Lifestyle

I'm tired all the time. As my birthday approaching, I feel like an old lady.

Lifestyle I'm leading is not good enough I guess. Speaking of this, I'm going to sound like an old lady to y'all, but here it goes. I used to be like...drinking, partying, eating lots of junks, intaking 'substances' I guess those-who-wish-to-live-longer woouldn't and so on, and yet I felt fine. I could feel lots of energy in my bones and body. No problem. Of course, that time was when I was between 17-24. Ancient stories.

.................Now, as I'm approaching 30 plus 1 (nope, I refuse to spell it out!) I rarely drink (because of medications I'm taking; forbidding me to), eat fairly little better, and no longer try weird substances. I feel like crap. I feel like I'm borrowing a 50-year-old-lady body. I wonder why.

Then I think about what I did a few months ago (okay, okay, 7 months ago) that have actually made me feel great. Spin class.

Spin class, exercise, whatever. What a great class! What a great exercise! I definitely need to move my ass to the gym to boost up some energy. The gym membership I have been paying every month (and I can count with my fingers how many times I've visited the place.)

Meats

I come across a clip taped at a slaughter house (mainly for cows) this evening. It's very disturbing.

Watching this kind of video gets me every single time. I start feeling bad and very inhumane for eating things with a face. It's very crual.

I guess over the years, I have eaten less and less dark meats. The reason isn't really because what I've pondered above, but for some reasons, I haven't felt like eating a lot of them. I think I prefer chicken and fish. And then I'm thinking, maybe I should really try to cut down. I usually don't eat any meat or dairy products two days a week. I guess I should consider increasing the days.

I really don't think we need to eat any meat, really. Human's teeth aren't really made for animal meat really. I've heard some research on this in the past--human are not meat eaters. So, Why do we eat meat?

Getting by in the Winter

Every year, I have this conversation with myself of how much I hate winter and what I should do to keep myself as happy as possible in winter.

I've become such a big fan of weather channel, which no, I don't do much of television, but op for ones via various website. They're updated pretty often. Although I can really do absolutely NOTHING to change a thing about weather in the upcoming day, I guess, it's comfort to be able to plan ahead.

This year, I've come to terms. I finally get to the bottom of my hatre of winter. It comes down to the chain reactions of the followings:
1) Winter makes driving a suicidal action.
2) Winter makes me haand I have to drag myself out of bed and start my car every single morning!
3) Winter makes me have to lose hours of sleep each week because of what've been mentioned above plus spare time to drive to my destination.
4) Winter makes me have to labor myself scraping brutal/cold ice out of my car. My hands are freezing cold!!!

That's all I can think of right now (and I haven't even come close to mentioning many little annoying things like higher electric bill.....)

Chili Experiment

I'd never thought making Chili is such a joy until I've discovered the taste of a good bowl of Chili myself. The thing is, I love everything slow-cooked. I love saute-and-let-it-sit kind of cooking; from Chicken-n-Noodle to Stew; from Pot Pie to Pot Roast. And here, Chili; is how I make it.

Easy Chili-----I use:

2-3 pound of ground beef/ chunk
1 very large onion or 5 small onions
1 very large green pepper
1 can of stew tomato
1 can of fire-roasted diced tomato
1 can of tomato sauce
onion power
garlic powder
pepper
sea salt
beef broth to taste
Chili mix

I know. I use Chili mix--not too pround of it, but for a beginner like me, so I guess I have to start somewhere. I though look at the package. I think next time I will make my own without the seasoning mix. I think I have to buy---chili powder, ground cumin, cayanne pepper powder and dried oregano.

I also let my pot of Chili cook on low for....em....forever. What I've discovered from my last attempt is that Chili tastes even much better the following day!!!

Family Doctor

I didn't know until a few years after I came to the US that there is actually such thing as 'Family Doctor.' I remember someone at a hospital in Muncie had asked me for the name of 'my doctor.' My answer that day was, "huh, what did you say again?"

Anyway, in the past year, I found one. I actually got a referal from a close former co-worker recommending me to see Dr. Stine. I checked with my insurance and he is in my network. I'm also lucky his office is right across the street from my apartment. Since then, I've been seeing him on a regular basis for things here and there, that I don't think I need to see an ENT for it. If I have to name a benefit of having a family doctor, it will be---I no longer have to make months worth in advance to see him when I need a professional opinion on things. This may sound weird, but I really do enjoy seeing a doctor--in general. I think co-payments are worth giving me a peace of mind. I also enjoy the idea of having an expert offers me their opinion. Take a year or so ago as an example, I had an ear surgery due to a few appointments made with a few doctors. I think medical advises give me a better idea of how I should take care of myself.

Dr.Stine is great. I'm lucky for finding him in the first place anyway. He runs his practice with his wife and another intern, so imagine that. I think the best thing about him is that he does take a lot of time with patients, listen and does offer easy-to-understand advises and explaination. I can't even word how great this doctor is (maybe I should dedicate the whole blog writing about him), but he is probably one of the best doctor out there.

Anyhow, my friends, if you have not yet had a family doctor, find one. See one on a regular basis is a good idea. As I age, I'm aware I do sound like an old lady, but I think it's important to treat your body the way it deserves and just like a car, our body needs regular maintanance.

Downtown Living

I'm moving to downtown Indianapolis at the end of my lease (the end of this month). The funny thing is that, after analyzing myself over and over, I'm really not a downtowner (even though I believed throughout my life I loved living in the city). I think when one lives in downtown, they need to take advantage of the stuff downtown has to offer, say, mall shopping, bars hopping, sport events etc. Why? Why pay more to live in downtown if you don't even care about all these excitements?

In the past three years, I have been living in the 'burb' with easy access to highways (when highways are easy to be accessed, I'm pretty much close to anything really). The cheesy 'burb' lifestyle is more laid back, quieter and offers less traffice. It gives you a chilled environment downtown cannot offer. Downtown Indianapolis is not bad though. It is actually really close to where I work. Downtown Indianapolis can be jammed if there are events. Both Colts Stadiums and Pacers Arena are both in the heart of downtown. There are a large mall, hotels, bookstores, bars and bunch of restaurants. So it can get pretty crowded here and there. But it's not bad.

But when I first saw the loft-style apartment where I will be moving in, I felt very much in love with it. High ceiling, lots of living areas and the complex seems to be pretty safe. So here I am going. I'm pretty anxious about it really. I guess I can get really creative with the loft-style apartment. Once I take some pictures inside, I will share them here.

Happy New Year 2008/ 2551---Year of Rat

Another New Year. January reminds me of my birthday. This year I'm once again getting older. I will be 31 in 29 days.

The day opens up with windy snowey all day long. Temperature must have been staying below 20 all day and as I'm writing this, it drops to 18 degrees, but feels like 5 according to weather channel. This time of the year, I wonder, what I'm doing in such a bitterly cold weather like this.

I hope this new year will bring lots of excitements and good stuff. My resolutions are carried on from my last years--lose weights and exercise more (It is such a comfort knowing many out there share the same resolutions as mine. Gym will be a crowded place in the next few weeks. Weight loss after the holidays I guess.)