Andreva.Shaw: OUR HEADS OUR ALL!

Andreva.Shaw: OUR HEADS, OUR ALL!: The first, last and only slap I received from my dad was a resounding and resetting (corrective) one that I promised myself “never again...

Andreva.Shaw: WHEN LIFE BECOMES UNBEARABLE

Andreva.Shaw: WHEN LIFE BECOMES UNBEARABLE: About three days ago, while crossing over from one side of an expressway to the other in town, one was faced with a scene which for a mo...

Andreva.Shaw: BELLY FATS AND ITS HAZARDS

Andreva.Shaw: BELLY FATS AND ITS HAZARDS: Visceral fat, what a number of people call belly fat, is obesity around the waist that is not in any way fashionable or healthy. It’s th...

BELLY FATS AND ITS HAZARDS

Visceral fat, what a number of people call belly fat, is obesity around the waist that is not in any way fashionable or healthy. It’s therefore a thing of great concern to still hear some people, especially the men who still erroneously believe that pot belly is a sign of good living.

A couple of years back, (feeling cool with herself then) was this small ‘waisted’ flat bellied teenager. A family friend told her on one of her visits that she once had a waist as tiny as hers and was  according to her “wondering” how she got to her present state at the time. Years later, even though she’s not weighed down by belly fat presently, (being one who’s very conscious of weight gain) that same teenager is now also however wondering what happened to her once ‘flat bellied waist’. Well, it is what it is. “Change”, the say, “is the only constant thing”. *laughs.

If you walk into some eateries, especially the nowadays very ‘tushed’ mama puts or bukas, you’d be amazed to see the plates of some ‘dignified men’ (and in some cases women too) when they take their orders. Their plates would look like the world is coming to an end hence the need to eat everything on the menu at once. And for many of them, that wouldn’t be the last meal for the day as they’d still eat at home later in the night after ‘downing’ enough alcohol while ‘hanging out with the boys’ at the close of work that same day.

The above scenario, to many of them, is ‘living the good life’. Unfortunately, they are slowly killing themselves.

Interestingly, ask any of them “do you engage in any form of exercise”? Some of the answers you’d get include “I work too hard so don’t have time for that” or “ha! At this age, you want to kill me? “The work I do is enough exercise”. And so on.

 

The bad news is that diseases tend to hide or incubate in some belly fats for a long time before they start to manifest. That’s why one could be seen looking healthy this very minute and the next thing, he/she is dead. Thereafter, medical reports would reveal that the disease had been in the person for some time. Therefore, it’s wise to see a doctor if you’ve been struggling with too much belly fats or pot belly as they have the tendencies to lead to diabetes, heart diseases and many others.

The good news is that not all belly fats have underlying diseases hence you can work on that belly. Work on it by doing some form cardio/exercise for at least 20 minutes thrice a week for starters. It would do a lot of good to avoid saturated fats, too much sugary foods and beverages, too much alcohol and even stress. Yes stress.

According to reports, too much stress can cause the release of stress hormone known as cortisol which is produced by the adrenal glands thereby causing increase in appetite which may lead an individual to overeating.

The better news is that you cannot go wrong with eating more of vegetables, fruits and fibers. Especially soluble fibers as they can give you a quick filling, thereby preventing you from eating too much.

Also, whenever you are thirsty, instead of that carbonated drink, grab a bottle of water.

The best news is that it’s a lot cheaper to eat and live healthy than paying huge medical bills or losing your life. We all know life is transient, but then let’s make it worth ‘the living’.

©Stella Ene – Inyang

WHEN LIFE BECOMES UNBEARABLE

About three days ago, while crossing over from one side of an expressway to the other in town, one was faced with a scene which for a moment looked like some mischievous person was throwing  a huge bin bag on the expressway from the flyover only to get to the other side of the road to meet people standing over the body of a young guy (who would not be anything older than 22years of age) in a pool of his own blood. He had just hauled himself over the bridge hoping to be knocked over by the time he reached the ground, fortunately no car owner fell victim as there was no oncoming vehicle at the time he landed on the expressway.

I’m not sure that guy made it as he was bleeding profusely from his head whilst resisting any assistance from the people to take him to a hospital. I sure hope he made it, but I really doubt that.

As I walked away from the scene, shaken by what I just witnessed as though from a scene in a movie; I muttered “Lord show me your mercy, do not let us be pushed to that level of wanting to end it all”.

Sometime earlier in the month, I saw a mock video of Dino Melaye with a tray on his head hawking (what I can’t remember) and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Seeing that video, my thoughts were filled with images of those petty traders who display their wares on trays or tables by the roadside, at parks or hawk about and just by a mere look at the entire things displayed may just be like a total of three thousand naira or even less and yet these people say they are ‘selling to make a living’. And I’m wondering how do these people do it?

Most times when I buy things from these petty traders, I find it difficult to haggle or bargain with them every time because no matter how much they add, you cannot be that cheated. Sometimes, (I mean sometimes) please don’t bargain, just take it that you’re evenhandedly helping a family ‘get by’. After all how much is the entire tray?

It is with that petty business they feed their families, (at least that’s what they say) pay fees and other bills yet we expect that the crime rate in the country would drop?

A child who grows up in such a family would definitely not want to end up like his parents hence would do just about anything to get out of poverty. If he finds himself with the wrong set of friends, he may be pressured to do crime.

But let’s say he does not do crime and then tries every way ‘legit’ he knows to make wealth yet poverty seems to cling on like an everlasting plague; he may be pushed to the extent that since he cannot do crime, the only other option is to end it all by jumping off a bridge like the young man mentioned earlier at the beginning of this post.

Where am I going with all of these?

The times are tough. No matter how little you think you have, there’s still that ‘someone’ out there you can save from committing suicide with that ‘token’ that seems like nothing to you. A word of encouragement goes a long way as well.

Let’s look out for each other in these present times as people are going through a lot. People are getting depressed on a daily basis and even the counselors and psychologists are getting depressed as well.   

And if the counselors are getting depressed as well, who will then counsel us? So let’s all do the job together by looking out for each other.

©Stella Ene – Inyang

OUR HEADS OUR ALL!

The first, last and only slap I received from my dad was a resounding and resetting (corrective) one that I promised myself “never again” will I ever put myself in any position where  such a slap would be warranted from him again. The shock and the lasting effect gives me the shivers till today even though I was barely a teenager when it happened. Just imagine that kind of slap from an angry uniformed ‘oga’ commandant at the barracks, then you’d understand the kind of slap I’m talking about. Even though he later apologized when he found out I was wrong accused, I didn’t feel any better as the horror was beyond explanation.

And so it is with such a horror I watch any boxing match and always wonder how the boxers cope with the heavy blows received on their heads and faces. I keep wondering that if a single slap did what it did to me (as I saw many stars hovering about my head) then one can only imagine what the blows would feel like. Forget about those headgears! I think they do little or nothing in protecting them.

I’ve always feared for them, wondering if it wouldn’t lead to head concussions or brain injuries. Thus it didn’t come too much as a surprise when I heard on sky news that young Patrick Day, an American boxer has just died at 27  as a result of a brain injury he received while in a fight with Charles Conwell in Chicago barely four days after. I wasn’t too surprised.

Head injuries are some of the most complicated injuries in the world today.

People mostly get head injuries from accidents anywhere, including domestic accidents. Sometimes from just ordinary play to hitting your head against a wall or even as little as while getting into a car and hitting the head against the door frame, can cause issues in the head. Those are examples of accidents.

Even some parents and guardians are very guilty of hitting their wards on the heads and this is a "no no" that should  be stopped.

But then, how does one handle the boxing sport? What are the kinds of steps taken to ensure that these injuries are reduced or completely eradicated? No one would suggest that it should be stopped; as it’s a means of livelihood for those involved and also an exciting game for some. So what measures should henceforth be taken?

As the world mourns the exit of Patrick day, we hope that the issue of injuries during these money spinning fights be looked into in order to save other young ones like Patrick, premature deaths.

©Stella Ene – Inyang