BALOT AMECHACHURA DEL ROSARIO

AROMATHERAPIST |  COACH | TEACHER

Five Goals to a Healthier Life

People who are close to me know that I was probably one of the unhealthiest person in the world. No need to enumerate my vices (it’s all in the past now, haha) but even worse than that, my diet is awful. I love everything that is pork – liempo, pork chop, name it! I am almost 90% carnivorous and rarely do I eat my greens.

That all changed when I had APAS. My doctor required me to do a 180-degree transformation on my lifestyle. Of course, I had to comply. I have not touched any hard drinks for almost 13 months now – I thrived with a glass of wine once or twice last year. Husband introduced more chicken and fish and veggies to our meal.

But I feel that it is still not enough.

Late last year, I was able to land a work-at-home stint dealing with the health industry. These are naturopaths, health coaches, nutritionists, etc. The longer I pored on the subjects they tackle, the stronger I want to commit to a healthier lifestyle. I envy their commitment. I want the fire that they say they get from eating healthy greens and doing activities that contribute to a more focused mind and spirit.

The more I think about it, the more I realize why the Universe brought me this job. Yes, it gives me enough cash flow for my needs (read: books) but the bigger benefit is its effect on me. It is hypocritical not to walk your talk. When you read about healthy stuff week in and week out, it is hard not to heed the call.

As they say, first step is acknowledgment and it is always the hardest. And today, I acknowledge my need to be healthier. They also say that anything not written is known to be a wish and not a goal; so, for my Friday’s Five, here are my five resolutions for the quarter, recorded and announced:

1. Eat more fruits and vegetables. Okay. The key word here is “more”. I am already eating my greens but as I said, I feel that it is still not enough. In my two months of working with our health clients, I have always come across talks about Superfood and Green Smoothies – how they are good for your body, helps with detox and so on. The whole is idea is simple – to blend your veggies and fruits and other Superfoods so that you don’t need to eat them; you just gulp them.

So green smoothies, it is! I had a hard time looking for the healthy ingredients locally. I know that Healthy Options would probably have them but I am lazy to go out and grab what I need from the shelves. I was looking for a more convenient option (read: online shop) and to my surprise, online resources on healthy shops in the PH are limited. These were the ones I found:

  1. Sugar Leaf PH – website is not updated and I could not find the products I was looking for
  2. The Healthy Grocery – carried most of the products I was looking for; easy to order
  3. The Green Grocer Manila – while they have most of what I was looking for, you can’t fulfill an order immediately through online purchase as you need to download their Grocer’s List and you will receive and email confirmation of your order
  4. The Superfood Grocer – I loved this website. It has tons of information and the ordering process is fast and very simple.
No need to say, I ordered my first set of Superfood from The Superfood Grocer and I am waiting for my delivery (2-3 days for Metro Manila). Exciting!
2. Enroll in a formal yoga class. 
I have been delaying this last Christmas because of the horrible traffic, I was doing my pseudo-yoga via instructional videos in Youtube but this month, I am planning to get the New-To-Yoga package from Urban Ashram Manila. According to their website, it is “a new to yoga pass gives you access to unlimited classes over two weeks, offering unbeatable savings that can help you create and shape your yoga practice.”

3. Sleep earlier. 

This is such a struggle. My acupuncturist told me to sleep at 10 PM every night to restore the body’s balance and increase fertility. She said that the body needs to be at REM stage from 11 PM – 3 AM. I promise to try! One effort I did was to buy bedside lamps that were warm to soften the mood and prevent bright lights that could disrupt sleepiness.

4. Drink three liters of water a day. Did I share with you that before I turned 30, I was a cactus. I never liked water. But since I stopped working last October, I have made it a conscious effort to drink more water. So far, I can already consume 1.5-2 liters of water everyday. I plan to up the ante.
5. Do something to calm my mind every day. 
I am becoming busier with my stints but I have to stick with my word for 2015: Tranquilo or Take it easy. So what to do? Read a book (I have subscribed to Goodreads Reading Challenge and committed to read a book every week). Meditate with my Omvana app. Take a nap. Walk Sachi. Anything. Everything.
So there you go? Do you have any health resolutions for 2015? If you have, please feel free to share! If you have other tips to share with me as well, do hit me up. Thanks, loves!

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