Friday, July 25, 2008

Habits which can make you FAT

-from healthassist.net

TV Watching
Prolonged TV watching is a strong predictor for obesity1. Recent research2 has proved that people who watch around two hours of TV per day are much more likely to be overweight than those who watched only half an hour per day. When you watch TV you are virtually motionless. Your heart rate, blood pressure and metabolic rate decline, resulting in burning 20 to 30 calories less per hour. Research by Harvard University4 has shown that there is a link between the amount children eat and the amount of television they watch.

Eating Too Fast
It is a habit of most people living in a fast paced society. Eating fast lets you eat too much before you are fully aware of it. It takes the brain about 15-20 minutes to start signaling feelings of fullness. Scientists suppose that fast eating is a risk factor for the metabolic syndrome3, a combination of the symptoms such as high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, and insulin resistance.

Task Snacking
Task snacking refers to eating while doing other activities. if you often eat meals or snacks while working by yourself in front of your computer, while driving, watching TV, or standing at the kitchen counter, shopping with a friend, or talking on the phone, it's likely that the "task snacking" eating style is increasing your odds of becoming overweight or obese.

Frequent Fast Food Consumption
One of the big reasons we’re seeing more obesity in our society these days is that we are too stressed and busy to make healthy dinners at home, often opting to get fast food at the nearest drive-thru instead. Fast foods compromise the quality of the diet by replacing more healthy foods. Fast foods are known for having high content of saturated and trans-fat, low content of fiber and massive portion sizes, which leads to obesity.

Eating To Manage Feelings
Emotional eating is the practice of consuming large quantities of food (usually "comfort" or junk foods) in response to feelings (such as depression, anxiety, or loneliness) instead of hunger. Experts estimate that 75% of overeating is caused by emotions. How many times have you found yourself scouring the kitchen for a snack, or absently munching on junk food when you’re stressed, but not really hungry?

Too Busy To Exercise
With all the demands on your schedule, exercise may be one of the last things on your to-do list. If so, you’re not alone. Americans live a more sedentary lifestyle than we have in past generations, yet our minds seem to be racing from everything we have to do. Unfortunately, from sitting in traffic, clocking hours at our desks, and plopping in front of the TV in exhaustion at the end of the day, exercise often goes by the wayside. Your Friends Can Make You Fat If you're putting on weight, you might want to take a look at who you're hanging around with. A study7 published in the July 26, 2007 edition of the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that obesity may be "socially contagious." The study was conducted on more than 12,000 people over 32 years, and concluded that having an overweight friend, sibling or spouse increased one's risk of obesity by 37 to 57 percent.

Lack Of Sleep
Sleep deprivation can increase your risk of obesity by boosting ghrelin (an appetite stimulating hormone) and lowering leptin (an appetite suppressor). The study5 from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom found that, compared to an eight hours of shut-eye, each one-hour decrease in sleep duration was linked to almost 3% more body fat. Unaware Of Calories And Fat Many people eat foods with no idea of the calorie or fat value. This leads to weight gain and unhealthy eating habits because you can easily consume twice the normal calories required to maintain your weight, let alone lose weight, if you don't know how many calories you are eating.

Credit Cards
Your plastic may be affecting more than just your credit score. Visa conducted a study of 100,000 fast-food restaurant transactions and found that people who pay for their food with a credit card spend 30% more than those who pay with cash. For the average woman, who visits a fast-food restaurant once a week, that adds an extra 17,160 calories, or 4.9 pounds, per year.

Missing Meals
Research shows that people who eat breakfast are less likely to be overweight, and that morning meals seem to help those who've lost weight keep it off. Denise Bruner, MD, obesity specialist and former president of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians, says that skipping meals of any kind results in a "tremendous bout of compensatory hunger."

Uncomfortable Clothing
Researchers from the University of Wisconsin, La Crosse6 found that casual and comfortable clothing workdays promote increased physical activity. Specifically, study participants took an average of 491 (or 8%) more steps on Jeans Day than on those days in which they wore normal business attire. It is also estimated that study participants burned an average of 25 additional calories on Jeans Day with the extra steps and miles walked. Wearing casual clothing every day for 50 weeks of work translates into burning an additional 125 calories per week and 6,250 calories per year.

Neglecting Scales
Recent study from the University of Minnesota found that dieters who weighed themselves daily lost about 12 pounds over two years, while those who never did shed only four pounds. Other research, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, concluded that those who have daily weigh-ins (along with face-to-face support) are 82% less likely to regain five pounds than a control group without weigh-ins or support. Boredom A survey by the Priory Group in the U.K. found that more people ate when bored than when stressed.


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I'm done with people saying they can't do it. You can do it! Be sensitive of these habits, shake them off you and make me your benchmark. *insert wicked laugh here* I'm only guilty of eating fast. hehe

Thursday, July 17, 2008

Little things that make bitches happy

-Getting a new haircut. There's just something so liberating about changing the way you look, your morning routine, your shampoo budget.
Tip: Don't shampoo everyday. It strips off the natural moisture in your hair. Instead, condition everyday. It's milder than shampoo and relatively has more nutrients.

-Buying new shoes. No explanation needed.
Tip: Buy shoes in the afternoon. We have bigger feet during the afternoon.

-Flirting harmlessly. Now, now. Continue reading without that goofy smile on your face. I know, right? It's the rush we're after! It's the electricity flowing up and down your spine, in a zigzag manner, in meek explosions. It's a re-affirmation of your power over the opposite (or same!) sex. Ahlavet! Hahaha!
Tip: Eyelash-batting is so old school. Start a witty conversation instead.

-Curling up with a good (bitchy or non-bitchy) book. The normal life of a bitch is usually hectic, so reading a good book with 0% disturbance is equivalent to New Year celebration.
Tip: Reading girl-y classics (e.g. Pride and Prejudice, Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, The Feminine Mystique) gets you in touch with your inner goddess.

-Having a nice conversation with a long-time girlfriend over a mixed drink. The simple act of holding a glass on your hand while chatting is ultimately relaxing. It's like time never existed. Catch up with your love lives, your careers and whatever's hot. Yes, even the bartender.
Tip: Beware of getting drunk. Be sure that when you go home, the flush on your face should be composed of 90% sheer joyand 10% alcohol.

-Blogging. Total empowerment. The most pitiful thing in the world is a person without an opinion.
Tip: Write and rewrite! You're posting in an invisible world, I know. But don't give us bullshit. Hitting the X key at the upper right corner just takes 0.5 seconds.

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Bastards on Commute

I like taking the public utility jeepneys because I enjoy the experience. The feeling of the wind on your face, of "meeting" ten different people in one sitting and of course, the feeling of helping cut down the carbon emissions. *Duh*

However, there are certain people which turns the experience sour.

1. Slimy Lovebirds - Nah-ah. I'm not jealous. I've been going out with the same guy for about ten months and we're fine. There are just some lovers who take the jeepney and then crawl over each other as if they're at their own living rooms. They're pains in the eyeballs. Instead of them being ashamed of themselves, you become ashamed of "intruding" something. Bah. I hope they don't forget to pay their fares.

2. Ms./Mr. Loudspeaker - It's okay to talk; it's not okay if you're heard for about five seats away. I hate having to share the jeepney with someone who talks and talks and talks all throughout the ride and competing with the noise of the midday streets. These are the times when I'd wish I had an MP3 player with me.

3. Open-SesaMEN - These are men who refuse to shut their legs together even when the jeepney is too crowded and the people who just arrived sit uncomfortably. Let's be sensitive guys. The jeepney is designed for a certain number of people WHO ARE EXPECTED TO KEEP THEIR LEGS SHUT. To all the males reading this post, keep your legs shut for Goddess' sake. But if you don't want to, I hope your balls will get hit during the ride.

4. Ms./Mr. Head-to-Foot - Although I am confident that whenever I go out of the house I always smell good and look fine, there are just some people who fail to maximize their free time wallowing in their ugliness that they just have to want to make you feel it too. I'm talking about those people (mostly girls) who spend the whole ride staring at you, from your hair to your toenails to your bag to your cell phone model. I don't really know what's wrong with them. Or is it their first time to see a real, live human being?

5. The Classic Manyakis - Oh you know them. They're the ones who will stare at you and automatically commit simulated rape. They will salivate with just a peek of your toes and they love staring at your lips. Tip: Dress comfortably when taking the jeepney. Spare your skin from the prying eyes of these psycho-sexual predators.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

The Dissected Movie + Dinner Date

THE MOVIE

The movie's purpose is to know how smart your date is. If s/he picks a "mababaw" movie or an action movie, a love story, it's up to you to judge. It may either a.) reflect his/her real taste in movies or b.) reflect HOW S/HE WANTS YOU TO PERCEIVE HIM/HER. After you pick the movie, you also buy food. When buying food, you can judge if s/he's a healthy eater or not.

While you are watching the movie (1 1/2 hours on average), you can gauge if s/he's talkative or quiet and more importantly, if s/he understands the plot well. If s/he keeps on asking you questions, I suggest an IQ test. You can also gauge how comfortable s/he is with you by the way s/he laughs along or tells you about his/her little ideas/comments.

Lastly, the purpose of the movie is to make sure that you will have something to talk about during dinner.

THE DINNER

While choosing which place to eat, you can gauge the likes(and dislikes) of your date. You may even predict his/her typical order there. Aside from that, you will also find out how high- or low-maintenance s/he is.

If your date is already comfortable with you, s/he will sit next to you in a four-seated square table. If s/he wants to know you more, s/he will sit across you. If it's the first date, most likely, s/he will sit across you.

This is the gala. During the dinner, you will get to know your date more. You can judge the if s/he has good manners (calling the waiter, not staying too long in the CR, saying sorry if s/he stepped on your toe). You will also find out what makes him/her tick. How? Well, it's sure that the first few minutes of your date will be devoted to discussing the movie. However, there will be sparks of interest somewhere, and then the talk will be taking detours.

What is important is that you enjoy yourself no matter what. After all, you've invested in it! However, if you feel like calling 911 everytime s/he starts talking, by all means, consider my IQ test suggestion. (Drug test is optional.)

Sunday, July 6, 2008

(Bitchy) Quotes to live by..

Be sexy;
Even if others are not
Even if others will not
Even if others can not

Life is not a matter of chance but a matter of boys.

Flirt your best and he will do the rest.

Believe in love at first bite.

Simplicity means poverty.


and my favorite,
Beauty is the best publicity.

Lol. (Laugh out loud.) That's a command.

Friday, July 4, 2008

Most Commonly Misused English Words/Phrases

Stuffs
"I love music, movies and all those stuffs..."
I've heard (and read) a lot of people who use this word to mean "those things". It's so, so annoying. I can't even fathom how annoying it is to hear this word. Stuff is already a "collective" noun used to refer to different things such as

"She knows her stuff."
"A bed filled with the softest stuff." Etcetera etcetera.

You will only use "stuffs" when you refer to it as verb. Get it? A.Verb. Like, "Kyle stuffs the pizza down his throat."

Tuck In/ Tuck Out
"Tuck in your shirt; it looks so ugly tucked out."
Hello?! If something is already tucked, it's in! The word tuck is a verb which means to put into a small, close and concealing place. And tuck out is an oxymoron. How do you make something put into a small, close and concealing place look like it's outside? Oh, you get it.

Irregardless
"It's final. You will come with me irregardless of the circumstances."
It's utterly redundant. The prefix ir-means something "not" (example: irresponsible, irregular). The suffix -less also mean something "not" (example: careless, powerless). The correct word is regardless; since there is no word such as irregard. It's pains to hear this word uttered in movies and even in debates. Sigh.

Equipments
"The equipments are ready. You can start bulldozing now."
Like stuff, equipment is also collective. When I say equipment, it means the whole assisting machines. Simply put, there is no such word as equipments. Remember that.

Thursday, July 3, 2008

Hello World

This blog is all about the face of the 21st Century Bitch.

The meaning of the word "bitch" has evolved through time. Before, it was merely used to refer to a female dog. After that, it became a derogatory term to connote something disgusting, abnormal or deviant.

According to http://www.wikipedia.com/, It is also frequently used as an offensive term for a malicious, spiteful, domineering, intrusive, or unpleasant person, especially a woman. This second meaning has been in use since around 1400. When used to describe a male, it may also confer the meaning of "subordinate", especially to another male, as in prison. Generally, this term is used to indicate that the person is acting outside the confines of their gender roles, such as when women are assertive or aggressive, or when men are passive or servile. More recent variants of bitch are bitchy, ill-tempered (1925), and to bitch, to complain (1930).

As I write, the term bitch will be used to refer to the smart, strong and assertive woman who ventures the world with mascara on.

Cheers. =)