Practical Tips on Portion Control

 Weighing your food before it enters your mouth is time-consuming and stressful. Besides, you cannot just take out your food scale in public to monitor your calorie intake. Here are some practical tips to somehow manage the amount of food you can tolerate.

1. If you cannot eliminate rice from your daily consumption, limit your serving to the size of your clenched fist. This is equivalent to 1 cup so if you want to lose weight, use a 1/2 cup measuring utensil. As time goes by, your eyes will be used to what 1/2 cup of rice looks like. It is approximately the size of a tennis ball.

2. If you prefer pasta over rice, 1 serving equals 1 cup so it is also equivalent to your clenched fist.

3. 1 slice of bread equals 1 serving so if you are eating a sandwich, you are eating 2 servings of bread.

4. A 3-ounce serving of beef, pork, poultry and fish is approximately the size of your palm.

5. Now this is exciting:  You need at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables daily. 1 serving of vegetables equals 1 cup. The more fruits and vegetables you consume each day, the better for your body. 

6. How many eggs should you consume in a day? Some say 1 egg is enough but others think you can have 2  a day. In one of Dr Willie Ong’s YouTube presentation, he commented that if you eat 2 eggs today, you should not eat any egg tomorrow.

7. A serving of butter is roughly the size of a domino.

8. You may take cheese equal to 3-4 size of dice or 1 matchbox.

9. Eating 1 slice of pizza is challenging. So when I eat 2 slices during snack time, I don’t eat dinner anymore. 

10. If and when I am about to indulge in Unlimited Buffet Lunch (which happen a lot nowadays), I resolve to fast the day before and the day after.

How To Exercise When You’ve Got No Time For It

 Let’s face it. Not everybody has the luxury of time. There are days when we just find it hard to squeeze all the things we ought to do in 24 hours. And this happen to tbe true whether you are an 8am to 5pm employee, a business proprietor, a WFH professional, a homemaker, a salesperson, etc. We want to allot some time for exercise but we simply can’t find the time.

Well, here are some practical tips:

1. Upon waking up in the morning, roll your head, shoulders, arms, wrists, fingers hips, thighs, knees , legs, and toes while saying your morning prayer. This only takes 2-3 minutes and you already nourished your body and soul.

2. Join your family when they walk your furry pet. You bond with your loved ones while gaining some steps. 

3. Customize your working table. As much as possible, stand while working. Sit when you feel tired.

4. If working while standing is impossible for you, at least try to stand when talking over the phone. You may also walk around your desk. Or just lift your body pretending you’re a ballet dancer.

5. Don’t waste time circling for a parking space near the Entrance of your building. Park at the first available slot then walk towards the Entrance. You saved gas and gained strength.

6. Instead of queuing at the elevator, take the stairs if you’re only going to the 2nd or 3rd floor. Your heart will thank you for that.

7. Take 8-12 glasses of water everyday. That way, you will have more trips to the kitchen or the office pantry. Taking 8-12 glasses of water would also result in more trips to the Rest Room resulting in more steps in a day.

8. When you put eggs in boiling water, it takes 10 minutes for them to be cooked hard-boiled. Take this opportunity for a 10-minute exercise. 

9. When queuing to pay at the Cashier Counter, lift each leg one at time. Hold as long as you can for each leg. Monitor your improvement by using a stopwatch or just counting mentally.

10. If you are a Catholic praying the Rosary everyday, do so while climbing up and down the stairs or walking in the garage. This would amount to 15 minutes exercise. If you are non-Catholic and enjoy listening to music to relieve your stress, do so while doing some form of activity.

11. When refilling water for ref bottles, hold them up high on the way to the refrigerator. You stretched and strengthened your arms.

12. Use a coconut husk to shine your floor instead of a floor polisher. There are coconut husks specifically modified to serve this purpose. While scrubbing the floor, stretch your arms up for a whole body workout.

13. When you are standing in line for whatever reason, engage your core. You can do this by breathing deeply (you should feel your stomach inflating) then exhale slowly while purposely tucking your stomach all the way in. You can also do this while sitting down. Keep your chest very still. Only the stomach expands and contracts. Do this regularly and you might be surprised to lose that stubborn belly fat!

14. While watching your favorite TV show, exercise during commercial breaks.

15. When watering your plants, use 2 pails of water instead of a water hose. Carrying the 2 pails of water is your strengthening exercise while the trips to the faucet takes care of your cardio exercise.

16. If you are living in Metro Manila and driving your own car, you can literally exercise while stuck in traffic.

17. People are surprised that my car is not automatic. It is not a vintage vehicle but I specifically requested for a manually-driven SUV so I could still move my hands and feet while driving. If you are still planning to buy a new car, give it some thought.

If you have additional tips to share, do chat with me via Messenger or email at ndelr62@gmail.com. Stay safe eveyrone!

A Little Bit Of Family History

Nanay was 89 when she was medically diagnosed to have Alzheimer’s. Her father and brother also had the same disease and passed away at a much younger age than her. Her mother did not have Alzheimer’s but did not escape a fatal stroke. Taking care of 10 children would certainly make a mother’s blood pressure surge.

Tatay left us at 1 week before he turned 88. His father passed away at 96 and a week later, her mother joined her darling hubby. She was 98. They lived in Naic, Cavite where they enjoyed the freshest of fish everyday.

On her death bed, my mother’s grandmother asked for pork adobo with visible fat.I know this to be true because I was there beside her when she finally said goodbye to her family. She was only 103.

What can we deduce from these limited yet significant piece of family history?

1. If you have a family member who had Alzheimer’s, there is a high probability that you will have it too. Therefore, it can be concluded that I am at risk to have Alzheimer’s. This blog is actually my journal which I can go back to if and when I need to refresh my memory (to put it mildly). 

2. When Nanay asks me how long do I think she will live, I answer her: “Apung Deni died at 103 though she ate lots of pork with fats in her lifetime. You should live longer because you always followed a healthy lifestyle.”

3. My grandparents in Naic Cavite almost reached 100. They were fortunate to have fresh fish everyday. For 79 years the couple ate together in one big plate. They also advocated the 1 fruit per meal principle. They believed that eating different kinds of fruit at the same time destroys the stomach. My father was the extreme opposite of his parents’ principle. One Christmas Season, there were already 13 kinds of fruit on the table yet he will still ask for more! (In case you’re wondering, the 13 fruits were banana, mango, papaya, avocado, guava, santol, apple, pineapple, pomelo, melon, watermelon, chico and orange.) When he asked for more, I bought him mangosteen, marang, and pear. I would have bought durian, rambutan and lanzones but they were not in season.

4. Each body is different. Eating fats may be bad to most people but it did not affect Apung Deni, my great grandmother.

5. My father and his parents all had superb memory. My grandmother, even at her 90’s could still add and subtract without using pen and paper. She and my grandfather still knew the names of all their acquaintances. Unlike my mother’s father. When someone approach him and ask him “Tatang, what is my name?” He would answer back:”You are already this old, you still don’t know your name yet?”

A Whole New World with Nanay’s Alzheimer’s (Part 9)

THEN and NOW:

1. I used to dose off when Nanay talks non-stop. Now, the situation is reversed. Nanay sleeps when I begin to talk.

2. Nanay used to love veggies. She looks at them now with hostility.

3. Nanay started walking everyday when she retired. Then her walks became irregular. Then shorter until they completely stopped.

4. Nanay loved gardening before. Whatever she planted bloomed and bore fruits. We had santol, avocado, papaya, banana, jackfruit. Those days are over now.

5. Nanay used to dance aerobics and lift dumbbells even after she retired. Her exercise now consists of stretching, bending and pulling when she changes her undies and clothes.

6. Nanay stayed in Pampanga Mondays to Fridays. She travelled to Las Piñas Saturdays then back to Pampanga Mondays. She no longer leaves the house now except for Sunday Mass and joy rides around Philamlife Village.

7. She doesn’t recall staying in Marbel or in Pampanga. She knew she was a midwife but forgot she worked with Philamlife for 50 years. However, there are some recurring flashbacks that happen every now and then.

8. She still remembers her brothers and sisters but sometimes, she forgets who are still living and who already passed away.

9. She used to boast before that for 365 days a year, she prayed the rosary 365 times. She still recalls the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries when prompted. 

10. She still recognize everybody in our household. I tell her everyday that I am her only daughter. She knows her daughter’s name is Norberta but she has no memory of our past as mother and daughter. Not a single one. One time, she did not remember me at all. She knew Gio and Eia as her grandchildren but she forgot their mother. I had to hold myself together to prevent a nervous breakdown. I know it isn’t Nanay’s fault to forget her one and only daughter but it still pained me. I have no choice but to be strong for her and my 2 precious jewels. So help me God.

A Whole New World with Nanay’s Alzheimer’s (Part 8)

 A very close friend once told me: “Your mother talks non-stop like a radio. But unlike the radio, she cannot be turned OFF” heheheh . . .

Yup. That’s Nanay. She could talk straight for 24 hours and I am NOT exaggerating. We were in Pampanga visiting the wake of her relative. The people there took turns talking to her! Even when she was eating, she was talking continuously. She only took a break when she used the bathroom.

Her favorite story at home was when she topped the Midwifery Board Exam with a grade of 99%. She would tell this story over and over again but we didn’t mind. We responded as if we were hearing it for the first time.

When Nanay stopped talking, we knew something was terribly wrong but we just pacified ourselves that she probably got tired of talking already. 

She no longer tell stories now but mumbles to herself “ENOUGH, ENOUGH, ENOUGH”.

This could stem from the fact that when people ask her before the secret of her physical well-being, she would answer “enough food, enough exercise, enough rest, enough sleep, enough stress, and enough money to last you a lifetime.”

When Nanay washes her hands she would sing “ang lahat, tatalikdan ko”. This is the last verse of “Paghahandog Ng Sarili”, the song we normally sing during the Offertory in the Holy Mass. She also sings this when she walks inside the house or when she’s just sitting down and when she’s taking a bath.

At night when I moisturize her face, I let her massage her neck so she could exercise her hands. She would do so while counting in hundreds. For this I have no idea why. I guess in her mind, she is probably counting her money!

Some Good Things Never Last

My heart skipped a beat when Barbra Streisand’s song “Some Good Things Never Last” played over the car radio on our way home this afternoon.

Flashbacks of forgotten memories flooded my mind as if everything only happened yesterday. I tried to hit PAUSE but I couldn’t stop my brain from REWINDing.

We were in his office when he gave me a shocking Directive which totally wrecked me. He instructed me never to visit him nor call him unless I was on the verge of dying. I could have stabbed him thrice and pleaded in court that my action was a Crime of Passion but I didn’t. I did not demand anything from him. I also did not accuse him of anything. I just walked out of his office. And out of his life.

It only took me a few months to recover from a previous romantic relationship but this time, it took me more than a year to gather the broken pieces of  my disheveled life. Losing a best friend was a thousand times more devastating than losing a boyfriend.

As Barbra’s song goes . . . I thought we were lovers . . . I thought we were friends. I guess when reality steps in the dreaming ends.

Unrequited love is undeniably the most painful of all human experiences (next to death of a parent). I had to revamp my whole life to start anew without him by my side. It was a desolate journey.

I thought the crying would never stop. I thought I could never forgive him.

But miracles do happen. Through time the deepest of wounds healed and unconditional love prevailed.

We are back being friends and catch up whenever our schedules permit!

Letting go is an agonizing process but completely necessary to find yourself again and live your life with confidence, honour and dignity.

How God Answers My Prayers

God answers my prayers in 3 different ways:

1. He immediately gives me what I want.

2. He doesn’t give me what I want but He gives something BETTER, not necessarily for me but for my loved ones.

3. He doesn’t respond for a loooooong time. When I am about to lose faith and hope he whispers to me:“Stay still. Listen. Trust in the Lord thy God. The BEST is yet to come.”

OK Lord. I have prayed for a SOULMATE long enough. I have stayed still for as long as I could remember. Maybe the best that you have in store for me is to remain single for the rest of my life? Then I accept—with my whole heart, mind, body and spirit!

Farewell, my Soulmate. I have to let you go before we even see each other . . .