Honey On My Lips

The Scientific 7-Minute Workout: “The exercises should be...

Wed, 15 May 2013 02:35:43 +0800

The Scientific 7-Minute Workout: “The exercises should be performed in rapid succession, allowing 30 seconds for each, while, throughout, the intensity hovers at about an 8 on a discomfort scale of 1 to 10, Mr. Jordan says. Those seven minutes should be, in a word, unpleasant. The upside is, after seven minutes, you’re done.”

Three years and three months of boycotting Mcdonald's

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 21:30:59 +0800

I haven’t had Mcdonald’s since December 2009. Cool!

I know it’s just a small act by one person, and won’t really make a difference in the world. It’s more of a symbolic act, a starting point, and just a personal refusal to spend any more money on a huge fast food corporation that advertises to children and takes advantage of people who don’t know any better. They spend millions of dollars on research and marketing, and they deliberately use psychology, biology, and economics to get people to consume way more of unhealthy foods than they should. Their advertising even targets children. Mcdonald’s is not alone in this; fast food corporations in general are all guilty of this. In my opinion though Mcdonald’s is the worst— probably a personal bias stemming from the fact that they innovated supersizing to overcome people’s instinctive portion control. Michael Pollan wrote about that in his book The Omnivore’s Dilemma. In a more recent book, Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss, it is revealed how junk food companies use science to get us addicted to junk food… and perhaps more importantly, that junk food companies know exactly what they’re doing. I haven’t read the book yet but I really want to, based on this excerpt from NYTimes:

—- —- —-

The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

I first met Moskowitz on a crisp day in the spring of 2010 at the Harvard Club in Midtown Manhattan. As we talked, he made clear that while he has worked on numerous projects aimed at creating more healthful foods and insists the industry could be doing far more to curb obesity, he had no qualms about his own pioneering work on discovering what industry insiders now regularly refer to as “the bliss point” or any of the other systems that helped food companies create the greatest amount of crave. “There’s no moral issue for me,” he said. “I did the best science I could. I was struggling to survive and didn’t have the luxury of being a moral creature. As a researcher, I was ahead of my time.”

Moskowitz’s path to mastering the bliss point began in earnest not at Harvard but a few months after graduation, 16 miles from Cambridge, in the town of Natick, where the U.S. Army hired him to work in its research labs. The military has long been in a peculiar bind when it comes to food: how to get soldiers to eat more rations when they are in the field. They know that over time, soldiers would gradually find their meals-ready-to-eat so boring that they would toss them away, half-eaten, and not get all the calories they needed. But what was causing this M.R.E.-fatigue was a mystery. “So I started asking soldiers how frequently they would like to eat this or that, trying to figure out which products they would find boring,” Moskowitz said. The answers he got were inconsistent. “They liked flavorful foods like turkey tetrazzini, but only at first; they quickly grew tired of them. On the other hand, mundane foods like white bread would never get them too excited, but they could eat lots and lots of it without feeling they’d had enough.”

This contradiction is known as “sensory-specific satiety.” In lay terms, it is the tendency for big, distinct flavors to overwhelm the brain, which responds by depressing your desire to have more. Sensory-specific satiety also became a guiding principle for the processed-food industry. The biggest hits — be they Coca-Cola or Doritos — owe their success to complex formulas that pique the taste buds enough to be alluring but don’t have a distinct, overriding single flavor that tells the brain to stop eating.

Read the whole story: The Extraordinary Science of Addictive Junk Food

—- —- —-

My boycott is unnecessary. I can probably still eat Mcdonald’s occasionally and it would be fine… But I don’t need to and I don’t want to. Also, I don’t push my boycott on other people and I don’t get mad at other people if they choose to eat Mcdonald’s. If I’m with people who want to eat at Mcdonald’s, I still go with them and just politely decline to eat. It’s really important to me that I don’t make other people feel uncomfortable about that, so I go to great lengths to let people know that yes, it’s really ok if you eat that burger in front of me. I’m going to continue with my boycott and will probably break it only if I’m very hungry and there are really no other options.

So… I can live without Mcdonald’s. I can probably live without a lot of those other junk foods! I started that boycott as an easy “baby step” so maybe it’s about time to step up and add a second corporation. I’m thinking of Coca-Cola.

Save Philippine Seas » NEW! SPS Volunteer Opportunities

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 21:30:09 +0800

Save Philippine Seas » NEW! SPS Volunteer Opportunities:

This wonderful org, Save Philippine Seas, is looking for:
Bloggers/writers – to cover and document marine-related events and issues
Graphic artists – to create infographics and publicity materials
Reporters and respondents – preferably based at or living near coastal communities outside of NCR who can regularly report (via email or SMS) any sea-related news from their area to the SeaNN media curators
Project/event assistants – to assist in logistics and volunteer mobilization
Photographers/writers – to document different events
Marketing assistants – to help SPS look for and secure partners and sponsors
Admin assistants - to assist in preparing logistics and organizing documentation
Layout artists – to design the training kit and other informative materials

Gluten-free coconut flour heart-shaped experimental pancakes :D...

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 12:04:40 +0800

Gluten-free coconut flour heart-shaped experimental pancakes :D yesterday they were dry, but I tweaked the recipe and they’re much better today! Super filling but I don’t get bloated— since I’m basically just eating coconut meat and eggs :P (via feannekitty on Instagram)

Did you that know you can have fresh, organic, biodynamic food...

Wed, 07 Nov 2012 11:06:48 +0800

Did you that know you can have fresh, organic, biodynamic food delivered right to your doorstep? Holy Carabao, that’s awesome! ;) Here’s my review of this lovely little farm in Laguna that delivers grass-fed meat and organic veggies and more to your doorstep.

Sustainable Manila: Holy Carabao Review

Just finished my Peak 8 HIIT jump rope workout :3

Sun, 28 Oct 2012 04:42:38 +0800

Just finished my Peak 8 HIIT jump rope workout :3

Reasons to hunt and eat sea urchins: 1. They’re...

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 17:13:58 +0800

Reasons to hunt and eat sea urchins:

1. They’re delicious!
Sea urchin roe or “uni” has a strong, briny, ocean taste like caviar, and a rich, creamy, delicate consistency like foie gras.

2. And nutritious!
Full of vitamin A, D, zinc, and long-chain fatty acids. This is why roe is prized as a superfood in many cultures, especially for pregnant women.

3. Preemptive strike.
Hunt and eat them before they sting you with their spines while you frolic about at the beach. The best defense is a good offense!

Read on at Sustainable Manila: How To Hunt And Eat Sea Urchins for my fun guide on capturing and consuming these wily little creatures!

Got my butt kicked by CrossFit yesterday!

Thu, 25 Oct 2012 10:19:00 +0800

Went to CrossFit Alabang for a free trial sesh. Warmup pa lang pagod na and was only able to do half the workout :)) it’s basically HIIT + muscle confusion. Got really excited about the super slim jumping ropes— got to try those out and they’re super fast! WHA-PSSH! And those ropes are not available at local fitness stores!

Easy nomnomz! Minced Puso Ng Saging & Mushrooms at the...

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:33:00 +0800

Easy nomnomz! Minced Puso Ng Saging & Mushrooms at the Sustainable Manila blog :)

Excerpts from Paula Aberasturi’s thoughts on dieting: - Food should nourish you, make you...

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 21:06:32 +0800

Excerpts from Paula Aberasturi’s thoughts on dieting:

- Food should nourish you, make you glow, put a twinkle in your eyes. So, you have to be happy with the diet you pick. For example, eat healthy because you love it, not because it keeps off the pounds. Otherwise, you’d be walking around mad at the world everyday because it deprived you of chocolate.

- Don’t obsess about it. When you are obsessed about every part of your diet, you lose the joy in it. There are some people who claim to follow the healthiest diets on earth, but they look so frail with dark circles under their eyes. They get obsessed about every ingredient and snap when they can’t get this or that. (No wonder they look like that.) I don’t want to be them. I want the glow and rosy cheeks, not be a stick with gray skin.

- You don’t have to pay a lot of money to know that you should be eating a lot of vegetables (Hint: biodynamic vegetables especially), avoid sugar and processed food, and get good protein. (Hint: pasture-raised meat.)

- If you eat when you’re hungry, and begin to stop starving or depriving yourself, the bingeing stops. So will overeating. As your body knows it will be nourished every time, it won’t find the need to gorge. And how ever can you sustain a very restrictive, lower than required calorie diet? The day you go off this diet is the day you will overindulge because you felt so deprived for weeks, months on end. (Also, eating so few calories a day is dangerous. When the body is starved for calories, the body’s metabolism slows down to preserve energy. And then you’re in big trouble.)

- Once we start equating food with “shoulds”, it becomes dogma. And who wants to eat dogma? I have had enough of that elsewhere. Food ought to be joie de vivre. Of course it should be. It’s what you put in your mouth. And there has to be butter, chocolate and wine in that equation. Although not exactly measured.

Read Paula Aberasturi’s full post, “Diet Dictum”, here.

Sustainable Manila Updates!

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 18:25:00 +0800

Lotus Bloom Soaps Review - After showering I wanted to get dirty again just so I could shower with the soap again! Lovely handmade cold-pressed soaps with pure ingredients.

Mind - Gut Connection, Functional Foods, & Stem Cell Enhancement - Free Seminar on October 21, 2012, Sunday, at the Makati Tuscany Condominium.

Sustainable Shopping Guide - Updated our map and directory listing of shops and suppliers of organic, eco-friendly, biodynamic, handmade, healthy, and sustainable food and goods in Metro Manila!

Really tired

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:23:00 +0800

… after my first Peak 8 jump rope workout in a long while! Gotta get back to my fitness routine. Although I don’t really gain a noticeable amount of weight when I’m not exercising… I really notice a difference in how I feel. Exercise regulates hormones, metabolism, digestion, etc. I’m definitely moodier and grumpier when I don’t get my daily dose of endorphins!

Speaking of which, I should record my funny “I’m Not In Love I’m Just Hormonal” song that I’ve been working on for a while now. In the meantime you can still listen to and download (free) my other songs at my Soundcloud account :)

In other news, I’ve tried going gluten-free and refined-sugar-free and it really makes a difference! Foods to avoid are neatly summarized here: Principles Of Healthy Diets— avoid vegetable oils (except for olive oil and virgin coconut oil), refined flour, refined sugar, fake foods.

Because you speak as if you are a learned food analyst. I think it's the thorough research that you do and the citations of authorities that make you convincing that you're good at it. It may be good. It may be bad. But one thing is sure. You make a following. And, that gives you more pressure to work harder. Not to appear convincing but to be responsible advocate of what you espouse because people believe in you. How's tha?

Mon, 01 Oct 2012 14:29:35 +0800

Thanks! I try my best to be up front with my research, and to empower people to learn on their own and make independent informed choices about their health :)

How To Tell If Any Food Is Healthy: Assess Dosage, Form, & Culture

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:47:11 +0800

People often ask me whether this or that food is healthy, and why or why not. I’m not a scientist or doctor or farmer, so I’m not a licensed expert, and I don’t have all the answers. I’ll try my best to figure it out, though! I do have plenty of curiosity, and a large vested interest in preserving my health, my community’s health, and my planet’s health. These, along with an open and critical mind, are great tools in figuring out answers.

Here’s a basic guide for figuring out the health value of any food:
Assess dosage, form, and culture.

Hi! This is super cool. I am trying to gain weight but I can't because I have so many allergies. I do notice that drinking cow dairy is really bad for my skin. I would love to try Arce Dairy ice cream. Aw, I really hope it doesn't give me pimples! Thanks.

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:22:35 +0800

Hi there, thanks so much! :) I’ve struggled with pimples myself, and believe me, sometimes it’s really a mystery! If you don’t mind me asking, what kind of cow dairy were you drinking, and what allergies do you have? I also recommend: avoiding refined sugar and refined flour and vegetable oil. Also avoid gluten if you can. Drink lots of water, eat fresh foods, get lots of fresh air, exercise, sleep, and sunshine (go to the beach!) :D

Check out our Sustainable Shopping Guide on our brand-new...

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 17:58:25 +0800

Check out our Sustainable Shopping Guide on our brand-new Sustainable Manila blog for a map and directory listing of shops and suppliers of organic, biodynamic, eco-friendly, healthy food and goods in Metro Manila! Some of them even deliver to your doorstep.

We are constantly updating this guide, so come back from time to time! Your feedback and suggestions are also very welcome. :)

This project is something I’m working on with my friend Tess from Weston A. Price Foundation, super excited :D follow us on Twitter too— @SustainablePH

Alzheimer's may be a type of diabetes

Mon, 10 Sep 2012 16:56:38 +0800

Food for thought: eat your way to dementia excerpt:

Poor sensitivity to insulin is typically associated with type 2 diabetes, in which liver, fat and muscle cells fail to respond to the hormone. But results such as de la Monte’s have led some researchers to wonder whether Alzheimer’s may sometimes be another version of diabetes - one that hits the brain. Some have even renamed it “type 3 diabetes”.

115m people globally will get Alzheimer’s by 2050.

If they are right - and a growing body of evidence suggests they might be - the implications are deeply troubling. Since calorific foods are known to impair our body’s response to insulin, we may be unwittingly poisoning our brains every time we chow down on burgers and fries. People with type 2 diabetes, who have already developed insulin resistance, may be particularly at risk. “The epidemic of type 2 diabetes, if it continues on its current trajectory, is likely to be followed by an epidemic of dementia,” says Ewan McNay of the University at Albany in New York. “That’s going to be a huge challenge to the medical and care systems.”

All of which highlights the importance of eating healthier foods and taking exercise to reduce your risk of dementia. It may even be possible to reverse - or at least decelerate - some of the cognitive decline in people who already have Alzheimer’s, by targeting the underlying insulin resistance. If so, that would suggest new treatments for the disease, which has so far evaded any attempt to treat it.

Hey ^^ I love your art and your bog~ can I ask... is it healthy to use spice pastes (e.g. thai green paste) ? Thank you :)

Tue, 28 Aug 2012 09:12:01 +0800

Thanks so much! Sorry, I’m not familiar with spice paste / Thai green paste, since I don’t eat spicy food :P as a general rule though, just read the ingredients list. I try to avoid artificial preservatives, flavors, and colors. If the paste is only made of traditional and natural ingredients (pepper, herbs, etc.) chances are good that it’s healthy :D

"We are all shareholders in corporation Earth."

Wed, 22 Aug 2012 15:27:03 +0800

“We are all shareholders in corporation Earth.”

- Feanne

Anonymous asked: "what are your favorite makeup brands? youre so pretty :))"

Mon, 13 Aug 2012 11:43:00 +0800

Thank you so much :) I try to avoid wearing makeup, but when I do, I use Face Shop. I’m not a makeup expert though, and I haven’t tested a lot of makeup brands. If you ask me why Face Shop, I don’t actually have a good answer, so you may describe my choice as arbitrary! ;)

I highly recommend focusing on maintaining healthy and clear skin, so as to reduce dependence on makeup :) Here’s what works for me:
- eat healthy food (grass-fed meat, organic veggies, avoid sweets and grains and junk food)
- adequate exercise and sleep, because this affects your hormones
- joy, laughter, bonding time with loved ones— your happiness also affects your hormones
- organic soap (any virgin coconut oil based soap preferably w/ oatmeal, like Milea All Organics bar soap) as face soap to maintain healthy and clear skin; avoid harmful ingredients like sodium laureth sulfate, any parabens, artificial fragrances, etc… I think the Muji face soap (liquid) made from mineral water is also alright, it’s more convenient for traveling (compared to a bar soap).
- virgin coconut oil as a super effective makeup remover (gentle but safe even near the eyes)
- virgin coconut oil as moisturizer (rub onto face then wipe away)
- virgin coconut oil or shea butter as deodorant

As you can see I also save money by not having to buy so many different items (toner, moisturizer, etc.) ;) I don’t need them!

Thanks again for your question and the sweet compliment ^_^

* This question was asked on my art blog but I thought it would be better to answer here. Besides, I haven’t posted about cosmetics and skin in a while. :)