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Day 15: Play with Elliot
I know, the headline is a bit naughty, but I promise, I mean it in the most PG way! I have a tendency to only do what I want and watch what I want, without much imput from my better half. It’s a bit selfish, I know, but I have little patience for video games, blood, gore, nerdy things and aliens, which encompass all that entertains my hubby.
Well yesterday, on day 15, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw an uncanny resemblance to the spoiled brat from Willy Wonka. no, I don’t mean literally, but figuratively. So to shake the resemblance, I agreed to partake in a round of video game playing to show I’m not that stubborn, self-centered and narcissistic. We played Fat Princess, a silly game where little men steal the other teams princess and fatten her up so it is harder for the other team to steal her back. Sounds fun, right? Well, to be honest, it really was! We laughed, joked around and had more fun than we’ve had in a while (thanks to my temporary disability).
If you or someone you know has a Playstation 3, I highly recommend playing this game. It’s funny, entertaining and has the old school video game charm that reminds me of my childhood! [Back when games were cartoon animated and didn’t involve killing zombies or war scenes!)
Day 14: Donate to a cause
With the above earthquake in Haiti fresh in everyone’s minds, I think it’s important now more than never to take heed of how blessed we are and donate to those whose lives have been devestated by natural disaster or circumstance. Thousands are dead and thousands others have lost everything in the earthquake that happened Tuesday. Do your part here by donating to the relief fund and help to bring food, shelter, clothing and medicine to those in desperate need in Haiti. To give to the Haiti relief fund: Text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to American Red Cross relief for Haiti. http://newsroom.redcross.org/2010/01/12/disaster-alert-earthquake-in-haiti/
Other important causes I also often donate to are UNICEF (www.unicef.org) which helps children in need as well as The Hunger Site (http://www.thehungersite.com/clickToGive/home.faces?siteId=1) which helps feed the billion people worldwide facing world hunger. This site donates 1.1 cups of food with each click (and its free!)
Being in the health field and studying nutrition puts world hunger especially close to my heart. While at school, I wrote a column in my how to section about helping world hunger, which i have pasted below. For more of my articles and how tos visit www.gadaily.com and search for Claire Gallam.
How to help end World Hunger
“What exactly is hunger?” you might ask? According to the World Food Progamme, hunger is the body’s way of signaling that it is running short of food and needs to eat something. It is that innate force, that growling in our stomachs that tells you to fuel up. But what would you do if you had that hunger pain every hour of every day? What if you did not have the money to overcome the continuous growl? Then you would be included into 820 million people worldwide who are chronically hungry.
To put this more into perspective, there are some key words that are imperative to the understanding of the issues, many very fatal, which can result from excessive hunger. According to bread.org, a United States based hunger organization, hunger is just the beginning. Under nutrition leads tomalnutrition, and is a condition that results from an inadequate consumption of calories, proteins, and the other nutrients that need to be met for basic physical requirements. Malnutrition is a condition that results for continual hunger, results from a long period of under nutrition or inadequate consumption. Malnutrition can impair mental and physical health, and can cause infections disease.
According to Janna Pennington, who is the administration specialist in GSU’s office of Student Leadership and Civil Engagement, there are 1.4 billion people [of the 6.6 billion total population worldwide] who live in extreme poverty and face malnutrition. “Extreme poverty is defined as living on $1.25 a day, which equals to about $500 dollars a year,” Pennington said.
To put that in perspective of our consumerist nature, $1.25 cents is a 20-ounce bottle of Coca-Cola from the University bookstore. Could you live on just one Coca-Cola a day? Without any other means of nourishment? The most alarming, and emotionally upsetting, statistic involving hunger relates to the daily deaths to children caused by malnourishment. “Every 2.9 seconds a child dies due to hunger.
Daily, 30,000 children worldwide are dying due to not having enough food,” Pennington said. In the time it took you to read that statistic, a child died due to critical hunger. Hunger is not an issue that just affects those living in third world, undeveloped countries either.
The United States, which is apart of the wealthiest fifth of the world, also has citizens who live in poverty and face hunger related illness and deaths. According to bread.org, 35.5 million people in the United States live in households that experience hunger, with 4 percent of this total, goes without food for days on end. That equals to about 11.1 million of the 35.5 million, and includes the 430 thousand children. These statistics have not been altered, nor are they exaggerations. 21 percent of the world’s population is living under these types of conditions. So if you are like me, which I hope many of you are, and these statistics bring you to the point of tears, there are ways you can help prevent these millions of men, women and children from dying due to hunger related causes.
Before I became aware of this problem, I often had the misconception that the only way to help these people is to donate tons of money to the on-air personalities who are sitting beside a child who is hungry. However, through my research, I have found there to be many ways students can do their part to help this cause.
The first step that needs to be taken is awareness. Although I have mentioned many statistics, there is still so much more out there to be learned about hunger and how to help it. By being more aware of the problem, you will have more information on how you can help it. Once you learn, as much as I have, there is no way that you can go on without helping.
Secondly, since Georgia Southern is sponsoring a week dedicated to the cause, make sure you check out the activities being offered. Tomorrow, for starters, there will be a hunger fair at the Russell Union Rotunda from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. There will be multiple tables’ set up with information from many organizations that are dedicated to helping end domestic and worldwide hunger.
Two organizations that will have booths in the Rotunda tomorrow include Oxfam International, which is a confederation of 13 organizations working together to fight for justice, empowerment, and the ending of poverty. “Oxfam is dedicated to helping end injustice and poverty worldwide.
One thing that Oxfam offers is a toolbar that can be downloaded straight to someone’s computer, and every time they click on the toolbar, there is a donation made to Oxfam, which is an easy way to do your part,” Pennington said. If you are interested in Oxfam, visit their website at http://www.oxfam.org.
Another organization that will be featured is Heifer, which has a unique way people can help end hunger. “Heifer, which is my personal favorite, provides people with animals they can have and raise. If a family is given chickens, for example, they can raise and breed the chickens, which give them food they can provide for themselves. Instead of just giving them 20 dollars, which disappears after a short while, this organization gives them gifts that can last for a while,” Pennington said. For more information on how to donate to Heifer, visit http://www.heifer.org.
Another example Pennington advises is buying Fair Trade products. “Fair trade products ensure that the farmers who grew the ingredients for the product [coffee and chocolate for example] are being paid enough to provide food and shelter for their family,” Pennington said.
According to The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) half of the 1.4 billion hungry people are farming families, surviving off marginal lands prone to natural disasters like drought or flood, and one in five belong to landless families dependent on farming. By purchasing products with the Fair Trade emblem, you are doing your part to ensure that these farmers are able to survive.
Another way you can help end hunger locally is to donate food to a Food Bank. Food banks takes canned goods and used clothing to be distributed to people living in poverty conditions nearby.
If you want to donate without leaving the comfort of your own home, there are websites that you can donate money, or donate for free, just by singing up. The Hunger Site, http://www.thehungersite.com, is a website that makes donating as simple as clicking your mouse. All you do is hit the “click to give” button at the top of the website, and the website sponsors pay for cups of food to be distributed worldwide to hungry families.
Another website that you can visit that donates food and money worldwide is http://www.feedthechildren.org. Feed the Children is a non-for profit organization out of Oklahoma that takes donations and gifts for hungry people. There are many ways that we, as students, can donate and volunteer to help end world hunger. By the time you have read this article, at least 160 children have died due to hunger related causes. This number can be greatly reduced if we all do something to help.
Claire
Tags:donate, donate to haiti fund, eathquake, haiti earthquake, red cross, relief fund, unicef, world hunger
Days 12 and 13: Create and finalize Elliot's nutritional plan
[side-note, if you are wondering about the 2 day resolutions] My resolution for yesterday and today is so massive and time-consuming, it had to be stretched to 2 days!
One of the perks of being an obsessive health nut is the fact people trust and value my opinion when it comes to nutrition, health and fitness. Another perk is that I get to put my passion to practice when people consult me to help them establish a nutrition/fitness plan! My boyfriend, who has full-heartedly agreed to be my guinea pig in this, has asked me to create a dietary regime to help keep him motivated and in the best shape for an 8k he has in March.
Let me first begin by saying how tough this is! I have to make sure he is eating enough to support his activity level (which is high since he’s training), make sure the percentages of protein, fats and carbs are realistic and attainable, create meal plans and grocery lists that aren’t time-consuming and budget friendly and make sure his own dietary restrictions are honored and adhered.
I spent a few hours yesterday outlying his plan and getting a solid list of what foods would give him the most energy and keep him full. Today, I will sit down with him to go over budget, dietary restrictions and overall goals for the plan, as well as create an eating plan that will work and is attainable.
Once the plan is final i will post it here for people to look, comment and hopefully adapt to their own lifestyles!
Claire
Tags:8k race, eating right, food pyramid, health, nutrition, nutrition plan
Day 11: Tackle GRE vocab
I’ve been putting off GRE test preparation for about a year now. Granted last January I was primarily focused on academia, the GRE was still fresh in my mind. Well, a year later, it’s even fresher. I even bought ‘the book’ [Princeton Review’s GRE test book] in September in hopes it would inspire me to study, however, it is collecting dust in my bed side drawer.
But today, on the shuttle back to my apartment, I overheard an overly ambitious guy tell his friend his dream masters program and his guaranteed GRE study plan. Although his pompous tone and obnoxiously loud voice bugged me to no end, I couldn’t help but feel a little motivated myself.
So today, for at least 2 hours, I will practice and study GRE vocab and will pepper my post tomorrow with my new, very intelligent, very Master’s worthy vocabulary. Wish me luck, I’d much rather be drinking wine or sleeping.
