a health, fitness & lifestyle blog
I never thought I would say this, but I broke. I give up. I am done. I surrender. I am handing back my dream of becoming a surgeon. I have nothing left to give. I don’t want it anymore. I’ve lost my ambition. I’ve lost my spark. I started 2018 with optimism and zest. This …
I got a lump in my throat. Gut feeling. Trust your gut. I feel sick to my stomach. Hard/bitter pill to swallow. Gut instinct. Butterflies in your stomach. Emotional eating. Gut-wrenching. Misery guts. Gut reaction. You’ve got guts. Kick in the guts. Hate your guts. Love your guts. Hangry. Comfort food. I don’t have the …
What is the purpose of decluttering? For me, decluttering is not just about removing excess from my physical space, but also about clearing my mental and emotional space in order to give myself peace. Forgiveness is one way you can lessen the emotional load on yourself. When you feel hard done by, you carry anger, …
I am not your typical Japanese person. When I think “Japanese” I think of someone who is elegant, softly spoken, polite and minimalist. I want to be more minimalist; one of my current life goals is to declutter my life. I have had a turbulent year, which has made me realise that decluttering your mind …
Good morning from Sydney. Today is a beautiful day and I want to write about yoga. Yoga is not only physically enjoyable for me, it uplifts me emotionally. One thing that does make me sad though, is when people don’t think they can “do” yoga. I’ve heard all the reasons.. “because I’m not flexible”, “because …
Sleep. I cannot remember the last time I had a good night’s sleep unaided. At the start of the year, I was working an untenable (and illegal) amount of hours and (just) surviving on a few hours’ sleep each night. You can read more about that here. Chronic sleep deprivation has a number of detrimental …
I’ve always been flexible. I started ballet when I was 3 and I did the splits for fun. Before you start hating on me, let me tell you that being flexible is not always a good thing. I’ll eventually write a post about how having flexible feet resulted in me having a broken foot during …
Hi, I’m Miko and I’m an insomniac sometimes. You don’t appreciate sleep until you’ve gone through a period of severe sleep deprivation. As a society we don’t have the best habits that promote healthy sleep.. that’s where sleep hygiene comes in. Sleep hygiene is a set of guidelines that help you optimise sleep. Before I …
A doctor has been named and shamed in the media today. Victorian Health Minister Jenny Mikakos spoke about a GP in Melbourne who had tested positive for covid-19. She said she was ‘flabbergasted’ that he would continue to work, exposing 70 patients to the virus, and that his ‘irresponsible’ decision was something for the medical …
Do you have a career Plan B, just in case things don’t work out? I’ve been thinking a lot of about the concept of a ‘Plan B’ in the context of careers, relationships, and just life in general. It’s certainly very topical at the moment, with changes to surgical training in Australia. In the past, …
Disclosure: I was sent this book in September before it was due for publication. My apologies to Kate for not getting this review done sooner! I could have read The Orange Grove in two sittings. In fact I did, except the sittings were a few months apart due to life getting in the way. As …
Full disclosure: I won a copy of this book in a giveaway, so I didn’t buy it. However, I am not obliged to write a good review (or any review) so I will write exactly what I thought of it. I must admit, I watched Eat Pray Love at the movies and absolutely loved the …
Happy Monday everyone. I’ve just returned from a weekend in Perth where I had the privilege of being part of the Western Australia (WA) Department of Health forum for Surgical Service Registrars, held at Fiona Stanley Hospital (image credit: Peter Bennetts). For the benefit of those who could not attend on the night, and for …
The Erratics is the 2019 winner of the Stella Prize, which celebrates female writers in Australia. There’s an interesting story to the lead up to that moment. The book had actually gone out of print after the original publisher folded, but it was since picked up by Harper Collins for re-publication. Vicki Laveau-Harvie is a …
Magnesium is an essential mineral that has many physiological functions in the body such as bone health, muscle health (including cardiac muscle), mood, and sleep. Most people have used Epsom salts after a hard workout to relieve muscle soreness, but magnesium is less known for its beneficial effects on sleep. Magnesium works to increase the …
I really, really wanted to love this memoir. Slice Girls is written by Dr Joan Arakkal, who writes about her experiences in the male-dominated field of Orthopaedic Surgery, where only 4% of surgeons are female. She grew up in India but has worked in the UK and now resides in Perth, Australia. I still remember …
I love love loved this debut novel by R.W.R McDonald! I won’t lie, the first reason I picked up the book was because I saw the cover and the pop art spoke to me. I totally judge a book by its cover. I can’t say I’ve read a lot of crime fiction so this isn’t …
I must admit, I bought this book in November last year and didn’t get too far. I remember receiving an email from the Book Depository promoting some of its best-sellers, and found this book amongst them. Having not lived in the UK since 2002, I wasn’t familiar with Dolly Alderton’s dating column or podcast, but …