier you are. So fight plaque buildup in your blood vessels; the sticky stuff increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, adds years to your RealAge, and saps your energy. How much green tea does this vital job take? About 10 ounces a day, which also deters your body from absorbing artery-clogging fat and cholesterol.
6. Lose Weight
Oh yeah, one more thing. Turns out that green tea speeds up your body's calorie-burning process. In the every-little-bit-counts department, that’s good news!
The reason that I used to believe was the last one, losing weight. Well, if you some pounds to shed.. maybe it's high time to try green tea if you haven't yet. You might be surprise that you can get into that beautiful little renaissance clothing that you have in your wardrobe.
source
Saturday, 12 July 2008
Nail HealthI noticed today that I had my nail polish for at least a month so I decided to change it. Just when I was putting on the first coat on my three toenails, the little boy woke up so I stopped. Imagine my right foot with two nails clear and three with chocolate coat. :)
Very timely, I came across this article about nails.
Alterations in the appearance, shape, and texture of your nails can indicate an underlying health condition. For example:
Thickened nails may be a sign of psoriasis.
Red nail beds may be a symptom of diabetes.
Pale nail beds can indicate anemia.
White nails have been associated with kidney disease.
And here are some tips:
To trim nails, cut straight across with sharp nail scissors or clippers. Slight rounding of the tips is fine, but avoid filing nails into a point, which may cause weakening and make the nails more prone to damage. Soak difficult-to-trim nails in warm salt water for 5 minutes before trimming.
Pay attention to the cuticle -- the seal between the nail and skin. Don’t clip or remove the cuticle, which can leave the nail open to infection. Instead, gently push back the cuticle with an orangewood stick. Do this after showering, when the cuticle is soft.
Read more...
This is not a goss. Just a mere observation that I want to share.
Did you know that my MIL owns 3 vacuum cleaners? They are all of different brands (no Sebo vacuums yet). She gave one to us to use. She bought the latest because it is small and handy. Easy to store and use around the house. The little boy loves playing with the hoses, so it's another toy for him. :)
Anyway, I don't do that much vacuuming so as she. I just don't like the noise. So imagine those vacuums gathering dust in the nook. :)
I've been wanting to buy DVD's for my little boy. But I couldn't find any in the shop. I am not just looking for kids movies but nursery rhymes but should not be a CD. I found nursery rhymes in the internet that were in videos, so that gave me an idea what to look for. I am so frustrated because I couldn't find any here. Anyway, for now watching them in the computer will suffice. Thanks to our reliable video cards, we can watch it in all three computers. But, I won't give up on my quest. I am actually considering of asking those people that uploaded the videos where did they bought their copy. Hope they are living in down under. :)
Love berries? You're on the right track.
Blueberries do not only linked to skin, heart, eye, and urinary health but also to a lower risk of cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's. But you have to eat at least 1 to 2 cups a day inorder to reap the health benefits.
Blueberries do not come all year round so when they're season and abundance, stock your freezer. It was said that frozen berries are as good as fresh.
Here are some tips on how to use those frozen berries:
- defrost them at night by putting a cup in the fridge then spare some on your cereal or yoghurt.
- frozen ones can be thrown into the blender and you'll have instant smoothie.
- add them when baking some treats like muffins.
- serve as floats on your beverage.
- eat them plain - frozen.
- add them to winter salads.
We all know an apple a day keeps the doctor away. I guess it is safe to say, a cup of blueberries a day keep those nasties away. :)