keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. keep your words positive because your words become your behaviors. keep your behaviors positive because your behaviors become your habits. keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. keep your values positive because your values become your destiny.
With Valentine's Day tomorrow, I'm sure flowers, teddy bears, and chocolate heart boxes are flying off the shelves. With that in mind, I have a suggestion to guide your purchases: choose dark chocolate!! Many people see chocolate as a treat/indulgence...and it is...but, you may be surprised to learn that dark chocolate can actually begood for you! I personally LOVE dark chocolate. I have a small piece most days after lunch.
Dark chocolate is less processed and has less sugar than other types of chocolate. Experts suggest that adding small amounts (a one ounce piece a few times a week) of dark chocolate to a healthy diet that includes antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables will give you a variety of phytochemicals (beneficial elements of plants) that have proven health benefits. Dark chocolate contains a high concentration of stearic acid (a saturated fatty acid with a neutral effect on cholesterol), essential minerals including magnesium, copper, potassium, manganese, and flavonoids.
Flavonoids are phytochemical plant pigments that act as natural antioxidants, neutralizing free radicals that can damage body tissue and cells. Antioxidants have also been linked to prevention of cancer and other degenerative diseases. (Since dairy can interfere with the absorption of these antioxidants, only dark chocolate -- not milk -- offers benefits.) Flavonoids also hinder platelet aggregation and improve blood-vessel flexibility, helping to prevent hardening of the arteries. Traditionally-made (meaning minimally processed) dark chocolate actually contains more flavonoids per gram than any other food tested so far, including green tea, red wine, and blueberries.
The high percentage of cocoa in dark chocolate also gives it a low glycemic index, a ranking of carbohydrates according to their effect on our blood glucose levels. This means it produces only small fluctuations in blood glucose and insulin levels (diabetics, take note). Other research supporting the benefits of DC:
Last year, an Italian survey conducted by the Catholic University in Campobasso found that 6.7 grams of dark chocolate per day (about half a bar per week) was the ideal amount for a protective effect against inflammation and subsequent cardiovascular disease.
Scientists at Penn State found that dark chocolate and flavonoid-rich cocoa powder reduced LDL ("bad" cholesterol) oxidation.
An Italian study showed that when volunteers ingested small amounts of dark chocolate, their levels of C-reactive protein (an inflammatory marker) decreased.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed that dark chocolate had an effect on lowering blood pressure.
Finally, research also shows chocolate can increase dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with pleasure. Chocolate also contains phenylethylamine (PEA) known as the "love chemical."
Because chocolate is among the most heavily sprayed crops, try to go with organic. For the greatest health benefit, buy traditionally prepared or "artisan" chocolate (most likely to contain more flavonoids because it's made with reduced heat) with at least 70% cocoa to guarantee the lowest glycemic index (try TJ's or Whole Foods). My personal suggestion for those of you who are "new" to dark chocolate is to start with a low percentage and work your way up. The highest I've had so far 85% and I actually like it. Also, if you need to, start with a bar that has other stuff in it...maybe mint or nuts or something.
So, go ahead and buy your boo some chocolate...just make sure it's dark chocolate :-)
Today's *big chune* is even more random and out of left field than usual. It's the score from Schindler's List - one of the absolute saddest movies ever made. I watched this in a class in 8th grade and I'm pretty sure I was bawling my eyes out (side note, I cry pretty easily in movies...even some random movies - Titanic, Little Women, The Holiday). Anyway, this song is sooooo beautiful. Even if you don't like classical music, I think you can appreciate this.
Most of yall know by now that I have applied to graduate programs for Psychology and hope to eventually get my PhD. I'm in the midst of the hearing back/interview process now, so send good vibes my way ;-)
Even before these plans, though, I've always found Psychology research fascinating. It's a field that (IMO) is really interesting and applicable to the lay reader when information is presented in a user-friendly manner. The underlying studies tend to be pretty esoteric, but the findings and takeaways don't have to be. Case in point...My brother recently sent me this really interesting Psych article from The Atlantic: The Science of Success. At a very basic level, the article (and studies on which it is based) discusses some fascinating work looking at how different people struggle/fail or thrive depending on their environments. Bottom line: similar to tending flowers, some of us are like dandelions who can do pretty well in a wide range of circumstances. Others of us are like delicate orchids, who will struggle and wilt without proper care...or can flourish if given some good old TLC.
Here are more details for those of you interested...and if you think my summary is long, you probably shouldn't try to read the full article!
A research team has been testing a radical new hypothesis about how genes shape behavior. In particular, they were interested in a new interpretation of one of the most important and influential ideas in recent psychiatric and personality research: that certain variants of key behavioral genes make people more vulnerable to certain mood, psychiatric, or personality disorders. In other words, people may be genetically predisposed to certain conditions. This hypothesis, often called the “stress diathesis” or “genetic vulnerability” model, has come to saturate psychiatry and behavioral science. Researchers have identified a gene variants that can increase a person’s susceptibility to depression, anxiety, ADHD, heightened risk-taking, and antisocial, sociopathic, or violent behaviors, and other problems—if, and only if, the person carrying the variant suffers a traumatic or stressful childhood or faces particularly trying experiences later in life. Plain English: many psychic and behavioral problems are seen as products not of nature or nurture but of complex “gene-environment interactions.” As the article explains, "Your genes don’t doom you to these disorders. But if you have “bad” versions of certain genes and life treats you ill, you’re more prone to them."
Investigating this subject, the research team focused on the 25 percent (of a sample of 2,408 children) rated highest by their parents (and confirmed by observation) in externalizing behaviors (plain english: "acting out"). In an attempt to change the kids’ behavior, members of the research team visited each of 120 families six times over eight months; filmed the mother and child in everyday activities, including some requiring obedience or cooperation; and then edited the film into teachable moments to show to the mothers. A similar group of high-externalizing children received no intervention.
To the researchers’ delight, the intervention worked. The moms, watching the videos, learned to spot cues they’d missed before, or to respond differently to cues they’d seen but had reacted to poorly. The bad behaviors dropped. A year after the intervention ended, the toddlers who’d received it had reduced their externalizing scores by more than 16 percent, while a nonintervention control group improved only about 10 percent (as expected, due to modest gains in self-control with age).
Recently, an alternate hypothesis has emerged, suggesting that it’s a mistake to understand these “risk” genes only as liabilities. Basically, these bad genes can create dysfunction in unfavorable contexts, but they can also enhance function in favorable contexts. Thus, the genetic sensitivities to negative experience that the vulnerability hypothesis has identified, are just the downside of a bigger phenomenon: a heightened genetic sensitivity to all experience.
This hypothesis was conceptualized by another set of researchers in an article discussing “dandelion” and "orchid" children. Dandelion children—equivalent to our “normal” or “healthy” children, with “resilient” genes—do pretty well almost anywhere, whether raised in the equivalent of a sidewalk crack or a well-tended garden. In contrast, “orchid” children will wilt if ignored or maltreated but bloom spectacularly with greenhouse care.
What I found most interesting, is the application of this notion to family life. The research suggests that behavioral diversity - having both dandelion and orchid kids - greatly raises a family’s chance of succeeding, over time and in any given environment. (The article also discusses this with regard to the human population in a more general sense.The orchid hypothesis accepts that certain gene variants underlie some of humankind’s most grievous problems: despair, alienation, cruelties both petty and epic...But it adds that these same troublesome genes play a critical role in our species’ astounding success.) Dandelions in a provide an underlying stability. The less-numerous orchids, meanwhile, may falter in some environments but can excel in those that suit them. Together, the steady dandelions and the mercurial orchids offer an adaptive flexibility that neither can provide alone. Together, they open a path to otherwise unreachable individual and collective achievements. I'd like to think that this dynamic plays out (will play out) in my own family. In many ways I think my (5) siblings and I are still young enough that our lives are yet to be fully shaped, but based on our lives so far, I would agree that certain siblings' stability helps to support and even galvanize the others who may be - as I like to say - on different life plans.
With all this in mind, the researchers from the above study with children began to look at the genetic makeup of the children in their experiment. In particular, they wanted to see whether kids with a risk allele for ADHD and externalizing behaviors would respond as much to positive environments as to negative. Both the vulnerability hypothesis and the orchid hypothesis predict that in the control group the kids with a risk allele should do worse than those with a protective one. And they did—though only slightly. Over the course of 18 months, the genetically “protected” kids reduced their externalizing scores by 11 percent, while the “at-risk” kids cut theirs by 7 percent. Both gains were modest ones that the researchers expected would come with increasing age.
The real test, however, came in the group that received intervention. According to the vulnerability model, those who received intervention should improve less than their counterparts with the protective allele...based on this model, the modest upgrade that the intervention created in their environment wouldn’t offset their general vulnerability. BUT the toddlers with the risk allele saw drastic improvements - cutting their externalizing scores by almost 27 percent. Meanwhile, the protective-allele kids cut theirs by just 12 percent (improving only slightly on the 11 percent managed by the protective-allele population in the control group). The upside effect in the intervention group, in other words, was far larger than the downside effect in the control group. Plain English: Risk alleles really can create not just risk but possibility.
Soooo....for those of you that made it all the way to the end (lol), what do you think of this? Does this seem applicable to everyday life? Would you consider yourself to be a dandelion or an orchid? Can you spot these two types in the people around you? Does this change the way you think about them? If you're a dandelion, how can you be more supportive to the orchids in your life? If you're an orchid, what can you do to foster a "greenhouse-like" environment, versus being out with the weeds?
Btw, is it just me or is Google Buzz dangerous (in terms of productivity) during the workday...?
today's *big chune* is some salsaaaa to get your weekend started right. I actually hate Marc Anthony when he sings in english, but his salsa stuff in GOOOOOD! I am a BIG fan of latin music - especially salsa and bachata. I may not understand every single word they say, but I actually surprise myself with how much I am able to follow. This song is a duet with India - another of my favorite Salsa artists. I didn't realize how old this song is until I saw this video...i am MAD at marc anthony's hair...hottttt messssss. Oh well, still a big chune!!
i swear every time i hit "publish" i'm like dang i should have added this...or i find a typo...or i wish i had changed something. oh well. i'm new to this blogging thing. anywho, i wanted to follow-up on my last post, and the idea of my making my blog more public.
rather than it being about me censoring myself going forward, i see it as me being more comfortable and confident in who i am and what i'm writing. lately i've been focusing a lot on the "first commandment" of The Happiness Project...which is to BE ANNA. And by being Anna i have to accept and celebrate myself! i've kept my blog relatively private because i don't want people up in my business in some ways i'm nervous about what people will think of it. will people think it's weird that i'm so fascinated with happiness? that i love to read? that i'm a homebody? that i eat really healthy and love learning about food/health/nutrition? that i'm so passionate about mixed-ness? that i am a snob about dudes with poor grammar/spelling/diction? lol. basically, i've been nervous about really opening myself up for judgment - especially by people i may not be all that close to. The thing is that the more i really continue to figure out who i am (this is a life-long process, btw...subject of a blog to come), the more confident i feel about who i am...and the less i concern myself with what people may think of that :-) it's quite liberating actually.
ok that's it (for now) on that subject. it's about 2 and a half hours past my bed time :-P
Everyone on Gmail has by now discovered (or maybe chosen to ignore) Google's newest feature - Buzz. Buzz is basically a twitter/reader/gchat combo. Up until now I have shares my blog with only people I specifically chose. With Buzz, however, my blog posts are now public to whomever I follow/am follwed by on Buzz. I know that I can make my blog private and/or block specific people, but I've decided to do neither of those 2 things. Based on the way I see my blog developing, I don't plan for it to be so personal that I have to pick and chose who will read it. That's what one-on-one conversations are for. So, from here on out my blog is going ot be strictly things that I wouldn't be hesitant to talk to a stranger about. I think this will actually be good for me, because I tend to be a very reserved and private person. Now, I don't plan to go divulging my deepest thoughts and emotions, but I do plan on opening up more than some people have seen so far. The only thing that will be hard/annoying is that I may find myself censoring certain things that I actually do want to talk about...not necessarily because I am saying something bad about someone who may be reading, but simply because I am talking about them at all and that's just awkward lol...At the same time, I think some of the things I have to share (about websites, music, news, food, and general info) are things that are interetsing to a general audience, and I want to be able to share that. So, we shall see. This is all a work in progress and I try to figure out my blog's identity/purpose. Btw, for those people who are just seeing my blog because of Buzz, I definitely encourage you to start from my very first post and see what this is all about :-)
As far as today's post, I don't really feel like writing a whole lot lol. After 5 whole days off of work due to the DMV's crazy weather, I have a full day tomorrow. I barely even remember where I work lol. I spent most of today finishing a book in B&N so I didn't have to buy it lol. The book was actually pretty good, so I may end up buying it eventually...and I'm going to post sort of a review/reflection on it at some point soon...maybe tomorrow depending on how work is. I actually write better at work than I do when I'm home all day with nothing to do...something about the sense of urgency I suppose....and the fact that I like little distractions to brekaup my workday.
On another note, I feel so positive right now (surprise, surprise). I straight up love life! I don't expect things to be perfect all the time, but why not celebrate the times in your life when everything does seem to be going well? After all, being happy doesn't mean that everything is perfect....it means that you've decided to look past the imperfections...I wish I could say I made that up, but it's an anonymous quote. I had a great convo today with a student at one of the schools to which I'm applying. It got me super excited for my interview which is next month. Plus, I also had a great convo with someone who is in another Psych program (one to which I didn't apply)..more generally about the field, their experiences, etc. Actually, while we're on the subject of schools and my applications, I'm pretty sure I didn't get accepted to 2 of the 6 schools I applied to. I haven't gotten official rejection letters, but I haven't gotten notifications of acceptance/invitation to interview...and at this stage in the game I think I would have heard back if it were good news.
I'm surprisingly ok with this. I remember when I first applied to programs I told some people I didn't know what I would do if I didn't get in...I would be a wreck. Now, I've gotten to a point where I still feel good about my chance of getting in to at leats one program, but I know it's not the end of the world if I don't. I truly truly believe that everything happens for a reason, so all I can do is give it my all...which I think I have...and if things don't go how I expect them to go, it simply means that there is another game plan meant for me. Like I said, though, at this point I am still very hopefully that the game plan is acceptance to one of the PhD programs. I'll keep yall posted ;-)
Ok, that's it for now. Today's *big chune* is Rihanna's new single/video Rude Boy. I know I've already shared this in my Reader and on Buzz, but this song has been stuck in my head all day! It's catchy, the video cracks me up, and it remind me of home!! Big Chune!
As I wrote yesterday, I'm off from work today...I haven't actually been to work since last Thursday lol. Today is pretty blizaard-like, and we're expecting another 10 inches or so on top of the couple feet we got this past weekend. This ish is crazy! Needless to say my Caribbean backside is staying indoors :-) I wonder if tomorrow will my my 5th day off?
I talk about food in passing quite a bit on my blog, but today I'm going to take it a step further. Over the past year or so I've really gotten into health and wellness -- especially whole, healthy foods. Prior to that, I was all about low-fat, low-calorie and anything that would taste yummy and keep my Weight Watchers points at/below my daily limit LOL. I reached my WW goal so I'm no longer on that....which is a great thing, because I shudder to think about some of the fake crap I was putting in my body and some of the great foods I was avoiding. I'm going to start writing more about food and eating...starting with today's post - some general tips and advice (taken from various sources, as well as some of my own) for healthy eating! I'll be sharing a lot more of my own tips and suggestions, but this is a good start.
2. Drink more water!!! Sometimes when you think you're hungry, you may actually just be dehydrated!
3. Stick to the outer aisles of the store. This is where you'll find fresh produce, and more whole foods. The processed "stuff" is in the middle. If it's not real food, do not eat it!
4. Try the unwrapped diet. If food is in a box and you have to unwrap it, more than the packaging is added. Wrapping means processing, preservatives, and chemicals are packed into the food.
5. Read the labels. What is the first ingredient? Ingredients are listed in order of highest amount to lowest. So of sugar is the first ingredient on a label, you should probably pass. Are vitamins and minerals represented in high or low quantities? What about sugar or high-fructose corn syrup? Are there ingredients that you've never heard of or cannot pronounce? Also, the fewer ingredients the better. Another reason I like to read the labels is to see how something I want to eat is made so that I can make a healthier version of it myself.
6. Make healthy snack choices. I much prefer to spread out my calories throughout the day with well-balanced, evenly portioned healthy meals and snacks rather than three large meals a day. A benefit of this is that the body manages blood sugar levels better if a steady amount of food is consumed throughout the day. So, keep healthy snacks within reach to curb hunger and quell temptation. Some of my go-to snacks: fruit - especially apples! - rice cakes with spread avocado or almond butter, veggies with hummus, greek yogurt, and of course nuts. I admit i used to avoid nuts because of their high fat content, but nuts are nothing to avoid! They have the beneficial type of fat and the different types of nuts have their own benefits. I'll do a whole post on nuts as part of my "10 Things You Should Eat" post, but for now just trust me - you should be eating nuts!! Also...take a snack with you at all times. I generally take an apple and/or nuts with me everywhere I go - just in case. I'd rather have a healthy snack than be starving and have to buy something I wouldn't normally eat.
7. Eat breakfast! Eating a good breakfast helps to jump-start your metabolism and curb the urge to overeat during the day.My go-to breakfast is hot cereal (I LOVE steel cut oats - they are basically a few steps back from the rolled oats that most people are used to eating. Because they haven't gone through as much processing, they have more nutritional value). I like to mix in some almond butter, or crush up some other nuts. Berries and bananas are also good, but I've read that mixing fruit with other foods can cause gas for some people because fruit digests more quickly than most other foods. There seems to be a lack of consensus on this point, so just do whatever works for you.
8. Make your home your safe haven. You control what you bring into your home. Only buy real, good, healthy food so you're not tempted. When I'm having people over, I always warn them lol. And you can use it as an opportunity to share what you've learned with them.
9. Take your own lunch to work. This saves tons of money and puts you in full control of your meal. I take my lunch to work everyday.
10. Make food a priority! A lot of people have this aversion to buying healthy food because of cost. While I agree that beggies cost more than a bag of chips or something like that, good food should be seen as an investment in your health. Spend money on groceries now to avoid even bigger medical bills later in life. Plus, if you shop smart it's easier to shop healthy. Start by trying to find a Trader Joe's. This place makes it sooo easy to be healthy. I love shopping there because it's almost like a first threhold has to have been passed for the food to even be on their shelves. And, i find TJ's to be quite affordable. In fact, their prices are cheaper (on the things I buy) than Ginat/Safeway etc...because for some stupid reason all the "healthy" food at the other chain supermarkets are always more expensive. I also love Whole Foods, but I admit they are a bit on th epricey side for a student or recent grad or someone who has an aversion to spending money on food. But, WF is a necessary compliment to TJ's, which doesn't have anywhere near the specialty selection that WF does.
11. Make food fun! As I've been saying, I really never used to cook to much, but now I LOVE it. I enjoy finding and trying new recipes. You can follow recipes exactly, or get creative based on your own needs and preferences. On ofmy best purchases ever was a bamboo steamer, recommended to me by my brother after he returned from a trip to Asia. This is such an easy, healthy way to cook! I mostly use mine for veggies but you can do pretty much whatever in it. If you live alone and don't like the idea of true cooking, maybe you can start a cooking group with other friends. People can take turns trying out new recipes and having the others over. That way, you have inspiration to cook and people to eat. Then when you're a guest at someone else's night, you get a free(ish) meal with no work on your part. Plus, it would just be somehting fun to do! Or, you can either just cut the recipes down for 1 or two servings, or look for recipes specifically for fewer servings.
Sooooo. What do you guys think? Do you do any of this now? Any seem especially good or especially dumb/unrealistic to you? Do you have your own rules/tips/advice about better eating? Please share!
Today's *big chune* is "Yesterday" by Toni Braxton with Trey Songz. Toni's been gone for a while and this is a great comeback song...Toni looks amazing in this video! And let's face it - Trey Songz could get it lol.
So the other day I'm sitting in Cosi waiting to meet someone to go over some work we're collaborating on for a nonprofit. I've never met this person before so I'm doing that awkward thing where you give the room a once over and look toward the door every time it opens, hoping to find someone else doing the same thing...c'mon you know what I'm talking about!
Anywho, at a table nearby I see a guy doing the same thing...and he looked like he may have fit the name of the person I was meeting (lol). So we're both kinda looking at each each other, and I mouth "[insert name]?" And he can't really hear me, so he comes over to the table and he does that awkward (notice a trend here?) thing where you open your mouth as though you're going to say the persons name, even though you have no idea the person's name. And he's shaking my hand while asking "Do I know you." Anyway, I'm rambling, but long story short it wasn't the person I was there to meet...lol
BUT, it got me thinking...this could be a cool way to pick up guys/gals. Simply find a spot somewhere where you would like to meet someone (mine would be a grad school library LOL) and go about your business. When you spot a cutie, make the aforementioned exploratory eye contact. If they make it back, great! If not, it doesn't matter! Simply go over and be like "Hi, are you [make up any name!! (preferably not something too popular, because that may actually be their name haha!)] After they say no...you say "Oh sorry, I'm supposed to be meeting someone, but they haven't shown up yet." Then, if you're lucky, they may say something like "No problem...and if they don't show up, I'd be happy to fill in with them ;-)" Actually...hopefully they don't wink...winks are kinda hard to pull off outside of texts and emails...kinda creepy actually....or is it just me? Some people may be uncomfortable setting themselves up in a situation where they are basically getting stood up, but you either won't ever see this person again, or you can play it off like "yah they just called and said they're not gonna make it" and go about your business....especially if you say it's a work-related meeting or something. And like i said, if karma is in your favor that day, the person of interest should offer to make sure you didn't waste your time showing up :-)
Soooo what do you guys think? Is this is good idea? Would you try it? Better yet, have you tried it? If someone did it to you, would it work?
In other news, I have tomorrow off again! This is getting totally crazy LOL. Looks like another day of B&N in the morning, and who-knows-what in the afternoon. YEA BOIIIIIII...The only thing that stinks is that so many places are closed....so even though I'd like to take more advantage of the time off (ice skating, bowling, museums, etc.) I can't. Oh well. How did/do/would you guys spend a day off?
today's *big chune* is from a newish reggae artists, Taurus Riley. I really like this song! :-D
Had another awesome day off from work today. Didn't finish the book I was working because a book in B&N caught my eye, and I decided to just read it there rather than buy it teehee...and guess what...I JUST found out that the federal government operating status is CLOSED TOMORROW AGAIN...which means another free day! AND....DC is expecting another 10-20 inches of snow starting tomorrow afternoon sooooo who knows...maybe even Wednesday off this week???
You'd think I would have had lots of time today to do an intense post but..nope lol. Today's post is just something fun. Each year, a contest is held to decide the Name of the Year. There are some real doozies. (How do you spell that? lol)
2009 Juvyline Cubangbang (NOTY High Committee)
2009 Barkevious Mingo (The People)
2008 Destiny Frankenstein (NOTY High Committee)
2008 Spaceman Africa (The People)
2007 Vanilla Dong
2006 Princess Nocandy
2005 Tanqueray Beavers
2004 Jerome Fruithandler
2003 Jew Don Boney Jr.
2002 Miracle Wanzo
2001 Tokyo Sexwale
2000 Nimrod Weiselfish
1999 Licentious Beastie (INVALIDATED 2006; Runner-up: Dick Surprise)
1998 L.A. St. Louis
1997 Courage Shabalala
1996 Honka Monka
1995 Ballots missing
1994 Mummenschontz Bitterbeetle (INVALIDATED 2006; Runner-up: Scientific Mapp)
1993 Crescent Dragonwagon
1992 Excellent Raymond
1992 Assumption Bulltron (Name of the Decade)
1991 Doby Chrotchtangle
1990 Otis Overcash
1989 Magnus Pelkowski
1988 No vote held
1987 No vote held
1986 No vote held
1985 Godfrey Sithole
1984 No vote held
1983 Hector Camacho
WOW!!! I wonder how many of these people leglaly changed their names later in life. What are some of the craziest names you guys have come across? The one that I always remember is "Jah Bless I". LOL.
Today's *big chune* is from Anthony Hamilton...one of my FAV artists!
