Category: Featured

  • Fig and Pea Protein Bars

    Fig and Pea Protein Bars

    I started doing Crossfit about 2 months ago, and with the new health regime, my nutritional needs have changed to include a lot more protein for muscle recovery. I have used 100% organic ingredients, but you can just get what you can get your hands on within your budget.

    • 1 1/4 cup of rolled oats
    • 1 cup of loosely packed organic pea protein powder
    • 1 cup of tightly packed organic dried figs
    • 3 tbsp of water
    • Zest of 1 lemon
  • 15 Ways to Avoid Getting an Infection at the Gym

    15 Ways to Avoid Getting an Infection at the Gym

    If you’re a germophobe, chances are, you know exactly what to do with those antibacterial wipedowns. For the rest of us normal, unsuspecting people who are well-meaning but largely unaware, the gym is one of those places where you can pick up all kinds of nasty diseases.

    According to the New York Times article written by Jane Brody, you could be unlucky and pick up MRSA, a staph infection that can be fatal. She also writes that the more common nasties you could pick up are athlete’s foot, jock itch, boils, impetigo, herpes simplex and ringworm. You can see pictures of the things you could pick up here. Here are some of the tips from the same article, and also some of my own.


    1. Always Wipe Down the Equipment Before Use

      A decent gym usually provides disposable antibacterial wipes, gels, and/or paper towels. If not, bring your own.
    2. Use Your Own Mat

      It is definitely easier to use the exercise mats at the gym, but imagine all the bacteria, fungus, and viruses that were transferred by the many people who have been using them living on there. Assuming your skin is exposed to a little patch that the cleaners missed, you would have picked up something. It’s just safer to use your own mat.

    3. Shower at the Gym After Your Workout

      This may itself be counter-intuitive, but showering at the gym after your workouts means that you give less time for the germs to populate and stay on the skin. Just remember to wear your own slippers, because you could also pick things up like athlete’s foot from the floor and other people’s slippers.
    4. Use Antibacterial Liquid Soap

      While I don’t recommend using lab gloves to avoid picking something up, you’d want to use germ-killing soap after exposure. It’s more hygienic to use liquid soap, than bar soap. Always wash your skin after it has come into contact with equipment or furniture that have high use.
    5. Use Separate Bags for Clean and Dirty Clothing

      The best way not to spread the infection around after your clothes have been exposed, is to bag it separately, and wash it separately (if possible). If not, just add a disinfectant into your laundry load.
    6. Don’t Share Towels and Clothes

      It’s very easy to share a t-shirt, or a towel when you’ve forgotten yours, but fight that urge. Not only would you be picking up your friend’s germs, you could also be passing something to your friend with the germs that you don’t know are already living on you. It’s just the responsible thing to do to bring, use, and wear your own.
    7. Wear Clothes That Cover Your Skin

      This is especially true for ladies. Most of us like to expose your skin with skimpy tight gym clothing because it just looks sexy, but if you wear capris instead of shorts, you’re creating a barrier for your legs from picking up things when you sit on benches and the floor. Same goes for your back when you are lying on mats. If your skin is exposed, assume contact exposure.
    8. Don’t Share Water Bottles

      No brainer here. Fairly easy to catch a cold or cold sores from someone’s water bottle.
    9. Don’t Share Personal Grooming Items

      Yes your nails are long, but you could pick up a fungal infection from a nail clipper. You could also pick up things from a hairbrush. Lice and fungus anyone?

    10. Change Your Socks and Underwear Daily

      It’s not okay to sweat in your socks, dry it, then reuse it again. In the same token, it’s not okay to flip your undies to wear it the next day. That’s totally fungally gross. Keep your feet clean and dry by changing your socks daily or after every workout. Women, use panty liners.

    11. Wash Yourself Well

      Pay attention to your armpits, groin area, and also between the crevices of your feet when you wash. Use antimicrobial soap, towel-dry and and you may want to use powder to keep those areas dry.
    12. Take Care of Existing Infections, Even if it’s Small

      Sometimes you may get fungal spots that are localized and small. If you do, take care of it immediately by applying anti-fungal medication like clotrimazole or miconazole. Don’t scratch or touch it as you don’t want it to spread to other parts of your body. Let the cream do it’s job. (P.S.: Talk to your doctor)

    13. Disinfect Your Laundry and Use a Dryer

      For those of us who live in very humid climates, it is very important to have a dryer because line-drying clothes can breed fungus and mold. Using a dryer helps prevent that. Just make sure that you put the dryer on air-dry setting when you are drying your synthetic, sweat-wicking fibers as to not damage your expensive workout gear.
    14. Use Antibacterial Workout Gear

      This is taking it up a notch, but current fabric technology from higher-end workout gear like Lululemon Athletica and Athleta carry silver-spun antibacterial workout gear. Sure, the technology is mainly used to combat stink, but if it kills or prevents germs from populating, then naturally, your exposure to live germs would be a lot less under those clothes.
    15. Wash Your Hands or Use Antibacterial Gel

      Finally, just remember to wash your hands after touching public surfaces. This is so that you don’t transfer it onto other parts of your body when you touch or scratch yourself. Eyes, nose, face, arm, mouth, head… those are very common places you’ll touch on a daily basis.

    Stay clean everyone!

  • Water Bottle Dumbbells from Japan

    waterbottleweights
    I love dumbbells, but I have one problem. I am on the move and can only work out anywhere when I can steal some time, and weights are simple not very portable or practical to lug around for the whole day.

    That is, until I saw these water bottle dumbbells from Daiso. They’re genius. At only RM5 each, I can now make them into 1kg light weights with water inside, and also drink it after I’m done working out.

    Or I could use sand at the beach to make the weights a bit heavier (about 1.6-2kg). Then when I’m done, I could just pour the sand back on the beach and leave with those genius light plastic bottles. How awesome is that?

  • The Lifebod Method for Achieving Wellness

    [wide]lifebodplan[/wide]

    Health, wellness and fitness really isn’t only about the body. If it were, then all we need to do is stop eating stuff that’s bad for us and just exercise, right?

    In order to be healthy and happy, you have to take care of your total self…

    Mind, body and soul.

    To help you understand the concept a bit better, I hereby present to you, the Lifebod Method.

    mindbodysoul

    I’ve also expanded the methodology to show you what I mean by detoxing and nourishing your mind, body and soul.

    wellnesscycle

    Mind


    DETOX: Throw Away Negative Thoughts
    The first thing you must do, is stop all the thoughts that don’t serve you, and throw them away. Thoughts like “I’ll never be able to lose weight” or “I’m not good enough” or “He/she left me because I wasn’t good enough for him/her” needs to go, BIG TIME.

    Suck it up girl friend, pick yourself up boy friend. You can’t hold on to the past and waste your future. I don’t need to quote an expert for you to get this concept. It’s a no-brainer here, bad thoughts about yourself is not going to make you happy and you need to stop the negative brain-commentary and get serious about dumping your-sad-self so you can date your-awesome-self.

    NOURISH: Feed Your Mind with Positive Thoughts
    After you throw all the stinking thoughts about yourself away, you then replace them with kind thoughts like, “I may not be there yet, but I’m on my way.” Loving statements like, “I am great at (insert activity),” or “As long as I get up, it’s not over” is what you need to feed your mind with.

    Think of your mind like a garden. Pull out the weeds, trim the bushes, and highlight only the blooms and healthiest plants. You’ll realize that if you spend time pruning, fertilizing, and watering the garden it will start to look more beautiful.

    Exposing yourself to positive thinking quotes help, and only, and I mean ONLY meditate on positive messages and watch things that serve to build you up and not tear you down. Feeding your mind with all things good is key to healing the mind.

    Body


    DETOX: Detoxify Your Body
    If you weren’t born yesterday and have drank water that flowed through leaded pipes, inhaled carbon monoxide, secondhand smoke and ingested anything from artificial sweeteners, flavorings, to preservatives, your body is polluted. You actually need to detox. There are toxins, heavy metals, parasites, bacteria and viruses that lurk around in your body and that needs to go before you can truly heal yourself physically (at least from the perspective of naturopathy).

    There are many types of detoxes out there, but the most popular ones target the liver, colon, and gallbladder. Some are better than others. Just make sure you chose a safe and proven program where you can get support and be monitored as you do it. Also, be sure to talk to your doctor before doing anything, as some programs may not be suitable for you. I’ll share the one I use in the coming weeks.

    NOURISH: Feed Your Body Nutrients
    Usually, a good detox program also makes sure you get enough nutrients to heal your body during and after the detox. Just make sure you add plenty of nutrients to replace some of the loss of minerals and electrolytes caused by the detox. I’d say don’t do the detox and nourishment separately, but really look into a program that targets them both passionately at the same time. The idea is, feed yourself lots of raw juices, organic fruits and vegetables that are high in all kinds of vitamins, minerals and nutrients.

    Soul


    DETOX: Bind and Release Strongholds
    This one is a slippery slope and I’ll try not to sound too much like Deepak Chopra. Some people may not believe in a soul, or that there is a God. If you fall in this category and believe you can be truly healthy and happy without the soul element, then by all means you can skip this part.

    For all of us who do believe there is a spiritual element to our being, and that good and evil happens in this realm, you need to detox your soul too. Things like ancestral curses, charms from black magicians, spiritual blindness, and strongholds that imprison you in any way, need to be broken, bound and released to the care of the Supreme Intelligence (aka God). You do this by meditating on sacred verses and prayer, lots and lots of prayer to cleanse your soul.

    NOURISH: Feed Your Soul with Peace, Love and Harmony
    Remove the spiritual thrash, and nourish your soul with spiritual peace, love and harmony. I don’t want to confuse spirituality with religion, because some people can have one without the other, but as a theist, these two often converge for me.

    As a Christian, meditating on the word of God and praying does center my spirit. I also draw from some of the wisdom from other faiths (like detachment, mindfulness, meditation techniques) is something I find very nourishing. Soul nourishment preferences differ from one person to the next, and some people do it within the context of religion while others don’t. Whatever works to feed your soul into vibrant health is what you want to be doing.

    There you have it, the Lifebod mind, body and soul model of care.

    In the coming days, I will share with you what I’m doing to get a healthier, happier me. Meanwhile, do let me know how you like this and if you have any suggestions on how I can improve on this model, do share it with me.

    Blessings to you,
    Jackie