It's no secret that I suffered from acid reflux for months now, which is one of the reasons why I lose 6 kilograms in three months. My weight has decreased significantly because I forbade myself from eating foods that could trigger acid reflux (which I just learned on the internet). Some of them are sugary, fatty, spicy and most of all acidic foods.  I felt like I was deprived of eating the foods I love, example coffee. Until it came to the point that I just resorted to lugaw (porridge) all day on some days when the alkaline diet (mostly fruits and vegetables ) is not always available on our table.

For over one month, I've been on a semi-alkaline diet but still, my acid reflux didn't go away. It's very uncomfortable and worrisome.  I got skin allergies each time I ate chicken meat, fish, and eggs. I even tried various synthetic medicines and herbals available in the garden but they didn't work either. I was so desperate then to find natural remedies how to cure my acid reflux. Until last month, our neighbor, an SDA invited me to attend their 14-Day Lifestyle Medicine Seminar held at their church. I learned that our body turns into acidic because of wrong foods combination. I also learned that there are certain bacteria in pork that will not die no matter how you cook them at high temperature. Ever since I attended the seminar, I promise my self to start being a vegetarian. And my transition to being a vegetarian was easier because I am used to eating fruits and vegetables even before I learned the seminar.

It really takes a lot of efforts when you become a vegetarian. We have to go to the market early to buy our supplies. We mainly went to Bankerohan because the fruits and vegetables there are super cheap.

Our fridge was filled with fruits and vegetables which my husband bought from Bkerohan or Toril

We first soaked the fruits and vegetables in activated charcoal to get rid of pesticides.

Proper Foods Combination I learned from the seminar

Schedule to follow if you want an optimum healthy lifestyle

I have been faithful to 6am schedule which is drinking fresh juices. But for the breakfast, I just did the fruits and unpolished rice alternately because I am working online. Fruits are easily digested in the stomach so I easily get hungry. It's really hard to function when our stomach is hungry. I really tried to stick to fruits for breakfast and I hope I can do it one of these days. Self-disciple is really needed.

apple, cucumber, and singkamas combination

Pineapple and Papaya

apple, carrots, celery, lemon

watermelon

beets, celery, carrots, kalamansi, apple

apple, carrots, celery, lemon

cucumber, celery, tumeric, and kalamansi/lemon

coconut water and guyabano smoothie

coconut water and malunggay smoothie

one of my breakfasts: papaya, melon, banana, and raw nuts

another fruits combo: jackfruit, banana, raw nuts

For my lunch, I am usually eating unpolished rice with vegetables as viand. I am sometimes eating raw vegetable salads which are highly recommended because of the natural enzymes present on the raw.

cucumber, lettuce, carrots, and potato

lettuce, carrots, cucumber, boiled camote and flax seeds for lunch

For the rest, I followed the schedules faithfully except the dinner. As I have said, I need a spank on the butt to instill self-discipline (hehe).



It's been one month now since I became a vegetarian. I feel stronger and healthier. Though my acid reflux did not go away 100% but I felt I had a lot of good improvement in my health. By the power of God's grace, I claim his healing.

I'm too loud, you're quiet. You're boring, I'm silly.

I'm antsy, but you're calm. You're patient, and I'm not.

You're frugal, and I'm a spendthrift gal. 

I cook foods, you eat them.

You easily forget things, I find them.

In other words? Opposites do attract. Thank you for an amazing 7 years of marriage.

Happy wedding anniversary and I love you Daddy Shark!

Pictures taken at Precious Garden Resort, Garden Island of Samal

My acid reflux started in the early week of August when I had my Implanon removed and I partly suspected that implanon was one of the contributing factors. If you haven’t read my previous post about implanon, please check it out here!

Even though I have already managed some of the implanon after-effects, my acid reflux symptoms still recur. I already spent a lot of money clinic hopping, looking for a complete healing. Worse is, after consulting with three doctors and taking the synthetic meds they prescribed, they didn’t make my reflux go away. I even tried Healing Galing, but their program didn’t work either.

That’s why I searched on the internet what other natural remedies I could take without relying on the synthetic medicines, knowing these can cause side effects to our body. I learned that treating acid reflux requires diet and lifestyle change.

That's why, over 3 weeks ago, when our neighbor, a Seventh Day Adventist, invited me for the Lifestyle Medicine seminar, I didn’t hesitate to attend despite our spiritual beliefs. As a matter of fact, I admired how their church encouraged their people to be vegetarian. They followed the Biblical teaching found in Genesis 1:29 where God said, ‘I give you every seed-bearing plant of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. In other words, we are encouraged to eat fruits, vegetables, grains, and seeds only.

Fruits we juiced during our 3-day detoxification program

It was reiterated in our seminar that a Healthy Lifestyle is equal to Longer Life while Godly Lifestyle is Equal to Eternal Life. The slogan of the seminar hits me like a ton of bricks. The main reason why I got sick because my lifestyle is no longer aligned with what it should be. Even though I started to be healthy 2 years ago, but I still allowed stress to swallow and overwhelm my life. My life has not been balanced physically, emotionally, and most of all spiritually.

The seminar lasted for two weeks which started last October 4, 2017. Since I didn’t have a yaya yet by the time the seminar started, my mother and I took turns in attending the seminar. So I didn’t have a complete attendance (hehe). In spite of that, I learned a lot from the seminars. We were fed with tons of information not only how to be physically healthy, but also how to be spiritually rich. The seminar always started with a prayer and we sang our theme song “God Will Make a Way”.  Each time I sang, I felt the God’s presence. It surely lightens my feeling and at the same time stress-relieving.

The speakers of the seminar were Geronimo Jose, chruch pastor,  and Sir Bong.  Both are well-versed on the topics being discussed. Pastor was in-charged mainly on the Healthy Lifestyle and its corresponding biblical teachings, while sir Bong tackled about the benefits of fruits and vegetables. He also demonstrated how to juice different fruits and vegetables, explained the proper foods combinations and lastly led our 3-day detoxification program right after the 14-day seminar.
For two days, we just drank different juices which was given every hour. We didn't eat anything except the juices. I got a little headache because my body was adjusting to the new diet as I was used to eat carbohydrates-rich foods.

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We also had sunlight exposure along with the outdoor exercise. Healing oneself needs to be holistic. I learned that clean water, fresh air, sunlight, rest, exercise, healthy diet (fruits, vegetables, grains, and seeds), and faith in God are the elements for healing.
After 3 days, we were given a leaflet for our Daily Lifestyle guide. I am so pleased that I was able to practice the diet tips for three weeks now and it really feels so good.






That is so far I learned from our seminar three weeks ago.

Although the Christian beliefs that I am in pushes natural method of family planning, I still chose the artificial methods in the past. In fact, I've already tried three different methods including pills and depo. But I decided to stop when my body suffered from numerous side effects. When I gave birth to my second child, Psalm, my OB forced me to try implanon because she said my health would be in danger if ever I get pregnant again. Who would not be afraid of that threat? So I gave her my nod of approval. The implant was inserted into my upper arm and it would last for three years.

Me Before and After the Implant - I Lose Weight So Terribly

On the first two months, I still felt comfortable with the implant even though my menstruation did not arrive. Honestly, having a menstruation every month is a hassle so without it is a plus for me. I was also briefed beforehand on the possible changes in my body so I was ready for it.  However, three-four months later, side effects took a toll on my health. I felt that I got irritated easily without any reason. When my child or husband made even a little mistake, I got angry right away. My mood was affected tremendously.  Aside from that side effects, I gained a lot of weight.

Eight months later, I decided to have my implanon removed. My doctor kept begging me not to remove it because she said implanon has lots of benefits. One of which is, it is anti-cervical cancer. I was almost convinced but after one hour of consultation, I made up my mind to have it removed. After all, it's my body will suffer, not hers. All along, I thought I was already free from this culprit implant.

After one week of removal, the after-effects were worse than I expected.  One of the after-effects is depression. I felt so low about myself. I didn't understand why. No offense meant to those who suffer from depression right now, I have never expected that this kind of disorder would hit me at some point in my life. I have no reason to be depressed at all because I have a happy family, kind husband, great children, and wonderful God. Worse is, the depression persisted for three weeks. I also suffered from acid reflux, headache, nerve pains, and acne on my back. I already spent a lot of money consulting many doctors in the hope that these side effects would be gone. I guess it takes time for my body to adjust to the fact that it had a constant supply of hormones before.

After two months of removal, my body is already back to normal but my neurologist advised me to continue taking my anti-depresant medicine for one year. However, my acid reflux still persists until now and I was prohibited by my gastro doctor to eat food triggers, mostly my favorites (huhu). Do you know how much weight have I lose? Only 5 kilograms lng naman.

Final Thoughts:

To my fellow mothers, think a hundred times before trying this kind of contraceptive. Even any other contraceptives are really bad for our health. I have learned a lot of lessons now. I should have followed my Christian beliefs that natural method is a Godly way of family planning. If we always pray to God to intervene in our life, He will always grant the desire of our hearts.

Hello guys!  I now got out from my shell and I hope you miss my post already. I was sick for almost two months and just recovered from some health issues (which I am going to share in a separate post). However, I am not yet completely relieved from my acid reflux as it was my first time to deal with this kind of health issue (eew).

This article has been sitting on my pending posts for a month now because I could barely find a time to complete my write-up as I was soo soo busy then on hunting a yaya, chasing deadlines on my job,  and attending healthy seminar workshops which just finished last week.

So Psalm just turned one last September 19 and we had it celebrated at Mergrande Ocean Resort just a few minutes away from us. Normally, we celebrated birthdays at home for my older daughter, Chesska, but I found it very stressful to wash a pile of dishes, mop the floors and clean the house after the event. So we ended up celebrating outside our home. It was not actually a typical children's party with all the clown, a bunch of children,  exciting games, or whatsoever. It was just a thanksgiving party! Less grand, less stress. More simple, more meaningful, right?

We rented a room for 1, 800 pesos per day. Apologies, I don't have pictures of the entire room, but it has one room with sala and balcony where we put our decorations. Not so fancy!

It's hard to believe that a little baby whom I carried in my womb for 9 months is now a little lady.

Psalm and Chesska's Ninang

My father-in-law who is a former chef cooked all our foods except the lechon. Unfortunately, all of the foods we prepared were food triggers to my acid reflux (poor-self)!




This was the best celebration ever because most of our relatives came despite their busyness and we got to chat casually after a very long time.