Jayme Timbol, Yoga and Creative Dreams

It's almost the new year and I'm glad that I spent Dec. 29-30 with my friend, Jem, who came home from Utah, U.S.A. We've been friends since our Etelecare days back in 2001, meaning we've maintained our awesome friendship for a decade now! I may have very few NEW friends these days, but those I keep, I do intend to keep them for eternity. (^_^)

Proactive Strategies for a Better Life

Have you been wanting to live a healthier and better life? I started it a few years ago when I practiced The Secret to manage my stress and live my dreams. I also went for a more vegetable-based diet and now, I am being more cautious about it by going alkaline --- no oil, no salt, limited sugar, no acid, and sometimes almost raw but frequently baked or grilled food.  I call it my sexynomnom diet. A diet like this makes me healthy and generally gives me more energy to do the things I want.

Another thing you can do to achieve a better quality of life is by becoming more proactive. Don't wait for something to happen before you react to it. Make things happen no matter how small.

I know that doing the right thing is usually hard. There are just so many temptations around and most of the time, it's easier to just succumb to your natural desires, proclivities and impulses. But if you are focused on what you want and you are committed to getting it, then nothing ought to stop you. 

Below are some of my personal strategies to help me keep on track.

Fight the urge to hibernate.

Whenever the yuletide season comes in, I'm always hit by the hibernation bug. I feel lazy, I like to sleep all day or watch DVDs... I basically like to hide in my cocoon and be as lazy as I can be [enter Bruno Mars The Lazy Song]. Maybe it's the cold weather (although lately it's more wet than the typical December cold).

But for someone who's a workaholic like me, being bitten by the hibernation bug is actually like being forced to a much-needed vacation. Perhaps, it's my body's way of saying that I need to rest and take a break.

However, as I am becoming more conscious of my health, I am no longer allowing that to happen. Being an Aquarian, I can be  quite extreme. I either sleep all week, or I don't sleep for a month at all! I can't do that anymore. I love myself too much to fall into that trap once again. Yes, I still do rest. I sleep 8 hours a day now and take catnaps when necessary but I don't do my usual hibernation mode anymore, nor do I plaster myself in front of my PC, slaving away all day. I need to be active. I want to be active. I have to be active.

And so, the moment I felt that the hibernation bug has bitten me (after sleeping for 8 hours, I still wanted to sleep for 8 more), I forced myself to get up and break out a bit from my usual routine (which is to make sure the house is orderly and clean, exercise, prepare a healthy meal of oatmeal with cinnamon, apple cubes and honey + Vita Plus vegetable drink, shower then work). Peter and I this time, went to the park again, jogged instead of walked, and played some badminton. (And once this rainy spell is over, I plan to take out my bike too.) 

Thank God for HP Plus! I saved Php10k on my Medical Lab Expenses

Yep, that's right. It was the assistant of my doctor who suggested that I go to HP Plus, just across Asian Hospital, almost beside Mercury Drug because all their lab tests are priced so low.

True enough, when I went there yesterday for my liver, gallbladder and pancreas ultrasound, it only cost me Php1,000.

Ultrasound was only Php1,000 at HP Plus

The results were good. I have no gallstones, my pancreas and gallbladder are healthy. It's my liver that has certain moles in it and in order to fully check what they really are, if indeed, they're just HEMANGIOMA, I need to have a CT scan. But before I can get a CT scan, the doctor needs to know if my blood is clear. So a blood test was ordered. I fasted for almost 12 hours and at 5:30 this morning, my husband and I were already at Asian Hospital.

Change in Lifestyle

 

It all started last weekend when Danes, Tina, Radz, Peter and I went to Lake Caliraya to windsurf our Sunday away. I forced my body to change its body clock which has forever been in U.S. time. It was successful! Well, sort of... I now sleep at around 6:30-7:00 pm and I wake up before 3 am. I'm slowly moving my sleeping time to 9:00 pm at the latest so I can wake up at 5:00 am. At least now, I'm awake during the day. Plus, I don't travel feeling zombified anymore. Yay!

For the first time, I was able to windsurf all the way to the middle and other end of Caliraya lake, for an hour, without rest!

Remember when I said that some things will have  to take a backseat as I change my lifestyle a little bit? I didn't mean to but it seems like my blogging has naturally been included in that list.

I now focus on things that make me happier and when I get tired, I rest. Blogging does make me happy but I can only do it  when I really have the extra time. I got a couple of posts to finish but I no longer stress about them. I've noticed that other things make me a lot happier now like:

How are you, Jen? (a diary entry on GERD, stress and happiness)

This is an entry that I thought long and hard about sharing here. Some things are quite secret and some information are quite sensitive.  Then I figured, not a lot of people can handle a very long post so I guess not a lot of people will really know what has been going on....

It's been 4 years since I started practicing The Secret. That was late 2007. Prior to that, I've been an emotional wreck (since my adolescent years actually) and I was always stressed out, if not in school (all the way to taking my master's in U.P.), then at work, which is why I like to write about my life be it in a notebook or in my online diaries that are my blogs. Writing has always been a form of catharsis for me.

The Power of Friends, Exes and a Smashing Good Time

Who would've thought that I'll be having a "date" with my husband and my ex-boyfriend all in one day? And no, they're not the same person. Teehee.

It all started out with the plan that my husband will accompany me to the doctor to check up my GERD symptoms that have been exhibiting since last month. Unfortunately, I also had a VTR to go to for a TV commercial. I rarely go to these things nowadays but since I'll be in Makati the whole day, I might as well try my luck. I didn't get the part but I was happy to see an old friend, Maricar, who has always been active in the TV commercial business. She's done a lot of TV and print ads already that I can no longer count them.We go way back since our Etelecare days in 2001 and those Embassy, Blue Onion party nights up until 2008.

(That's me and Maricar on the left and me and my hubby on the right... lots of waiting time involved when going to auditions and VTRs)

Loving the Minute Maid Real Pulpy Deal

I just drank a bottle of Minute Maid Pulpy. They say it’s got ‘no preservatives added’. Aw, c’mon…It’s bottled juice. Is that even possible? So I thought maybe... I'd do some more research about it. You know me, I like my 2011 to be healthier and better. No more bad stuff for my body please. I've had it with preservatives, chemicals and other hidden toxic food substances! It's time to be healthy, fit and sexy once again!

I didn’t believe it the first time I heard it’s got no preservatives added. So I read the ingredients (even the fine print) and everything checked out! It really has NO PRESERVATIVES ADDED! That means it doesn’t have ingredients that may turn out to be allergens, or worse...carcinogens! Whew! Now that’s healthy goodness that tastes so good, I...

Cervical Cancer Screening on May 26

Hey folks! Are you aware of the cervical cancer screening happening on May 26? No? Well, then, read on.This is very important especially for us ladies. Find out why 3,000 women die each year in our country due to cervical cancer alone.

Know the details and get yourself tested. It's free!

Lifestyle Change The Sexy Nomad Way

It was year 2008 when I first decided to work from home. I remember our maid then asking me "Ano naman gagawin mo dito sa bahay? Baka ma-bored ka lang." (What will you be doing here at home? You might just be bored.) Well, I've been at it since then and I'm proud to say that with everything I do here around the house (especially after I let our maid go coz I found out how lazy she really was... maybe that's why she was anxious of me staying at home, hrhrhr!), there's really no time for me to feel bored. I even miss our house when we travel, especially when I go on a trip without my hubby for a certain period of time. Coz... I know he's not really that O.C. around the house. So anyway, now that I'm back to my hectic schedule, I not only make sure that I keep our house pretty clean and orderly but I also keep myself productive and happy.

A Little Quiet Time

I've set a little schedule for myself this week. When I wake up in the afternoon, after I drink my Vita Plus veggie drink and do my meditation, I spend some time relaxing in our balcony by reading a few pages each of my self-help books (Oprah's Live Your Best Life, Jack Canfield's The Success Principle, Richard Carlson's Don't Sweat The Small Stuff in Love, Paramahansa Yogananda's Para-Grams) and my Drums Book. Through the years, I was able to collect tons of books and I can only wish to finish them all in my lifetime. Anyway, I've always been ga-ga over self-help stuff. I've been at it since college when I realized that I have a choice to be happy and wealthy. I think my life right now is a living testament to that.Thanks to Oprah, my ultimate idol. See the stuff I've been sharing so far in my self-help blog, Kicking Pinay.

GMA 7 Unang Hirit Interview, Vita Plus, etc.

Yeah, after only 6 weeks of doing one of my passions, I wasn’t only successful in spreading health, wellness and extra energy among  some people in my social network, friends and family but I’ve also earned Php50, 175.00 total. WOW!!! That is some serious money. And I haven’t even really worked hard for it yet. All I did was just share my experiences the way I know how — through blogging, microblogging and chatting most of the time. I figured, since I blog about so many other things, places, products and services, why not share about the most influential thing in my life right now,  which is First Vita Plus, right? So that’s just what I did.

For someone like me, who until now, still don’t know the name of my neighbors and who is so busy with other things (I have 2 VA jobs… I let go of my 3rd one just so I can still do VTRs, acting, my nail art and lingerie biz on the side, plus do household chores and sleep!), the Vita Plus Biz is really the way to go if you want to earn some real money while advocating health at the same time. Their products, especially the vegetable juice drinks that taste like dalandan, melon, pineapple and mango are indeed miracle drinks!  Especially these days when all of us eat THE TOP 5 CANCER-CAUSING FOODS — hotdogs, french fries, doughnuts, chips/crackers/cookies and processed meats/bacons.Thanks to Vita Plus juice drink, Peter and I haven’t been sick since we started drinking it last July 28. And we don’t anymore  take our other multivitamins and supplements. Plus, we’re always bursting with energy so we can do more of the things we love to do! Like later, Sunday morning, after having been awake for 33 hours now as of writing this blog post, we’ll be heading to Batangas for somekayaking and snorkeling activity. It’s been so long since we last hit the beach! No thanks to the crazy weather we’ve been having for several months now. 

With the Unang Hirit Segment Producer (girl beside me) and the camera crew

Anyhoo, the week passed like a blur. Tuesday afternoon, when I was supposed to be already sleeping, the segment producer and camera crew of GMA 7’s Unang Hirit dropped by the house to interview me regarding my Mobile Digital Nail Art Biz. I wasn’t able to catch when it was shown coz like I said, I was busy with work. And when Unang Hirit airs every morning from 6-9am, that is usually  my crunch time at work. Anyway, I did get calls from people inquiring about my nail art biz so I guess it already got aired.