I thank my God for the life that have been given to me. Though it was not smooth sailing but I have that life that I always want. Everyday is a challenge day in my terms and that will differ you and anyone else. We will have our ups and downs.  I cant complaint much as that is how it turned out to be and we shall improve as time passes by.

I was surrounded by cancer patients since I can remember which was as long as 10 years ago.  A few of my cousins were and are diagnosed with cancer. STRESS is one of the many excuses to activate the cancer cells FYI.

For cancer patients and family, cancer has become a chronic (on-going) health problem, like high blood pressure or diabetes.

Just like everyone, people who have cancer must get regular checkups for the rest of their lives, even after treatment ends. But unlike other chronic health problems, if you have cancer you probably will not need to take medicine or eat special foods once you have finished treatment.

If you have cancer, you may notice every ache, pain, or sign of illness. Even little aches may make you worry. You may even think about dying. While it’s normal to think these thoughts, it’s also important to focus on living right. Although some people do die of it, many with the disease are treated successfully and become cancer FREE.  Others will live a long time before dying from it. So, try to make the most of each day while living with cancer and its treatment. Dont all of us ARE?

You will have many feelings after you learn that you have cancer. These feelings can change from day to day, hour to hour, or even minute to minute. These are some of the very common ones and you may go through include:

• denial
• anger
• fear
• stress
• anxiety
• depression
• sadness
• guilt
• loneliness

“I heard the doctor say, ‘I’m sorry; the test results show that you have cancer.’ I heard nothing else. My mind went blank, and then I kept thinking, ‘No, there must be some mistake.’”

Learning that you have cancer can come as a shock. How did you react? You may have felt numb, frightened, or angry. You may not have believed what the doctor was saying. You may have felt all alone, even if your friends and family were in the same room with you. These feelings are all normal.

For many people, the first few weeks after diagnosis are very hard. After you hear the word “cancer,” you may have trouble breathing or listening to what is being said. When you are at home, you may have trouble thinking, eating, or sleeping.

People with cancer and those close to them experience a wide range of feelings and emotions. These feelings can change often and without warning. At times, you may:

• be angry, afraid, or worried
• not really believe that you have cancer
• feel out of control and not able to care for yourself
• be sad, guilty, or lonely
• have a strong sense of hope for the future

Living with HOPE is the strongest feelings that I gathered so far. Once people accept that they have cancer, they often feel a sense of hope. There are many reasons to feel hopeful.

• Cancer treatment can be successful. Millions of people who have had cancer are alive today.
• People with cancer can lead active lives, even during treatment.
• Your chances of living with–and living beyond–cancer are better now than they have ever been before. People often live for many years after their cancer treatment is over.

Some doctors think that hope may help your body deal with cancer. Scientists are looking at the question of whether a hopeful outlook and positive attitude helps people feel better. Here are some ways you can build your sense of hope:

• Write down your hopeful feelings and talk about them with others.
• Plan your days as you have always done.
• Don’t limit the things you like to do just because you have cancer.
• Look for reasons to hope.

You may find hope in nature, or your religious or spiritual beliefs. Or you may find hope in stories about people with cancer who are leading active lives. So if you’re surrounded by cancer patients always let them know HOPE is the strongest cure for cancer patients. Pray and pray to God. This was my reading last night while waking up at 4am. So our lives are not that bad after all kan?

P/S: To all cancer patients our prayers will always be with you Take care and my dedication to all the family members and friends and our love ones. Till then take care of our health.

I love curry… “Kari kepala ikan”, “Kari ayam, daging or kari telur”. Any type of curry will be my favorite. Should marry an Indian guy so that me can have curry all weeks without excuses! hahaha Lovvveeee Dalca… vege curry where you can find them in Malays Wedding as one of the many main dishes!

Found this. Read on…

Reuters

LONDON – A molecule found in a curry ingredient can kill esophageal cancer cells in the laboratory, suggesting it might be developed as an anti-cancer treatment, scientists said on Wednesday.

Researchers at the Cork Cancer Research Center in Ireland treated esophageal cancer cells with curcumin — a chemical found in the spice turmeric, which gives curries a distinctive yellow color — and found it started to kill cancer cells within 24 hours.

The cells also began to digest themselves, they said in a study published in the British Journal of Cancer.

Previous scientific studies have suggested curcumin can suppress tumors and that people who eat lots of curry may be less prone to the disease, although curcumin loses its anti-cancer attributes quickly when ingested.

But Sharon McKenna, lead author of the Irish study, said her study suggested a potential for scientists to develop curcumin as an anti-cancer drug to treat esophageal cancer.

Cancers of the esophagus kill more than 500,000 people across the world each year. The tumors are especially deadly, with five-year survival rates of just 12 to 31 percent.

McKenna said the study showed curcumin caused the cancer cells to die “using an unexpected system of cell messages.”

Normally, faulty cells die by committing programed suicide, or apoptosis, which occurs when proteins called caspases are ’switched on’ in cells, the researchers said.

But these cells showed no evidence of suicide, and the addition of a molecule that inhibits caspases and stops this “switch being flicked’ made no difference to the number of cells that died, suggesting curcumin attacked the cancer cells using an alternative cell signaling system.

U.S. Researchers said in 2007 they had found curcumin may help stimulate immune system cells in the Alzheimer’s disease.

P/S: I love you curry the Curry Remind me of Sophiaan at the Kelantanese Gerai with our curry

I read this article somewhere last month. So, it is not too late for me to share this interesting article by several scientist on calories.

A NUTRITIOUS but calorie restricted diet can increase life expectancy and reduce the risk of age-related diseases, including cancer, according to research published in the journal Science.

The study, conducted over 20 years on dozens of rhesus macaque monkeys, provides new insight into the way the phenomenon works
and its potential implications for humans, according to the research authors. “We have been able to show that caloric restriction can slow the ageing process in a primate species,” said Richard Weindruch, a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin and an author of the research. “We observed that caloric restriction reduced the risk of developing an age-related disease by a factor of three and increased survival,” added Weindruch, who led the National Institute on Ageing-funded study.

The incidence of cancerous tumours and cardiovascular disease among animals on a calorie-restricted diet was less than half that seen in the control eat what they wanted. The study also found that none of the calorie-restricted group suffered from diabetes or glucose-impaired regulation, despite the usual frequency of such problems in monkeys. “So far, we’ve see the complete prevention of diabetes,” Weindruch said.

Co-author Sterling Johnson, a neuroscientist at the University of Wisconsin, said the caloric reduction also improved brain health.“It seems to preserve the volume of the brain in some regions. It’s not a global effect, but the findings are helping us understand if this dietary treatment is having any effect on the loss of neurons” associated with ageing, Johnson said. Scientists have been interested in the potential for calorie-restricted diets to extend lifespan since the 1930s, when tests were carried out on rats. Since then, researchers have undertaken studies on calorie reduction on subjects ranging from spiders to human.

So my comment is as long as you control whatever you consume and you must balance up between your diet and your exercise too. I do agree with high calories intake can cause a lot of problem.  Do remember this, it is your own and you have the obligation to take care of it.

HANDBOOK 2010

Health:

1.    Drink plenty of water.
2.    Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.
3.    Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.
4.    Live with the 3 E’s — Energy,  Enthusiasm, and Empathy.
5.    Make time for prayer.
6.    Play more games.
7.    Read more books than you did in 2009.
8.    Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day.
9     Sleep for 7 hours.
10.  Take a 10-30 minutes walk every day. And while you walk,  smile.

Personality:

11.  Don’t compare your life to others’. You have no idea what
their journey is all about.
12.  Don’t have negative thoughts or things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.
13.  Don’t over do. Keep your limits.
14.  Don’t take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
15.  Don’t waste your precious energy on gossip.
16.  Dream more while you are awake.
17.  Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
18.  Forget issues of the past. Don’t remind your partner with  his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.
19.  Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don’t hate others.
20.  Make peace with your past so it won’t spoil the present.
21.  No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
22.  Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn.   Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.
23.  Smile and laugh more.
24.  You don’t have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

Society:

25.  Call your family often.
26.  Each day give something good to others.
27.  Forgive everyone for everything.
28.  Spend time with people over the age of 70 & under the  age of 6.
29.  Try to make at least three people smile each day.
30.  What other people think of you is none of your business.
31.  Your job won’t take care of you when you are sick. Your family and friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

32.  Do the right thing!
33.  Always speak the truth even if it leads to your death.
34.  GOD heals everything.
35.  However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
36.  No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
37.  The best is yet to come.
38.  When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.
39.  Your Inner most is always happy. So, be happy.

P/S: We will let you add for no 40 Have a wonderful YEAR 2010. Hope everyone find that someone to love and be loved. Best medicine of all time…

I have been on that scale machine for the past 2 weeks. Thought I lose weigh and true enough I dont! Extra 2 kgs is not good. And it is damn hard to loose weight these days. Simple steps that I shall be using now to reduce that fat!

1. Step 1 Stick to low fat meats such as fish, chicken, turkey and lean cuts of beef. I opt for fish.
2. Step 2 Slowly move down to fat free milk. Don’t go directly from whole to fat free overnight, you might not stick with it. Also use low fat dairy products such as cream cheese, sour cream and cottage cheese. I love cheesy stuff HOW?
3. Step 3 Bake instead of fry. Baking requires a lot less oil. The same goes for snack foods. There are now a lot of brands of potato chips that aren’t fried but baked.
4. Step 4 Stop eating junk food. This will solve a lot more than cutting out fat. Most junk food whether it is a snack or fast food is loaded with enough fat to cover your needs for a few days.
5. Step 5 Tweak your recipes to remove or cut down on ingredients high in fat such as oil, butter and cheese.
6. Step 6 You can get more help by exercise-exercise and exercise. hahaha Dont be lazy… big ass

Till then happy loosing those fat!

My apology that this might not be the right forum to talk about. But it is still part of the recipe for us to find out!

Got it from my Inbox and it is in Malay Language… Hope you dont mind

Dihadapan orang yang kau cintai, musim dingin berubah menjadi musim semi yang indah.
Dihadapan orang yang kau sukai, musim dingin tetap saja musim dingin hanya suasananya lebih indah sedikit.

Dihadapan orang yang kau cintai, jantungmu tiba tiba berdebar lebih cepat.
Dihadapan orang yang kau sukai, kau hanya merasa senang dan gembira saja.

Apabila engkau melihat kepada mata orang yang kau cintai, matamu berkaca-kaca
Apabila engkau melihat kepada mata orang yang kau sukai, engkau hanya tersenyum saja.

Dihadapan orang yang kau cintai, kata kata yang keluar berasal dari perasaan yang terdalam.
Dihadapan orang yang kau sukai, kata kata hanya keluar dari fikiran saja.

Jika orang yang kau cintai menangis, engkaupun akan ikut menangis disisinya.
Jika orang yang kau sukai menangis, engkau hanya menghibur saja. Perasaan cinta itu dimulai dari mata, sedangkan rasa suka dimulai dari telinga.

Jadi jika kau mau berhenti menyukai seseorang, cukup dengan menutup telinga.
Tapi apabila kau mencoba menutup matamu dari orang yang kau cintai, cinta itu berubah menjadi tetesan air mata dan terus tinggal dihatimu dalam jarak waktu yang cukup lama.

“Tetapi selain rasa suka dan rasa cinta… ada perasaan yang lebih mendalam. Yaitu rasa sayang…. rasa yang tidak hilang secepat rasa cinta. Rasa yang tidak mudah berubah. Perasaan yang dapat membuat mu berkorban untuk orang yang kamu sayangi. Mahu menderita demi kebahagiaan orang yang kamu sayangi.

Cinta ingin memiliki. Tetapi Sayang hanya ingin melihat orang yang disayanginya bahagia… walaupun harus kehilangannya.”

P/S: Can I just translate the last verse…. hmmmm I am sorry but I can’t even translate it to English Language :O

Good tips for my fellow friends who cant leave without RICE!

Eat Less Rice!

The human body was never meant to consume rice? You see, our genes have hardly changed in more than 30,000 years. However, our food choices and lifestyle have changed dramatically. The caveman would hardly recognise our food or way of life.

Caveman food was never cooked as fire was not yet tamed. Thus, he ate only those foods that you can eat without treatment with or by fire. He ate fruits, vegetables, fish (sushi anyone?), eggs, nuts and meat. Yes, even meat! You can even eat meat raw if you were starving in the forest. You have the necessary enzymes to digest meat.

However, rice, like wheat and corn, cannot be eaten raw. It must be cooked. Even if you were starving in the desert, you cannot eat rice in the raw form. This is because we do not have the system of enzymes to break rice down. You were never meant to eat rice. To make matters worse, you not only eat rice, but also make it the bulk of your food.

In some parts of Asia , rice forms up to 85% of the plate. Even if you take rice, keep it to a minimum. Remember, it is only for your tongue – not your body. Actually, rice and other grains like wheat and corn are actually worse than sugar. There are many reasons:

Rice becomes sugar – lots of it!
This is a fact that no nutritionist can deny: rice is chemically no different from sugar. One bowl of cooked rice is the caloric equal of 10 teaspoons of sugar. This does not matter whether it is white, brown or herbal rice. Brown rice is richer in fibre, some B vitamins and minerals but it is still the caloric equal of 10 teaspoons of sugar. To get the same 10 teaspoons of sugar, you need to consume lots of kangkong-10 bowls of it.

Rice is digested to become sugar.
Rice cannot be digested before it is thoroughly cooked. However, when thoroughly cooked, it becomes sugar and spikes circulating blood sugar within half an hour-almost as quickly as it would if you took a sugar candy. Rice is very low in the ‘rainbow of anti-oxidants. ‘

This complete anti-oxidant rainbow is necessary for the effective and safe utilisation of sugar. Fruits come with a sugar called fructose. However, they are not empty calories as the fruit is packed with a whole host of other nutrients that help its proper assimilation and digestion.

Rice has no fibre.
The fibre of the kangkong fills you up long before your blood sugar spikes. This is because the fibre bulks and fills up your stomach. Since white rice has no fibre, you end up eating lots of ‘calorie dense’ food before you get filled up. Brown rice has more fibre but still the same amount of sugar.

Rice is tasteless-sugar is sweet.
There is only so much that you can eat at one sitting. How many teaspoons of sugar can you eat before you feel like throwing up? Could you imagine eating 10 teaspoons of sugar in one seating?

Rice is always the main part of the meal.
While sugar may fill your dessert or sweeten your coffee, it will never be the main part of any meal. You could eat maybe two to three teaspoons of sugar at one meal. However, you could easily eat the equal value of two to three bowls (20-30 teaspoons) of sugar in one meal. I am always amused when I see someone eat sometimes five bowls of rice (equals 50 teaspoons of sugar) and then asks for tea tarik kurang manis!

There is no real ‘built in’ mechanism for us to prevent overeating of rice:
How much kangkong can you eat?
How much fried chicken can you eat?
How much steamed fish can you eat?
Think about that!

In one seating, you cannot take lots of chicken, fish or cucumber, but you can take lots of rice. Eating rice causes you to eat more salt. As rice is tasteless, you tend to consume more salt-another villain when it comes to high blood pressure. You tend to take more curry that has salt to help flavor rice. We also tend to consume more ketchup and soy sauce which are also rich in salt.

Eating rice causes you to drink less water.
The more rice you eat, the less water you will drink as there is no mechanism to prevent the overeating of rice. Rice, wheat and corn come hidden in our daily food. As rice is tasteless, it tends to end up in other foods that substitute rice like rice flour, noodles and bread. We tend to eat the hidden forms which still get digested into sugar.

Rice, even when cooked, is difficult to digest.
Can’t eat raw rice? Try eating rice half cooked. Contrary to popular belief, rice is very difficult to digest. It is ‘heavy stuff’. If you have problems with digestion, try skipping
rice for a few days. You will be amazed at how the problem will just go away.

Rice prevents the absorption of several vitamins and minerals.
Rice when taken in bulk will reduce the absorption of vital nutrients like zinc, iron and the B vitamins.

Are you a rice addict? Going rice-less may not be easy but you can go rice-less. Eating less rice could be lot easier than you think. Here are some strategies that you can pursue in your quest to eat less rice:

Eat less rice-cut your rice by half.

Barry Sears, author of the Zone Diet, advises ‘eating rice like spice’. Instead, increase your fruits and vegetables. Take more lean meats and fish. You can even take more eggs and nuts.

Have ‘riceless’ meals.
Take no rice or wheat at say, breakfast. Go for eggs instead.

Go on ‘riceless’ days.
Go ‘western’ once a week.

Take no rice and breads for one day every week.
That can’t be too difficult. Appreciate the richness of your food. Go for taste, colours and smells. Make eating a culinary delight. Enjoy your food in the original flavours.

Avoid the salt shaker or ketchup.
You will automatically eat less rice.

Eat your fruit dessert before (Yes! No printing error) your meals.
The fibre rich fruits will ‘bulk up’ in your stomach. Thus, you will eat less rice and more fruits.

P/S: It’s your life. Decide what you want to eat! But eat less rice!