Skip to main content

Kicking the unhealthy habits


This year has been one of the toughest for me because of the time constraint in finishing up my thesis. As a result, I haven't been playing any sport, I rarely slept for more than four hours a day (but this started in September 2006), I was typing away almost non-stop for more than 12 hours, and my diet has shifted towards caffeinated, high-sugar foods to keep me awake during the extended writing periods. I have only refrained from consuming salty food because I was too scared of having a repeat attack of urinary tract infection (specially since I drive myself to work, and I wouldn't want to make a mess in the car), although I was really tempted to binge on chips.

But I passed the toughest part, which was the week running up to my submission date. And now, I'm slowly going back to the sane schedule; sans the jet lag from my last trip, I could now sleep continuously for six hours and I am back to eating normal, high-fibre food. The return to my normal diet has actually started in Brisbane where I opted to eat Subway sandwiches and sushi rolls from the noodle bar for snacks instead of my nine-month staple snack: choco chip cookies. And I am no longer drinking thick black coffee, and has replaced it with water.

And then, yesterday, I once again gripped my badminton racket for some warm-up practice with a fellow beginner, Harris. I was actually looking forward to be on the court again after so many months... badminton's such a good exercise. After a year of not playing seriously, my limbs were painful, but the persistent shoulder pain that I developed while writing my thesis (which I attribute to stress) vanished!

Looking back, Bob, my supervisor at the University of Queensland, was right: finishing up the PhD thesis manuscript is like suffering from a terminal illness. The unhealthy habits I developed during the run up to my submission made me sick, literally... And now, I'm finally starting to recover.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Thank you for dropping by!

Before moving on, please share your thoughts or comments about the post. :)

Thanks again!

Popular posts from this blog

10 things I learned while driving on Marcos Highway to Baguio City

I went on a day trip to the City of Pines, which was around a 700-km drive from my house. I drove  going up there and then from the city to Victoria, Tarlac. After that, my dad took over the driving duties. It was day trip with Tita Ising and Tito Sibing with us. Anyway, this trip was my first time to go to Baguio City with me behind the wheel. As everyone who drives up knows, there are three main routes to Baguio from the lowlands: Kennon Road, which ascends from Rosario, La Union. It was out of my options because it's too dangerous to use that road in the rainy season. The second route is via Naguilian Road, which makes my trip a lot longer because the beginning of the ascent is in Bauang, La Union (further north). The last route, and the one I took, was the Marcos Highway, now known as the Aspiras-Palispis Highway. This 47-km road starts from Agoo, La Union and is touted as the safest route among the three.  As I drove up and then down (on the same day; we were in Bagu
5 comments
Read more

How MALDI-TOF-MS makes mycobacterium diagnosis faster and more accurate

The laboratory I work in has plenty of instruments that help us characterise and identify microorganisms causing diseases in patients. One of my current projects is to validate an instrument called "matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometer" (MALDI-TOF-MS) in identifying members of the Mycobacterium  species. Many of these organisms are opportunistic, meaning they only cause illnesses in people whose immune systems are not strong enough to fight infections. Mycobacterium leprae  is known for causing leprosy, but we cannot grow this bacterium in culture media, so we cannot isolate it. Mycobacterium tuberculosis  complex, on the other hand, is a group of several species of Mycobacterium  that causes tuberculosis. Tuberculosis is a disease that killed 1.6 million people in 2021 alone. It is a leading cause of death globally, second only to COVID-19 since the pandemic began. Identifying the Mycobacterium species that has infected a patient is
Post a Comment
Read more

a crash course on traditional Filipino houses

On Dr Jose Rizal's birthday this year, I was back in historic Manila with Ate Bing, Ate Mary , and Manuel . But instead of visiting him, we opted to soak up on Philippine culture. Our first stop: the Cultural Center of the Philippines ' (CCP) Museo ng Kalinangang Pilipino .  Aside from the musical instruments, I noticed the dioramas about Filipino homes. Filipinos living by the sea (the 'sea gypsies', Sama Dilaut or Badjao ) have boathouses; those who live in the mountains, like the Bagobos , have developed interconnected houses in the trees; Filipinos who live along the path of the strongest typhoon winds, such as the Ivatans , have developed houses of thick limestone walls; and people who live in calmer conditions used bamboo and nipa to construct their houses, like the lowlanders and the Agtas . Sama Dilaut 'lepa' and houses on stilts (in the background) Ivatan limestone house nipa hut Ifugao 'fale' Maranao '
Post a Comment
Read more