may this year be the start of something good & healthy

3 years ago i lost my brother to type 2 diabetes.
he was 33 and obese.
my parents take diabetic & hypertension medication every single day.
i am overweight, almost obese with 65.6kg for this 5 foot frame.
i always have this tingling sensation and sometimes numbness in my fingers, at times both hands.
this usually occurs everytime i noticed i have been indulging on extra chocolate, flavoured drinks and my favourite ice cream.
so i googled the tingling sensation & numbness as symptoms and this is what came up:

Numbness and tingling are abnormal sensations that can occur anywhere in your body, but are often felt in your fingers, hands, feet, arms, or legs.
There are many possible causes of numbness and tingling:

• Sitting or standing in the same position for a long time
• Injuring a nerve (a neck injury may cause you to feel numbness anywhere along your arm or hand, while a low back injury can cause numbness or tingling down the back of your leg)
• Pressure on the nerves of the spine, such as from a herniated disk
• Pressure on peripheral nerves from enlarged blood vessels, tumors, scar tissue, or infection
• Shingles or herpes zoster infection
• Lack of blood supply to an area (for example, from atherosclerosis or frostbite)
• Other medical conditions, including:
  • Carpal tunnel syndrome (pressure on a nerve at the wrist)
  • Diabetes
  • Migraines
  • Multiple sclerosis
  • Seizures
  • Stroke
  • Transient ischemic attack (TIA), sometimes called a "mini-stroke"
  • Underactive thyroid
  • Raynaud's phenomenon
• Abnormal levels of calcium, potassium, or sodium in your body
• A lack of vitamin B12 or other vitamin
• Use of certain medications
• Nerve damage due to lead, alcohol, or tobacco
• Radiation therapy
• Animal bites
• Insect, tick, mite, and spider bites
• Seafood toxins

what scares me the most would be the word DIABETES in the list. *insert horror music*
and because of my family history, i am at a higher risk of being diabetic *touch wood*
health is very important to me now more than ever because i have someone who cares and loves me a lot.
i just can't bear the thought of burdening my better half if i ever fallen sick.
apart from that, we do want a family of our own.
healthy, beautiful children.
and in order to conceive, i need to be healthy.
to be healthy, i need to start changing my lifestyle & eating habits.

with that in mind, i have made small changes, taking it one step at a time and hoping will maintain:

• drank more plain water. right now i can only manage to drink 500ml, still very far from the 2 litre per day recommendation but i'm slowly getting there.
• cut down on my ice cream intake to only one serving 3 times a week tops. i use to take it as desserts after every dinner, sometimes lunch and even supper when i'm really craving for them. @_@
• stopped drinking carbonated drinks altogether. sometimes when i REALLY REALLY want it, i chose Light Coke instead of the regular coke. but only a few sips.
• started taking breakfast. i usually skip the most important meal of the day, no wonder i ended up bingeing the rest of the day.
• fastfood once a month. maybe, maybe one day i'll stop taking them altogether.
• take multivitamins once a day cause i seldom eat veges & i choose the type of fruits i will eat.
• take the stairs instead of the elevator as much as i can.
• exercise more. started bowling again last Tuesday. and tennis tomorrow. i can't stand jogging for more than 5 minutes so brisk walking would be a good start.

but my setback would be:

• junkfood. i love snacking so much. i need to munch on something all the timeeeeee. and snacks are usually high in sugar and sodium. :(

this time it's not just about the numbers on the scale anymore.
it's about having a higher chance of living a happy and fulfilling life without having to worry about medical bills & frequent visits to the hospital.
i'd choose that over anything, anytime.