Mindfully Lazy

Split Decisions

2022-08-19T16:36:00.004-07:00

A while back I had a conundrum, one that just about literally drove me insane.

I couldn't hold it in, I kept repeating my problem over and over to people close to me. The thing was, the more I explained it to people, the more they could not understand why I could not just get over it—just make a deicsion and move on with it!

The thing was, I knew it was illogical. I knew that the amount of time I spent rumminating on the problem did not make sense. The healthy thing to do was to make a decision and to stick with it, problem solved yeah? But alas, I did not have the middle child syndrome for nothing— I was as indecisive as a group of politicians deciding on a budget!

Since I cannot make a decision, I kept flipping future scenarios over and over in my head. And since I kept flipping scenarios, my head hurt, a lot. My head kept spinning, and I cannot think of anything else or do anything productive.

My only way of escape is to sleep on it. Whenever I sleep I can just forget I have any such problems— Until I wake up.

Another day has gone by, but still the problem remains ever-present. Alas, you soon realize you cannot solve a problem by sleeping over it. How I wish time could stop, but days and weeks go by, and you find out that you don't have any other choice but to face the problem head on to finally break free from it.

Make a decision. Own your choice, own the consequence, and move on.

No matter how much other people want to help you, you're the only one who can truly save yourself.

Is Betterhelp a Good Service?

2022-08-19T16:34:00.001-07:00

It may come as no surprise to you, my dear reader, that I need therapy.

I'm the type of person that needs to talk things through— over and over again. I hold onto regrets of the past and mull over them, in an unhealthy way. Regrets get stuck in my thoughts all day and all night, and in my worst days I sleep over them as a form of escape. Sometimes I feel like I could use some help in untangling these chaotic thoughts.

That's when I saw an ad for Betterhelp in Facebook. How much does Betterhelp cost? For £40-£70 a session for 4 sessions (depending on your location, preference and therapist availability.), I thought it wasn't so bad. It's cheaper than many in-person therapy for sure. (With this Betterhelp referral code you get your first week free). Anyhow, everything is done online these days anyway. I felt I should at least give it a shot.

So how does it work?

Well first, they give you a series of personal online questions to see just how bad in a shape you are and also pair you up with the right therapist. After a few days, they matched me with Trendolyn Davis from Dallas, Texas.

The first thing that came to mind is why I was paired up with a therapist from America when I was in the UK, this irritated me a bit. Trendolyn explained to me that Betterhelp is probably lacking UK therapist. They also weren't able to accomodate my preferred language which was Tagalog. In any case, I thought it was fine, just thought I'd make a note of it.

In any case, onto the positive parts! The app is actually quite functional and inuitive, it's quite easy to use and not clunky. It's very easy to chat a message to your psychiatrist and also schedule your appointments. I guess one problem with the messages is the time difference as they will probably message back where they're awake. In any case, the main selling point of the app is the talking time anyway, which happens 4 times in a month. Make sure not to miss your session though because I think there's a penalty if you do.

The Actualy Therapy Session

When it comes to the actual therapy session, I guess it would depend from therapist to therapist, but I would trust that Betterhelp properly vets their therapists anyway. In any case, I am glad to have a good therapist in Trendolyn. I feel she understood me and tried to get to the root of my problems. To be honest, the advice I got were stuff I already kind of knew myself (I do have a psychology degree) but I just needed to hear from someone, repeatedly. The thing with therapy is that I have someone to listen to my problems over and over again and not get tired of giving me advice. The best advice I got from her with regards to overcoming my OCD came in a typed message:

“They are just thoughts — just look at them and let them flow by — don’t catch them. Act as if it is a poem and the thoughts only have to be written down but not kept. Imagine a stream of thoughts flowing by — they are your thoughts — let them flow and not let the fishing pole catch them… This is part of (your) OCD disorder.” — Trendolyn Davis MA, LPC

As you can imagine, I talk about my OCD a lot, and I like the advice of not being stuck on just any one thought and letting things flow. To relax, calm down, breathe and let things go.

Everybody Needs a Therapist

If people can afford it, I think it's good if everyone had a therapist. It's like having an accountability buddy that you can count on to help you set your goals and better yourself. You will be able to objectively see yourself from an outsider's perspective, and correct yourself when needed.

All in all, I'm glad I got therapy from Betterhelp. It's easy, convenient, and it gives me a reset each week as I knock myself back into what I should be doing. But don't take my word for it, try Betterhelp yourself and see if it can be just the help you need.

Chefly Meals Review — Nutritious Food delivered to your door!

2022-08-19T16:32:00.001-07:00

I don't like cooking— There I said it.

The buying groceries, the actual cooking, the washing up... it all seems like a lot of preparation just to eat one time and then do it over and over again the next day and the day after that...

As I've said a lot of times, "I don't cook, I heat food to survive". That being said, I don't buy ready-made food from the supermarket. I'm still a healthy eater, so I buy whole foods (meat or veggies), and then steam them up in my handy dandy steamer. It's a good thing I'm not such a picky eater, and salt and pepper usually does the trick for me (with the occasional dash of soy sauce, mayonnaise, or ketchup).

Although there days, I must say, I've gotten EXTRA lazy. I just can't be bothered to prepare food. This has resulted to some unhealthy fast food eating habits. It's just easy, you know?

That's when I saw an ad for Chefly (I know, it's freaky). Ready made meals, and all you need is pop it in the microwave. It's not like Hello Fresh where you need to chop up the vegetables and clean up after yourself, where in my incompetence a 40 minute dish turns into an hour!

Normally Chefly costs £45 for a box of 6, but with the Chefly discount code it became £35. So that's around £5.83 per meal. It's not exactly the cheapest option, but considering that it's supposed to be healthy— with no preservatives, low carb, and they even use olive oil, I checked!— I thought it might be worth a shot.

The Chefly Food Box Arrived

So the box arrived yesterday afternoon at around 4PM. I brought it up and placed it straight in my fridge. The food was compact and it's easy to store on top of each other.

These were the meals I ordered that I picked out from the Chefly menu:

x1 Grilled Bavette Steak with Mexican Peppers, Sweet Corn, Kidney Beans and Quinoa
x1 Grilled Chicken Breast with Wild Rice and Cauliflower and Chickpea Tikka Masala
x1 Salmon with Lemon and Rosemary, Roasted Sweet Potato, Curley Kale, Lentils and Quinoa
x1 Teriyaki Salmon with Edamame, Fennel and Sugarsnap Peas
x1 Slow Cooked Angus Steak with Red Potato Mash, Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Green Beans
x1 Cajun Salmon with Cauli Mash

Vacuum sealed

Microwaved for 3 minutes

The first thing you'll notice is that it's not like the pretty meals advertised on their plates, and it's not as big— It's a relatively small package. You'll also notice a thin film strip on top of the meal, it's vacuum sealed, which is good. What it looks like is a better looking version of microwaved food, which it is.

Here comes the important part— the taste test. To be honest, it was a little bland. I think it was because it is healthy and there is not much seasoning in it, but it was alright. Don't expect it to be as fresh as a meal you cooked over your stove top, it's still microwaved after all.

With that said, it is convenient as heck! All I needed was to pull out a spoon and viola, dinner is served! And that solves dinner problems for a Mindfully Lazy eater such as myself.

If you want to try it out, you can use this Chefly first order discount code for £10 off your first order.

When I’m Sad, I Write

2022-08-19T16:31:00.002-07:00

I'm feel lost. I feel down. I feel confused. I don't know what to do. My life isn't exactly going where I want it to go....

When my mind is like this, where it is filled with racing thoughts, I find that I close my eyes and go to bed, willing to shut it all off. But this does not give me peace, and at times I find that it just gives me a headache.

Then one night, when I was feeling extra down, I thought to myself... remember the time when you used to write about everything? Your happiness, your sadness... your deepest thoughts and desires... it all went into paper. And as if this was a some kind of channel... a way to let it all go... that's what it did. It dispelled the sorrows away onto paper. In writing there was structure, I wasn't as confused and it felt like I was doing something productive.

I haven't felt like this in a long time. This feeling of inner peace, of letting it all go, of letting it be. I'll remember this feeling, and continue to write on paper.

When All I do is Sleep the Pain Away

2022-08-19T16:26:00.005-07:00

It's 4:40am in the morning right now.

Why are you awake? You might ask. Well, if you must know, I slept the whole day. That's not even an exaggeration— I literally slept the day away. My whole sleep cycle is upside down, and today I slept for like 16 hours!

That's not even even unusual these days... you see, that's what happens when one is depressed. Sleeping is such sweet escape. In my sleep, I can dream of better times... times when I was happy living my life in the real world.

But alas, try as one might to sleep all the pain away, one must still wake up. Believe me, I tried. Honestly, it's hard when you hate your life. As if living is a curse... you wake up wishing you can go back to that nightmare you just had!

But life can't go like this forever. At one point, you do have to wake up and face the music. You can't live your life sleeping — It literally is a waste of a life. If there truly is just one life to live, then by golly, I guess you got to face it head on.

It's easier said than done, and I've had myself go through this pep talk before. But I guess, what's important is that I just keep on trying.

Just keep on trying.

When Buying Bulk Isn’t Saving You Money

2022-08-19T16:23:00.002-07:00

At the outset, buying bulk seems like a no brainer. You’re probably going to buy them anyway, why not save yourself the trip of going back to the store and save in the long run?

Well, the thing with buying bulk is that just based on human tendencies, the more you have of something, the more you’re probably going to waste it. Either you’ll use relatively more of that liquid soap or you’ll throw away that leftover chicken. You’ll probably notice yourself stretching the life of your toothpaste only just when it's about to run out.

Scarcity brings out our natural instinct to conserve while abundance tends to make us wasteful.

Still, when it comes to everyday essentials, it's probably good to buy bulk as savings can be substantial enough to offset any of our wasteful tendencies. This is especially true if the the things you are buying imperesiable items such as toilet paper rolls.

No Up Side

When it comes to junk food though, unless you're planning a party, there is just no upside to buying bulk.

For one thing, junk food is a treat where you're better off not eating any, so if you're going to buy any at all, best to just get small quantities. Spending more money for a bigger portion is definitely not helping your wallet.

It is also quite hard to portion out treats. Buy a tub of ice cream, tell yourself to stretch it out for the month, and see how long it actually lasts!

What's more, junk food is highly correlated with having health problems and obesity. So even if you think you're saving with buying cheap artificial foods now, just wait until you get that humongous hospital bill for heart problems or diabetes down the road.

The Seefood Diet

I'm personally guilty of having a "Seefood" diet-- If I see something on the counter or if there are snacks easily available, I tend to just gobble them all up! That is why I make sure I eat a full meal before grocery shopping. If I'm not hungry, then I won't feel the need to place random yummy snacks on my trolley.

It is a fact that if you have snacks at home, it will take willpower to resist it. And the longer, more stressful the day, the less likely you'll be able to ignore that tub of cookies and cream ice cream that's so yummy and conveniently ready-to-eat. Before you know it, you'll definitely gain all that unwanted weight in no time!

Best to just remove the temptation entirely.

Why be Mindfully Lazy

2019-06-11T16:16:00.003-07:00

"I will always choose a lazy person to do a hard job because a lazy person will find an easy way to do it.”— Bill Gates

Okay, I must point out that there is no substantive support for the claim that Bill Gates actually said this quote, but it does illustrate the point of this blog rather well, so work with me on this.

For as long as I can remember, I’ve never been the type to just straightforwardly do a task. I would always try to find some sort of shortcut in my quest to avoid doing more work than I literally actually have to.

I remember back in high school that instead of researching about a topic, I would simply ask my dad the question and write down exactly what he thought about it. Fortunately for me, my dad is a major bookworm, and he was always more than happy to impart what wisdom he has accumulated throughout his lifetime to his lazy daughter.

Of course, the flip side to this happy symbiotic relationship was that I never really got to internalize the topics assigned to me, nor formed any of my own viewpoints about them— but you know, that hardly mattered considering I was getting through papers with minimal effort.

To this day, for better or for worse, I still think like this-- always trying to find little ways to not think too much or make my life just that bit easier.

Case in point, just last week I bought an electric scooter. A friend then commented: "You'll never walk again, that's so lazy", to which I wisely replied: "It's not about being lazy, it's about being efficient."

Why walk 20 minutes when you can scoot in 10? I mean, if you're paid by the hour, then that 20 minutes is already 1/3 of that pay. With that calculation, having a scooter is now a rather quick Return on Investment— and not having to walk ever again is simply an added bonus!

Annoyingly so, I mindlessly think about this 'hourly pay' equation in my head for almost everything now that sometimes it's just plain ridiculous. From the time it takes to chop carrots (perhaps one may consider the more expensive, yet less time consuming baby carrot option), to purposefully batch processing errands where I need to (gasp) step outside the house.

These "lazy-efficiency habits" are like second nature now that it has already become an integral part of my lifestyle. It's funny how, when I stop to think about it, I do legitimately find joy in thinking up these processes that probably shaves mere minutes in the overall scheme of things.

But you know what, there's only so much time in a day! And if I'm constantly thinking like this, that just means I will have more time for the actual time wasting stuff that I do legitimately want to waste my time on!

And so, that's a little introduction on me being 'Mindfully Lazy'. Welcome to my World!

… And cross your fingers that I don't procrastinate ;)