Closing Up Phase~~

Time flies. Today is the tenth week of my behavior change project! Although posts will not be posted anymore or maybe rarely, the behavior change of eating an apple per day will never come to a halt. :)

Thanks for staying with me. :D

Ohya, I am going to visit Hospis Malaysia and The Little Sister of the Poor! :D Look so forward to it! Cheers!!

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."
                                                                                                                            -Martin Luther

     

Moderating Phase 7~~

Type 4+3 Floating :D

 Type 3 Floating :D

 Type 4 Floating as well :D

It has been a fun week, especially after watching the "Chop! Chop!" show! I felt really great knowing my friends were the director and script writer in the play! :D 

Anyway, throughout the whole week, I almost had lunch or dinner out with my friends and of course, I never forget to have an apple a day :D This week, during pasar malam, I bought 10 apples and I ate durian together with my friends and lecturer :) Lecturer told us durian is good for constipation :D 

Also, the highlight of the week would be watching LONE RANGER on Friday night!!!!!!!!  and the focus of the whole movie is JOHNNY DEPP!!!!!!!!!!! OMG....I just LOVE him!!!!! And I didn't pick up my parents' call because of JOHNNY!!! OMG I felt so sorry towards my papa mama!!!! However, don't worry, I did call them back :D and tell them all about JOHNNY DEPP!!!!!!!!!! AWWWWWWWWWW
Hehehe enough for Johnny~~ I didn't focus on eating anything on Friday night at all...I was too busy thinking about watching Johnny !!! :D Okay, again...enough for Johnny, let's talk about my stool~

They were floating :D Hahaha, lecturer told me the first thing in the morning we should ask ourselves = "Does it float?" YES! They definitely are floating!!! :D and shining as well :D It seems my stools have turned consistent compared to last time when I was young. I used to have either Type 2 or Type 6 in extreme because when my mom knew I got constipation, she would buy laxatives for me. :)  And the first baseline study, it seems I already became much better than I used to. Anyway overall, everything is good now :D Hehe Cheers my friends :D

Moderating Phase 6~~

What a stressful week! I was having 3 midterms in a week! I felt like I have been literally swallowing up books! It was really challenging to deal with several things at one time and honestly, I did again forget to eat an apple on either 26th or 27th of June. And of course I know, having an exam shouldn't be an excuse to forgetting the apple. :) However, since midterm has gone, I believe that I am now back to my "apple" journey with full energy. :D Again, thanks to those who been reminding me to eat an apple a day. :D Especially my parents :D They were so worried about me being so stressed up during the exam periods even though I felt perfectly OK.

For the apple part, the apples I bought from pasar malam once a week seem getting less sweet but it's ok :) I don't really like sweet taste. Hehe  Keep on with the "apple-spirit"! Gambatte! :D

Moderating Phase 5

            Time flies! It has already been six weeks of consistently observing and taking pictures of my own stools! :D I am glad that the stools remain as Type 3 or Type 4. As usual, I went to pasar malam on Wednesday and had a bowl of spicy yet not-so-good-taste Thai laksa. I felt awful eating it as I didn't really enjoy it. I had a mild diarrhea the next morning which was not a very good thing as the stools did not turn out as the ones I want. >..<

           Anyway, I am glad that I have been having an apple per day as it somehow gives me more psychological power than physical power to make me think that I am healthier now. :D The journey of apple-flavoured-stool seems has transformed into a better outcome as I slowly realize that it is the consistency and persistence that matter the most. With these two, I can become as healthy as I want to be.

           Also, as usual, lots of funny things happened with me taking pictures of my own stools. On Friday, I had a steamboat in Lot 10 to celebrate my friend's birthday. I had a wonderful dinner. When I was "releasing" myself in the female toilet, I didn't realize that it was an automatic flushing system. The moment I took out my phone and prepared for a click, the product was gone. I tried to produce again for the second time with the hope that I was fast enough to capture "them", KA CHA, "them" was gone again. I felt frustrated but really funny the same time. Hahaha....  Life is fun :D

P.S: Let me spare you guys this week as I am not able to upload "them". :D  Cheers guy! :D haha

Moderating phase 4~~~~

Oops....What did I eat on Thursday? Ohyaa...I went pasar malam and forgot to eat an apple...:D hehe but I managed to eat durian!!! :D  It was a Dragon Boat Festival on Wednesday!!! I missed my papa mama so much and I couldn't find Bak Zhang, the dumplings in pasar malam!!! Why they didn't sell?????  Wednesday was Dragon Boat festival right???  :( :(

Anyway, coming back to my stool diary :D I didn't feel as happy as usual when I was taking my stool photo on Thursday~~ Maybe it is because I was homesick!!! :(  However, my parents called me and told me they will get me some when I go back home :D  Hehehe happy mood is back~~~ Tada~~

Ohya, gotta have an apple now :D I slowly realise that the stool is not the point anymore!!! It is the persistent in me that matters....eating a fruit a day was really not my usual routine...but now, I am eating one per day!! :D Haha  i am feeling so great~~ I can do it~~   By the way, as usual, here is my stool~~ Thinking you won't see it anymore?? Haha ...impossible :P Haha

 Type 3 and maybe 4 :D
2 are floating!!! They look so healthy~~ shiny, floating, bulky and not too dark~~~ :D 

Gratitude towards YOU :D

     Hello my fellow friends!!How are you?? I am feeling great!! :D

     This post is all about expressing my gratitude towards you all :) Everyday, there will be so many speeches about my stool updates~~ Talks of stools are like...being part and parcel of my life already. Wherever I go, whenever I am with you guys, I definitely will listen to some stool talks :D  That's really funny. It really cheers me up every time we discuss about it :D hehe

      And of course, all the talks really motivate me further into buying apples and eating apples daily! :) Somehow it has become a positive reinforcement, all the fun part you guys gave me makes me want to be persistent in eating apples :D and perhaps later, I will change to bananas, durian and anything :D hehehe

      Thank you guys for accompanying me to buy apples in pasar malam. You guys really motivate me a lot :D  Ohya, my parents say thanks as well, quoted from them, "Wow, see? You got a bunch of really good friends and even lecturer!!!  Really thanks them for making you eat APPLES!!!" :D

     Again, thank you guys so much. Stools seem cute and fun to me now after lots of funny stuff talking about it. Haha. You guys rock!

Here are the apples I am going to eat :)  Feeling "phewww"? as this post has no any stool's picture :D haha
However, stay tuned.....because STOOL never ends..... :D hahahaha cheers ~~~

Moderating Phase 3~

 Results of the week :D

 Type 4 (I can see my own reflection in the picture ><)

Tada! Another beautiful week filled with apple-flavoured sh*t. :)
I am laughing so hard throughout the whole process of taking the pictures and uploading in this blog. LOL
Still trying to believe and accept what exactly I am doing.....What am i doing????? HAHA

Anyway, I am so happy to share my stool stories with my friends and daddy mommy :)  They think I am crazy, and somehow I like being crazy :D  It is fun right?

Things seem to grow better and better for me, and of course, there are still much more to be done to stay healthy and vibrant :) I think I am going to eat my friend, Lai's favourite, banana after this apple journey :D Thanks to him, he is so supportive and encouraging! He kept telling me to eat bananas! :D I could tell how concern my friends are towards my stools LOL~  Thanks friends, you guys rock!

Moderating Phase 2

 Type 4 ^.^

It seems I am getting more Type 4 stools! I am getting really happy especially on 31st of May, I get the perfect shape of stool that I always wanted! It is a long, smooth, quite thick shape of stool! I am really happy getting it >..< hehe It is like my hard work of eating apple per day paid off, again!

Well, eating an apple is not as easy as you think, for me, hehe. This is because every time I eat an apple, I need to "shave" out all the wax on its surface without clearing the skin and also, my laziness plays a big role too. However, my parents seem to feel so happy that I got the perfect stools or something. Anyway, the point that I eat an apple a day already enough to make them happy. :)  I love you guys daddy mommy!

[[Beware~Stools coming]] :)

This is what I get after having an apple :)

 Type 3

 Type 4

 Type 4

This is what I used to get before moderating phase :)

 Type 5

Moderating Phase 1

Here is the result of the past one week eating an apple per day :)

Haha, it seems my stool has improved much after eating an apple per day. The shape of my stool has changed from Type 5 to Type 3 and sometimes Type 4. Also, my stool doesn't smell as awfully as before.

It has been a quite tough week for me to consistently eat an apple per day as I always forget the "mission". Probably I got too many things to do per day. :D

Anyway, thanks to my roommate and my best friends who persistently remind me to eat an apple per day.

I am feeling positive and happy about my result. It seems the "eat-apple-hard work" finally paid off and from now on, all I have to do is not to stop eating an apple per day! Gotta go out and buy apples now :D Ciao~

Moderating phase activated !!

19 May 2013, Sunny day.

Moderating phase is officially activated! Yeah! Now I am much more motivated to take pictures of my own stool knowing that it is “apple-flavoured” now. :D

An apple a day keeps the doctor away! Look at my first apple!!  :D It is a medium sized apple with approximately 72 calories, 150grams and 4.4 fibres. I ate it at 3.30pm this afternoon, hopefully later will get a product (>..<) 

~Behavior Change Contract~

         The beginning of everything is always tough! After squeezing out all my brain juice just to choose which behaviours I should change for a better functional life, I finally came up with one: To eat more fruits. 

        However, a goal has to be specific and measurable and so I came up with this: To eat a medium-sized apple everyday which has 72 calories and weighs 150grams approximately, so that I will be able to produce a much healthier load of stools. A diet low in fibre may result in watery and loose stool which is what I have been having.

         Why apple? Well, one of the reasons is due to the saying "An apple a day keeps the doctor away." Another reason will be the pressure from my parents as I haven't eaten any fruits in 2 months. 

         I also have found out that women need about 21-25grams of fibre daily while men need about 30-38grams (Zelman, 2011). For a medium size apple, from the USDA National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference, it has about 4.4grams of fibre which means that I am adding extra 4.4grams of fibre in my body daily and my stools will be firmer and less watery (Mayo Clinic staff, 2012; Mitchell, 2011)! 
         Therefore, hopefully there is a change in my stool after eating an apple per day. Besides, I may get rid of all the "naggings" of my parents if I have an apple per day (^.^).

         How do I know whether the feces are healthy or not? Well, good question! I have actually gone through some research articles indicating that Bristol Stool Chart is the most available chart to see the shape and how healthy feces are. At first, I had to find out whether or not I am having troubles in defecating. Although I do defecate daily, I still need some evidence. I came across a website from the work of Agachan, Chen, Pfeifer, Reissman, and Wexner (1996), http://www.medindia.net/patients/calculators/Constipation-Calculator-result.asp, to test out my constipation severity and it turned out to be normal! Therefore, it seemed I have got no constipation issue and so, I am only going to focus on the texture, shape and size of my own feces by having an apple per day.

          Okay, for the sake of time, in brief, the Bristol Stool Chart has provided a high degree of interrater reliability, intrarater reliability, and agreement among pediatric gastroenterologists (Chumpitazi, Lane, Czyzewski, Weidler, Swank, & Shulman, 2010). Admittedly, all the background study was really not much fun! 
       Here's my baseline data: 
For the past one week, I have always got the Type 5 stool, hopefully an apple a day may make a difference. The ideal type of stool will be Type 3 or Type 4, especially Type 4 with these characteristics:
* The feeling you need to go is definite but not irresistible
* Once you sit down on the toilet there is no delay
* No conscious effort or straining is needed
* The stool glides out smoothly and comfortably
* Afterwards there is only a pleasant feeling of relief
* All this is most likely if the stool is Type 4
You can also refer to this http://www.chirocolonics.com/stoolchart.html for further information (^.^)