My post-pneumonia cough is gone!

It’s actually been gone for a few days now, but I was too occupied with the cats to write an update.

The specialist said it would take “weeks and months” for the cough to go away, but it took less than 2 weeks. Hooray!

So, what helped? Actually, I don’t know, it’s multi-factorial: supplements, exercise, fasting, enough sleep, etc.

Actually, talking about supplements (which I believe in because our food is so denatured these days), I did take two supplements to help with my lung recovery.

Disclaimer: This is just a sharing. Kindly consult your healthcare provider for expert advice.

1. Cod liver oil

2. 4Life Transfer Factor Plus Advanced

(both from the pharmacy)

I know, lots of people say (2) is a con-job. I suppose it all depends if it works on you and yours. I used to give it to my dog and cats way, way, back, but I’m not sure if it made any difference as they were on other supplements too.

No supplement/food/medicine willl work on 100% of the population. You just got to try and test it out. But if you absolutely don’t believe in it, then don’t waste your time trying it because it’s not going to work on you.

In fact, I started taking the Transfer Factors even while I was in hospital the moment my CRP shot up sky high. I took a double dose that day, advised by my pharmacist. Confirmed it does not interfere with my treatment.

The next day, my CRP took a surprising dive from 104.6 to 63.2 (pleasantly shocked the good specialist) and the next day it went down to 38.2 and I was even given an early discharge.

Was it the TF or the antibiotics? Well, I don’t know! This sure isn’t a double-blind study spanning 20 years involving a sample size of 50,000 human volunteers, so I really don’t know. No valid conclusion can be drawn from this.

Perhaps what really worked in me was me wanting so badly to be well so that I could go home and look after my cats and my grandsons and run AnimalCare. Mind over matter, folks!

And now, I’m back to fasting, intermittent or otherwise. By “fasting”, it’s the type where I don’t eat food but I still drink water.

I started with 18/6 (a 6 hour eating window), then now, I’m on a 20/4 which means my eating window is only 4 hours per day.

During the 4 hours, I eat two meals. During fasting, I only drink water.

If I go on almost zero carbs (already zero sugar), I take MCT oil for energy. The function of the MCT oil is to prevent keto acidosis, that means ketosis gone wonky (on overdrive).

I am not on a keto diet. I’m only on very low carb and zero obvious sugar. Pile on the vegetables and moderate protein. I don’t know what this diet is called….Atkins? But I don’t go high fat.

Thanks to the months of fat loss, my pant size has gone from a Uniqlo “L” to “S”!

Challenge to self: Give away all “oversized” clothes to Tzuchi now so that I will not get back to my 54kg “fat” self ever again. Never again. I am 46 kg now. Can only allow myself to go up to 47 kg, no more. The weight does fluctuate throughout the day.

I think I qualify as a TOFI (Thin Outside, Fat Inside), so those inside fat got to go. Hence, the challenge is to stay on the fast.

Another important challenge: Do strengthening (resistance) exercise besides the daily morning walk (aerobic). My plan is to restart ballet next week when the academy reopens and maybe, just maybe, go for fitness classes, if I can find the time.

My son bought me this tshirt from Uniqlo Osaka many, many years ago but I could never wear it because it was a size too small. Well, now I can!

Today’s protein is tofu, so it’s a meatless day as far as meals are concerned. But I’ll be on fish oil all my life, so I’m pescetarian. This is an imperfect world.