A Tip for Runners: The Leg Three Miles

Have you heard of the Leg Three Miles? It's an acupoint found below the outer part below the kneecap. It's easy to locate because there is a depression in that point, between two bones. The tip for runners is if you're tired but haven't reached your endpoint, just press that point with the tip of your thumb, release then press again, alternatingly for one minute and you're ready to run for another three miles.

This acupoint is called ST36 and is part of the Stomach meridian. It is said to be the most important acupuncture point because it can treat all diseases. It is now the runners' turn to share this amusing tip to others.

Food for Yin or Yang People

The ideal state of a person is a balanced Yin & Yang energies, based on the principles of Traditional Chinese Medicine or TCM. Excess or deficiency in either Yin or Yang can bring about illness so a person should know his or her current state and the ways to achieve Yin and Yang balance. One basic way is to know the right food to eat whenever one is Yin and the right food when one is Yang.

Common indicators for a Yin state are cold hands and feet, a pale face and feeling weak. On the other hand, too warm hands and feet or a warm feeling, a red face and always raring to go are indicators that a person is Yang. A balanced state is just in between the indicators mentioned.

Yin people should eat warming foods like a warm soup and steamed vegetables even for salads. Raw vegetables are cooling foods and therefore more appropriate for Yang people, otherwise Yin people who will eat raw veges will become more Yin.

More warming foods for Yin people: cherry, chicken, coconut, cinnamon, clove, eel, green onion, ginger, guava, leeks, rosemary, lamb, shrimp, squash, radish, turnips, vinegar, walnut, wine

More cooling foods for Yang people: black beans, kidney beans, sweet potatoes, potatoes, oysters, clams, fish. String beans, lemons, chicken eggs.

Best food to beat cancer

What can be a better amusing tip than the best food to beat cancer? In the past, death becomes scary when a person has a chronic illness like cancer. I guess not anymore, thanks to the internet generation because people can now be aware of the possible solutions to fight and defeat cancer. Thanks too to my learnings in TCM, for making me aware of the holistic approach to prevent and fight cancer. But let us focus first on the food that can help us beat cancer:

The first rule is to avoid creating the habitat for cancer which is an acidic body. That means that meat and dairy products such as too much milk, ice cream and butter should be avoided because they turn into acid. The best food is vegetables because they are alkaline. Here are some of cancer fighting foods:

1. Broccoli - its sprouts are my favorite source of sulforaphane which is an antioxidant that can prevent breast cancer and prostate cancer. It also stimulates natural detoxifying enzymes.

2. Garlic - have you tried broccoli with garlic? I can live eating just that everyday 'cause the combination is just yummy!

3. Carrots - aside from beta-carotene, carrot has falcarinol, an antioxidant that inhibits the growth of tumors, especially colon tumors. Carrot can be eaten raw so why not eat strips of carrots for snack? Carrots can also be boiled and that makes falcarinol more absorbable.

4. Red beetroot - has Betanin that prevents chemical-induced liver, skin and spleen cancer, even at a very low dose.

5. Red onion - like garlic, has sulphur, and also quercetin, both capable of inhibiting the growth of tumors. Carrots, red beetroot and red onions are familiar ingredients in some salads, you can create variations like adding curcumin or tumeric which is more well known to have anti-cancer properties, so you can eat that combination often.

6. Spirulina - the world's richest natural source of vitamin B-12 and contains a whole spectrum of natural mixed carotene and xanthophyll phytopigments. In vitro, studies suggest the unique polysaccharides of spirulina enhance cell nucleus enzyme activity and DNA repair synthesis, inhibiting the growth of various types of cancers. It can shift the immune system towards mounting a cell mediated immune-response instead of a humoral response thus also effective for autoimmune diseases.

Spirulina is my favorite supplement and I'm lucky that Tiens, where I am a distributor, manufactures high quality Spirulina powder in capsules, and for that, Tiens or Tianshi was given an award for “Best Healthcare Food for Astronauts” by Russia.. The powder tastes good so it may be removed from the capsule and sprinkled on food. I always do that on oatmeal.

Ten Tips for Taking Criticisms

This shouldn't have taken too long to publish after my previous post on John Maxwell's Ten Tips for Giving Criticisms, so my only consolation is hoping that the timing is right for most people who will read this. These tips are again from John Maxwell:

1. Understand the difference between constructive and destructive criticisms.

When you are criticized, it usually feels destructive, but when you criticize, you're doing it to help, so it is constructive. You need to determine the true motives of the critic so you have to ask yourself some questions:

Was it done in public? If yes then the critic's motive can be to destroy you.

Is the critic a very close relative? If yes then it should be constructive.
If it was done in public, that relative wanted you to learn, by all means!
But he should know Maxwell's tips on giving criticisms.*

2. Don't take yourself too seriously. Blessed is he who can enjoy his blunders.

3. Look beyond the criticism and see the critic.

4. Watch your own attitude toward the critic. A negative attitude toward criticism can be more destructive than the criticism itself.

5. Realize that good people get criticized.

6. Keep physically and spiritually in shape.

Physical exhaustion has a tremendous effect on the way we act and react; it distorts the way we see and handle life.

7. Don't just see the critic; see if there's a crowd.

8. Wait for time to prove them wrong.

If you know your action or decision was right, hang in there. Time will prove you out.

9. Surround yourself with positive people.

Enough quality time with positive people will minimize the effect of negative criticism.

10.Concentrate on your mission – change your mistakes.

Most people do exactly the opposite - they change their mission and concentrate on their mistakes. If you run from your task each time you make a mistake, you will never accomplish anything. You will always be in a state of frustration and defeat. The only real mistakes in life are the mistakes from which we learn nothing. So instead of dwelling on them, count on making them, learning from them, and moving on to finish the job.

* Except for the statements under item number 1, all statements were taken from John Maxwell's "Be A People Person".

10 Tips in Giving Criticisms

I kept on forgetting to share these ten important tips in giving criticisms by John Maxwell. Important because people tend to hurt other people through criticisms. They knew they are giving constructive criticisms and therefore helping the person concerned, but they didn't know that there is a right way to do it. I was guilty of that, as a mother to my kids, as a wife, and as a friend. Through these tips, I've realized my mistakes, and I hope that others will too, as soon as possible, because the sharpest knife that can hurt a loved one is your own tongue.

1. Check your motive.
The goal of the confrontation is to help, not to humiliate.

2. Make sure the issue is worthy of criticism.

3. Be specific.
When you confront you must be tactfully explicit. Say exactly what you mean and provide examples to back yourself up.

4. Don't undermine the person's self-confidence.
Try to find at least one area in which you can praise the person before you expose the problem.

5. Don't compare one person with another. (A lot of people make this very common mistake).
Deal with people on an individual basis. Comparisons always cause resentment and resentment causes hostility.

6. Be creative or don't confront.
Look beyond the problem and see if you can help find some solutions.

7. Attack the problem not the person.

8. Confront when the time is right.
The right time is just as soon as you know something is wrong.

9. Look at yourself before looking at others.
Instead of putting others in their place, put yourself in their place.

10. End confrontation with encouragement.
Always end confrontation with the "sandwich treatment". Sandwich the criticism between praise in the beginning and encouragement at the end.

Once in a Blue Moon

I can't believe that my last post in this "Amusing Tips" blog was last August 30 of this year. But don't get me wrong, the title of this post doesn't mean that I will be posting once in a blue moon. On the contrary, what it meant was that big gap in my posting in this blog may happen once in a blue moon, and I hope that will be acceptable, though I will try my best to post at least once or twice a month, or even weekly.

The photo included here was taken last night, December 31, and it was a "blue moon". It was the second full moon within the month, it happens rarely, and that is what a "blue moon" really means, and it has nothing to do with the color blue. It happens about every two and a half years.

For this New Year, it's time for Feng Shui believers to see what may happen this 2010. I am one of those believers and I just love to share my excitement so watch out for it.

Spirulina Mask

I didn't mean to scare you, that was just me with spirulina on my face! It's a very natural way to cleanse and smoothen the face, and I'd like to share that tip with you. Just put in a bowl a half egg yolk and then open a spirulina capsule (preferably the one manufactured by Tiens), and pour the powder on the bowl with egg yolk then mix thoroughly. Using a clean blush on brush, apply the mixture to your face and stand for 20 minutes. Rinse thoroughly with water. You'll instantly feel that your face becomes smooth! Egg yolk may be substituted with milk, or with egg white to remove wrinkles.

Google Docs

At the same time I was about to start working again, a post from a fellow blogger gave me an idea on how to share documents with work teammates through Google Docs (you need to have a google or gmail account first). When I explored the Google Docs site, I was amused because it does a lot more than just sharing documents, and I'm referring to the following features:

1. You can invite people with any email address either as viewers or collaborators who can edit the document shared.

2. As the owner of the document, you may be notified every time a change is made on the document.

3. You may publish the document as a web page so anybody who has access to it can always view an updated copy.

4. You may create your own document, spreadsheet, presentation or form to be shared.

5. You may choose any of the template designs where all types of forms can be found. For projects, the Project Management template is a big help, as well as the Communication Plan or the Project Timeline. For sharing personal documents like photos, there are different types of photo albums to share with friends and relatives, and even a Wedding Budget Manager, those who are getting married, take note. With 449 template designs at present, you'll surely find what you'll need.

Swine flu tips

Overwhelmed with information about the swine flu virus, it took me long to finally publish a post about it. The swine flu virus is not amusing in the first place, but maybe I should still post whatever I learned about it for the past 3 weeks, in the form of a summary.

1. Swine flu should not cause panic since the number of mortality is not significantly high.

2. A healthy person with a strong immune system will unlikely be infected with swine flu. To be healthy, foods that will cause acidity should be avoided like meat, dairy products and caffeine. A vegan diet can maintain the body's alkalinity.

3. Some antiviral supplements like resveratrol can help treat swine flu.

4. Green tea is a good alternative for Tamiflu.

5. Cytokine storm which can be fatal, can occur in a person who has swine flu. This is caused by the body's immune system and some cytokine-producing foods to continuously produce cytokine to signal the body to fight a virus cell, which incidentally is immune, as far as swine flu is concerned. Turmeric can be added to food to decrease the production of cytokine.

Ten steps to baking success

1. Read the recipe thoroughly.

2. Use fresh ingredients.

3. Ensure the ingredient are at room temperature for better mixing. Remove from refrigerator 15 minutes before you start.

4. Measure all the ingredients before you begin mixing.

5. Use standard dry mixing cups for dry ingredients and standard liquid measuring cups for liquid ingredients.

6. Level off dry ingredients when measuring (don't use a heaped measure), measure wet ingredients on a level counter top for an accurate read.

7. Mix dry ingredients into wet ingredients slowly and just until combined (don't over mix, otherwise the batter or dough will become tough).

8. Preheat the oven to correct temperature (use an oven thermometer to confirm it's accuracy), and use the center rack for the even heat distribution (unless your recipe stated otherwise).

9. Line baking pans with non-stick foil to prevent sticking and to help with cleanup.

10. Use the pan size specified in the recipe.

Source: www.FoodPals.com