It’s day 78 of Metro Manila in Community Quarantine.  We’ve gone through the harshest conditions and the most restricted setup ever.  Now, we are slowly coming out of it.  Throughout the different quarantine measures we’ve put up with, transport was one of the most difficult ones especially in the beginning.  

At the start of the quarantine restrictions, not a lot of grocery stores were accessible online.  I myself had to run a few times of bike ride to buy food, and it wasn’t easy especially because I had to carry a load over a bridge that had quite an inclination (not an easy uphill ride for newbies like myself) 😩

Since April, the stores that I had frequented opened up their online shops (although the loyalty cards don’t work til now), and my bike runs was cut to virtually none.  Sometimes, I had to bike to get some medicines and personal care items from a 1km-away Mercury Drug, but that’s about it.  No more biking uphill the bridge near me to buy groceries!

End of May though, is a different story.  Biking is now declared by Secretary Año as a major transportation means.  The LGUs and the DOTR are now working on a design plan to support city cycling.  Why?  Even though public transports are slowly easing up on mass use, cycling is still the most efficient way of moving people.  It directly enforces social distancing since only one person should be on the bike.  It’s more environment friendly and is definitely more encouraged along the lines of having an implicit exercise.

So, are you adapting to this? Is city cycling now in your goals?  Are you going to work on June 1st when Metro Manila switches to General Community Quarantine?  Don’t know where to start?  

When you plan to adapt

First of all, congratulate yourself on the multitude of savings you’ll gather up by the end of the year, now that you consider switching your mode of transport to city cycling.  Have you ever noticed (if you ever do your budgeting), that during quarantine, you spent more money on (good) food and those hobbies that made you more relaxed?

I had to repurpose my budget pouches (budget envelopes) because most of the money just went to food anyway! 😅 I didn’t spend for transportation at all, even though on some accounts, I had gone to Ortigas and to Makati a couple of times for essential runs, I just rode my bike.  I used to allot at least around Php 3000 just for transportation (Disclaimer: I already work at home before all this, so this amount may seem small for others.  I just go out once in awhile and when doing groceries).

Step #1:

But let’s get back to your wallet today.  You need a bike! 💵

The first thing you need to ask yourself, is what do you need the bike for, mostly?  Bike to work?  Errands bike?  Exercise?  Most likely, you’re in need of a bike for commuting.  

Here’s what to ask yourself next:  Where do you live and where do you go to work?

If your place of residence and work place is more than 5 kilometers apart, you’ll probably want to get a mountain bike or a road bike.  In a gist, a road bike has thinner tires, therefore it spins faster than the rugged, all-terrain bike—the mountain bike.  Assuming you’re a beginner, choose the mountain bike.  The reason is that, the mountain bike provides more stability in terms of the width of the tires.  It also has shock absorbing forks compared to the road bike.  Read: you won’t suffer numb groins! 😅

Another benefit of the mountain bike to the road bike is that you can choose to have your brakes to be a range of choices from: V brake, disc brake, or hydraulics brake (can also be disc brake).  

V brakes are like the most basic.  Imagine two pads squeezing together (on the actual reams of the tires) to halt the turn of the wheels.  Disc brake is more advanced form of a V brake system.  Instead of the pads squeezing the tire reams, it squeezes on the discs that are attached to the center of the wheel.  And finally, the more high tech brake solution is the hydraulics which uses combination of the disc and some liquid to make a full quicker brake.  The hydraulic one makes it easy for an on the spot braking.  V brakes and Disc brakes alone will take some time to get to a full stop.  However, hydraulics require more maintenance than the other two.

Now, let’s get the the popular folding bikes! They’re always the prettiest, aren’t they? Just check my cute folding bike here!

Now, no one will tell you this.. But I will! 🙌

Folding bikes are more wiggly on the road.  Read that again.  It’s not you.  It’s them 😅. It’s actually science if you think of it.  The designs of every folding bike is that the stem (the one that connects the handle bars to the wheel) is longer than a mountain bike and a road bike; therefore, it creates more sensitivity to movement.    I’m not saying it’s a bad bike, but it will take some getting used to.  

I actually learned how to ride a bike using my folding bike (Brixie, my Bickerton bike) before I bought my second bike, also a foldie! (Joey, the JoeP24 Tern).  Hence, I’ve been used to riding a little bit wobbly.  However, that’s not the end to it.  The more you ride this bike, you’ll get to adjust to how sensitive it can be, so you will eventually learn how to handle it.

Another super secret to know is that.. a foldie also don’t have shock absorbers! So yes, my groins do get numb from time to time, especially if it’s a long bumpy ride 🙈 But, I always love my foldies.  I don’t see myself getting a mountain bike anytime soon.  (PS: I’ll share some riding tips for a foldie, watch out for my next post!)

Step #2

Assuming that you don’t know how to ride your bike yet— I actually bought Brixie before I learned how to ride a bike!— don’t fret.  Here are my tips for you.  While I learned in the presence of some gurus, I’m sharing here what you can do on your own to learn.

I learned through NBO Bike Lessons last year, but just because there's COVID19, doesn't mean you can't learn on your own.

1. Find a street that looks a little hilly.  A small inclination would do.  Think about rolling a ball down your street.  If it doesn’t get momentum on its own, that’s not the right street.  If you live in a subdivision, this is even better.  Most subdivisions have some inclination that would be helpful for you in learning.

2. Remove your pedals.  The pedals would be needed once you get the balance on.

3. Adjust your seat post so that when you’re on it, both feet are flat on the ground with the knees not bent.  This will be your starting point.  If your knees are bent, you will damage your knees in the long run.  Again, feet flat, knees straight.

4. Ride your bike and stride.  Pushing off the ground with the left foot, followed by another stride with the right foot.  Do this alternately.  The goal is to be able to center your body during strides.

5. Now go to the top of the slope/inclination.  Stride until you can slowly lift feet off the floor just an inch or two.  This is how you learn how to balance.  Progress to the next step only when you can completely fold your knees and lift the feet off.

6. Last step is putting back your pedal.  Always start with the pedals in 3 o’clock position.  If you’re right handed, right foot on the pedal, stride off by pushing the left foot and start to press with the right foot.  Keep doing this until your left foot and find the pedal and you can start to cycle them to move.  

7.  That’s it! Keep practising!  After this, learn to turn, and then learn hand signals.  It takes time, but be patient.

Step #3

Getting the right gears and clothing is a game changer.  Now, I understand, not everyone has the capacity to put this in their budget, so I will list down the bare essentials and the optionals.  

Essentials:

1. Helmet.  There’s a variety of helmets out there, but do start with what’s in your budget.  There are some that start at price of Php 350 and can go up to around Php 6000.  Pick wisely.  Although it seems unlikely that you’re getting into an accident, it is better that you are prepared.  A broken bone will heal, just like a scar, but a broken head means death.  Think about it.

2.  Lights.  There are at least 2 lights that you need.  One infront and one at the back.  Just like any vehicle, we also need to be seen on the road.  The front line is white light that is ideally blinking.  The one at the back is a red tail light, also ideally blinking.  The blinking lights is not for you, but for those on the road as you are and should see that you’re moving.  If the light is not blinking, it will give a false sense of your accurate location and you might get hit.

3.  Bell or horn.  Now this boils down to preference.  My bike came with a bell, but I think the bell is too inaudible, so I bought a horn instead.  I want to make sure that when I want to be heard, I will be heard—loudly! 😎

4.  Water Bottle.  It doesn’t matter if you choose to get one that could be attached to your bike, or one that you can carry in your backpack or rack.  Just get one and fill it every time you get to stop.  Drink and refill.  Remember we have a hot, humid weather.  Replenish each time you can.

5. Trousers with padding.  At first, I thought we ladies, don't even need this, but with experience, riding Metro Manila roads can be taxing on the groins too!  Without a padding, my groin area would feel numb, and would be achy the next morning! So, if you'll ride longer than 20 minutes everyday, get one! It will save you the pain and discomfort.

6.  Bike locks.  This is a rabbit hole.  There are many kinds to choose from and with varying security levels.  However, it’s a no brainer.  Bikes are lightweight and can easily be stolen.  To not buy a bike lock is the same as saying your bike isn’t important.  My golden advice is to not buy only one type of lock.  Don’t use the cable locks that are coiled chains worth less than Php 500.  These will only require less than 5 seconds to clip the coil and steal your bike.  Surely you don’t want that to happen to you.  Invest in a thick bike chain or a U lock.  Now, if you ever choose to go with a U lock, know that you are limited in the range of where you can lock your bike to.  Especially folding bikes are challenging to lock with a U lock.  U locks are best used by road bikes and mountain bikes because their bike frame design is fixed.

Optionals, and maybe why you’d want them too:

1. Another front steady light.  If you would probably caught in the dark going to or from your destination, the blinking light will make yourself visible on the road, but a steady light will light your path ahead of you.  If you’re cycling fast, it will be too late to see potholes or oddly positioned manholes, etc and it would spell accident for you.  This front light will be positioned along the angle of your eyesight to light your way; while the blinking light is usually just facing down on the floor at about 10-15 degrees angle.

2. Reflector clothing or pieces of clothing or sticker.  I’m paranoid.  I bought some rubber leg bands that have reflector strips.  I wrap it around my calf muscle.  It’s very visible because when your legs move, so does the strip and it will automatically communicate to other road users that you’re a cyclist.  You may also want to decorate your bike with reflector stickers or strips along the ream of the tire and/or its body.  This is especially useful when crossing streets because road users will see you from the side, not just the back (which is already lit by your blinking light)

3. Cycling shoes.  Now, this is really optional, but to me, it was a game changer.  I used to cycle only with my shoes (no shoe laces).  If you ever decide to just use your shoes, don’t bike with shoes that have laces!  The thing that nobody told me, was that, when you press your foot on the pedal, press on it using the part of your foot from the ball to the arch.  Also, the direction of the press would matter, especially if you’re riding uphill.  (More on this in the next post).  So, if you choose not to buy, use one that has stiff soles.  You’ll feel the difference.

4. Phone holder / Action camera.  Now, while this all feels like a hobbyist’s wants, I can tell you, it’s not.  Metro Manila as it is right now (sans the plans for bike lanes, etc), is a jungle.  Yes, it is.  No exaggeration.  You have jeepneys that are patok! Motorcycle riders that are kamote! and the four-wheeled vehicles that look down on you.  Without a means to record your ride, you will be defenseless when accident happens.  It’s really scary.  I actually just bought one for myself because I look at this as a form of protection.  If you decide to go with your phone, just make sure that this won’t drop your phone in the middle of a bumpy ride.  Secure it in multiple ways.

5. Bike computer.  Well, it’s not really a computer in a sense, but it’s like a pedometer for bikes.  It tracks your speed, your mileage and maybe even show you the time.  I personally bought one, but sold it away because I find that I don’t need to know/see this every time and it’s more difficult to remove and install each time I go.

A special mention accessory: * drumroll please* I’m not putting it in either essential or optional, but I’d rather call it the necessary beginner accessory

I use bike mirrors! yay!  This is super useful for me because it aids you when you’re trying to merge traffic, and by simply being aware of who’s behind you and how far along they are.  My bike looks funny because it looks like it has ears, but I’d tell you, for me, this is more important than my water bottle 😛 I could leave my water bottle, but I wouldn’t leave without my mirrors.  I have one for each side, but seriously, we could do away with just having one at the left side.  For a beginner, this helps build confidence because I’m not yet fully able to do hand signals.

Step #4:

The right mindset I believe is more difficult to attain.  You need to establish reasons why you’re embarking on this endeavor.  Is this only temporary for you?  Do you really need to go out?  Are you doing this for the sake of the environment? Or maybe for your health?

For me, it’s a no brainer.  I wanted to make cycling my default mode of transportation.  Ride hailing services were becoming too expensive, and public transport is too congested. A big chunk of money used to go to transport means, and it's still not that efficient.

However, one of the challenges I face, is getting pushed to the side.  Cyclists are not valued commuters in Manila.  They think that when you cycle, you are poor, or that you don’t even pay your taxes.  Each time I ride out, I have to tell myself that I have a right to the road.  I pay my taxes, and I am a law abiding citizen.  This is also my road.

Step #5:

Maintenance.  *cue in the Bicycle repairman*

This might be easy for most men.  However, it will take some getting used to for women.  The first thing you’ll need to learn is how to pump air into your tires.  Cyclists have strong legs, but weaker arms.  It will be a challenge, and will feel awkward at first, but don’t worry, you’ll get a hang of it.

The next one is something I haven’t tried myself yet.  Knowing how to patch your tires, will require you to first: know how to remove your tire and second, how to apply the patch!  This is something I need to learn further.

Finally, cleaning your bike.  You will need some space to wash the bike, especially if you ride through muddy roads, as the gunk can harden on the frame of your bike.  The chains are very important too, so if there’s mud, clean them off right away.  After a soapy wash, you’ll need to grease the chains again so that they don’t creak and become brittle as you use your bike.

Once in awhile, you’ll also need to index your gears.  If you have gears on your bike (most do, except for the utility bike), you will have to have it indexed by a repairman at least once every quarter.  This ensures that your shifting won’t loosen the chain off the bike or get stuck while you’re riding.

So, that's it for now.  I'm glad you're taking time to start your City Cycling Journey! Stay tuned for the next post for tips on the road. Happy Cycling! 🚲

I remember when I was younger, playtime always included skipping rope.  If I could recall quite well, it had a wooden handle and a hemp rope.  I would jump until my heart could burst! Ahh, well, things you could do when you are young! 😄

My cousins and I would skip together; and stop only when their moms call out to them. I would then be left alone to continue jumping.  I remember, I used to jump so high, but it didn't bother my knees at all.

Sometime in my college days, I found newer kinds of jump ropes in the market.  I remember, I even bought one that had a counter, it was exactly this item:

Why I came back to jump rope

Sometime in early 2018, I sold my stationary bike.  My knees were really bad as I had a dislocated patella in my left knee and suffered LCL tear on my right.  The stationary bike didn't do much for me.  To this date, I still ponder why a stationary bike would be part of a knee therapy when it didn't really help me that much.

I was overweight for my height and I didn't like what I saw.  During these days, I was still taking hypertension medication.  I was struggling with my weight.  After a conference attended, some new friends tagged me in their twitter posts and I was surprised to see how "big" I was for my body frame.  I knew I needed some change.  It was a horrible sight! 🙈

How I re-discovered the love

After I encountered an Instagram post on weight loss & transformation, it led me to an account for jump rope workouts.  I dived deep into jumping rope, exploring the basics and trying out their video tutorials.  Some time later, I took a chance, bought my lean set of jumping rope from their recommended rope set.  

It's been 2 years now, and their current price for the lean set is at $99 but I was able to get it at only $79.  For me, it was well worth it.  👌

So, why do I jump?

I'm listing here, all the benefits from my own experience.  You may have read a lot of articles about it, but these are the ones that I really attest to:

Calories burned is really substantial.  If you count calories, this is a game changer for you.  If you jump at the end of the day, you'll be able to make a significant deficit enough to account for rapid weight loss.  Below is a chart put together by PinoyFitness:

Cures knee problems.  Now, I know what you think.  It's supposed to be bad for the knees, right? No.  Fortunately, jumping is a low impact workout.  As long as you maintain proper alignment and always land on the balls of the feet, then you'll be safe.  On top of this, always make sure you wear proper shoes and/or a jumping mat.  All of these observed, will not bring you pain.

Great cure for cardiovascular diseases.  I remember when I was still hypertensive, I always get headaches and would always be out of breath.  With continued practice, it helps to get the blood flowing and increase VO2 max.  

Stamina and Endurance will increase.  Before I turned to jump rope, I was doing marathons.  However, I would always be easily out of breath.  Jump rope practice taught me to do cardio for longer and with less exhaustion.

Stronger bones.  With sufficient practice, it creates enough stress to make bones stronger.  In the last two years that I have started jumping, I have forgotten how to complain about bad knees.

Cardio anytime, anywhere.  With only a limited space, you can enjoy cardio equal to marathons only within a small space.  With only my yoga mat and my jump rope, I can travel anywhere and never be without my favorite exercises!

Overall fat loss.  At my current age, I'm so done and over with targeted fat loss.  I no longer do any of exercises that claim "<insert body part> fat loss".  Jump rope takes care of fats everywhere in your body! Just jump and enjoy the fat loss benefit!

Variety is endless! You can buy multiple jump ropes of different weights for a challenge, or different kinds (beaded vs PVC), etc.  Learn different kinds of trick, and jump to a different set of music every time! Only your creativity is the limit.

Toned body.  With proper diet, your body will get toned faster than in any workout that burns much calories.  Over time, I have seen my calves and my legs get more toned.  I no longer feel them jiggle when I jump 😝 and I can see beautiful toned lines now 😉

Where I am at now

I'm still nowhere close to those jump rope masters that you see online.  However, with my continued love for jumping, I have lost a huge weight off the scale and I've increased my stamina.  I made some new jump rope friends online and my rope is still in good shape! (although, it's quite beaten since I don't have a rubber mat to jump on, and I jump outside)

Whenever I jump, I throw in some body weight workouts like pushups, squats, tricep dips, jumping jacks, etc.  So, my strength has also increased.  I've got some new footwork in as well and some tricks that I really enjoy doing much of.

At the moment, I'm able to jump outside for only once a week.  It has become too tedious to go out because each time I do, it's a risk to get infected.  Also, jumping during COVID19 times is quite difficult since I'd have to be in a mask all the time and it really hampers breathing.  My heart rate won't drop that fast when I'm deprived of free breathing.

Nonetheless, I still enjoy jumping.  Today, I had to clean my ropes.  I have accumulated some ropes over time.  Each of them with their strengths.  Overall, my favorite is still CrossRope.  The feedback of the 1/2 lb rope is my favorite.  Always leaves me with a good arm workout afterwards.

The beaded green and black rope is from Unconventional Gainz and the pink one is available locally from Jump Manila.

My plans

I will continue to jump with a minimum of 1000 jumps per session.  I aim to jump on a daily basis but given that my current space is limited inside my unit, I can continue to jump outside, once a week.  My go-to rope will still be CrossRope 1/2 lb rope, but I've got my eye on Jump Rope Coach Chris' beaded rope  🙊 I've got my heart set on the Cheshire rope design!  ..just waiting for quarantine to be lifted from Metro Manila so I can order! Hah!

While I still love to learn more tricks, I aim at getting comfortable with my footwork first.  I learn quite slow because I don't do it everyday, but I add more tricks as much as I can.

I have noticed more people trying to do jump rope since the quarantine.  Are you convinced yet? Get your own rope now.

Need some tips? Check out this video

Before it was accepted that mental health affects our physical body as well, it was always shunned upon that some illness are caused by poor, ill natured thoughts.

In the current millennia, it is now widely accepted that we are indeed physically connected to our consciousness in the form of our thoughts.  We are comprised of a subtle body energy and the physical body itself.

My experiences

Some years back, I used to work for a company as an IT manager.  It was quite stressful.  My habits were very poor in general and was always full of stress.  I am not quite the person who loves to travel too, so I tend to not go on leaves and would never be absent unless I really have to.

Needless to say, I reached a point where I would see my doctor at least once a week.  I was diagnosed with hyperthyroidism, hypertension, and high cholesterol (amongst others).  I discovered about my allergic asthma and, although I just got well from my stomach ulcer, it was pretty much a scratch off my very long health bucket list.

My eye opener was when I once came to my doctor, and after his series of questions and tests, he told me: “Ate, walang gamot sa sakit na hindi nag eexist ([miss], there’s no cure for illness that don’t exist”.  I didn’t know if I would be embarrassed, if I would laugh, or I’ll be shocked.  He didn't charge me for consultation that day, so I just went home feeling confused.

It was time for me to figure out what was hurting me.  I was hurting physically without any of the known illnesses, and that’s coming from my own doctor (of so many years).  I started looking for answers and ways to fix my problem.  Until, I learned that the nature of your thoughts can also affect you.  The ill thoughts, negative self talk manifests as stress in your body and into something that can be felt– and may even become an illness too.

What I did

I turned to more relaxing habits.  I tried what my doctor told me: try yoga.  I was already familiar with yoga back then, after some years of having tried it way back in 2009.  However, because I prioritized my work so much, I have forgotten how to unwind and take care of myself— both physically and mentally.

So, I went back to yoga.  It was in 2014, I moved to a condo setup a year prior, and found a local yoga teacher who came by within the condo premises to teach for a minimal fee.  I was a whopping 137lb girl of only 4’11”.  I had so many issues and was taking a lot of medications.  Every other yoga pose would hurt and would feel like torture.  However, it always left me feeling better than when I started, so I continued to attend his classes because it was near and convenient.  

I realised, all the negative self talk has diminished and I was feeling happier in my head.  I had new goals and I was always in a sunny mood.  Slowly, some of my illnesses disappeared, and I was left with (only) hypertension during late 2015.

Looking for more ways to “zone out”, I also found journaling/planning in 2015.  I started to keep a journal, write about my plans, do a brain dump, etc.  Slowly, I was able to declutter my mind.  I was feeling better physically and was feeling lighter and more stable mentally.

Fast forward to today

Well, today’s story is quite a different thing.  It’s a challenge to be able to survive the virus and, well, keep sane.

In 2017, I decided to follow a Buddhist path.  I became vegetarian in 2015 and from there on, I was moving towards a better direction.  Meditation has become a staple in my life and it has immensely helped me become a better person.

Late 2019, to early 2020, I was literally spaced out.  I am blanketed with grief over losing my 19yr old companion and my best friend.  I’m still not without grief as of this time, but when the world was panicking about this epidemic (was just and epidemic at that point), I was out of my norm.  And then Taal volcano erupted; that also shook me.  What’s happening is a chain of rude awakening for mankind.  

I kept meditating every morning and went live on IG every 6AM to help others discover meditation and be able to listen to my guided session and maybe find some peace of mind throughout the ongoing chaos of the world.  However, there were only a few who would stay and meditate.  Until, the epidemic became a pandemic, it became more difficult to sit quietly.

Honestly, I started listening to the news like it was food for my soul.  Until I realised, I didn’t have to know everything. It disrupted my peace of mind.  It gave me something to be angry about, to be sad about, to worry about.  I started getting angry a lot.  I lost my patience very easily and I was always stressed.  In the last 2 months of quarantine, I had to file 3 leaves that I never did in the years before.  

There was more work to be done, more news to read/listen to.  More cleaning to do, more washing to do, etc.  On top of it, as a newly graduated yoga teacher, I also felt compelled to share more of what I can offer, but I was getting attached to the outcome, not the value that it adds for myself and my students.  And my grief? It was sitting in the darkest corner of my mind, poking me invisibly from behind, asking for some attention.  I will go crazy with all of this.

Coming out of mental chaos

I’m writing now because, my mind is clear.  I woke up today and I “prayed”.  My Theravada prayers always brings me clarity, joy in my heart and I feel composed.  In the last few days, I couldn’t even define my personality amidst all the things that I needed to do/wanted to do.  I lost the “whys” and only the “hows” remained.

Let me share some of my realization and some of the things that helped me:

1) when it’s difficult to sit and meditate, find a task that takes your mind off of its thoughts.  something that “zones you out”.  Everyday, I’ll allot 1-2 hours for this activity.  For me, this is tinkering with planner stuff / painting / reading.  I do what I feel like doing for that day.  Some minutes off of the noise of too much thinking/worrying is worth it in the long run.

2) make a vision board / motivation corner. It’s easy to lose sight of why something matters, or why do you enjoy waking up everyday if it’s not tangible or if you’re not always reminded of it.  What I did was I rounded up quotes that strongly resonate with me.  I printed it out and put multiple copies of it in my planner.  So that when I see it, it can boost my morale and get myself back towards my goals.

3) understand yourself better by writing it down.  I actually bought a printable file that helps me achieve this.  It is a 4 page printable that is a 2-page morning & evening check-in to assess how you feel and identify reasons you feel that way, and (probably) figure out how to ease out/into something that is helpful for you to make that day count.  This also included a section of gratitude journaling. It may be difficult at the start, but once you start writing, you’ll find that you have more to say, and you’ll be forming a tangible plan you can actually follow.  Here’s the page if you’re curious to see: https://www.etsy.com/listing/729705618/printable-morning-and-evening-check-in

4) figure out the one thing that is MOST important for you—something (or even someone) that, as long as you have (it), you are ok.  This could be anything from a house, water (because it’s really very hot right now), food, your pet, good health, or even faith in whoever you believe in.  Hang onto this.  Make it your rock.  Imagine that the petals of a flower may fall, but the bud remains—and with that, you’re just ok.  

5) forgive yourself often.  Sometimes, hope is an essential part of humanity, but it can also bring us down when we get disappointed.  However, there’s no part of life where it can always be in our favor.  Disappointments are just what they are, they shouldn’t define your personality nor your success (in whatever aspect this applies to).

6) talk to someone.  Sometimes, what’s in your head is different than what would come out of your mouth.  Trying to explain what you’re thinking to someone could surprise you.  You may let out a burden, or just be a wonderful surprise towards understanding yourself.

7) hear the negative thoughts, but instead of wallowing in them, say "I hear you, but I won't listen to you". If you have your vision board or your motivational reasons (see #2), your resolve won't be weak.  If there's negative self talk happening like "I"m not good enough for this", etc.  Just hear it but don't heed it.

8) and lastly, something you probably would never expect: surrender.  Me trying to control the situation by identifying what needs to be done for work, home, food management, health, self care, etc. is not being kind and compassionate to myself.  Despite trying to stay on top of everything (while they seem effective), I still get drained.  Sometimes, it’s better to just surrender.  It is what it is.  And sometimes, it may be painful, and it’s ok.  Accept that this too shall pass; even the good things don’t last.

Trying to reinvent myself everyday

When at night, before I finally close my eyes, I whisper to my cat: “Today, your mama was again unstable.  I got angry, I was impatient and I cried again.  Don’t worry, I will try to be better tomorrow”.

When my cat was still with me physically, she hates loud noises.  I don’t yell, I don’t cry and I’m seldom angry or impatient.  I don’t like it when she gets scared because of me.  Since she passed away, I felt like I’m becoming quite the opposite and I am ashamed of this.  So, I just keep trying.  I know that much of my grief is also just lingering around and sometimes manifests as anger.

Most news affect me very easily now, so I am listening less and less of the news and just choosing to read from CNN Philippines or from gov’t websites for my updates to what’s happening.  I need to show myself some respect and do less of what hurts me.  Social media also upsets me sometimes.  That’s my my little motivational corner in my planner is my mantra.

Everyday, I tell myself, that it’s ok to start again and keep trying to make tomorrow better.  It is difficult and challenging for all; and it’s understandable.  But give permission to change and embrace change.

Be compassionate to yourself.  Do more of the things that make you happy.  It’s going to save you in the long run.

Let’s survive this pandemic together.  Stay in shape physically and mentally!

Normalcy is defined from a collective consciousness of a society.  Personal, individual routine contributes to the definition of “normal”, but ultimately, what is not shunned (not technically accepted), gets to move up to a category of “normal”.

For example, what’s normal for PersonA with a dog is to walk the dog every morning after coffee and then breakfast.  While, for PersonB with a cat, the cat eats first before coffee and breakfast.  That’s personal individual routine.  That’s generally accepted by the society because it’s your personal business.

In public, there are different normals.  It is normal for a person to say “excuse me” when passing in between, when sneezing, when coughing.  It is a shunned behavior to cough without covering your mouth.  While it might be normal for the person to do so in his/her own confines, it is not accepted in public.  

There are also oddities that occur, like staring at someone in public; and these are generally not accepted in certain cultures.  Now, we are adding the complexity of understanding normalcy in the context of culture.  In Western countries, it would be easily observed that it’s rude to stare.  In the Filipino culture, because a lot of people are doing it in public, it has been “promoted” or moved up to a category of “normal”.  Personally, however, I don’t want to do this because it is only proper to observe good manners and right conduct (within my confines, and) in public.

Furthermore, to illustrate the normal in terms of culture, a foreigner who may be riding a jeepney for the first time, might not know what to do with a fare handed to him without instructions; whereas, for a Filipino, it would just be normal to pass the fare to the jeepney driver.

Normalcy is also influenced by years of doing something over and over again.  When it is new, it doesn’t feel normal.  Before the age of trains, it was only buses.  Before there was online shopping, everyone goes to the market.  It takes time for people to adapt; and for some it may take even longer.

How did the “old” normal feel for you?

“Normal” isn’t quite that normal for me.  Back when everyone was still saying “I prefer to X this myself”, or that “working remotely doesn’t provide tenure at work”, I was already doing quite the opposite.  I searched for ways not to leave my house.

I work in the IT industry because it feels quite liberating to know that I am creating something wonderful that will help ease out the usual duties of a person.  Maybe, to some extent, double the reach of a person’s productivity in a day by providing tools that automate what they need to do, and make things work faster for them.  To be able to craft things that solve problem is my high.  

When the birth of smartphones happened late in the 90s, I was ecstatic.  Things would become easier and things can be done faster.  It is like a dream come true.  In the last decade, we’ve seen apps do great things for us, and mobile banking was one of them.  I enjoy the notion of “you don’t have to leave your house to get things done”.  It was a cause of celebration for the introvert that I am.

Of course, there’s the occasional need for me to touch things, and see things just to enjoy them.  Hence, I would usually go out once a week to satisfy my visual and tactile cravings.  The need to "experience” outside.  However, for me to actually describe it to another being, would sound so boring.  In a nutshell, this exploration for me would typically be:

1) just packing up a bag that has everything I need to “isolate” myself from the real world (read: my headset, and my laptop), my planner, my own set of mess kit. I always carry my own cup, utensils, etc.

2) traveling to my intended destination. this is usually where I can also double up leaving the house for an errand like getting my hair done, or go to a waxing salon.

3) sit at Starbucks (yes, Starbucks, because even though they aren’t 100% environment friendly, they have non dairy—still a deal breaker for me because I’m lactose intolerant) and work until my heart is satisfied

4) go home when I start missing my cat

After this, my heart is reset.  Exploration over.  I was out.  I was human, I was normal for a day.  

Oh, and shopping..

I am quite the nerd, as listing things is one of the greatest most satisfying activities for me.  Writing (and reading) has always been close to my heart.  I write anything and everything that I think is important.

Listing staples and where to get them is what I do best (I think).  I know exactly how to get the things I need, and at best bargain.  I make sure that I have recorded qty and time of ordering for certain staples.  I get multiple quantities every time I come across it (maybe during a different grocery run or a department store visit).  Hence, I never usually run out of the household staples.  Example? I buy at least 2 toothpastes every time I’m at the grocery.  Same with soap, same with deodorants.  If I’m surely not going to be at ease without certain things, I buy them in multiples.  At this time of writing, I will last up to the end of the month without buying another deodorant! Crazy huh? 🙈

For some retail therapy, I follow certain rules.  I don’t buy things that would take up a separate space than what is allotted for that kind of item.  Buying of multiple things that serve the same purpose is also a no-no for me.  I’ll wait until the current one expires before replacing it; or if I have a strong desire to replace it, give it away or sell it first.

I only ever buy things that are consumable or will eventually get used up and leave nothing.  Needless to say, I’ve stopped buying clothes for quite sometime now.  Bags and shoes too.

Overall, I like my way of living.  That old normal feels fine for me.  I get to visit my family when I feel like it: during events, certain Sundays, birthdays, etc.  I don’t get to see a lot of my friends because most are extroverts, and they’ve gotten used to not inviting me over; and also because some are introverts themselves.  They chat me over at IG or Facebook and that’s already interaction for me.  Case solved. Heart fulfilled.  Going back to my resting now.

The New Normal is..

..is quite a leap to change.

At first, I felt off.  Being already an introvert is a good advantage to me, but there were some things I couldn’t get from the comfort of my home—and sadly, those who had it either wouldn’t deliver or couldn’t deliver.  It was upsetting.

I realised a lot of things with this “new normal”.  First off, physical distancing has always been my game.  I avoid crowded places unless I really have to.  This is not new for me. However, there were still a lot of things I had to learn and unlearn.  Here’s my take on it:

1) If you don’t have a credit card, you’re doomed.  Unfortunately, it hurts to even know one of my sisters don’t have her own.  And, with most of the stores re-opening only for online payments, she is with very limited options right now.  However, as a lot of people still sell, hold on to your money.  Don’t buy out of boredom or retail therapy.  It is important to save your money at this time of pandemic.

2) If your bank is not in your city, you’ll be extremely uncomfortable right now.  This is my case.  My bank of account is at Ortigas, while I live in Mandaluyong.  The nearest ATM that takes my card is in Makati City.  However, I was a little bit smart and took a chunk of cash before all of this pandemic even broke loose.  So, I’m still good until end of May.

3) If you have a certain dietary restriction, you will also feel extremely uncomfortable right now.  I am lactose, wheat, soy, nut, celery intolerant.  I usually get my protein powder from pumpkin which isn’t available in the Philippines and most of the common grocery stocks aren’t healthy for me.  This is extremely difficult.  I tell you, I don’t like mentioning stores, but without Healthy Options, I’ll be dead right now.  And they deliver already, so hurray to that!

4) If you did not invest in home entertainment (could be books, puzzles, board games, paintings, coloring books, etc), not only for watching, you’ll be doomed with boredom.  

5) Before all this, you should have made your house a home.  Without the right comfortable furnitures, and everyday needs, you’re in for a nightmare.

6) Biking is really, really a must now.  I don’t know where I’ll be now if I didn’t learn how to ride a bike a few months back.

7) If you don’t have decent internet at home, you’re doomed.  Everything is moving online now and even the physical stores that turned their backs to online shopping is quickly embracing it.  It’s not just about entertainment now.

How I adapt to this “new” normal

I’ve been working from home since 2013, so a lot of my other routines didn’t have to change.  But there were some that needed some upgrades.  Here are some of the changes I had to make in order to survive:

1) Learn to DIY.  I googled a lot of things I needed to see if there were some that made it a certain way.  DIY for the things that you can’t get (because only essentials were being shipped), but still need.

2) Learn to find where to get the staples you need, and list it down.  They may have to come from different sources, and that’s ok.

3) Creating accounts on where you will get your items.  I hate having to do this unless absolutely necessary.  In fact, I no longer use Twitter and Facebook as my social media platform.  I keep things to a minimum.  But when you need it, get it.

4) Learn to settle.  If it won’t kill you, it’s probably fine.  I am intolerant to almonds and yet that was the only non dairy milk I can get.  I drink less of it, so that I don’t get too much allergic reaction.  Some couriers are also expensive.  I had to settle for such an expensive booking fee for some of the items I couldn’t find anywhere.

5) Learn to reach out.  It’s not just you who needs to be online.  It’s also the merchants.  There’s a higher probability they will reply to you since their market has also moved to the digital world.  If they don't reply, remove from your list, and move on to the next–they probably don't mean business.

6) Unplugging is still essential.  I find myself craving the holidays more than I did before.  I work for a US company and we follow the US holidays, but the recent labor day, I had to swap it for the US labor day later this year.  I get too exhausted from everything that I need to keep up with with the changes happening.

7) Plan your exercise.  I write down my planned exercises every week.  That way, I know I’ll get to move and have a balanced workout.  Once a week, I go to the park to jump for exercise.

8) Meditate more often.  Meditation is like a bank account for your sanity, for your mind.  A minute may be beneficial than having none at all.  Also, don’t think that sitting with your eyes closed in the only form of meditation you can do.  Anything that zones you out or puts your brain in default mode is meditation.  I sometimes paint when I don’t like to sit.  

Do you like the new normal?

Now, this is a subjective question.  I’m fine with the new normal as long as there is less stringency involved (particularly with how to settle payments, banking needs, and those dietary needs that are fatal).  Let me cross city borders! It’s a matter of life or death!

I prefer that people are more mindful of their public behavior, that they understand how their own movements affect others.  There’s more quiet than noise because cars are not the main consumers of the roads—and less pollution too.  There’s more space for bikers now, and I feel less scared to ride my bike when I have to go out.

If it were up to me, I’ll ask more banks to move their services online, and merchants to offer more modes of payments.  I have a currennt dilemma where the Property Management Office only accepts payments via Gcash and BDO, which I have neither of.  Being an adaptive person, I opened a Gcash account only to find out that my bank isn’t supported as cash in and wouldn’t even take my credit cards.  So, it’s not just individuals who need to adapt to change, also the institutions and large bodies of organizations doing business.

Government agencies are also inconsistent (and some are stupid, even).  Even with a memorandum circular that says they are mandated to accept payments without restriction on the jurisdiction of their offices,  they won’t accept my payment.  Accredited banks too turned me away (after cycling to them for 3km) just to say, they don’t process payments atm.  Needless to say, I submitted my forms, but couldn’t even pay (you should know what agency this is by now).  Also, there’s a limited amount capped for PayMaya transactions (yes, I did my homework) so I can’t pay outside of the designated accredited bank.  What’s the use of memorandum circulars if you can’t even use it to your advantage because they don’t know or that they don’t follow?

And yet again, corruption won’t go away.  Even with this pandemic, financial support from the government is hampered, obstructed by red tape, or worst, pocketed by your local government official.  Honestly, I just wished the National ID system kicked in way earlier; to date, it’s half baked, unaccepted and is just basically non existent at this point.

Sadly too, it just took a bite off my reality when I saw that the park was off limits now to anyone who wanted to get some sun or to exercise.  I try to understand that it might be more difficult to maintain the area with less personnels, but to think that they downplay the essence of the sun and exercise for our health is painful to think of.  How can we be so smart yet so dumb?

Also, I cannot find the stray animals anymore.  I’m unhappy that there’s a large number of them in the streets, but I also worry now that since I don’t see much of them, what has happened to them?  I still have some cat food left by my cat and I try to leave some for them at their usual spots, but lately, they just wouldn’t be there anymore.  I sometimes think that they went out to find food and found it, or that they have maybe died from starvation.  😔 This thought is really difficult to bear with.

With a lot of things that are unfavorable, something I really like though are the presence of rolling stores.  I’m grateful for this initiative which was quite popularized by Mayor Vico Sotto (I’m not his constituent though).  It was such a relief to see some fruits and vegetables offered close to where I live, and with friendly sellers too.  Just wishing sometimes that I could find everything I need with what these stores offer.

Cycling is now widely recognized as physical distancing means of transport.  Although this doesn’t solve everything (like getting a bulk of groceries, particularly for those with big families), the government is recognizing bikes as legitimate road consumers now.  Albeit, some stores, banks and merchants still not providing bike racks, cyclists are no longer second class citizens.

If I were to wish, I wish this new peace and quiet remains, people get to go back to their work, ride bikes, eat more vegetables and exercise.  And honestly, even quite contrary to what the government says, let’s have sufficient stocks of essential goods, because let’s face it: I went to Mercury Drug store and got only two of what I needed.  Everything was out of stock.

So, new normal? Yeah. Let’s kick the bad things away and keep the new learnings.  I think nature has already made us move towards what’s more mindful and beneficial not only for us humans, but also for the rest of nature.

We can keep adapting.

I’ve breezed through my years not knowing the importance of identifying my own personality type, or what’s more appropriately known as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.  I’ve taken a lot of quizzes and exams and surveys from HR departments and institutions who needed to know where to classify you and how to understand you; but it never occurred to me how important it is to know your own personality type.

When I was younger, my parents would find me weird that I make decisions based on logic.  That, when I argue, I would also have to number my thoughts and arrange them according to importance or degree of priority (at least in my perspective).  At the age of six, I would be sitting by my dad, counting the number of beer bottles he promised to limit himself to for that night.  I was pragmatic at almost everything I did and it was natural to me.

Growing older, I had two younger sisters.  When I had my own bed (and then eventually my own room), I would automatically know someone was in there just by standing at the door.  I know every spot, every corner, and every thing inside it and how I meticulously left it before I left the house.  

I was forced to choose pink as a favorite color, because, who would have brown as their favorite color? My mom would always shop for pinks whenever I needed anything.  And, because I was easily disturbed by the absence of pattern, I would choose pink every time to make it coincide with the rest of my other possessions.  In secret, I really loved brown and green.  Those were my real favorite.  I also love black.  Just plains.  I disliked florals because it was too “noisy” for me.  I would choose plaid for my handkerchiefs.

Books and writing was also something that feels close to home.  I loved the days I discovered Nancy Drew.  I love thinking, so the mysterious stories were really like how I would describe, hopping to an ice cream parlor on a perfectly sunny yet breezy day.

Movies were something I really love as well.  No movie could disturb me that much, hence I really love horror movies.  I sleep like a baby even after watching one in the dark.  It really invites my imagination so much and I love being a critic of each one I see.

But, socializing is not within my strengths.  However, I’m not shy.  I’ve been seen singing, dancing in public.  Doing stage performances, declamatory contests, giving a talk, etc.  I never understood, why, even with a set of people I like, I would still retreat early in the night just to either watch TV, or read a book; or why I would get excited being invited to a party, only to not show up later on.  

I only got curious a couple of months ago.  I took a personality test at 16personalities.com and opened my eyes to understanding more about myself.  Each page of the result felt like it was written after all the years of my life.  Everything was on point!  How could it be?!

COVID19 made me understand

On the outbreak of COVID19, most countries started implementing quarantine procedures, lockdowns to some extent.  It was no different here.  The first few days was scary.  We had to buy some food and I was worried about what to eat.  Here in Manila, being vegetarian is difficult because the vegetables have to be imported from the nearby provinces since we are in the city.

I opened myself up to the possibility of eating at least some seafood for days when I can’t get my vegetables.  We had a lot of canned seafood since my partner is pescatarian anyway.

Throughout the early days of quarantine, I was so exhausted because I had the urge to repeatedly clean the unit every time either of us would leave the unit.  I was washing more clothes everyday since we used to send our laundry to service.  Since they were closed, I had to wash a handful everyday until I finish them all.  I was also disinfecting the different areas of the unit at least twice a day.  On top of it all, there was no change in my routine.

I have been working from home since 2013.  Everyday, I would wake up, do my power routine, sweep the house and prep ingredients for breakfast before hitting my home office.  By noon, I’ll be cooking my first meal of the day (I’ve been doing intermittent fasting since late 2018).  In the late afternoon, I’m off from work and take a couple of minutes to watch the news.  Then another round of cooking, dinner then I get to unwind either by watching more TV, read books, paint, journal, etc.

However, I’ve been reading more about people who are going crazy being at home.  They’re extroverts.  They get recharged when they’re with more people and mingling.  I realize, being at home is not something natural for them.  While, I was so chill at home (I haven’t even left the unit for straight 3 days before the quarantine was announced), some of them are having trouble coping with staying inside their houses.

That’s when I figured, it was our time.  Introverts are now saving the world.. since forever!

Why Learn About Your Personality?

There are times, at least for me, during deep introspection, or times when I don’t really have anything urgent to do, or when I’m triggered by something, I get confused by my own thoughts.  Why do I think so much about things? Why do I even think about some things? And others, not at all?

When I got to read through articles about my personality, I had to lighten up a bit and not take myself (nor the world) too seriously.  Understanding what triggers me, I get to be smart about avoiding them.  I seldom get stuck at some thoughts and situations that presses my buttons.  It’s all about getting smart about living in your own skin, in your own head.

If you know who you are, you won’t get swayed when in a crowd.  No amount of peer pressure, or any form of coercion would affect you.  You will always feel comfortable how you want to be comfortable at situations.  Isn’t that empowering?

When you’re also aware, you can attract the right attitude, the right resources that will allow you to flourish.  You will succeed at areas that previously were unknown to you.  It’s not that you lose some form of free-will, but you will get to control what is best for you; and leave the small details to your whim.  Decision making would be less challenge, less time consuming, less confusing.

What Not To Do With It

So, I joined this local Facebook Group that I found.  They were also INFJs like myself (I'm an INFJ-A).  Of course the group was so small, but, one look at it, you’ll know that we all found the safe haven we were looking for.  Instantly, I felt like, these are the people who would understand because they’re also in my shoes.

However, what I strongly feel against (that some do in the group) is to rely on a matrix of personality compatibility.  i.e., INFJ with ENFP, etc.  I strongly believe that to some degree, the compatibility might play a role in the success of a relationship, but it doesn’t replace hard work of a couple to keep it going.

Also, when in a misdoing, your personality type is not an excuse.  Remember, your actions become predictable by learning your personality type, but it doesn’t merit you an excuse to do something wrong.  Being aware that something is wrong and still doing it is a decision, not an accident–so don't justify.

How Being An Introvert Is Helping Me

I don’t have a lot of people I trust.  Needless to say, people don’t necessarily find me “fun”.  I mostly keep to myself.  I’m very open, but I don’t expect a lot from others.  Learning about my personality has helped me to understand why some of the past events of my life took place.  

My cat, Nyey, was my only real true friend.  I loved coming home to her, every day that I even had to leave the house.  Because she has passed away, only after short 19yrs and 7mos together, I find it really twice as hard as a normal grief would be.  I’ve lost many people (to death) in my life, but none as difficult as I’m going through now.

Being an introvert, I have to deal with my emotions mostly on my own.  Seeing all the things she used at home, places she used to stay in—it becomes more challenging.  There’s emotion in each and everything at home.  However, being at home, I can also make new emotions, by doing things and experiencing new feelings to help me overcome the sad ones.

Maybe, one day, I will still get to finish the painting I started when she was still alive.  The one she loved to sit on.  When that’s done, I know I have finally replaced that sad emotion from that painting to a new one of joy and completion.

If you do take that personality test, let me know what you find out about yourself and how you plan to use it.  Wishing you the best!

Everyone is getting paranoid about COVID-19 virus (corona virus disease of 2019).  It's been mutating fast and its exact pattern of transmission is still unverified; on top of that, the incubation period is quite long too.

As per WHO:

People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales. These droplets land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth. People can also catch COVID-19 if they breathe in droplets from a person with COVID-19 who coughs out or exhales droplets. This is why it is important to stay more than 1 meter (3 feet) away from a person who is sick.

Since, it is possible to catch COVID-19 from someone who has, for example, just a mild cough and does not feel ill, it is imperative that you practice good hygiene and be vigilant when around other people.  

What we do

Here, I'm sharing with you some of the practices and rules we've established at our home to prevent a possible transmission.

• IMPORTANT: Keep all footwear taken outside in just one place.

This is important because this is the first thing that enters your house.  The virus will fall on the ground from an infected person's cough or sneeze.  We have no data on the length of time it stays there, but this is a step to mitigate spreading them inside your house floors.

• IMPORTANT: Provide a quick access to alcohol near the door.

Before touching anything at home, we quickly use alcohol to kill/minimize viruses, germs and bacteria on object we are about to touch.  We strategically placed this near the door so that it won't be easy to miss.  It's a practice we do before we even set down our belongings.

• IMPORTANT: Keep bags and clothes brought/worn outside in just one place.

Next up, after we have already sanitized our hands, we have a specific area at home where we put all the things that came from outside.  Immediately, taking off the top and pants and setting them on one side, ensures we don't carry around "possible carriers" at home.  Our utility room is still 2 rooms from the main door, hence, to minimize exposure, this is what we found is best for us.

• Keeping a plant(s) nearby.

Plants do take in carbon dioxide that we exhale and convert them into oxygen.  While it does not do any benefit of removing virus from the air, it helps provide fresh O2 for us to take in.  Imagine if you have asthma, this would be extremely beneficial; moreso if you're having difficulty breathing.

• Use a humidifier / diffuser to keep the air moist.

Do you notice yourself coughing more without reason when the air is dry?  This happens when it's too hot (summer) or too cold (winter).  Having a humidifier will add more moisture to the air you breathe in and help you to breathe a little easier.  A little bonus is if you have one that also doubles as a diffuser.  You can infuse the water with your oil of choice for relaxation or aromatherapy to alleviate other conditions (like anxiety).

• Disinfecting the floor 3x/week.

This is a no brainer.  If anyone missed practices #1, 2 and 3, you'll still be able to mitigate the spread by mopping the floor.  Why is the floor important? If you have kids, they'll probably move around more and play by the floor.  Their toys might be on the floor most of the time.  I for one, I do some animal moves and do yoga.  Sometimes, I just move spontaneously on the floor.  So, this one is really important for me.

• Killing viruses, bacteria and germs using UV light.

I got this one for quite some time now and I usually sanitize my phone, keyboard and other personal items on a regular basis.  Since the COVID outbreak, I've been doing sanitation on most high touch objects, especially at our sala area and kitchen area.  If we ever missed anything from previously mentioned practices, I'd still catch the virus at some fool-proof method.  You can get one from UV Care.  Although, I must warn you, most of their items are sold out due to a high demand (brought to you by Corona 😛)

• IMPORTANT: Take your vitamins and supplements

If by some twist of fate, you still get infected (maybe not from the virus getting to your home), your immunity will be your last defense.  Most people, especially here in the Philippines (as we're a 3rd world country), vitamins and supplements come as optional for the average household.  However, not for me.  I'm a health enthusiast since I was quite sickly when younger.  I learned to bank on my good health and learned a lot about nutrition.

Taking vitamins and supplements may be the easiest shortcut for people who want to start working on their health right now.  For long term, you may read on to my "optional habits" list below.

• IMPORTANT: Hand washing habit.

It's imperative that I put the word "habit" there.  On regular circumstances, you wash your hands before & after going to the bathroom / preparing food / eating.  Now, with the presence of the invisible corona virus, you might want to add hand washing whenever you came from a public place, or a communal area (like elevators, mailboxes, comfort rooms, etc).

An important habit to accompany this is also to avoid touching your face.  It's a challenge for most, especially to those who wear glasses / contact lenses.  I believe, nobody sane picks their noses in public, so we're good with that.  Practice makes perfect!

Other activities that help minimize stress and manage anxiety throughout these trying times are:

• Do yoga everyday; or any exercise for that matter.

Why you ask? Because our bodies crave movement.  When we are stagnant and do not work our bodies our muscles atrophy; memory gets blunt.  Exercise strengthens our immune system and the lack of it leads to chronic diseases.

Exercise doesn't have to be very long.  However, a minimum of 30 minutes of movement per day is advised.  This is why wearers of the Apple Watch requires 30 minutes in its ring per day as a goal.  Varying your exercises will also do good for the body and the brain.  Remember, we are intelligent beings and our body and mind adapts to routine, which is why we have some difficulties with experiencing plateaus (in weight, goal achievements, etc).

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One of the ways you can train your mind to be strong is to make the body strong. - This clip is my last set (5th round). Each exercise was done for 1 minute each, focusing on making each action as slow and controlled as possible. - Did you move today? - Music: 🎵 In It To Win by Judson Crane & Itsudemo by Asuka Ito - - - - - - - #motivation #workoutinspiration #fitness #fitnessgirl #strengthtraining #noexcuses #journal

A post shared by Maricris (@maricris_sn) on Mar 18, 2020 at 6:14am PDT

• Meditate to keep calm.

Meditation doesn't have to be complicated.  A minute at the top of every hour dedicated to just focusing your attention to how you breathe is considered meditation already.  Just by "pausing" the monkey mind with the millions of thoughts we have in a day helps to activate our parasympathetic nervous system.

Our bodies need to swing back and forth the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system.  However, our days are always busy and we are bombarded with a lot of stimuli every minute.  Taking a moment to pause will tell our nervous system that we aren't always needing the "fight or flight" mode.

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I was lucky enough to be invited to visit Ciudad Verdadero again after 7 years. I visited the meditation labyrinth and was so happy my meditation paid off. It was such an exhilarating experience to walk here and meditate amongst nature. A praying mantis stopped me on my tracks to say hello. I think he was eager to hitch a ride with me while I meditated 😂 He wasn't a bit scared. In fact, he kept following me around.

A post shared by Maricris (@maricris_sn) on Jun 1, 2019 at 6:53pm PDT

As a response to the quarantine mode we are currently in, I'm going to do Instagram live sessions of my meditations.  Join me if you can catch me, every 6AM PHT.

• Healthy habits: eat clean, drink water, observe sleep hours

Do you really need me to explain this? This is what your doctor would tell you when you come and visit to report / complain about stress related problems.  I've been there, really.  The funniest thing I heard was him telling me to resign from my job because my body was inventing illnesses that didn't come from a virus or bacteria!

When you keep the body healthy, all the functions of each bodily systems will work hand in hand and there would be ease of flow.  Your blood quality will improve, sleep will improve, mindset and perspective follows.  Remember, we are complex animals with awesome evolving intelligence.  Let's start treating our bodies with care.

Need some help with what to eat? Check out what I have in my stories: Meals 1, Meals 2

What now?

We're currently in quarantine.  The whole of Metro Manila is in a community quarantine.  It's a challenge for a vegetarian like me.  While I was able to get some of my staple greens (and froze them), I am worried that I might run out of food to eat at some point (since authorities say the quarantine is not yet guaranteed to be lifted by April 13).

I'm a full time remote worker for about 6 years now, so I'm still working.  It's life as usual for me, except for some added chores (doing more laundry as laundry shops are closed, more sanitation efforts).  But, watch here for some tips you can do while on quarantine: my tips on Instagram.

These are trying times, people.  Let's adapt to beat this.  Stay safe everyone! 💖

Did you learn to ride a bike when you were a kid?  Well, this article is not for you!

I grew up in the urban setting.  When I was younger, the roads were still wider.  Less cars, less people in the city.  However, none of my parents or relatives had a bike; hence no one bothered to teach me.

My mother knew how to ride a bike, but since she never owned one since she got married, she soon forgot how to ride one.  My uncle used to keep one, but it was already rusty and served only as a decor at our compound.  I remember I would use to look at it from above as it was hung just below the roof of their house—like a beautiful, untouchable ornament!

As I grew older, learning how to ride a bike seems a bleak goal.  An endeavor that might not get realised.  They say, it gets difficult to learn new things as you get older.  It’s like stretching the neurons of your brain becomes more difficult as we age.  Maybe it gets sticky??

This used to be a frustration.  In my mind: “I could never join a triathlon because, I can’t ride a bike”.  I learned how to swim by taking up swimming lessons last 2013.  I learned to do total immersion.  That made me think, now, only cycling is left to tick off that triathlon bucket list.

Where to learn?  How to learn?

We went to the province some couple of summers ago and my lola’s caretaker had a bike he used to ride when going for errands.  Mama immediately jumped in and tried to ride it.  She could, but only for a couple of seconds.  Of course I wanted to learn too!

My partner grew up in the southern part of Ilocos province.  He knows how to ride a bike, but he doesn’t know how he could teach me.  Well, we tried the common approach which is to support the seat of the rider until he/she is pedaling on her own, and then they let go.  Result?  I just kept crashing on the ground.  Good thing it was my lola’s backyard and I could crash all I want on the soft grass!  However, that didn’t teach me how to ride a bike.

I just shrugged.  Maybe cycling isn’t for me.  Or my neurons are just stubborn.

Learning Swimming

Wait, this post is about riding a bike, but I’m talking about swimming?  Well, not really. I wanted to talk about the different kinds of people and how they learn.

Some people are the doer kind.  To me, these are the people who just don’t need to read the manual and just do it for how they think it should be done and then discover how it's done one by one.

And then there’s some who are pragmatic, who approach learning the logical way.  I think I belong here.  My brain is wired as such that learning had to have a structure— or that if there’s none, there should be an efficient way to ladderize the learning.  This is how I learned how to swim.  I learned through Aqualogic Swim last 2013.

Some years ago, you couldn’t get me near a pool.  Moreso, not the sea.  Some of my friends tried to help me by teaching me how to swim.  I would always end up asking, “but how do I breathe?”  And they couldn’t really teach it.  The most I got from one friend was how to float!  Lifesaver isn’t?

So, now that I understand how I best learn anything (even though these are physical learnings), I had to learn cycling the same way!  But how..

Learning Cycling

My partner is a Gemini.  I’m a Capricorn.  My calculated movements and logical explanations for everything is no match for his: “I have an idea.  I’m doing it now”.

He suddenly went home with a 26.5” mountain bike.  Without discussing about it, nor did he even brushed on the topic before coming home with it.  Living with a Gemini, I have somehow learned to live with his impulsive behavior.  The only problem was, we live in a condo.  Having a bike inside the unit eats space!

He was so excited he again wanted to teach me.  It was National Heroes’ Day and we went out with this bike.  I jogged of course, going to the mini park where we stayed and he rode is bike.  He got it second hand from a colleague who wanted to de-stash one of his old bikes.  He didn’t have a doubt about it so he got it for just 10k.

The bike was too big for me (at that time).  At least all bikes seemed too big for me hah!  It was just too difficult to learn.  He tried and tried to push me around assuming he could let go anytime soon (as you’d see in the movies).  Of course, I didn’t learn!  He wasn’t the least frustrated, but I was.  To me, it’s like a goal that is unreachable, and my optimism to learn is just putting out the fire to learn all the more.

One day, he decided to join the Firefly Brigade ride (which I hate by the way, I’ll tell you why later).  Nearing that date, I decided, I wanted to learn how to ride the bike.  I googled for cycling lessons near me and found one.  I told myself, they can laugh all they want, but I’d pay up and still try to learn even at my old age.

My Saving Grace

I found National Bicycle Organization Lessons online.  Their website seems like it’s not fresh, but they had a Facebook page.  I stalked them, I researched.  I planned the day of my learning.  It was September 2019 and it had been raining a lot since June.  However, my planned day of learning was a good day (at least for me).

Their bike classes are for all ages and it was near me, at BGC.  I had an open mind, and a truck load full of optimism.  My partner left very early that day for their Firefly ride.  I went out soon after he left.  I arrived at the venue at 7am.

I was the lone student at that time.  I was asked some questions before we started and then I was given a bike without pedals!  All I was asked to do was to stride.  Stride left, stride right and attempt to balance.  They close off the entire block so the bikers had an entire street for learning. Since there's a little inclination of the road, the other half of the street made it an easy feat to learn balancing.  This I did for some couple of minutes until I was told I was ready for the next step.  I was switched to a bike with pedals! OMG

When I rode it, I told myself, this is it.  The positioning of the pedal (right if you’re right dominant and vice versa for left) was crucial, along with the kick-off.  After 3 tries, I was pedaling! I couldn’t be any happier.

Would you imagine?  It took me only an hour to learn! Where have they been all my life??

Fast Forward to Today

I bought my first bike, a folding 20” Brompton bike before I took that lesson.  I remember the frustration of not being able to balance.  Then I learned the pragmatic way and now, I got a new bike.

I bought a Joe P24 Folding Tern Bike and it’s exactly the same size as my partner’s first bike. Hah! This is my go to bike for urban cycling.  I love my folding for quick errands around the neighborhood and for riding at UP.  But my Tern is really awesome for manuevering traffic!

At first it was really scary to ride out in a bike amidst the jungle of Metro Manila traffic, but you should see me trying to steady my bike between merging taxis and SUVs.  You’d be surprised, I’m not that scaredy cat anymore who almost swore she would never ride a bike anymore!

Long ago, there was no Twitter.  Long ago, there were only blogs.  An extreme effort put up by individuals because they passionately care about sharing, about writing, and about sharing the good stuff.

Twitter and Facebook took that away from us.  Now, more people live easy lives of scrolling because all their "friends'" posts are there.  Long ago there were only RSS feeds.  E-x-t-r-a effort, yet a very mindful one.

Now, here's me.  Sharing a link with you.  Way past 140 characters.  Not as pretty as a Facebook post, but really packs powerful words and in so many ways, wonderful inspiration to get you and your life going before 8am.

Read on.  You're welcome.  

I'm embarking on a new goal and part of my mental preparation is reading more meditation books and more yoga practice.

The last couple of months was trying for me. And this May, I'm decided to take a social media hiatus. Although the accounts I follow inspire me for the most, and that I've gained new friends over the course of living my social media life through that platform, I opted to take rest. I feel like I needed to realign myself with my goals and focus on self awareness and care.

I found it difficult to survive these difficult times. I know it's ironic to believe nor rely on astrology to gauge luck or misfortune, but I think the pig is getting its win on this monkey.

There are numerous losses for me, and the year is not even half-way done. Every little thing seems to take insurmountable effort just to have it done and time seems to be slipping away from me everyday.

This May, I decided to be off of the only social media I have stayed with for long. Although it also inspires me in a way, having social media around prevents me from working on myself and towards my goals. I wanted to take time to recognize that I'm broken.

And there, as easy as it may seems, I have admitted to myself that I'm broken. I don't know how, I don't know why yet, but I'm prepared to look inside and have the right answers.

I knew I'm broken when every other time to sit seems to be a drag. Every other challenge now drains me. Days prior to May, I would end up crying because I have no more strength to carry a smile, nor to exchange a horrible experience with a learning. It was all too difficult.

At the end of the day, I was looking forward to a yoga practice, or to a good night's sleep.

Today, I'm writing this while waiting at a very long queue to see my amazing doctor. You see, I have been so healthy that I never had to see him at all, where, I used to be here 5x a week. The difficulty of the mind also manifests itself to the body. Did you know?

So, well, I got sick starting the last few days of April. With all of the struggles, I'm not surprised my immune system was compromised. Been here sitting for 2 hours now with an embarrassing sounding cough, but trying to make sure I endure.

I was reading A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield and at about 13% of the read, I was so excited because the author was talking about meditation and this topic has really made me fixated on what he had to say.

There was a section on how to sit, what sitting can offer us, etc. I get to the section of "Healing The Heart".

There was a story about a young man in his twenties where he had agreed to have his leg amputated to his hips because it would save him from the spread of bone cancer. At first he was broken and very depressed. He was introduced to arts so he started painting his emotions, how he saw himself. It took him a long while to heal slowly. When he started feeling better, he started seeing other patients who were also at the hospital.

He went to see a singer who was depressed because she had her breasts removed. She wouldn't even look at him, but he had put on some music and he removed his prosthetic leg and started jumping, dancing and snapping his fingers. When the lady singer saw him, she lit with hope and said: "boy, if you can dance; I can definitely sing!"

This moved me. I've long learned to make others happy when I'm sad because it takes my mind off romanticising my pain and take joy in giving joy instead.

But this isn't why I wanted to write. This is, for me, the real reason why I had to pause and focus on myself.

This single-legged young man had a chance to revisit his old drawings and there, he had a drawing of a broken vase, as himself. There was a long black line of a crack.

When he saw this, he said: "oh, but this image isn't finished yet. You see, the cracks is where the light comes out." And he draw yellow along the cracks.

Like him, I want to come out of this broken-ness and see the light behind the crack. I truly believe we all have that capability within us.

It's a little bit daunting if you look for solutions presented at the official DataTables site offering different solutions for sorting different kinds of data columns, especially for dates.

While the availability of different plugins are quite confusing to use, there's an HTML5 compliant way of adding "intelligence" on how to sort your dates.

Dates can also be read/stored/displayed as a Time object.  And since Time can be rendered to a unique Integer representation, you can use this as a means of understanding how to sort your date columns.

1. Study your data.

If you're working on a database that has quite old data stored in it, chances are, new data restrictions weren't in place before and you could end up with various unanticipated date formats.  In my case, some were even in words without recognisable patterns in some!

Here were some of the strings I encountered as, well, dates:

Oct '14
April 2014
3/12/14-3/12/15
Fall 2014
6/10/2014 or 6/11/2014

2.  Attempting to find a way to convert these to a Date Object

You may try to use any method or library or preferred way to convert these strings into Date objects.  In my case, we had the Chronic gem in our library, so that's what I'm going to use.

Oct '14 # inaccurate conversion
April 2014 # inaccurate conversion
3/12/14-3/12/15 # a single date should be picked
Fall 2014 # no conversion
6/10/2014 or 6/11/2014 # a single date should be picked

3.  Create a helper or library to handle different scenarios

4.  Add the helper to your actual table as such:

And it works! I hope this helps you fix your sorting without the need to reference external plugins or libraries.

Apparently, I've "stopped" writing.  

I have been focused on working on my physical, emotional and mental health as of late.  Having been working for an awesome company, I felt like I am no longer jeopardizing my sanity and I am able to focus on what's needed and what I felt was important in my life.

So, apparently, I've "stopped" writing.

Some time ago, I used to just spill my thoughts over on this blog.  I've hopped around so many blogs before, but never really stopping with writing, until maybe 4 years ago.  What happened to me?

So, apparently, I've "stopped" writing.

I always thought that Facebook and maybe, Tumbler were like the "evolved" version of blogs.  I hopped on it because everyone was on it.  It was easy to find a post with a good cover photo, seemingly resonating with your thoughts and reposting (or sharing) it was even easier--without even reading it!  It was easy to put a one-liner, just to make sure you "posted" something for the day and the rest of the world knows that you're still alive.  But still..

Then, I "stopped" writing.

To date, I still remember an incident way back in 2012, when one of my posts was cited to be a stressor to some group of people.  I didn't realise that my own thoughts, musings and self-reminders could be used for such purpose (read my disclaimer please).

Since then, I've "stopped" writing.

I stopped writing because I am thinking, that nobody ever reads my posts.  So what?

I stopped writing because I am thinking, what if someone will use my posts against me again? So what?

I stopped writing because I am thinking, some of my posts aren't even unique.  So what?

I stopped writing because I am thinking, maybe these ramblings won't be of any use to anyone? So what?

I stopped writing because I have forgotten how fun, sometimes therapeutic it can be.  I stopped writing because I have forgotten how it feels like to just share yourself with people who wanted to listen, and those who may actually benefit from what I can share.  I stopped writing because I listened, not to the positive voice that urges us all to be a tiny drop, a tiny speck who matters still to the universe.

My resolution? I will write. I will share. I will not heed negativity.  

Thank you for the new year, for bringing fresh hopes.  See you all in my future posts!

Image source: https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1200/1*6NX_qezeYeKPmbOcZOhz7w.jpeg

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A post shared by Maricris N (@maricris_sn) on Sep 20, 2018 at 7:57pm PDT

So this is me in early June vs September of 2018.  I didn't take any dieting pills, instead, I observed my body, made some new healthy habits and added more exercises.  Want to know more about how I did it? See my tips below:

A word of caution: Before you start trying any of these things that worked for me, make sure you don't have thyroid problems nor diabetes. These two conditions mess with your hormones and may have some impairment on the function of your organs.

Hypothyroidism is largely caused by inflammation. Even when your family has no history of this illness, you can develop it by bad eating for your body type. However, if you take hormonal treatment, most of my tips (except IF) will help you remove it in the long run.

Always consult with your GP first before trying out diet changes, etc.

Eliminate Intolerances

I have always been bloated all my life.  The only time I wouldn’t bloat was the few hours before I ate anything.  After that, it’s pretty much downhill.  I attributed my “fat belly” to being bloated and nothing more, that’s why maybe I made bad food choices most of the time.

So I tried the LOW FODMAP diet, which consists of avoiding foods that cause some chemical release in your body.  It was very difficult and I had very unsatisfactory results, so I had to stop and try something else.  I never stopped researching until I found a lady who mentioned she got some blood work done and found out her intolerances.  This way is expensive though, but I thought it was worth the shot because the dieting and food restriction wasn’t helping that much.

The test cost me about 9k with almost 200 food groups checked.  When the results came, I was aghast because the things that were causing me inflammation (intolerances) were almost everything that I loved to eat.  Figure it out! I had to cry my eyes out for a while.  I had to remove corn, pistachios, nuts, pretty much all the beans and even had to avoid egg!  The only saving grace was that I wasn’t intolerant to a bunch of vegetables so I wasn’t really worried about it. But corn! man that was tough! Even some pancake syrups have high fructose corn syrup! That was how tough it was! even the derivatives, I had to be cautious with.

Intolerances are like minor allergies.  People with allergic reaction don’t really have trouble removing the food that causes them harm because the resulting experience is more difficult for them.  For intolerances, they are difficult to spot.  Sometimes they come as headaches, blurred vision, fatigue, bloating and irritability.  They aren’t very obvious, but the invisible thing is, they are causing inflammation to your body which is releasing a bad chemical combination that is toxic within your blood stream.  It’s like killing you very very slowly each time you eat.

So I started with food elimination.  Because there was a lot to eliminate, I had to find ways to sustain “eating” by adding more foods that were good for me.  Here comes the next item.

Eat more of the foods that are good for your blood type.

So when I had to cut off corn, I had to find some other food to add in that was beneficial for me.  Seaweeds and mushrooms were good alternatives, not really a replacement though.  Just try to find foods that you also love (but don’t really get to eat often) so that when you give up the one favorite food that you’re intolerant to, it doesn’t hurt that much, plus you give more love to your body.

Here comes the research for “Eating right for your blood type”.  I bought a copy of that book for 3 different blood types.  First, I had lived some years thinking I was AB (because my mom said so—and I haven’t seen my blood work results myself).  So, I was eating wrong.  I went to have blood work done for blood typing and found I was O+.  Imagine the shock :D

I did another gathering of food that were good for my body.  One of my favorite nuts: macadamia was on the list.  I didn’t have problems switching pistachios for macadamias.  One problem solved! :). That went on for protein sources, fiber sources, etc.  Until I had a good list of items to always buy.

What helped me is to write down the foods on the AVOID list in red, the SOMETIMES list in yellow.  The rest, I can buy and eat freely! The AVOID list contained the items that I was intolerant to.  The SOMETIMES list contains foods not highly beneficial for me, but not intolerant to.

Eat whole foods.

When I started doing my own grocery, it was like freedom from the shadow of my mom’s usual grocery list.  I had to buy all the junk I couldn’t even buy.  Buy canned goods whenever I can because it saves time cooking! My cart would usually be full and so heavy with cans that I couldn’t even carry myself!  And it was a bad joke.  Sure, I was ready for a catastrophe, having the lot of canned items in my shelf to a point where it would almost break.. but I was also breaking my heart.. Literally!

Before I went vegetarian, I loved corned beef.  I had lots of different corned beef recipes, and they all taste good!  I also didn’t use a lot of spices, I just bought salt, fish sauce and soy sauce and those famous food seasonings.  Crazy enough, this gave me hypertension.

I made a pact with myself to not buy packaged food when I did my grocery. When I wanted fries, I chopped my own, sprinkled spices and bake in microwave and my cravings would be satisfied. Which leads to the next item..

Check your nutrition.

Before I had my blood pressure figured out, I just ate vegetarian dishes that I either cooked or bought from restaurants/stores. I had my mind fixed on the idea that cutting off meat was my main solution. I was wrong. While I'm journeying towards becoming vegan (currently vegetarian, part-time vegan), I'm not imposing that you follow my diet. I recommend studying how your body reacts to food.

I took on some recipes that were low sodium and picked up very good uses of spices to amplify and flavor your meals. I learned that salt wasn't the only thing I can add to make my meals palatable and enjoyable! I have learned to break away from sodium! This effected immediately with less bloat because the body needn't store more water to function.

Next up, I learned the intricate balance requirements for potassium, calcium and magnesium, and again: sodium.

Your body needs twice as much potassium as sodium to keep an important, energy-generating system in your cells functioning properly. It's called sodium-potassium pump. If you’re low on potassium, this pump produces products that can induce arteries to tighten up. 5 , 6 Excess dietary sodium also boosts blood pressure by trapping extra water in your blood. Your kidneys normally dump extra sodium into your urine for excretion, but potassium goes with it; if levels of this mineral are low, your body holds on to excess sodium in order to keep more potassium on board. And while potassium helps arteries stay flexible by activating the release of a relaxing compound called nitric oxide in artery walls, sodium has the opposite effect: It blocks nitric oxide and makes artery walls stiff.

Calcium helps blood vessels contract and expand; it also aids the transmission of signals in nerves and cells. These tasks are so important that if blood levels of calcium are low, your body will rob calcium from your bones to make sure they happen. When calcium intake is low, artery walls can tighten.

It helps potassium and calcium pass through cell walls to do their work. 21 This mineral also helps nitric oxide relax artery walls. 22 In 2013, Dutch researchers published two studies showing that low magnesium levels boost risk for heart attacks by 60 percent 23 and that high levels seem to lower risk for high blood pressure.

– excerpts from Lower your blood pressure naturally by Sarí Harrar and Dr. Suzanne Steinbaum

Not mentioned in the book was about protein intake.` There were protein sources there, but since I'm vegetarian, I have to find my own protein source. Since I'm intolerant to peas, I opted for pumpkin seeds powder. Did you know that 1/3 cup of pumpkin seeds is good enough to cover your daily protein requirement (for a female of my build, height and race)?!

While you can definitely take less of protein, remember that muscles make up a big part of our body, and even the heart is a big muscle in the middle of it all. Also, protein intake will help you burn more fat to remove your big belly!

At the end of my list of important nutrients is B complex. Being vegetarian, I have a lot of vegetables for sources. However, if I miss a good grocery day, I would most definitely need to take supplements because B deficiency could hamper your ability to do your workouts by having a general feeling of malaise. Which brings us to..

Exercise.

I know you knew this was coming! This is the part everyone hates! Who would like to swim in sweat on a hot day? Or catch your breath everytime you workout? Of course, none! But get this.. It gets better with time! You just need a plan!

Commit to workout plan for a minimum of 3 months. This way, you can be sure to get a well-rounded workout targeting different parts of the body. My recommendation is to start with a pre-training first. This will slowly get you used to working out more often than you do. In my case, I did Bodyboss workouts. I'm currently on my 8th week. I was really very consistent with the plan since pre-training up until the 4th week of the whole main workouts because I got injured in my wrist and knees. So, always be attentive to your alignment when exercising. Maintain good form over the required number of reps. That's important so you won't get injuries.

If you want to know exactly what I do, I did HIIT 3x a week, minimum 15 minutes of yoga everyday and jump rope every other day. HIIT is great if done in a fasted state too.

I do intermittent fasting so my exercise is usually in the earliest hours of the morning. This way, my body burns the fats I stored yesterday. Bonus is that HIIT continues burning fats up to an hour or so after you workout.

Jump rope is my main cardio. I used to run, but knee injuries prevent me from enjoying running long distances now. I opted for a low impact cardio burn of jumping ropes instead. I always go for minimum of 15 minute workouts.

Also, don't be lazy. Always try to move as often as possible. Stairs if it's just one or two floors up/down. Walk to wherever you need to go if it's feasible. This is still low intensity cardio. I usually walk 2-11 kms a week twice a week if schedule permits. All you'll need is your favorite supportive shoes and good headset for music.

Sleep & Water.

I was previously not a fan of water, as I'm a developer, caffeine is a staple fix, so water intake was very low for me. I started to count water intake using fixed sized glass, until I found Bellabeat's water bottle. That's what I use now. I even setup alarms for when I haven't drank in quite some time.

Believe it or not, while big gulps of water make you feel bloated, that's only temporary. When you're dehydrated, your body will anticipate that you're going through drought and retain more water. This is more popularly known as water weight. Avoid dehydration. This will complicate your nourishment requirements.

While I may be over disciplined in terms of food intake, sometimes I slack on sleeping. I love to sleep, but usually it's during skewed hours. If I don't get quality sleep in about 3 consecutive days, my waistline is a tad bigger than normal.

Bad sleep is equivalent to stress. The body releases cortisol which usually ends up in the belly area. Also, if we don't have good sleeping habits, the body releases more leptin.

Leptin is a hormone, made by fat cells, that decreases your appetite. Ghrelin is a hormone that increases appetite, and also plays a role in body weight.

-- https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/your-hunger-hormones

Aim for 6-8 hours of good sleep everyday. If at all possible, catch the sun in the morning so that you also don't suffer vitamin D deficiency.

Meditate.

I'm not asking everyone to get it the first time, or to sit without moving for an hour. The goal is to reduce stress! Reduce the brain clutter.

Let me ask you.. What's something that you do, that when you do it, you lose track of time? (With the specific exception of TV and gadgets--I know you'd say that!) This can be sweeping, washing dishes, reading a good book, gardening, playing with pets, etc. These activities lower brain activity and put your nervous system on relax. If you start with this, you will slowly appreciate time and being in the moment. This is what meditation actually means!

Find time. I read a book Attention Revolution, and recommended meditation for 24 minutes minimum. Why? It kinda represents 1 minute of every hour of the day! Isn't that awesome? Now take a hint from that.. If you don't have (read: feel like you don't have) a contiguous block of 24 minutes, meditate for a minute at the top of every hour, then you have finally done meditation. Easy peasy!

Intermittent fasting.

Now, a lot still say this is a fad, and studies are still very young to be really conclusive, however, there's no stopping you from seeing if it works for you.

The catch is, the body was designed to have a period of starvation. Imagine cro-magnons waking up to find food before they can even eat! That involves crafting their spears, running, crouching, sneaking to find prey. To me, that sounds a lot like my HIIT session in the morning before I hit my blender by noon! Or hurrying to cook my 12nn meal because I'm so hungry I could eat a horse! Just kidding!

The body needs about 8 hours minimum to continue digesting food that was last put in the body. Technically, that would be during sleeping, but sleeping also puts the body is slow state so you don't really get much digestion done when you sleep, plus sleeping with a full stomach would hurt your pancreas!

I don't do it strictly, but I adjust as the day demands. Say I go out and eat in the evening up to 9pm, I'll move my next day's first meal to 1pm.

Intermittent fasting: Eat between 12pm-8pm only

At the beginning, it's difficult. I suggest try drinking juice when you wake up. Soon, you'll adjust and you won't feel that hungry anymore.

Personally, IF helps me especially when I eat rice. By studying how my body behaves when eating different foods, I learned that I digest rice longer than any Asian. One cup of rice will automatically bloat me and it only goes away after 2 days!

Some people though might not benefit from IF.  Be careful if you're diabetic or have thyroid issues. This could whack your hormones further.

So these are my guides for good health that helped me to slim down. I'm not perfect though, with some days of bad sleep comes some bad eating. Sometimes too much eating out also affects me negatively, so I just pick myself up and start again when I've fallen out of my routine.  I hope you'll make good use of these information and good luck on your journey!

Send me a message/comment if you have questions!

I'm a late adopter of Netflix. When all the fuss about this started, I was still into watching movies at the cinema. My partner is a fan of buying DVDs but since I hate clutter, I would prefer buying movies from Google.

When I've switched to Apple, most of my gadgets lived within that ecosystem and I've learned to embrace it--honestly it's more of a love-hate relationship! I'd love the modularity of Apple, but it's also the cause for rise in expenses.

Anyhow, I tried Netflix and shared it with my family so I had multiple devices able to access the subscription. We're truly enjoying it, and I myself is a fan of Nightly Netflix binge watching.

I'm guilty of picking Korean TV series and sit down to finish as much as I can in one go!

Today, I wanted to write about how emotional it made me, while watching Mr. Sunshine. I love it because it excites you emotionally, having a love story in the old times of Korea, and a very intense and intricate story of how people can be connected and how varying idealism can get.

I'm watching the second to the last episode, and I'm left with a wondering thought. Why were the Japanese as they were? Coming from a Filipino root whose history included a Death March was also brought about by Japanese. I can't help but cry. Sometimes I think, the gun may be mightier than honor and dignity. What could a woman of noble ranking have done at that time?

It feels like I'm watching an old horror, but in truth, even in current times, no matter how honorable and dignified you conduct yourself at all times, oppressors do come. If you have never learned to survive without learning to fight, or even to embrace violence to some degree, you have only diminished yourself.

Even women should know how to fight.

I'm excited to see the last episode, but I shall save it for another time. I've already moved myself emotionally today.

I was once curious about this game. I installed it on several of my devices (both Android and iOS). During the first few times of gameplay, I really liked the simplicity of it and the rewards were easy to reap.

However, over time, the Ninja responds to getting pushed, pulled and even thrown away. Although the Ninja looked cute and un-hurt everytime, I didn't like the idea of seeing/laughing at somebody falling or stumbling or getting stuck.

But that's me..

To my horror, my nephew comes over for a vacation and I see him playing with this on his gadget. I would hear him laughing alone and when I look, he's playing with the Clumsy Ninja and would even show me that when he hits him, the Ninja would do something funny.

Feels fine? No. Here's when you see how it impacted him..

We were watching a movie one night. It was a real action movie (because mornings are for Nick Jr cartoons only). I briefly caught some time on my phone and I was suddenly surprised to hear him laughing so I looked. There was a guy getting beaten up by some gang and he was pushed over several times, kept falling and was getting hurt..

I was so shocked to see his reaction was to laugh! I called his attention at once and asked what seems to be funny there. He said because he kept falling repeatedly and was getting punched in the face! :o Where did empathy go??

So, here, I'm calling out to the developers of the game NaturalMotionGames Ltd. My long shot is to ask you to take it down. Short term request: maybe don't act upon throwing the Ninja around. It looks funny but it develops a whole different level of attitude on kids. And here you have it marked at good for 3+ ages on Google Play.

Please.. rethink how the game responds to different actions. Do you want to have kids grow up to teenagers who would laugh when someone gets mugged or bullied in the streets??

Image source: https://forum.dontpayfull.com/attachments/descargar-clumsy-ninja-para-android-jpg.2445/

I love taking photos. Not that I make any earnings from them (save for the $2 I earned once), but I don't usually plan on taking photos for income. I just love to keep good memorabilia of events and places.

However, this is not the real reason I got one. See, I do yoga, but doing yoga at home means finding a good spot where you can take photos and film your practice for adjustments and well, for joining challenges too. I used to do my practice at the sala, but sometimes the time I have for practice may not be a good time for others are using the sala too.

I had to move to my small guest room which I use mostly for laundry and stacking curtains, bedsheets and bags. However, since the room is pretty small, getting a good angle for a whole body frame is a challenge! Sometimes my photos and videos don't show everything and it's frustrating to keep re-taking the shot at different angles.

I went for a hunt for good but cheap wide lenses. Of course, I found my ideal lens was Moment Lens, but it's not locally available and yes, quite expensive for just one lens. The Moment wide lens wouldn't show any vignetting because the lens is actually shaped to be fitted on a specific phone case. Although the quality looks good, I found that a little bit frustrating. I love my current phone case, and honestly, I don't really need a lot of different cases. I hate duplication.

So, here I found Black Eye lens from a local Apple reseller store. I quickly went to check. Black Eye has other lenses like Cinema Wide (which is the one I really wanted, but this is not available locally), Fish Eye and a Telephoto lens. I opted for the wide since I don't like the distortion of Fish Eye lens, and I didn't feel like I needed the Tele lens.

I took my lens out for a spin yesterday while I was at the Mall of Asia. You will see that some photos have vignetting effect--that's because of the placement of the clip on the lens. I noticed that placing the lens on the front camera yields less vignetting. I think it's the bezel of the back camera that's getting in the way of a good angle of the clip that's producing the vignette effect.

Anyhow, the photo will look great if you stay away from vertical lines and/or horizontal lines. If they are closer to you, the more they will appear like a fish-eye lens shot, since both the wide lens and fish eye lens have over 100 degrees of coverage.

Here are the photos I took:

Landscape, rear camera, with vignetting

Landscape, rear camera, no vignetting

Landscape, rear camera, no vignetting, has curvy lines (lower right)

Landscape, rear camera, like fisheye, has curvy lines

Landscape, rear camera, has curvy lines

Portrait, front camera, curvy lines not very obvious

To sum up, I think this is a good lens for those beginning photography or just iphone photography. You'll need to practice clipping on the lens to find the right angle without vignetting if this bothers you. For me, I'll stick with this for now. I'm still happy with it.