The Three Pillars On How to Ruin Your Health

            At the start of the semester, I was actually intrigued by the idea of having to read Salt, Sugar, Fat by Michael Moss—a book about the trickery that the food industry has used to manipulate us into consuming their products. Not so much because of the fact of it being a book about this topic, but because hardly anyone has exposure to this kind of material and data. I, personally, found it difficult to maintain a steady pace to keep up on the reading of this book. However, this should not overshadow the fact that I was fascinated by the way Moss portrayed his research. And what did stand out to me the most from Moss’ findings was the idea of the bliss point and its role in the ways companies create and market their products to an audience that is fooled by them and their scientists.

            Moss provides a window into the world of sugar, salt, and fat and their role in the manufactured and processed foods that are fed to us every day. We are given the facts of what truly is in our foods and what drives companies to put these things in them. It caught my attention though that Moss found that companies not only strive to make their foods more likeable, but also a necessity in the lives of their consumers. As in the study conducted by Howard Moskowitz, Moss reveals that Moskowitz and Jacquelyn Beckley discovered that we are driven to eat something based on emotional needs and the taste, aroma, appearance, and texture. This study, and like many others in Salt, Sugar, Fats, almost serves as a warning sign, pointing us to the true nature of companies and their realization that we are easily played for their benefit in the competitions they have with each other in order to their boost sales at the cost of our health.

            More often than not, people would attempt to bring down the research that Moss provides in his eye-opening book; however, it should come as a surprise to many that his research is backed with extensive interviews and countless statistics on the marketing, production, and consumption of processed foods. If someone is looking for a way to learn about every aspect of what they are consuming, then Michael Moss’ book is a great read for them as he even attacks the things that we may not want to learn about what we as a society are accepting to put into our bodies. Although I am far from being an expert on how someone should provide healthful care for their body, I do feel as though I walked away from this book with a little more knowledge on the strategy and science that goes into food; however, being one has band most processed foods from his life, I don’t expect this reading to leave me wondering if I am killing my body with exaggerated amounts of sugar, salt, or fat. This well-written book is a great read though for interested and curious readers.Unfortunately though, unlike many books, Salt, Sugar, Fat educates you on the good, the bad, and the ugly side of your food.

Ten Things That Make Life A Little More Worth It.

These are only a few of the things that, in my opinion, make life a little better:

1) The emotions that we feel because it proves to that we are still living and not just breathing.

2) The crunch you get when step on dry leaves because it shows that even the little things do bring us joy.

3) Writing because it gives us a voice to communicate the wordless things that we have living inside of us.

4) Running because sometimes that's really the only thing we can do when there is no other way.

5) How the sun blankets us with warmth, especially on cold days.

6) The infinite amount of love that we can have for the understanding that science creates.

7) The kindness that us as humans can show and express to each other.

8) Those late nights when you’re talking to someone and you feel completely involved in life.

9) A friend that stands by you through anything and has the ability to teach you so much even when they don't realize it.

10) Apples—they are truly amazing.

I’m Not Okay, Don’t You Understand?

            When it comes to family, me, and many others close to me, know that I have never been the fondest of those in our tree. However, it is not so much so because of the other family members themselves, rather, it is because of the way they approach the topic of feelings and deep, emotional thoughts; consequently, due to the lack of communication they had with their parents when they were younger. I have not, in any memorable instance, heard my family talking with or about someone else and having had taken the person’s feelings into consideration; yet, the constant family gossiping could go on for ages once that specific person leaves the room. Even I, and like many others who are reading this blog, have dealt with other family members and the never-ending ramblings about how you seem to be feeling, or what was going through your mind when you did something out of the ordinary. In some instances, I can recall that my family would mock me for liking a girl or for having a girlfriend; however, they never bothered to actually TALK about the things that are being discussed or even ask actual questions with no judgment in their voices.

            Even more painful than having family members judge your personal life and emotions is when your own parents are the ones doing the hurting. Of course, some will say that you may not be expressing or communicating what you are trying to say in the most honest and direct manner. Unfortunately, this is not the case, though, in most instances (as far as I have seen). Most of the time, you’d be shooting blanks—aimlessly hoping that you and your parents will meet at the crossroads and come to some understanding of one another’s feelings. I have personally been unable to have any true breakthroughs or emotional connections with my parents. Even as a child, I was conditioned to either deal with what I was feeling myself or feel embarrassed of how I was feeling. Worst of all, I can recount, was a time during my high school years when I had spiraled down to one of the lowest points of my life and my parents only helped in intensifying the feelings that had already been pushed to beyond the breaking point. It only served as an example, though, of the lack of compassion or understanding that some parents can have towards their children.

            Of course, not all parents are as oblivious to the turmoil that their kids could be going through. I have known of friends who have had their parents go through mountains to give them the care that they so dearly needed to recover. But being as we live in a pessimistic society, those parents are often overshadowed by the ones that alienate sensitivity. If parents, and overall families, would take the time to educate themselves on how to handle emotional issues with their kids there could possibly be a surprising decrease in suicide rates and attempts. Although these types of things tend to be a pile-up of various factors, parents are usually the ones that could help the most—even saving lives—if they understand the true nature of what their kids could be feeling. In the meantime, all we can do is hope for there to one day be an uprising of compassion and understanding because even as the world continues to learn more about human behavior and what drives emotions, we seem to be losing the actual connection that we have with these fundamental human characteristics—with what makes us truly human.

"Ba Humbug!" said someone. "But I wanted something better..." said another.

            Ever since I was a young child, the holiday season, specifically Christmas, was never that grand of an event among my family and me. Of course, that doesn’t mean that we didn’t celebrate the season of gift-giving and gift-receiving; however, we, the younger members of the family, were never taught to expect a large amount of gifts. We made it a habit to enjoy the small number of gifts as they were more meaningful, and every other Christmas held a rather extravagant gift (e.g., some kind of electronic device). Sadly though, there were certain members of my family, such as my cousins, that always seemed to have high expectations on their mother when it came to Christmas. If anything, even something minuscule, came from personal experience, I could blame this first-hand exposure to the materialistic behaviors of my cousins for distorting my view upon the tradition of the holidays.

             Amel Saleh raises many points as to why Christmas might be too materialistic. With the ruining of almost any and all of the meaningful aspects of Christmas, the conditioning of our behaviors to expect any gifts at all could raise some issues with our younger generations that could lead to them maturing with materialism and greed deeply rooted in their minds ideology. Whether it is looking too far in between the lines or not, it can be quite probable, based on the statistics provided by Saleh, that younger generations could suffer from a legion of mental and personality disorders as a result of the greed and materialism that they are taught to embrace and hold on to as tradition.

             Lauren Smith states in her essay that success is measured by what material things we are capable of owning and giving to our families. The problem with this is that it strips away the true meaning of what it means to give and receive. Smith does continue to explain that it is these gifts that show that person that is receiving them that you have been thinking about them and that the giving of these materialistic gifts is done so with “love and selflessness.” If that is remotely true, it is still hard to look past the negative behaviors that many people have when it comes to giving and receiving gifts.

             My family now tends to still get together during Christmas in order to spend time with one another. This, however, has slowly been declining more and more every year, leaving myself and my direct family rather lonesome during the holidays. If anything, some of my other family members will try and find time during the following couple of days to drop off presents to anyone that was either not present or not visited during this “charitable” season. So whether it is truly love and selflessness that fuels the materialistic behaviors that spring up during the holiday months or the selfish expectation of receiving a gift, I tend to lean more towards the latter.

Stagnate State

            I always saw myself going to a grand university ever since my high school freshman year in 2009. I would often dream of attending UCLA or UCSB as a biology major, with the ultimate goal of becoming a doctor specializing in neurology or cancer research. Most of my family and even some of my teachers supported my hopes to one day reach these goals, mainly because I demonstrated an advanced proficiency for all science topics. These aspirations, however, drastically came apart once I entered my junior year of high school. Feeling extremely discouraged by the obvious separations in classes based on intelligence, I assumed that I was incapable of ever reaching my dreams of becoming a doctor. This discouragement continued on into my senior year of high school, causing me to lose all hope of attending any big university; however, I also lost any and all aspirations of attending college at all.

            Grad graduate in 2013, at all. y; however, I also lost any and all aspirations of attending college at all. uating from high school in 2013, I was left motionless in the new position I was forced into as a new participant of the outside world. I had come to the ultimate decision to skip the fall semester of college which soon led to completely skipping an entire year. I did, however, begin attending Oxnard College in the summer of 2014 as an attempt to slowly adjust into the life of a college student. Registering into a history class, I was surprised by the amount of essays we were being asked to write in a small time frame; in fact, I realized how much I had forgotten about essay writing and about school in general. I quickly overcame this little drawback and continued on into the current fall semester of 2014.

            This being my first semester as a full-time student, I have learned that college is not at all the way it is perceived to be by counselors at high schools. Although the stress of completing class work by their indicated deadlines does become overwhelming at times, it never reaches a point at which it is no longer doable. This is not taking into account, though, the chaos of having to juggle the scattered hours of class that I must attend. I was lucky enough to register into classes that only occupy my Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays; however, I am probably so used to the routine of a five-days-a-week high school schedule that I still feel an uneasiness of only being occupied on certain days of the week. Nevertheless, I still manage to maintain some sense of stability by reminding myself that the feelings of uneasiness and chaos are only temporary forks on the path to a better, more fulfilling future.

            The thought of continuing my education after high school as I was nearing the date of my graduation almost seemed alien to me. As with the rest of the members of my family that are somewhat in my age range, I had no aspirations to strive for a college education. However, as I sat back during my year off from school, I began to notice in my family what had always inspired me to make something of myself: my fear of a stagnate life. This, along with my need for a creative outlet, has inspired me to invest myself into my hopes for a career that I can love and not view as a “job.” 

Reality Shams

            Life tends to change as we grow from a child to a more adult version of that child we once were. With this growth come changes to our surroundings, our likes and dislikes, our friends, and our opinions that we develop over every little detail in the fabric of our daily lives. I am guilty of these changes as is just about everyone that is reading this blog. I used to want to be part of the “trend” or involved in what’s happening in the now when I was younger; however, if that “trend” or what’s-happening-now mentality means joining in on the perpetually growing reality TV show wagon, then I would rather stay in the solitary confinement that I call my bedroom and mind. That being said, I definitely do not like these television shows one bit. I can’t say that I've never watched or even enjoyed at least one episode of these brain cell killers; in fact, if I had to choose any, I would probably choose a select few of the reality shows on any of the science-based TV channels. My opinion could simply be biased due to my love for science, but I do believe that these science-related reality shows give at least some general idea of what life would be like in certain lifestyles or cultures. Nevertheless, I still commit myself to the idea of staying away from any and all reality TV shows as a way to preserve my own ability to form uncorrupted views of the outside world.

            Although I’m sure there are some perks (in some way, shape, or form) to watching reality shows, it is still unavoidable to realize how “fake” the situations they land themselves in seem. I have never been able to buy into the ability of the directors and camera crew to record the most organically perfect scene to entertain or inform the viewer. Along with their “perfect scenes,” I also find it hard to believe that the conversations that the cast has among themselves are somehow capable of being so relevant to the whole idea of the show or to what the viewer could or could not be thinking at that moment. Although these dislikes could be me reading too far in between the lines, there are also other little things like in any of the MTV reality shows that really digs under my skin. These can be things such as the voices of the cast, the constant partying, the tolerance for abusive drug use, and etc.

It’s not so much so the idea of reality TV Shows that disgust me; rather, it is the horrifying scripts and conjured up situations that they try to pass on as reality alongside the unjustifiable behavior. I can’t remember the last time I turned on a television without coming across a reality show on just about any channel. It is almost as if we have been brainwashed to believe that that is how life should truly be lived, the way the Jersey Shore cast and the Teen Mom cast portray their everyday lives to be. Of course, there is a stressfully long list of reality TV shows to choose from besides Jersey Shore and Teen Mom; however, just how many of those are actually good at giving a concrete understanding of what life truly is in certain situations and living conditions? Or even providing a good example for those of us that do watch these shows, especially the younger generations? We seem to blame just about anything else like video games or music preference for the behavior that our children are developing as they grow up instead of looking at what could possibly one of the main reasons for these behaviors. As stated in an article on www.dailymail.co.uk, “MTV reality shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant have come under fire for normalizing teenage parenthood,” it is more than obvious that the younger portion of our society has fallen victim to the entertainment business’ negligence, yet a good amount of parents do little to nothing to correct or help what could result in future problems. The entertainment business thrives on romanticizing the idea that fueling the ever-growing dumbing down of society is tolerable because young teenagers or just being young teenagers. But just how far are we willing to allow the “future leaders” of our country and world fall victim to such bad role models?

Reporter, Daily Mail. "'Teen Mom Epidemic': NINETY Teenage Girls Pregnant at One High School." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, 14 Jan. 2011. Web. 10 Oct. 2014.

A Change of Heart

                A change in opinion on a social standard or normality is never an easy state-of-mind for a number of people to stand by. With ridicule tending to come from every twist and turn in your life based on the opinions that you have built yourself on, it becomes increasingly difficult to stay true to the ideas that you have conjured for yourself. These changes in opinion may come gradually over time as you gather more evidence and support for your new outlook; conversely, for others, a change in opinion may come quickly or suddenly. In my case, my opinionative view on animals and environmental protection feels as though it has always been innate. It has been no secret to myself, my parents, and some of my friends that I had long been considering vegetarianism since my high school days a couple years ago; however, with my recent and sudden transition to veganism, the people closest to me have wondered and questioned my reasons for having had made such an overwhelming change.

                I never felt a sense of realization for my careful feelings towards animals, that realization, however, did come to my view as soon as I transitioned to veganism. At first, this transition stemmed from my growing knowledge over health and nutrition; in fact, for a while, I made myself believe that health was the only benefit from a vegan diet. With time, I began to learn that veganism is more than a diet, it is a lifestyle, and a big part of this lifestyle lies within the little forms of activism that are done by simply making the change to an animal product-free life. Gruesome images and videos of animal treatment in farms and slaughterhouses, however much I squirmed, provided visual evidence of the true acts against these living creatures; therefore, I felt as though this change was more than just about health, it was about having a place for these living creatures in your heart.

                As not everyone would be willing to make a change to veganism for just any reason, I was finding it very difficult to express my own reasons to those around me. I was finding this more difficult to explain to my own parents due them ridiculing and questioning the diet change; however, it could be expected that a parent would be concerned about any health risks that could arise from it. As for friends, they have been more understanding about this lifestyle change, even though they do tend to crack little jokes about it from time to time. Although I have had to deal with manageable situations such as those with close family and friends, I have not yet been faced with too many uncontrollable social situations in which my diet could conflict with others; in fact, I am beyond grateful that I have been able to avoid this situation since it could have many different results depending on those around me.