After I finished the last sentence in the previous paragraph, I went to put out the laundry to dry, took a seep of water from the refrigerator, had a piece of chocolate and took a toilet break before finally sitting down once again to write; I lacked the self-discipline to focus and concentrate on the writing.

Just with most things in life, often time we lack the self-discipline to see us through what we are hoping to do or achieve. One area where self-discipline is clearly important is in losing weight.

Some people are constantly looking for quick fix to their weight problem; they will jump at anything that gives them guaranteed weight lost in the shortest time. They may lose weight fast, but they will find the result short term especially if they do not change the way they live and the food they eat.

To me, I strongly believe that the best way of losing weight naturally is through changing our living habits and what we eat. Doing that will not only ensure keeping the ideal weight permanently (through continuous self-discipline), but will also give us the many health benefits that come with living right and eating right.

A friend’s colleague shared his experience going through the journey from 115 Kilograms to 56 Kilograms in around one year. Not only does he look fresher and younger, he has also inspired his wife and friends to follow in his lifestyle.

His journey of losing weight started from a trip with his daughter to the doctor for her check up. He playfully weighed himself on the weighing machine while his daughter was having the check up. The doctor saw his weight and made a remark, “If you maintain that balloon weight, you cannot see your grandchildren.”

That made him decide, “Enough is enough!” Not only that, he felt tired easily and his excessive weight made him feel like a walking balloon. In that moment of awakening, he made decisions to change his lifestyle and eating habits. To him, this is the one proven way to lose the excessive weight. “Seeing my kiddos help me stay disciplined.” He said.

How did he do it? He first calculated his Body Mass Index (BMI) and set the goal he wanted to achieve. Then he cut down on the amount of food intake as well as changing what he was eating (no junk food, no refined-Carbohydrate, less or no fried food). Eventually he becomes a Pescetarian. The second part is doing lots of Cardio-exercises from badminton to running to squash and just nature trekking sometimes. The trick is to do these Cardio-exercises regularly. He did it thrice a week.

In his own words, “There is only one way: in two parts to lose weight; eat right and exercise. And this is a lifelong thing.”

Another thing which probably contributed to his success in losing the excess weight were the moral supports from family, friends and colleagues. However, without him first deciding to lose the excess weight and then keeping it going through self-discipline, he would not have done it!

I would have gotten mine done too if it was partially erupted at that time; it didn’t. But I always believe that everything happened for a reason. If I had mine extracted then, I wouldn’t have the chance to help others who are going through or will be going through similar situation. All prices stated hereafter are in Singapore dollar. This may not be applicable to you especially if you are not in Singapore. However, if you know of any affordable ways for wisdom tooth surgery in your country, do feel free to share in the comment area with all of us.

As most of you know, wisdom tooth extraction can be pretty expensive; especially when it needs to be surgically removed. One of my friends had a wisdom tooth surgically removed, in a private practice, for $600. Yes, you read right, just one wisdom tooth.

If a wisdom tooth needs to be surgically removed, the cost for extraction in private practices can vary from as low as $400 to as high as $800. Heard anything higher? That was why I felt helpless since I had to have mine removed.

What I did first was to check with friends who might have good and most importantly – reasonably priced – dentist. That didn’t help much; most have good dentists to recommend but the costs of surgery were almost the same. Next I turned to Googling for extraction that can be done using Medisave. Yes, wisdom tooth surgery can be covered by Medisave now. That can be good news especially if you are a working Singapore citizen. If you are not, you can still use your parents’ Medisave.

If you want to do your wisdom tooth extraction in private practices and want to pay for it using Medisave, you must make sure that the dental clinic is participating in the Medisave Scheme. One private practice which I called does participate in the scheme but it would still cost me around $600-$800.

I have read in one of the forums that the cheapest way is to get a referral letter from Polyclinic (see list of polyclinics with dental facilities near the bottom of the page) to the National Dental Centre (NDC). When you are booking your appointment with the polyclinic, do let them know that you want to get a referral letter to the NDC under subsidised rate.

During the first visit to the NDC, X-ray will be done to see if your wisdom tooth needs to be surgically removed. If it does, they will advice you what to do and do feel free to ask them any questions. “Only day surgery procedures (eg. surgical removal of wisdom teeth) will be covered by Medisave,” according to NDC.

Procrastination is probably one of the longest words in my dictionary. I used to have problem spelling it; I used to spell it as ‘Procastination’ without the ‘r.’ Not to worry, I am not going to talk about spelling today. I am going to talk about dealing with procrastination.

It is my ‘running day’ today and I should have gone for my run this morning. However, when I woke up this morning, the sky was gloomy with signs of an impending rain. In fact, it was raining in the wee hours around 5.30 am.

So naturally I have load of excuses not to go for the run this morning; the road is still wet, the running shoes will be drenched, I can go for a run in the afternoon or I can go for a run tomorrow morning instead etc. And you guess right, I did not go for the run this morning.

Just about an hour ago, I was reading Death defying stunt in London by CK about his plan to run from work to home today. And after reading it, I shut down my laptop and went for a run at around 1 pm in the afternoon. Don’t worry, no heat stroke; the sky was very cloudy just now.

I just dislike being a loser to procrastination, especially when I know I can beat it. So thank you to CK, somehow your post has given me the much needed ‘push’ … for action.

I believe that most of us had moments when procrastination got the better of us and we did not manage to do what we had set to do for that day. I know, it is a lousy feeling – a feeling of not in control.

There were mornings like today when procrastination had gotten the better of me but there were also many mornings when I dealt with procrastination face-on. The outcome? I won and with lots of sweats.

So what are the secrets for dealing with procrastination? Pardon me, there are no secret formula to apply or potion to drink. The best way of dealing with procrastination for me and with almost 100% hit rate is to take immediate action.

The biggest challenge is getting out of the house. How did I do it?

First of all, I focus on the positive aspects that running always bring me. I have always felt good after every run and have felt more ready to take on other challenges. Not to mention I maintain a healthy lifestyle. Through focusing on the positive aspects that running always bring me, I build up my mind positively step by step. If needed, you can write it down on a piece of paper all the advantages of doing something that you want to do but keep putting it off.

Secondly, I just put on my tee-shirt, running shoes, grab the keys, open the door and out of the house I go. It couldn’t have been more simple. This has always worked for me. Thus the more you procrastinate, the more you need to get into the act of doing. Once you are in the act of doing it, the process should carry you along until you are done.

How about you? What is your effective ways for dealing with Procrastination?

And the picture above? That was the bonus for the run today. I managed to see these beautiful blooming flowers. At some parts, the flowers group together like a beehive. Of course, I couldn’t resist myself from taking a shot with my Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot camera phone.

Frankly speaking, I am no expert or medical doctor and thus I cannot give you the answer to that. I guess no one can give you the definite answer too. According to a Yahoo! News by Associated Press, “… it’s too soon to tell.”

A prominent expert on global flu outbreaks, with the University of Minnesota, Michael Osterholm said, “What makes this so difficult is we may be somewhere between an important but yet still uneventful public health occurrence here — with something that could literally die out over the next couple of weeks and never show up again — or this could be the opening act of a full-fledged influenza pandemic.”

Yesterday, I was talking to a friend and the first thing she asked me is, “Have you read about the swine flu?” She is concerned and worried about how the swine flu can potentially kill a lot of people. Hopefully this will not go on to kill millions around the world, as pandemics did in 1918, 1957 and 1968.

Besides being concerned and worried about this, it is more important to take proactive measures to secure yourself and your family. Everyone has an important part to play to prevent the swine flu pandemic from happening.

Although flu shots have been offered in different nations, new types of flu viruses have remained a threat. So what can we do? The best bet will be to work on your immune system. With a stronger immune system, you body has a higher chance of winning battles against viruses.

How do we boost our immune systems? (These are not the only things you can do to boost your immune system. I am sure you can add more to this list. The important thing we should focus on is boosting our immune systems)

1. In a previous article, ‘C is the Alphabet to Healthy Life,’ which I posted, increasing your intake of Vitamin C could be a good start to boosting your immune system.

The good thing is Vitamin C is easily available in fruits and vegetables. The foods that are very rich in Vitamin C include green peppers, citrus fruits and juices, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, turnip greens and other leafy greens, sweet and white potatoes, and cantaloupe. I believe there are more foods which you can add to the list.

2. Drink plenty of water. How many times have you heard about the important of drinking water? And how many of us are doing it? The usual guideline is about 6-8 glasses of water everyday. My body has a way to let me know that it needs water – it protests by giving me headaches. Headaches and thirst are both signs of dehydration.

3. Get a full night’s sleep. Depending on individual, your body may need anywhere from 6 to 10 hours of sleep each night. According to an article on Vibe Health dated 27 February 2009, “Medical researchers are discovering that sleep may be the body’s way of recharging your immune system, explaining why poor sleepers are prone to infections and heart disease.”

4. Exercising. Exercise can make a noticeable difference to your health and happiness by releasing Endorphins. Moderate and consistent exercise help one to boost immune system and to sleep better. If you overdo it, it may do harm to your immune system instead.

5. Drinking Tea. Immunologists at Harvard University discovered that people who drank five cups of black tea a day for 2 weeks transformed their immune system T cells into “Hulk cells” that pumped out 10 times more cold and flu virus – fighting interferon — proteins that defend against infection — than did the immune systems of those who didn’t drink black tea. Green tea should work just as well.

While five cups a day may seem like a lot, Dr. Jack Bukowski of the Harvard Medical School thinks fewer cups may still offer some valuable protection. Moderation is important.

Besides following these points to boost immune system, we must also adopt good hygiene practices and be socially responsible:

1. Washing hands thoroughly and often especially if you have been out in the public.
2. People should avoid touching their mouth, nose or eyes with their hands unless they’ve washed their hands.
3. Using a serving spoon when sharing food.
4. Not spitting on the floor, covering nose and mouth with a tissue when coughing or sneezing and to throw it into garbage immediately.
5. Wearing masks when unwell.

Those who have flu-like symptoms are advised to seek medical help promptly, and inform the doctors of their travel history.

Although there is no way to control 100 percent on how the swine flu pandemic may evolve, we can do our parts to prevent it from affecting ourselves, our immediate families and friends. I hope these few points can inspire you to take proactive measures to boost your immune system. Wishing everyone great health!