Ivana Atmojo

My aunt is finally back home! She’s looking and feeling a lot better, although she’s still under medication for the next 9 months.

Having been through this, I vowed to myself that I’m going to take a super good care of my health. And yes! That means no more self-compromising when it comes to waking up early for morning exercise, really steering away from junk food (read: chocolate & desserts), sleeping hungry (no late-time snacking), and really making exercise a habit that we can’t miss (like brushing our teeth).

Hospital is sooooo not fun, I tell you. And it’s really not cool to spend our old days (the days after we retire) in the hospital. Retirement days should be filled with more shopping / buying gifts for the people we love (and of course ourselves too!!), watching musicals in the West End (London) or Broadway (New York), my babies (my puppy & piglet & goat), the Zoos (everywhere in the world), charities, and more adventures!!! I am sooo X’ing HOSPITAL in my old days to-do-list.

All I’m saying is: our health is our BIGGEST investment! And I’m not going to play around with it. As someone who’s been struggling with weight nearly all my life, I now declare that I seriously need to loose some weight for real. No more yo-yo dieting! It’s GOOD to feel good about ourselves, and so we should work for it!

I’m gonna leave you with a little trivia here, just a little something to motivate you to work out (or if you’re already a gym routine—to keep up your good job).

Do you know what you should know about what you drink?

• Chocolate shake (32 oz.) = 1160 calories = walk 5 hours and 15 minutes at 3 mph

• Chocolate milk(16 0z.) = 400 calories = run for 39 minutes

• Chai frappuccino (16 oz.) = 380 calories = lift weights for 1 hour and 42 minutes

• Margarita (8 oz.) = 300 calories = work out on the elliptical trainer for 32 minutes

• Orange juice (16 oz.) = 219 calories = bike at a moderate pace for 21 minutes

• Can of cola (12 oz.) = 136 calories = play tennis for 16 minutes

• Flavored water ( 20.oz) = 125 calories = hike for 24 minutes

• Pear juice ( 8 oz.) = 120 calories = practice yoga for 20 minutes

• Energy drink (8.3 oz.) = 115 calories = do step aerobics for 15 minutes

When was the last time you drank a cup of frappuccino, and when was the last time you ran for more than 30 minutes???

I know my answer, and I’m going outside to run right at this point

Credit: SHAPE magazine, September 2007, p.239