What Makes You Smile

What makes you smile lately?

Whenever I feel low, I tried to think of happy thoughts, but that is not enough for me to smile.

What works for me is to listen to an upbeat melody to stir my loneliness or boredom and I will be okay after that. But this won't last long.

They say that a pet can help you feel that natural high but the problem is I don't have one. Well we have dogs here in the house but they grew up without much of my care because I am always busy and out of the house.

So based from my experience, it is best to talk to a close friend as I can feel at my most comfortable sharing my not so happy thoughts with them. Well, if you are lucky enough, you might share a laugh or two with them after, especially if your friend has a good sense of humor. :)

Remember to smile because your emotion affects your health. How about you? What makes you smile? :)

Photo credit: Coole Images - Flickr

Yucky Chicharon!

If you are not familiar with Chicharon, this is a deep fried fat that gives a crunchy sound as soon as you eat it.

According to Wikipedia, this does not come only from pork but from other sources as well.

Chicharrón (also torresmo) is a dish made of fried pork rinds. It is sometimes made from chicken, mutton, or beef.

I just found out that there are variants of chicharon in other countries as it is also popular in the US, Andalusia, Spain and Latin America. :) All the while I thought that we're the only ones who has tasted this very delicious yet (bad for the health) treat.

In the Philippines, tsitsaron, as it is spelled in Filipino (chicharon is now an acceptable variant term, a derivative of the Spanish word chicharrón) is usually eaten with vinegar or with bagoong, lechon liver sauce, or pickled papaya called atchara. Tsitsarong manok, made from chicken skin, is also popular.

Okay, now that we know what chicharon is, I just wanted to share with you an Imbestigador (Investigator) episode where they revealed how other makers of chicharon are preparing it bad, too bad that it can cause more harm aside from its given health hazards.

I would like to share with you a documented video of how this was grossly prepared by some. :( Take a look:



That's so gross right? It was just so sad that they shortchanged their customers because they wanted to make money right away.

Let me know what you think in the comments section of this post okay?

Random Drug Testing: Are You Up for it?

Another issue that has been hitting the Philippine government nowadays is the drug buy bust scandal that happened last week. PDEA or Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency arrested a college student out of the buy bust operation that they conducted that day.

A lot of sectors were alarmed, since the President declared herself as the Anti Illegal Drugs czar afterwards, ordering some government sectors to act up on this pressing issue.

Part of the action plan is to conduct random drug testing to universities and colleges. According to the President, they don't have to worry about the expenses involving this procedure since the government will be the one paying for this.

Of course they ( government ) should be the one to take care of all those expenses. I understand how parents are making ends meet nowadays just to put their children to school and the last thing that they want will be an additional detail coming to their long list of expenses.

In my opinion, this should've been done years ago. A lot of crimes are being committed in relation to illegal drug use. It is unfair that these people live the life they want while making others' lives miserable.

If cost was out of the issue, would you subject yourself if invited to a random drug testing?

New Years Resolution

I will lose weight.

I will exercise more.

I will study my notes every night to avoid cramming.

I will save more of my earnings.

I will limit my night outs with friends and colleagues.

Do you still think of your New Years Resolution before the next year begins? Okay most of us would say yes, but the question is do we hold on to that resolution? If yes, for how long? :)

If you will look above you can see some of the resolutions I made years ago. How about you? Can you relate to the resolutions above? Which of them did you do well?

The sad part about these New Years resolutions is that we (most of the time) do not keep them good to last for a year. It's easy to fall back and go on doing things the old way.

So for me, I will just make a weekly or monthly SMART goals so that I can help myself achieve it and see results.

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Reliable

Time bound

I'll keep a food journal to list the food that I take everyday. I will have a set weekly budget and will work on it no matter what. I will keep all my blogging earnings and deposit it right away on my checking account to fund the equity that I need to settle for the townhouse that I'll loan before 2009 ends.

I'll increase the time walking briskly whenever possible. The thing is I cannot do strenuous exercises because it increases the acid that makes me feel uncomfortable. I'll also use this blog to serve as my online diary in my quest to lose weight.

How about your own SMART goals for this year? Can you share some?

Photo credit: Jupacri

Brenden Foster Dies

I dunno why but I always am touched by stories of people who made a positive difference in their simplest ways. That is why when I read this story and watched his video in You Tube I really felt sad about what happened to Brenden Foster.

I cried for what happened to the boy. Until now that I am writing this post, I am still touched by the thought that he made his short stay worthwhile.

If you're reading this post, the least we can do is to help spread the word. We can help make a difference by writing a post like this. Are you up to this simple task?

Me and My Aching Feet

Before, I used to stand for almost eight hours (at the most) whenever I have training classes. Now, after an hour or two, I'm starting to feel that my feet need to rest. It became worse that I was advised to consult a podiatrist.

I was able to consult a physician (since I was assigned to one) and her suggestion: BLOOD TEST! She wanted to check if its a possible case of gout. =(

That thought scared me and so I started to read related literature. I'll update this post as soon as I got the result. But for now, I need to avoid eating the following (from http://goutdiettips.com/ ):

Diet

• Dried beans and peas, mackerel, meat extracts, sardines, scallops, shrimp, yeast extracts and organs like brain, heart, liver and kidneys.
• Moderate amounts of purines, including asparagus, dried beans and legumes, fish, mushrooms, poultry, and spinach.
• Lose weight by reducing calories rather than by vigorous exercise (which increase uric acid production).
• Drink at least 8 glasses of water daily to dilute the uric acid concentration of urine.
• Avoid alcohol, especially beer (with its brewer’s yeast content).
• Eat cherries.

Nutritional Supplements

• Avoid trace mineral supplements containing molybdenum. Molybdenum surplus causes a condition very similar to gout.
• Avoid megadoses of vitamn C. They may increase the production of uric acid.
• Avoid high doses (over 50 milligrams per day) of niacin. Niacin competes with uric acid for excretion into the urine.
• Avoid iron supplements. Excess iron in the bloodstream can cause uric acids to form in joints.

As one of the popular lines of the doctors would say: "Prevention is better than cure."

Till next post. Have a healthy week ahead. =)