Vlog #16 and what I've been reading...

Can't believe I'm on Vlog #16 lol (by the time I publish this I probably already have Vlog #17 but anyways). Here you go!

And to expound a bit haha...

I dared myself 10 books this year and three weeks ago I just finished my first! A colleague lent me a copy of Educated by Tara Westover that I finished reading in two weeks. That's slow, but considering I didn't finish any book at all last year, that's a big deal! I'm suddenly out of my reading rut haha (hope so)! Educated is not the type of book I'd pick for myself, but because my officemate raved so much about it, I decided to download a sampler from Amazon before deciding to take on the whole text. The book is a memoir written by Tara Westover. In it she recalls her childhood with her family, survivalist Mormons tucked in the mountains of Idaho, up until she decides to enroll in university, leaving her family in pursuit of education.

Her journey is laced with incredulous accounts of violence and mental abuse, of freakish accidents, and unsettling family dynamics. It's also filled with a gripping unraveling of truths she didn't think existed, and of revelations that shattered her to self-invention. Definitely a unique coming of age story.

I didn't expect to love this book. I was so drawn by the writing that despite nothing much happening in the first few chapters, I found myself vividly immersed. A hundred percent will recommend!

So what's next?

Urgh, I hate to go back to reading Can You Keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella but I really need to finish it 'cos I want to see how it's gonna redeem itself for having characters so poorly made. I'm almost done and in my head it's still a 2 over 5. The story is cute but the characters are just so blah I'm having a hard time connecting their relationships and their behavior with each other.

• First off, I don't understand how Emma and Lissie call themselves bestfriends when they're so awkward and dishonest with each other.
• Jenina's character is a straight up template
• I don't find Jack Harper romantic. He's a jerk who flirted with his target market for product expansion.
• It was so clear that Emma is a nobody in their company, and yet her officemates suddenly recognized her when Jack Harper starts describing her live on TV, while also spilling her deepest darkest secrets? Apparently, they know her that well?

Let's see how the book ends, I'm so anxious to get over it lol.

How to love healthy eating and exercise even if you detest salads and the gym

For many people, the idea of going on a diet and committing to running five miles every day feels like a massive chore. You have to cut out many of the things that you love in life - like tasty food - in return for what you hope will be better health in the long-run. The problem is that sticking to significant lifestyle changes is hard. Virtually nobody loses weight on a diet and keeps it off long term. It’s just not what we’re biologically programmed to do. If there’s food available, we’ll eat it. It’s as simple as that.

Photo by Anupam Mahapatra

Modern habits, though, are creating a whole host of problems for our health. Sitting down all day and eating junk food is a one-two punch that wrecks our metabolism.

Your ideal biomarkers should be:

• Cholesterol 150 mg/dL
• Blood pressure 120/80
• Blood glucose 75 to 100 mg/DL

Unfortunately, a lot of people are way out of this ideal range, putting them at risk of a host of chronic diseases, like heart disease.

The solution, though, is quite simple - make healthy eating and exercise something that people can enjoy. Some people manage it, and you can too. Here’s what to do.

How To Enjoy Exercise

Enjoying exercise can be a challenge, but it can happen. It’s all about mindset.

Start With Achievable Goals

Don’t start your exercise regime by running marathons or doing two hours of cross-fit every day. You’ll knacker yourself and do whatever you can to avoid more grueling training sessions in the future.

Instead, begin with small, manageable goals. Make sure that your brain gets used to the idea that exercise is a pleasant experience first - something you enjoy - before ramping up the difficulty. Remember, there’s no time limit on this. If it takes you a year to work up to a high level, then so be it. As long as you’re active, you’re on the right track.

Notice How The Rest Of Your Life Gets Easier

As humans, we have an uncanny ability to adapt to the world around us. It doesn’t take five minutes before we’re used to something, whether it’s smartphones or ordering takeaways online.

The same goes for our fitness. When you start exercising, you induce profound changes in your body. All of a sudden, you have more energy to do the things that you want to do. It’s miraculous.

You can, however, adapt to these changes rapidly and, after a while, take them for granted.

Where possible, try to think back to situations before you began exercising that highlighted just how difficult life used to be. Maybe it was walking up stairs or carrying heavy bags of shopping. Whatever it is, try to link real-world experiences to your exercise habits.

How To Enjoy Healthy Eating

Most people can cope with exercise. But eating bland food day after day is intolerable. The good news is that eating things that are good need not be torture. Take a look at the following advice:

Use Fresh Herbs And Spices To Add Flavour

If you look at the types of food that most personal trainers recommend, you’ll see that it is dull and boring. Chicken breast, brown rice, and broccoli - not exactly appealing.

It turns out, though, that you can transform even the blandest of meals into something delicious with the right combination of herbs and species. What’s more, these foods may also contain compounds that help you move towards your weight loss and fitness goals faster. Unique chemicals plants produce supercharges your metabolism and foster whole-body health.

Eat Your Favourite Foods - Just Make Them Healthy

If you think that your days of munching on delicious burgers are over, think again. Even on the most Spartan diets, you can still eat your favorite foods.

Photo from Pixabay

Take pizza, for instance. You can easily make a whole spelt flour pizza base, add a homemade tomato sauce made with fresh or canned tomatoes, and then add veggies on top. You still get a delicious meal, even though it doesn’t contain any of the nasties you’d usually have to consume with pizza.

The same goes for burgers. You can make burgers from black beans, oats, and parsley, which actually tastes better than the real thing.

What you want to avoid is the feeling that you’re “going without.” You don’t want to feel like you lack anything in your life, or you might go back to your old ways.

The bottom line is this: eating healthily and exercising doesn’t have to be an ordeal. You can enjoy it, so long as you approach it with the right frame of mind.

Another week in recovery!

Another week on the vlog... now seven days full. Because nothing ever really happens during the weekends that merits a separate video haha.

As for my knee...

• Day 15 (Jan 27 | Mon) - Jeckie can't stay in midshift for so long so I decided to just commute by taxi for the whole week. Ang gastos but yeah. I realized that GrabTaxi rates on the app are overestimated when it's really just the metered fare + 35p (or whatever's the booking fee that time). That made me feel better. My knee is starting to heal better. I can now walk properly, but slowly. If I speed up even a tiny bit I'd start to limp lol. Still being cautious. I noticed that I also stopped feeling discomfort when sleeping so I don't lift my knee anymore on the pillows. Set up an appointment with an ortho at TMC.
• Day 16 (Jan 28 | Tue) - I'm not sure how I got it but suddenly my ankle is hurting. And it's more painful than my knee lol. I can probably walk better now but because of my ankle I'm not pushing it hehe. I can now (cautiously) cross my legs, and it's feels less tired now. Halfway through Educated.
• Day 17 (Jan 29 | Wed) - Booked Grab Taxi to work this afternoon. Still can't find the courage to commute by bus. I can probably conquer the foot bridge because I can walk at my own pace, but the thought of boarding the bus scares me. What if it jolts before I could take a seat? What if I get pushed while alighting? I could die you know. On another note, 2019-nCov (Corona virus) is becoming a bigger threat. I've started wearing a facial mask to protect myself.
• Day 18 (Jan 30 | Thu) - First confirmed case of nCov in the Philippines. 38-year-old Chinese woman who traveled from Wuhan via Hong Kong (link). I'm watching the numbers here. My knee is getting better, my ankle doesn't hurt so much anymore so I could now feel how my knee has improved. Yey!
• Day 19 (Jan 31 | Fri) - I can walk properly now with minimal knee pain but I could feel a stiffness in my knee cap. Can't walk and stand for too long. Can cross my legs but not fully. Still can't indian sit.
• Day 20 (Feb 1 | Sat) - Went to the hospital to consult with an orthopedist. He checked my knee and advised me to get more rest, see how one month of recovery fares before he could suggest more diagnostic measures (like MRI or therapy). I was relieved when he said my major knee parts look intact. So yeah, just gonna rest and let me knee recover fully. After all, it's getting better each day.
• Day 21 (Feb 2 | Sun) - Drove to Fairview to see my family whom I sorely miss. My mom is sick with cough and sore throat and needs to recover, and with the nCov scare an all, she's kind of panicked. She can't even hug and kiss me because she's afraid I'll catch her symptoms huhu. In (an)other (sad) news, I accidentally wet the corner of Educated, the book that I borrowed from my officemate, and it felt devastating. I put it on a desk and didn't notice someone put a cold glass of water beside it, next thing I know the moist from the glass crept its way on the upper corner of the book, creating a wave the size of a coin. :'(

Ever since I started vlogging I kindof lost interest in posting on Instagram and ranting on Twitter. I can summarize my week in 5-minute videos, upload it on Youtube and not care about it. Then I can just put supplemental anecdotes here, just to overshare a bit further, then let it be haha. Just like the old days.

I think it has something to do with the fact that no one's really watching or even reading. I stopped promoting my Youtube channel too because I realized I didn't really want an audience. I just want an outlet.