Home is Where My Heart is...

Phuntsholing, Bhutan

Lawn outside the House

Phuntsholing, Bhutan

Too much of anything is NEVER good

Somethings in life such as "drinking lots of water', "brushing every day, eating vitamins, sleeping, etc we learn are good for us but what happens when we over do it and obsess over its capabilities???
Here are 5 things that we often consume too much and not realize how harmful they can be to the body:

1. Water
   -Drinking too much water can cause water intoxication because of a hitherto undiagnosed tricky heart. When the body takes in more water than it loses, it is called 'over hydration'. This happens when the heart, liver, kidneys or pituitary gland are not functioning properly. In these cases your doctor will restrict fluid intake and you may be given a diuretic to increase urinary output.
   
   
   
   
2. Vitamins:Vitamins are double edged sword. Some are not passed out gently out of the system after they've served their purpose. They remain there to wreck unsuspected damage.
   -Vitamin B: formally called Folic acid, Riboflavin, Thiamine and so on has become fashionable as pick me up shots. In certain people they cause rash with anaphylactic shock and even death.
   -Vitamin A: taking over 300mcg can cause drowsiness, irrtability, vomitting, peeling of skin. It is dangerous in pregnant women and may put older people at risk for hip fractures.
   -Vitamin D: over 2000 IU and over 2500 ml of calcium daily can cause loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, excessive thirst, high blood pressure and may damage the kidneys.
   -Vitamin E: over 1500 UI daily increases the risk of bleeding and can cause hemorrhagic strokes in people who are also taking blood thinner. Weakness, fatigue, nausea, and diarrhoea are also side effects.
    
3. Dieting
   Instead of meaning sensible meals, the word now implies load shedding, which has become popular obsession. As its simplest weight loss requires consuming fewer calories that the body uses. For example, half a pound of weight loss requires 10 days of consuming 200 fewer calories a day. Most healthy weight loss requires you to consume 1200-1500 calories a day.
   -Fad diets lacks essential nutrients, such a protein, iron, zinc, and provide the same volume of food by upping fibre and fluids.
   -High protein carb diets work like a dream for the first week or so, as the body converts stored carbs into energy and excretes large amounts of water. But after this initial stage the weight loss slows down.
   -Famous diets such as Atkins(high protein) or Pritikins (Low protein) known to cause dehydration, high cholestrol, kidney stress, loss of bone density and metabolic disturbances.
   
   Exercise
4. Too much exercise may lead to over training which can make you susceptible to injuries and illnesses.Exercise is a stressor which has a catabolic effect on the body. You know you are overdoing it if your workouts suddenly feel harder than usual or you're losing ground despite the fact that you're working hard. If the pain continues than your body is trying to tell you something.Your body needs time to recover, and your muscles will grow if you chill them so start slow and steady if you're a beginner and same goes with weight lifting.
   
   
5. Brushing
   Over enthusiastic brushing in the push to get sparkling white pearly and banish tooth decay gets the work in reverse. It is the act of brushing that is more important. Anything over 3 times a day, of 2 minutes and with a hard or medium brush can strip away the protective layer of enamel, which is only 1-2mm thick and cannot be reformed as it has no cells. thus, the inner layer of your tooth gets exposed leaving them yellow and sensitive to hot/cold, sweet/sour foods. this is called Tooth brush abrasion.
   
   
   

Your existence matters~

"I've let my walls fall down, the enemies have finally invaded... Should I surrender or die by my sword with honor like a Japanese samurai??..."

It seems like i have felt this before with the feelings that are taking over much stronger than anticipated... Normally called De-ja vu but I am not even sure what is normal anymore..??
----(thoughts at 4 am)

We, our minds, body and spirit are so occupied by trying to do the right things in life that we often neglect trying to enjoy doing things that we genuinely love... And only in moments of despair when we hear of someone that has either passed away or has only a few years of life to live, then we start to question our very own existence. Reality is what would you do if you knew you had just a few more months or years to live?


I thought about this question for a good long duration and it is definitely difficult to see things with a clear perspective to understand what would be important and what would matter if i were to be faced with death in a short time... Even though life is still pretty much unpredictable, i wonder if anything else besides Family, Love, Friendship would matter?...Like Work? House? Car? Money? Technology? would these matter as well...definitely say yes but to think about it deeply... would it really matter that you missed work one day or wore the wrong shoes? or had no computer to check emails??

To me, it would be the people i love that would matter the most. This would be a really great time to analyze who would make it to the inner circle and to carefully think who would actually be there for you when it all comes down in the end... Most days we don't make time to spend with others, go to meetings or attend birthdays, dinners  but rather choose that time to shut ourselves out of the world somehow... Reflecting back was it worth missing it all?

Think about when was the last time you told people that mattered how much they meant to you or how much you love them? if you haven't, why wait for another moment that may never come but start right here, right now how much it matters to have them in your life. It's never too late to do the things you want to do, make a schedule, to do lists and as you go on living day to day check those list out one by one (something like a bucket list). Spend time with those you wish to be around with, eat what you wish to eat, make music, exercise and hit the gym if you like, make a short documentary, take pictures, attend birthday's, travel around the world to places you always wanted to go, listen to granny's stories, cuddle your lover in bed before sleeping, start a foundation, appreciate nature and the beauty of the world and overall take time to enjoy the little pleasures life has to offer...because life is short and when death comes, it doesn't think twice...


Don't worry about the small things, just do what matters to you the most and do it NOW.

Your life is a gift that many people wish to have so cherish it, make a difference and enjoy now to the fullest.

World AIDS Day

We've all seen the Red ribbons that people wear on their coats or pinned to their bags... Ever wondered what it stood for? Most people i talked to today had no clue to what the full form of AIDS was... At least I'm glad i am not one of those and its thanks to the General Knowledge class we had to take in St. Helens Secondary school where these information so called 'knowledge' was drilled into us constantly. So for those of you who still don't know what it is; AIDS stands for "ACQUIRED IMMUNE DEFICIENCY SYNDROME".

Every year on December 1st, the world celebrates "World AIDS Day". It is celebrated globally to raise awareness on the AIDS pandemic that is caused by the HIV infection that kills many hundreds of people around the world each year. Hearing true life experienced stories from people infected positive for HIV is surely what moves me into wanting to reach out to them. Just like how in Bhutan, a rather positive milestone was stepped when a 38 year old man came forth with his positive HIV status in public after 20 years of being infected making him the pioneer in speaking out about being infected and i hope he sets a leading example to those who are still hiding behind their disease in fear of being stigmatized by society.

But little did i know too myself on what actually HIV and AIDS is so today i took the time after class to learn more about it and how i could pledge in raising awareness...And with this day commencing i pledged to help raise awareness by going to a Free HIV test clinic that was set up in the science center at UBC and educated myself so i could not only help myself but others in regard to this disease as well.

The first thing i did was i pledged myself and went to the free HIV testing clinic that was being offered by UBC health center and got tested for HIV. The nurse asked me a protocol series of questions but the one that stood out for me was when she seriously asked " If you were tested positive for HIV would you go out and harm other people...?" I had to pause for a few seconds to think if that was a serious question or not and with a unsure laughter i said of course not and hearing my unsure laughter she said yes i know it's a weird and funny question but its part of my job that i need to stick to these questions... But yes it was good to know that she found it weird as well... i am not a sadistic person to inflict pain and suffering on others and i hope there are no people like that who would like to inflict suffering on others except i did hear one time about the Tutsi population in Rwanda who rape babies as they believe that it would strip away of their HIV status....which is very disturbing and at the same time appalling to even imagine takes place in some corner of the world like many rituals and practices we are ignorant of still.

She took a poke at my finger and collected some blood and ran some tests and not surprisingly of the results it displayed 'negative' :). Thanking her after our small conversation on Bhutan, i left the clinic to enjoy my friend performing some neyo, Usher, tracy chapman cover numbers downstairs at the building...