Friday, 28 December 2018

Of Work & Life Update.

December 28, 2018 0
It's been a long time since I left this place. Life has been pretty hectic, and I shall say, it was hectic for good. For this blogpost, I am not going to talk about diet and nutrition, but a post of a personal story.

For the past 3 months, I was enjoying my job as a dietitian in which I really helps people to lose weight, and thru my new job (it's no longer new) I managed to meet a group of awesome people. Mingle with them, travelling abroad (work purposes), of dinner and good times shared, of laughters and unquestionably chemistry we had, we managed to build a team which I love to call a family of HealthifyMe. All the healthy and passionate people are gathered and sharing one GOAL.

2 months ago, I went to China with my family. Unfortunate thing happened that I lost my 2 month old phone on the plane. It was night time when I landed, and I was all alone, no family (as they arrived 2 days earlier than me). Good thing, I did not panicked. I went to the immigration and asked them to do a translation of my hotel name to a chinese writing. They did.  Long story short, I took a cab, and it was a 1 hour ride from the Baiyun Airport to the hotel. All alone in a foreign country - they did not speak my language, it was 1 o'clock in the morning. The only word I asked the driver, how many KMs to go. When I started conversing in Mandarin (I only know basic conversation), the driver then 'welcoming' me to his country. We talked about Malaysia, travelling journey and I shall say, he was a good driver. It was proven since he sent me in a good shape to the hotel. ( It was 2 a.m) and before we bid goodbye, I told him..

"Hey, thank you for sending me off to my hotel, and FYI I lost my phone in the airplane, if something bad happened to me, I don't know how to contact my family, but, luckily I met you and thank you being such a nice driver" 

He smiled, but I am sure he did not understand what I said. 


Guangzhou, China

2 weeks after I went home to Malaysia, my company (HealthifyMe) sent me to India for work purposes and training. It was the longest oversea trip I ever had. Honestly, before I joined HealthifyMe, I never had any planning to visit India. The only few things I know about India - India and Medical students, sarees, bollywood celebrities, of Shah Rukh Khan and the prettiest miss world, Aishwarya Rai and many more. 



Credit photo: taken by SG
We were among the first passenger to ride IndiGo first launching ( hehe)
https://livefromalounge.boardingarea.com/2018/09/26/indigo-delhi-to-kuala-lumpur/

I love Bengaluru. 
The weather, the culture, the foods, their people, and of course their bhaiya auto racer.
Unfortunate thing happened as well, I fell ill for 3 days, and 2 days in a recovery phase.
 I had weather transition phase, so I was not able to do work.

Pooja brought me to Manipal Hospital, the only thing I remembered was, the hospital provided me with a nice hospitality. As I had high grade fever, the doctor planned to perform a blood test, but I rejected - i'm paranoid and really scared of needles. I might lose my consciousness if they poked me that day. And, I was scarf-free that day, I had no energy to dress up and half conscious on my environment, I barely even walk that day.  I wore my all time fav red jumper and short pants. Pooja was very nice and helpful. Forever am I, be debtful to her, and of course to Roshini.

Before I fell ill, I managed to go for hiking, went to vineyard and company's party, which we called as Ignite. It was really really a huge celebration 🎉 !


On that day, I seriously made a right decision to join HealthifyMe. Tushar's keynote managed to pump up my spirits to bring HealthifyMe Malaysia to another level, and I believe, we will achieve the target soon.

I have a lot to say and to share, but as of now, i'll stop my fingers from typing and need to settle all the diet plans!

2018 gonna end soon in 4 days, and I am pre-welcoming 2019 with new spirit, just bought a set of gym gear as my company also provide us with Fitness First Membership. hehe. My first time ever at gym?
Yes.

Thanks for reading!
I'll be back with another personal stories and of course diet and nutritions.
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Tuesday, 6 November 2018

Quack Nutritionist/ Dietitian.. is that you?

November 06, 2018 2
Because the real one.. will teach you how to love foods, no food is bad, it just that the amount of portion determine it, .. not the one who over promoting their products and fetishing foods.. but to instil balance foods for the sake of lifestyle changes.. never solely on the product profit.,


* * * * * * * * * * * *

If you want me to be honest, this is a very heavy topic to discuss. But, this case is now in the alarming rise, so here we go...

First of all, the word nutritionist should not be confused with a dietitian. Nutritionist in general, is someone who advises people on nutrition, and help them to achieve their optimum well being. Dietitian is a healthcare professionals, who have received accredited tertiary education and training, and undertake internship in hospitals. There are few reasons why quack nutritionist is existed in today's world. 

REASON NUMBER 1 -

 FEW YEARS BACK, WE DO NOT HAVE ACT TO PROTECT THE PROFESSION.

This is probably the reason why, people are free to claim themselves as a nutritionist - as they think, attended a few nutrition workshop is eligible for them to claim themselves. Now, since we have the act to protect our healthcare profession, hopefully people won't be free to use that title again, neither a dietitian nor a nutritionist.

Those who have done many readings, and very optimistic to claim themselves as one, until to the extend, they invented a new products of them, which is brilliant.. but yes, they are overpromoting!  To the extend they gave invalid nutrition education, start brainwashing people - to gain profits over their products, which is good, but bad for the consumers! 

REASON NUMBER 2 -

 THE NATURE OF THE NUTRITIONIST JOB ITSELF. 

Yes, they are a certified nutritionists, for the sake of life expenses and survival, they have to do this. Overpromoting of a certain products as they are bound to the company. At some point, while protecting their professionalism, they had to be quacks! They know some people do not need those supplements, but they had to do this - for the sake of KPI and because they are paid to do that.

But then, they are a few certified who loves being quackery, as long as the money comes in, they do not care anymore, not even looking back at their backbone. Clearly against the ethics, so shall we labelled them quack? .. Nope, we don't. Let them labelled themselves.

There are some nutritionist, who are qualified and certified to practice in their profession, but sometimes the nature of their works are against the ethics that we have practised and promised to imply.

This is what happen in Malaysia. Some company are using our certificate to sell their products, to gain profit in the name of dietitian and nutritionist - the ugly truth. 


I clearly, have no problem seeing a quack dietitian as of now, but I faced this kind of problem. I met people through linkedIn and..

"Hi, Masfara, nice to connect with you. I am a nutritionist and have kickstarted a new bussiness model which has been approved by the government. I would like to invite you to join me. I saw your profile and you are from the nutrition line.. there are a few opportunities available, and interview will be conducted - income range RM3000-RM9000"  

 Are they quacks as well? I don't know. They know themselves better.

REASON NUMBER 3 -

THOSE GENERAL NUTRITION AND HEALTH ADVISES

Nah, this comes to the main concern. People seems trying to educate our public on healthy and balanced meal.

" Eat variety of foods, less fatty foods, no processed foods, less salty foods, lots of greens and fruits everyday!"- and those simple dietary advises. 


Some of the self-claimed nutritionist, may probably have a higher level of understanding towards some issue of foods or products and yes we could not deny it. But.. if you want to know the real one, the real dietitian and nutritionist profession, they have their PRIDE and they know their ethiques. That, they will never go too much on promoting any products- well, maybe they promote, but they know the balance, what to do and what they should not do. 

What is happening is that, these quacks are fetishising foods and bamboozling people.  No, this should never happened in the real dietitian and nutritionist. For the real one, we try educating them on lifestyle changes. You can eat everything, be comfortable with your food. Not giving an extremely irrational comments on certain foods. Because of their irresponsibility actions, many people seems to fall to their advices. 

My big question mark, why do you go to hospital meeting their healthcare professionals, if your quacks are very good? If the products can heal it? 
Because, we are simply trusted. 

And, I am quite agree that some of the people needs Oral Nutrition Support or some supplementation. That's why you have to talk to someone who is not biased. Ask the person in charge of the products on the contents, but when it comes to consumption, please please please, always see your dietitian or nutritionist. Because, wherever we are, whoever we are, we still have our own backbone. 
Which is to help you.. to change your lifestyle changes. 

I have a few clients, whom I tried to give their customised diet plan and all, when I give them the template, they questioned me on my action. 

"Why do you giving me rice? I want to lose weight.. are you sure with your planning?"

This is hard guys. Explaining from A to Z on what is calories and carbohydrates exchanges. To make them believe and to convince them. 

So, because of excellent marketing of those nutriquacks, people are lead to the path of analysing all foods are bad and only supplementation could help their issues. Those testimonials of certain products are rubbish, I tell you. Some may true, some may not. Do not easily fall for products testimonials, because behind those  .. - you should buy this. And, for you.. please think! Until what extend will you consume the products? If that products are that good, you do not have to buy many times, once is enough!  So, please don't fruitlessly giving your money away to people who do not deserve it. I understand how people do business, but never blindly prescribed something unnecessary!

If you have and lead a healthy lifestyle - you don't need those supplementations, you might need it, but know your body first. How? Consult your healthcare professional - especially a dietitian and a nutritionist!

Because, we do not resort to pseudoscience.

Thanks for reading.

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Thursday, 4 October 2018

Dear Malaysian, Read These Tips Before You Start Dieting Again!

October 04, 2018 1
Every foods has its own stories. Have their own roles and functions and we all know that. So, whatever foods we eat, have a strong implications to our health - if you eat unhealthy foods, you will be facing the consequences. As a dietitian, I prefer to use moderation method and for you to be comfortable with the food you eat, instead of pointing this food is bad and that food is good, which defeat the term of nutrition itself. Excessive intake of certain foods might lead you to many problems. Hence, diseases will be knocking to your door. If not now, it might be in the future.


Dietary changes could help you to save medical bills and many researches have supported this statement. I understand it is hard to discipline yourself as an eat-lover. But, really. Do not force yourself, instead play it psychologically - train your mind, and always remember your goal.

What you can do:

You have to really incorporate frequent meals in your diet plan. Particularly, in a small portion. Eat Breakfast, Morning Snack, Lunch, Evening Snack and Dinner. Never let your stomach be emptied. Always let it full with nutritious foods - high nutrient density to be exact. Whenever you feel empty, or a little hungry, grab a fruits, or 3 pieces of cream cracker biscuits with plain tea- with no sugar and no milk.


Yes, many people thinks, skipping meal will help them to lose weight. This misconception is unhealthy, that is the reason why we need to educate people on this matter. When you skip meal, it will makes your body easily feels fatigue. Blood glucose, cholesterol - it will be harder to maintain their optimal levels. Especially on the blood glucose. When you have a disruption on your blood glucose level, it will cause you to get headache. Indirectly, it will disturb your daily routine, which is obviously not a good sign, hence, it will lead to less quality of life. So, DO NOT SKIP MEALS.

Never force yourself to eat healthy food, and never force yourself to diet. Whenever you are forcing yourself, you will turn to be zero again. Instead, slowly... slowly... let it be, your habit. Slowly.. slowly...until you let it become your habit! Wise men, don't rush.  Most importantly, you have to have someone to motivate you, to always remember your goals, and to work with you on your healthy weight loss journey.

Whenever you feel craving, you go for it! Go for the food that you craved for! With one condition - take it in a small portion. Because, the more you restrict yourself, the craver you are. So, go for it, while you still in the early craving. 

Hope that helps! Good Luck in Your Weight Loss Journey!



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Saturday, 22 September 2018

A New Phase of Life

September 22, 2018 1
I've got myself a Huawei Nova 3i for a couple of weeks ago. Changing from IOS to Android, requires learning from A to Z. I kept on asking my friends and even Aily, on how to do screenshots, how to save a new contacts and how to set up this kind of settings and how to block unknown numbers on my contacts. Basically, it's learning from zero and I found it be fun and challenging and.. yes, such a good experience, I know it's early to say, but despite the super affordable price, I got all the good features in hand, except, I did not like the earphones.

Same goes to life. Staying in one place offers your comfort and certainty. But, I do believe, there is no certainty in life decisions. Often times, we experienced uncertainty and we sought for someone's opinion, to make it certain. At the end, it is just a power of mind. If you set your mind to be that powerful person, you will.

I cannot tell if I am always made the right decision for myself, it may even the worse decision. But, who knows, what the future tells? One thing I strongly believe, that I am young and I want to pursue my dream. So, full stop. You will surprise the power of big thinking, the magic of big thinking.

To make story short. I've resigned from my secured and stable job. I need to experience many things. I really need to. Life has ups and down. Thats why we are evolving from elementary school, to secondary school, to college and to university. Because, life has teach us to migrate whenever we have any opportunity. We just need some time to realize it, to recognize the opportunity.




Until then, whoever new in this blog, welcome to the journey of mine. If we put our heart, mind and soul into even our smallest act, this is your biggest key to success. 
But really, how do you define success? 

Thanks for your 3 minutes reading. 
Welcome to the newbie, who is just new here. 

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