Category: Health

Health · Lifestyle

Life After a Heart Attack- What Comes Next?

jacquelineobyikocha3 Comments

Heart problems are the biggest causes of preventable deaths in the western world, a frightening statistic. Heart attacks, heart disease and other cardiovascular issues are often a direct result of poor lifestyle choices. Eating the wrong foods, not exercising, smoking, drinking too much and taking drugs all take their toll.

Heart Monitor, Health, Wellness, Heart Attack, Aging, Disease, Hypertension, Health Management

Image sourced from here

Thanks to great medical advancements, fast transport such as air ambulance services and the fact that heart attack can quickly be recognised these days, more people are surviving them. However once you have had one you’re at risk of another unless you change your ways, so if you’re wondering what comes next after a heart attack, here are a few things to bear in mind.

Understand Your Medication

Your medications will depend on what the cause for your heart attack was. You should learn what each of these medicines does, and know exactly when you should take them and how. For example, will you need to take them with or without food, at certain times of the day or in combination with other medicines? If for example your heart attack was caused by hypertension you may need to take additional pills for your high blood pressure. You should also ensure you’re not caught short without them in an emergency, so if you’re travelling, for example, you will need to bring extra in case of delays.

Heart Monitor, Health, Wellness, Heart Attack, Aging, Disease, Hypertension, Health Management

Image sourced from here

Decide on Lifestyle Changes

Heart attacks and other cardiovascular issues are sometimes a genetic problem which is out of your control. However, if yours was due to lifestyle decisions, it’s paramount you make a change. Clean up your diet, and find out from your doctor what exercise you can do once you’re recovered. Swimming, walking and other low impact activities are usually good choices. Stop your drink, drug and smoking habits, get enough sleep and generally look after yourself. While a heart attack can be scary, but for some people, it’s what’s needed to shock them into action to make a change. Maybe you didn’t realise how bad your lifestyle was, or just thought ‘it will never happen to me’. Now that you know the consequences, you know what you need to do to live a healthier life in future.

Seek Support and Advice

Having people you can speak to about what happened, your fears and concerns are important. If you feel as though you can’t speak to loved ones, try a helpline or go on a forum for people in the same position. Those who have already had heart attacks will understand the situation you’re in and may be able to give objective advice as well as support.

Thankfully, many people go on to live a normal and healthy life after a heart attack. If you’re one of the lucky ones who survived, see it as a second chance at life. Use it as an opportunity to make a positive change. Eat better, make better decisions, spend time with loved one and don’t take life for granted.

This is a collaborative post
Health · Lifestyle

Boost Your Energy Levels and Boost Your Health

jacquelineobyikocha11 Comments

We all lead busy lives. And even on from that, we can all make excuses not to take care of ourselves as much as we should. We justify that we’re busy or that we’re not able to go to the gym or we just had to grab a takeout. But then, should we be surprised if we find ourselves feeling sluggish, tired, and generally low? At this time of year, a lower immune system can be rather obvious. So here are some things that you can do to make sure that you keep your energy levels up to feel happy, healthy, and strong.

Tired, Stressed, Fatigue, Boost Your Energy Levels

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Eat More Magnesium Based Foods

We all know that we need to eat a balanced diet to stay at a healthy weight or even to lose weight. For energy, a healthy diet is of paramount importance too. But what does that really mean? One of the nutrients that we need to make sure that we are getting plenty of is magnesium. It can really play a part in giving our energy levels a boost. It has been found that if you’re deficient in magnesium, your body has to work harder to function normally, which in turn, will use up a lot of energy. So make sure that foods like almonds cashews, fish, and whole grains feature regularly in your diet.

Move More

It might sound ridiculous, but moving more can actually help you to feel like you have more energy. It isn’t necessarily anything like a five-mile run or a weights session. But a walk around the block or to the park and back could be just what you need. It will lift your mood and make you feel invigorated and refreshed, rather than feeling low and lethargic.

Reduce Stress

If you are feeling stressed, then it can naturally drain you of energy. It can be often as a result of anxiety, which can really zap the energy out of you. It can leave you feeling physically exhausted as well as mentally exhausted. And if left to spiral out of control, then it could trigger other things like depression or bipolar, as mentioned by the site Bipolar Lives. So you need to be monitoring things closely to see how you react to it all. Timeout, exercise, therapy, and dealing with the stressors head on can all help. So, find out what works for you and then go from there.

Avoid Sugar

When you feel tired, then it can be tempting to reach for a bag of candy or some chocolate. These things will give you a short burst of energy (well, a boost in your blood sugar). But after that, it will leave you feeling more tired than you ever were before. So refined sugar, and processed foods, in general, should just be avoided. Keeping your blood sugar level steady will be what helps you to feel energetic and have a steady burst of energy.

Is there anything that you find helps you to stay on top of our energy levels or gives them a boost?

Health · Lifestyle · Wellness

My Thinking Corner…Care

jacquelineobyikocha12 Comments

You’ve got to fall in love again. Fall in love with taking care of yourself; mind, body and soul. Jacqueline

Lifestyle, Well-being, Health, Taking Care of Yourself, Body, Mind, Soul

For the past week, I have been publishing posts on self-care because the plain truth is that when our well-being is out of sync, every other thing in our life suffers.

Time spent taking care of oneself is time well spent. Mentally, spiritually, emotionally and physically, we need to stay strong to be more effective and to withstand the consistent onslaught of horrendous stuff and news that life dishes out in spades.

It is not selfish in the least to take away that much needed time to decompress and to maintain a worthy lifestyle. As a matter of fact, it is a selfless act because when you show yourself the much-needed attention and care, you are better positioned to care for those you love.

When we neglect ourselves, the effects trickle down and the interesting thing is that we lose our effectiveness even when we think that we don’t have time to take care of ourselves and do those things that make us happy.

What are you doing today to make a desired and positive change?

Health · Life

Mortal Combat: Beating The Signs Of Aging

jacquelineobyikocha24 Comments

It’s something that we can’t deny, the looming of Old Mother Time will get us all eventually, and while we hit a peak with both our physical and emotional health, both start a gradual decline that we can get quite concerned about. But what are the key changes in the body as we age, and what can we do to prevent them?

Aging Hand Creasy Age Wrinkles Children Open

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Bones

As we age we lose our bone density, also known as osteoporosis. Part of the reason our bones become less dense is because of the lack of calcium, as the body will absorb less calcium (and vitamin D) from foods. Certain bones tend to weaken more than others such as the bones in the spine, which can be very painful, and while you can pay a visit to the chiropractors to work on realigning your spine, you can work at increasing your bone density by doing a few things. Exercise, especially resistance based ones, has been shown to increase bone density. You should also increase your intake of calcium and vitamin D, and up your intake of good fats, as these will help to absorb the calcium and vitamin D into your bones. In addition to this, you need to cut back on foods that will take calcium from your bones, such as carbonated drinks, caffeine, and the main culprit, refined sugar.

Muscles (And Body Fat)

The decrease in muscle mass starts around the age of 30 and is caused by the decrease in levels of growth hormone, or testosterone in men. Most people will only lose about 10 to 15% of their strength due to age, but there are issues like sarcopenia which comes from extreme inactivity. You can continue to strengthen your muscles as you age by taking part in resistance training, or anything that requires you to fight against gravity, from sit-ups to push-ups and pull-ups. Body weight exercises are a great place to start. Exercising is also great to reduce body fat as you age. By the age of 75, your amount of body fat tends to double in comparison to your early 20s and 30s, which will increase the risk of illnesses like diabetes.

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The Brain

Generally, the number of nerve cells will decrease in the brain as you age, but although your brain is able to compensate by making new connections between the nerve cells, your brain will tend to have more cells than it needs to do standard activities, also known as redundancy. Of course, the concern for many of us as we age is the onset of age-related cognitive decline, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s. The trick to preventing this as best as possible is, again, exercise, but for your brain. That feeling of frustration when you’re learning something new is the thing you should be aiming for. This is the point where your brain is making new connections and neurons. So by doing things that are completely brand new, from learning an instrument to a language, this is what will keep your mind sharp and fresh.

These are the three areas that you need to focus on to age well. And, remember, it is never too late to start, no matter how old you are.

Health

And Eyes And Ears And Mouth And Nose…

jacquelineobyikocha3 Comments

Smiling Man, Happy, Health, Senses

Picture Credit

Your senses are something that you should take very seriously. Taste, touch, sight, smell and hearing are things that can go at the drop of a hat – especially if you are not taking care of them properly. Getting regular check ups can be the difference between you being able to pinpoint problems and get them sorted in their early stages and letting them get out of control – often meaning that it’s too late to do anything about them. So what are the things that we need to be doing in order to keep on track with our health?

Eyes

Generally speaking, it’s not a regular trip that you need to your optician. The recommended time between appointments is two years, so it’s not like you have to really put yourself out often. Not only do your eyes give you sight, but they can be indicators of other problems too. Your ophthalmologist will be able to detect more serious problems such as brain tumours, so it’s always good to mention any headaches or dizziness that you may be feeling to them. Your eyes are one of the most important senses that you have; they account for how you react to situations and can handle them, as well as giving you basic needs like balance and spacial awareness. The more you can look after them, the better – especially as you move into old age.

Ears

Many people all over the world get by with a loss of hearing, but that doesn’t mean that you should be complacent with the idea of it happening. If you have noticed that you’re not catching on to words as easily as you used to, that you’re having to turn your music or television up louder to hear it or are hearing noises despite nothing producing a sound around you, you may have to see a hearing specialist.

They will be able to give you a cause for why you may be feeling this way. When you visit the opticians, there may be a hearing specialist there who will be able to see you should you have any cause for concern. It could be that you need your ears unblocking, that you need a hearing aid or even a problem with your ear drum; there is so much to take into consideration when dealing with your ears that it’s best to leave the care of it up to an expert. Don’t think that you can solve the problem by sticking anything in your ear; this can do a lot more harm than good. You shouldn’t even be poking around with a cotton bud.

Mouth

A trip to the dentists should be undertaken every six months at least, if not more under recommendation. Our mouths serve for a lot; not just to be able to eat with, but to speak, laugh, sing and so much more. Good dental hygiene routines are so important to incorporate into your daily regime, and it’s not just the brushing that you need to focus on – flossing in between each tooth is also essential to ensure that you are fully getting rid of any debris that may have made its way there. Ask your dentist for what they recommend that you use.

Not only are dentists great for keeping on top of the health of your teeth, but they can also help with the cosmetics. If your teeth aren’t as white as you would like, booking in with a hygienist and ensuring that you follow procedure to get them up to the shade that you desire is a possibility. It’s always recommended that you go to a qualified dentist for this rather than doing it yourself, as there are sensitivity issues and allergic reactions that may arise as a result, which they are trained to deal with.

Nose

Unless you suffer from Anosmia, you shouldn’t not have a sense of smell. Your sense of smell is directly related to your sense, so a loss of one indicates a problem with the other – they go hand in hand. It could be an indicator of something as common as a cold of the flu, but keeping on top of your senses and knowing your body well enough to realise when one of them is out of kilter is one of the most important things that you can do for your body. The further ahead you can keep with treating your body with the respect it reserves in relation to its wellbeing, the better it will treat you in return.

Health

Date Juice – Easy, Peasy Recipe

jacquelineobyikocha7 Comments

Dates

Dates are not only delicious, they are filled with healthy surprises. Abundant in the UAE, Egypt and parts of the Persian Gulf Region/Middle East, this highly nutritious, cholesterol-free fruit has so many varieties that are endowed with nature’s bounty of providing you with various health benefits, though it’s downside maybe it’s richness in sugar for diabetic patients.

The fructose that it contains is far better than the refined sugar that we consume these days and I am exploring using date syrup as my go to sweetener instead of sugar.

A quick look at the health benefits:

Contains vitamins like B1, B2, B3, B5, A1 and C

  1. Boosts heart health.
  2. Anti-Inflammatory properties
  3. Reduced Blood Pressure
  4. Promotes Digestive Health, Relieving Constipation
  5. Boosts Brain Health
  6. Bone Health and Strength
  7. Dietary supplement for anaemic people – increases energy
  8. Increases sexual stamina – when soaked overnight in goat milk and consumed the next morning.
  9. Helps reduction of night blindness
  10. A quick remedy for alcoholic intoxication.
  11. Great for hair and skin.

How to make date juice:

Contents: Water, Dates, Vanilla essence or lemon juice, (Almonds and ground Cardamon are optional).

Note that the quantity of dates that you use depends on how many people you are serving, but for 2 refreshing glasses, a handful of dates will suffice.

  1. Remove the seeds and soak a handful of dates in warm water for 3o mins to 1 hour to soften.
  2. Once the dates have soaked, drain the water then add the dates, One and a half cup of water, lemon juice or vanilla into the container of a high-speed blender and blend for 60 seconds or until smooth.
  3. If desired, you can add ground cardamom or almonds into the mix and blend.
  4. Serve slightly chilled.
  5. Enjoy and satisfy your sweet tooth 😉

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

out-of-the-silent-breath 2

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Guest Posts · Health · Wellness

You’ve got to meet graceful Yentl of Younfolded.

jacquelineobyikocha17 Comments

Today, I have beautiful Nena telling us a bit more about herself and giving us a peek into her World.

She’s one of the encouraging and refreshing voices that I’ve met in this space. I enjoy her posts on showing simple ways of how we can be kind to each other as well her health and wellness posts.

Thank you, Nena for sharing a bit about you with us.

Rose[1]

Hi! My name is Yentl (like the Barbara Streisand movie), but close friends and family call me Nena so I like for my blogging family to call me that as well.IMG_5787

Nena is a term of endearment in Spanish and it means “baby girl” and although I am a woman in her early 30s there is a sense of warmth every time I hear my nickname.

I was born and raised and still live in hot, sunny, and very humid Miami, Florida. If you haven’t guessed it already I am Latina and speak English and Spanish fluently. My dad is from Venezuela and my mom from Guatemala; two very distinct and beautiful cultures.

I like cooking healthy (and sometimes not so healthy) meals, staying active, exploring my world via traveling and reading, and expressing myself through writing and connecting with others.

I dislike criticism, judgments, and insults that break others down. We go through enough pain and despair in our lives so there is no room for hurtful words from people that don’t know any better.

For this reason, I try to always uplift those around me even if it’s through using simple, positive words like, “You are appreciated” so that they come to see their own worth.

Younfolded_banner_v6

My husband had been telling me for years to start a blog or YouTube channel mainly because of all the different hairstyles that I would do and also to share my nutrition knowledge.

I was hesitant because I was passionate about more than just nutrition and hair. I wanted to inspire and uplift others so when I started the blog it was more about unfolding bits of myself to promote self-discovery and self-love.

That is where the name YOUnfolded comes from.

I fell in love with blogging because of the supportive community. One of my fears with YouTube was all the competition that you see amongst vloggers so I was a bit apprehensive about what I was getting into with blogging. But I am so happy to have taken the plunge!

When I received my first like on my very first post “How Could I Forget?” I was elated!

It felt good to express myself and share info that could be helpful to others. Now I can’t wait to sit down and write up my recipes like The Pumpkin Soup that was a hit with my loved ones, my weekly workouts on my Move It Monday posts, and get my creative juices flowing when I write expressively like I have been doing for my Pet Series.

My favorite is when I get to showcase some of you lovely bloggers in my Pay It Forward Friday posts as a way to demonstrate my appreciation for all that you do.

I also started a YouTube channel to finally do some hair tutorials and decided to do them bare-faced (no makeup) to continue to promote self-love and the beauty of simply being YOU. Watch Younfolded on YouTube.

Lately, I have been waking up at 8am with just enough time to get up, brush my teeth, take my girls (dogs) out, get dressed, and start work at 8:30 am.

I work from home, but I am on a schedule (currently it is 8:30am – 5pm) and don’t have a lot of free time. I am a dietitian and I work as a health coach where I provide nutrition counseling to people over the phone.

I mainly make calls back to back and my lunch break consists of 30 minutes of eating in front of a Netflix show with my hubby.
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After work, I clean (I use my cleaning schedule : ) take the girls out again, and work out. My hubby is usually the main cook in the house, but sometimes if he’s still working I cook dinner. Dinner is also in front of the TV watching one of our fave shows.

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Once dinner is done, I take care of any pending things like taking a webinar for continuing education for my dietitian/nutrition license, shooting pics or videos for either my site or my husband’s work, writing posts, catching up with friends or family. Then it’s time for a shower and bedtime (around 11pm-12am).

I recently moved my WordPress hosted blog to a self-hosted one because I wanted to try to generate some income from it. My original plan to support and encourage others remains the same.

I found myself spending a lot of time putting together things for the blog, brainstorming ideas, and promoting companies whose products I have been using and truly believe in. I figured that it would be great to gain even just a bit of income from the free advertisement I am already providing to various companies out there to keep the blog running because, as most of you know, it is not free to have a .com without the word “WordPress” in there and it takes time to put together content.

With my already busy schedule, blogging and doing YouTube videos feel like a part-time job so why not make a bit of money doing something I love and dedicate a lot of time to.

I have plans to continue to provide content in each of the categories on my blog that will hopefully inspire others to take care of their entire well-being; whether it’s through nutrition, fitness, fun, or relaxing, as long as they find joy and fulfillment from within.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Out of the silent breath

Never leave me lonely

With words left unsaid

You walk away into the dark

Like a mist, that melts away.

food · Health · Lifestyle · Wellness

Breakfast is served! Good morning, This morning.

jacquelineobyikocha22 Comments

Breakfast

I am trying to switch up my nutrition pattern.

Toss out some stuff and replace them with better things.

What’s on my plate this morning?

  • Eggs and vegetable omelette
  • Plain yoghurt with a handful of almonds and raisins.
  • A cup of green tea and mint.

Be kind to yourself this weekend.

If you’ve got a weekend recipe for us, please do share 😊

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Below is my first just published Poetry Book “Out of the silent breath” which is available on Amazon and Smashwords.

When you buy my book, you support me in an invaluable manner.

Out of the silent breath

Dubai · Health · Travel

Great Service…Echoes Of My Neighbourhood #14

jacquelineobyikocha37 Comments

On Thursday’s, I share pictures about ‘Echos of my Neighbourhood.

I would like to invite you to participate. The challenge is quite simple.

Every Thursday, share a photo of bits and pieces of wherever you are at any point in time. It could be houses, backgrounds of your neighbourhood, activities and so forth and you can tag it Echos of my Neighbourhood, add my link to your post so that I will get the ping from your post.

Every other Thursday, I will publish a post with the links of all those who participated the previous week.

This is just a fun way of getting to see more of the World around us through your eyes, since we cannot all be at those places, we can at least see them through you.

A better part of my last week until this Tuesday was spent between the Iranian Hospital and having a little birthday dinner.

The pictures above are some parts of The Iranian Hospital Dubai. An International hospital affiliated to the Iranian Red Crescent/Red Cross. It’s among the top five relief  agencies in the World.

No one likes going to the hospital, not for fun and spending time in a dinghy one would only make it worse.

The Iranian Hospital’s service was very professional, polite, prompt and I found no reason whatsoever to grumble throughout the days they attended to us. I was impressed.

You even have a schedule screen that tells you what’s going on and when you will be attended to. The cafe had hot meals all through and even several bowls of pretty species of goldfish to admire or to buy.

My daughter wanted one, I wouldn’t have minded several goldfish, but we don’t have a brilliant goldfish handling history.

The place runs smoothly at all times *even by 3 a.m. It’s like a well oiled machinery and they made a panicky mothers heart much calmer. Somehow, we managed to find time to hang out a bit at The Dome for dinner and eat lots of birthday cake.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha

Last Week Echoes gave us some peeks of different neighbourhoods, hop on let’s go see and do show some of yours 🙂

Hot brews of coffee in all sizes and even as blings. Seattle is the place to go for rich, decadent brews. Just drive thru for a look see.

Write them all more echoes of other parts of Dubai from a neighbour. It’s truly an amazing World how we connect online.

Sicily lovely sights and echoes of Sicily. I would like to visit this Italian city some day.

Giggles & Tales Well I never knew this. Fish feet spa where they fish get to feed on the cuticles of your feet. I already feel ticklish at the thought.

This and That with Sarah while she tinkers with her laptop.

Thoughts and entanglements Fabulous and interesting pictures from Brooklyn. I like those spangled underwear 😉

Dollops of heedful ramblings These are total and beautiful eye candy.

Mercury colliding Who do you think will win? Let’s take a vote on this. No it’s not Trump or Hilary 😉

I hope you enjoy the views.

Regards.

P.S. I hope that I didn’t miss someone’s ping back?

 

Family · Health

Sometimes, it pours heavily….

jacquelineobyikocha23 Comments

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Today, I have so much to say, yet I fail to know where to start from.

Life is such that we honestly have no inclination what the next hour will bring our way, much less the next day, week or year.

Our lives hang in the daily delicate balance of providence and most times, we don’t get to chose what happens to us, but the only thing that we can choose is how to react to the curves on the path of our journey and not losing grip of ourselves.

We also get to choose friends who journey along with us on life’s path and a whole lot of times, they serve as a prop and support on those shaky days.

My heart knows a lot of thanks for the restoration of health of my family members and an enormous sense appreciation for the huge outpouring of gracious wishes from all of you on my birthday on Sunday.

Your thoughts warmed me.

Regardless of the fact that online relationships may appear untenable due to it’s nature, we should never fail to appreciate or undermine the strength and support that we have in our friends and we truly have no idea the beautiful far reaching effects of these friendships.

‘It’s until you are caught in the rain that you realize that a tattered umbrella has it’s good sides.’

You can join Colline’s  or Maria Jansson gratitude challenge platforms.

© Jacqueline Oby-Ikocha