Twilight

Yes, I have joined the rest of my younth and began the infamous novel Twilight. But who wants to read another blog about such a story? There must be thousands of blogs about the books alone. Now I'm not saying I don't enjoy reading of the forbidden romance between Edward and Bella, because I truely do. However, I am not obsessed. I can just simply relate to what is loved so much about these stories.

They do seem to attract the femenin audience more so then the male, but it's not strictly a one gender book. Yet I don't really know what exactly would intrest boys so much in a romance story. Maybe its the action scenes or something. I don't know. But I do know why women find them so compelling. Its a chick flick in literature form. Yeah, thats basically the easiest way to put it. All chick flicks have one thing in common- a stud. Yes, the woman's fantasy of the ideal male. Sweet, charming, attractive- all things that women seem to be drawn to. Those are the traits of Edward. Of course, we don't know for sure what he looks like, but we know hoe Bella feels about his looks, which only leaves room for imagination. Perhaps thats what makes him that much better. The reader gets to visualize how he looks, making him consist of that which pleases them. Of course he's going to be gorgeous!

Despite the fact of how Edward looks though, it's his personality that truely lures girls into reading further. He is utterly and irresistably obsessed with Bella, and that is what every girl wants. Someone to be as in love with them as Edward is with Bella. Reading such a book allows them to live their fantasies. While getting wrapped up in the sweet scence between the two lovers, the readers can do the same just as easily. And it seems like reality too. Because it is, the reader is really reading the story. They know Bella's thoughts, they can easily picture themselves being Bella.

However there are a lot of romances out there, so why is everyone so obsessive over this one? That I don't know. I don't regularly read a lot of fantasy romance novels, so I don't have anything to compare it to. But we do live in a obsessive society, and this is just another thing that can be easily obsessed upon. Like the jewelry, and the shirts, and the web sites, and the team Jacob/ team Edward deal, and now the movies. It's just fun for people.

I myself am a little excited about the movies. I mean why not? EVERYONE ELSE IS DOING IT!

The Vegetable Group

Every typical family goes through the scenario of the kids not wanting to eat their vegetables. Why is that? is it just because they look funny? I mean who wants to eat something that grows out of the ground and is green anyway? Greens taste healthy. Not likes fruits, who just have natural sugars. No, vegetables benefit the body on a much larger scale.

First off they are packed with anti-oxidants. What are anti-oxidants? Well, not many average people really know, they just hear how good they are for you. Anti-oxidants basically help defend your immune system people. They do just about everything good for your body. From reducing signs of aging to preventing disease. Any way steering back to topic vegetable.

We all know they're good for you, it's just something our moms would tell us at the dinner table and we really wouldn't question it. The trick is to eat the darker vegetables, they're the ones that have the most nutrients in them. Take lettuce for example. There's the really light stuff and the really dark stuff, and the colored stuff in between, but that's besides the point. Many already notice that the dark and light lettuce taste differently. This is because the water content of the light stuff is over 90%, which makes it taste like almost nothing. The dark stuff is about 60%, which is still a lot, but its more minerals and less water.

So, this is my conclusion. The darker vegetables are healthier for you because they benefit your body greater because they have more nutrients because they have less water content which leads to the fact that they taste different which is why kids don't like them. Duh. The lighter vegetables are more water content, which makes them taste like nothing which makes it easier for kids to consume them. Like cauliflower.

My tip to you. Give your kids lighter vegetables. They aren't as beneficial, true. But they might eat more of them. If you give them the straight dark stuff they may not eat any of it. A little is better then none at all, don't you think?

Obeseity

A topic that just about everyone has heard something about. Obesity is probably one of the reasons that the food pyramid has been altered. Grains tend to have more calories then the other food groups (besides fats,) and the increase of calorie in take is one thing that leads to the added weight. That is if you increase your calorie in take without changing something else in your life style, such as exercising more. The body needs balance in order to be healthy. You modify one thing and chances are you probably have to modify something else. That doesn’t occur with only weight though. Even if it’s something that seems as harmless as drinking more water, you need to balance the body out some by having a little more sodium or potassium in your diet. That’s what’s so great about the food pyramid, is that is helps individuals realize how to balance their diet.

Continuing to go off the food pyramid…

• Today’s suggests dairy being the highest consumed. A higher intake of dairy products has also had led to studies of weight loss.
  
• Smaller proportions are also included in following the current food pyramid.
  
• Larger amounts of fruits and vegetables (low calorie foods) lead to people being full without the added calories. Lots of vitamins and minerals also help maintain the body’s natural balance.
  
  I think that if the food pyramid was better acknowledged in the population that maybe the figures of obesity would become smaller. The serving sizes are a little smaller too, which I think makes sense just because of how much daily lifestyles have altered. Fast food proportions go up as the amount we should consume go down. Ironic isn’t it? The new food pyramid encourages people to eat more of low calorie foods and less of high calorie. I personally think we just need to minimize the production of “bad foods.” If there isn’t that stuff to eat then I think the obesity rate would go down.
  
  I do like hearing about how school are replacing junk food with healthier choices though. I know that my generation isn't so happy about it, but seriously, do we want to be known as the obese country? I think not. I was talking with the German exchange student one time and one of the first things she mentioned was how over weight everyone was. I didn't even think about that until she said something. Now I'm not judging anyone by any means. I know things happen. Like hectic lifestyles leads to fast food being the only option and eating through one's emotions.

Maybe that's another factor into our obesity rate. It seems like no one is happy these days. Pretty sure if you were to talk to a doctor and ask how many cases of depression they're curing or how many "happy pills" they prescribe I guarantee the number is higher then it was 5 years ago. Granite doctors are coming up with new medications all the time, but people are just coming up with new reasons to be depressed. I have to be harsh, but I think it's pathetic. I appreciate the fact that things like abuse and rape are being taken more seriously. But the wives of billionaires don't need to be over dosing on happy pills if you ask me.

Diets

Diets. They're everywhere. Each one has their own philosophy on what works. So how does one decide what REALLY works? I don't know exactly. See I think each body is different. Like I don't think there is some miracle pill or diet that just makes everyone shed pounds. I think it depends on the life style of the person, their metabolism rate, body type. Those things. There's no way that some one who is naturally petite and someone who naturally muscular will get the same results with the same diet. It’s all about finding out what works for you I think. I know there's even diets that specify to one's blood type. That could be a little extreme. But what do I know. I'm no major in how well the body processes and breaks down different foods. It seems like scientists are always trying to discover what the next easy way to lose weight is. Because for some reason we some up with the conclusion that losing weight is supposed to be easy. Obviously it’s a challenge because it’s forcing you to do something we haven’t been doing. Especially for those who are planning to lose a couple hundred pounds. However, I do believe it factors to the thought that nothing easy is worth having. Which does make it feel like more of an accomplishment. That in it’s self should be a motivator, not the fact that it’s considered “easy.”

I do remember that my mom was on a super strict diet once. It was when she was doing acupuncture regularly though. Her acupuncturist called it the "Candida Cleanse." That diet was extreme to the point that most of the things that she could eat she couldn't buy at a local grocery store. She shopped at a grocery store called Whole Foods which was right next to the acupuncture’s office. Now, she did have fantastic results with it, however it wasn't exactly practical for a working mom with three kids. And I'm pretty sure the prices for the "better" food was higher.

Isn't that ironic? What's supposed to better for us costs more. Maybe if there were more organic farms and things like that to make higher supplies of the food, everyone would be thinner and not have such high prices to pay. Let's do it America. Let's all eat healthier so that gross food will go out of business and our bodies will be happier. What could possibly go wrong?

The Food Pyramid

So I thought the basics of eating right would be a good start, and what’s more basic to nutrition then the classic food pyramid? I remember learning about the food pyramid in 7th grade during a home economics class, but never really thought about it. Who would? It’s just a picture that everyone gets to recognize, but never really consider it’s many uses. Some may not realize that the food pyramid has changed, as in the idea of how much we should consume of which food groups. Before the year 2005 the idea of how much you should consume (in order from most to least) went grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy and protein being the same, and then sweets. These days, the idea has changed. Now the order is dairy, vegetables, fruits, grains, protein and then sweets.

When you look at a food pyramid, you first notice the different sized sections and the different colors that identify them. Some images of the food pyramid have pictures of acceptable foods for each group. That is if you’re looking at a food pyramid that’s in color. But even if it was in black and white each section would still be a different shade of grey. The size of the section on the pyramid reflects how much an individual should consume of that particular food group compared to the other known food groups. However, today’s food pyramid I believe is not drawn to consumer scale. Just about each section looks the same size which, in when it come to consuming them, is not the case. The 6 main food groups are grains, fruits, vegetables, dairy, protein, and sweets. The biggest section on the food pyramid is the section recommended to eat the most of. The old food pyramid suggested eating grains and breads the most. Today, the new pyramid’s largest section is dairy. The old food pyramid and today’s food pyramid both optioned having vegetables and fruits as the second most in your diet. Dairy and grains flip flopped between the old and the new food pyramids and protein also, remained the same between the two. Along with sweets being dead last. A little sliver on the food pyramid at the tippy top.

I think we need to realize the food pyramid is not just a well known image. It actually have a method and scientific facts backing it up. Nutritionists went through the trouble of coming up with the wonderfully simple idea, but never really get any credit for the work they’ve put into it. They don’t get to see any results from the people following their well researched process.

square one

Being an athlete, I care about my body. Playing volleyball six days a week is my life, and I want to perform at my highest all the time. Well having to juggle school and home with my busy volleyball schedule, sometimes I don’t take care of myself like I know I need to. I don’t always get enough sleep at night and since fast food is the least time consuming, it works its way into my life. Realizing this isn’t how I should be treating myself, and wanting to do something about it, I started doing a little research in health and nutrition. The more I learn about it, the more I become interested in it, so much that I think that it’s a possible choice for me to study in college.

In some of the things I’ve read about health and nutrition, I learned that what you put in your cupboards is what you’re going to eat. Which seems blatantly obvious, but it occurred to me that if you buy healthy foods, you’ll eat healthy. It’s as simple as that. True there are the fast food and gas station runs, but there are even healthier choices you can make in a “bad” food environment. Like at a fast food place, choosing grilled chicken over a bacon cheeseburger, or at the gas station getting a water and pack of peanuts over pop and a candy bar.

Of course exercise is always contributes to keeping your body healthy, but I think it starts with making some alterations to your diet. This blog is my start to discovering the different ways to a healthier lifestyle.