Most of the time, we tend to deprioritize our health and well-being in favor of other "important" tasks like work (yeah I know, I'm guilty too🙄). This is the case with my sister. For the past several weeks, she had been ignoring her tooth ache by popping some pain reliever. She can't seem to find the time to visit a dentist amidst her busy weekday schedule. But, we all know that work can wait, right?

✔️The clinic is clean and well-sanitized.

Their PPE kit for the patient even includes a pen!

The reception area feels like that of a hotel. 😊

My sister filling out the patient information sheet at the reception area

Even if you are just accompanying someone at the clinic, you will feel relaxed and comfy at the reception area. 😁

They have an air purifier which was reassuring for me. That's another layer of protection against any type of viruses!

Ms. Tala helping my sister with the PPE 😁

I was fascinated with the ambience of the clinic. Are we visiting the dentist or are we in a hotel lobby for a staycation? 😆 Their patient room is also spacious and has extra chairs for companions of the patients, I think. Aside from noticing that the patient's room was also very spick and span, I immediately spotted that monitor playing classical music videos. So, I had this question in mind -- why do dental clinics play classical music as a background during procedures? 🤔❓During my wisdom tooth removal recently, there was also classical music playing during the surgery. This was an interesting observation, and I think I would research more about it. 🤓🎶(EDIT: apparently it's been a subject for research before, with interesting papers to read on).

January is here! Guess what's in the trend this month (every year)? NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS! 

1. Eat 1/2 cup rice in the evening.
2. No more sugar on coffee.
3. Eat a fruit in every meal.
4. Exercise for 30 minutes every afternoon.
5. Do 13-hour intermittent fasting.

• clicking the Submit button doesn't do anything on the page (no prompt or anything)
• upon clicking the Submit button, all the fields went blank - this was what most of the commenters on the city's FB page were complaining about 😅
• there was an error message related to the email address field - I cannot remember the exact message, although my hunch was that the email address was a unique identifier on their database, and this was my second time registering with the same email
• some received an SMS confirmation that they had been registered; some received email confirmation; some received nothing

You might have heard about this already - this decorative lamp made of salt that has LOTS of health benefits? This is called the Himalayan Salt Lamp, which is actually not from the Himalayas. 😅


If you try to google this, a lot of sites will tell you that the Himalayan Salt Lamp (which is from a mine in Pakistan) has a lot of benefits, but I'll just mention two of them:

• It purifies air of particles. The lamp is mostly made up of sodium chloride (salt), and we know how salt attracts water right? The lamp attracts water molecules, together with that are air impurities that can trigger allergens.

• Improves sleep. Well honestly this one can be a case-to-case effect, as not all people would like any form of light when they sleep. But for most, low red light induces relaxation, and so the lamp can help in tuning your mind into a relaxed mood when going to sleep at night.

So far, I only know one friend who has one (and I haven't heard how it's working for him) so I don't really have proof if these benefits are true. But I guess as long as it improves my overall mental well-being, then I guess it's worth the purchase. I actually bought mine from the same seller my friend got his -- V&M Naturals. I've been eyeing their salt lamps recently (I'm experiencing another wave I guess, if you know what I mean) and today, I decided I'll purchase one.

Look how lovely it looks. 너무 예뻐요. 😍

The one I got was so heavy. I'm not sure how mine exactly weighed, but the range is 7-9 kilograms. I had to carry it in the mall all the way to the shuttle terminal. Good thing I was able to get it home in one piece. 😣

A recent study comparing scores on the 2016 Healthy Living Index showed that Filipinos scored extremely low, and much lower than previous years, and a lot of people were very alarmed and wanted to know why.

According to Philam Life, 80% of adults in the Philippines say their health is not as good as five years ago.  When further research was done, a huge factor that contributed to the failing health was lack of sleep among Filipino adults.

Sleep is so important and critical for everyone, regardless of what race, creed, religion, or color.  The Sleep Advisor has put together a chart of the recommended sleep times based on age, and it’s so important that everyone follow the National Sleep Foundation recommendations, because a lack of sleep can certainly negatively impact every single other aspect of your life.

But why were the Filipino adults’ numbers so low?  What is different about Filipinos that is causing so much sleep deprivation?   Looking into the numbers further shows that over 1/2 of the population (approximately 50 million people) sleep less than 6 hours a night.  For half of the population to be sleep-deprived, there has to be a good reason, right?  Here’s what I found and the X reasons why people in the Philippines get less sleep than everyone else:


2. They have a very high work-ethic and a lot of uncomfortable changes in outsourcing and technology

The Philippines produces some of the most technological savvy people in the world, but technological innovations as well as outsourcing are making people who used to work eight hours a day work fifteen, just to try to keep up.

3. The tropical climate makes people sticky and sweaty at night

The warm climate can make sleep uncomfortable, because the ideal temperature for sleep is between 60 and 67 degrees Fahrenheit, according to sleep.org.  If you’re in a place that doesn’t have central air conditioning or space air conditioners or fans, you may have to rely on some other creative ways of getting your body down to the ideal core temperature for rest.

4. They are incredibly family oriented, with lots of children

Filipinos often have large families, so if you have a lot of children, you may have difficulty getting to bed at night because of everything you have to do for your kids, not to mention that they probably want to sleep in your bed with you!

If you’re in this number of sleep-deprived Filipinos and are not getting enough sleep each night, please consider doing the following:

•  Eat right throughout the day and limit your excessive meals so that you’ll be able to sleep without heartburn, indigestion, or stomach issues at night.
•  Invest in noise-canceling headphones, sleep masks, or nose plugs, to be able to sleep in a comfortable environment.
•  Decorate your room as luxurious and relaxing as possible so that you’ll drift off in no time as soon as you hit the bed.
• Keep your bedroom for sleep only, and try to limit the amount of work or other activities that you do in there.  Try also to limit your exposure to electronics before bed, because the glare can keep you awake.
•  Try aromatherapy and get some essential oils and a diffuser, particularly peppermint, for cooling you at night, or lavender, for making you feel soothed and relaxed.
•  Try putting your sheets in the freezer before bed so that you have a nice cool bed.  You can also check out some cooling mattress pads.
• Try drinking a glass of warm milk or some sleepy time tea before bed.
• You can also follow these tips if you sleep during the day and work at night, on this post. 

This week, I was finally able to do something that I believe would mark a major turning point in my life. It's too complicated to explain actually, but in an overview, I have lots of issues that I've been keeping to myself for years. Until recently, things started to get a toll on me. It started to affect my work and my personal relationships with people. I knew I had to do something about it now. And yup, it finally happened - I did a consultation and asked help from a psychologist.

Talking about someone's mental health always had a stigma in our society, but recently, things are beginning to change. I was actually inspired to finally go to a professional upon watching the Korean drama Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo. The lead male character was consulting a therapist because of a childhood trauma. The next inspiration to me was the series 13 Reasons Why, and I just loved all the discussions that followed through because of this show. One of my favorites is the one linked below.


One of my major takeaways from my recent experiences is learning that I am not alone, and that there are people out there that can help me. Having someone to talk to about your problems is very helpful. I was actually surprised how my perspective has changed after having that talk with the psychologist. Saying your problems and issues out loud, and knowing that another soul is listening, has a therapeutic effect itself. What they say is true - the more you talk about your problems, the less power it will have over you. But of course, it's not all talk, taking action to resolve it is the next step. Another great thing with talking to mental health experts (aside from the fact that you can say all of your problems without bias and judgment), is that they are skilled to assess and recommend things to do to lessen the negative feelings, anxieties, etc.

I've always been a gloomy person (which I have mentioned in posts here and there) and so I wanted to know what I could do to lessen the negative triggers. I realized keeping myself busy lessens my tendencies to listen to my negative thoughts. Aside from that I also realized that having pets (I have a cat, and just recently got a puppy!) can be a source of happiness. Breathing exercises can also calm the mind in the scenarios when you feel overwhelmed about something. I told myself I'd go back to doing yoga, to improve my mind awareness and also to strengthen my muscles (and hopefully burn the fats 😂). Also, I'll continue to invest on experiences (travel, concerts!) because it's good for my mental health. Plus, the real challenge for me - connecting with more people, because I learned that interactions with people give me my doses of happy vitamins!

Still, it's all a continuous battle. Just like the physical body, our minds need a special kind of care. Know that there's nothing wrong talking about mental issues - all people experience it, in varying levels maybe - but it's completely normal.

Apparently my experiences are very relevant, because May is Mental Heath Awareness Month. See relevant talks about people who have struggled with mental issues below. Thank you TED for posting this!

I never thought I'd be joining another fun run so soon, but yup it happened - I joined my second fun run just around 2 months after my first one. NatGeo Run is one of the well-known fun runs in the country that is being participated by thousands of runners every year.

NatGeo Fun Run traditionally coincides with Earth Day. (📷: takbo.ph)

I was actually a bit worried of the large number of participants in this event (I might get lost, confused, etc.). Good thing the organizers are already well-versed in holding this big event. The program went smoothly, and yes I did not get lost. :p

With Anne at the starting line of the 5K run!

So while I was running, I got to observe the other runners alongside me. There were father-and-daughter tandems, husband and wife, parents with their kid on a crib (the mom was pushing the crib as they ran), and there was even a guy on crutches who participated in the 5K run! 😲

While there were amusing runners, there are some who display bad behavior. I saw this one runner who, after drinking from his paper cup from the water station, threw it on the ground while running! That got me really irritated! I mean the sense of all of this run is to promote Earth Day, and how contradicting it was to have this runner littering the road during the run itself. Fortunately my faith in humanity was restored, as another runner, who was a few steps behind, picked up that cup and threw it on the trashcan on the side of the road. I wish the bib number was visible also at the back, because for sure I would report that runner and tell the organizers to not let that man participate in any of the future runs! 😧

I compared my perfomance with this run from my previous one, and here are the results:

I improved for a few seconds! :D (source: myrunti.me)

It was nice to be part of a fun run again, but I guess I won't be joining another one again soon. I realized I'm spending too much just to participate on the run, and I need to be more strict on my budget from now on. I've had my share of these runs and I guess I can conclude that I am not a fan of how commercialized these fun runs are.

I am just thankful that my knees and shin bones did not hurt that much during and after the run. As of this writing, I already underwent an MRI procedure to check if there was some ligament injury on my knees (that's what the doctor suspected). I googled and found out that some knee injuries are painless so I guess I really need to have my knees checked. My next step now is to set a schedule with a doctor to interpret the MRI results.

Well hello May 2016!

We've been into four months of this year and a lot has happened! For me, the last months were spent trying to escape my sedentary lifestyle and to begin burning up some fat! Well I'm proud to say that I've done things that I never thought I would be doing! Let's recap all the physical events of the year, shall we?

With my colleagues - Marquee and Abril at the Crossfit Mad Minute gym  (📷: Marquee)

We first attended their "trial class" wherein they conduct a session for free. I think six of us from the office went there for the free trial, but only four of us actually bought the DealGrocer vouchers. After the free trial, we were actually disappointed because the experience was not that fun. We are not talking about the exercises by the way. The atmosphere there is a bit intimidating, especially for beginners. All of us in the group felt that way. Unfortunately, we already bought the vouchers so we had no choice but to continue attending the classes.

Me trying out these ropes. (📷: Marquee)

The latter sessions that we experienced in the gym were more tolerable - the coaches were nicer and the workouts felt (a bit) easier. The coaches were really pushing the people to do their best in every routine. They knew we were really tired already but they were shouting and cheering us to push our body. I specifically liked the jogging part of the WOD (Work Out of the Day). I think this is where I developed a better jogging form, because I remembered this one session wherein jogging felt easier.

To know more of this crossfit experience, my colleague Marquee also wrote his thoughts here.

Yoga @ Yoga+
It's been one of my goals ever since to master yoga. I've already learned in the past that yoga will not make me thinner. Thus, I take classes just to improve my flexibility and to relax my mind. I still had some classes left with Yoga+ and I continued taking them for this year. I usually just take the Hot Yoga sessions because I enjoyed sweating a lot! However due to the increasing summer temperature, I stopped going there (last time I went there, I nearly fainted). So I guess I'm letting summer pass before I return to the mat again. :D

Boxing @ Elorde
Through my colleagues' encouragement again, I got to try another workout, this time - boxing!

I think the most challenging parts for me in the routine were the three-minute jumping jacks and the "ladder exercise". I felt like I was close to dying because I was so tired. To think that those were just warm-up and strengthening exercises! The actual boxing routine was also hard, it pushed my arm muscles to their limit! When my instructor asked me to do 30 curl ups, I died inside. All my life I cannot do even just one curl up (I remember skipping that part during our physical fitness test in elementary and highschool xD). Well I had no choice then but to try my best. My ab muscles were on fire after. (T＿T)

At the end of the exercise, the instructor gave us a massage. (。⌒∇⌒)。I liked the instructors here more than those we had in our crossfit classes :p. They were more respectful and they tell us to stop if we cannot take it anymore. Also, one instructor there has such nice abs. （*´▽｀*）

I was only able to try one session there though. I have no photos to share, but Marquee wrote another blog entry about our experience here.

Hiking @ Mountains
Hiking is one form of exercise that I liked the most. I didn't expect myself to actually enjoy it, but the more I hiked, the more I wanted to climb and explore other mountains too. So far I've been at the top of 6 mountains (4 of which I climbed this year - Pinatubo, Manabu, Talamitam, Pulag). Manabu and Talamitam were the turning points wherein I realized I wanted to climb mountains for a reason. I tried to begin that sacred journey with Pulag, but unfortunately I failed (more of this on my blog post entry soon). I am actually currently in hiatus in terms of hiking mountains, because I am still mending some knee injuries which I still have not consulted with the doctor (inspite of my colleagues' consistent nagging for me to do it) because I am still giving my body a chance to heal itself. How I wish my soul could heal with it too （；へ：）.

Insanity Sessions @ the Office
We've done several sessions of this, wherein we reserved one conference room after office hours and did our workouts there. We followed a series of video workouts by Shaun T.

Jogging @ Ayala Triangle & Our Village
This is one of the exercise routines that I've managed to do throughout the months, maybe because its free and very easy to do (just change into your costume and run away!). Every week, me and a colleague would jog around Ayala Triangle. Meanwhile every weekend, I also jog around our subdivision. I find it very fulfilling when I was able to run as far as 3 kilometers in 30 minutes. Google Fit comes in handy when measuring the distance I've traveled during my runs. Also, I love listening to Spotify's Running playlist. It makes my runs more enjoyable. :D

Jogging also became my training when I joined fun runs. So far, I was able to participate in the ScholaRun and NatGeo Earth Run this year. :D

Swork It @ Home
For almost a month now, I am doing home workouts with the help of an Android app - Swork It. It has been very useful that my new room has enough space to lay out my yoga mat. I'm trying to make it a habit that upon arriving home from work, instead of changing to home clothes, I would change to my workout clothes and exercise! So far it's effective for me!




This year, I realized that having a regular exercise routine is more my priority than looking at the scales and checking if I did lose some pounds. For me, what is more important is that I achieve a regular exercise routine, something I can stick to for a long period of time and be part of my everyday life. Exercise for sanity check has been my mantra. My main goal is to pump up the heart rate and sweat it out. Weight loss will just be one of the after-effects of this goal.

Thanks to my colleagues for being my gym and workout buddies! Special shoutouts to Marquee who has started his blog this year to start with his own weight loss journey.

I have never joined a fun run before, because for the longest time I was not that physically active, and this activity did not appeal to me. I was sure I won't be able to make it to the finish line. (o_ _)o

Well, things have changed. Together with my colleagues, I joined this fun run as part of our company's charitable activities. It's the second year our company participated in this event (hell, I had no idea there was something like this last year). This fun run was hosted by the AmCham Foundation, and proceeds from this event will go to their scholarship program for the education of underprivileged kids.


Preparation
As this is my first ever fun run, I had to prepare physically, mentally, and emotionally for it. I could still remember the first time I jogged in a park with a colleague late last year. After running for less than a kilometer, I was clinging for dear life because I was breathing heavily for precious air. I got tired fast. It was hard for me because I was not really physically active then. Of course I did not make my hardships obvious to my colleague. Haha. But I vowed I would start being active. I needed to start leading a better lifestyle to make my heart healthier and stronger.

Since the start of the year, I have been striving to engage myself to physical activities, as part of my goals this quarter (currently brewing a post for more details on this :D) and so far, I think I am finally making some progress. Yay! Part of those activities, which I think will become a regular one, is jogging every morning around our village whenever I was free during the weekends.