Tag: Health

Moving in the Future by Thinking in the Past

Image result for dirty feet

I don’t wear shoes.  Yeah… you read that right. I walk around outside barefoot.  For the last couple of months, I have not worn shoes whenever possible.  Whether it be walking to class, going on a run, or hanging out in the local nature preserve, I have found any excuse I can to walk barefoot.  And let me tell you, it has felt amazing.  

Now I know what your thinking, “what a hippy.”  “Is he always this desperate for attention?” “That’s disgusting!”  Honestly, I can’t say you’re totally wrong. Yeah I am a bit of a hippy and I’ll admit, it is a little gross at times.  And sure, deep down I love it every time someone gives me a disgusted look, but I would also say you don’t know the whole story.  Would you have guessed that walking barefoot can improve your balance and body awareness? Or considered the improved hips, knees and core mechanics?  How about considering the fact that walking barefoot can help with pain relief? These are all physical benefits that I have started to feel since my revolt on shoes. 

I wondered why this seemingly outrageous action had such positive effects on my body.  If this action really did improve my health, then why doesn’t anyone ever do it? And why are the few who have decided to venture outside the norm looked at as freaks?  

To begin to answer this question the obvious should be stated, shoes were made for a reason.  Shoes are a simple, yet incredible invention that has allowed human feet to step pretty much anywhere they choose for thousands of years.  So, don’t get me wrong, shoes are great, but so are many other innovations. For example, antibiotics have been keeping people healthy since 1928.  Yet within the century we are already seeing this great invention begin to backfire. The bacteria this medicine once killed so well has begun to mutate and evolve to a new breed that can withstand its powerful effects.  To top it off, humans are becoming dependent on this medicine and our immune systems are beginning to weaken. Our once savior to physical illness is now weakening our bodies and preparing us for an epidemic.

My question to you is, what is so different about these two inventions?  Both were invented to protect parts of our body, and both have weakened those same parts.  They have weakened because of our body’s tendency to adjust according to what it is taking in.  We also see this trend in medications like antidepressants. Antidepressants work until your body realizes the amount of dopamine it is receiving and begins to close the receptors so that it finds equilibrium once again.  All these technologies are great until our bodies adjust and counteract their effects.  

This is why we need to change how we view these new and old technologies.  Rather than using them without limit until our bodies demand more, we need to use these technologies in moderation.  Of course we should wear shoes when out in the snow, but the occasional barefoot jog might not be the worst thing to do on a summer day.  

The same goes for antibiotics and antidepressants. These drugs should be used when our lives depend on it, but at the same time, our bodies should be given a fighting chance before the drugs fight for us.  Creating and refining the newest innovations for our wellbeing should always be a priority, we just need to use these technologies so that they continually do what they are meant for. 

Feeling for Now, Thinking for Later

We live in a very high stakes world where wasting anything is rarely practical.  Capital, time, love, or anything else that we value requires us to plan ahead so that we can use it efficiently as our life unfolds.

Our current economy makes us work for and save our capital to survive.  And this currency pays for everything, so we treat it with care. So yeah, you might wanna go downtown and buy shots for the whole bar, but you typically don’t.  It’s not logical for your future happiness to spend like this because unless you are Bill Gates, you will not enjoy how your bank account looks the next day.

Other examples include time and love.  Same as capital, these are things we must value and treat with care as well.  In some cases, one can be in a great relationship with a significant other, yet have to end it.  It has to end because although it may be good at the moment, it won’t be in the future.  

Trying to benefit our future selves is simply something we must consider to live a long, happy life.  The problem is we do not live in the future, we live in the present. I don’t know about you, but the “now me” hardly even aligns with the future me.  Yes, I probably should not spend the rest of the night watching Netflix, but if the mood strikes, now me might do it anyways.

We are creatures of the moment.  In short, it is because for thousands of years, the present is really all that mattered.  It was not until recently that our biggest fears went from a bear eating us to not having an updated resume.  Being in the moment and feeling in the moment makes sense, but it can also make life incredibly difficult. It is a lot harder being a motivated blog writer when my stomach keeps reminding me that I haven’t eaten all day.

My confusion on this topic branches from the idea of where this “logical” side is even derived from.  I use quotes because if we do live in the moment, then why are our future actions the ones we care about?  And what is to say that these “logical” actions are even going to help our future selves?

I believe the answer is that life is a gamble.  We take actions for our future self because, theoretically, our impending self will eventually become our present self.  We do not know for sure, but that is where the statistics and logic come in. I can die at any moment in my life, but statistically speaking it won’t.  So, if I won’t die soon, then I should probably plan for my future self. The best way to do so is by evaluating the important parts of my life now and taking the necessary steps to increase my chances of achieving them in the future.  

There is no guarantee any of these plans will work, but what is guaranteed in life?  This lack of guarantee is why I believe both our present self and future self matter.  A balance, in my opinion, will ensure the happiest, most fulfilling life.

I encourage you to balance your life.  You should strive to make your present self happy, but also understand that sometimes your present self needs to suck it up so that your future self can hopefully be happy as well.  You probably shouldn’t shop online until your credit card breaks, but maybe if that is really what you want to do then put a limit on your card, and find the best bang for your buck after a long day of work.  

I believe we should shoot to optimize how happy we are.  Sometimes that may involve going out with friends or it may involve working a late-night shift.  We live in the present, and I’m okay with that. We need to learn how to balance our now selves so that our future selves will be happy as well.

Food For Thought

Six months ago I decided to become a vegetarian. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that I would be doing this, yet here I am, loving it the whole way through. As an ex meat lover, I would like to say that this is definitely not for everyone, especially people who enjoy lots of variation and options in their diets.

Typically, people’s first reactions when I tell them that I have become vegetarian is, “Are you okay?”, “What do you eat?” or “You look too skinny”. Yes, I am okay, I actually eat a lot and I am at a healthy weight. I have gotten a couple “good for you” responses but that is only after I explain exactly why I made this huge choice in my life.

Last August, when I first started college, one of my friends told me that she was vegetarian and of course my first reaction was “What do you even eat?”. As a meat eater I was so confused on how anyone could ever go on without eating animals. I had watched a lot of those really sad Netflix documentaries where they show the ins and outs of the food industry, very graphic videos of animals being slaughtered or chickens having breasts so big that they could not even move and even if they wanted to they could not because there were thousands of other chickens stuffed into a room. Even those videos did nothing for me, I even recall telling my boyfriend while watching it that I could still eat meat and that I wanted chicken nuggets. So now you might be asking, so what made me a vegetarian?

College food definitely played a roll in my choice due to the awful grey meat that they serve, yuck. This all happened quite gradually actually, It started off with not adding the grey chicken to my stir fry during lunch time. I then soon realized that I really did not need to eat meat with my meals, I was just conditioned to think that it was a necessity. After a couple of weeks, I had noticed that I would go a couple of days without eating any meat and not even realize it. I still continued to eat grilled chicken after a workout just to get in the necessary protein for the day. One night after the gym I made myself a huge serving of chicken in which I proceeded to eat half of and then throw the rest away. In that split second of throwing that meat away, I had one of those “AHA” moments and I haven’t turned back since. I thought to myself “this chicken forcefully gave up its whole life on this amazing planet just so I could throw it in the trash”. To this day it makes me sick just thinking about how terrible humans are to other living, breathing, creatures.

I have had a lot of people ask me how I get my proper protein and vitamins, and quite honestly I hate this question. Yes, meat has a ton of protein in it. You might be shocked to find that there is a lot of protein found in a wide variety of foods, for example, broccoli has more protein per calorie than beef. Nuts, beans, rice, fruits, and almost all vegetables are loaded with protein, but unfortunately, we are not properly taught nutrition and can become ignorant as a result. The food industry is tremendous, so tremendous in fact that they will use their money and lobbying power to brainwash the general public into thinking that the meat that we eat every day is necessary for survival and proper growth and it couldn’t be further from the truth. Just like the pharmaceutical and oil industries, the meat industry pays for us to believe that we need something that we really do not and in turn breeds innocent animals just so they can be killed and consumed. What a lovely life these animals must live on planet Earth, harmed, controlled and pumped with hormones just to be killed by humans whose gluttony blinds them from morality and whose greed blinds them from truth.

Life without meat is not unfortunate, I feel a great amount of pride with my decision to become vegetarian, even if going out to eat or dinner at a friend’s house is much more complex now. If you are on the fence with cutting out meat I ask that you try it for just a day and see how you feel. After all, it is just getting rid of one little bit of your meals, it’s really not that crazy, stock up on your veggies or have an extra serving of rice I promise you won’t regret it.