Wellness

WHY SHOULD WE GET A MAMMOGRAM?

November 1, 2021 by Little Miss Honey

Last month (October) was Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It was timely that since I am already in my 40s, I scheduled a mammogram and breast ultrasound for screening.

My mother was previously diagnosed of a suspicious breast mass when she was still living in Saudi Arabia with my dad. She had rounds of radiotherapy and was on Tamoxifen, a hormone therapy drug used to treat hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. It was a scary time for us especially my 2 siblings and I were faraway from my mom during her whole ordeal. It was a great that our father and our youngest sibling was there to take care of her and my father’s company to take care of all the medical expenses. So happy to announce my mother is cancer-free and doing well.

I know that as I reached the age of 40, I have to be more vigilant in doing my monthly breast examination. I also scheduled for my mammogram.

Here is the Breast Cancer Prevention Guidelines by the American Cancer Society:

• Women ages 40 to 44 should have the choice to start annual breast cancer screening with mammogram (if they wish to do so)
• Women age 45 to 54 should get mammograms every year
• Women 55 and older should switch to mammograms every 2 years

During appointment, I did the mammogram first. The technician have to change the mammogram tray because my breasts are small 😅 compared to the all the previous patients and too dense (meaning perky?😉) that she assumed I didn’t breastfed my kids. I corrected her that I breastfed all my 3 kids. She exclaimed, “Masshalah, you take care of yourself!”

Mammogram is mildly painful and uncomfortable. Followed by an ultrasound by a doctor because my breasts are too dense which will lower the sensitivity of the mammogram. The doctor noted a small well-defined lesion in my right breast that may either be a small fibroadenoma (benign breast cyst that can be excised in outpatient setting) or an intramammary lymph node. I am advised to repeat the ultrasound after 6 months.

Keep me in your prayers that everything will be alright. 🙏🏻 Don’t be scared to get yourself screened. Prevention is key.

5 HACKS TO SIMPLIFY YOUR LIFE USING SYSTEMS

June 21, 2021 by Little Miss Honey

Life is hard, we all know it. The daily grind can get the best of us. It can be really exhausting especially if you are a full-time working mom living abroad with three toddler sons without a helper (Wow! That is a mouthful). Some people would ask me, “How do you manage it all?” The truth is, I prefer to simplify my life because my life is already complicated as it is. So I simplify my life by creating systems. And it works because it made my life less stressful.

What are systems? Systems are repeatable set of actions that are performed in sequence replacing motivation with routine to achieve an desired outcome. Hmmm, sounds boring? But the boring made my life way easier. It eliminates guess work and reduces anxiety & stress. I previously worked as an Assistant Manager in Quality Management at a Singaporean Healthcare company and I have learned how important systems and processes are to create a successful corporation and it allows a company to run smoothly with high quality & efficiency. Just imagine any company running without any specific systems & processes and each employee will operate under the “whenever they feel it’ or ‘ whatever they feel like it’ vibe , you can imagine a company will definitely fall into pieces. This is exactly why companies & businesses have systems, workflows and flowchart. It allows a business to work efficiently and gives employees the confidence & assurance that they are doing their job well because they have a set of work-plan to rely on. This concept of using systems can also be used in our own household for a stress-free life.

Here are 5 ways I use to systems to simplify my life:

1. Meal Planning

Natal Essentials Confinement Food Service

I previously wrote about this in my previous blog post: 10 TIPS TO SAVE ON FOOD EXPENSES.

Have you experience that scenario when a group of friends would have lunch at a mall and it would take almost an hour before they can decision on which restaurant they will eat at? I know I have been in that scenario and it can be exasperating. Because sometimes you do know exactly what you want to eat but other times, you are just too tired to decide what to eat and you just want someone to decide for you. But often in a group setting (I mean with my group), nobody wants to decide where to eat. So we came up with a system to put a little papers of all the restaurants in the mall and we would draw lots to see which restaurant we will eat at that day. It worked for us.

Meal Planning removes that infuriating scenario of not knowing what to eat for that day by having set of meals planned for a week already. Not only did it eliminate stress but it also helped in how we do grocery efficiently and save food expenses as well. Our meal choices will be based on our tried, tested and loved dishes that my husband and I make or sometimes we would add in a few new dishes we wanted to try to cook in the mix. We would create meals or have meals per day based on the type of dish: Chicken Dish, Beef Dish, Seafood Dish, Pasta or Vegetable Dish, Leftover Day. I would make the list weekly or biweekly depending on our next grocery schedule. We know exactly what we will have for our meal tomorrow and what grocery items we will buy for next week. We allow flexibility in our meal plan also. If we don’t feel like cooking Chicken Adobo for today, we will exchange it with Beef Salpicao that was supposedly schedule for tomorrow, moving Chicken Adobo for next day’s meal. Easy Peasy!

2. Clothes of the Day System

Do you wonder why Mark Zurkerberg and Steve Jobs always wear the same clothes whenever you see them? Mark Zuckerberg with his plain grey t-shirt and Steve Jobs with his black turtlenceck, blue jeans and New Balance sneaker. They have a reason for it. Mark Zuckerberg eloquently answered that question in an interview. He stated that by wearing ‘a uniform’ eliminates the decision fatigue allowing him to conserve his energy by removing small decision-making (like what to eat or what to wear) towards more important things like running a successful business empire. Can you imagine if you are like Cher from the movie, Clueless, who has to do all that digital coordinating of outfit of the day every morning before she goes to school? It may look fun for one day but in the long run, I know that would be too exhausting for me.

So what I do to make my life easier is by categorising my clothes to work and going-out clothes. I decided what I will wear for the next day by getting the 1st dress or top on the right most corner of the cabinet depending if it is a work or going-out clothes (it can be both). If say I am going out for grocery that day and the clothes item on the right corner is too dressy for casual outing, I will leave it for my next work day and choose the next casual clothes item on the right. The clothes after being air-dried from laundry will be stored starting from the left corner of the cabinet. So the system exactly is like first in , first out. All my clothes definitely be worn in cycle. If I will just allow what I feel like it or what are my favourite clothes, I will be wearing only handful of clothes and neglecting some of my other clothes. If it is a top, that is when I get to decided to wear with it either slacks, skirt or jeans. I also removed the decision fatigue by deciding to wear skirt in morning and slacks in the evening, at work. I also stopped wearing accessories to work when the pandemic started. Previously, accessories was my way to get creative on my outfit of the day. I just wear accessories now when I am going out (which is not often). Same goes with my home clothes, I wear the below most t-shirt and shorts/home pants in the clothes pile and storing newly laundry clothes on top of the pile. Believe me, I love this system. I just pull out the 1st outfit on the right most part of the cabinet the night before, iron them and hang them out, ready for me to wear the next morning.

3. Morning & Evening Routine

We love watching that Morning & Evening Routine videos by Youtubers. There is beauty to having routines in morning and evening. Having a routine in the morning allows you to start the day right by getting up in a particular time of the morning and performing a series of tasks to jumpstart your day. You can create your own specific morning routine. It could be having your morning coffee, then exercise then listening to your favorite podcast or it could be starting your day with a walk in the neighbourhood followed by journaling or reading one chapter of a book. (If you want to read about My Miracle Morning Routine, click here.)

Same goes with evening routine. It is good to have set of routine as you get ready for sleep. It gives your body a signal that it is time for rest. It could be a warm shower and lighting your scented candles or drinking your nightly herbal tea while listening to soft music. You will be surprised how transformative morning & evening routines can be.

Our kids are accustomed to their evening before bedtime routine. After my shower, they know automatically that they will brush their teeth. Then they will proceed in tidying up their toys in the living room (we reminded them at the start when we introduced this practice to them, now they know it is expected of them). Once they have cleaned up the mess in the living room, we will go in their bedroom and I say the nightly prayers with them before they sleep. Even in the morning, I don’t need to remind them that they will fix their blanket and put it in under their pillow. They will then go to the dining area for their breakfast. They normally choose whatever they want for their breakfast. They have their staple favourites. My eldest son would often have his breakfast decided the night before. He would tell me, “Mommy, I would like a peanut oatmeal tomorrow morning.” He would sleep dreaming about his favourite peanut butter oatmeal for the morning.

4. Cleaning Routine

Life without helper here in Oman can be challenging. But often I would reserved the intensive sweeping and mopping of floors of the house as well as bathroom cleaning on weekends. I don’t allow my mood to dictate if I like cleaning the house on that day. I know that it is my cleaning day and I will clean the house. We try to maintain the house as tidy as possible (mind you, we have 3 toddlers in the house) so there won’t be massive clean-ups daily. It helps also that we don’t accumulate or buy so many things so we don’t have a lot of things to tidy. One thing that I want to incorporate in my cleaning routine now by using habit-stacking (taken from James Clear’s book Atomic Habits) is to sweep & mop the kitchen floor after my nightly washing of dishes. I have yet to implement this but we will see if I am able to keep up with.

5. Shopping System

You might be surprised that I find shopping to be stressful which is very opposite from other people. I am not a ‘browse around and see what I find’ kind of shopper. I want to go in a mall with a purpose. If you allow me to go in a mall and figure out what I want to buy or allow me to purchase my every whim, I would either end up in a mountain of debts or totally lost with anxiety & indecision due to the daunting multitude of choices available. So I go to the mall with a specific things on mind that I plan to buy. I would have a list of those items on my Notes on my phone. I would ask myself three questions before deciding on an item:

– Is it necessary?

– Will I still want this next week/month/year?

– Do I have a budget for this?

Having a list going to the mall allows me to be mindful of my purchases. This is, however, not fixed in stone. I may buy some items that are not on the lists and may leave out some of those in the lists. But having a curated shopping list (e.g. knowing you need to replace your work shoes or add some dresses in your wardrobe) can help you guide your purchases when out and about.

What you think of these hacks? I know for some people who prefer to wing it and find doing these too laborious and may think I am actually overly complicating things. It make seem too rigid and exhaustive. But I think creating systems is a lazy girl’s hack to getting things done especially if you have the system in place already. Some productivity guru would also call this as Strategic Laziness. Believe me, creating these systems is so freeing and effortless. But then again, to each its own.

Let me know if this list has been helpful for you

12 MENTAL HEALTH CARE TIPS DURING THE COVID 19 OUTBREAK

September 8, 2020 by Little Miss Honey

If there is one thing we are currently learning from this pandemic is the importance of mental health care. A boat load of mixed emotions, often negative, emerged during these time of uncertainty and new changes. There are feelings of anxiety, depression, boredom, anger and many more that are waging within us. We need to take better care of our mental health during these times.

mental health care tips during covid 19 outbreak

Here are 12 Mental Health Care Tips for you and me:

1. Tell yourself that it is okay not to be okay

In situation of extreme stress such as this, it is okay to acknowledge the fact that we are not okay and it is okay not be okay. Denying the dilemma that we all are facing can only unhealthily suppress the bottled negative emotions we have inside, causing more problems. Allow yourself to feel your emotions, sleep in and take things slowly. Disregarding our negatives emotions will only promote toxic positivity which doesn’t help at all. Venting your emotions to some you trust or a mental health professional would really be beneficial too.

2. Enjoy healthy activities that you enjoy and find relaxing

Engage in healthy activities like reading, exercise, eating healthy foods, napping, praying and spending time with family can boost positive mental health during this time. Find a habit that you enjoy and use this time to allow yourself to immerse yourself in those activities.

3. Lessen expectations

Lessen expectations with self and family members at home. Though we are given an opportunity to stay often at home which allows us more time for ourselves, give yourself a break by not condemning yourself like if you miss a workout today. Same goes with your spouse, your kids and other family members at home. We are all coping these days. No need to berate your spouse if he forgot to take out the trash or she gets more impatient with the kids lately. Be more understanding if your kids are acting up more these days because being coop up inside the house can be too restricting for their hyperactive energies. Besides Shakespeare once said that, “Expectations is the root of all heartache.” So lessen your expectations to avoid or at least, lessen heartaches and mental anguish.

4. Practice compassion towards self and others

Like #3, practice more compassion towards yourself and other. Forgive yourself if you mess up and don’t burden yourself too much. Be kinder to everyone. What is happening around us is call to return to kindness. We all need learn to be kind to one another and also to ourselves. There is a study that random acts of kindness can boost happiness levels. Even with social distancing, we can still do random acts of kindness in our own way by reaching out digitally to those who may need cheering up, donating to those who are in need and providing services like free zoom talks or classes on our topic of expertise. I know of one marketing agency that provides free video styling for business owners that she knows are struggling because of this pandemic.

5. Be mindful with social media consumption

Being on social media these days or watching/reading the news can cause more anxiety. Hence, I lay off from most of my social media accounts lately. Another study suggested lessening of social media consumption can increase happiness as well. A tip, if you are still not willing to delete your social media, is to focus on facts than fear during social media consumption. We can turn our attention towards the positives we see in social media. There is a cool hashtag in Twitter that you can check out to be inspired called #covidkindness.

6. Do meditation

Another mental health care tip that would benefit you now and even post-covid 19 is meditation. Meditation is a practice where an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm and stable state. There are several ways to meditate. One good one is the Loving Kindness Meditation. Think of a person that you love or care for a lot and repeat the mantra over and over , “May you be happy. May you be healthy“. You can also try other meditation apps like Calm, Headspace or Simple Habit. For me, I prefer to connect it with my faith and being a Catholic, I use the Catholic meditation app called Hallow.

7. Practice physical distance but do not be socially distant

Just because we are practicing physical distancing that doesn’t mean we become a recluse and avoid any contact to anyone outside our home at all cost. Connectedness towards other is even more essential these days. We need to reach out to our parents, siblings, our relatives and our close friends. Take time to check up on them. Create zoom parties. I even saw a farewell party done through zoom meeting for a colleague that will be transferring to another company. Everyone got dressed up, all have wine glasses to toast and a lovely meal in each homes. We all need that sense of togetherness despite not being physically together to hurdle this circumstance that we are all in right now. This is the best time to reconnect with long lost friends too.

8. Appreciate time affluence

One of the sad repercussion of this outbreak are the retrenchment, unemployment and business losses of companies. I knew of a few people that were laid off from work and some of my friends’ businesses closing. I encourage who experiencing these to do #1. Cry, get angry, vent out, lie down on the couch & binge watch on Netflix show. Do what you need to do to cope in this trying times. Learn to take advantage of the gift of time affluence. We are given more time for ourselves. This abundance of time will give us the time to hibernate, rest, experiment with new healthy activities we haven’t had the time to try out, realign to what we are passionate about, create strategic plans of what we want to do once we go back on our feet and live life slowly. Upside of time affluence is that it can sometimes provide with the clarity that you often couldn’t achieve in a fast paced life.

9. Journaling

Jotting down your free flowing thoughts can be therapeutic. Many realisations can arise from this practice. Vent out all your anxieties, sadness, hopefulness and plans in a paper. It has reap many benefits to a lot of people.

10. Move your body

Find an exercise that you enjoy. You can even just a walk around the house or dancing silly to your favourite tune inside your house. Moving your body can result to release of endorphins which acts on the opiate receptors of our brains which can result to a happy mood.

11. Create consistent routine

If you are feeling uneasy and especially those suffering from anxiety, creating a consistent routine would help in this scenario. In spite of the uncertainty that is happening around the world, having a sense of control and consistency can provide a calming and reassuring effect. Design energising morning and relaxing evening rituals for yourself. This can be extra helpful for your kids too if you create a morning and evening rituals they will look forward to. Have a consistent waking and sleeping time and this will help regulate your sleep. There are a lot of people experiencing insomnia these days. That being said, it is best to practice good sleep hygiene by having a conducive room atmosphere for sleeping, no caffeine after 6 PM and no cellphone 2 hours before bedtime.

12. Practice gratitude

Lastly, writing down gratitude list daily can improve mental well-being and increase happiness. Shifting focus on the things that we are blessed to have can tweak our brains into a more positive mindset. We get to have feelings of appreciation and abundance once we see how much we have to still be thankful for.

Pro tip for frontliners:

Here are bonus tips for front liners like me. If overwhelmed and discouraged, try this out:

Take a 1-minute break
Then do 3 slow conscious breaths
Also you can do reframing of your mind on what you are doing & what you are contributing to the community

I hope these tips can all help you as we cope this pandemic. Take care everyone!