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Thinking Aloud
Chicken
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After a disastrous structural engineering exam, my classmate Doreen and I decided to go to the mall to cheer ourselves up. Out of utter disappointment over not having the correct answers after heartily knowing the theoretical concepts, I managed to awaken the rebellious side in me and do the unthinkable: eat chicken.
Yes.
I am allergic to chicken.
It might not be a big deal to you, but to me it is. Since I can remember, I have always loved chicken. It has always been chicken over pork, over beef, over spaghetti. A party isn’t a party without it. When I got operated on a few years back, I looked forward to going home and eating a whole piece of chicken (that incident led to the end of my “slim” days, hehe).
So you could just imagine my dismay when, after a series of skin-reddening incidents, I found out that I was allergic to chicken (actually, it’s not only chicken. I’m also allergic to fish, peanuts, cheese, extremely hot and cold temperatures, foods with preservatives, and many more). When you really really really love something, it’s difficult to get it out of your system.
So here I am now, trying to play it safe everyday. Pork nalang ng pork. I do eat chicken occasionally, when my blotches are at no risk of public exposure, or when chicken presents itself to me in a very irresistible manner. =) According to my friend Kathleen, eating allergen-containing foods from time to time gets your body used to it again. I am sooo counting on that.
Meanwhile, as I continue living my sinusoidally exciting life, I will stop worrying about my countless allergies, my mind- boggling exams, the numerous people hiding behind their beautiful masks, my fluctuating weight, my stress- induced pimples, and even Teri Hatcher’s mockery of the Philippine Medical profession. Instead, I will take life’s blows as they come.
One chicken at a time.
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| November 12, 2007 | 10:45 AM |
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Comments
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Re: Chicken
Hmm. I enjoyed reading this! Well, it's a shame that you're suddenly allergic to chicken after years of bonding with what i consider the best meat on earth (in relation to health).
It could be painful to part with those pieces of chicken, sandy. But, just be GOOD to yourself and DON'T be tempted even as it stares at you on this post:-) Ironically, I'm a chicken-fan and i've got no allergies associated with it. Good for me, you might say, huh?
All the best in your exams:-)
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Wishing you good luck as well. I had trouble on a few mid-terms, but was able to save it on the finals. Best wishes.
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I really admire your satirical humor/writing style. Nice. :)
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Thanks! Thankfully, Im no longer allergic to chicken.
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Hey congrats :) As for me I can't really be certain but I'm ascribing my relatively good health (and by that I mean just a few days of flu over the whole year) with my physical activities (gym, running, swimming) and good diet. But it could also be genetic.
When I was in primary school I easily got sick: fevers, and more often than not, tonsilitis. Thank goodness my immune system is so much better now.
Hopefully you can also improve yours.
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To Macho man
I have managed to improve mine. My allergy to chicken and others was just temporary. A stupid/crazy/funny encounter with a "higad" and the superb services of UP Infirmary caused it. i think i lot the allergies when i donated blood.
physical activities (gym, running, swimming) and good diet
> so, macho ka pala. i will say "just kidding" before you start defining the real meaning of that word in your next comment or suggest an alternative word. ha ha
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@Sandy
haha good one.
No no don't worry, if you think I'd take offense with a sexist joke, none taken at all. :) If by macho you mean physically fit, I could probably say yes, more or less. Lately I can't swim a lot because I stay on land a lot (hehe) but I'm not (and I don't think I want to be ) the aspiring body builder type ala a club bouncer or Arnold Schwarzenegger. I like to do a bit of workout now and then but keep my light and agile form for running and climbing and stuff.
About improving your immune system, yes that's clearly a given now that you're 'impervious' to the ill effects of poultry which have plagued you previously. :) (I love alliteration)
The Infirmatay -err Infirmary? Boy do I have a memorable experience with that one a few years back. I've only been hospitalized (or in this case Infirmatized...) once in my life so far, and that was when I somehow ate/drank food/water that made my stomach hurt so bad and I got dehydrated as a result. So I stayed in bed in the Infirmary for about 1.5 days. Not as bad an experience as they tell me, I'd say, but an experience I'd rather not repeat. :) Should write about that some time...
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I call it Infirmatay too!
I actually wrote something about my experience there. Although I think I posted it in my other blog. The doctor gave me an anti-allergy shot (it was the second time, since the first one barely worked) and I was helplessly lying on a bed at the ER, wishing death to come upon some flying cockroach.
Hey, you run and climb! That's great. Me and my friends will be going up Mt. Pulag this weekend. Will be our first time to experience negative temperature. Have you been there? Would appreciate some advice.
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I recall that there are only 3 beds in the ER of the Infirmary, and the one I lied on (the same bed my friend, who was also infirmatized a year earlier, used when I brought him there) was the middle bed.
Nowadays I mostly run, it's been a while since I climbed a mountain. Hopefully I can climb one soon. Nope haven't been to mount Pulog yet, but I hear it from friends. I could go Avatar all over that place when I get there. :) Make sure to try catching pictures of rare animals like the Philippine deer and the cloud rat if you see some, I hear they're really something. Enjoy. :)
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Hey, I was on the middle bed too.
Oh my gosh, we sooo have the same experiences! Lol.
Glad you mentioned it, I will try to look out for those animals.
Right now, Im a bit apprehensive about how my body will react to the temperature. I easily get cold.
Anyway, thanks.:)
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You better pack a lot of warming gear then. As for me I don't easily get cold. I could easily just wear a shirt and a pair of shorts in a 25 deg C cooled room.
One other suggestion you might try is to bring foods that are good sources of healthy fat. Fat of course insulates your body from the cold, although if you're into a slimming diet or regimen you might think twice about my suggestion. :)
Anyway, your climb and the low temperature should take care of calorie/fat burning, more or less... :)
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Thanks again for the advice
I dont really believe in dieting. I often lose weight when I get sick or lose my appetite. haha
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Wow, no belief in dieting huh? Care to share as to why not? Don't worry, the reason can be personal, something like your body needs to maintain this amount of vitamin X or mineral Y. As long as the reason is rational and scientifically sound, I shouldn't mind. ;)
Btw, if you have extra time, I'd like to invite you to read my first blog entry here. It's about why men are superior to women. ;)
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Simple.
I don't think I can handle it. I love to eat. I used to be skinny in highschool and a few months before college, I was hospitalized. I wasn't supposed to eat or drink for two days straight and you can just imagine how I felt when my sisters were dangling delicious food (chicken!) and juice in front of me.
It was something traumatic, I guess. At that time, I promised myself that the moment I got out, I would eat one whole chicken by myself. My appetite somehow increased after that, or maybe it was the operation... and voila! Skinny no more.
Sure. will do.
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Hehe
Thankfully no one has dangled delicious food in front of me while I was sick. I seem to recall ever since I got sick, ma or pa would buy me food that I wanted (as long as it wasn't something that made me sick more, usually it was ice cream or something cold). I usually got sick from eating too much cold/frozen food when I was much younger, so I could still eat hamburgers or fried chickens or pizzas at the time, although most of the time I couldn't taste them since both my sense of smell and taste were compromised at those times. They'd buy me those foods especially since I was really thin during those times.
Hopefully you've overcome that traumatic experience of yours.
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I believe I have overcome that traumatic experience
Although I have developed a stronger liking for lechon manok (what they "dangled" in front of me at that time).
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That's good to know. Though apparently your developed strong liking for lechon manok is a remnant of that traumatic past of yours, it seems. :)
As for me, I certainly can't say I can avoid eating meat, since I've gotten used to it and doing all the activities I do require protein from meat or dairy based products. A plant diet won't be good enough for me, though I love eating vegetables and fruits, usually raw. In other words, I'm trying to be a good omnivore: balancing meat and plant diet. But sometimes you can have them both like in a good slice of pizza or a hamburger. :)
Again, that dangling part is funny. I can't believe they were that silly towards you. :)
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You cannot imagine how silly people in my home can get
Funny how we talk about my lechon manok experience as if it's very dark and horrid.
Same goes for me. Although I have a stronger preference for fish and also raw veggies, I definitely cannot go without some meat. Im not sure about this, but isn't pizza/ burgers considered as junk food?
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Cannot imagine huh? I have a pretty good imagination I think, so you can try me. ;)
What I can't believe is that they were that 'mean' to you when you were incapacitated. :)
I like fish very much too, whether fried or in a broth like sinigang. Usually a good helping of bangus with lots of vegetables in a sinigang will do very nice for me. As for raw vegetables, my mother likes to prepare for me lots of salad, mixing fern (yes, fern) lettuce, cauliflower, broccoli etc. which I very much enjoy and appreciate.
Regarding pizza/burgers being junk food, if we define junk food as
:food that tastes good but is high in calories having little nutritional value
Then I suppose it depends on how you or a person has prepared the burger/pizza. More often than not I suppose they are junk foods when eaten in many fast food chains, though I think there are exceptions. For example, the pasta and pizza in Sbarro's seem to me to be quite fresh, depending on the branch you eat in or how recently baked the pizza was.
That's why I tell my kid brother that I prefer home made burgers and pizzas instead. That way, I know more or less what I'll be placing on by burgers, since I prepare them myself. Same thing goes with hotdogs. Personally I like those (pizza, burger, hotdogs) as snacks instead of the more common junk food i.e. chips.
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Right... sorry to challenge your imaginative powers :)
Come to think of it, I was never conscious of the calorie content of the food i eat. Maybe because I do not know the "safe" amount of calories that we should take or how much exercise I need to burn X calories. Is it really that important to know such information?
I really do not know the definition of a burger. If I put a burger patty , lettuce, tomato, catsup, and mayo in between two pcs of sliced bread, can I consider it a sandwich? or is it still a burger? Of course I can just go ahead and google it but maybe you have insights on this. :)
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Hey, I've no problem with my imagination being challenged. :)
In my opinion, having a relatively good approximation of your calorie requirements is important. Let me elaborate a bit further:
(a) Not getting enough calories can make one lethargic as well, though usually people tend to think only the fat or the obese become so. This is because calories are one of the best and easiest ways for our body to get energy from, aside from fats. So, not enough calories == not enough energy for the day.
(b) Getting too much calories can be disastrous, as it can lead to diabetes, and of course, from that point on, lots of other bodily organ complications can arise. Yikes.
(c) Having 'enough' calories can help boost our cognitive skills, as research suggests we use up a large amount of our body's energy when doing mentally challenging tasks such as in computation, analysis etc. Having 'too much' again can cause mood imbalances and swings.
How much is 'enough' and 'too much'? There are a number of ways to do it, such as calculating your BMI (body mass index) among others. One quick and dirty way is to use this calorie burn rate application:
http://health.discovery.com/tools/calculators/activity/activity.html
To tell you the truth, one personal reason why I am very conscious about my health is because on my mother's side, a not so common but still significantly present hereditary condition is diabetes. Though it seems that only the females (my grandma and my 2 aunts) seem to acquire it. On my father's side, it's hypertension. So far so good for me though. :)
In fact, last time I checked, I've a very low body fat index, which is the ratio of my body fat over my whole mass (coupled with my age, sex, and height factors). I recall that for my age, weight and height, I'm just about 2% higher from the lower end of the recommended body fat index. This of course, comes as a good-bad thing to me. :)
Technically the English language I think defines a burger as a slice of animal meat, with optional dressings and other plant-based additives, between two 'buns' or hamburger buns. If you use sliced bread from a loaf of bread, technically that's a sandwich. :) Hey, I know my sandwiches. ;)
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