Funniest joke of the year

Nine months ago, relatives, friends and strangers alike had come up to me and asked if I was pregnant. Yes, when several people ask you the same question, it’s time to take note. My fat-filled abdomen had become big enough to be noticed. Unfortunately, I had inherited such a body frame from my mother’s side of the family. My maternal grandpa had it, my late mum had it, an aunt, an uncle and two brothers, including the fittest, have the pouch.

Now after nine months, just the past Thursday while queuing up at our office cafeteria, a colleague I hardly knew asked me, “You delivered already, ah?”

I was stunned but decided to tell her that I’ve lost more than 7kg of fat and she remarked, “Oh, you did very well after birth.” At this point, I was not sure whether it was the café operators who were more stunned or me. The aunties at the café had a few weeks ago said I looked good these days and asked what I had done to lose weight.

I didn’t realise the drastic change until many people had come up and asked me. I haven’t expected such overwhelming response.

The next time anyone asked that, I think I should say that I had delivered more than 7kg of fat. I am now at seven-and-a-half month on the Herbalife nutritional shake. I thought I could not lose anymore weight after losing 5kg at the third month. All I did was just change my breakfast by taking low-calorie, healthy and delicious shake.

Now, relatives, friends and some acquaintances are on it to lose weight. I am glad to play a part in reducing their health risks and contribute to one less or delayed diabetic victim, busted kidneys, blindness, clogged arteries and hypertensive person.

Please email healthpossibilities@gmail.com if you have any questions. Sorry, I have not allowed comments because I don't have the time to monitor this blog constantly.

Enjoying durian again

More than a week ago, John and I ate five whole durians within a week. That was a record for us, although it might not be much for others. I had not eaten so many durians for many years and in recent years, it was usually just two or three seeds at any one time. That was because each time I ate, my body temperature would rise quickly and my hands would hurt from arthritic flare-ups. It was literally having fever in the hands.

The pain and suffering did not deter me from eating, hence, the very limited amount. Fortunately, I did not miss it too much although I enjoy the fruit tremendously. The only time I had eaten the fruit a bit more was when we managed to get hold of jungle durians from an orang asli who sold the durians by the roadside when we travelled to Cameron Highlands the year before. That was the only time I did not seem to suffer from any symptoms or pain in my hands. It made me wonder if the pain had to do with the amount of pesticide residue in durians since hybrid ones would definitely contain more of it.

Anyway, I had five durians with John this time, and the rise in temperature in my hands was so insignificant that if I had not observed it, I wouldn’t have realised it. I had quickly down the Herbalife tea mix each time I had durians and it helped a great deal in busting heatiness and inflammation in my hands. Oh, it was glorious to be able to enjoy durians without hurting. I would not normally eat this way. It was a sudden urge to eat durians. I sometimes give in to the sudden desire to eat certain food because I believe that there are times the body needs certain nutrients. After all, I seldom have a lot of uncontrollable cravings for oily and sweet food anymore since taking Herbalife. So, if it happens on rare occasions, there is always room for a little indulgence.

There will be no excuse if there are cravings every other day or week. If that is the case, it can be a sign that the body lacks nutrients, as in my case, because since getting enough nutrients from Herbalife supplements (from natural food alone is not enough), I hardly suffer from much cravings for oily and sweet food.

If people still have cravings and uncontrollable appetite to eat more than they can burn up their fat despite feeding themselves well, this will be sheer gluttony and at the root of it, greediness. It warrants repentance from God or perhaps counseling to correct the disorder:)

While in Penang for a short break (July 24-26) and for my grandaunt's 90th birthday celebration, we had the Red Prawn besides D8 and another hybrid I could not remember. The Red Prawn had excellent texture and not too sweet. The slight bitterish taste suited me fine.




Back in KL, an uncle treated us to Musang King and D24. I tried Musang King for the first time and this was the best durian I've ever eaten. I like it better than the Red Prawn, although I like both. The D24 we had were really good as well.

Back on my journey with Herbalife, I have also noticed that a tooth ache that I used to suffer from for a year, is now gone. I used to get intense pain on one of my big molars whenever I accidentally slurp in hot soup (not too hot) onto that tooth. It would hurt so badly for awhile and then would follow by a dull ache throughout the day. The dentist had asked me to do a root canal and I had planned to get it done. But now that I did not have any more pain in the last two months whenever I had similar hot soup, I am now thinking if I should still go ahead and get a root canal done.

I wonder whether the calcium in Herbalife F1 had helped strengthened my tooth. Perhaps, with better sleep after taking the product, coupled with all the 55 types of nutrients, the body now has less problems. I feel better each day.

I thought I would give up on taking the product after one month since I thought I could not live without nasi lemak and roti canai. Moreover, I had always thought I could not live without starting the day with savoury food after my fruit. But surprisingly, after seven months, I always miss my shake every morning and want to take it and I do not crave for savoury food like before. I am not sure why I am not bored with the shake. But one thing is for sure. I feel so alert and energetic after taking the shake while high-carb breakfast makes me sleepy. It makes a big difference in my energy level.

Financial health journey

An acquaintance had not had a job for three years and I had wanted to help her get started on the Herbalife business. It is unfortunate that, often, employers do not want to hire a worker after a certain age, and she is not too far from retirement age.
And so I decided to help her the only way I knew – get her self-employed through Herbalife.
Pix showed our first weekend at a flea market at Summit, Subang Jaya, me backing up Ai Yim and her brother on a roadshow, and helping her kick start her business in a serious way while educating the public about basic health.

Please email healthpossibilities@gmail.com for information.

John's hardly sick now

We are reaching our third month soon from the time we started on our shake and I noticed that John had not been sick since. He used to fall sick every two or three weeks once and has to go to the doctor and take medicine, otherwise, his condition would worsen and he would be terribly ill for five days to a week.

Before the shake, John had been taking multi-vitamins tablets of a well-known brand which we bought from pharmacy. I would say that it did help with his health to some extent, otherwise, he would be tired all the time due to pressures and long hours at work. But he still fell sick every couple or three weeks then. I am not surprised because on a regular day, he leaves home for work at 7am while I am still asleep and does not get home until late at night. Basically, he works 10 days a week even though it is a five-day-week. Sad to say, that's the kind of stress and low wages that many living in the city have to cope with.

When I knew John more than four years ago, he told me that he took anti-biotics each time he fell sick, which was frequent. I cannot imagine how much damage that can cause his kidneys or liver. Anyone who knows me knows that I am anti anti-biotics and only use it sparingly. And as the result, John had to suffer for a week at one point because his body took longer to recover without anti-biotics. Then I stopped telling him not to take it but he had adopted my habit.

So the change to our health had been significant since the shake. The improvements were many and more significant than any supplements we had ever taken. For me, I am totally alert at work. I could concentrate totally well. I wish I had this when I was a child/student because I recalled how tired I was at school and found it hard to concentrate. I would have excelled in my studies instead of just doing ok. I also recalled battling with fatigue even when I was doing sports. I was a little malnourished, like many kids then in the '70s in Malaysia.

The joint/arthritic aches I used to suffer from continues to be under control. I have been avoiding fried food as much as possible because I was afraid that if I take too much, I may intoxicate myself again and my fingers hurt/burns and I had to take lots of the tea again to remove much of the toxin in my body.

Compared with the spirulina that I used to take for 12 years, and which also helped reduced the aches and swelling in my fingers and helped in my concentration, the Herbalife shake seems to give more goodness than that. Also I can blend fruits with the shake while I cannot eat fruits with spirulina for I will get a stomach ache after that.

However, currently, I have one issue. I am not sure if I am constipating but I am going to toilet less often. One of the reasons could be that I have been eating less because I don't have anymore cravings for oily and sweet food. Yes, I do know that when our bodies get enough nutrition, we hardly have cravings, hence, we don't simply eat and put on weight. Instead of going daily, it is now once in one-and-a-half days and the stools come out in one solid piece, sometimes a bit too hard but most times, if I don't eat the wrong food, just right. I haven't seen that since I was a young. I understand that the hard stools could be a sign of healing crisis since I have certain existing health conditions. I have removed the F3 whey protein and only take the F1 and I did not constipate. But I have started to add soya milk (which also contains protein) in place of the F3 and started to go to toilet less frequently again. Maybe I just have to just stick to F1 and the tea. Well, we shall see what happens a few months down the road.

A friend who has started to enjoy the shake has also started to lose inches and has become more energised and alert.

Healthier us

This was posted on February 22, 2010 at our personal blog.

About a week before Christmas, John and I started to consume a certain nutritional shake for health reasons and to lose a few kilos, especially around the abdomen. He had recommended the product to me since he had taken it for two months before our wedding in 2008 and became rather trim. He then stopped since I complained, thinking that it was expensive and that he too wanted to maintain his weight by just going to the gym or taking walks in the park. But with his long working hours, he hardly got to do either. He had gone to the gym possibly less than five times a year.

So after our wedding, we both ballooned again to the weight we were before marriage. At our age, it was difficult to manage our weight. I could lose half a kg or a kg on my own but it requires a LOT of effort and discipline. It is difficult to lose weight because it is almost impossible to find healthy food whenever we eat out.When John told me about the shake that I could take for breakfast to replace my usual breakfast, which was either fruits followed by fried bee hoon, roti canai or nasi lemak with Milo, or if I make my own breakfast, it would be a fruit, my favourite half boiled egg, bread with butter and Milo, I wanted to try it out because I often yearn for healthy breakfasts.

I know that if I could have a healthy breakfast every morning, half the battle is won. So I gave myself three days to try the shake because since it is soya based, I feared that I would suffer from joint aches as I sometimes would when drinking soya milk or eating tofu. I thought if I do not experience any bodily discomfort, I would take it daily. That’s because all processed food do cause some discomfort to my body. My friends told me that my body is like a barometer that gauges how “clean” a certain food is. It works better than the “halal” certification because even with halal food, they were not “clean” enough for my body.

This is how my body suffers when I take processed food:

1. Fried food/animal fat/cooked santan – this is the worst culprit for me. My hands will feel an intense burning sensation from inside within half hour after eating and that includes KFC, which I wish I can sometimes enjoy. A small pus will emerge on my face. Then my fingers will swell and the joints hurt the following morning.

2. Black tea – sore joints in the fingers, knees and sometimes toes and sleepless night even if I take it in the morning.

3. Coffee – sharp joint pains in the fingers, knees and toes and heart palpitations. Also sleepless night despite consuming it in the morning.

4. Burgers/sausages/cheese/canned food – fingers swell and joints ache

5. Milo – laboured breathing

6. Ajinomoto and other monosodium glutamate – shoulder aches and breathing discomfort

7. A sweet - put me to sleep or knock me unconcious within 15 minutes.

8.Soya/tofu – sometimes have joint aches.

A specialist said I suffer from arthritis while Chinese physicians said I had poor blood circulation and toxin accumulation.

Whatever it is called, I often dread eating, especially when I have to eat out, because I would suffer after a meal. So for three days I tried the shake and I did not have any symptoms. I was intrigued by the product. I thought: What is this processed food that is as good as nature? So I decided to consume it daily.Today is the second month I took the shake and I have lost almost 4kg. That’s a feat considering that we only took the shake for breakfast and hardly took it for dinner because of all the dinners John and I had to attend during Christmas and Chinese New Year. I was 8kg overweight and friends and colleagues had been asking whether I was pregnant, but I haven’t had such questions asked for more than one month:).

More than the weight issue, my joint aches and swelling have subsided and I hardly have any of the symptoms anymore. I am not sure how the products have helped because I had only intended to take it as an ideal breakfast and to reduce my big abdomen. Amazingly, I now sleep well every night, unlike before. Several years ago, doctors had advised me to take medication. I did for a short while and then stopped and tried various alternative medicine which didn’t work out. I had even gone for faith healing. While I could after that stood and walk for long periods without pain, the morning swelling and stiffness in my fingers would not go away. Finally, I told the Lord three months ago that if He was not healing me directly for some reason I might not understand yet, I had asked that He bring something to me to help me keep my symptoms under control. The good effects from the nutrition and special tea mix on my joints were totally unexpected. I consider my prayer answered. I can even enjoy a glass of wine now without my joints hurting. John has lost more inches and his alarming visceral fat level has gone down two notches after drinking the tea mix daily. I cannot believe my eyes how it had worked so well with him. Mine, which was considered healthy but not excellent, had also gone down by one notch. So we have less fat around the vital organs now, which is considered more dangerous.

Our skin texture too have also improved. I have 4kg more to go and if all goes well, I should achieve my target in a month’s time since CNY is almost over and it is time to be serious about weight losing and being healthy. It’s not that I have not tried to be healthy. It is very difficult when we eat out most of the time. John has another kg to go but his abdomen is still big although it has shrunken to half its size. It is best to couple the weight loss effort with exercise... We are now enjoying a better quality of life and I no longer think that the product - Herbalife – is expensive. I would say it is value for money. For me, I have in the last 15 years put health as a priority and spent less on clothes, accessories and electronic gadgets, hence, am willing to spend more on nutrition.