Category Archives: Writings

Apr 15

The Renata Diet

Once in my life I reached a weight my body could not afford, and then I finally decided to get rid of the extra pounds. It’s been a while since been called “thin” is a common thing in my life, but I cannot get simply used to this or I’ll get fat again.

I decided to follow my own diet, made of things I researched, and I used some free online tools to help me in a daily basis. The internet is not (only) for porn. One of things I found out is that I was eating a lot of carbohydrates. I also have been given all my life diets for “normal people” – and I am much smaller than they are. Finding the ideal amount of calories for your body is a challenge, so, if you go to a doctor and he simply handles you a paper with a default 1,500 kcal diet, run away. Probably it won’t work.

My very first diet was given by a gastroenterologist and had lots of food restrictions because I had stomach problems (that later turned out to be caused by stress only). This prescribed diet forced me to eat every few hours, forbid ANY kind of fat, red meat, sauces, anything that could make digestion difficult. I could eat mostly white meat, no spices, vegetables, cooked or raw, no olive oil or vinegar, this kind of stuff.

I started to lose weight, and FAST. After my stomach problems were solved, I adapted the diet so I could live with it. In general, I try to eat carbohydrates in the morning, have protein-based lunch and just have something light before sleeping. My snacks are fruits or soy milk.

Sometimes I indulge myself with extra-dark chocolate. Extra-dark chocolate – and I mean extra-dark, at least 85% cocoa, my favorite being 99% – is awesome, because it’s very low in sugar, and very satisfying. You just must watch out for fat, but I usually just eat one small portion of those extra dark. They are for tasting, not for extreme eating, like all sugary products.

A nice drink is tea. Hot or cold, try to drink it unsweetened. If you cant, put just a small amount of sweetener. Sweetener is not exactly a good thing, but may help you on your way out of sugar world.

I avoid fat and I go against the recommended carbs intake – I never could lose weight following it. I’m much more into proteins, not like Atkins, but I feel more fulfilled eating proteins than carbs.

Track what you eat – even that candy you bought on the subway – is necessary. I’d say mandatory. After the first week of tracking you notice you are eating much more than you imagine (and totally different than you expected), and after some weeks you become more used to portion sizes and nutritional values. That’s why they put nutritional information on the boxes.

Of course you should also exercise and I’m sad I could not find a swimming class close to me. I find swimming MAGIC – it’s way more intense than gym and relaxing. If you really hate swimming, try biking, walking, whatever. While I don’t find proper exercising, I’m trying to walk 10km per week. BUT you CAN lose weight without exercises. You’ll just look (and feel) better if your muscles are toned after you lose some pounds.

Losing weight for me was a health issue and, at 30 years old, I’m starting to become concerned about blood cholesterol, sugar, you know, being healthy. I recommend going to a dietitian, but most of the work must be done by yourself. And there is NO fast food allowed in a serious diet. You will suffer, you won’t be able to eat many things. If you really want it, you’ll get used to it. And after getting used to it, it’ll become easy.

Apr 9

Help me, I’m sick

Being in contact with different types of viruses and bacterias, in cold weather – that will make your immune system weaker – can easily make you sick. If you moved to Canada recently and are not in Alberta, you ought to have some travel medical insurance, for you are only elegible to use the Public Health System after three months.

So, it’s been a month since my arrival here and I’ve got this awesome prize: my first canadian flu. It’s been ten days since this virus is annoying me – I have it all: sneezing, coughing, blocked ears and had even some sore throat and fever.

The insurance works in a very dumb way: you have to call its office in Brazil, then they will call you back here, then the doctor will call you back here and make an appointment. It works, but I believe you could be able to call the doctor directly. This multiple-calls thing is not very intelligent.

I’m taking prescribed medicine and I found amusing how it works here in Canada. A PHARMACIST tells you how to take your prescription and what can happen to you, and they give you the exact amount of medicine you should take. Back in Brazil, you just give the prescription and someone who works at the pharmacy gives you the medicine and there’s no worries if you’re taking it right or not.

So far, I feel I’m being well treated. People use to complain about the Canadian Health System, and I’ve yet to use it properly. Let’s hope I don’t catch any further annoying virus and just use it for check-ups.

Apr 5

Social Networks

Everybody loves Facebook, some people can’t live without checking in at foursquare or gowalla, brazilians are crazy about Orkut and tech-savvy professionals have always their profile at Linkedin up-to-date. But, the truth is: only a few people know how to use properly Social Networks.

The Basics: Adding People Just Because

Can someone please explain me WHY people add whoever they find on their way? I’m going to say a sad truth: you WON’T become more famous or popular or whatever because you have one million friends YOU DON’T KNOW. Oh, yeah, you shouldn’t import your whole Gmail address book into your new Social Network account – that’s horrible.

Most networks will offer you the option to scan you contact list to see if, among their registered users, they found a match of your friends. And at this moment you should be wise and think if you know these people well enough to add them on that kind of network. For instance, on Linkedin, you should add only people who have worked or done some kind of business with you – not your friendly neighbour who always invites you for a barbecue. This guy must be on your Facebook.

There’s an important observation regarding networks like Foursquare and Gowalla: it’s useless to add people who live in different cities, as their information won’t be available to you (unless you go visit each other city). These networks are based in geoinformation and writing tips about places in your specific city. Don’t even bother about adding that interesting guy in Tokyo.

I’m a Fan of Everything

People love ice cream, chocolate, movies, all sort of stuff. Then they’ll become fans of ice cream, chocolate, movies about ice cream and chocolate and everything they find. Again, what’s the purpose of joining every group you see? If a group doesn’t seem to have any relevant information about something that might interest you, why join?

Do I need to be in another social network?

Everyday a new social network is born and thousands of people subscribe to their services. And I’m pretty sure as fast as they’re born, they’ll be forgotten. Do you remember friendster? I had an account there and now i can’t even remember what e-mail I used to register. There are social networks for pets (yeah, don’t you know catster and dogster?) but, mostly, they’ll do the same thing. So, why do you need the incredible new one? Another username and password to remember. More time spent at the interwebs. Yeah, right.

Conclusion

I’m not saying that social networks are bad. They have their place on the internet – like that rainboot manufacturer, “Connecting People” – but there are many people on them who aren’t able to connect to each other very well.

Mar 31

Sex & The Pharmacy

Drug Marts in Canada don’t sell drugs in their shelves like you see in Brazil – you need prescription for anything that’s not aspirin. But Drug Marts are GIANT and FUN in Canada and you must be careful when you go inside one of those, because you can go bankrupt.

Right beside the plain antiacid shelf, there’s a world I’ve never seen before inside any pharmacy – including things I’ve never seen before in my life! Alongside with condoms, they sell all kinds of lubricants, massage oils, chocolate body paint (Easter is coming!), vibrating rings – you see, they say Brazilians are horny, but I’ve only seen this at very high-end sex shops in Brazil. I was really amazed to see this kind of stuff sold at SHOPPERS DRUG MART. Also, it’s very fun to notice that “Durex” (brazilian brand name for scotch tape) has a complete different meaning. But even in Brazil we know about people who go to Portugal, ask for durex and receive condoms instead of tape.

They also sell every kind of birth control stuff, so you only get pregnant if you really want. Don’t want to wear a condom? No problem, there’s contraceptive sponge, contraceptive foam, contraceptive everything you can imagine. You just don’t need to get pregnant.

I’ve seen a Shoppers Drug Mart with ESCALATORS inside. Yep, ESCALATORS. It even has a POST OFFICE. It’s almost a shopping mall with a counter for some prescription drugs. I’ve never seen this kind of drugstore in Brazil, they only sell drugs and some cosmetics.

That’s terrible, you can’t visit a canadian drug mart and buy “just some aspirins”. You always find that perfume you were looking for, some interesting socks (I’m yet to write an article about Canadians & Socks), a small umbrella and lozenges for you sore throat. And of course, when you’re checking out you ought to buy those sugarless gums – my current favourite flavour is piña colada. So, you were expecting to spend 5 dollars and now your bill is more like 30. That’s their business.

Let me prepare my pocket, I woke up today with a sore throat and I need to buy lozenges… and everything else I find in my way.

Mar 30

Easter Food

I’m not a religious person, and I feel, for most people I know, Easter has lost its religious background and became something like Christmas: a holiday based on food and gifts.

Some christians do some abstinence projects before and during Easter. The most common among catholics is abstaining from red meat on Good Friday and Easter Sunday. More religious families can extend the abstinence for the whole week or even the 40 days preceeding Easter – the Great Lent. I’ve met some people who would abstain from other guilty pleasures, like candy, coffee or chocolate. I do this kind of thing when I’m feeling fat, specially if there’s a holiday approaching.

Ah, the chocolate. It became a symbol, as famous as the Easter Bunny, and we can see both conjugated in Chocolate Easter Bunnies, ready to be eaten – poor bunnies. So, Easter became The Holiday of Chocolate & Easter Bunny, where families would eat mostly seafood as the main course. This sounds really appealing to me. Except for the bunny thing.

How could I not enjoy a date celebrated with seafood and chocolates? Forget about the religion, I’m all about good food. Let’s celebrate one more Good Food Holiday around a big table eating well and give chocolates to each other. That’s how it’s been working. Enjoy your Good Meal!

Mar 28

Coffee & Muffins

Brazilians are proud of their coffee (and should be), and usually like their coffee very strong, and São Paulo is the state where this coffee devotion can be better observed. You have giant coffee shops, like Suplicy and Octavio, dedicated to extract the best coffee ever from the best grain they could obtain.

But brazilians are, most of all, slaves to brands. When Starbucks arrived in São Paulo, I thought it was going to be a giant fail because nobody likes american coffee and people have this devotion to strong black evil espresso. Silly me. There were GIANT LINES at every Starbucks store, made of people willing to pay a small fortune for COFFEE.

Brazilian Canadian Coffee... yeah, right

Brazilian Canadian Coffee... yeah, right

I have to be honest here: I’m a fan of Starbucks bakery and I am delighted to have their muffins in my life. But what I can’t understand is WHY IS STARBUCKS SO EXPENSIVE IN BRAZIL (the answer: because people pay and feel important going there). It’s just food.

After arriving in Toronto, this Starbucks madness sounds even more insane. You see, Starbucks in Toronto are absolutely everywhere, and you also have Second Cup, Tim Hortons, Timothy’s… Dozens of coffee-shops, on every corner, serving hot american coffee (and coffee drinks, and amazing muffins, you choose) and A CUP OF COFFEE WILL COST YOU ABOUT 1 CAD. Oh, and most of them offer free wi-fi.

I’ve heard they overprice the Brazilian Starbucks because everything inside a store is imported, but this is certainly not true. The cup sizes are different (even converting ml to oz – in Brazil the “Venti” is 500ml vs the north-american 20oz), and the food menu is very, very different. I can only presume they overcharge just because they can.

It’s all about the “brand experience”. If you pay an extorsive amount of money for a coffee drink, you may not be really interested in the drink itself, but more like in “being at Starbucks”. It happened when McDonald’s opened the very first store in Brazil, 30 years ago – now nobody cares about “the McDonald’s experience” because they’re everywhere and we grew up eating bigmacs. Sooner or later, Starbucks will become part of brazilian culture as McDonald’s did.