Mothers should be Healthy

It was the year 2019 when I became a stay-at-home mom.. If you have been following my blog, I mentioned quite a few times that I was once a working mom. My husband and I worked in Singapore, my children were with us too. We had a nanny to take care of them. I needed to go back to Philippines because of the amount of work that I had that resulted to multiple panic attacks.

Since I am now here in the Philippines, life became a little slow and more manageable. More manageable? Hmmmm..

I am a self confessed workaholic and I carried that attitude here at home. I learned that the amount of work at home is never-ending. Little by little, I was able to manage the household chores.

The one that I was not able to manage is my health. I should admit that my weight now is my heaviest already. Though I am busy with a lot of household chores, the amount of food that I am taking is more than my body can accept (Haha). Filipinos are rice-eaters.. We even have this hashtag, “rice is life”. My excuse was that I should not deprive myself on eating much because I am working hard here at home.

Another reason of my good appetite is the fact that we stayed outside the Philippines for a long time.. Now, every Filipino fast food that we crave or Filipino food that we want is just a phone call away.

I have hypertension already.. It started when I was stressed at work and had attacks. My lab results were okay that time. Everything was normal.

Until last week when I decided to have a check-up, reality bit me. The lab results are not satisfactory.

Cholesterol, Triglycerides and SGPT are above the reference limit. I was a little disappointed even if I should not. I asked the cardiologist if I can just exercise and have diet instead of taking medications. However, the cardiologist refused. She said, I needed to take it for 3 months then have a lab test again.

Before my check up with the cardiologist, I had my blood pressure monitored. I did it for a week so that my cardiologist would not ask me to take medications. However, since my cholesterol level is above the limit, I still need to take medications though my blood pressure is always normal.

I am still thankful that I could still manage the condition. I am now trying to exercise everyday.. aside from the everyday chores that I have. I am into eating more vegetables now and less rice. I need to cook my food separately because for sure my children wouldn’t like to eat those foods everyday.

I need a lot of cardio exercise like biking, skipping rope and running. I tried to do the skipping rope yesterday morning. It was so tiring.. After exercising, I felt I needed to sleep again but I also need to prepare breakfast for the kids.

Mothers should be healthy. I am my children’s strength.. How can I be their strength if I don’t have the strength?

It is not too late.. I should do what I need to do. Start now, no more procrastination.