Food Transformation

This is mandi transformation.  Going, going, gone. Ha ha ha.  Mandi is an arabic food consisting of yellow colored rice, fish, chicken or lamb. 

We have heard them all.  Challenge after challenge.   Reality TV shows after another.  Social media challenge gone viral.  The biggest loser, 100 happy days, your weight in gold, walk for autism, and of course the latest craze, The ALS Ice bucket challenge. 

These challenges aim to eradicate certain disease, sadness, isolation and obesity, etc.   But there is one ultimate challenge not only for those who are fat or thin, black or white, not only for the physically challenged or the mentally handicapped, not only for those who are social media addict, but for everyone especially for us who are working in a hospital environment.    The challenge that could save lives - The hand hygiene challenge!

Hand hygiene is the most effective measure of preventing the spread of infection.  It involves washing with soap and water for visibly dirty hands or waterless antimicrobial agent to the surface of the hands, which kills germs in seconds.  It is one of the easiest and most effective ways of preventing the transfer of infection to patients, visitors and among healthcare workers.

There are five moments of hand hygiene according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

http://www.who.int/gpsc/tools/Five_moments/en/ 

  

Germs are everywhere.  We do not see them attacking and causing lives to many.  We have to act against these harmful germs.  The best solution against germs is hand hygiene.  The hand hygiene challenge is not only for certain individuals but it is of universal concern.

It does not matter which area you work for or which advocacy you campaign for,  I nominate you for the hand hygiene challenge!  Do not wait for 24 hours.  Just do it now!

It’s complicated (A thought on miscommunication in the workplace)

It’s complicated would mean a very problematic or difficult situation or condition – as in social media status.  Things get complicated when there is no proper communication.  In the workplace, there are a lot of reasons why miscommunication happens. 

Being in a multicultural setting, the American Hospital of Dubai is not spared from miscommunications.  Having worked here for almost nine years, I have seen how miscommunication happens in the workplace and how it is dealt with by the excellent staff of this hospital.

Through the years, I have observed the following causes of miscommunication in the hospital and how to deal with them:

1.       Unclear instructions.  This would usually lead to misinterpretation.  If the instructions given are not direct to the point, that is where the problem rises.  One solution to this is giving proper instructions and making sure that both parties have the same understanding of the instructions. 

2.      Language barrier.  The hospital has employed practically hundreds of different nationalities.  Though English is the main language in the American Hospital of Dubai, chances are native languages are spoken on duty, which somehow affects the quality of communication.    This was dealt by the management by imposing an “English only” environment in the hospital.

3.      Gestures.  Different cultures have different body language and non-verbal communication interpretation.  Here in the hospital, we have hundreds of different cultures.   Moving the head from side to side would mean “Yes” to Indians but for Filipinos, it means “No”.     Learning the culture of other people and adapting to them is one way of preventing misinterpretation of non-verbal communications.

4.      Poor listening.  During a conversation, sometimes we tend to cut the person talking because we strongly disagree on what that person is saying.  It would stir up a heated discussion or worse, misunderstanding.  We forget to listen attentively to what is being said, thereby creating miscommunication.  The best thing to do is listen closely.  Wait for the other person to finish what he is saying before you speak.  Never cut someone who is talking especially when being given instructions.  Ask your questions after he finishes what he is saying.

Getting things complicated in a workplace such as the American Hospital of Dubai is inevitable.  Being in a multicultural workplace, there are a lot of things that should be considered to have an effective communication.  There may be a lot of causes why miscommunication happens.  One thing’s for sure, any miscommunication can be resolved when dealt with properly.   Then, we can start saying, “uncomplicated” instead of “it’s complicated”.

My first munggo bean stew

My own version of korean bibimbap

Detox water - the Sassy water formula

The sassy water was created by Cynthia Sass of flatbelly.com.  I would usually prepare the water at night and drink it the next day.  Here's the formula:

Cynthia Sass' sassy water: 
2 liters or 8 1/2 cups of fresh water (use good quality water, filtered if need be) 
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated 
 medium cucumber, peeled and sliced thinly 
1 medium lemon, sliced thinly 12 fresh mint leaves – try to obtain spearmint leaves but other mint leaves will work too; choose small ones


Refreshing "sassy" water:
2 liters or 8 1/2 cups of fresh water 
1 medium mandarin or tangerine, sliced thinly 
4 fresh pineapple sage leaves 8 fresh lemon verbena leaves 
12 fresh mint leaves, small

Here I go again.....

I'm back to my dieting after my 42-day  vacation in the Philippines.  I will be sharing pictures in the next few posts about my vacation.

Tell me, how do you spell MOTIVATION?

For me, Motivation is spelled as G-O-L-D.  yes, you read it right.  GOLD!

The Dubai Municipality has once again initiated a weight loss program for all residents of Dubai.  This is a yearly program of the Dubai Municipality to promote health and wellness in the emirate of Dubai for all nationalities.  This health program is done by Dubai Municipality every Ramadan.

Dubai Weight in Gold Programme

This year, the program is called "Your weight in gold".  The weigh in started 19 November 2013 in different registration sites or jogging tracks in different parks.  I went to the nearest jogging track from my flat, which is the Zabeel Park.

The long line for the weigh-in of Weight in Gold at Zabeel Park 

I spent four hours in line and finally finsihed at 1:15 a.m. when I found out that my current weight is a gruesome 69.1 kg.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

So, here I go again starting my diet and exercise.  On my facebook page, I post my daily diet food or activity.

https://www.facebook.com/lorelie.ganda?ref=tn_tnmn

I will be posting on this blog once again my weight loss journey.  I will not be following only one diet routine or exercises but i will mix it as to my convenience.

Good luck and go for gold.