Friday, July 25, 2025

CHECK YOUR NUTRITION

Because July is nutrition month, so here is my diet plan that I follow for many years now. First disclaimer, I am not in medical field and not a health guru to claim my practice is correct and this is not unsolicited advice but it's rather a share of a matter how I do my diet that works for me. Second disclaimer, I don't have excellent health because I have medical maintenance for hypertension which for whatever reason I do not know how come, despite I'm always having generally good results of complete blood check tests.


Let say we have 30 days in a month, on average of 20 days of which are my no rice day. This is how I dispell the claim "rice is life". 20 could be the average because there are weekends that I do not eat rice at all and there are few days during weekdays I eat congee, or the starchy potatoes, corns, or pasta. I don't like to totally cut carbohydrates because this is the source of energy but I have to really limit seriously this culprit of diabetes. Although lately I am into Filipino "silog" dish once a week because it serves my source of fish nutrients.


Bitter melon and leaves, bottle gourd, monggo, bok choy, eggplant, cabbage, water spinach are my main menu in a week. When there is excess in budget, I get other leafy vegs such as broccoli, lettuce, celery, parsley, and kale. Can you imagine how I managed to get used to alternately eat them in breakfast and lunch in weekdays, using chicken breast to taste? Dinner could be same or alternate is brown bread or an available fruit. I do have sardines once a week. Almost all-times I don't have soda drinks, no processed foods, no junk foods, and no sugary snacks. And same goes with red meat like beef, pork, and their internal organ.


By the way, I do not have books and not using measurements when I do my diet. Let just put it in this way - this is my guiding dogma: keep away from sweet, salty, and fatty. That is it, just be in the look to know what foods are these. Keeping my eating habit in this way, I do not feel afraid when I eat out with friends for lunch or dinner. The guilty feeling I am still struggling to control is more black coffee and sometimes some sweet when I cannot say no to friends. And one thing more when dining in, having sweets, salty, and fatty: know the boundary. I have to know the line when it is the genuine occasionally and when it is too much. When I said I have a full meat dish once, this is not once a week but the least could be once a month.


This is how I do my diet. And then these efforts should be done simultaneously with workout. Workout doesn't mean going to gym to gain muscles or playing sports in courts or fields. Workout can be simple run, jog, or walk; as long 

as the calories are burnt. My way of burning is walking and I do not have to exaggerate it by walking hours. A consistent at least 30 minutes of minimum 4 days in a week is my goal.


Your source of nutrition is in right quantity and quality because you are what you eat and it pays off. For decades now, I have maintained my ideal weight, I do not easily get sick, I don't have underlying medical or health condition or chronic disease. And not to mentionel gout, arthritis, rheumatism up to this age, and sometimes I forgot my age when lifting heavy objects and walk the miles.


All these things and my writing, and my job give me the life-balance I am usually doing in long years now. Taking care our health to be in good condition is not just a matter of avoiding illness but also taking less worries and burdens to your loveones, enjoying the life without complaining body aches, and empowering your financial capacity because really health is wealth.