How important is sleep?

  For those of you wondering why in the world am I suddenly blogging about sleep...well, the name of my blog says it all..'All about health and nearly everything else. So technically, I can talk about anything :).
  Another reason is that I'n actually sitting in front of my laptop at 7 am, haven't slept since 1 pm Friday, and just finished watching the Brazil vs Colombia match. Man, was that an entertaining match. Go Brasil!! The sun is coming out, and I'm slowly losing my sleepiness. Why is that? That is because, our bodies have a clock, well, not really a clock, but it does time when would we feel sleepy and alert, and I think I've passed my bed time. Some people say we need 6 hours sleep, some people say 7, and others 8. Those that think we need 9 hours, well, not really guys. Try doing this, for those of you who have about 8 hours a sleep every night, try sleeping for 7 hours for a week straight. Your body will get used to it. Then try sleeping for 6 hours for another week. Again, your body will adapt. This is because humans are habitual creatures, and we get used to a habit very quickly. that is why, if you are having a sleeping problem , you'd better get that fixed fast, if not, your body will get used to it, then it's going to be even more difficult.
  If you'd ask me, for those you who are active, try to get about 7 to 8 hours of sleep. trust me, you would need it for your body to recover effectively. For those who are not physically, but mentally active, 6-7 would be just right. Again, I am no doctor, but I do read a lot about this sort of stuff, and I just thought it would be beneficial to share.
  So, what are the effects of not having enough sleep?? Pictures time !!! :p

1. You would start to binge, and overeat.
                                        
2. Your would look haggard and there would be collagen lost, resulting in wrinkled skin and eyebags.

                                 
3. Headaches or migraines due to tired brain.

                                              

4. Low concentration.

                                        

5. Reduced sex drive/hypertension. Yup, believe or not, these both co-relates.

                                       

                                     
6. Short temper.
                                   
                                
7. Heart Complications. (in the long run, due to extra stress)
                           
                                        


   So, do you find the above informative. I hope it was, and also hope directly or indirectly it might change your lifestyle. Now I'd better got to bed and follow my own advise. Good nite!!oops, Good morning! :)

How to stay healthy when your really busy?

       So today I woke up at 1pm. (I start work at 5pm). I couldn't go to the gym as my gym is opening late during this puasa month. I'm thinking, how do I burn some calories, so I said, to heck with it, got dressed in some sports wear, had a glass of water, drove to the playground near my place, put on a tonne of sunscreen, and went for a 30 minutes jog. Luckily, I had some partial shading from the trees around the area. I came home, had 2 slices of wholemeal peanut butter sandwich, did some house chores, then lifted some weights. had my bathe, then had my whey shake and one banana on the way to work.

    Why am I sharing all this? Its because, where there's a will, there's a way.Not everyone has the much needed time to workout whenever they please on a daily basis. Unless your a sponsored athlete of course. So I have gathered some liftestyles changes for those of you busy employees, mothers, or like me, student with a full time job.

1. Surely you've seen this before. You can also burn extra by taking to steps at a time, or running up. You can do this at your office, train stations, your apartment (if you live in one), and shopping malls.

                                                          
2. Cut down on rice.Especially on those weekdays when you are sitting on your butt the whole day, studying or working. Treat your body like a vehicle, meaning, fuel it according to how much is required. The below shows 2 photographs, one with a full plate rice and 1 less.
                
3. Avoid sweetened drinks. Doesn't matter whether it's canned drinks, fruit juices or your normal teh o ice from the mamak. Avoid them all, and have water!
                                   
4. Exercise during your meal breaks. Example : After you've had your lunch, wait for about 10 minutes, then walk around your office building. You can maybe put on your earphones and listen to some music while doing it. Trust me, you'll feel more refreshed later in the office, with extra calories burnt. just remember to keep an eye on the surroundings. the roads can be a dangerous place!

                                        

5. Have a cleansing day: On one particular weekday, or weekend, avoid your normal meals and only have tonnes of vegetables and some fruits. Why not much fruits? Because fruits contain sugar as well, and that needs to be reduced a little. You can have it by blending them, or eating them whole. What it does is it cleanses your body and the results are fresher skin, more vibrant and detoxifying our bodies from foods that have not yet digested.
                                               
             
6. Walk walk walk. Walk everywhere, and try to avoid using your cars. If you need to go to the groceries, walk, you need to pick your kids from the tuition center? Walk. Hey, it's going to give you some time to catch up as well.
                                                
7. Avoid junk food! And yes, this includes fast food, cakes, starchy biscuits, snacks, chocolates,donuts, candy bars and ice creams. These are all empty calories guys, and some with tonnes of fats. Your body doesn't need it. Did you know that 1 Mc' Donalds Value meal has about the same calories in 2 plates of nasi kandar?? Yup..It's true guys. you don't believe me, go read the nutritional facts the next time you go to Mc' Donalds.
                                              



So, what you think? Useful tips? Make sure these are followed guys, and I guarantee you will see changes.! Good luck!
                                       

Eggs - Friend or foe?

      How many eggs do Malaysians consume every day? This is the exact sentence which I googled searched and the result was this link: http://www.thestar.com.my/story.aspx/?file=%2f2011%2f10%2f15%2fnation%2f9700711.

       Based on this report in 2011, Malaysians consume around 20 million eggs perday. With a rough count population of 29 million in 2011, this number is alarming. And besides, how many times have our elders warned you about eating too many eggs. We'll get a heart attack, or our cholesterol might go up. Hmm, in some ways, that is true, in others, still speculative. I'm not here to tell you whether it is good or bad, but I am going to just share some cool things about eggs, then you make your own judgement. Deal? :)

     

     

That picture must have got you a rough answer, I believe? ..Yup, that's true folks. Eggs help us build muscles. Now that does not mean you can be a couch potato and expect your bicep to look like that.! With the right workouts, and including eggs in your meals, it can be a very good source of protein. Do note, one egg has about 6-8 grams of protein.! So for those vegetarians out there, who think eating eggs is alright with you, I would say, indulge. We have seen many bodybuilders and athletes who include eggs into at least one of their meals. Two very good example are: Sylvester Stallone and Kollywood actor Surya Sivakumar. Both these actors have said that they have included a diet high in egg whites to get lean. And had it worked for them? You be the judge.

                           
                                                                          Before
                                                       
                                                                        After

     Are those really before and after photos? Well, not a 100 %. The first photo, of course, Rocky fans would know its from the movie, before he goes out and trains. And the second photo is actually a real photo taken after his hardcore dieting. Part of how he managed to lose so much fat was to replace his normal meals with egg whites. Now, this is not something I would recommend, and even Sly himself mentioned during an interview, that this can be quite dangerous. Not the egg whites of course, but cutting weight to much in very short time.
   Eggs are also so good because eggs are sometimes called Natures Multivitamin. This is because there's so many vitamins and minerals within an egg. For obvious reasons, as that is all there to give life a chick. The below are what I found by a mere google search on vitamins in eggs:

One large egg contains :

• Vitamin B12 (Cobalamin): 9% of the RDA.
• Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin): 15% of the RDA.
• Vitamin A: 6% of the RDA.
• Vitamin B5 (Pantothenic Acid): 7% of the RDA.
• Selenium: 22% of the RDA.
• Eggs also contain small amounts of almost every vitamin and mineral required by the human body… including calcium, iron, potassium, zinc, manganese, Vitamin E, Folate and many more.

A large egg contains 77 calories, with 6 grams of quality protein, 5 grams of fat and trace amounts of carbohydrates.

It’s very important to realize that almost all the nutrients are contained in the yolk, the white contains only protein.

Bottom Line: Whole eggs are incredibly nutritious, containing a very large amount of nutrients compared to the calorie load. The nutrients are found in the yolks, while the whites are mostly protein.

** All credit goes to  http://authoritynutrition.com/6-reasons-why-eggs-are-the-healthiest-food-on-the-planet/.

   What I do is, I usually buy a 30 eggs carton from Giant once about 2 to 3 weeks once. Every other day, I'd make scrambled eggs consisting of 1 whole egg and 3 egg whites, and sometimes for supper, If I'm hungry. Its a good way to keep your carbohydrate down when you have eaten too much over the weekend.

   Now, this doesn't really mean that eggs has all positives and no negatives. Eggs, as you know, are renowned for their high cholesterol levels, and this is all in the yolk.
   Based on http://www.mayoclinic.org, a clinical study shows that 1 egg yolk contains about 186 milligrams of cholesterol, and the recommended intake for normal healthy individuals is 300 mg. I would personally advice not to exceed 2 whole eggs a day, and enjoy egg whites, as many as you want.