How to maintain a healthy weight when you have limited options for exercise
Physical activity is important to the human body, especially when you're trying to lose some extra weight. I asked three physically challenged individuals how they do it and here is what they had to say.
(Names have been changed to protect their identity).
Catherine Nsonowa
I’ve always had problems with my weight. I’ve never been able to maintain a healthy weight. And since going into a wheelchair, I’ve not been able to maintain a healthy weight due to doing less exercise.
You see, I am in a wheelchair because my right leg is completely numb and it’s very hard to make your knee lock when you can’t feel it. I can use my legs. I can balance on my left leg. I can stand using only my left leg. …
When my car hit a young girl, I thought the right thing to do was call an ambulance. I’ve had to live with my remorse ever since.
I hadn’t been paying much attention to how I handle doing something I regret until I had a devastating accident. It taught me a lot of things, and I’ve chosen to share them whenever I get the opportunity.
I had just spent time visiting my extended family in the neighboring town and was on my way home, driving. It was a smooth ride, and at a point, the only thing on my mind was babies and how cute they are. In retrospect, that thought must’ve come from the sticker I had admired earlier on a Honda in the other lane with the drawing of a baby and the caption “My wife has an awesome husband.” …
Protecting the terms of my compensation and duties — when working for others — by using written agreements
Ever heard someone say “an agreement is an agreement”? I didn’t see the usefulness of that statement until I started developing apps for people. While I knew that contracts were important, I didn’t take them seriously — at least not until I worked with startups that didn't compensate me as promised.
At around age 21, I taught myself how to develop apps for the Android platform. Because I was eager to have a lot on my resume, I applied for every software development gig and said yes to every project I happened to be called on, both locally and remotely. …
What I learned—and what I’d have liked to know earlier
*Ring*
My phone rang at an unusual time of day while walking home. My friend hardly ever calls in the afternoon, so why would his name be popping up on my phone screen? Had his wife, who was in the final stages of her pregnancy, delivered a bouncing baby?
In a moment, I answered, “Hello, is everything OK?”
He answered with a question: “Have you ever donated blood?”
Whoa!
I stopped walking, speechless for a moment. The answer was definitely “no”—I hadn’t—but I got confused because that was the last question I was expecting. My friend and his wife had lost two pregnancies, and this was the third one. We had previously talked about how the Lord has been so good, and she hasn’t had any complications this time. …
Become a better speaker and writer in a second language—and enjoy it—by using entertainment to boost your learning
Growing up, I loved watching movies. As a kid, I could tell you every program showing on TV and what time to watch it.
My parents weren’t exactly thrilled with my obsessive watching, but they didn’t complain much, as I still came out top of my class each term. On the downside, it had become an addiction.
In my third year of university, this became a problem. I didn’t have time for casual movie watching, but I had fallen too in love with them to quit now. One Friday evening in my third year, it dawned on me that I was watching movies for the wrong reasons. I needed to not just watch for fun, but to learn. From then on, I started paying more attention to the dialogue in the movies I watched. …
Would you consider staying in a foreign country? Here’s a guide to knowing what to do when you travel.
A few years ago, I started a non-profit and needed to build an app for the platform to help with activities. I went on to post the job online and it was picked by a freelance Android developer. He was self-taught with seven years’ experience and had been doing freelance for a while. The project went very well and I was so impressed with his output. As we needed to expand our reach, he offered that I come to his home country, Ghana in West Africa. At first, I was skeptical, but on second thought, I saw it as an opportunity. Not only for the platform but to explore the world out there and to get outside my comfort zone. …
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