My Sugar Free Sweet Life

For those who have been following me and my blog ever since, you would know how many times I have tried to lose weight. I took orlistat, did the Wii Fit challenge, tested countless crash diet fads, yet here I am still obese. It's been months since I last made an effort to exercise.

And so here I am, once again, back to where I began when I started my weight loss journey in 2006. I am obese, diabetic, and hypertensive. If only I were single and responsible only for myself, I wouldn't care. But I can't afford to be unhealthy like this anymore because my boys need me.

I'm taking charge of my life and I now commit myself to lose more to live more.

I don't drink milk. I only get to drink milk when it's mixed with tea and the only time I drank pure milk was when I was pregnant with Rap. Even though it was chocolate-flavored, I still felt like puking every time I down a glass. I know I should learn how to drink milk because it's an excellent source of calcium. Considering my age (and my weight, too), I need all the help I can get from calcium-rich products to keep my bones strong.

Years ago, I found the answer to my dilemma in the form of a calcium-enriched orange juice. I was regularly drinking it at first until I got tired of fixing myself a glass of orange juice. This weekend, I was glad to see CalChews on the shelf of Robinsons Supermarket!

I have astigmatism and I have been wearing prescription glasses since 2006. I feel nauseous when I don't wear my glasses and the only time I don't wear them is when I'm asleep.

The sunny days of summer are no exception. As much as I want to wear fashionable sunglasses to match my summer outfit, I can't. The least I can do is wear an over-sized pair of shades over my prescription eyeglasses. And every time I do that, I need to have someone to ask, "Halata ba? Mukha bang tanga?" (Does it show? Do I look silly?) But what can I do?

Finally, my silly "big shades over prescription eyeglasses" days are over! My Firmoo prescription sunglasses are here!

I visited my parents yesterday with the boys. My mom is setting up a small beauty salon and she asked me to check it out. It's still a long way to completion because she's just counting on her monthly pension to fund her small business. Knowing about that got me to think about my own retirement.

As a freelancer, I do not have the luxury of employers taking care of my retirement fund. Although I still have 30 years to go, I'm now in a state of panic to save up for my retirement fund.

Summer had me going out more often than I used to. I was the one who brought my boy to his summer activities. Since it was summer, I found it the perfect time to show off my wedges. But being the heavy weight that I am, I wasn't able to balance myself one time and sprained my ankle.

My family and I have started attending Holy Mass at The Feast Taytay for two Sundays now. I wish we have gone earlier because I really enjoy spending our Sundays there. Finally, we have found a Catholic prayer community to call our own.

After the Holy Mass, a praise and worship session follows which really moves me. The songs touch me and get me teary-eyed. One of the songs that moved me yesterday is "The Voice of Truth" by Casting Crowns. The song talks about rising above life's challenges and it did not only remind me of my own hurdles but also the times that I've become an obstacle to someone else's dreams.

Last year, a routine laboratory blood test revealed that I had hypertension and the level of uric acid in my blood almost went beyond what was normal. Too much uric acid can cause uric acid stones that can result in gout or kidney stones.

My doctor had me taking amlodipine (for the hypertension) for a month and I bought a sphygmomanometer so I can monitor my blood pressure at home. I was also advised to take a low purine diet to lessen the uric acid in my blood and avoid the development of uric stones.

The low purine diet given to me consists of three food groups: