Random Snapshots From A Moving Train

Toxic!

This blog entry is long overdue but I hesitated to post it earlier since I wanted to wait for the right time to do it. I didn't create this blog just to rant and rave about how terrific or terrible my life is. I also aspire to share as much information and insight based on my experiences. Therefore, it is my hope that the readers will be interested, educated and motivated after reading this.

As what I've posted before, I was having some trouble with my right hand due to Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It turned out to be not my only health concern. On top of multiple muscle aches and joint pains, I suffered an intolerable intermittent headache for more than 2 weeks. The list of health issues or symptoms seemed to be getting longer and I found myself feeling a lot older than I should be. It was like living inside a bottle that I can't get out of. In order to function at home and at work, I depended heavily on various OTC pain medications for relief. Furthermore, although I've adopted a rather lackadaisical attitude towards my continuous weight gain, I can't deny that it has begun to affect (indigestion, shortness of breath, easy fatigability and sluggishness) my overall health. After weeks of procrastination and whining, I finally decided to see my doctor . The subsequent blood tests showed that I have elevated levels of cholesterol, ESR and ANA. My doctor then advised me to modify my diet and to seek a Rheumatology consultation. Whoa! Me, with arthritis?

Pre-detox, two weeks ago.

I should have been content and follow the doctor's orders, right? Yes, I will do as I'm told but I decided to take it up a notch and take control, be more proactive about regaining my well-being. A week ago, I embarked on a 21-days detox regimen to cleanse my body of toxins and lose weight as well. No, folks. I'm not shilling for any company or products but for those who are interested in the details, just send me a message and I'd be happy to provide more information. So far, I've lost about 10 lbs in just a week and I'm feeling so much better. My aches and pains are gone and I have so much energy to spare. I'm aiming to lose 10-15 more in the next 2 weeks and I plan to keep those pounds from creeping up again by being more aware of what I put in my body and getting rid of what's not good. They say that "you are what you eat" but it's also true that "you are what you don't excrete".

So, why am doing this? I think most of us expats can attest that after having lived here in the US (or anywhere else) for sometime and you go back to the Philippines to visit, your friends and family are apt to make observations about your apparent "chubbiness". Comments like "Tumaba ka" or "Nanambok lagi ka", although done in a teasing manner, can undeniably rankle on your nerves since you've just spent the last few weeks prior to the trip dieting and exercising but it wasn't enough anyway. Then, you gain a lot more from indulging in all the food and delicacies that you missed and haven't tasted for what seemed like forever. At the end of the trip, I can hardly zip up my jeans. Ugghhh!

Realistically, we can't expect to stay the same size we were when we first left the Philippines but living a different lifestyle in a different culture has definitely and unfavorably changed us physically and it's taking a toll on our health. How so? Let's start with our eating habits and food choices. All of a sudden, there's the abundance of foods that used to be unaffordable or inaccessible back then. The bad news is that we find ourselves ingesting more processed and chemically altered foods than ever before. For instance, going out for a pizza might have been a rare thing to do in the past. Nowadays, you only have to open your freezer and have a slice (or more) of cheesy pizza in a few minutes. In fact, almost everything you eat might be frozen or packaged . There's also a variety of soda and flavored drinks on hand to wash the food down. Your pantry might be looking like a mini "sari-sari" store containing canned goods, bags of chips, baked goods, packages of noodles and pastas, condiments, etc. If you check the contents on the labels of these stuff, it's like reading a chemistry project and you'd be amazed at how much calories and salt you're getting from such a small amount of food . When you go out for a meal, the servings are so huge that you can easily feed a family of 3 to 5. By the time you're done with your soup, salad and appetizer, there won't be enough room for the entree although a dessert might be hard to resist. Sooner or later, eating larger portions become the norm and expectation. This is indeed a country who loves to supersize.

The other factor is our lifestyle. Although we work hard in our respective professions or jobs, most of us are living in a sedentary pace. We don't have to walk anymore to the nearest bus or jeepney stop as we most likely have our own mode of transportation which is a necessity if public transit is not available. The most walking we'll probably have would be at the mall as we indulge in retail therapy, a favorite pastime among Americans. Another issue is the higher stress level that we are subjecting ourselves to. In keeping up with a fast paced world, we are exhausted all the time and we barely give our bodies enough time to rest and recuperate from the ravages of the day's gruelling schedule. Sooner or later, something's going to give.

Some of you might be already living and following a very active and healthy lifestyle. Kudos to you. But for some of us who are struggling to stay fit in this new environment, we have to increase our awareness of the ways to prevent ill-health and to fight the battle of the bulge . As we know, obesity is a prevalent problem in the US. By the time a person turns 50, he or she might already have a long list of diagnoses and surgical procedures in their medical record . I don't want to be a part of that statistic so I'm doing what I can to keep that from happening and you should too. We work so hard to get to where we're at and it would be a darn shame to lose everything because we are not treating our body with more care and respect. As what my sage grandma used to say, "Health is wealth" and she lived beyond her 80s. I can only hope to survive and enjoy my golden years like her.

I Scream For Ice Cream

I just found out that July is the National Ice Cream Month and that today, July 15, is the National Ice Cream Day. With the day's temperature being in the high 80s , I didn't need a national declaration to grab a scoop (or two) of one of my favorite ice cream flavor, Cherry Garcia, from Ben and Jerry's. I also started fantasizing on one of Cold Stone Creamery's creations. I sure could indulge on a "love it" size of Strawberry Banana Rendezvous which is a confection of strawberry ice cream, graham cracker pie crust, white chocolate chips, strawberries and banana. While we're on the subject of this creamy goodness, I'm also salivating for a double scoop of Tiramisu gelato which I favored during our trip to Italy last year. Yikes! If I succumb to all my cravings, it would take me another year to melt all the added pounds away.

All this wishful thinking led me to ruminate on the all-time favorite ice cream from my childhood, the Magnolia Ice Cream. Although I've tried a variety of ice cream flavors and brands over the past 13 years, there's no replacing the memories associated with Magnolia. I remember being so excited everytime there was a special occasion or celebration because it meant having ice cream. Although there weren't that many flavors to choose from, there's usually a long deliberation as to which flavor to pick. It was most likely a toss up between Ube Macapuno and Halo-Halo. I also remember that my mother had a penchant for saving the empty containers so our pantry cabinets were littered with those. Come to think of it, we also had a lot of empty Nescafe glasses back then.

When my family opened a refreshment parlor/eatery years ago, we became an authorized dealer for Magnolia Ice Cream. Business was brisk and profitable but when our city experienced frequent and extended periods of brownouts (remember them?), my parents decided to forego the dealership since it became a financial loss when you had gallons and pints of ice cream melting in a non-functioning freezer. We ended up selling them for half the price and we can only eat so much of it in a day!

So, what is your favorite ice cream flavor and brand? According to the web, these are supposed to be the 25 most-searched flavors this summer:

Vanilla Chocolate Strawberry Peach Banana Coffee Green Tea Coconut Butter Pecan Peanut Butter Lemon Pineapple Apple

Ginger Mango Mint Cinnamon Spumoni Oreo Blueberry Pistachio Apricot Custard Cherry Cheesecake

I don't know about you guys, but I'm heading over to the Filipino store tomorrow and grab me a half gallon of mango flavor Magnolia ice cream. While there, I might also indulge in some halo-halo. Oh, yeah! The heat might be on but I'm staying cool.

A Faire Match

Last Saturday, Kenny and I went with friends to the opening weekend of the Bristol Renaissance Faire. The Filipino posse was joined by Kenny's friend Jonathan and his wife Yili with their toddler daughter Vicky. A former male colleague of Yili also came along and was introduced to everybody in the group. Despite the sweltering heat of the afternoon, we enjoyed the fantasy world of noble knights, merry maids and turkey legs. The faire streets were lined with game and ride areas, food vendors, and merchants selling everything from sterling silver jewelry to rare-edition books. Strolling minstrels, jesters and other era characters mingled with faire-goers, many of whom came dressed in their own period costumes. Since the Bristol was celebrating their Feaste of Fooles, bells and ribbons festooned the shire. A collection of fooles, jesters, harlequins and other mad ruffians ran amok through the streets. It was just fun, fun, fun! 

 

While roaming around the faire, Kenny informed me that Yili's friend is single and has hinted that he'd like to be "hooked up" with one of my available friends. Hmmm, interesting... I will have to tell you that Kenny has a pretty good track record when it comes to playing matchmaker. In fact, he got Jonathan and Yili together and was also instrumental in the coupling of our friends Tom and Mariah (now engaged). Yep, my guy is a regular cupid or likes to play one anyway. I guess he got himself a new project. My girlfriends will have to watch out for those arrows .

Who amongst you have dabbled in matchmaking or have tried (successfully or not) to hook people up? I'm sure almost everyone have played cupid for their friends at some point back in elementary or high school when young love or infatuation plagued our existence and added more to our angst-ridden teenage life. I vaguely remember love letters or flowers being stealthily passed by a go-between from a not-so-secret admirer to the object of his affection . As can be expected, some teasing by friends and classmates would ensue with the young lady typically playing it coy or pretending not to be interested (pakipot). If the young lad is persistent enough, his pursuit might be fruitful. If not, he's going to have to bear and nurse the pains of an unrequited love until someone else catches his fancy. Then, the courtship dance starts all over again.

Now that we are adults, finding a special someone has gotten a lot more complicated and tougher . When it comes to finding a partner , there may be a lot of fish in the sea but what if you don't have time to swim with every school, or you live in overfished waters ? Or maybe you just have a hard time with the whole bait-and-tackle thing. In any case, catching the right one can be tough.

For someone like me who was a transplant to a different country, meeting my perfect match was like finding a needle in a haystack. Aside from the fact that my small social network of Filipinos were predominantly females, the small percentage of males were not available (married, in a serious relationship with a GF back in the Philippines, or gay). So, what to do when good old matchmaking efforts by friends are not feasible?

Enter the high-end and high-tech matchmaking with a modern twist: databases, ad campaigns and a culture of singles who don't have built-in social networks. Although online dating has a bad rap at times, it has certainly come a long way from being thought of as hokey or an act of desperation. I'm sure a lot of happy couples (ourselves included) all over the world can bear testimony to how the Internet brought them together despite the odds. We have truly become a global village and the online personals and dating sites have become the new matchmakers of the century. Of course, there are pitfalls in looking for love on the Internet so think safety first. If you are still quite undecided to get your feet wet in the online dating pool, here's a list I found of things you could do to get out of the dating rut:

1. Volunteer at a local hospital or soup kitchen
2. Sip on Lattes at Starbucks
3. Wander the aisles at Barnes & Noble
4. Join a club or organization
5. Take up a hobby you've always wanted to try (i.e., pottery, bowling, photography)
6. Sign up for an adult education class or one-day workshop
7. Roam the shopping mall
8. Visit your local laundromat
9. Browse the aisles of your local health food store or grocery store
10. Take in the art at a museum
11. Roam around the zoo
12. Enjoy an outdoor concert
13. Join an online chat room
14. Keep fit at a health club or sporting facility
15. Attend a conference, convention, or lecture on a cultural topic

And, if you have a pet or been pondering getting one, you might want to read this article as well.  Who knows, you might be able to "keep yourself out of the dating dog   house".