2010 wasn’t the greatest year for me when it came to health. I had my worst tonsillitis cases that visited me often–at one point almost every month, I had my left wisdom teeth removed (which really hurt like a bitch), I would catch the flu really quickly and any amount of fatigue would send me straight over the edge. Needless to say I missed a lot of work days. I guess stress was also one of the triggers because my office was still in the middle of the Jakarta CBD and I would spend a minimum of 1:30 hours in traffic in the morning and another 1:30 at night. That’s just the minimum. One time I left the house at 7 in the morning and didn’t arrive until almost 11am. That was so bad and I told myself then that no matter how glamorous that job was with all the corporate stuff I dreamed about ever since I was a kid, traveling stress wasn’t worth it. I was always so down and worn out by the end of the day and the joy of work turned into something that I dreaded the moment I woke up just because of all the traffic I had to endure. Definitely wasn’t cut out for that.

I’ve switched jobs now and although it’s not as glamorous as the first one I have more time to sleep, and only travel a maximum of 30 minutes every morning and back in the afternoon, sans traffic and everything. My health’s kind of improved too. Back when I was still getting sickly last year a friend advised me to take effervescent vitamins once a day or once every two days and I would never be sick anymore. I didn’t really take tablet vitamins like Enervon or Centrum because whenever I did it would make me feel dizzy and a bit nauseous so I stopped within a couple of days. Since I started taking effervescence, six months into the year and I have only been sick once as opposed to last year when I got sick almost every month. I switch up my brands every once in a while and when I was in the Philippines for my 2 week vacation I pretty much drank alcohol every single night, had a maximum of 4 hour sleep a day, always out in the sun, always eating the unhealthiest foods and basically the perfect combination of resulting in a body full of maladies (although of course it was the BEST vacation EVER). I took my Berocca often and it always made me feel energized. By the time I got back to Jakarta I was so surprised I didn’t get sick at all. I remember my 3 day trip to Singapore late last year with no sleep and lots of alcohol intake too, when I got back home I was out for literally another 3+ days. That was so bad.. I was so unhealthy then.

Not that I’m advertising the brand or anything, just sharing my experiences. My metabolism has greatly improved, I sleep better, I eat better, I’m very slowly losing a bit of weight (evidence that all my old clothes have started to fit again), my cycle is back to regular, it stopped November and didn’t come back til April which sort of freaked me out a little.. but it’s all good now. I thought vitamins wouldn’t really make much of a difference in my life but I’m glad they do. I don’t take it every day though, I read that it’s not really recommended so I have one a few times a week or every other day. Been feeling greater than usual, at least definitely a step above last year.