Exercise Tips for the Oversized (From Time)

1.  Short and Frequent
   Aim to exercise often, even two or three times a day, but keep the sessions short and sweet (10 to 15 minutes is plenty).  If it hurts, stop, and if you dread your workout, change it.  The pursuit of fitness should be a pleasure, not a punishment. 2.  Take care of your skin.
   One of the most troublesome problems large exercisers face is chafing, especially of the thighs.  Minimize the problem by wearing form-fitting clothes, preferably a synthetic fabric that whisks away sweat.  When it's time to hit the showers, use antibacterial soap and dry all body folds well.
3.  Be kind to your joints.
   Exercise can qualify as cardiovascular without giving your joints a pounding.  Take a gym spin on the recumbent bike, pump and elliptical trainer or enrol in a water-aerobics class.  Concentrate on strengthening upper-leg muscles, especially the quadriceps (the muscles on the front of the thigh).  That will, in turn, ease the strain on knees.
4.  Stretch Carefully.
   Limbering up is important for everyone, but overweight exercisers should staw away from stretches that strain the lower back, including that classic from gym class, the toe-touching drill.
5.  Mind your footwear.
   Sturdy running shoes usually offer the best support, even if you don't plan to run.  Be sure your shoes are roomy, an dkeep your toenails cut short.  Increased pressure on feet stuffed into sneakers that are too snug can lead to nagging problems with both nails and toes.

• Fond of ghost stories and scary movies?
  
• Addicted to horror trains and mazes that disappoint you every time?
  
• Like to drive by dark alleys with towering balete trees and reputed haunted houses during unholy hours, in the hopes that you'll see a white lady?
  
• Do you actually want to open your third eye?

   If you answered yes to all of the above questions, you must have serious thrill issues.  Most of the people I know who can say "I see...dead people" deplore their gift.  But I know one person who would love to have a close encounter of the third kind with anything paranormal.   That's unusual; I love ghost stories too, but put me face-to-face with a real apparition and I'd probably faint.  On the other hand, Ian (not my Tomato) would probably thrust a hand out to the befuddled ghost and introduce himself.   

      Hi again!  Find out exactly why those weird-sounding Filipino street foods merit a warning of 'eat at your own risk':

• Staphylococcus aureus (Call me Staph for short)
     Hi.  You can find me on your airways, skin, and superficial wounds.  If food is left at room temperature for several hours, I quickly multiply and produce a toxin.  Cooking kills me but not my toxin (LOL), which is capable of producing explosive loose watery diarrhea and vomiting after 2-6 hours.  Hear about those children's parties where most of the children got sick that very night?  A lot of those incidents were my work, thank you very much.  Good personal hygiene while preparing food and refrigeration of foods:  these two practices are the bane of existence, as I won't be able to proliferate.But, there's always someone out there who's just careless enough...
• Salmonella (Hi.  I like my name as it is.  It's so pretty, don't you think?  Why don't you name your daughter after me?)  
     There are lots of us in the intestines of birds, reptiles, and mammals.  You hear that? Intestines (Just think about that isaw or IUD that you had for merienda today.  Maybe I'm swimming around in your gut right now!).  I can also be found in raw eggs, and in water tainted with feces.  I can cause an acute form of gastroentritis (vomiting and loose watery diarrhea again, my two inseparable friends).  However, I am more famous for causing the dreaded typhoid fever which manifests with prolonged fever, diarrhea/constipation, and abdominal pain, which can keep you in the hospital for weeks.  Thank you, thank you, no applause is needed.
• Escherichia coli (Call me E. coli for short.  That's pronounced Ee-Kolay)
     Even though I'm found in your intestines too, I can also be found in the intestines of other animals such as cattle.  Thus, I'm often transmitted by water tainted with feces.  I cause a severe, bloody, sometimes mucoid (you know that disgusting fluid that drips from your nose when you have a cold) diarrhea with painful abdominal cramps which can rapidly become much worse, so if you get these symptoms, you better get yourself to a hospital quick!
• Vibrio cholera (Does my second name ring a bell to you?  I'm very popular in Africa.)
     I can be borne on anything you put inside your mouth--food or water, again if it it tainted with feces.  I've caused so many outbreaks since ancient times that I've killed more people than some wars.  The symptoms of extremely profuse watery diarrhea can start within one hour and can kill within three hours if not treated, especially little children, as my toxin can literally drain all the fluids from their bodies.
• Shigella (I'm another one with an adorable name)
     I'm most commonly found on improperly handled salads (potato, chicken, seafood), raw vegetables, milk and other dairy products, and meat products especially poulty.  However, I can also be borne through feces-tainted water.  The diarrhea I produce is usually blood-tinged, or termed dysenteric.
• Bacillus cereus (I love Filipinos and Chinese!)
     I can survive cooking as a heat-resistant spore and then proliferate when the storage temperature is incorrect.  I love starchy food such as rice, macaroni, and potato dishes (especially fried rice! Yum!).  Thus, if you don't want any brush with me, make sure you serve or reheat your foods to a very high temperature!

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• My nightmare
  
• The fact that my brother, who is is a 3rd-year medical student in a prestigious university, is the tenth in his batch of 300 with a current grade satisfying the requirement for Magna Cum Laude
  
• My request that you congratulate him so that he'll stop feeling so disappointed!  Hehe, I'm doing everything to cheer him up.
  

    Good day, people!  Here are a few very relevant and helpful mythbusters for the figure-conscious which I got from the magazine Cosmopolitan.  I thought of this post last night, because Tomato and I went to Fitness First gym for possibly the last time.  We'll be transferring to the Pinnacle Gym by next week.  Why?  Well, first of all, Fitness First is rather expensive.  And secondly, we had a big fight with the management!  Want to know more about that?  Well, read the following first, and see if you don't learn something new!

 
BULL: You can spot-reduce your stomach.
THE REAL DEAL: Ab exercises will strengthen and tone your muscles, but you need to incorporate cardio into your routine and change your diet if you want your steel tummy to show.

BULL: The greater the reps, the greater the rewards.
THE REAL DEAL: After 15-20 sit-ups, you begin pulling on the back of your head, whcih can cause neck strain, and using momentum instead of your abs. Focus on form over number of repetitions.

BULL: You need to workyour abs every day.
THE REAL DEAL: Like any muscle, abs need alternate days off to regenerate. Plus, you'll be less likely to burn out if you take a break.

1. The way he looks at me with his limpid eyes and slowly flaps his long, thick eyelashes, knowing perfectly well that it makes him look irresistible.

2. The way he calls me when he's out somewhere driving, and belts along to that lovesong bellowing out of his car radio.

3. The way he pauses after each exercise, after each stretching session, and just before changing outside the locker room in the gym so he can hug me and kiss me on the forehead.

4. The way he calls me when he's on his way to my house to ask if he can buy me anything.

5. The way he lifts an arm up to my chin when he's driving, so I can nuzzle his hand with my cheek.

6. The way he buys me small but thoughtful things, like that poster of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

7. The way he buys DVD's and audio CD's and offers them to my dad, who is a a techno-freak.

8. The way he buys kakanin and traditional Filipino food and offers them to my mom, who loves such stuff.

9. The way he often calls home to make sure that his mom, niece, and nephew are all right.

10. The way he falls asleep on the sofa while watching DVD's with my family, because he has to wait until 11 in the evening so he can fetch his sister from work. And that's when he has classes the following day, and has to wake up at 5 a.m. at the latest.