Friday Lunch, Antioxidants and The Porn Shop

So BIKSS isn't quite as needle phobic as we thought. He just isn't a fan of getting stabbed. 

But we did manage some readings before and after lunch. The numbers were better than his medical showed, but I have told him to get further testing done, and he's gone to the government run mega clinic to talk to someone there and they've told him to come back next Saturday, fasted for another bunch of tests. Hopefully they will actually do a HbA1c instead of just fasting gluc. AND a kidney function / liver function workup too. Good news - his BP has been behaving. Since elevated sugars can elevate BP, I'm going to take it as a good thing that it's stabilising. Hopefully this means his pancreas is going to start behaving too. 

Speaking of lunch - we went to like a touristy place for lunch on Friday - 

We BOTH got excited about the salad! And aside from the arugula it was delicious. The fried chicken bites were yummy too (it has a drizzle of local spicy sauce that I wasn't a huge fan of, but BIKSS enjoyed it rather a fair bit). We had some grilled fish - excuse the pic. It looked so good we dug into it before a photo could be taken. 

In an effort to combat whatever oxidative stress (elevated glucose / higher BP etc etc) we might BOTH be coming under (I mean, on top of regular ageing, city living and my obsession with chips, I *do* smoke), I've also gotten us each a bottle of raw antioxidants. This is the Garden of Life one that can be found HERE.

Here's what it says on the website:

Vitamin Code RAW Antioxidants

Made with individually grown nutrients utilizing probiotic cultivation to produce RAW Food-Created Nutrients™, Vitamin Code supplements are delivered in a whole food base of fruits and vegetables. Vitamin Code supplements are RAW, which not only means that they are produced below 115º F, but also means that these nutrients come with their natural cofactors, along with live probiotics and enzymes, just like raw foods! Vitamin Code raw powders are delivered in capsules without any binders or fillers—everything you want and nothing you don’t want.

Vitamin Code RAW Antioxidants is whole food nutrition, specifically formulated to provide powerful antioxidant protection from vitamins A, C, E plus selenium. RAW means no high heat, synthetic binders or fillers, artificial flavors, sweeteners, colors or additives commonly used in tablets. Whole food means RAW Food-Created Nutrients are blended in a base of 23 organically grown fruits and vegetables with mixed carotenoids as well as mixed tocopherols and add supporting antioxidants, vitamins and nutrient cofactors.

I like that it has cofactors, enzymes and probiotics intact. I haven't found many (either here, or that ship here) that do. I would probably recommend having a go at a daily antioxidant supplement instead of a multivitamin as many of those don't offer enough of anything to make much impact on anyone who already eats a balanced diet. And for those NOT eating enough fruits and vegetables, it's likely you'll want the antioxidants AND vitamins, instead of just vitamins and minerals alone (which is largely what mulitvits offer).

And on a lighter note - spotted while shopping at a thrift store (a Christian one at that!) 

Have a good week ahead everyone!

More Poke Bowl, Groceries, Skin Care Junkie and Rx Matters

BIKSS has been really good with the low carb diet. He even chose all the yucky veggie things at our last dinner.

Purple cabbage slaw, tuna sashimi, braised tofu, mango and tomato salad (hidden under tofu), boiled egg, charred corn, avocado, almond flakes and underneath that is the shirataki noodles with veggie pesto. (See pic on the right.)

 

As usual we split the mega huge bowl. I'm not normally a fan of tofu (ok, I hate it) but this one tasted alright.

After dinner we went grocery shopping at my favourite store (it's huge!) and BIKSS discovered ready to cook kits (sans meat). I was super thrilled as it wasn't expensive at all. Here is the promo from their website - 

The "simply cook" tray of veggies you see int he first pic is meant for an Indian fish curry dish, but of course you can use the eggplant / aubergine and ladies' fingers any way you like. Comes complete with ginger, garlic and garnishing leaves! This one costs $2.90.

The second one has broccoli, mushrooms, yellow and red capsicum, yellow onion, garlic, carrots,  baby corn and snowpeas. Everything you'd need for a veggie medley stir-fry. Price - $3.90. I've taken mine apart and made a chicken soup with HALF the mushrooms and broccoli and carrots. The rest of it is in the fridge.

The pack says it's meant for 4 servings. I can see how. There was WAY more in there than I expected. I mean, it seriously didn't look like a whole lot but when I started taking it apart there was plenty!

There are recipes on the back and it tells you what additional ingredients to buy in order to complete the dish. I just bought them cos it was convenient - washed, prepped and ready to cook!

In other news, I've joined an app called Skin Care Junkie. Go here to join via my link if you like what you see. The community is fun, kind, and tries to help one another answer skin care questions. I think if you get friends to sign up you'll get freebies / discount codes etc. 

If that's not your thing, no biggie. It IS called skin care junkie. So I suppose you have to be one to get excited about it! LOL. 

BIKSS has also now begun using sunscreen because he sits in an office that has windows along one entire side of the building. The UV that must get in there! Sheesh. I'm glad he takes my suggestions so well! 

His blood pressure is also fluctuating like crazy - if it were consistently high or normal we would know what to do.. but given that it jumps around the way it does, I've suggested he get a referral to the cardio clinic to see about wearing one of those 24 hour BP monitors so that they can get a closer look and see a clearer picture of how it's changing along the course of the day. 

And the biggest news of all - I now have a glucose meter. The public hospitals and clinics are selling this for under $50. When we saw it elsewhere (walk in pharmacies and drug/personal wellness stores) the price was easily $70-$80. I snatched a starter kit today since he has finally given me permission to stab him with my dagger. That's BIKSS-speak for prick him with a lancet. The man is needle-phobic. 

But as he says - better this than insulin jabs for the rest of his life. 

Getting Serious with the Diet

Not me. BIKSS. His labs came back NOT so great this time around. So this lidl is on a mission to make sure he eats the right foods and doesn't make excuses for himself to gobble down those bad carbs and goodness knows what else when I'm not with him. 

Since he got his results he has been very good about keeping off the carbs tho, so I'm totally proud of him! (I have also been nagging A LOT... along with sending him care packages to help with the knee pain, elevated pressure, and general get-better-ness.)

Last week we headed down to a poke-bowl type place and shared a gigantic fish / chicken bowl - they let you pick what you want so of course I chose all the low carb options. 

This is baked white fish, grilled chicken, beetroot hummus, avocado slices, a hardboiled egg, sauteed mushrooms, cauliflower rice (below the massive chunk of fish), cucumber + pineapple salad, and goji berries.

The cauliflower rice was really aromatic! I love that they flavoured it by tossing in some lightly heated  ginger / garlic. It's a common enough combination in these parts too so perhaps I shall replicate it at home. Oh, but I needed a food processor. I have 3 blenders and no S-blade attachments for any of them. 

I asked the sister if she had a spare one lying around. No, she didn't have one of these either. BUT she found one later that day at a newish thrift shop run by the Society of St Vincent de Paul. 

Since you know I support thrift store shopping, I was glad that we managed to save some money, rescue an appliance, AND donate some money for a good cause. $15 later, I am now the owner of a food processor. Watch out - I'ma gonna be chopping everything! 

BUT WAIT - I see a whisk attachment. This means I am also the proud owner of a handheld mixer (of sorts). The mixer I have is a huge standing one that takes way too much effort to run if all I want to do is beat 2 eggs. You know what I mean? I've thought about getting a handheld but never got round to doing so. And now, I have one!

There's a veggie rescue planned for this evening. I'll see what produce is available today. Maybe I'll have an opportunity to chop up some stuff! Mwahahah!

Last night we went out to dinner after picking up said appliance (and other stuff) from the sister's place. Ended up eating at a really great place for cheap and affordable food (I'm a big fan of the chain, altho BIKSS hasn't eaten there more than twice, he doesn't think). 

We had two salads, some crispy chicken tenders (with real chicken - the kind where you can see the meat as you bite into it, none of that nuggets business!) and some mozarella cheese, sauteed broccoli and shrooms, and a main of grilled salmon with double-corn-no-wedges. 

(I realise this looks unappetising, but that's cos the fish is covered in spinach and cream sauce. 

And it was quite a fair bit of spinach too. I was surprised.)

I have also, from time to time, tried out this low carb pre-packed meal-in-a-box thing from a company called Xndo which is a subsidiary of "one of Asia’s largest specialty retailer of nutritional products, vitamin, mineral, herbal and other specialty supplements and sports nutrition, diet and energy products".  

But never mind all the over-priced supplements... I just love that they use Shirataki (which I love for the zero carb) in their noodle boxes, and their rice is a mix of long grain rice and shirataki (GI - 48). 

Anyway, we came across one of their retails stores as we were heading to dinner and he thought he would pick up some boxes. It was a really decent price - about $5 a meal. Which is the price I pay direct from their online store - only I have to buy 14 boxes to enjoy that discount! Original price is somewhere between $7 - $9 for ONE box. 

He had some today, and decided it was edible. In any case, I figure it would take the edge off having to eat a salad for lunch EVERYDAY.

We're monitoring his pressure (I need a new BP monitor cos mine looks like it's about to die anytime...) when he visits with me, and I'm planning on getting a glucometer. (Time to visit the pharmacy!) Hopefully we'll be able to sort out his health and with some luck and some effort, he'll be back to normal at his next medical in 6 months' time. 

If anyone has a glucometer they like / don't like, please let me know as I don't have a lot of experience with what's available and which brands are easier to use or get strips for etc.  Thanks in advance!

 

Time to Take a Break from Cruelty Free Research

Why? You ask? 

Two nights ago I had the weirdest dream - I dreamt that my colleague came to work with a ziploc bag of LIVE mini bunnies and mice covered in chocolate. 

I look at her and ask what that is all about. 

They're delicious, she says. 

Er, but they're alive, I respond. 

She went on to explain that one had to only pop them in the freezer and once they'd hardened it would be way easier to eat them. Cos there'd be no more wriggling. 

I woke up feeling really sick in my tummy. 

Ew right?

Stylevana Arrived And More Links

My Korean skincare stuff has arrived and I'm super excited to try them out. 

Unfortunately I still have sunscreen (a bottle of Anessa rescued from the mother's stash - not tested on animals but sold in China so that means the finished product is still subject to animal testing) and a couple of tubs of moisturisers )lanolin creams, snail serum creams / Laneige mulberry night mask - this one really fees and smells awesome - but, sadly, they're ALL not cruelty-free) to get through before I break open some of the items I purchased. (There's no reason to throw out perfectly good jars of stuff just cos they're not cruelty free right? I mean, since the animals MAY have already suffered for it. Is that weird logic?) 

The thing I noticed about these products is that they all come with seals. I've bought some jars and tubes of cosmetics and skincare before that are sealed on the outside of the box, but not the actual "openings" to the product.

Even the tubs are sealed. I'm currently on a quest to find out if the Some By Mi brand is cruelty free. A few websites do list them as a "Not tested on animals" brands but some other sites have mentioned that they are sold in mainland China where animal testing is mandatory by law (especially if there is a customer complaint). One site lists it under "pending".  

This one is the AHA BHA PHA (basically, super duper exfoliating / regenerating) 30 day miracle cream.

See what I mean by sealed? I wanted to have a sniff. But no go. 

I did try the serums because I don't have any water based ones at the moment. My current serums are all from ECO Modern Essentials.  Some of you may know I'm a bit of an essential oil junkie. If you click that link it'll take you to all my EO related posts on this blog  😊. 

Consequently, the current range of serums on my dresser looks like this - 

And while I love that they are very moisturizing, I think it's time I mixed it up cos I know if I consistently use too much oil-based stuff on my face, a zit will pop out in protest.

9wishes and iUnik are both pretty good for serums - and they don't break the bank either ($13.59 and $12.60 USD respectively). 

If you're looking for Vegan skincare, snail serum is NOT for you. Me, I don't mind, as long as the snails weren't hurt. While there isn't a whole lot of definite info on this subject, there is reason to believe that it's shrouded in mystery not because of the bad things being done to snails, as much as each company not wanting to give up trade secrets to competitors. You can read more about it HERE and HERE.

This one I did open - only because I don't have a toner right now. See? It's not like I went and spent money on unnecessary stuff! It wasn't drying, and smelled mildly refreshing. ($11.63 USD for 200ml)

The first ingredient on the list is Green Tea Leaf Extract. (aka Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract)

And second comes water. Is that a good thing? Yes.

Here's what it does: 

Camellia Sinensis Leaf Extract is an extract of the leaves of the Tea, Camellia sinensis, Theaceae. It is commonly known as the green tea extract. It shows good antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. It is used in many cosmetics products such as moisturizer, anti-aging creams, sunscreen, shampoo/conditioner, hair dye.

CAMELLIA SINENSIS LEAF EXTRACT is classified as :

• Antimicrobial
• Antioxidant
• Astringent
• Emollient
• Humectant
• Masking
• Oral care
• Skin conditioning
• Skin protecting
• Tonic
• Uv absorber

That's some heebie jeebie magic right there. 

Last but not least, my zinc oxide sunscreen. Purito IS cruelty free and they make some pretty awesome sunblocks - the one I got is a mineral sunblock, but they also have their green sunblock range (one regular and one unscented) without the white-cast for those with darker skintones. Note that those are chemical sunscreens and DON'T contain zinc oxide.

This one costs $13.99 USD and came with some samples. 

All in all it was a pretty decent box of goodies for the price, and I'm totally looking forward to trying all of them. 

Also, I love that my bedside lamp has a flat top for me to put stuff on for pics!

For now, I've just spent the afternoon with a collagen sheet mask on my face. And then it's off to a massage later with a friend who's dad just passed away. She could probably do with some company. 

Have a good weekend everyone, and enjoy the links!

The Shopping Alibi

Spotted on the Eco Modern Essentials community page. Someone asked if they would provide such a service. I thought it was hilarious!

We were supposed to have dinner tonight.. but something came up on BIKSS' end so I suppose I'll be left to my own devices (these days that phrase is more literal than ever - think mobile phone and laptop!).

I'm thinking of doing a spot of shopping on mum's behalf - since she did say she's willing to try out some products from cruelty free brands. No alibi needed in THIS house tho. 

Have a good weekend everyone!

Dinner and Brand Research

We had dinner at that fancy place. I wore a cocktail dress and took my Lagerfeld out with me. It was fabulous. BIKSS has also upped his fashion game recently. I think the new position at this company might have something to do with it. But I'm going to take all the credit for getting him on the right track. You don't have to spend a bomb to look polished, if you know where to look! 

First we had crabcakes. 3/10. No biggie. We plan to skip this next time. 

Next we had brussels sprouts. So good we've decided next time we'll order a double serving.

I'm glad he likes brussels sprouts too. I love them!

For our main, we had salmon. Cos I've been trying to eat more fish and less meat.

And finally, a carrot cake with ice cream which tasted like something out of a box at a gas station.

After that we came home and made out - IN THE DARK! It was exciting!

++++++++++++++++++++++

In other news, I've been doing a lot of research on skincare and cruelty-free brands. I think it's time I switched brands. I've also learned that not all of the Peta certified brands are TRULY cruelty free, cos as long as they have a presence in China, there will always be a chance that their products will be tested on animals. And that doesn't sit well with me. 

I'm happy to say that my recent acquisitions (all the skincare from Stylevana) and the ECO Modern Essentials serums and NOW Food Solutions products I use regularly have all been certified to be cruelty-free - not just cos PETA says so, but because they're NOT sold in China, and/or have been certified by other organisations that take the China issue into consideration. 

I've also identified some more-readily-got brands (from the local drugstore) and given a list to BIKSS. Hopefully he manages to switch out at least SOME of the brands for more animal-friendly ones. 

And in the best news yet - I've managed to talk mum into letting me replace her usual skincare products with cruelty-free brands as they run out. This is fantastic! 

If you haven't yet considered switching to cruelty-free personal care brands, I urge you to think about doing so. The bunnies (and mice and dogs and ... well all of them) will thank you. 

First - what it is : 

About Animal Testing

And now that you're adequately horrified by it, here are some useful lists: 

Cruelty Free K Beauty Guide - a lot of these are found on Stylevana, and some on Iherb

List of Cruelty Free Brands - and where to purchase them (I think it's a US site... I'm not sure)

Make Up Brands (UK) - this one was intended for the UK market and has mostly make up brands (but some of these brands are available elsewhere in the world too!)

Cruelty Free Brands by Budget - I really liked this one!

Glamour's List of Brands that are 'Vehemently' against animal testing - I used to subscribe to this magazine!

Choose Cruelty Free's A-Z list (Aus) - there are a LOT of brands on this list

You can also use the 'cruelty-free' filter if you're shopping on Iherb ... or check out this awesome list compiled for Amazon-shoppers - by category, no less : 

Cruelty Free Brands on Amazon

And that's all for now :) If you want to check if a particular brand is animal-friendly, Google is a great resource!

Hurray for Normal Workdays + CC Creams & More about Sunscreens

BIKSS is finally back to working regular hours. And we're planning to have dinner tomorrow night! I think we're going to that quiet fancy place downtown so I can break out my new Karl Boston, but I'm still going to have to wear slippers. Perhaps those pretty fake Valentinos. Those will accommodate my bandaged toe quite nicely, I imagine.

I also tried the Physician's Formula magic potion  SUPER CC COLOR-CORRECTION + CARE CC CREAM (that's what it's called on their website) and boy is it magic! So smooth... so even... so matte... 

I'm tempted to pick up their face powder too.... so I decided to take a closer look at the type of sunblock it contains. It lists titanium dioxide and zinc oxide (more titanium, less zinc). 

Now, according to some, more zinc is better than more titanium cos of the runoff (for titanium, I think) being potentially more harmful to marine life. But I'm hoping that since I'm using it in a facial product and not slathering it all over myself for a day out at the beach, it's less likely to contribute to coral death. I'm just glad they use physical (aka mineral) and NOT chemical sunscreen.

If you want to know more, here is an article about  chemical vs physical sunscreen (it's from a product website but it was very well written and easy to read so I decided to link it) and here's another on the various pros and cons (from Environmental Working Group) of using mineral vs chemical sunscreens.

 At the moment avobenzone seems to be the BEST of the chemical sunscreens but it is very unstable and requires stabilizers - which are BAAAAAD. What's the big deal? Chemical sunscreens have been known to mess with your hormones, yo, so please be careful. 

Physical (aka mineral) sunscreens don't - but there are inhalation concerns. The way around this IMO, is to just NOT use a powder / spray form. :)  Ta-da. Problem solved. You'll find a really neat chart on the EWG site with a rating for each sunscreen ingredient. I like charts. It makes everything so much easier to read. 

Was that enough information? I'm sorry. 

(I should mention that when I started this post it was going to be just 2 things - 1) BIKSS working normal hours, yay, and 2) I love my new CC cream... yay. That was the plan. Talk about getting carried away LOL.)

I shall leave you to it then. *Runs off to look for Magic CC Powder*

Feeling Loved and Happy

Two ex colleagues decided they would put some money together and buy some mooncakes for me, my colleague and my boss.

I swear the boxes get more and more creative each year.  Isn't it pretty? I decided that I would NOT buy any this year... besides, it's not like we can travel across the border to the land of cheaper-to-buy-there-cos-of-the-favourable-exchange-rate. 

But this does not bode well for my detox weekend. I'm so tempted to cut one up! I managed the no-meat, no-sweets part of it... but I already caved and had some chips last night LOL. Cos sitting around and recording webinar videos on the phone is an extremely boring affair.

In other news, my latest CC cream arrived today... and I'm excited to try it.  Apparently it does everything - replaces anti-ageing treatment, moisturiser AND foundation - the only thing it can't do is turn water into wine. Reviews are one thing, but when a doctor says this is good shit, then it's good shit. At least I know there won't be harmful chemicals in it. 

I've also recently had a look at (read: bought stuff from) Stylevana. It's a beauty and fashion site specialising in Korean brands.   As far as shipping fees go, this website isn't half as bad as some of the others I've looked at. 

If you're in the US, Canada, UK, France, Australia, you have a dedicated site to shop from. Other countries (like me) just use the main US site. I think it ships from Hongkong. 

Some of the more popular K-beauty brands Hyram mentions on his channel can be gotten on the website, and so I completely blame him for introducing me to Stylevana. But seriously now, compared to some of the other sites that we can purchase from (in Asia) this one is relatively inexpensive and as I mentioned, shipping doesn't cost an arm and a leg. They have an app too. Shopping should be THIS easy!

(Here are the shipping rates to USA)

CLICK THIS LINK for shipping to other countries

I also have an referral code for 20% off your first order... if you're interested, USE THIS LINK and sign up via the redirect. The 20% should show up in your order.

You're welcome :) 

And Happy Sunday!

Saturday Snippets

I haven't yet had a chance to take my new Karl bag out with me. We're hoping this coming week will present some dinner opportunities. 

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On Thursday morning I tripped and sliced a bit of my skin off my little toe. Good thing I carry EVERYTHING with me in my bag (hat tip to PK) as I managed to fish out some antiseptic wipes, tissue, plasters and a little ziploc bag to dump all the rubbish into after I was done with a temporary dressing. 

It was a "shaving cut" as we call it, and was bleeding rather a fair bit. I managed to switch out bandaids midway through my bus ride, and then when I got to work my adjunct doc (boss was on another mission) dressed it properly for me. 

The wound has stopped oozing, and my toe, hopefully  is on the way to recovery. 

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This weekend I'm detoxing a little bit. It's a no meat / no fry / no sweets weekend. That means no chocs and chips either. I'm having egg, fish and zucchini for lunch now. Let's see how long I can keep this up given the existing stash of foods I have in the fridge / larder. It's a good way to use up things I don't always reach for. 

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Last weekend the brother came and announced his retrenchment. I suppose his company is harder hit by the Covid pandemic that he expected. They will be giving him enough to last 2 years - he proudly told mum. 

I hope that means he will continue to provide her with some pocket money and not use this as an excuse to cut her off. 

He has also very self-importantly stated that he will take this opportunity to find a new career now that he has graduated with his Masters Degree. In - get this - counselling. 

Apparently the sister in law from hell has ALSO gone and gotten herself an advanced dip in counselling. 

I don't know why they think they're counsellor material.  They don't listen to people's problems, they want to push their own agenda, they're only concerned with being right and knowing everything all the time. Oh wait, this gives them the right to tell people what to do. OR so they think. Pfft. Whatever. At 56, in my country, it's REALLY difficult to make a mid-career switch. Our official retirement age is 62. 

Good luck. 

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In some lighthearted news - I was watching this dude on Youtube, Hyram - link here - or you can watch his video re US vs Korean skincare : 

Of course since he recommended the Stylevana website, I went to take a look. And this is the first thing that popped up as a "recommended" item : 

I am NOT going to order it, but if you do, let me know how it went!

Have a good weekend everyone!