Day 12: Nourishment

AJ is slowly but surely recovering. He still has a cough but his fevers at night have lowered. His main goal is now resting and recuperating. Which is a good sign and he has learnt that “Health is Wealth” and Prayers from loved ones have been crucial. To beat this virus you need to rest your body and brain.

I have been resting  as much as I can and by Gods grace my only symptom is fatigue and malaise. So still all good at my end!

Nourish Your Body

One thing within your control is the nutrition that you provide to your body. During stressful times, be mindful that your body needs all the help it can get with power-boosting nutrients.

Stay hydrated by drinking a lot of water, up your vitamin C with red peppers or citrus fruits and prioritize vegetables and healthy foods that nourish your body and mind to perform at its best.

Chicken soup appears to help fight colds, according to several studies. It helps clear nasal congestion as well as thin mucus so you can better cough it up. In addition, research shows it may have a mild anti-inflammatory effect than can help ease symptoms.

Some studies have shown the below to help with respiratory virus. All these  have no harmful effects but are warm and soothing to the throat.

  • Hot nourishing soups
  • Peppermint, eucalyptus, and fenugreek tea
  • Warn damp air
  • Salt water gargle
  • Ginger
  • Tumeric

Nothing like home made chicken soup like my mom makes but I made a chicken noodle soup with some pantry items and no chicken.

Boil a box of chicken stock, a variety of vegetables and some black pepper and salt. Add some noodles  then finish with lemon juice.

For dessert, I made a Blood orange olive oil cake by Melissa Clark.

I added coconut and almonds to the recipe to make it a bit more hearty.

 

 

Day 11: Hope

AJ is back home, has a cough and looks weak but high spirits and very positive. God is great!

Great to have loved ones with us in these times. Try to appreciate every minute of this reflective time. If they are not with you, use virtual ways as connecting is such a heart warming feeling and brings smiles to all. The power of love and connection can give us strength in times of crisis.

This blog is early as I want to spend my evening with AJ.

I have mild flu symptoms mainly burning eyes, and lots of fatigue. I used those symptoms to finish work early and just lay in bed and listen to some soothing verses from the Quran.

It’s just crazy that in these times mild flu symptoms are what we hope to hear.

My friends had a virtual pray session at 1pm, that filled my heart with hope for the world.

A beautiful poem that soothed my soul:

What does hope do for mankind?

·     Hope shines brightest when the hour is darkest
·     Hope motivates when discouragement comes
·     Hope energizes when the body is tired
·     Hope sweetens when the bitterness bites
·     Hope sings when all melodies are gone
·     Hope believes when the evidence is limited
·     Hope listens for the answers when no one is talking
·     Hope climbs over obstacles when no one is helping
·     Hope endures hardship when no one is caring
·     Hope smiles confidently when no one is laughing
·     Hope reaches for answers when no one is asking
·     Hope presses toward victory when no one is encouraging
·     Hope dares to give when no one is sharing
·     Hope brings the victory when no one is winning

In short, hope gives. 🙏❤️

I felt like having French Toast as my sister in Dubai was talking about how delicious hers was, but I only had wheat bread and no cream, so decided to add orange juice, since all my friends want me to have Vitamin C and Zinc.

Vitamin C French Toast

Ingredients

  • 2 slices whole wheat bread
  • 1/4 cup Orange juice
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbs maple syrup or honey
  • 1 tbs orange zest
  • 1 tbs butter
  • Method
  • Best egg well add milk and orange juice, vanilla essence, cinnamon and orange zest, and maple syrup. Beat again till it’s mixed we’ll.
  • Lay your slices in a rectangle dish and pour egg mixture on top and let it soak for 5 minutes. Once slices are fully soaked, heat the butter in a skillet and fry one slice at a time till brown.
  • Serve with fruits and optional maple syrup.
  • I received some beautiful flowers from a friend so I admired Gods creation and ate my delicious toast. Obviously not as delicious as my aunts recipe with white bread and cream but it hit the spot.
  • Corona day 9

    The good news by the grace of god, he is in better spirits and was smiling on facetime. the fevers are at night but go down with meds. Hopefully a few more days and he will be out. I am going to call him AJ due to HIPPA regulations.

    Seeing AJ smile and be positive really made my morning. My class went very well with the help of Saniya my business analyst. We zoomed with family all over the world and it felt good.

    Around 2pm, I started having chills and body ache. I at once took my temperature which was 98, but my body and eyes did not feel good. I got into the covers and thought to myself, I have Covid19. I told Saniya and she told me to stop taking my temperature every 15 minutes and told me to just try resting. I tried breathing and relaxing my mind and closed my eyes. All of a sudden, I heard a knock on our front door and opened the door to see that my food deliveries, I ordered last Saturday had finally arrived. The delivery guy looked exhausted and staying far away, I asked him how he was doing. He replied that he had been working non stop since 6am and that it was really rough. Here I was resting in my bed, while this poor guy was carrying my heavy package that were not even a necessity. I gave him a generous tip which made me feel better and then washed up and sat outside and prayed. My friends are doing a virtual prayer group. We all read a passage and pray for each other. Brilliant idea!!

    After checking with AJ and discussing my symptoms, I decided what I wanted to blog about today.

    STRESS I had basically not addressed my stress at all over the past few days, and realized a bit of reflection was needed.  Thinking about yesterday, I realized my stress was 8 out of 10, but I did none of the things I write about to address or alleviate the feeling itself.  Not hearing from AJ in the evening got me paranoid I was jumping to awful conclusions until a friend calmed me down. Also my upcoming class that I had to teach online for the first time added to the stress! I hardly ate all day and also only slept 5 hours last night. Finally I heard the news of another one close to me testing positive which only added again to the stress. Me and Saniya discussed this notion of known VS unknown. At the start of our quarantine we were hoping we could get a test to know if we were in fact positive or just not showing extreme symptoms. Even today I kept going back to that “what if” feeling. However, Saniya reminded me that in normal times, when we think we are sick, what’s most important is taking care of ourselves, bringing our immune system up, and being kind to our bodies. In that sense, this time is trying on us, and its easy to constantly be asking ourselves if we do or do not have this ominous disease. But, considering everyone is seeming to reveal symptoms differently and to different degrees, the best we can do is continue to socially distance ourselves and protect others, and take care of our bodies. Feeding your body and mind with healthy food and thoughts is key!

    After praying, I reflected and realized my symptoms don’t necessarily have to be related to Covid19 but rather my Cortisol playing havoc on my body. Cortisol is the fight or flight hormone, which helps when we are in an acute stressful or dangerous situations, like a predator coming to get us. The short term effects help our body respond to the danger by increasing our heart rate, increasing our pulse and many other effects. When the stress is chronic or continuous like a lot of us are going through now, cortisol is continuously pumped and it plays havoc on our immune system and makes us more susceptible to diseases. In fact I feel AJ had been working overtime due to the pandemic without looking after himself and therefore put himself in a position of being more susceptible to the virus. With a weakened immune system, our body cannot properly protect us.

    I am going to get a full 8 hour of sleep tonight and make a healthy coconut curry soup with a side of sautéed Broccoli. I will put it on my blog tomorrow.

    One idea to get through the next few week is making a 30 day calendar, and adding one relaxing thing a day.  This maybe fun for kids to check of each day. Stress awareness month is April and here is last years calendar.stress month

    I would like to sign off by thanking each and every person, everywhere around the world who has reached out to us or kept our family in your duas. We feel your love. It is my hope that we as a global community can and will continue to support and pray for everyone’s strength and solace during this difficult time.

    Coronavirus Resource Center – Harvard Health

    The rapid spread of the virus that causes COVID-19 has sparked alarm worldwide. The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared this rapidly spreading coronavirus…
    — Read on www.health.harvard.edu/diseases-and-conditions/coronavirus-resource-center

    Coronavirus Sanity Guide — Ten Percent Happier

    Free resources to build resilience and cope with coronavirus stress and
    anxiety. These meditations, podcasts, talks, and blogposts will help you
    find some calm amidst the chaos.
    — Read on www.tenpercent.com/coronavirussanityguide

    How Sleep Can Help You Stay Healthy and Boost Your Immune System

    Coronavirus anxiety has prompted stress and misinformation, but sleep is one overlooked health tip that can boost your immune system.
    — Read on thriveglobal.com/stories/simple-tip-boost-immune-system-stay-healthy-sleep-habit/

    30-Minute Workouts for Any Schedule

    Who isn’t in a time crunch these days? Even with the best intentions, it’s easy to fall off the workout wagon. Yet, the beneficial effects of exercise are undeniable.
    — Read on www.eatright.org/fitness/exercise/workout-ideas/30-minute-workouts-for-any-schedule

    5 Tips to Curb Your Late-Night Snacking

    After-dinner and before-bedtime snacking habits can result in consuming unneeded calories and unhealthy choices. Try these easy tips to banish evening cravings and curb after-dinner snacking.
    — Read on www.eatright.org/health/weight-loss/tips-for-weight-loss/5-tips-to-curb-your-late-night-snacking

    Self-care

    2020 started off with a bang, I was trying to workout more, eat healthy and sleep more.

    After returning from a rejuvenating weekend from Miami, I realized that I was getting overwhelmed with trying to stay on top of work and all the above priorities.

    I was stressing about getting enough sleep, but to get enough sleep I needed to eat earlier which meant I either had to cook earlier which meant I couldn’t work out!!!

    So I decided to cut down on the cooking and spend time working on a sleep routine and my workout.

    It has been 2 weeks and I feel less overwhelmed. I realized we need to make choices and more importantly take baby steps to add in good habits which hopefully crowd out bad habits.

    Eating healthy is still a priority but if I don’t get to cook, I try my hardest to order something healthy and if not then just add a salad or vegetables to my meal.

    Stress is a culprit in all our lives and unfortunately some sort of stress will always be there, but how we react to that stress can really change the outcome and eventually how we feel.

    Self-care should be our priority because if we don’t take care of ourselves how can we take care of others.

    Don’t feel guilty to take a break or go get a massage or just DO NOTHING!!!!

    The power of being present and aware is huge and I will add some powerful articles on how spending a few minutes paying attention to your breathe can change your outlook on an issue or just relax you.

    So take a look at all your priorities and be realistic, so you can get time to just sit and breathe!

    Remember that YOU ARE IMPORTANT and Self-care is not selfish 👍