No Rice! My Low Carb Diet Journey

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The Cactus 🌵 #OOTD

A post shared by thelettersinnovember (@zenskulasa) on Aug 21, 2019 at 1:02am PDT

So, I've been on and off healthy eating. Something a follower would know. Is there anyone out there left reading this blog? haha, well somehow I'd love for this page to be read by only me. That is not the purpose of blogging at all.

Anyway, I have been busy. Hmmm to say I have been busy is in fact an understatement.

I have been engrossed in daily life grinds! Like work, family, studies. Name it! I still find time to sleep though, a talent I guess I will have until the end wehehehe.

Well, one thing that changed since I hit forty was my weight! I became really more conscious of my health. I finally bid goodbye to sweets!
No more dessert for me! - the complicated, intricately designed sweets have been ditched from my vocabulary- AT LAST.

So, what changed? My blood sugar level did! I had signs and symptoms of diabetes, something that is in the family genes, so lo and behold, I was afraid like really afraid for the first time in many years of existence.

So, I am now on a low carbohydrate diet. I broke up with beloved rice, and pastries and ice cream and everything that is fancy and sweet yeah even milk chocolates. Hmmm yep I do indulge in darck chocolates once in awhile. It keeps me sane, believe me!

So today, I also chose not to be stressed with law school haha. I have enrolled in five subjects. Now I am planning to quit this semester. Gee, bad decision eh? but I am just too tired. It does not make me happy these days! I need a rest! I need my sanity back! I want to be happy! I am aging hahahaha.........

They say you can never really have everything. So, I am accepting that. I am not quitting. I am simply taking a break!

So ask me how to lose weight? Simple, have a motivation, a strong one, like good health and being able to live a long life with thy loved ones. What better reason is there?

That is all for now, sleep beckons wehehehe :)

The Surprising Bad Habits Affecting Your Looks

If you want to look your best, it is likely you will need to look further afield than you think. The truth is that many aspects of your life affect the way you look, and it is often going to be essential to pay attention to as many of them as you can in order to bring about the results you really want to see. There are likely to be a number of bad habits which are affecting your beauty in surprising ways, and that is what we are going to look at here. Take a look at the following and see if there is anything you should be doing to help keep yourself looking your best.

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Getting To Bed Late

If you are often struggling to get to sleep, this will almost certainly be affecting the way you look in the long run too. When you routinely don’t get enough sleep, it makes the skin look dull and can even affect the whiteness of the eyes. However, with enough sleep under your belt, you are much more likely to look full of life - and feel it, too. If you have been struggling to get to sleep recently, you might need to approach the issue from a variety of angles. Try replacing your mattress with a Hypnos mattress for better sleep, or maybe you could work on reducing the noise in your home. Cutting out screen use at nighttime will also help hugely, and is well worth the effort. Whatever you need to do to get more sleep, make sure you get on top of it.

Would You Take A Mental Health Day?

Have you ever taken a mental health day at work? Not many people feel comfortable calling their boss up to say they’re having a day off for that. Still, the stigma attached to mental health is lessening, and more of us are realizing just how important it is to look after your mental health. The term covers so much more than just mental illnesses like schizophrenia or depression. So why would you need a mental health day, and what should you do when you take one?

Work can be the source of great stress in our lives. This stress can cause tension in the body and lead to pain and discomfort. It can also lead to weight gain. Over time, you might struggle with constant headaches, nausea, and moodiness.

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• Red: 0/2 • Yellow: 1/2 Green: 2/2

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Being in pain sucks. Not only does it hurt, but it can render us incapable to do the things we love, whether that be running, painting or even just getting to work every morning. The good news is, whether you suffer from chronic pain or you’ve just suddenly started to experience an unpleasant situation, there are several things that you can do to get relief from your pain moment to moment. Here are some of the most effective:

Do a Little Exercise

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It may seem counterproductive, but doing a little exercise everyday can get your body pumping with pain-blocking chemicals that will make you feel much better. Activities that are easy to do when you’re dealing with pain include walking, swimming, yoga and dancing. You don’t have to exercise for long, just make sure you do a little every day, and you’ll start to see results.

Knowing When To Seek Help Could Be What You Need To Get Back On The Right Track

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Going it alone in life is all well and good, but we all need help sometimes. Seeking guidance is something many of us need to do every now and again. The more stubborn among us will find that harder than others. Asking for help can feel a lot like weakness.  Having the strength to ask for help is about as far from weakness as it gets. If you’re feeling lost, or unsure of where your life is going, it’s time to hold up your hands and admit it. Better to say now than pretend you know what you’re doing and make a mess. We’re going to take a look at some of the ways you can seek guidance to get back on track.

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TALK TO A FRIEND

Times like this are what friends are for. Your friends would probably be hurt to find out you were struggling and didn’t confide in them. Close friends may not be best for this as they’re close to the problem. Go, instead, to friend’s that are more distant to you. That way, they can look at the problem as a whole without being too close. Confiding in people is tricky, and you may not like what your friend has to say. If that’s the case, remember to stay respectful and not get defensive. They’re helping you, after all. You’re free to reject their advice if you think it’s wrong. Bear in mind, though, that a strong reaction to a piece of advice may be a sign that it’s hit the problem on the head. Give the information time to sink in before you reject it.

Common Health Phobias To Get Over Fast

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For one reason or another, some people develop phobias when it comes to certain areas of their health. So much so, they can take drastic measures, such as avoiding checkups or ignoring symptoms. In some cases, it can be more of a worry, than a phobia, but it still stops them for actively caring for their health.

Although it might be scary to think about visiting certain doctors or doing certain things, it’s so important to do your best to just get over it. It might sound harsh, but your health and even your life could be at stake for the sake of a little fear. They might sound insignificant to come, these fears exist. It’s important to iron them out now, rather than suffer in silence and, if you’re a parent, it’s important to not let your children go on to develop them too.

Is Your Home Affecting The Quality Of Your Sleep?

Most of us would love to get more sleep. Parenthood, careers, friendships and hobbies can all drain our energy quicker than we would like. The odd late night and the occasional interruption to our sleep patterns can take their toll too. But the truth is, we don’t always need more hours in bed. We simply need a better quality of sleep. In some cases, sleeping longer than we should can make us feel even more lethargic. So how do we find the right balance?

It’s really important to identify why you’re feeling more tired than usual. Sometimes there is an easy answer. The neighbor car alarm went off at two in the morning. Or maybe your toddler son had a nightmare? Heavy rain or windy weather can also wake you in the night. But did you know that your home may be responsible for your sleep problems too? Difficulty getting to sleep and trouble staying asleep can be caused by many things. This is why your first challenge is to find out the reason why.

Trouble Dropping Off

There are many reasons why it can sometimes be a struggle to drop off to sleep. Your hormones and brain chemicals need to go through a change to enable you to fall asleep. Many things can inhibit this natural reaction. In your home, you may find there are plenty of distractions too. The screens from smartphones and tablets emit a blueish light. This can prevent the necessary reaction in your brain for falling asleep.

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TVs can also be distracting. Many of us like to fall asleep to a little background noise. But many shows have peaks in sound, dialog, and music that can stimulate the mind to wake up at just the wrong moment! The flashing light from the screen may also prove distracting. Hums from tech, bright light bulbs, and even the whirr of the air-con can all busy our minds more than we would like.

From Hospital To Home: Making The Transition Easier

Being involved in a serious accident or suffering from a tough illness can be a very traumatic time indeed. The road to recovery can be a very long one, any you might be expected to spend a considerable amount of time in hospital. The longer you are in hospital for, the harder it will be to go back home and get used to your regular day-to-day life.

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Many people struggle with the transition from hospital to home. This is because of the reduced care they receive once they are back in their own house. However, there are ways that you can return home without any problems whatsoever. Here are my tips to make your life back in your own home one that is free from any pain and problems.

Improvement Can Be Quick Or It Can Last: Which Do You Want?

There is a philosophy in life that talks about how self-improvement is a game of small gains. Part of the reason that we fail when trying to make things better is that we go for big changes. And when they don't work out we get depressed and wonder why we bother. Regression to the mean follows, and nothing gets better. The saying goes as follows: "Do 100 things one percent better". Do that, and the benefits are clear.

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This is a useful philosophy, in no small part because it is versatile and applicable across an entire life. You can make your work performance better by this approach of small gains. You can keep your home cleaner by just doing little bits, often. You can improve personal relationships, academic performance and anything else you can name. You just need to not try to do it all at once.

Whatever it is you are looking to improve, take this attitude and see how big a difference just one percent can make.

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How To Improve The Health Of Your Mind, Body, And Spirit

If you want to be an overall healthy person, then you can’t just focus on the health of your body. While that’s a great start to make, you also need to focus on the health of your mind and spirit too! Only then will you feel totally in balance and healthy. The tips here will help you to do just that. Enjoy!

Exercise Regularly

Exercising regularly isn’t just something you should do in order to get your body in shape. It’ll help you to get your mind in shape too! Exercise helps to release endorphins, which will make you feel happier immediately after doing it. The more you exercise, the happier you can expect to feel as you go about your day to day life. Find some exercise you enjoy. It doesn’t need to be the really sweaty kind, like Crossfit. You could start doing Yoga and see how you like that. Every kind of exercise counts!

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