It’s a night to start something new…

April 7, 2020 trulyraisaLeave a comment

“Good Night” is a saying used to say to someone who is about to sleep. But what about those who can’t sleep? Wouldn’t they have a good night too?

GoodNite Club is now open so come on in and let’s talk and enjoy this night with all it’s stars and wonders…

Dear readers…

Welcome to the opening of GoodNite Club! For the longest time I couldn’t write any more blog posts because I felt like I had nothing else to say. Actually these days I can’t sleep well, I end up staring at the ceiling either worrying about something in the present or worrying about tomorrow. And so I started to keep a diary.

But that didn’t work out well. I wanted to write but I wanted to interact with others in the same position as me. And so I decided to use my blog and take it into a new direction!

I want to interact with my readers more and so every night I will come here to the GoodNite Club and post something and let’s have a talk in the comment section. If there’s something worrying you or even if you wish someone to listen to you, I will lend you my ear.

So when you can’t sleep one night, let’s meet here and dream of the stars…

Is there anything you would like to talk about? Write a comment and let’s talk!

Getting back into routine after the holidays!

January 28, 2020 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hello everyone! I’m back with another post! As you all may know from my previous post I went on holiday for the month of December to Dubai and Pakistan and we all know getting back into routine after a holiday is the hardest thing to do. That’s what this week’s post is going to be about! Shall we begin?

As you all may know from my long hiatus and from my previous post I went on holiday for the month of December. If you missed the post you can click on this link and read that first Dubai 2019! . I missed all the days where I can just wake up and have no checklist or anything to do but do nothing.

Work and student life can get stressful sometimes and a break away from it all sounds amazing sometimes. So then the long-awaited holiday comes and you’re living your best life and it all passes by pretty quickly and the dreaded journey home finally comes. Dreading going back to work and back into studying can be the worst. I was absolutely dreading it when I had to come back and I only had 6 days to revise for my exam! I spent 6 days cramming revision in when I wanted nothing more than to be back on holiday again. After my exam had ended it was the biggest sigh of relief but I still hadn’t got back into any routine. My diet was a mess and I so badly wanted to go back to my regular exercises but was too lazy to do so.

I slowly went back to work but only once or twice in the week where the rest of my days were spent either at university preparing for my dissertation or at home being the lazy ass I was.

I spent about two weeks being lazy and watching too many dramas with take-away twice or skipping dinner altogether. One thing I am happy is that I am reunited with my laptop and my blog! There is nothing I wanted more than to write a post as I am now!

I started getting back into routine last week and started running after work and applying for some work experience and jobs. This is my latest struggle. I am studying Nutrition in university and want to build on my work experience but haven’t been able to find a placement. If there is anyone in London who is a fellow Nutrition student or even a Nutritionist and has any advice about where to look for work experience please comment some advice below and help a sister out! 😦

I also kind of lost most of my appetite since I’ve been back, I’ve been skipping breakfast and lunch when I’m not at home and I’m quite used to it because back in Pakistan I used to skip breakfast and lunch too and just eat dinner at weddings or something. Now before any of you say that it’s not good to skip meals I know it’s not, but I can’t force myself to eat when I’m not hungry because that can easily turn into binge-eating for me so I need to find a healthy balance soon.

Now you can see my struggle of getting back into routine 😦 University will officially reopen next week and it will be back to the same old stresses about dissertations and assignments but, I plan to build a healthy routine and get a head start on my assignments soon so I won’t be stressing too much!

That’s all I had for this week! I’ll be back next week with another post, if you have any topics you want me to talk about let me know in the comments below!

-Yours Truly Raisa

My Dissertation Topic: Herbs and the body.

September 30, 2019 trulyraisa1 Comment

Hello everyone! In just a week I will be starting my third year in university so I decided to talk about my dissertation topic! It’s all about herbs and the affects it can have on some of the systems of our body. Is it good for us? Should we stop eating herbs?

Shall we begin?

So, to explain in detail and in a simple way, herbs are known to have some effects on our body and in a good way. It has been experimented and there are a lot of studies on herbs and the effects it has on our body. My dissertation is focusing on two different things, the effects it has on glucose levels in the body and the antioxidants in the body and the two herbs I am focusing on are Rosemary and Sage.

Glucose is a sugar component that can be found in food sources and is part of the carbohydrate family. Glucose is very important in our bodies and it can be digested and stored in our bodies for use when we are fasting and not eating. The process for glucose being stored and digested needs insulin which is a hormone that allows the process of glucose use in the body. I hope this is all making sense! In some bodies insulin stops being produced and the glucose levels in the body become irregular. This then leads to illnesses such as diabetes. Some foods help maintain and regulate glucose levels in the body, my dissertation is researching the effects of rosemary and sage and what happens to the glucose levels in our body after we have consumed these herbs.

Antioxidants are components that could be found in food sources and are very beneficial for health and reducing what is called ‘oxidative stress’ in the body. This oxidative stress can damage body cells and can lead to illnesses and diseases such as atherosclerosis, cancer, diabetes, heart attacks and cardiovascular disease. These antioxidants can be found in herbs that I am studying which is rosemary and sage. My dissertation will be focusing also on the antioxidant activity in these herbs.

So that’s basically what my dissertation is about, in a nutshell. It’s very lab-based and will be very interesting! I will keep you all updated about the progress of the project throughout the year and hopefully it all goes well!

That’s all I had for this week! If you have any requests or any topics you would like me to discuss than be sure to let me know! I actually have a blog post planned which is a little different from what I usually write about and it is more nutrition based.

-Yours Truly, Raisa

Perfect packed meals for school or work!

August 13, 2019August 13, 2019 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hello everyone! I’m back with another post! This week’s post is about perfect packed meals for school or work! I am guilty for not keeping up with making meals for work this week but I have put together some foods that I enjoy taking to work with me! Shall we begin?

I usually work early in the mornings until the afternoons but I always end up packing “lunch” and end up having my breaks in the morning and eating it then. But for those of you who work work a full day instead of just in the morning like me, then I have some delicious packed meal ideas for you!

One of my classic easy-to-go packed lunch is carrot and cucumber sticks with hummus. I have packed this for lunch more than once and its very easy to make, it literally takes me 10 minutes to cut the vegetables and then just scoop some hummus in a seperate box and you’re good to go!

Another thing I have made quite often is stir fry. I usually just whatever vegetables I can find in my fridge most likely bell peppers, onions, carrots and sweetcorn, sometimes I like to just have a plain vegetable stir fry so I add no meat but that is entirely up to you! Its just easy for me to chop up some vegetables and throw them in a a fry pan and add some noodles!

Salads are always THE way to go! I absolutely love packing salads with me as they literally require no kind of heating or cooking at all! The foundation ingredients that are always in my salads are cucumbers, lettuce and carrots. I like to made my salads colourful so I would add sweetcorn, bellpepper and cherry tomatoes to add more flavour and colour to your salads!

This next type of meal is something I have always mentioned but never tried and this is perfect for anyone who works in the morning times and that is overnight oats! I’ve never tried it before because we dont usually eat oats at my house very often so I would have to go out and buy some ingredients to try it sometime! But I would highly recommend it to anyone who would like to try!

I would also recommend trying to make a meal with rice. It is a common staple food for many cultures and it can be very easy to make and throw in some vegetables such as carrots, cabbage, onions, sweetcorn, peas etc. and some chicken and make it into a meal!

So there you have it! A short but hopefully effective post on perfect meals for school or work! I hope you enjoy this post and until next time…

-Yours Truly, Raisa

The Secret Life of Childhood Obesity.

February 8, 2019February 8, 2019 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hey guys! I’m back with another post! Today’s topic is Childhood Obesity and is a topic I am particularly interested in so I thought I would share some of my thoughts on it and hopefully start up a debate on the increasing amounts of childhood obesity in UK. Shall we begin?

The reason I decided to talk about this topic was because I was discussing it with my friends one day. In the UK there is rising levels of obesity in childhood and it has started to become a national worry. There are so many things that are causing this and these are what I think are the reasons people can’t clearly see.

One reason that we may not realise that is a cause is that there is lack of education about nutrition, eating a balanced diet and the importance of it. Instead children have very few P.E lessons in school a week. Some kids may save their lunch money and don’t eat at school and instead spend it at the local fast food after school . Believe me when I tell you that after school, the masses of children that are either at the local fast foods or at a local shop buying nothing but unhealthy food is insane.

Following up on the after school frenzy, parents give their children pocket money and 90% of their money goes into the unhealthy food they eat after school. The reason why parents may not know about this is because most children in high school come home on their own after school, and on the way back they may go to the local shop with their friends picking up whatever unhealthy food they can see.

I know, I’ve seen it myself.

Parents may also not recognise their child as being overweight or obese and just may find it offensive when you tell them their child is overweight. Of course a parent’s love for a child blinds them in different ways and no one is at fault about that, but unfortunately it is also a factor.

So, these are not all the reasons why there is a rise in childhood obesity, because I only wanted to share with you all my view on the secret side of childhood obesity and things parents or teachers may miss everyday. These issues need to be dealt with not only in the UK but worldwide and that will only happen when we decide to open our eyes to what’s in front of us and try to think objectively about our new generation. I for one, want them to be a fit and healthy generation who may live long rather than fall prey to the tragedy of things that come after obesity.

That’s all I had for today. I know it was a very very different type of blog post than what I usually do but it is an issue I am passionate about solving in the future one day. With that being said, I hope you all have an amazing day!

-Yours Truly, Raisa

Diet during exam season.

January 12, 2019February 11, 2019 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hello! I am finally back to blogging after being away for the month of December, and can I say how much I did miss blogging and having free time. Now that my holiday and my exams are over I will be blogging more often, for now I want to discuss diets and eating habits during exam season. Shall we begin?

Everyone’s habits during exam season are all different. Some people may eat less and some people may eat more. Having talked to my friends who also study Nutrition we talked about eating habits during exam season sometime and some things I heard from them are that some people may eat less during exam season. And this may not neccesarily be during exam season but also when assignments are due. This could be because they may be so focused on their own work that they forget to eat or they might not have the time to take out to eat a meal. Now this can be serious as they are lacking on all the energy and nutrients that their body and also their brain needs to get through the day, so ultimately eating less could equal to less concentration or even that the brain is not processing enough information to remember because it lacks energy. This is why nutritionists point out th importance of eating a balanced diet and this could be good for when your brain needs the energy.

However, some people may eat excessively. This is often known as stress eating and I can raise my hand and say that I was a victim of stress eating once. This is also bad as you tend to be eating more snacks rather than meals and they may be unhealthy. Of course you’re not too focused on what you are eatig when all you want to do is memorise topics for your exam.

It is important for students to remember that exam time is a very stressful time ( I would know, I just gave my last exam yesterday!) But diet is also important and it could help with your revision and making sure you remember everything so it is best to eat a normal portion of three meals a day and one snack. Also it would help to move around a little and gain a little physical activity as you are revising!

With all that being said, good luck to anyone still taking exams or need to take exams in the near future, You’ll do great!

-Yours Truly, Raisa

Update: Where I’ve been.

November 14, 2018February 3, 2019 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hey guys! Guess who’s back after her long hiatus? Well it’s not me, so time to cry buckets. 😦 But I am back to give you an update on where I have been and when I will be back! Let’s get started!

So for the past few weeks, I have been just so busy working on all my assignments because I am such a good student that I have to be on top of everything. (It’s a joke, I’m probably the most laziest!) So me being me I was stressing over all my assignments.. I also had a few family weddings to attend which also ate a huge chunk of my assignment time so it lead to more stress but ultimately more procrastination (As I am totally doing right now!)

Now that that part is all done I have even more of a headache because in 2 weeks I have a presentation to give which date isn’t even confirmed *smacks head against a lot of books* but I also have a report due on the supposed same date which I have only written like two lines about! Well technically I was doing my research on that so it doesn’t count as procrastinating but my progress level is literally 1.

That being said, the next two weeks will be filled with more stress but knowing myself I tend to get shit done on time. But I have another week which will be filled with last minute packing for my trip back home to Pakistan!

I will be taking my iPad with me so I will be able to blog and show you some pictures! But I also need to be revising for my exams so I will also be cramming revision (Does the stress ever end?)

But dont worry, I’ll be back before you know it with some more entertaining content that I have planned! So all should be fun in the New Year! But for now, it’s really farewell for the next month of so…. 😦

-Yours Truly, Raisa

My semi-hiatus.

October 21, 2018February 3, 2019 trulyraisaLeave a comment

Hey hey hey! Welcome back to another post! I’ve been missing for at least 2 weeks and I’m here to give you all an update! Shall we begin?

So first thing to address is why I have partially been on hiatus for 2 weeks. The first half of my university semester is here so that means I have deadlines piling on and I want to really focus on my assignments for a while so I have my best chance at doing better than last year. I’m very conscious when it comes to grades because even though I have never failed so far I am always competing to get a higher grade so I want to surpass my limit at this point. I’m actually motivated this time!

I do have some fun posts planned and I hope to be more active on the blogosphere by checking out some other blog posts and blogs, so if you have any blog recommendations let me know!

These next few months up until January will be a bit hectic because I have a few weddings to attend here in London and in December I will be going back home to Pakistan! When I am there I have another wedding to attend and during my free time there I have to revise for my exams for the beggining of January, but after that I will be back to blogging regularly and When I finish these assignments I will put a few more posts up before focusing on exams.

I really dont want to go on a semi hiatus but it is necessary and I promise you all I will be back with some new content! More posts on nutrition as well as some brand new catergories so make sure to stay tuned for that!

I promise to be back very soon and I will work harder for you!

-Yours Truly, Raisa