survey

If you have two minutes, please help my friend out in her research project! She will be sending out surveys to companies in China on their hiring practices. This particular survey is on what counts as "attractive." It's a quick survey and you get to rank photos of people based on their attractiveness. Your ethnicity, age, and location won't matter. Thanks!

Take the survey here.

okay, fine

Last night, I tried some of the exercises from this website on sports injury rehabilitation, and my body seems to be responding well. Some of the exercises are boring, but some of them are very, very good. "The Clam" is my favorite.

reflections on the alternative treatment

There are days when I think my alternative doctor is a charlatan, and there are days when I think he is a genius. I usually think he's a charlatan when I start exercising and certain muscles get sore or tight. And I usually think he is a genius when I follow his orders to cease and desist from exercise.

My body feels so much looser, relaxed, and just plain good now. I can't help but want to go out there and swim, run, or play! But my therapists (the doctor and his assistants/students) keep telling me, don't do that or you're going to hurt again! I guess they're right, but didn't I get this treatment so that I can exercise? Isn't exercise the goal?? (Being able to exercise might be my goal, but I don't think it's theirs, haha!)

My experience has been very good, but also frustrating because my Cantonese really isn't that good, and their English isn't very good either. I can't obey orders if I don't know why they're giving them! Okay, fine, I now understand that if I exercise now, I'll start to hurt. But how long do I have to wait? What can I do to speed up the healing process?? Yesterday, after my shoulders and jaw started to get tight again because I went swimming this past weekend, one of the assistants said, "Think about it this way. We're doing our best to help your body regenerate, especially in the area of your neck, but you are using your neck more than it can regenerate itself so that's why it started to hurt again." I don't quite understand what it is exactly that needs regenerating, but I suppose there is some kind of logic there even if I don't understand it. So now I'm not allowed to swim until my neck gets stronger.

Doesn't all this seem counter-intuitive to Western science that says the more you exercise a muscle, the stronger it gets? This alternative center says that because your body is not aligned and not strong enough yet, exercising those muscles will cause your blood circulation to be blocked and that will then lead to pain/injury.

So, yes, I'm frustrated, but I can't deny that I'm feeling a lot better than I've had in years. I no longer need sleeping aids. I'm breathing more deeply than I ever have. The tightness in my right shoulder is gone. And my knees no longer hurt or feel stiff when I go up and down stairs.

But this whole process requires patience that I don't quite have.

Coaster no. 5

My alternative treatment center put me on a very strict, temporary, diet of only grains (I opted for red rice), veggies, lean meat and fish. I no longer need to stay on this diet, but when I broke it by eating a McD's McChicken meal (not the smartest choice) and then a Vietnamese sandwich (made with a baguette), I felt awful. So I've decided to keep a mostly gluten-free diet. I'll break it occasionally but as much as I can, I'll stick to the diet.

I made these gluten-free muffins this afternoon. I haven't tasted them yet, but they do smell good!

childhood favorite

Chrysanthemum, red dates, and goji berry agar-agar.

light at the end of the tunnel

Last Thurs, my alt doc told me I could try light exercise, but there's a chance that I would feel pain again. I had a busy weekend, so I didn't get to go to the gym on Monday, and I guess the doc will tell me this Thurs if I'm good to go, but so far, I'm feeling good! My knees start to feel tight if I stand for a long time, but they seem to have held up after Monday's light work out on the bike and the mat. Today, I'm going to go for an easy swim.

Also glad that I found this website on stretches! My doc told me that I cannot skip out on stretching, and that I should hold each muscle for at least 2 minutes. This means my warm-up and cool down will take about 30 mins each. Yeap, I'm glad I'm single and don't have kids!!

I got back in touch with a friend I met in one of my earlier clubs, and he says he'll take me to one of his clubs where I'll meet a lot of other good players. Very excited and I can't wait, and I hope I can start working out for real again very soon!!

coasters 3 and 4

phew

I've had another slump. Helped organize Bersih 3 HK for Saturday (it went very well), and after that, went squid fishing with home group (no one caught anything). Cleaned on Sunday, and barely got any work done on Monday. Went to see the Avengers on Tuesday morning (very fun!), then joined home group for card games. I planned to stay only about an hour an a half or so, but it was about 11pm by the time we ended the games. I laughed so much I thought I was going to feel sick. All this has been fun but I'm feeling tired now--it's the side effects of my alternative treatment. I'm supposed to take it easy and every time I pack my schedule with activities, I end up feeling fatigued. Feeling better in general but my back and shoulder still need work.