Salon fights food hunger

Good deeds can be found from not far, but near us. I figured that you don’t have to be a president of Wal-mart or any big wealthy cooperation to do something to fight hunger. For example, right in Montgomery, a group of six local salons did fought hunger.
According to Tina McGrady’s news, Bridget Schlicher of RedHead’s and other five salons had been collecting items through Friday to be donated to the local food pantry and animal shelter.

Spoiled Food Anyone?

A really bad con of buying from grocery or chain stores is sometimes you may be faced a nasty purchase. You may get something rotten or spoiled. You will probably get your money back if you return but still getting bad products is devastating. Not only does it affect the consumer but also the company suffers the loss of a valued customer. This article I read was really about how if grocery stores are going to lose money, they should at least try to keep the customer. But I found it interesting how it talked about a major con of grocery stores using dialogue. Anyways, next time you purchase a perishable item from a grocery store, check the date or closely examine it because you may be the one asking for a refund. The site where the story is found is http://waypointgroup.wordpress.com/2010/10/26/changing-customer-loss-into-a-win/

Surprise!

Being that I don't know how to cook I found it quite mind boggling when she called and told me to prepare dinner. Don't get me wrong I'm very skilled in preparing certain dishes such as: Bologna sandwiches, cereal, French fries, any type of breakfast item, and of course fried chicken. I mean what would life be without fried chicken? Naturally my thought that came to mind after the questionable phone call was to run down stairs and start hitting up the grease. Fried chicken with rice and gravy sounded great to me, but to my mom it was totally different idea. After realizing what she asked me to do, she agreed to walk me through the process step by step. Within the first 2-3 minutes my patience were growing thin, and I was already in the mood to order in some take out. Knowing it was going to take way longer to thaw out the meat, than I had time, it was my brilliant idea to run each piece under some hot water to speed up the process. Now realizing that might not have been the smartest idea I kinda wish I would've taken the proper time to prepare our food, OH WELL! Cooking can be very stressful, even with her walking me through the process step by step, some how or another I still found a way to mess something up. From this the conclusion was drawn that maybe a lot of people don't enjoy cooking because with one little mistake you will have to restart the tedious process over and over again until you got it right.

-Food is Food

Teen Health: The Computer Is Our Enemy, Not Food



Videos games: What ever happened to riding a bike?

 I just had an epiphany today.  It is now 6:35 and I have realized that I have wasted almost three hours of my life sitting at my desktop computer. Don't give me those judgemental looks people. I know I can't be the only person alive who has gotten on the computer for "just a minute" only to look up and see that hours have passed by without even noticing. The problem is that there is just so much to do and it's all at the tip of your fingers. YouTube is there for music videos, TV shows, movies and even work out videos if you want to take it that far. Facebook is there for updates on friends. Even Twitter has taken the physical aspects of stalking away thanks to the good old follow button. The problem that we face today is not with what we put in our mouths,but what we waste our time doing! The more time you spend on the computer, the less time you're outside walking, excising, or spending any real time with real people. The computer, along with videos games, are the main reason we don't see little kids outside riding their bikes, playing hopscotch, or all those other things kids used to do. If you want to stay in shape, and value your health, stay away from the PC.
~Chan

A Trip to the Market CS

My family and I recently visited the farmer's market near my mother's work. It was a very eye-opening experience. I found that some of these individuals live off of what they sell and produce. Some grow just for the market. I find that this is a wonderful way to support our community and eventually our economy.
It's also a way to help with the devastating lack of exercise. If you've ever tilled or weeded a large plot of land, then you know that it's a very good work out. Especially during the hot weather months. And picking one's harvest isn't a walk in the park either.
I really respect these people. They do something they love (if they do not survive off their produce, and grow just for a hobby) or they support local economy by helping their neighbors buy locally. My family plans to commandeer a booth some time in the future to sell our produce.

Home Cooking vs Fast Food

One major thing about the fast food industry is having the leading restaurant. Companies are always in competition to see who can come out on top. Some steal one another's ideas and some use catchy slogans. Major rivalries such as McDonald's and Burger King are always trying to come out with new food and products. Every restaurant has their targeted audience. For example, McDonald's is always coming out with contests that influence customers to buy their food. Burger King constantly comes out with toys. Families are a big targeted audience. Parents usually eat where their children want to. Perfect strategy.

Genetics

Well, because my story is going to be about a girl that has diabetes and through it she becomes closer to her family, I guess I should talk about the genetics of diabetes because it can be passed down through your genes. I searched through the American Diabetes Association and found this quote : “Genes alone are not enough. One proof of this is identical twins. Identical twins have identical genes. Yet when one twin has type 1 diabetes, the other gets the disease at most only half the time. When one twin has type 2 diabetes, the other's risk is at most 3 in 4” Apparently; diabetes can be triggered because of people’s surroundings such as cold weather. That is only a theory though, but it gives me an idea on the setting for my story. I also found this quote: “In general, if you are a man with type 1 diabetes, the odds of your child getting diabetes are 1 in 17. If you are a woman with type 1 diabetes and your child was born before you were 25, your child's risk is 1 in 25; if your child was born after you turned 25, your child's risk is 1 in 100.” This gave me another idea on how my character’s parents should be aged

Canadien Bacon Should Stay in Canada

     So, it has been awhile since I've been on this thing; stuff gets in the way.  All that matters is that I'm back on this and ready to talk more about problems.
     Today though, I would like to talk about something that happened in my life resently.  I was in class, like any other normal day, sitting in my desk and learning.  Across from me a few kids where having a conversation about school lunches (a very common topic around or after lunchtime).  Now, I am not sure exactly what was said during the conversation, but there is only one statement I overheard that is of real importance in this blog at the moment.  The statement went something like this: "Why can't we have tomatos from Alabama?"
     That statement sparked a memory in my head of an incident similar to the one happening before me.  It was at a local wal-mart, and I was shopping with my mom for groceries.  We were in the section where the vegatables and fruits were, and my mom picks up a tomato.  She looks at it and realizes that it isn't ripe.  She looks over it more closely, and she finds that the tomato wasn't even from Alabama; it was from Canada.
     Now, I know I'm not the only one who sees a problem here.  We have an agricultural state, with averagely all around good weather.  Aside from the humidity, this is basically a true statement.  Yet here we are, in a grocery store, in Alabama, with Canadian tomatos.
     I don't know what the problem is.  I suppose if I did I wouldn't have to even post this because the problem would already have been solved.  But that's not the case, and this is a problem.  I believe that it is more of a problem then just to stop buying tomatos from Canada.  No, situations such as these usually have deeper connections then most people may realize.  I hope someone can find these connections, and solve this problem.
                                                                                                                                                  Godspeed

The Worst Topic Ever: Food

Ok, honestly, food is the worst topic ever. There is so little on it, that it's crazy! But I have decided to go with story idea #2, the futuristic one because it will be easier to write about..... But there is literally nothing else to talk about in food-illnesses. All of the same medicines are the same, all of the information is the same, all of the information is the same, there are no new disieses, no new illnesses, no new anything! I'm starting to work on my story so next week I will definitely have a clip to post.

We can help each other out. All of us. So why don't we start by taking the time to understand someone, and to ultimately appreciate their struggle? The struggle of a farmer is no less significant than that of a housewife, a teacher, a stock broker, a patty-flipper. And we can help them. There are tough times that host an army of tough people, and we can easily find ourselves attaching to tough people and learning immense things from them. But instead of an army that protects, this army is one in need of assistance. You can provide that assistance. Put down the burger, man. Farmer Ted's got something even better.

Makes a Difference

Due to some unfortunate situations, my aunt is staying with us now. She's doing well, she's just not fully able to operate like she used too, so my mother has to make sure she has cooked for every single meal. My mother cooks often anyway, but now she has too for every meal, and it has to be healthy too.

During the week, she usually doesn't make breakfast because she doesn't have time. Now, she does. I've been home lately while she's cooked and I've eaten at home instead of at school. I noticed that eating the breakfast my mom cooked not only kept me satisfied until lunch, but kept me awake and more alert.

I didn't even think about breakfast as far as home cooking was concerned. Not only did it save me 75 cents a day to eat at home, it had other positive effects as well. Eating at home makes a difference all the way around.

What is Awaiting Us...?

Doesn't everybody at some point in time look to the future. Whether its looking to tomorrow or 10 years from now. Well how about 40 years from now? What does the future say for us in 2050. Will apparently, according to a new study, in 2050 the number of Americans with diabetes will triple! Especially if things continue as they are now. Triple! 31% of Alabama already have diabetes now! Think what the number would be when it triples for the entire country. Scary huh?

Well it doesn't have to be. Eat Healthier! Outside of school or the past month I've been eating only vegetarian meals, and it does make a difference! Come on healthy food taste good too sometimes! It's as simple as switching to Multi-Grain Tostitos (the ones you eat with salsa) So come on, try it. I promise you, if I can do it, so can you!

Fast Food Calorie Counter

I know we've all kinda thought about how many calories we're taking in when we go to fast food restaurants, but we really don't know how many for real. I found this cool calories counter and I think you guys should check it out and see how many calories you're really eating when you order that #2 with large fries. ^_^

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/flash/health/caloriecounter/caloriecounter.html

Rant Of Improper Grammar and Punctuation (With a Lot of Parenthesis)

okay im not really gettin much and most of my google alerts end up to be "oh and this restauant in iowa is givin benefits to its employees" or "and we're here in virginia to celebrate gourd week" or giving me things i already found out months ago so this aint fun. i mean seriously, gourd week?!?!?!?! okay, my rant with improper grammar is officially over.

New beginning! Okay, so like I said, not much new this time around... My sources this week actually come from my mom and her new diet thing she's been trying (again as said previously, Google has helped absolutely NONE). So, the average person is supposed to eat a minimum of 1200 calories for daily function. Most of us eat well over that. Like, 2000-calorie-range over. Some of us, it doesn't really matter, because we either have a high metabolism or exercise enough to burn it off. Others build up those extra calories (and the fat that goes along with it) and their body turns it into storage (AKA love handles, chunk, fluff, or any other noun meaning fat). And, most of us who do build up "storage" get it from stuff like TV dinners, Pizza Hut pizza, or the ever-so-infamous chocolate ice cream. Exchanging just one of these with a veggie or fruit (from your local farmers market!) can save you over 100 calories per serving, and in due time that ends up to be less "fluff" for you and more fit into your favorite pair of jeans.

Try it out! And trust me, I know an apple doesn't sound nearly as good as ice cream, but it's worth it. (and you can't eat the apple with peanut butter or caramel! or candied!)

HOLD THE PHONE!!!

How in the world did I not know about this??!! October is world vegetarian awareness month!!!! And I totally missed World Vegetarian Day, which was October 1st, CRAP!! They should really get the word out about these kinds of things... seems how that is the whole purpose of this event...

But anyways, if you are interested, you should go to www.worldvegetarianday.org, and pledge to be a vegetarian for a minimum of one day-- or maybe even the last four days of October (since we have kinda missed the boat on the whole month dedication project). And if you pledge online you will be entered in a drawing to win prizes, including a grand prize of $1,000! See, incentives are nice ;)

Eating Out but Healthy?

When trying to decide whether to eat at home or go out to eat can be a pretty tough decision. So far, I have been doing good when it came down to eating at home but it is real hard to do that when your favorite fast food places are staring you in the face. So today I gave in and I ate out at my new found love, Jim N Nicks. I had a kids pork slider but to be a little healthy and not feel guilty about my choice, instead of the fries I replaced it with some fruit!!!! So when looking at eating at home vs. eating out, if you chose to eat out then you could always go half and half, healthy and good juicy pork!!

We're Managing ; So I'm Proud

This week with our diet that we are trying, we have decided to cut back. This week is all about cutting back on our portions of food thats served. We are trying to have at least one serving of each food choice that my mom cooks. Last night she cooked a pan of baked spagehetti. It was delicious, but since we were on the we serving diet I couldn't get as much as I wanted. This method of dieting is really helping us see the difference between why we shouldnt eat out oftern. Next week, we will try a new method of dieting and we're also going to see if we can remain our from those FAST FOOD RESTURANTS :)

Anorexia vs. Obesity

Anorexia and Obesity are both a disease and involve very unhealthy dietary choices. However, they are complete opposites. One is about being way too skinny and the other is about being way to fat. These are very unhealthy eating disorders.

Anorexia is not only a eating dissorder, but psychological disorder. Obesity is a genetic disease.
With anorexia people usually start dieting and are quite successful, but then they can't stop. This is similar to obesity in the sense that, with obesity people start eating and can't stop. With obesity being genetic, it is easy to understand that in some situtations a person can't help it.

Symptoms:
Anorexia- depression, fatigue, OCD with or pertaining to food, drastic weight loss, etc.
obesity- extreme weight gain, constant eating, etc.

click on the links to get more information.

October 27

So, I'm doing my project as a short story. The characters are going to be the organic and non organic foods. they'll be basically arguing about who is a better food, and I have a feeling that the organic foods are going to win. It should be pretty intresting, so yeah. I dont really have much to say, except I'm going to start working on it pretty soon, and it should be fun.

The Truth About Counting Calories

Some doctors would say that you don't need to worry about the calories you eat -- as long as they don't come from carbs. Dietitians and other weight-loss experts know the truth: calories in ,equal calories out. In other words, if you eat more calories than your body uses, they will be stored as fat.

It's true that different energy sources have varying amounts of calories. Here's the breakdown:

• 1 gram of carbohydrates = 4 calories
• 1 gram of protein = 4 calories
• 1 gram of fat = 9 calories
• 1 gram of alcohol = 7 calories

Through carbs and protein are only half as caloric as fat, you cannot eat them with wild abandon. The best plan is to eat a healthy mix of all 3 energy sources. Approximately 45-60% of calories should come from carbohydrates, 15-20 % should be protein and the remaining 25 to 35 % can come from fat (mostly from monounsaturated sources.)

Pros and Cons - But Mostly Cons

This week's depressing news: Diabetics are being found to get in to the eating disorder "trend," as it has been named. Called "Diabulimia," it is centered around people with type 1 diabetes that, to my horror, skip their insulin shots to lose weight! Because insulin promotes bone growth and, oh-ehm-gee, keeps fat calories in your body, sufferers skip the shot to promote rapid weight loss.
Something named "Pregorexia" has come about as well. As the name suggests, it is basically Anorexia for a pregnant women. Because of a will to stay the same weight throughout pregnancy (however much a dumb idea that is) pregnant sufferers will cut calories and exercise frequently. Such a thing can affect the baby, too! When born, it can have a smaller head and / or IQ, birth defects, and impaired functions later on in life.
Men have found an eating disorder to their fancy, now, too. Called "Reverse Anorexia," it is not what the name implies. Sufferers of this disease are usually teenage boys who are enticed by modeling men with 6, 8, and 10-packs, who think that they aren't attractive unless they are laced head to toe with muscle. Exercising and building muscle isn't bad -- until it becomes a health risk.
To make this end happily, I want to share something I found really inspiring and a good idea. It is called "Fat Free Talk Week." It is a week where society, girls especially, eliminate any negative comments about their bodies. Harmless questions like, "You look great, have you been dieting?" or, "Does this make my butt look big?" (one I, personally, laugh at) can really affect the target's thinking process. At the end of the article, , it encouraged everyone to make it not "Fat Free Talk Week" but "Fat Free Talk Year." Every year. Society is a big part in eating disorders, so shouldn't it be striving to help what it's inflicted?

Good News: Diabetes Will NOT Win

Bradley County Schools Coordinated School Health has received a $250,000 grant for diabetes prevention to focus on Lake Forest Middle School and its feeder schools.

According to June McDonald, who is the assistant director of Coordinated School Health, the one-year grant was received from the Tennessee Department of Health.

McDonald said Type 2 Diabetes is becoming more prevalent in the school system.

“It is directly associated to obesity. Because of that we definitely need to address health and nutrition to the students,” said McDonald.

The funds will be used for walking trails and health education at Waterville Community, Taylor, Valley View, Black Fox and Blue Springs Elementary schools. A low-rope course will also be built at Lake Forest Middle.

With this kind of money I know there WILL be some changes. Diabetes is not a cool trend. It's killing people, and affecting people negatively. It's not cool to have.

So to YOU I say EAT HEALTHIER, LIVE HEALTHIER!!!!

To diabetes I say YOU WILL NOT WIN!!!!

What Do We Like About Fast Food?

One of the things that draws people to fast food or food served at restaurants is that is looks just like things that you would make at home in your own kitchen. One of the things that many people don't know, however, is that mot of the foods served are manufactured or processed. When fast food restaurants first started, the potatoes for french fries were peeled and sliced in a back room. As they grew moe successful, the fast food chains built factories where most, if not all, of their food is proccessed, frozen and shipped to its restaurants all over the country. Added ingredients like oils are unhealthy and can make you fat.
In addition to the added ingredients put into the food, meal sizing is anther contributing factor. Fast food portions are really big and the companies behind them are making them bigger at little or no cost.

We All Scream For Hot Wings!

Sunday's dinner was simply delicious. Sunday was another day where Mom wasn't really in the mood for preparing a home-cooked meal. So, she looked in the freezer and grabbed two bags - a bag of crinkle-cut fries and a bag of hot wings. The only preparing that Mom had to do was warming the oven and placing the food items in a pan. After about an hour, our meal was finished. Dad made cherry flavored Kool-Aid and I had a box of chocolate chip cookies left over from a reception I attended earlier. The hot wings were definately hot and the fries were salty. Even though this meal is considered to be on the unhealthy side, we all enjoyed eating it. Good thing that was the only real meal I ate that day because the calories per wing all add up and let's be truthful - very few, if any, people get the right serving amount for fries and you can't just eat one cookie or pour just one glass of Kool-Aid. Good? Tasty? Yes. Healthy? Not so much.

Cardboard Lunches

In Boston, students got the opportunity to rate school lunch! "At the Museum of Science recently, a "What's for Lunch?" program, part of the museum's larger "Let's Talk About Food" initiative, included 300 high school students from Boston and nearby communities, a forum, a cooking demonstration by Tony Maws of Craggie on Main, and hands-on food exhibits." This program urges the young people to take initiative and shape food of the future. Many polls were taken, and showed that students don't like the food and would rather eat junk everyday that have the food they serve.
...My sentiments exactly.

Who is a Chubby Bunny? ... We in Alabama are Chubby Bunnies.

Alabama is in the top 5 of child obesity. That is probably because compared to other states, and the innovation they have, Alabama is a bit off the map. Obesity has many causes such as the unhealthy food in lunchrooms, and sometimes even the healthy food. Sometimes the lack of fatty foods can drive students to crave junk even more. The media plays a role in how teens view healthy things. There is very aggressive marketing of unhealthy food to children. Also, everyone is depending on the lunchroom to be the complete solution. One Alabama teacher suggests getting each grade level a personal nutritionist.

This Can Lead to Child Obesity..

I used to think that if a school had healthier, tastier food- students would be happy with the new decisions, but Point Grey Secondary School is losing the junk food war. The school revamped the program about two years ago to meet new food regulations. There are only a few significant changes- but their lunchroom food was still much better than ours. Yet, when the lunch bell rings the students flock to the 7-Eleven, McDonald's, and Flying Wedge where you can get some big greasy, delicious pizza and a soda for only $3.50. This adds up to over 900 calories-if the students get the complementary cookie...and let's face it. (Who would turn down a cookie?) This proves that if U.S. lunchrooms stop serving junk food on campus- they will go elsewhere to get it by any means necessary.

Fingerprints for Food

A high school district in Los Angeles, California starts to use a fingerprint scanning system to record children's lunch purchases. Yvonne Edwards, principal at Foshay Learning Center says it is safer because students don't have to bring money to school. She says it speeds up the line and eliminates problems with privacy, students' rights, and forgotten lunch money. Some parents disagree with the system saying that they are only children, and it is just lunch. I think the lunches should be more delicious and nutritious if students will be fingerprinted like lunch is all important. The district will spread the system to all schools who will accept it by 2012.

As times change, then so do the demands of teenagers. Teenagers demand instant gratification. It goes along with the territory about being born in world controlled by technology. Technolgy is everywhere. There is no where to run where technolgoy can't find you. People have become so dependent upon it, that they would probably fall apart without it. Technolgy effects the way food is taken in. Without the power of microwaves, most teenagers would probably be lost.






-Food is Food!

Food should be prepared in a timely manner and still be delicious. Long tedious meals are acceptable, but not on a regualr basis. For events and holidays, such as Thanksgiving, then it's understandable. Mothers who cook meals for their families on a nightly basis put too much into it. Cooking everynight is already a complicated task, but having to take the time to slow cook it to perfection is unneccesary. Cooking is a wonderful tool, but at the same time drastic measures should be taken just to get one meal. Sometimes its perfectly all right to put some hamburgers in the oven and open a can of beans. Sometimes change is good.


-Food is Food!

Dancing on the riverwalk

A few weeks ago, a few friends and I volunteered at the Run/Walk for Caner event held at the riverwalk downtown . In the morning many women, children, and men of all ages participated in a half mile and five mile run. Later on there was a performance by Maya's Dance School. A few older women, shook and jigged on the stage for the audience. After the ladies were done, the dance instructor, Maya, took the stage and began to teach give a free class to anyone interested. First, she invited children to come dance with her on stage.

Then it was our turn. We got as close to the stage as we could and followed her movements as we danced (in my case, tried) to the sound of reggeat-tone . By the third song my friends and I were feeling the burn and laughing at ourselves as we tried to keep up.
Dancing is a great way to stay active and also fun. Zumba is a great new dancing work out trend that is qucikly spreading across the nation. Instead of buying a video from online, take part of a real class and strut your stuff!
If you want a taste of what Zumba is, just check Maya out at the holiday market coming up. She's going to give another free lesson there, or just check her out at her studio.
mayasbellydancing.multiply.com/
~Chan

Weather Hinders Production

A con of buying from local growers at farmers markets is the weather. Hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. can all stop a farmers crops from being produced. Just recently, I read about Hurricane Paula that came along Cuba's northwest coast last Thursday, bringing lots of rain on the island's famed tobacco fields even when it weakened.

 

Pina del Rio is known for its high-quality tobacco fileds and is crucial for Cuba's famed cigar industry. Growers had planned to begin planting Tuesday, but the storm hindered that from commencing.

 

So bad weather can have terrible affects on the food you buy at farmer's markets. You could end up buying old produce that can be easily purchased from the supermarket. Also, the produce or meat you buy at the farmer's market may be not be available for purchase due to harsh weather conditions.

NY Mayor Tries to Ban Food Stamps for Sodas

According to this New York Times article from October 7, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg is facing opposition in his proposed plan to keep food stamp recipients from using the government-run food program to purchase sodas or any other drink with sugar added to it. The arguments for the proposal, which is backed by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, regard soft drinks' role in causing obesity and diabetes, as well as the previous banning of sodas in school lunchrooms.

The article reminds the reader that "the food-stamp program had not changed since 1977: 'any food or food product for home consumption except alcoholic beverages, tobacco, and hot foods or hot food products ready for immediate consumption.'" Basically, right now no one may use food stamps to go out to eat, buy take-out food, or buy beer, wine, cigarettes, etc. The prohibition of these items seems like a good idea, since I don't think anyone wants a person to use food stamps for these kinds of items.

However, adding unhealthy grocery-store items to the list of taboo items will be more difficult. It still seems like a bad idea to use food stamps for Cokes, Doritos, and Twinkies, but where is the line for intervening in which foods are purchased with the vouchers? I, too, would like to believe that the government assistance should be used to buy healthy food, but the truth is that I eat a lot of junk food too, so I would be kind of a hypocrite to proclaim my support of Bloomberg's proposal, wouldn't I?

Creating Life- Research Coming to a Close

Well it’s been another week. I think I have enough material in the way of news and information, so I started a rough draft of my writing project, which is a narrative that is about a family of farmers and their neighbors fighting every step of the way for their land as a landslide of new industry moves down their dirt road and the decisions they all have to make to survive.

Could this be you right now?

(This is an article I found on Associated Content and I think it has some very good points and maybe you would be/ should be interested in what it has to say.

Drive-thrus, dollar menus and more: there are 4 main ways that the minute-meal industry is affecting teenagers if visited too much for too long.

Outward Appearance
The poor nutritional content of fast food affects teens primarily in their appearance. Frequently eating fatty and unhealthy meals can cause weight gain and does not give growing bodies what they need in terms of vitamins and minerals. The lack of vitamins and minerals can cause poor skin, such as breakouts, unevenness, paleness and even underlying hues of gray. Hair can become dull and lifeless, and nails can turn brittle from a lack of nutrition. Since most teenagers have a harder time seeing the long-term effects of a unbalanced diet, but take great stock in what they see in the present, making teenagers aware of such immediate changes can help get them back on the right nutritional path. If time is of an issue, read About Diet Delivery Programs for ideas on how to get healthy meals delivered right to your door.

Mental Status
Thinking abilities suffer from poor nutrition. A poor diet lacking in the required vitamins and minerals can cause lethargy and a reduced capacity to perform tasks at school and home. When the human body doesn't get what it needs in terms of vitamins and minerals, the body can essentially shut down to conserve on what it has. This effect is especially true with teenagers, whose bodies and brains are already working overtime to grow properly. Too many meals eaten outside the home at unhealthy restaurants can take their toll quickly during these crucial years of development. For more information read Causes of Fatigue in Children.

New Ideas

It has just been researched that the health of a father could have a serious impact on whether or not their daughters have diabetes. This experiment consisted of unhealthy male rats bred with healthy female rats. Apparently the offspring of the rats, a daughter, could only produce half the amount of insulin she needed. A quote from a health doctor they had on this website said that “Diabetes or insulin resistance clearly causes reproductive problems in women so we think it plays a role in men as well." It seems to me that there are always different updates on possible reasons why so many people have diabetes.

Me Vs. Mom

Sunday's dinner, we were all on our own. Mom did not feel like cooking so it was up to us to make plans to eat. My brother and sister made sandwiches and chips, my grandma made her some pork chops and beans, my mom and dad bought salads, and since I had money, I decided to eat out at McDonalds. I ordered two double-cheeseburgers, a large fry, an apple pie, and a large drink. Most people don't think I can consume so much, all of it at that. But, I can. So, let's compare the calories in my meal to what was in my mom's, shall we?

My Meal:
Double Cheeseburger- 440 Calories (2)
Large Fries- 500 Calories
Baked Hot Apple Pie - 250 Calories
Large Sprite - 310 Calories

A total of 1940 Calories (The total calorie intake is somewhere between 2000 and 2500)

Mom's Meal:
Chicken Salad - 350 calories
(And she got more! She was full while I was still snacking hours later!)

So, who got the better meal? I guess it was Mom!

Controversy: The Fight on Food.

Many scientists are debating around the world on millions upon millions of topics. The most interesting? Food. Always food. Definitely food. What affects us more than food? Who cares if some nut-job cloned himself? Who cares if someone has invented the cure for cancer? If we don't have food to eat, it doesn't matter if you have cancer or not because you're not gonna live... without food that is. Who cares if it was discovered that half of the planet was infested with aliens and we were all going to die in say... 3 years? It doesn't matter! We would die in three days without our food. Food is #1 and there is no way around it. Ok.... honestly there's nothing new. I've blogged about everything I can find. Everything is the same. The only thing that was actually new is that the new dog-food Blue Hippo (or maybe Blue Rhino?) is actually terribly poisonous for your dog… but I'm not surprised. Who would feed their dog something named a Blue Hippo (or Blue Rhino maybe?)?! It just screams "TOXIC". But um….. Nope. Nothing. Now, I have developed to main ideas for a story surrounding what I have learned from my research.

 

IDEA 1: It's a plain sob story about a girl who loses her mother to a disease that I will eventually choose. This changes this girl's life. This girl, instead of being depressed, is motivated. She starts a local club supporting people with diabetes, collecting money to send to hospitals to help food-ill people, and eventually builds her club into a foundation. As more people lose their family to food-illnesses they give money, start funds in the names of their lost loved ones. Eventually, the foundation starts a nation-wide food-illness program to help those with diabetes, but also make people aware of the dangers of food and the importance of cleanliness in food. She becomes famous from her foundation. Her success is based off of something caused her pain. The irony of her life…. And yeah.

 

IDEA 2: This is a more out-of-the-way, science-fiction, freaky story. It takes place 300 years into the future. And yes, there are flying cars, teleportation pads, a moon elevator, hover crafts, jet packs, ECT…. No, there are no aliens. In the future, scientists have created a pesticide the keeps all of the germs off of food from growth, to manufacturing, to packaging, to shipping, to store shelves, and to consumption. Unfortunately, there is something in the pesticide that is slowly harming the people. 75% of the world's illnesses and diseases are gone because of this pesticide. Everyone is happy and believes in it. A scientist, though, realizes what the pesticide is doing and realizes that if people don't stop eating it, then within 50 years the world-wide population will suffer from an incurable decay and the human species will be wiped out. The scientist tries to tell the people, but the world won't listen. The scientist goes to great lengths, tricks people, bribes, takes advantages, and puts herself/himself in life-threatening danger because they realize that if it isn't stopped then their won't be a people to save from food-illnesses. Its way more action packed and suspenseful, but it also has less to do with food than in it does with the scientist's adventures.

 

I don't know which to pick. But at least I've narrowed it down to two.

Some Suprising Fast Food Facts

I found these facts and thought they were interesting and some emphasized how crazy we are over fast food.

This year Amerians will spend over $110 Billion on fast food more than they'll spend on movies, books, recorded music, magazines, newspapers, and videos combined.

Everyday one quarter of the U.S. population eats fast food.

This one is kinda sad: The golden arches at McDonalds are now more recognized than Christian crosses.

A fast food soda costs like 1.29 right? well it costs the restaurant only ten cents to make it. That's a markup of more than 1200 percent!!

And the vegetarians out there who thought they could eat good ole Mickey Ds french fries: McDonald french fries derive some of their flavor from animal products.
Their Chicken nuggets have beef additives.

A typical fast food burger contains meat from dozens if not hundreds of cattle.

Here's another kicker: Kids often recognize McDonalds before they recognice their own name.

I know America is a fast food nation, but seriously?

Society and me

What are we currently doing now to end the hunger of many children? I realized that I am doing nothing. The truth that everyone doesn’t know is that we don’t know how good environment we are currently in. This week, I had a talk with one of my teacher, and he told me about some of the horrible things happening in Alabama, in where I live. One of the most shocking things that my teacher told me was that some of the kids in the public school only come to the school for free meals. They don’t get any dinner, so the free breakfast and lunch would be crucial to them. I thought that we should look at the problems happening around our lives, before we look at the problems happening far away from our lives. I also started to think… what can I do to change some of the things happening in this society? What can I do for the society?

Time (an overlooked factor)

         Time is a precious thing. Time is money. Time is somthing many people use as an excuse. In an article i recently read on NewsBlaze, about an article of home cooked meals. The article discusses how hard economic times have taken home cooked meals as the "norm" now. The article also, discusses the issue of time, and how healthy home cooked meals will not just appear on a dinner table. Home cooked meals, take price prepping, grocery planning, and then the time to cook the meal.
        The article then went on to discuss different ways to be healthy while cooking at home. Monitor your proportions, watch for sales, clip coupons, buy generic, buy quantity, don't pay for waste, clean out the freezer and cabinets, cut down on convience foods,and pack a lunch (dinner) are all suggestions to save while cooking at home.
       Now, like everything with this information, you have to make a decision. A decision of whether or not being healthy is worth your time. Is it worth all of the planning, may be even researching healthy and delicious foods your family will eat? I think that it is worth the planning, whenever time is admitted, because every person on earth needs healthy and nutricious meals.

To check out more on the article I mentioned, visit: http://newsblaze.com/story/20101015123626zzzz.nb/topstory.html

WHOOO!!

I FINALLY found a website for living an organic vegetarian lifestyle!! Thank Jesus! ... I thought the day would never come! So http://vegetarianorganiclife.com was started by a woman named Amira Elgan, after she and her husband took a trip to Greece where they studied the Mediterranean and Spartan cultures. This is where the "Spartan Diet" took root. Inspired by the ancient, yet healthy diets of the Greeks, she decided to share her knowledge of organic, vegetarian living. This diet allows people to eat vegetarian while still keeping healthy as it focuses on the major use of organic, fresh produce.

The great aspects of this website is that Elgan blogs, shares recipes, sends out newsletters all for the purpose of inspiring others to become organic vegetarians! I have personally fallen in love with my new discovery, so I warn you all to prepare yourselves on seeing a lot from this website in my future blogs. :)

Nothing has really changed since my last post. I did eat Pb&j sandwiches this week and I have to say that they make me full and give me energy. This week I didn't go out to eat although it was tempting because I didn't think we had enough food at home to eat but thankfully we did. Eating at home this week was great. We had greens, dressing, sweet potatoes, baked chicken and black eyed peas so I wanted to eat at home. When it comes to a nice home cooked meal on Sunday or choosing to go out to Texas Roadhouse then I will choose that meal on Sunday every time and with that being said that's another point for eating at home!!!

Crazy People in a Crazy World

I just have a quick blog post for today. My alerts have stopped turning up so many things that are new. I'm thinking that's a good thing: I'm becoming more and more educated.
A new study on the brain turned up this information: Exposure to pictures of very thin women change the way we think. In a similar study showed that, when a women was given a picture of an overweight model and was told that it resembled her, her brain began computing in a different way. Exposure to things like that increase womens' risk of developing an eating disorder. There was also something peculiar on the news: "Drunkorexia" has become a fad among college students. It is simply the act of switching food out for alcohol. The only problem is is that the students will get drunk on an empty stomach, then feel bad about it later and vomit. Also, people who are thinking about adopting anorexia or bulimia, think twice: studies show that it can severely damage your vision.
To end my post, I thought I'd share a little something I saw in my alerts that horrified me: An overweight mom (with a genetic probability to turn out so) put her daughter on a restricted diet when she was just two, in fear that she would grow to be overweight. Corleigh, the daughter, is restricted to an intake of 700 calories; 1000 less than the suggested intake of a girl her age. Its sad, because the report commented on how the girl's ribs were protruding (which we all know, they shouldn't). The funny thing is, the mother binged on junk food all day long, while Corleigh wasn't allowed to touch it or even visit her friends' houses because of her mother's fear that she would eat "junk" food. Her mother claimed that she'd rather her child have an eating disorder than be overweight!

Sometimes you have to Count nutrition, not calories

Counting calories is growing at a rapid speed in our society. People aren't realizing that counting calories is good, but alone is worth nothing unless you count the nutritional value along with it.
A 6-year-old girl went to IHOP and looked at the kid's menu and wanted a cheese omelet; but saw that they were 400 calories and pancakes were 300. So she decided to get the pancakes; a prime example. Everyone knows that you're better off eating an omelet than pancakes but the calorie count is totally different from the nutritional count.

This is How We Do It ......

This week my family and have started this diet that we are trying to follow. Its not a very strict diet its pretty much the basics. We decided to do this diet to get our mind set off of fast foods, fine dinning resturants, and fried foods to baked foods with salads and water. Each night this week my mother has cooked a baked meal. On Monday we had baked chicken , Tuesday we had baked pork chops , and tonight we are having baked fish. Tomorrow night we plain to have just a salad with baked meat inside of it.
Usually, when we go out to eat we never order water as our drink. Most of the time its soda, tea , or an alcoholic; beverage for my parents. So , we are trying to stay a way from all that stuff that can make us gain water. Water is our solution. We're going to try this for as long as each of us can follow the dietary rule.

Who ever breaks it looses ; lets see who's going to be the last one standing!

Identity Crisis!! PLEASE HELP MAKE CHANGE!

Okay, you know how in high school the students, usually the senior class, votes on how they will remember certain people. There's : class clown, best dresses, most likely to succeed, etc. Do you know what Alabama is known as? One of the fattest, laziest states in America. Harsh? Yes. True? Also, yes. Is this really how we want to be remembered as? Diabetes is higher in the south than any region, and Alabama is right up there on the list of the most cases of diabetes, heart diseases, and obesity. Yes we don't get: Best this or best that, unless its "Best laziest state" or something like that, but who wants to be known like that?

I'm having an identity crisis here, because I know that I don't want to be known as this. I'm not saying my peers voted wrong, but I don't want to be what they say I am. I want change, but no one can do it alone. So if we want change....for awhile all we can really do is want.

THIS IS BAD PEOPLE!!!

Recently I learned some extremely saddening news. Hospitalizations for diabetes in the United States rose 65 percent over a very recent 14 year span. This hispitalization includes young adults, and yound women. The number of 30 to 39 year olds hositaplized for diabetes have more than doubled between 1993 and 2006. Young women in that age range and also those aged 20 to 29 were 1.3 times more likely than men to need hospital care for diabetes.

THIS IS BAD PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!

Pregnancy often triggers diabetes in women, but their higher hospitalization rate continued even after excluding pregnancy-related hospitalizations. But after 50, men were more likely to be hospitalized.

In the United States, about 18 million people have diagnosed diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association, but millions more are thought to have it without knowing it. The overwhelming majority have type 2 diabetes, in which the body does not make enough insulin or use the hormone properly. Insulin enables the body to utilize glucose, or sugar, as fuel.

Hospital fees for diabetes in 2006 totaled $200.1 billion compared with $62.5 billion in 1993. THAT'S ALOT OF MONEY!!!!

If you're as tired as I am of learniong these horrible facts about diabetes, then do something about it.

EAT HEALTHIER!!!

VERB (it's what YOU DO) (EXCERCISE!!!)

GO SEE A DOCTOR!!!

I've given you three options. Pick one or find another one, but either way diabetes is rising, and only WE can stop it!!

I'm sure most people that are writing on the subject of eating at home versus eating out bring up the fact that its cheaper and sometimes more healthy, but no one actually has health. I read this blog that made me keep my opinion, but look at the situations differently. Let me tell you what I mean.

When people think about the money aspects of eating out and dining in, we think about the cost of the meal we order or the groceries, but what we fail to realize is that there is so much more than that, which Samanatha Eckles made me realize.

For one, we waste more than money when we eat out, we waste time. It takes gas to get to the restaurant, time to order, time for the food to get to the table, time to eat, and time and gas to get back home. It takes less time to cook at home, less time to clean, and practically no gas.

Her blog made me realize that we exchange way more than money for convenience.

You should DEFINITELY check out her blog! It has a pretty chart that lets you see the comparisons.

Food Jingles Lead to Fatness

A food commercial comes on the TV and you know the entire thing word from word, including the jingle. Another one comes on and you know that one too! Well this means two things: you watch too much TV, and-well, too be blunt- your just fat. Sorry if that's a little harsh, but it's kind of true.

Yes, you can continue to sing the jingles:
"Subway eat fresh!"
"Wendy's you know when it's real!"
"Badah ba ba ba I'm loving it!"
"Burger King have it your way!"

but when you start to drool and get hungry when you weren't just a minute ago and have dreams about eating that juicy double-stack baconator on the TV, then you have a problem. God knows that I know that it is hard to resist fast foods, but too stay healthy we have to resist.

Resisting will be better for your health. The consequences of not resisting will not be immediate, but It will happen.

Not Much . . .

Nothing has really has happened interesting this week with our eating diet. One thing that has been happening that I'm very proud is the fact that my mommy cooked the entire week. Not only did she cook everyday that week , she cooked healthy foods. We didnt eat any fried foods , only bake , we had two vegetables , salad, and no starches. Isn't that great?! :)

Healthy Eating

This past week, for lunch I have had nothing but fruit and a turkey sandwich. The past couple of weeks, I had been eating Pb&j sandwich and a side snack that always contain chocolate in it whether it was a chocolate chip granola bar, a nutty butty or a brownie. So this week I switched it up for lunch and dinner. I didn't go out any this past week and I just had vegetables and fish for dinners and turkey sandwich and fruits for lunch. This was a healthy week for me since I didn't go out to eat or drink sodas but I did notice that during the week I felt weak since I had not been eating a Pb&j sandwich for lunch. Mr. Dickson, our creative writing teacher, told us about a something about if students at lunch would eat a Pb&j sandwich instead a meat based meal then students would be healthier and have more energy and protein from the peanuts. This week showed me that Pb&j sandwiches does give me energy and it fills me up. So the whole point of this story was to say that Pb&j is an easy at home to do sandwich and it great for ya and this goes with eating at home so eating at home gets another point when it comes to eating an all-American kid sandwich or going out to a fast food place to get a high-salt or low-protein sandwich or burger!!!

Over?

It appears to never be over. The affects of the oil spill seeming every lasting to those depending on the ocean and seafood for their support in life. There are estimates that the effects of the oil spill may last up to four or five years. Finally they are sealing off parts of the well that leaked horribly into the beautiful ocean to try and contain the spill and pick up the clean up process and into getting the Gulf back to its normal self and the seafood market back up to pace.

Kids

            Kids. Those adorable, but very time-consuming inventions. Kids are a very important factor in eating out, especially the age and behavior range. If your kid is a few weeks old, of course you can not go out to eat, because the child will be very cranky in an environment like that. Also, because kids have early curfews, families can not spend long nights at restaurants.
           Also, because kids restrict families (parents who have children) from eating out late, families can not have long wait times. I am a hostess for my job, and all families that have children never stay and wait for their table, because the parents realize their kids need to get home soon.
         Children's moods and attitudes have a lot to do with the decision making process of whether or not going out to eat. Parents who make the decision to go out make sure that it will be a good evening, rather than being a hassle, and an unpleasant evening. Every parent has to make a decision of whether or not going out to eat or not, and having young kids is a big factor in this decision.

Homecooking -vs- Fast Food

Variety plays a major role in whether people eat. Whether it's home cooking or fast food, there is no biased treatment. If a chef were to prepare the same meal every single night, then the customer would be stricken with boredom. People crave diversity and a sense of entertainment in all areas. Chances are the customer would have left the restaurant and gone to another searching for something gratifying. The same principal goes for fast food. As addicting as fast food can be, eventually the same 'burger and fries' original would inevitably get tiring.

And the Winners are...

It's great to be in the top three, right? Well, apparently not always! Congratulations, Alabama, you ranked number 3 in Clinically Depressed States (Mississippi was 1). Though Alabama's diagnosis for this depression, is just being plain lazy! Yeah, we all have our lazy spells, but extreme laziness affects our health more than we know. It may not seem like much to lay on the couch and chow down on a bag of chips, but when that becomes a lifestyle, then we have a problem. 65% of people in Alabama suffer from obesity! That's over half the state! Also obesity is the second highest cause of death in the country and it can lead to diabetes!

Also Alabama also wins another prize tonight. "As expected, Alabama leads the nation in adults diagnosed with high blood pressure, 31% of people in Alabama with the disease compared to 24.9% nationally, according to Centers for Disease Control, 2002 (CDC) research. And increases in adults with diabetes, Alabama, was 10.5% higher in the U.S. more than twice the rate of 5% of the fiftieth place in Minnesota."

The prizes just keeps on coming! Now I know these obviously aren't things to be proud of, but they are what they are. Who's going to make a change? Alabama can't change itself! It's up to the people. Taking action is a choice! Obesity is a condition that needs treatment! It doesn't have to be a lifestyle.

Click here to read the article about obesity and fitness.

The Dark Side of the All Amercican Meal

CBS News recently did an interview with American investigative journalist Eric Schlosser on why Americans are obsessed with fast food and his new book Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All American Meal.
Schlosser choose to write about fast food because everyone eats it and he gave some specific statistics to back up his statement: "...At least one quarter of American adults eat fast food everyday and one out of every eight adults has worked in a fast food restraunt at some time during their lives."
When asked why he thinks fast food is so popular, Schlosser replied simply by saying that its easy, filling, conveinient, and inexpensive. For the most part anyway. Another reason why fast food is popular is becuse it's something that people enjoy eating. Out of all fast food restraunts, McDonalds is always referred to as the best and most popular.
McDonals, being one of the very first fast food restraunts introduced a way to eat food without the usual utensils and, thanks to the drive through, can be eaten while driving (although multitasking while driving is prohibited in most states).
"The design of a fast food restaurant is very well thought out," Schlosser says, "The seats are comfortable, but not to comfortable and the colors are bright and primary which are designed to make you sit buy eventually leave."
Schlosser goes into detail about the way that chicken nuggets changed the way that Americans eat chicken. "The overwhelming majority of chicken sold is as chunks and processed meat as opposed to whole birds. In the fast food, chicke has twice as much fat as hamburgers because they are fried."
The majority of fast food, surprising, is fried. Fried foods taste good, but the people eating it don't seem to care about the fat aspect. "I don't think people's eating habits have become healthier. Right now, in the fast food industry the trend is to add bacon to their meals. Only Subway is working to promote a more healthy way of eating."

Inspiration

Brett Michaels has had diabetes since he was six years young. He has recently joined The American Diabetes Association and is working to raise awareness about the disease. I found this information from Google Alerts. I hadn't considered the fact that even celebrities might have diabetes. I looked up some other celebrities that have diabetes and I saw the names: Nick Jonas, Halle Berry, and Elvis Presley. Diabetes hasn't stoped these celebrities from becoming the people that they are or.. were. If I were a diabetic this fact would inspire me. I imagine that hearing the words "You are a diabetic." would feel like a punch in the gut. I would also feel anxious about what else lies ahead of my health life. I think that Brett Michaels joining The American Diabetes Association is great because he is supporting the many people who are just like him.

Grocery Chain Scams Shoppers

This week, I found this story to be a con about grocery chain stores. This story is about a chain of grocery stores that has the title, “Grocery Shoppers Scammed by Rogue Terminals”. The story is short and sweet but it explains how the Aldi Inc. has issued a statement that customers across eleven states may be victims of fraud and identity theft due to rogue point-of-sale credit card terminals planted by unknown thieves throughout Aldi stores. The company believes that the illegal card readers have been removed from stores. There are a couple of locations in Alabama but no fraud accusations have been reported. So, basically some person came in and put illegal credit card machines on the registers to steal people's identity. That's a big con of grocery chain stores. Are they busy to check the machines that come into their establishments? The next time you go into a grocery store, you might want to pay cash. The site to read the story is http://mocana.com/blog/2010/10/12/grocery-shoppers-scammed-by-rogue-card-terminals/.

Food For Your....sleepy

Did you know that wheat products makes you sleep? Yea, they do, and guess what: your lunch ladies constantly serve them to you. No wonder you're always sleepy after lunch! Wheat products release chemicals into your body that calm and relax you, therefore, making it easier to achieve a restful state. Cherries are another food that makes you tired and relaxed. If you eat a lot of cherries you will recieve the same effect as with the wheat products. Hmm, and processed food keeps you wide awake. Go figure, huh?

Wait.. I can Cook The Same Fast Food At Home?

Yup, that's right you can cook your favorite fast food items at home. The best part is you'll be cutting out some of the insane calories you'd be taking in if you bought it at the fast food restaurant.

Here's A recipe for Taco Bell Enchiritos:
1lb ground beef
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of chili powder
1/2 teaspoon dried onion flakes
1(30) ounce can re fried beans
1/4 diced onion
1(14 ounce) can enchilada sauce
2 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 (2 ounce) can of sliced black olives
10-12 tortillas

Of course in the big picture this is cheaper than buying Taco Bell for the whole family, so why not try it out? It may take a little longer than the time you'd have to stand in the foo line, but still you're cutting out some serious calories.

Headaches

Headache; I have one. Bad. Don't automatically assume I'm just going to use this as a crappy excuse to write a blog, it has a point. Apparently, eating healthier is supposed to reduce the number and severity of headaches. The article I got this from didn't give much detail as to why... But what it did say is this:
--eating healthier and a more variety of foods keeps your system in a healthy balance
--replacing a coke with a fruit juice reduces your sugar and caffeine intake, which also benefits your health balance
--a higher intake of fat and sodium leads to obesity, which puts stress on your body, especially joints

In short: eat your green veggies and you'll have fewer headaches!

Unless, you know, if a little five year old girl is trying to rip out your hair and use it to turn Barbie brunette instead of just BUYING a brunette Barbie...

Now I wish for you to refer to what I said before that previous sentence.

Who does not like chicken?

Who doesn’t like chicken? Chicken is my favourite. Anyway, Tyson Foods and Lift Up America donated 15 tons of frozen and uncooked chicken. Amazing… The date was Sep. 30 in Capital Area Food Bank of Texas. It served 25 million pounds of food. Capital Area Food Bank’s senior marketing director John Turner said, “It’s going to allow us to feed a whole lot of hungry people. We are shipping record amounts of food now.” …Fascinating.

Article: http://impactnews.com/leander-cedar-park/255-recent-news/10042-tyson-foods-donates-15-tons-of-chicken-to-area-food-bank

Deforestation or Diebetes?

And yet another family member has passed from that good ol' heart disease. His age wasn't a kind factor, but neither was his heart disease. I better arrange an interveiw fast before my family dies out like some strange breed of bird in the rain forest becasue of deforestation. Although this time it's a case of McDonald's.

What's the Point?

When I began this project, chosing a medium was simple enough, poetry being my strongest suit and therefore my automatic choice. But now I'm not so sure. Don't get me wrong, I have no intention of changing my medium. However, it is proving quite a challenge to fulfil this obligation to the best of my conscious ability. The main source of my frustration, I believe, is the idea that it is proving so difficult to portray the necessary images for a topic that appears so simple.
I think, though, that I'm beginning to discover the significance of the project's nature. My intentions change even now as I type this, because is that not the meaning behind its very name? The theme "Cast Your Bucket Down" is taking on a new meaning for me, possibly as it should have long before, so forgive my youthful ignorance, but I'm finally seeing the big picture. We are in search of a solution, and we have been relying on the mindless mechanisms of Google its facilities, numerous though they may be, to do the work for us. But what we, or I, rather, should be doing is searching within the confines of my own knowledge of this topic and uncovering the answer to porblem I so thoughtlessly chose to address. So I will write a poem. But it won't be about a problem. It will be about a solution.

What people remember...

One thing people seem to remember is food. Maybe not all food and not in all situations, but people remember food. More specifically, people remember good food, and the memory usually sticks with them for a long time.

My brother has been away for a while and the first thing he wanted when he got back was food.

Although he had food where he was, he missed my mother's cooking.

I know you're probably thinking, well duh. Everyone misses their mother's cooking. But him missing my mother's cooking wasn't the interesting part, him not having the taste for any of his old favorite restaurants was.

After about the first week, I expected him to want to go out to eat or something. He's been here for about a month, and hasn't mentioned eating out once. I can't even recall him eating fast food, even when other people were. He'd just fix him a sandwich or something.

I guess the root of the situation is that people take cooking and eating at home for granted. Whether people know it or not, it's an opportunity to create memories.

Canning

I am going to learn how to can over the Thanksgiving break. I won't really have any real free time until then.

Winter Vegetables

So far all I can think of to plant is cabbage, fava beans and collards. I am planting Sunday week to make sure it is not going to be too hot for the plants to survive.

Guns

My step dad got a new pellet gun for me to practice shooting with. I am going to practice on pesky squirrels. Yay! I am so excited! I cannot wait to go hunting!

Meet your Meat Video

I cried while watching this video (... and that usually never happens), the truth behind the meat industry is disturbing. Watch this.

Mom

My mom has recently been losing weight. Although she's been trying for some years now, she finally started working out regularly. But before then, she would count calories, but still wouldn't lose any weight! I wondered and wondered how keeping her amount of calories in check wasn't enough to help her shed a few pounds, but then I realized as long as she continues to eat in large portions and not work out, she was going to gain weight or at least keep the same weight.
So COUNTING CALORIES ALONE does not GUARANTEE weight loss. That, along with proper eating habits, and daily exercise will definitely lower the number on your scale...

An Article that Lead to a Question

Google Alerts sent me an article written by Jen Blackstock titled "Seven Habits of Highly Effective People With Diabetes."

In the article, Blakstock writes:

"What do you get when international best-selling author Dr. Steven Covey joins forces with Bayer Diabetes Care and the American Association of Diabetes Educators? You get an inspirational booklet that is a simple, practical resource guide to help people get started in managing their diabetes."

Blackstock also wrote:

"Dr. Covey was inspired to write the free booklet when his wife was diagnosed with diabetes. He says, "Life has a habit of throwing us curve balls. When my wife was diagnosed with diabetes, she knew she would have to change some of her behaviors if she hoped to stay healthy and "be there" for us. I became her partner and coach in this journey. Together, we turned the diabetes ‘curve ball' into an opportunity to learn, grow, and deepen our lives in many ways. As human beings, we have that ability - that choice." And so, he brought his famous 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, named "the #1 Most Influential Business Book of the Twentieth Century," to the battle against diabetes. And now he shares his wisdom."

The seven habits are:

•Habit 1: Be proactive (Choose your actions and take responsibility for them.)
•Habit 2: Begin with the end in mind (Create a vision for your life, based on what is most important to you -your deepest values.)
•Habit 3: Put first things first (Prioritize your tasks according to what is truly important.)
•Habit 4: Think Win-Win (Build strong relationships with others by helping them succeed, too.)
•Habit 5: Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood (Listen with your mind and your heart. Let the other person know you understand. Then make yourself understood.)
•Habit 6: Synergize (Synergy happens when two or more people work together to find a better solution than either could alone.)
•Habit 7: Sharpen the Saw (Sharpening the saw is about keeping all parts of yourself sharp: physical, mental, social, and spiritual.)

After reading this article and the seven steps, I got to thinking. What if questions ran through my head constantly. WHAT IF I had diabetes? WHAT IF I lived with someone who ha ddiabetes? WHAT IF I hadn't started blogging which forced me to become informed?

These are my questions. What are yours?

Economy, War, and Now...

It's not just young women (and some men) with eating disorders. There have been recent reports of girls as young as 9 being admitted into the hospital for them, as well as some elderly people (Some over 60)! Another sad report began with this: 4 in every 10 US women under 31 partake in self-injury while they are under the influence of an eating disorder. That's like, a test on top of mounds of homework for the onlookers, but for the participant, it's like therapy that doesn't cost a dime. But, here's some information to those restricting their calorie intake: That piece of chocolate birthday cake won't ruin your diet. Your body regulates itself, and studies show that you'll fix it later. So don't freak out about indulging your sweet tooth occasionally; not doing so could stress you (Like me, who loves chocolate. Making it "off-limits" would make me fat with stress!) into weight gain.

Not Much to It But We Gotta Do It!

Well, here it is: another blog telling you what you should already know by now. There's not much else I can tell you besides the things I've already said in my other blogs. The diseases aren't going away.

You already know that to prevent dietary problems you have to be healthy. So what more is there?

Well I'm going to (metaphorically) beat it into your head until you completely understand that health matters- at least I'm goin to try to. There are only so many ways to say, "eat your vegies and you'll be healthy!"

Just think about what you already know about having good health and good dietary choices. Pretty soon we'll all be experts. :)

The World of Food

There is literally nothing new in the world of food. All I can tell you is what has already been discovered years and years ago. New food is discovered every weeks. New plants, new animals, new poisons, new species, new everything. But what does this have to do with food? How does discovering a new animal deal with food ilnesses? It has ALOT to do with food illnesses. Scientists use all of their new discoveries to try and thwart food illnesses. Many people think that food illnesses are very rare and probably won't happen to them, but as my last post stated, everyone is infected by food. There are ways of preserving food as to keep germs off of them. There are certain harmless chemicals that are used to clean the food before it is distributed, but what has failed to be invented is a chemical that will permanently keep germs off of food.

The world could be up to 50% less sick if food didn't carry germs like it does. Scientists have been working for years trying to invent some type of germ pesticide that would keep germs completely off the food that was sprayed with it, but the pesticide also has to have no flavor and no effect on the people. Now that is hard. Scientist are still working on a pesticide to keep bugs off of plants without making the plant inedible. The right type of hand sanitizer still hasn't been invented to kill all germs and to create a germ shield to protect our hands from grabbing germs. Many think that it is impossible to find a remedy of that sort because germs are literally everywhere, but there are many who are still trying.

What the scientists are actually doing is taking mulitple pesticides and putting them together. They are taking pesticides that have either hurt and helped or didn't hurt and didn't help and they are mixing them together, hoping that somehow the hurt will vanish. Scientists you fluids from plants and the fluids of animal skin to try and help these remedies along. Every time a new plant, animal, or insect is discovered, the chances of practically riding the world completely of food illnesses increases.

If there were no food illnesses, the world's population of sick people would decrease 50 - 65%. There would be people who could go their whole lives without even getting the common cold once! The world could be practically disease free if food germs were eliminated.

Food: Delicious Eat or Dangerous Germ?

What have scientists been telling us for the past, oh, I don't know... 75 years? "Germs are spread by not keeping your hands clean! Germs are spread from touching infected objects!" What has you mom told you your whole life? "Keep your hands clean, honey, and you'll be healthy!" WRONG!! Yes, keeping hands clean helps, but hands are not actually the root of the problem. Our food is the root of the problem. If you touch something infected, do the germs soak into your skin and get into your blood stream? No. Do the germs crawl up your skin and into you mouth? No. Do germs bit your skin until they get flakes of themselves into you blood stream? No. Germs can't go anywhere or do anything when they are on your skin. Yes, you can get infected by touching your mouth when you your hand has germs. But I'm gonna tell you a little secret. Germs are ALWAYS on your hands. Liquid soap that advertises to kill "99.9% of germs!" is lying. Liquid soap only kills approximately 37.8% of germs. And guess what? That hand towel that you use to dry your hands, it has germs on it. That handle that you push down to have the paper towels come out has germs on it. You hands are infected again the second you touch something else. It is impossible to keep your hands clean forever. Even for a few seconds. It's your food that gives you the most health issues. If you catch strep throat, it is more likely that you caught it from an employee at the McDonalds that you ate at yesterday that was just getting over a case of strep throat, than it is that you caught it from a student sitting next to you in history class that just got over strep throat. Germs live on food much longer than on hands because food isn't touched as much. You are constantly rubbing, bumping, shaking, scrapping, holding, brushing, and doing a million other things with your hands that adds germs and takes away germs. But food, if touched by germs, is soft. The germs can seep, creep, thrive, multiply on food. The climates that food is kept in helps the germs multiply and move. The fact that the apple you ate after school sat in a Wal-Mart's food bin for about 3 weeks with little kids and adults picking it up and throwing it down and ect... means that that apple probably has more germs on it than your pillow or your hair. Food germs infect you more easily than air-borne or hand germs. Food is more lethal than anyone ever guesses. But the truth: Food = Dangerous. Your hands = not so much.

Fruit Salad! Yummy, Yummy?!

For the month of October, my church is fasting and that means that there are a lot of food items that my family and I are giving up. No meat, no cheese, no sweets, just to name a few. It seems rather hard, giving up the foods that your body is used to and loves for a whole month, but it is possible. The great thing about this is that it challenges my family to eat lighter, healthier, and be a little bit more creative with our cooking. Our first healthy meal consisted of nothing but fruit that was purchased at our local farmer's market. Watermelon, grapes, apples, bananas, and an ice cold glass of water was what our Sunday dinner plate consisted of. Who said eating healthy couldn't be colorful yet tasty?

Uh-Oh Spaghetti-O!

My mother decided to prepare a meal that would leave us all full and at the same time, give us something to eat the next day. So, she pulled out her big boling pot, filled it with water, turned on the eye, placed it on the eye and let the water boil. When the time was right, she grabbed a box of noodles from cabinet and let them soak in the water. Of course, sphaghetti is nothing without meat balls. My mom pulled out a pan, let it heat, poured a little oil on it and let it cook. After the meat was done, it was time to add the tomato paste and ketchup. The noodles were still in the pan when my mother decided it was time for the meat to be added. We mixed the meat and the sauce with the noodles, and that is how we enjoyed a Sunday's dinner. Let's not forget the garlic bread that was made with it in order to complete a perfect meal!

Traveling, yet another factor

This past weekend, I traveled to the roots of our democratic society -- Washington D.C. In D.C. I learned that traveling is a major factor in whether one chooses to eat in or out. For instance, some hotels that do not have mini (or bigger)  fridges make it almost impossible to eat inside, with healthy meals. My hotel was one of these hotels, and even for breakfast I had to head downstairs to the starbucks. For lunch and dinner, I also ate out. I admit that every meal was not very healthy, while i could've been at home with at least one healthy meal a day. Not in all cases, but in many whenever someone travels on vacation all dieting goes out the window. Everyone likes to take the stress off, and try new and sometimes unhealthy foods.
           Everyone should realize, and be even more cautious of their food choices when on vacation. Even when on vacation, people should be cautious of calories, and fat intake.Eating out makes it way too easy for one to eat in an unhealthy way on vacation. Too many people throw their diets away on vacations, so by realizing the facts and being aware that traveling is a factor of eating in or out can help one stay healthy.

Environment factor?

For your dietary habits, is your environment a factor, or is it not? Well, of course it is. Wherever you are depends on what you eat.  If you are at school, or even work you have the option to eat what is there (surrounding choices) or bring your own food. In today's society, bringing your own food is not common. It is very unlikely only, because the United States is a very high paced world. People think they do not have time to make a sandwich or something for the next day, which would be healthier; however, your environment (dining at home rather than eating out) is not really a factor. Everyone has a choice to eat inside and be unhealthy or eat out and be unhealthy, vice versa. One is not limited to what restaurant he or she eats at for dinner, because there are always salads on the menus at restaurants restaurants. Also, when eating at home, the choices are only limited to what is in the refridgerator. So, yes ( in my opinion) your environment is a factor, but not when it comes to eating at home, rather than going out to eat.

Birthday Food

Tuesday on Oct. 5 was my birthday. Usually well sometimes people love going out to eat but on my birthday i wanted my favorite meal cooked at home how i like it. I had a nice plate of boiled potatoes not mashed, some steam string beans and some tasty salmon. I was so happy to be eating it and to me no fast food place, or restaurant could beat it. I felt so healthy with my choice to eat at home and with my meal i had a side of room-temperature water (YUMMY!!). So to sum this up, when it comes to birthdays, some people think that they should go out and celebrate but i chosed to stay at home and have my mother cook my Delicious meal and i still celebrated. When it comes to who wins this round in eating at home vs. eating out i would have to say that it is a tie because nothing is like a good home cooked meal around your family but nothing is like a tasty meal at a restaurant with your family plus that free desert with the waiters singing their signature birthday song to ya!!!

Mayo Clinic

According to the Mayo Clinic, which is a hospital type thing, says basically that organic food is just a lable. The lable of being "Organically Grown" means nothing more than the fact that less pesticides were used, and things of that nature. That's quite a defferent opinion from my last blog, which said that organic foods are far better for your health and your energy. I'm starting to see that there are a lot of different angles on this subject, but I have to agree with the fact that it is just a lable. In the words of Baby Mama, "That crap is for rich people who hate themselves." The score is Lable: 2 Actually healthier: 1

Hannah Montana Was Right!

There are so many dietary diseases and so many ways to get them. I could list them all but i'm not. I mean that's not interesting! But you can check out the list yourself; just click here.

Now I know that you know that I know we all love to eat, and I also know that some people don't like to eat cause they worry about their weight. Well we all need to do ourselves a favor and eat healthy. This solution helps both problems. For those who like to eat, you can continue to eat but eat healthy, and for those who don't like to eat, you can eat and not worry about gaining weight. Like Hannah Montanna said, "You get the best of both worlds!"

Eat your vegie-tables and your wheaties so you don't have to worry about health problems.

Sleep is apparently important.

I briefly looked through Google Alerts and I found this newspaper article that said that diabetes might be caused by lack of sleep. When I first saw it, I thought it would just be one of those useless works that make parents believe that forcing their children to go to bed early is actually healthy so it gives them the excuse to say. “You’ll thank me one day,” but when I actually read it, the main point actually made sense. Basically it said that when you sleep for a healthy amount of time you develop increasing fasting glucose. It also said something about people who sleep less crave more caffeine or sugary foods and drinks which is of course bad for diabetics. It seems to me that diabetics have to always be on this strict diet. I wonder what they do to help prevent themselves from getting sick on days like their birthday when they know that sugary food will be given to them…

You're A Diabetic And You do What?

Well as most know, diabetics can not eat certain things and most of the time they have to monitor their salt and sugar intake. But my dad really does not do so.He's a very hard headed diabetic.

Have you ever met someone who puts salt on things like watermelon and other fruits? Well my dad loves to do it, he puts ridiculously huge amounts of salt on his fruit. My mom has warned him but he just won't listen.

My parents go to Golden Corral every Thursday( still gathering info on that) and my dad almost always has something like watermelon or cantaloupe as his dessert, that's totally fine, but he dumps salt on them. For a diabetic, or anyone rather that's really unhealthy.

My dad has never been a big hamburger, fries, really salty foods like that which is a good thing, but instead he loves fried veggies like plantains and okra. He eats that kinda stuff almost everyday. It's like it hasn't clicked yet that you're a diabetic and can't be eating this stuff regularly. I know he's not the only one out there,but that kinda stuff is plan unhealthy. Hopefully over the next few weeks i can try something to kinda help him with his salt and fried foods addiction.

So Sad

Most people think of eating disorders as arising in teens and adults, but now news is surfacing that it can start in kids younger than age ten. Most anorexia sufferers have developed the disease by that age, which is a very scary thought. With the 53% that say the former, 29% say that their food problems started at age 11-15. They say that the problems rose when they experienced traumatic family events, like divorce and death. The age of sufferers is continually getting younger, and it's scary. Where most blamed the illness on traumatic events, a few even replied that they were influenced by size 0 pop stars and super models. It makes me wonder sometimes why the famous people we look at day after day display such unrealistic sizes. We're supposed to look up to them, but instead, they are teaching young ones to think that anything less than a size 0 waistline is unhealthy and fat, when truly, the size 0 waistline is (normally) not a good sign. Wouldn't it be easier to display health and be 'real' than give the press a hundred things with which to tear you down with?

And how does food make you feel?

Like I've said before, my family eats dinner at home more often than not. In the past few weeks, our oven has been broken. If you didn't know, which you probably didn't, most of our meals depend on our oven. We rarely fry things because most of the people in the house aren't crazy about fried foods. My mom and I don't like to stand over the hot grease either. Anyway, for dinner, we resulted to fried food and fast food. The air conditioner in the kitchen/den was broken and the temperature was pretty high, which added to the heat that would be created by frying food. We ended up eating more fast food in a three week period than ever before.

I noticed that I was very tired and lazy in the past three weeks than before. The only thing that had really changed was my dinner. Eating out all that time really put a strain on us too because that was money that could have been going other places. We got our oven fixed sometime last week, and we've already been doing better. I've been cleaning a lot more often, mainly because I had more energy. I know that the food is related to how I feel because today, after our field trip, we went to the mail to eat where I had Chinese food. I am completely exhausted. It makes me not want to eat out again for a while.

"McNasty"

This, my friends, is not ice cream, but is instead what lies beneath the golden, crispy, confides of your McDonald's Chicken McNugget.

...Oh yes, this image surfaced earlier this week. It is what we call "mechanically separtated chicken meat", and McDonald's loves this stuff. If you watch the movie "Supersize Me", the creator goes into a segment on exactly how a chicken nugget is made and what goes inside of it. It's not pretty. In fact, the question should be what DOESN'T go into the McNugget. And so, I leave you with one question, "Who's ready to go to McDonalds?!?!"

Shocked!!

I was looking through my Google Alerts, and I came across something that shocked me. The first thing I wanted to do was call everyone in my life who has diabetes and tell them what I had learned.

What I learned is that research out the of Children's Hospital of Boston shows people living in areas where air quality levels were near, but still below the acceptable EPA safety limits had more than 20 percent higher diabetes prevalence than those exposed to fewer air pollutants.That includes exposure to car exhaust, industrial smoke and other types of fine particulate air pollution.

"There were some theories that breathing high level of particulates in the air creates an inflammatory response and that that in fact can affect your insulin levels and blood levels." says Wayne Tormala with the Arizona Department of Health.

Tormala also said, "Certainly if you live in a highly urbanized area or where there are a lot of particulates in the air, then that should be a reminder to you that you really need to get those annual screenings, get your blood tested, you know - catch things early."

Researchers say the study doesn't prove one causes the other, but it is the first large scale national study to explore a possible link.

testing

While the seafood industry had taken a downfall after the oil spill, there is still fish to be consumed. Alabama can now say that they are one of the states that has the most tested seafood and is completely safe to eat. While most of the google alerts have been pretty repetitive about how yes, there has been less seafood to be taken from the gulf coast, but yes, all the seafood that are in the restaurants in the South are safe to eat. Prices have risen not only from the lack of all the seafood but also from the extra testing. While this is repetitive news, I hope soon that it will get better since all the news is pretty bad and continuing to frown on the oil spill (not that anyone could be happy about it) and the issues with seafood seem not to be improving much.

That Hit the Spot!

Today well this evening, my family and I decided to try a new fast food resturannt instead of our same one. Today, we went to Ci Ci's pizza. The pizza was satisfying to the "T". Since you can eat all you want at a buffet, my family and I really did eat all we can eat. We started off with a toss salad. Each one of us had two small bowls of salad, then we went for the big meal, the pizza. I think I took down about five pieces of pizza and a cinnoman roll. It was very good. My dad had several pieces of pizza. It was so many unitl I couldn't keep up . My momma and sister had about seven pieces each. So as you can see we really can put down on some food. After we left, my dad who ate the most amount of pizza, was the first one to go to sleep when we got home. Thats the effect that eating out have on you. It makes you lazy and tired. I would take a picture of him sleep, but he would kil me !:)

It's All About Color!

So not much new this week... not much variety. Oh speaking of variety, apparently there is a LOT of variety in fruits and veggies compared to the organic stuff you get in chain supermarkets. Everyone can buy yellow sweetcorn ears, but how often do you see blue corn? Cherry tomatoes are common, but what about heirloom tomatoes? These differences in produce offer a more colorful dinner plate and a more natural existence; These foods only grow in a certain season, and buying them only a certain time each year keeps you in sync with the flow of seasons. The local varieties are also supposed to be healthier or more beneficial in vitamins and minerals, but I can't find any solid statistics, just a lot of people saying, "Local food tastes better!" So there is pretty much a chance for a new experience and a more colorful meal, but that's all I can find on it... And if you're reading this Mr. Dickson, Google Alerts suck mud.

Continuing

As a result of the oil spill Alabama lawyers have been haired to support the restaurants of Alabama as they have been losing money due to this incident. The Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, and Portis & Miles, P.C. is working to help local restaurants with their revenue lost as the availability of fish has decreased. This is to help the businesses that depend on fish as there main meal and service to the public. Especially down at the beach there is the tourist season during the summer months in which local seafood restaurants depend on for their money. This year though, they missed out as the seafood was not here for customers, therefore these people are working to help out these restaurants to stay open so in there future they can continue to provide seafood service to Alabamians.