Saturday, February 22, 2014

Frankenstein's Creation

Mary Shelley is the author of Frankenstein, and what I haven't noticed before is that Frankenstein was written by a women.  This was during the gothic and romantic period, where ghouls and ghosts were all the rage.  Frankenstein is about a man who is brought to life with a spark of electricity.  What is interesting is the origin of this idea.

Mary Shelley was born and 10 days later her mother died due to complications in child birth.  Growing up with out a mother was difficult, but having her first 3 children die is truly heart breaking.  This kept Shelley thinking about life that brings death and death that brings life.  It is a deep concept, but she was trying to see if there were some other creative ways that it would be cool to bring life.  Thus Frankenstein was created as result of one of her day dreaming fantasies.

Frankenstein is foreign book -as in not originally written in english- and therefore we are reading it in my 10th grade english class.  The whole theme this year is books from another place abroad.  What is fascinating is for the longest time until about a year ago I thought Frankenstein was a non fiction story.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

First Baptist Church

They told me if I accept Christ then they would accept me.  This made me content because I knew my baptism was considered an official acceptance of Christ.  I do understand that it also means deep within me I need to accept Christ, and I do.

I asked my friend Josh if I could go visit his church.  I like to explore different churches to see what kind of lifestyle I like.  I felt like I could really relate with the people of this church, however this might be because I found another diabetic and Josh.

Like other churches there were lots of activities to choose from, and I might go to one this week.  Another similarity, is that here they liked to sing, sit, pray, and sing some more.  I love to join in on songs and they make it so easy because the lyrics are projected on the screen.

I accidentally drank the juice they pass out before they said the prayer; that was embarrassing.  Also, when I was putting my small plastic cup into the circular cup holder I broke my cup.  If that isn't enough awkwardness for you then I just want you to know the pastor was making eye contact with my dad and I almost the whole time.

I really enjoyed my time at the first baptist church.  It was kind of like a prequel to what we had experiences with the second baptist church.  Especially since everyone was so nice I think it would be great to visit again.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Nutritionist Whole Foods Store Tour

I am fortunate to have diabetes, I mean I am fortunate enough to have a nutritionist.  My parents hired a lady from France who in an expert in the field of nutrition to help me out with the foods I eat.  She claims that I need to remove dairy from my diet and go vegan.  Personally, I like the sound of that, so I take what she says into consideration.  I have been having almond milk, and less meat since we last met about a month ago.  Today, she decided to walk me around the store and tell me about what was good for me, and what is bad.  I obviously took lots of notes, and decided to write a blog post about it so I would be able to remember the information   It's not like my dad had to tell me to do it, and then yell at me about it.  What? 

One thing should be noted: get the foods in season.  Low sugar fruits and veggies are not only good for diabetics, but also for everyone who claims to have a liver.  These foods include berries during the summer, and apples, and pears all year round.  Cantaloupe and honeydew are not healthy for people because they are dense in sugar.  What strikes me as odd is that watermelon is better, because for me its so sweet, but really it has less sugar.

Having liver or kidney flavor is one of the worst diseases to obtain.  If your at risk and you need antioxidants to flush out your system then their is more than enough food for yourself.  Vitamin C helps flush toxins.  This includes bell peppers which are sweet enough to eat alone with a little bit of hummus.  Vitamin A, C, and Selim are all nutrients found in orange and red fruits and veggies.  Kale, cabbage, and broccoli are known to be the anti-cancer pill. Tomatoes are better to get in the summer because they get their nutrients from the sun so right now during the winter tomatoes have no nutritional value.   These foods are the right choice for helping detoxicate the liver.  

Asparagus might seem complicated because of its name but really you can just through them in some boiling water and pull them out in just 20 minutes.  It is kinda like rice leave it alone and it will do its own thing and turn out well.  

Wild rice was the recommendation from the nutritionist instead of white rice because it is high in fiber and low in sugar.  What I sought to be interesting was that the nutritionist told me to have foods that were frozen like edamme and green beans. The reason for this is that we can eat them in moderation and they won't go bad.  I was looking at a lot of fine prints today and deciding what was a fake food and what actually had substance to it.

Herbs are not only used to flavor foods, but it is suggested that parsley soup be eaten at least once a week.  Another fun fact is that roasted nuts are different then raw nuts in that raw nuts are the healthier option.  Quino is a small grain and it is good to add to rice because it adds a boost of fiber.

In order to successful retain all the nutrition possible it is better to cut beets as soon as you get home.  Celery is good for dip and actually celery burns calories instead of gaining, that is until you start eating it with some hummus.  Fennel good for stews and although it contains no sugar in makes the soup sweeter.  All roots are rich for antioxidants, therefore they are better for detoxicating the body.

There are alternatives to regular dairy.  Dairy makes people bloated, and it has dextrose which causes puffiness.  Water is stored in the cells exponentially well when there is dextrose in the blood.  Hemp and soy milk and both good alternatives to regular dairy.

There are several difference names for sugar.  Almost like the companies are trying to fool use with words like cane additive, dextrose, and fructose.

What I thought was interesting was that food in cans in more toxic and therefore it is better to get foods that are in a carton.  I heard about plastic water bottles being toxic from reuse and that is why people are starting to switch to metal water bottles.

I really enjoyed reading the labels, looking at prices, and trying new healthier foods.  I am looking forward to the recipes she is going to send me, and I will be sure to write an updated blog post about how everything is going a few weeks from today :)