Hey! Stress and health screening are two things I never thought would collide this soon in my life, but here we are. Maybe I’ve mentioned this before, but about a year ago, I got transferred to a different department. I actually enjoy what I do, and I’m grateful to have a job that pays the bills, but this new role came with a different kind of pressure. The workload changed, the environment changed, the dynamics changed, and suddenly my daily routine became a source of exhaustion I didn’t immediately recognise. The office is also further from my home, which means less sleep, more rushing, and a morning routine that sometimes starts with me questioning why I exist and why adulthood doesn’t come with a pause button.
When Stress Slowly Changes Your Body
The combination of stress, long days, and trying to adapt to constant changes led to something I wasn’t prepared for. Other than dealing with things completely out of my control, I started gaining weight. Not the cute 1–2kg kind, but the “how did this happen so fast?” type. I started binge eating, snacking whenever things got overwhelming, and craving desserts like it was some kind of emotional support system. Stress and health screening were never in my vocabulary, but apparently, my body had other plans.
A few days ago, something unexpected happened. I walked into a mall and found a health screening booth right in front of me, almost like a sign from above. I’d been wanting to get checked for months, but was always too lazy to schedule an appointment. So I did it. Blood pressure was fine. The glucose level was fine. BMI was… let’s move on. But what shocked me was the rest: high uric acid and high cholesterol. Just like that. One year in a stressful environmen,t and suddenly stress and health screening became very real for me. I even decided to take the full blood test with cancer markers because once you’re there, you might as well know everything. Results in a week. I’m hoping for the best but also trying not to Google anything, because WebMD will have me thinking I’m dying by midnight. HAHAHAHAHA!
A Year Can Change Everything
What makes all this surprising is how different things were before. During my previous role at a site, I actually lost weight. I walked more, moved more, had a stable routine, and my health screening results were completely normal. Cholesterol was fine. Uric acid was fine. My energy was better, and I didn’t feel like collapsing the moment I reached home. So to go from that to this within a single year is honestly wild. I refuse to believe these problems appeared magically. Something about this new lifestyle clearly isn’t aligned with my body, and unfortunately, my body chose to inform me through blood test results instead of a polite email.
Trying to Be Healthy Again… Against My Will
So here I am, trying to live healthier again. And it’s tough. After a full year of unhealthy eating patterns, suddenly being told to skip dessert feels like torture. I’m supposed to avoid cake, doughnuts, chocolate, and everything comforting? It feels almost illegal. The cravings alone make me want to slap someone for no reason. But I’m trying, slowly, awkwardly and reluctantly.
The biggest thing I’ve realised through this whole stress and health screening journey is that stress doesn’t always show itself through crying or emotional breakdowns. It can be quiet. It hides in hormones, bloodwork, appetite, sleep quality, and the way the body reacts to pressure. Sometimes it’s not the workload that drains a person, but the environment, the inconsistency, the silent expectations, the long commute, and the small daily frustrations we keep brushing off because “it’s just work.”
But Life Goes On…
I’m trying to eat cleaner now, even though my soul cries a little every time I skip dessert. I try to exercise more, hydrate properly, and sleep earlier. I’m slowly unlearning bad habits and trying to rebuild a healthier routine. Will it be perfect? Absolutely not. Will I still crave dessert? Definitely yes. But at least I’m trying, and that counts for something…kot.
At the end of the day, work can replace us in a week, but our bodies can’t. Stress and health screening taught me that ignoring my well-being won’t make anything disappear. So here’s to taking care of myself again, bit by bit, and hoping the next screening won’t give me a heart attack before the actual results do. By the way, for anyone who ever questioned why I prefer working near home even when higher-paying jobs are out there, this is why. HAHAHA. Again, I do love my job… headaches and all. For now, I’ll just keep doing my best and hope my salary naik soon so I can finally stay closer to the office. It’s not wrong to dream, kan?
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